Newborn's neural representation of instrumental and vocal music as revealed by fMRI: A dynamic effective brain connectivity study.

Music is ubiquitous, both in its instrumental and vocal forms. While speech perception at birth has been at the core of an extensive corpus of research, the origins of the ability to discriminate instrumental or vocal melodies is still not well investigated. In previous studies comparing vocal and musical perception, the vocal stimuli were mainly related to speaking, including language, and not to the non-language singing voice.

BOLD signal variability as potential new biomarker of functional neurological disorders.

Background: Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a common neuropsychiatric condition with established diagnostic criteria and effective treatments but for which the underlying neuropathophysiological mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Recent neuroimaging studies have revealed FND as a multi-network brain disorder, unveiling alterations across limbic, self-agency, attentional/salience, and sensorimotor networks. However, the relationship between identified brain alterations and disease progression or improvement is less explored.

Transient resting-state salience-limbic co-activation patterns in functional neurological disorders.

Background: Functional neurological disorders were historically regarded as the manifestation of a dynamic brain lesion which might be linked to trauma or stress, although this association has not yet been directly tested yet. Analysing large-scale brain network dynamics at rest in relation to stress biomarkers assessed by salivary cortisol and amylase could provide new insights into the pathophysiology of functional neurological symptoms.

Methods: Case-control resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study of 79 patients with mixed functional neurological disorders (i.

Non-invasive neuromodulation of the right temporoparietal junction using theta-burst stimulation in functional neurological disorder.

Background: Disrupted sense of agency (SoA)-the sense of being the agent of one's own actions-has been demonstrated in patients with functional neurological disorder (FND), and a key area of the corresponding neuronal network is the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ). Several functional MRI (fMRI) studies have found hypoactivation as well as hyperactivation of the rTPJ in FND. In a proof-of-concept study, we tested whether repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the rTPJ could restore this aberrant activity.

Behavioral outcome of very preterm children at 5 years of age: Prognostic utility of brain tissue volumes at term-equivalent-age, perinatal, and environmental factors.

Objective: Prematurity is associated with a high risk of long-term behavioral problems. This study aimed to assess the prognostic utility of volumetric brain data at term-equivalent-age (TEA), clinical perinatal factors, and parental social economic risk in the prediction of the behavioral outcome at 5 years in a cohort of very preterm infants (VPT, <32 gestational weeks).

Methods: T2-weighted magnetic resonance brain images of 80 VPT children were acquired at TEA and automatically segmented into cortical gray matter, deep subcortical gray matter, white matter (WM), cerebellum (CB), and cerebrospinal fluid.

Identification of biopsychological trait markers in functional neurological disorders.

Stress is a well-known risk factor to develop a functional neurological disorder, a frequent neuropsychiatric medical condition in which patients experience a variety of disabling neurological symptoms. Only little is known about biological stress regulation, and how it interacts with predisposing biological and psychosocial risk factors. Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in patients with functional neurological disorders has been postulated, but its relationship to preceding psychological trauma and brain anatomical changes remains to be elucidated.

Musical memories in newborns: A resting-state functional connectivity study.

Music is known to induce emotions and activate associated memories, including musical memories. In adults, it is well known that music activates both working memory and limbic networks. We have recently discovered that as early as during the newborn period, familiar music is processed differently from unfamiliar music.

Preterm birth leads to impaired rich-club organization and fronto-paralimbic/limbic structural connectivity in newborns.

Prematurity disrupts brain development during a critical period of brain growth and organization and is known to be associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental impairments. Investigating whole-brain structural connectivity alterations accompanying preterm birth may provide a better comprehension of the neurobiological mechanisms related to the later neurocognitive deficits observed in this population. Using a connectome approach, we aimed to study the impact of prematurity on neonatal whole-brain structural network organization at term-equivalent age.

Longitudinal study of neonatal brain tissue volumes in preterm infants and their ability to predict neurodevelopmental outcome.

Premature birth has been associated with poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. However, the relation between such outcomes and brain growth in the neonatal period has not yet been fully elucidated. This study investigates longitudinal brain development between birth and term-equivalent age (TEA) by quantitative imaging in a cohort of premature infants born between 26 and 36 weeks gestational age (GA), to provide insight into the relation of brain growth with later neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Music processing in preterm and full-term newborns: A psychophysiological interaction (PPI) approach in neonatal fMRI.

Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) provide special equipment designed to give life support for the increasing number of prematurely born infants and assure their survival. More recently NICU's strive to include developmentally oriented care and modulate sensory input for preterm infants. Music, among other sensory stimuli, has been introduced into NICUs, but without knowledge on the basic music processing in the brain of preterm infants.

A confocal microscopy study of the very early cellular response to oxidative stress induced by zinc phthalocyanine sensitization.

Oxidative stress has been involved in several biological and pathological processes. Reactive oxygen species have been shown to play both beneficial and deleterious roles. The present work contributes to the understanding of the very early events of cellular response to oxidative stress.

Human fibroblast alterations induced by low power laser irradiation at the single cell level using confocal microscopy.

Low power laser irradiation is regarded to have a significant role in triggering cellular proliferation and in treating diseases of diverse etiologies. The present work contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms of action by studying low power laser effects in human fibroblasts. Confocal laser scanning microscopy is used for irradiation and observation of the same area of interest allowing the imaging of laser effects at the single cell level and in real time.

Relatively low red cell folate levels and acute coronary syndromes.

Background: Low folate levels are related to increased risk for coronary artery disease in humans, while experimental work has shown that folate deficiency is thrombogenic. We hypothesized that relatively low folate levels are related to the development of acute coronary syndromes in patients with previously stable coronary artery disease.

Methods: One hundred and forty-one men were studied: 53 consecutive patients with acute coronary syndromes, 41 with stable coronary artery disease and 47 control participants.

Receptorphin: a conserved peptide derived from the sequence of the opioid receptor, with opioid displacement activity and potent antiproliferative actions in tumor cells.

Background: In addition to endogenous opioids, a number of peptide sequences, derived from endogenous (hemorphins, alphaS1-casomorphin), and exogenous proteins (casomorphins, exorphins) have been reported, possessing opioid activity. In the present work, we report the identification of a new peptide, receptorphin (Tyr-Ile-Phe-Asn-Leu), derived from the sequence of the second transmembrane loop of the opioid receptor. This sequence is unique for the opioid receptor, and conserved in all species and receptor-types.

Microscopical examination of the localisation patterns of two novel rhodamine derivatives in normal and neoplastic colonic mucosa.

Tissue characterisation by fluorescence imaging, using exogenous fluorophores, is a promising method for cancer detection. Histochemical alterations in the composition of mucins, when neoplastic transformations occur, could be exploited to derive more selective fluoroprobes indicative of early malignant transformation. The aim of this work was to develop and examine tumour selective fluoroprobes for colon cancer diagnosis, as well as to determine the morphological components where selective dye accumulation has occurred.

Texture analysis of fluorescence microscopic images of colonic tissue sections.

The aim of this study was to assess the potential of texture analysis for the characterization of fluorescence images from colonic tissue sections stained with a novel and selective fluoroprobe, Rhodamine B-phenylboronic acid. Fluorescence microscopy images of colonic healthy mucosa (n = 35) and adenocarcinomas (n = 35) were digitally captured and subjected to image texture analysis. Textural features derived from the grey level co-occurrence matrix were calculated.

Agents facilitating the electric field-induced fusion of intact rabbit erythrocytes.

In the recent years, the role of specific membrane active agents in the electrofusion process has started to draw attention, and it has been found that the presence of various substances in the cell medium can affect the fusion process either in a positive or negative way. In this work, the effect of several proteins, bivalent cations and antibiotics was tested with respect to their ability to protect intact erythrocytes from hemolysis and facilitate the fusion process. The effect of different sugars was also studied.

Somatostatin and opioid receptors in mammary tissue. Role in cancer cell growth.

Somatostatin and opioid systems, are the two main inhibitory systems in mammals. Both classes of substances have been identified in normal and malignant mammary gland, as well as their cognitive receptors. They have been implied in the inhibition of cell growth of cancer cells and cell lines, in a dose-dependent and reversible manner.

The use of soft and flexible guidewires in the treatment of chronic total coronary occlusions by activated guidewire angioplasty.

Activated guidewire angioplasty (AGA) is a new technique which has been designed to assist in angioplasty of total occlusions. The purpose of this study was to determine the safety and efficacy of using flexible relatively soft guidewires (floppy wires) in conjunction with this technique and also to determine the predictors of lesion crossing and final success by this technique in patients with chronic total coronary occlusions. 73 patients with 73 chronic total coronary occlusions in whom coronary angioplasty using conventional techniques had failed were treated with AGA using floppy guidewires.

Use of vibrational angioplasty for the treatment of chronic total coronary occlusions: preliminary results.

The aim of the study was to investigate the feasibility and clinical safety of vibrational angioplasty in the treatment of chronic total coronary occlusions and evaluate the clinical and angiographic factors that are predictive of the procedural success and complications of the procedure. Seventy-eight patients with chronic total occlusions (>3 months) resistant to conventional techniques were treated by vibrational angioplasty using a variety of conventional guidewires. Lesions were successfully crossed in 67 (85.

Loading of intact rabbit erythrocytes with fluorophores and the enzyme pronase by means of electroporation.

The application of electric field pulses in cell suspensions is known to alter membrane integrity, resulting in increased membrane permeabilization. This field-induced membrane poration provides the means to load cells with a variety of external substances, useful for clinical applications. In this work, intact rabbit erythrocytes were successfully loaded with low molecular weight fluorescent probes and with the high molecular weight enzyme pronase, which has been shown to mimic the effects of insulin.

Identification of a novel opioid peptide (Tyr-Val-Pro-Phe-Pro) derived from human alpha S1 casein (alpha S1-casomorphin, and alpha S1-casomorphin amide).

A new casomorphin pentapeptide (alpha S1-casomorphin) has been isolated from the sequence of human alpha S1-casein [alpha S1-casein-(158-162)], with the sequence Tyr-Val-Pro-Phe-Pro. This peptide was found to bind with high affinity to all three subtypes of the kappa-opioid receptor (kappa 1-kappa 2). When amidated at the C-terminus, alpha S1-casomorphin amide binds to the delta- and kappa 3-opioid sites.

Photodynamic effects of hypericin on photosynthetic electron transport and fluorescence of Anacystis nidulans (Synechococcus 6301).

We investigated the photodynamic action of hypericin, a natural naphthodianthrone, on photosynthetic electron transport and fluorescence of the cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans (Synechococcus 6301). The most drastic effect was the inactivation of photosynthetic oxygen evolution in the presence of the electron acceptor phenyl-p-benzoquinone in aerobic cells which required 1 hypericin/5 chlorophyll a for half-maximal effect. Anaerobic A.