Sympathetic innervation of interscapular brown adipose tissue is not a predominant mediator of Oxytocin (OT)-elicited reductions of body weight gain and adiposity in male diet-induced obese rats.

Recent studies indicate that central administration of oxytocin (OT) reduces body weight (BW) in high fat diet-induced obese (DIO) rodents by reducing energy intake and increasing energy expenditure (EE). Previous studies in our lab have shown that administration of OT into the fourth ventricle (4V; hindbrain) elicits weight loss and stimulates interscapular brown adipose tissue temperature (T) in DIO rats. We hypothesized that OT-elicited stimulation of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation of IBAT contributes to its ability to activate BAT and reduce BW in DIO rats.

Discontinuation of anticoagulants and occurrence of bleeding and thromboembolic events in vitamin K antagonist users with a life-limiting disease.

Background: Data on risks and benefits of long-term anticoagulants in patients with a life-limiting disease are limited. This cohort study aims to describe (dis)continuation of anticoagulants and incidences of bleeding and thromboembolic events in vitamin K antagonist (VKA) users with a life-limiting disease.

Methods: Data from five Dutch anticoagulation clinics were linked to data from Statistics Netherlands and the Netherlands Cancer registry.

Exploring specific alterations at the explicit and perceptual levels in sense of ownership, agency, and body schema in Functional Motor Disorder: A pilot comparative study with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Functional Motor Disorders (FMD) consists in symptoms of altered motor function not attributable to typical neurological and medical conditions. This study aimed to explore explicit and perceptual measures of Sense of Ownership, Agency, and Body Schema in FMD patients, and assess whether these alterations are specific to FMD or shared with other functional disturbances. Twelve FMD patients, ten with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS, a functional gastrointestinal disorder) and fifteen healthy controls (HC) underwent: (i) the Mirror Box Illusion (MBI), requiring participants to perform tapping movements with their dominant hand concealed from sight, while visual feedback was provided by an alien hand under visuo-motor congruency or incongruency conditions; (ii) a Forearm Bisection Task before and after exposure to the MBI, and the Embodiment Questionnaire after the MBI, as perceptual and explicit indices of the embodiment illusion, respectively.

Clinical validation of an individualized auto-adaptative serious game for combined cognitive and upper limb motor robotic rehabilitation after stroke.

Background: Intensive rehabilitation through challenging and individualized tasks are recommended to enhance upper limb recovery after stroke. Robot-assisted therapy (RAT) and serious games could be used to enhance functional recovery by providing simultaneous motor and cognitive rehabilitation.

Objective: The aim of this study is to clinically validate the dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA) mechanism of ROBiGAME, a robot serious game designed for simultaneous rehabilitation of motor impairments and hemispatial neglect.

Fundus Autofluorescence Variation in Geographic Atrophy of Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Clinicopathologic Correlation.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop ground-truth histology about contributors to variable fundus autofluorescence (FAF) signal and thus inform patient selection for treating geographic atrophy (GA) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: One woman with bilateral multifocal GA, foveal sparing, and thick choroids underwent 535 to 580 nm excitation FAF in 6 clinic visits (11 to 6 years before death). The left eye was preserved 5 hours after death.