Pilot Study of Personalized Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation with Spectral Electroencephalogram Analyses for Assessing and Treating Persons with Autism.

Autism spectrum condition (ASC) is a neurodevelopmental condition that is only partly responsive to prevailing interventions. ASC manifests core challenges in social skills, communication, and sensory function and by repetitive stereotyped behaviors, along with imbalances in the brain's excitatory (E) and inhibitory (I) signaling. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has shown promise in ASC and may be a useful addition to applied behavioral analysis (ABA), a gold-standard psychotherapeutic intervention.

Identification of stress-induced epigenetic methylation onto dopamine D2 gene and neurological and behavioral consequences.

The D2 dopamine receptor () gene has garnered substantial attention as one of the most extensively studied genes across various neuropsychiatric disorders. Since its initial association with severe alcoholism in 1990, particularly through the identification of the allele, numerous international investigations have been conducted to elucidate its role in different conditions. As of February 22, 2024, there are 5485 articles focusing on the gene listed in PUBMED.

Design and Validation of Miniaturized Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) Head Coils.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a rapidly developing therapeutic modality for the safe and effective treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, clinical rTMS driving systems and head coils are large, heavy, and expensive, so miniaturized, affordable rTMS devices may facilitate treatment access for patients at home, in underserved areas, in field and mobile hospitals, on ships and submarines, and in space. The central component of a portable rTMS system is a miniaturized, lightweight coil.

Design and Material Characterization of an Inflatable Vaginal Dilator.

There are more than 13,000 new cases of cervical cancer each year in the United States and approximately 245,000 survivors. External beam radiation and brachytherapy are the front-line treatment modalities, and 60% of patients develop vaginal damage and constriction, i.e.

Are We Getting High Cause the Thrill is Gone?

In the USA alone, opioid use disorder (OUD) affects approximately 27 million people. While the number of prescriptions may be declining due to increased CDC guidance and prescriber education, fatalities due to fentanyl-laced street heroin are still rising. Our laboratory has extended the overall concept of both substance and non-substance addictive behaviors, calling it "Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS).

Neurogenetics and Epigenetics of Loneliness.

Loneliness, an established risk factor for both, mental and physical morbidity, is a mounting public health concern. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying loneliness-related morbidity are not yet well defined. Here we examined the role of genes and associated DNA risk polymorphic variants that are implicated in loneliness via genetic and epigenetic mechanisms and may thus point to specific therapeutic targets.

Preliminary Observations of Personalized Repetitive Magnetic Stimulation (PrTMS) Guided by EEG Spectra for Concussion.

There are no FDA-approved treatments for the chronic sequelae of concussion. Repetitive magnetic transcranial stimulation (rTMS) has been explored as a therapy but outcomes have been inconsistent. To address this we developed a personalized rTMS (PrTMS) protocol involving continual rTMS stimulus frequency adjustment and progressive activation of multiple cortical sites, guided by spectral electroencephalogram (EEG)-based analyses and psychological questionnaires.

Personalized repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (prtms®) for post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd) in military combat veterans.

Emerging data suggest that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) arises from disrupted brain default mode network (DMN) activity manifested by dysregulated encephalogram (EEG) alpha oscillations. Hence, we pursued the treatment of combat veterans with PTSD (n = 185) using an expanded form of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) termed personalized-rTMS (PrTMS). In this treatment methodology spectral EEG based guidance is used to iteratively optimize symptom resolution via (1) stimulation of multiple motor sensory and frontal cortical sites at reduced power, and (2) adjustments of cortical treatment loci and stimulus frequency during treatment progression based on a proprietary frequency algorithm (PeakLogic, Inc.

Evidence for the Gene as a Determinant of Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS).

Since 1990, published addiction psychiatry articles have exceeded 11,495. Several from Blum et al. showed the clinical relevance of the Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (GARS) test in identifying risk for reward deficiency behaviors in cohorts from polysubstance and pain clinics, post-surgical bariatrics, and DWI offenders facing prison time.

A Compact Circuit for Boosting Electric Field Intensity in Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS).

The concept of a portable, wearable system for repetitive transcranial stimulation (rTMS) has attracted widespread attention, but significant power and field intensity requirements remain a key challenge. Here, a circuit topology is described that significantly increases induced electric field intensity over that attainable with similar current levels and coils in conventional rTMS systems. The resultant electric field is essentially monophasic, and has a controllable, shortened duration.

Design and Validation of an Automated Dilator Prototype for the Treatment of Radiation Induced Vaginal Injury.

Vaginal stenosis (VS) is a common late complication of radiation injury caused by cervical cancer radiotherapy. It is characterized by the narrowing or shortening of the vaginal canal, which is often detrimental to patient quality of life. To address this public health problem, an expandable vaginal dilator was designed for the prevention of VS in cervical cancer survivors.

A Compact Battery-Powered rTMS Prototype.

This paper describes the design and testing of a compact, battery-powered repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) prototype. This device generates a 10 Hz magnetic pulse train with peak flux density of 100 mT at 2 cm distance. Circuit component design, including the inductor, switched LC resonator, and boost converter, are discussed in the context of weight and size reduction, and performance optimization.

Optimized Scintillator YAG:Pr Nanoparticles for X-ray Inducible Photodynamic Therapy.

We describe a sol-gel synthetic method for the production of praseodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) nanoparticles suitable for X-ray inducible photodynamic therapy (X-PDT). Our sol-gel based approach was optimized by varying temperature and time of calcination, resulting in nanoparticles that were smooth, spherical, and 50-200 nm in crystallite size. The powders were uniformly coated with a thin (10 nm) layer of silica to facilitate surface conjugation with functional moieties.

Mechanisms of radiotherapy-associated cognitive disability in patients with brain tumours.

Standard treatment of primary and metastatic brain tumours includes high-dose megavoltage-range radiation to the cranial vault. About half of patients survive >6 months, and many attain long-term control or cure. However, 50-90% of survivors exhibit disabling cognitive dysfunction.

Multiple spatially related pharmacophores define small molecule inhibitors of OLIG2 in glioblastoma.

Transcription factors (TFs) are a major class of protein signaling molecules that play key cellular roles in cancers such as the highly lethal brain cancer-glioblastoma (GBM). However, the development of specific TF inhibitors has proved difficult owing to expansive protein-protein interfaces and the absence of hydrophobic pockets. We uniquely defined the dimerization surface as an expansive parental pharmacophore comprised of several regional daughter pharmacophores.

Effect of the JAK2/STAT3 inhibitor SAR317461 on human glioblastoma tumorspheres.

Background: The STAT3 transcription factor is a major intracellular signaling protein and is frequently dysregulated in the most common and lethal brain malignancy in adults, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Activation of STAT3 in GBM correlates with malignancy and poor prognosis. The phosphorylating signal transducer JAK2 activates STAT3 in response to cytokines and growth factors.

Hyaluronan expression in primary and secondary brain tumors.

Background: Collectively, primary and secondary brain tumors represent a major public health challenge. Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary brain tumor in adults and is associated with a dismal 5-year survival of only 10%. Breast cancer causes secondary tumors; it occurs in 200,000 patients yearly and 30% of these individuals develop brain metastases which also lead to a very poor prognosis.

In silico modeling predicts drug sensitivity of patient-derived cancer cells.

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive disease associated with poor survival. It is essential to account for the complexity of GBM biology to improve diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. This complexity is best represented by the increasing amounts of profiling ("omics") data available due to advances in biotechnology.

Prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) expression in primary gliomas and breast cancer brain metastases.

Background: Primary and secondary brain cancers are highly treatment resistant, and their marked angiogenesis attracts interest as a potential therapeutic target. Recent observations reveal that the microvascular endothelium of primary high-grade gliomas expresses prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA). Breast cancers express PSMA and they frequently form secondary brain tumors.

The extrinsic coagulation cascade and tissue factor pathway inhibitor in macrophages: a potential therapeutic opportunity for atherosclerotic thrombosis.

Objectives: The coagulation protease cascade plays the central requisite role in initiation of arterial atherothrombosis. However, the relative participation of the extrinsic as compared to the intrinsic pathway is incompletely resolved. We have investigated in vivo the relative importance of the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways to define which is more essential to atherothrombosis and therefore the preferable prophylactic therapeutic target.

Novel anti-glioblastoma agents and therapeutic combinations identified from a collection of FDA approved drugs.

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is a therapeutic challenge, associated with high mortality. More effective GBM therapeutic options are urgently needed. Hence, we screened a large multi-class drug panel comprising the NIH clinical collection (NCC) that includes 446 FDA-approved drugs, with the goal of identifying new GBM therapeutics for rapid entry into clinical trials for GBM.