Phylogeographic analysis of dengue virus serotype 1 and cosmopolitan serotype 2 in Africa.

Objectives: The origin and spread of dengue virus (DENV) circulating in Africa remain poorly characterized, with African sequences representing <1% of global sequence data.

Methods: Whole genome sequencing was performed on serum samples (n = 29) from an undifferentiated fever study in 2016 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and from febrile travelers returning from Africa. The evolutionary history of the newly acquired African DENV-1 (n = 1) and cosmopolitan genotype DENV-2 (n = 18) genomes was reconstructed using a phylogeographic, time-scaled Bayesian analysis on a curated DENV panel including all known African sequences.

Laryngeal Muscle-Evoked Potential Recording as an Indicator of Vagal Nerve Fiber Activation.

Background: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an adjunctive therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy. Noninvasive evoked potential recordings in laryngeal muscles (LMEPs) innervated by vagal branches may provide a marker to assess effective vagal nerve fiber activation. We investigated VNS-induced LMEPs in patients with epilepsy in acute and chronic settings.

Voxel-Based Analysis of [18F]-FDG Brain PET in Rats Using Data-Driven Normalization.

[18F]-FDG PET is a widely used imaging modality that visualizes cellular glucose uptake and provides functional information on the metabolic state of different tissues . Various quantification methods can be used to evaluate glucose metabolism in the brain, including the cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (CMR) and standard uptake values (SUVs). Especially in the brain, these (semi-)quantitative measures can be affected by several physiological factors, such as blood glucose level, age, gender, and stress.

Level of hM4D(Gi) DREADD Expression Determines Inhibitory and Neurotoxic Effects in the Hippocampus.

Selective neuromodulation using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) has become an increasingly important research tool, as well as an emerging therapeutic approach. However, the safety profile of DREADD expression is unknown. Here, different titers of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector were administered in an attempt to vary total expression levels of the inhibitory DREADD hM4D(Gi) in excitatory hippocampal neurons.

Seizures and Interictal Epileptiform Activity in the Rat Collagenase Model for Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Aims: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a known risk factor for the development of acute symptomatic as well as late unprovoked seizures. The underlying pathophysiology of post-ICH seizures is incompletely understood and there are no reliable predictive biomarkers. An animal model to study post-ICH seizures is currently lacking.

Acute symptomatic seizures following intracerebral hemorrhage in the rat collagenase model.

Background And Purpose: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a known risk factor for the development of seizures, but little is known about the pathophysiology of seizures in the acute phase post-ICH and their influence on functional outcome. With the use of an animal model, the underlying pathophysiology could be further unraveled. The aim of our study was to optimize the rat collagenase stroke model for the detection of acute symptomatic seizures using video-EEG monitoring.

Neurophysiological investigations of drug resistant epilepsy patients treated with vagus nerve stimulation to differentiate responders from non-responders.

Background And Purpose: In patients treated with vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for drug resistant epilepsy (DRE), up to a third of patients will eventually not respond to the therapy. As VNS therapy requires surgery for device implantation, prediction of response prior to surgery is desirable. It is hypothesized that neurophysiological investigations related to the mechanisms of action of VNS may help to differentiate VNS responders from non-responders prior to the initiation of therapy.

Dengue and chikungunya among outpatients with acute undifferentiated fever in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Pathogens causing acute fever, with the exception of malaria, remain largely unidentified in sub-Saharan Africa, given the local unavailability of diagnostic tests and the broad differential diagnosis.

Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional study including outpatient acute undifferentiated fever in both children and adults, between November 2015 and June 2016 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Serological and molecular diagnostic tests for selected arboviral infections were performed on blood, including PCR, NS1-RDT, ELISA and IFA for acute, and ELISA and IFA for past infections.

Carcinoid heart disease: a remarkable recovery.

A 65-year-old female patient with metastatic neuroendocrine tumour of the small intestine developed carcinoid valve disease and intractable right heart failure. She underwent successful cardiac valve replacement of both tricuspid and pulmonary valves. One year after surgery, she has regained full functional capacity.

Data mining methods for classification of Medium-Chain Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD) using non-derivatized tandem MS neonatal screening data.

Newborn screening programs for severe metabolic disorders using tandem mass spectrometry are widely used. Medium-Chain Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD) is the most prevalent mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation defect (1:15,000 newborns) and it has been proven that early detection of this metabolic disease decreases mortality and improves the outcome. In previous studies, data mining methods on derivatized tandem MS datasets have shown high classification accuracies.