Mesoscale functional architecture in medial posterior parietal cortex.

The posterior parietal cortex () in mice has various functions including multisensory integration, vision-guided behaviors, working memory, and posture control. However, an integrated understanding of these functions and their cortical localizations in and around the PPC and higher visual areas (), has not been completely elucidated. Here we simultaneously imaged the activity of thousands of neurons within a 3 × 3 mm field-of-view, including eight cortical areas around the PPC, during behavior with a two-photon mesoscope.

SuperWater: Predicting Water Molecule Positions on Protein Structures by Generative AI.

Water molecules play a significant role in maintaining protein structural stability and facilitating molecular interactions. Accurate prediction of water molecule positions around protein structures is essential for understanding their biological roles and has significant implications for protein engineering and drug discovery. Here, we introduce SuperWater, a novel generative AI framework that integrates a score-based diffusion model with equivariant graph neural networks to predict water molecule placements around proteins with high accuracy.

Tracking the topology of neural manifolds across populations.

Neural manifolds summarize the intrinsic structure of the information encoded by a population of neurons. Advances in experimental techniques have made simultaneous recordings from multiple brain regions increasingly commonplace, raising the possibility of studying how these manifolds relate across populations. However, when the manifolds are nonlinear and possibly code for multiple unknown variables, it is challenging to extract robust and falsifiable information about their relationships.

Does working memory training in children need to be adaptive? A randomized controlled trial.

Most cognitive training programs are adaptive, despite limited direct evidence that this maximizes children's outcomes. This randomized controlled trial evaluated working memory training with difficulty of activities presented using adaptive, self-select, or stepwise compared with an active control. At baseline, immediately, and 6-months post-intervention, 201 Australian primary school children (101 males, 7-11 years) completed working memory tests (near and intermediate transfer) and the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices, and caregivers completed the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-Rating Scale-5 (far transfer).

The RAF cysteine-rich domain: Structure, function, and role in disease.

RAF kinases, consisting of ARAF, BRAF and CRAF, are direct effectors of RAS GTPases and critical for signal transduction through the RAS-MAPK pathway. Driver mutations in BRAF are commonplace in human cancer, while germline mutations in BRAF and CRAF cause RASopathy development syndromes. However, there remains a lack of effective drugs that target RAF function, which is partially due to the complexity of the RAF activation cycle.

Elective Versus Nonelective Spinal Fusions: Surgical and Financial Outcomes in a Bundled Payment Reimbursement Model.

Background And Objectives: Bundled payment for care improvement advanced (BPCIA) is a voluntary alternative payment model administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services using value-based care to reduce costs by incentivizing care coordination and improved quality. We aimed to identify drivers of negative financial performance in BPCIA among patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery.

Methods: This is a single-institution retrospective review of patients enrolled in BPCIA undergoing spinal fusion with DRGs 453, 454, 455, 459, and 460 from 2018 to 2022.

Risk Factors for Sacroiliac Joint Fusion after Instrumented Spinal Fusion.

Study Design: Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective: To identify risk factors for sacroiliac (SI) joint fusion after instrumented spinal fusion.

Methods: Patients were identified from the PearlDiver BiscayneBay database.

Strategic stabilization of arousal boosts sustained attention.

Arousal and motivation interact to profoundly influence behavior. For example, experience tells us that we have some capacity to control our arousal when appropriately motivated, such as staying awake while driving a motor vehicle. However, little is known about how arousal and motivation jointly influence decision computations, including if and how animals, such as rodents, adapt their arousal state to their needs.

Language and communication functioning in children and adolescents with agenesis of the corpus callosum.

The corpus callosum, the largest white matter inter-hemispheric pathway, is involved in language and communication. In a cohort of 15 children and adolescents (8-15 years) with developmental absence of the corpus callosum (AgCC), this study aimed to describe language and everyday communication functioning, and explored the role of anatomical factors, social risk, and non-verbal IQ in these outcomes. Standardised measures of language and everyday communication functioning, intellectual ability and social risk were used.

The Multiplicative Effects of Individual Risk Factors in the Development of Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head.

Background: While individual risk factors, including chronic corticosteroid use, alcohol abuse, and smoking, are implicated in osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH), the degree to which multiple risk factors increase risk is unknown. This study aimed to: (1) identify the demographic characteristics of patients who have ONFH; (2) quantify the effects of individual risk factors on ONFH development; (3) quantify the effects of combined risk factors on ONFH development; and (4) determine the prognostic implications of combined risk factors on ONFH development.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study.

A digital intervention to support childhood cognition after the COVID-19 pandemic: a pilot trial.

Difficulties in executive functioning (EF) can result in impulsivity, forgetfulness, and inattention. Children living in remote/regional communities are particularly at risk of impairment in these cognitive skills due to reduced educational engagement and poorer access to interventions. This vulnerability has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and strategies are needed to mitigate long-term negative impacts on EF.

Regulation of RAF family kinases: new insights from recent structural and biochemical studies.

The RAF kinases are required for signal transduction through the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK pathway, and their activity is frequently up-regulated in human cancer and the RASopathy developmental syndromes. Due to their complex activation process, developing drugs that effectively target RAF function has been a challenging endeavor, highlighting the need for a more detailed understanding of RAF regulation. This review will focus on recent structural and biochemical studies that have provided 'snapshots' into the RAF regulatory cycle, revealing structures of the autoinhibited BRAF monomer, active BRAF and CRAF homodimers, as well as HSP90/CDC37 chaperone complexes containing CRAF or BRAFV600E.

Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET)-based Assay for Measuring Interactions of CRAF with 14-3-3 Proteins in Live Cells.

CRAF is a primary effector of RAS GTPases and plays a critical role in the tumorigenesis of several KRAS-driven cancers. In addition, CRAF is a hotspot for germline mutations, which are shown to cause the developmental RASopathy, Noonan syndrome. All RAF kinases contain multiple phosphorylation-dependent binding sites for 14-3-3 regulatory proteins.

Exploring Working Memory Capacity and Efficiency Processes to Understand Working Memory Training Outcomes in Primary School Children.

Despite the abundance of research evaluating working memory training outcomes in children, few studies have examined the underlying cognitive mechanisms. This study aimed to contribute understanding by exploring whether (maximum span) and/or (basic and cognitive processing speeds), two proposed cognitive mechanisms, are associated with children's working memory performance immediately and 6-months post-intervention. We used data from a previous trial in primary school children (7-11 years) who completed working memory training (n = 52) or an active control (n = 36), comprising 10 sessions (each 20-minutes) in class over two weeks.

Age-Related Changes in Temporal Binding Involving Auditory and Vestibular Inputs.

Maintaining balance involves the combination of sensory signals from the visual, vestibular, proprioceptive, and auditory systems. However, physical and biological constraints ensure that these signals are perceived slightly asynchronously. The brain only recognizes them as simultaneous when they occur within a period of time called the temporal binding window (TBW).

Maximally mixing active nematics.

Active nematics are an important new paradigm in soft condensed matter systems. They consist of rodlike components with an internal driving force pushing them out of equilibrium. The resulting fluid motion exhibits chaotic advection, in which a small patch of fluid is stretched exponentially in length.

Standardised Measurements for Monitoring and Comparing Multiphoton Microscope Systems.

The goal of this protocol is to enable better characterisation of multiphoton microscopy hardware across a large user base. The scope of this protocol is purposefully limited to focus on hardware, touching on software and data analysis routines only where relevant. The intended audiences are scientists using and building multiphoton microscopes in their laboratories.

Age-Based Incidence of Dens Fracture Has Unimodal Distribution Rather Than Commonly Claimed Bimodal Distribution.

Background: Type-II dens fractures have long been described in the literature as occurring in a bimodal distribution, peaking in young adulthood as well as in older adulthood; however, the origin of this claim is unclear. The primary goal of this study was to examine the incidence of type-II dens fractures and assess for bimodality.

Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional review of the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) records on traumatic type-II dens fractures between October 2015 and December 2016.

Utilization of Vertebroplasty/Kyphoplasty in the Management of Compression Fractures: National Trends and Predictors of Vertebroplasty/Kyphoplasty.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the utilization of kyphoplasty/vertebroplasty procedures in the management of compression fractures. With the growing elderly population and the associated increase in rates of osteoporosis, vertebral compression fractures have become a daily encounter for spine surgeons. However, there remains a lack of consensus on the optimal management of this patient population.

The Cousa objective: a long-working distance air objective for multiphoton imaging in vivo.

Multiphoton microscopy can resolve fluorescent structures and dynamics deep in scattering tissue and has transformed neural imaging, but applying this technique in vivo can be limited by the mechanical and optical constraints of conventional objectives. Short working distance objectives can collide with compact surgical windows or other instrumentation and preclude imaging. Here we present an ultra-long working distance (20 mm) air objective called the Cousa objective.

Characterizing utilization patterns and reoperation risk factors of interspinous process devices: analysis of a national claims database.

Introduction: Interspinous process devices (IPDs) were developed as minimally invasive alternatives to open decompression surgery for spinal stenosis. However, given high treatment failure and reoperation rates, there has been minimal adoption by spine surgeons. This study leveraged a national claims database to characterize national IPD usage patterns and postoperative outcomes after IPD implantation.

Impact of State Laws on Dispensing Opioid Prescriptions Following Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion Procedures: A Retrospective Large National Database Study.

Study Design: Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the effect of state legislation on prescribing behavior after a commonly performed spinal procedure, posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF).

Methods: Two cohorts of patients from the Pearl Diver Database were created based on patients who underwent PLIF surgery in 2014-15 and 2018-19.

Nasal Iodophor Antiseptic vs Nasal Mupirocin Antibiotic in the Setting of Chlorhexidine Bathing to Prevent Infections in Adult ICUs: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Universal nasal mupirocin plus chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) bathing in intensive care units (ICUs) prevents methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections and all-cause bloodstream infections. Antibiotic resistance to mupirocin has raised questions about whether an antiseptic could be advantageous for ICU decolonization.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of iodophor vs mupirocin for universal ICU nasal decolonization in combination with CHG bathing.

Deep-brain optical recording of neural dynamics during behavior.

In vivo fluorescence recording techniques have produced landmark discoveries in neuroscience, providing insight into how single cell and circuit-level computations mediate sensory processing and generate complex behaviors. While much attention has been given to recording from cortical brain regions, deep-brain fluorescence recording is more complex because it requires additional measures to gain optical access to harder to reach brain nuclei. Here we discuss detailed considerations and tradeoffs regarding deep-brain fluorescence recording techniques and provide a comprehensive guide for all major steps involved, from project planning to data analysis.