Magnetic assembly of microwires on a flexible substrate for minimally invasive electrophysiological recording.

Understanding the neural system in the brain requires the detection of signals from the tissue. Microscale electrodes enable high spatiotemporal neural recording, whereas traditional microelectrodes cause material and geometry mismatches between the electrode and the tissue, leading to injury and signal loss during recording. In this study, we propose a fabrication technique that uses magnetic force to facilitate assembly of vertical microscale wire-electrodes on a flexible substrate.

Frailty and Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Is There Any Association?

Purpose: This study investigated if individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and frailty are more likely to have acute exacerbations of COPD or require hospitalization for exacerbation than those without frailty.

Patients And Methods: Data on 135 outpatients with stable COPD were analyzed with the Cox proportional hazards model to assess the risk of future events. The Kihon Checklist was administered at baseline to classify the participants as robust, pre-frail, or frail.

Evidence for Selection on Mitochondrial OXPHOS Genes in the Mediterranean Killifish Valenciennes, 1821.

Mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) genes are a system subject to selection under determined environmental constraints despite a neutral evolution model that has long been hypothesized for the mitochondrial genome. In this study, the sequences of , , and OXPHOS genes were analyzed in six populations of the eurythermal and euryhaline killifish , to detect non-synonymous mutations leading to amino acid changes and to check whether selection acted on them using tests of recombination and selection. The results indicate a high and gene diversity and a high percentage of private haplotypes in all populations.

Low-invasive neural recording in mouse models with diabetes via an ultrasmall needle-electrode.

Diabetes is known to cause a variety of complications, having a high correlation with Alzheimer's disease. Electrophysiological recording using a microscale needle electrode is a promising technology for the study, however, diabetic brain tissue is more difficult to record neuronal activities than normal tissue due to these complications including the development of cerebrovascular disease. Here we show an electrophysiological methodology for diabetic db/db mice (+Lepr/+Lepr) using a 4-μm-tip diameter needle-electrode device.