Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Vaccine in America and Overseas: A Narrative Review.

This narrative review examines the role of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in global tuberculosis (TB) control efforts, with particular emphasis on the differences in vaccination policies between countries, such as the US, where routine BCG administration is not practiced. A significant complication of the BCG vaccine is false positive results in the tuberculin skin test (TST), often leading to misdiagnoses and unnecessary treatments. To address these issues, interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) have emerged as a more specific diagnostic tool that reduces false positives associated with prior BCG vaccination.

Cortical norepinephrine-astrocyte signaling critically mediates learned behavior.

Updating behavior based on feedback from the environment is a crucial means by which organisms learn and develop optimal behavioral strategies. Norepinephrine (NE) release from the locus coeruleus (LC) has been shown to mediate learned behaviors such that in a task with graded stimulus uncertainty and performance, a high level of NE released after an unexpected outcome causes improvement in subsequent behavior. Yet, how the transient activity of LC-NE neurons, lasting tens of milliseconds, influences behavior several seconds later, is unclear.

Prefrontal Cortex subregions provide distinct visual and behavioral feedback modulation to the Primary Visual Cortex.

The mammalian Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) has been suggested to modulate sensory information processing across multiple cortical regions via long-range axonal projections. These axonal projections arise from PFC subregions with unique brain-wide connectivity and functional repertoires, which may provide the architecture for modular feedback intended to shape sensory processing. Here, we used axonal tracing, axonal and somatic 2-photon calcium imaging, and chemogenetic manipulations in mice to delineate how projections from the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACA) and ventrolateral Orbitofrontal Cortex (ORB) of the PFC modulate sensory processing in the primary Visual Cortex (VISp) across behavioral states.

The noncoding circular RNA regulates developmental experience-dependent plasticity in mouse visual cortex.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are noncoding RNAs abundant in brain tissue, and many are derived from activity-dependent, linear mRNAs encoding for synaptic proteins, suggesting that circRNAs may directly or indirectly play a role in regulating synaptic development, plasticity, and function. However, it is unclear if the circular forms of these RNAs are similarly regulated by activity and what role these circRNAs play in developmental plasticity. Here, we employed transcriptome-wide analysis comparing differential expression of both mRNAs and circRNAs in juvenile mouse primary visual cortex (V1) following monocular deprivation (MD), a model of developmental plasticity.

Equity in Mental Health Care Receipt among Youth Who Use School-Based Health Centers.

Introduction: Youth experience significant mental health (MH) needs, and gender- and racially/ethnically-diverse youth are less likely than peers to receive care. School-based health centers (SBHCs) are a healthcare delivery model that may decrease disparities. This study examined the role of SBHCs in reducing disparities in MH care receipt among SBHC clients.

A Circadian Rhythm of Visual Sensitivity in the American Lobster, .

AbstractTo determine whether eyes of American lobsters () are more sensitive to light at night than during the day, electroretinograms were continuously recorded from 23 adult lobsters for at least 3 days (range: 3 to 9 days) in constant darkness. A green light-emitting diode, mounted 10 cm away from the eyes, was briefly flashed every 2 minutes to evoke the electroretinogram. The average increase in the response to a light flash, between the minimum during the subjective day and the maximum during the subjective night, was 105.

Body size and digestive system shape resource selection by ungulates: A cross-taxa test of the forage maturation hypothesis.

The forage maturation hypothesis (FMH) states that energy intake for ungulates is maximised when forage biomass is at intermediate levels. Nevertheless, metabolic allometry and different digestive systems suggest that resource selection should vary across ungulate species. By combining GPS relocations with remotely sensed data on forage characteristics and surface water, we quantified the effect of body size and digestive system in determining movements of 30 populations of hindgut fermenters (equids) and ruminants across biomes.

Beloved Things: Interpreting Curated Pottery in Diasporic Contexts.

Historical archaeologists often view curated or heirloom pottery as a frustrating anomaly in the dating of historical-period sites or contexts. Fewer pause to consider why the artifacts were curated in the first place, or what their presence reveals about the people who maintained them. Drawing on a case study of curated micaceous pottery at a Hispanic diaspora site in east-central New Mexico, this article argues that investigation of heirloom pottery can offer insights into the functional, familial, and cultural significance of these beloved things.

Experience-Dependent Development and Maintenance of Binocular Neurons in the Mouse Visual Cortex.

The development of neuronal circuits requires both hard-wired gene expression and experience-dependent plasticity. Sensory processing, such as binocular vision, is especially sensitive to perturbations of experience. We investigated the experience-dependent development of the binocular visual cortex at single-cell resolution by using two-photon calcium imaging in awake mice.

Arc restores juvenile plasticity in adult mouse visual cortex.

The molecular basis for the decline in experience-dependent neural plasticity over age remains poorly understood. In visual cortex, the robust plasticity induced in juvenile mice by brief monocular deprivation during the critical period is abrogated by genetic deletion of Arc, an activity-dependent regulator of excitatory synaptic modification. Here, we report that augmenting Arc expression in adult mice prolongs juvenile-like plasticity in visual cortex, as assessed by recordings of ocular dominance (OD) plasticity in vivo.

Deep-brain imaging via epi-fluorescence Computational Cannula Microscopy.

Here we demonstrate widefield (field diameter = 200 μm) fluorescence microscopy and video imaging inside the rodent brain at a depth of 2 mm using a simple surgical glass needle (cannula) of diameter 0.22 mm as the primary optical element. The cannula guides excitation light into the brain and the fluorescence signal out of the brain.

Standard dose valproic acid does not cause additional cognitive impact in a rodent model of intractable epilepsy.

Children with epilepsy face significant cognitive and behavioral impairments. These impairments are due to a poorly characterized interaction between the underlying etiology, the effect of seizures and the effect of medication. The large variation in these factors make understanding the main drivers of cognitive impairment in humans extremely difficult.

Enrichment and training improve cognition in rats with cortical malformations.

Children with malformations of cortical development (MCD) frequently have associated cognitive impairments which reduce quality of life. We hypothesized that cognitive deficits associated with MCD can be improved with environmental manipulation or additional training. The E17 methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) exposure model bears many anatomical hallmarks seen in human MCDs as well as similar behavioral and cognitive deficits.

Fatigue in patients with spondyloarthritis associates with disease activity, quality of life and inflammatory bowel symptoms.

The study aimed to assess the severity of fatigue in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA), to assess the performance of two different fatigue measures in AxSpA, and to examine disease variables which may influence the severity of fatigue. Fatigue was examined among 67 patients with AxSpA using two measures: the fatigue Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) from the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue (MAF) score. These measures were tested for convergent validity using linear regression analysis.

Focal epileptiform activity in the prefrontal cortex is associated with long-term attention and sociability deficits.

There is a well-described association between childhood epilepsy and pervasive cognitive and behavioral deficits. Often these children not only have ictal EEG events, but also frequent interictal abnormalities. The precise role of these interictal discharges in cognition remains unclear.

Cognitive correlates of mathematical achievement in children with cerebral palsy and typically developing children.

Background: Remarkably few studies have investigated the nature and origin of learning difficulties in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Aims: To investigate math achievement in terms of word-problem solving ability in children with CP and controls. Because of the potential importance of reading for word-problem solving, we investigated reading as well.

Validation of the Dudley Inflammatory Bowel Symptom Questionnaire for the assessment of bowel symptoms in axial SpA: prevalence of clinically relevant bowel symptoms and association with disease activity.

Objectives: To validate the Dudley Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (DISQ) for determining the presence and severity of bowel symptoms in axial SpA.

Methods: Seventy-seven SpA patients were assessed for disease activity using the BASDAI. All participants, including 32 healthy controls and 29 patients with Crohn's Disease (CD), completed the DISQ and an assessment of stool form and frequency.

Evidence that potential fish predators elicit the production of carapace vibrations by the American lobster.

American lobsters (Homarus americanus) will on rare occasions produce sounds by vibrating their dorsal carapace. Although this behavior can be elicited in the laboratory by handling lobsters, the stimulus that triggers the production of sounds in the lobster's natural habitat is not known. We investigated the influence of two fish that are known to prey on lobsters, cod (Gadus morhua) and striped bass (Morone saxatilis), on the production of sounds by American lobsters.

High disease impact of myotonic dystrophy type 2 on physical and mental functioning.

The aim of the study was to investigate health status in patients with myotonic dystrophy type 2 (DM2) and determine its relationship to pain and fatigue. Data on health status (SF-36), pain (MPQ) and fatigue (CIS-fatigue) were collected for the Dutch DM2 population (n = 32). Results were compared with those of sex- and age-matched adult-onset myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) patients.

The ankylosing spondylitis quality of life questionnaire: validation in a New Zealand cohort.

Aim: To examine the validity of the Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (ASQoL) in a New Zealand population with defined axial spondyloarthritis (SpA). Once validated, the ASQoL will be included as an outcome measure in a proposed multicentre New Zealand study.

Methods: Five healthy participants were interviewed to identify any issues related to local dialect or linguistic comprehension of the questionnaire.

Probiotic therapy for the treatment of spondyloarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To investigate the effect of an orally administered probiotic on disease activity, fatigue, quality of life, and intestinal symptoms in patients with active spondyloarthritis.

Methods: Patients with active spondyloarthritis [defined as Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) ≥ 3, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) ≥ 3, Maastricht Ankylosing Spondylitis Enthesitis Score (MASES) ≥ 2, or peripheral joint count ≥ 2] were randomized to oral probiotic or placebo for 12 weeks. Patients and assessors were blinded to treatment allocation.

Osteitis condensans ilii: a significant association with sacroiliac joint tenderness in women.

Aim: To determine whether subjects with radiological evidence of osteitis condensans ilii exhibit symptoms and signs in common with sacroiliitis when compared with an age-matched control group and to examine demographic features.

Methods: The Dunedin Hospital radiology database was searched for all subjects with changes of osteitis condensans ilii over a 10-year period. An age-matched control group with plain X-rays of the pelvis was recruited from the same database.

Quality of arithmetic education for children with cerebral palsy.

The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the quality of arithmetic education for children with cerebral palsy. The use of individual educational plans, amount of arithmetic instruction time, arithmetic instructional grouping, and type of arithmetic teaching method were explored in three groups: children with cerebral palsy (CP) in special (CP-special; n = 41) and mainstream schools (CP-mainstream; n = 16) and a control group in mainstream schools (n = 16). The majority of individual educational plans did not include well-formulated arithmetic goals and many were not based on optimal assessment.