FDI: A MATLAB tool for computing the fractal dimension index of sources reconstructed from EEG data.

Background: The fractal dimension (FD) is a valuable tool for analysing the complexity of neural structures and functions in the human brain. To assess the spatiotemporal complexity of brain activations derived from electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, the fractal dimension index (FDI) was developed. This measure integrates two distinct complexity metrics: 1) integration FD, which calculates the FD of the spatiotemporal coordinates of all significantly active EEG sources (4DFD); and 2) differentiation FD, determined by the complexity of the temporal evolution of the spatial distribution of cortical activations (3DFD), estimated via the Higuchi FD [HFD(3DFD)].

Advances in Understanding Fractals in Affective and Anxiety Disorders.

In this chapter, we review the research that has applied fractal measures to the study of the most common psychological disorders, that is, affective and anxiety disorders. Early studies focused on heart rate, but diverse measures have also been examined, from variations in subjective mood, or hand movements, to electroencephalogram or magnetoencephalogram data. In general, abnormal fractal dynamics in different physiological and behavioural outcomes have been observed in mental disorders.

Arrangement of residence before hospital discharge for children on home-invasive mechanical ventilation.

Children on long-term home mechanical ventilation are a growing population due to clinical and technological advances and the benefit for the child's quality of life. Invasive home ventilation is one of the most complex therapies offered in the home setting, requiring adequate home environment and appropriate equipment and supplies before discharge. The transition from hospital to home represents a vulnerable period that can be facilitated with an established transition plan with multidisciplinary team involvement.

Examining Neural Connectivity in Schizophrenia Using Task-Based EEG: A Graph Theory Approach.

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a complex disorder characterized by a range of symptoms and behaviors that have significant consequences for individuals, families, and society in general. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a valuable tool for understanding the neural dynamics and functional abnormalities associated with schizophrenia. Research studies utilizing EEG have identified specific patterns of brain activity in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia that may reflect disturbances in neural synchronization and information processing in cortical circuits.

Fractal dimension analysis of resting state functional networks in schizophrenia from EEG signals.

Fractal dimension (FD) has been revealed as a very useful tool in analyzing the changes in brain dynamics present in many neurological disorders. The fractal dimension index (FDI) is a measure of the spatiotemporal complexity of brain activations extracted from EEG signals induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation. In this study, we assess whether the FDI methodology can be also useful for analyzing resting state EEG signals, by characterizing the brain dynamic changes in different functional networks affected by schizophrenia, a mental disorder associated with dysfunction in the information flow dynamics in the spontaneous brain networks.

Niche dynamics along two centuries of multiple crayfish invasions.

The realised ecological niches of species may change in response to dynamic abiotic and biotic environments, particularly under fast global change. To fully understand the dynamics of niche features and their drivers, it is essential to have a long-term view of species distributions and the factors that may have influenced them. Here, we analysed the distribution and niche dynamics of the Italian crayfish (Austropotamobius fulcisianus) in the Iberian Peninsula over the past 200 years.

Integration-segregation dynamics in functional networks of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia has been associated with dysfunction in information integration/segregation dynamics. One of the neural networks whose role has been most investigated in schizophrenia is the default mode network (DMN). In this study, we have explored the possible alteration of integration and segregation dynamics in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia with respect to healthy controls, based on the study of the topological properties of the graphs derived from the functional connectivity between the nodes of the DMN in the resting state.

NOX2 and NOX4 control mitochondrial function in chronic myeloid leukaemia.

Cancer cells are characterised by an elevated metabolic plasticity and enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), two features acknowledged as hallmarks in cancer, with a high translational potential to the therapeutic setting. These aspects, that have been traditionally studied separately, are in fact intimately intermingled. As part of their transforming activity, some oncogenes stimulate rewiring of metabolic processes, whilst simultaneously promoting increased production of intracellular ROS.

Lost in Translation: Evaluation of Subcutaneous Interferon-β Treatment for SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Real Life.

Despite in vitro activity of interferon-β (IFN-β) against SARS-CoV-2 infection, its clinical efficacy remains controversial. We evaluated the impact of IFN-β treatment in a cohort of 3590 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during March−April 2020. The primary endpoint was a composed variable of admission to intensive care unit (ICU)/death.

Alpha and gamma EEG coherence during on-task and mind wandering states in schizophrenia.

Objective: Electroencephalographic (EEG) coherence is one of the most relevant physiological measures used to detect abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia. The present study applies a task-related EEG coherence approach to understand cognitive processing in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.

Methods: EEG coherence for alpha and gamma frequency bands was analyzed in a group of patients with schizophrenia and a group of healthy controls during the performance of an ecological task of sustained attention.

OPA1 drives macrophage metabolism and functional commitment via p65 signaling.

Macrophages are essential players for the host response against pathogens, regulation of inflammation and tissue regeneration. The wide range of macrophage functions rely on their heterogeneity and plasticity that enable a dynamic adaptation of their responses according to the surrounding environmental cues. Recent studies suggest that metabolism provides synergistic support for macrophage activation and elicitation of desirable immune responses; however, the metabolic pathways orchestrating macrophage activation are still under scrutiny.

A Large Case-Control Study Performed in Spanish Population Suggests That Is the Only RECQ Helicase Involved in Breast Cancer Susceptibility.

Around 50% of the familial breast cancer (BC) cases are estimated to be caused by germline variants in known low-, moderate-, and high-risk susceptibility genes, while the other half is of unknown genetic origin. In the present study, we wanted to evaluate the role of the RECQ helicases, some of which have been studied in the past as candidates, with unclear results about their role in the disease. Using next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, we analyzed the whole coding sequence of , , , , and in almost 2000 index cases from BC Spanish families that had previously tested negative for the known BC susceptibility genes (BRCAX) and compared the results with the controls extracted from gnomAD.

[Not Available].

Objetivo: Adaptar y validar al español el Inventario de Criterios Operativos Diagnósticos (OPCRIT 4.0) para tras-tornos psicóticos. Se trata de una herramienta que permite diagnosticar a un paciente mediante las principales clasifica-ciones diagnósticas.

Molecular Research on Mitochondrial Dysfunction.

This Special Issue collects current knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying mitochondrial dysfunction and its related diseases, as well as therapies and perspectives pertaining to their treatment [...

Examining Motor Anticipation in Handwriting as an Indicator of Motor Dysfunction in Schizophrenia.

Dysfunction in motor skills can be linked to alterations in motor processing, such as the anticipation of forthcoming graphomotor sequences. We expected that the difficulties in motor processing in schizophrenia would be reflected in a decrease of motor anticipation. In handwriting, motor anticipation concerns the ability to write a letter while processing information on how to produce the following letters.

Follicular activation in women previously diagnosed with poor ovarian response: a randomized, controlled trial.

Objective: To investigate whether ovarian fragmentation for follicular activation (OFFA) improves ovarian reserve markers and in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes in women with poor ovarian response (POR).

Design: Randomized, controlled trial, with parallel assignment.

Setting: University hospital.

Altered Ecology of the Respiratory Tract Microbiome and Nosocomial Pneumonia.

Nosocomial pneumonia is one of the most frequent infections in critical patients. It is primarily associated with mechanical ventilation leading to severe illness, high mortality, and prolonged hospitalization. The risk of mortality has increased over time due to the rise in multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections, which represent a global public health threat.

Combined Spectroscopic and Computational Study of Nitrobenzene Activation on Non-Noble Metals-Based Mono- and Bimetallic Catalysts.

In this paper, substituted anilines are industrially obtained by direct hydrogenation of nitroaromatic compounds with molecular H using metals as catalysts. Previous theoretical studies proposed that the mechanism of the reaction depends on the nature of the metal used as a catalyst, and that rationally designed bimetallic materials might show improved catalytic performance. Herein, we present IR spectroscopic studies of nitrobenzene interactions with monometallic Ni/SiO, Cu/SiO and Pd/SiO and with bimetallic CuNi/SiO and CuPd/SiO catalysts, both in the absence and presence of H, combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations on selected bimetallic NiCu(111) and PdCu(111) models.

Local Oscillatory Brain Dynamics of Mind Wandering in Schizophrenia.

A number of studies have focused on brain dynamics underlying mind wandering (MW) states in healthy people. However, there is limited understanding of how the oscillatory dynamics accompanying MW states and task-focused states are characterized in clinical populations. In this study, we explored EEG local synchrony of MW associated with schizophrenia, under the premise that changes in attention that arise during MW are associated with a different pattern of brain activity.

The Use of Vaginal Lubricants and Ultrasound Gels Can have Deleterious Effects on Sperm Function.

Context: Some vaginal lubricants and ultrasound gels are known to be detrimental to sperm function and therefore could negatively affect fertility.

Aims: The aim of the current study was to develop a sperm motility index (SMI) to test the sperm toxicity of ultrasound gels and vaginal lubricants used in reproductive medicine.

Settings And Design: Two ultrasound gels (Aquasonic and Kefus) and five vaginal lubricants (Vaginesil™, Velastisa, K-Y Jelly, Control, and Durex) were studied.

A Comparative Study of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Carbon Nanodots and Their Interaction with Mercury Ions.

We report a study of carbon dots produced via bottom-up and top-down routes, carried out through a multi-technique approach based on steady-state fluorescence and absorption, time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Our study focuses on a side-to-side comparison of the fundamental structural and optical properties of the two families of fluorescent nanoparticles, and on their interaction pathways with mercury ions, which we use as a probe of surface emissive chromophores. Comparison between the two families of carbon dots, and between carbon dots subjected to different functionalization procedures, readily identifies a few key structural and optical properties apparently common to all types of carbon dots, but also highlights some critical differences in the optical response and in the microscopic mechanism responsible of the fluorescence.

TFG binds LC3C to regulate ULK1 localization and autophagosome formation.

The early secretory pathway and autophagy are two essential and evolutionarily conserved endomembrane processes that are finely interlinked. Although growing evidence suggests that intracellular trafficking is important for autophagosome biogenesis, the molecular regulatory network involved is still not fully defined. In this study, we demonstrate a crucial effect of the COPII vesicle-related protein TFG (Trk-fused gene) on ULK1 puncta number and localization during autophagy induction.

The displacement of frataxin from the mitochondrial cristae correlates with abnormal respiratory supercomplexes formation and bioenergetic defects in cells of Friedreich ataxia patients.

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is a neurodegenerative disease resulting from a severe decrease of frataxin (FXN). Most patients carry a GAA repeat expansion in both alleles of the FXN gene, whereas a small fraction of them are compound heterozygous for the expansion and a point mutation in the other allele. FXN is involved in the mitochondrial biogenesis of the FeS-clusters.