Fractal cycles of sleep, a new aperiodic activity-based definition of sleep cycles.

Sleep cycles are defined as episodes of non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep followed by an episode of REM sleep. Fractal or aperiodic neural activity is a well-established marker of arousal and sleep stages measured using electroencephalography. We introduce a new concept of 'fractal cycles' of sleep, defined as a time interval during which time series of fractal activity descend to their local minimum and ascend to the next local maximum.

AI-powered visual diagnosis of vulvar lichen sclerosus: A pilot study.

Background: Vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition associated with significant impairment of quality of life and potential risk of malignant transformation. However, diagnosis of VLS is often delayed due to its variable clinical presentation and shame-related late consultation. Machine learning (ML)-trained image recognition software could potentially facilitate early diagnosis of VLS.

Divergent Associations of Slow-Wave Sleep versus Rapid Eye Movement Sleep with Plasma Amyloid-Beta.

Objective: Recent evidence shows that during slow-wave sleep (SWS), the brain is cleared from potentially toxic metabolites, such as the amyloid-beta protein. Poor sleep or elevated cortisol levels can worsen amyloid-beta clearance, potentially leading to the formation of amyloid plaques, a neuropathological hallmark of Alzheimer disease. Here, we explored how nocturnal neural and endocrine activity affects amyloid-beta fluctuations in the peripheral blood.

Sleep disturbances in primary aldosteronism are associated to depressive symptoms - Could specific mineralocorticoidreceptors be a common pathway?

Symptoms of depression and anxiety are frequent in patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) and are supposed to be independent risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). As patients with PA have an increased cardiovascular risk compared to patients with essential hypertension, sleep disturbances, which often accompany depressive and anxiety symptoms, may be an additional contributor to the cardiometabolic consequences of PA. To clarify this possible link we investigated 132 patients with PA at baseline and after one year after initiation of treatment either by adrenalectomy (ADX) or mineralocorticoid-receptor-antagonist (MRA).

Sustained polyphasic sleep restriction abolishes human growth hormone release.

Study Objectives: Voluntary sleep restriction is a common phenomenon in industrialized societies aiming to increase time spent awake and thus productivity. We explored how restricting sleep to a radically polyphasic schedule affects neural, cognitive, and endocrine characteristics.

Methods: Ten young healthy participants were restricted to one 20-minute nap opportunity at the end of every 4 hours (i.

Increased Aperiodic Neural Activity During Sleep in Major Depressive Disorder.

Background: In major depressive disorder (MDD), patients often express subjective sleep complaints, while polysomnographic studies report only subtle alterations of the electroencephalographic signal. We hypothesize that differentiating the signal into its oscillatory and aperiodic components may bring new insights into our understanding of sleep abnormalities in MDD. Specifically, we investigated aperiodic neural activity during sleep and its relationships with sleep architecture, depression severity, and responsivity to antidepressant treatment.

Selection and enrichment of microbial species with an increased lignocellulolytic phenotype from a native soil microbiome by activity-based probing.

Multi-omic analyses can provide information on the potential for activity within a microbial community but often lack specificity to link functions to cell, primarily offer potential for function or rely on annotated databases. Functional assays are necessary for understanding in situ microbial activity to better describe and improve microbiome biology. Targeting enzyme activity through activity-based protein profiling enhances the accuracy of functional studies.

Patient perspectives on emergency department initiation of medication for alcohol use disorder.

Objective: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a leading cause of preventable death and is a frequent diagnosis in the emergency department (ED). Treatment in the ED, however, typically focuses on managing the sequelae of AUD, such as acute withdrawal, rather than addressing the underlying addiction. For many patients, these ED encounters are a missed opportunity to connect with medication for AUD.

Using tele-ultrasound to teach medical students: A randomised control equivalence study.

Objectives: Undergraduate ultrasound education is becoming increasingly important, but its expansion is limited by time, space and the availability of trained faculty. In order to validate an alternative and more accessible teaching model, our aim was to assess whether combining teleguidance and peer-assisted learning to teach ultrasound is as effective as traditional in-person methods.

Methods: Peer instructors taught 47 second-year medical students ocular ultrasound either teleguidance or traditional in-person methods.

Gravity complexes as a focus of seafloor fluid seepage: the Rio Grande Cone, SE Brazil.

Seafloor methane emissions can affect Earth's climate and ocean chemistry. Vast quantities of methane formed by microbial decomposition of organic matter are locked within gas hydrate and free gas on continental slopes, particularly in large areas with high sediment accumulations such as deep-sea fans. The release of methane in slope environments has frequently been associated with dissociation of gas hydrates near the edge of the gas hydrate stability zone on the upper slope, with discharges in greater water depths less understood.

Terahertz radiation detection with a cantilever-based photoacoustic sensor.

We report the photoacoustic (PA) response in the terahertz (THz) range by employing a detection process actuated with a silicon cantilever pressure sensor and a carbon-based radiation absorber. The detection relies on the mechanical response of the cantilever, when the volume of the carrier gas inside the PA cell expands with the heat produced by the radiation absorber. The detector interferometrically monitors the movement of the cantilever sensor to generate the PA signal.

Development of Superconducting On-chip Fourier Transform Spectrometers.

Superconducting On-chip Fourier Transform Spectrometers (SOFTS) are broadband, ultra-compact and electronic interferometers. SOFTS will enable kilo-pixel spectro-imaging focal planes, enhancing sub-millimeter astrophysics and cosmology. Particular applications include cluster astrophysics, cosmic microwave background (CMB) science, and line intensity mapping.

Non-REM sleep in major depressive disorder.

Disturbed sleep is a key symptom in major depressive disorder (MDD). REM sleep alterations are well described in the current literature, but little is known about non-REM sleep alterations. Additionally, sleep disturbances relate to a variety of cognitive symptoms in MDD, but which features of non-REM sleep EEG contribute to this, remains unknown.

An activity-based probe targeting the streptococcal virulence factor C5a peptidase.

Development of profiling strategies to provide high resolution understanding of enzymes involved in bacterial infections remains an important need. These strategies help resolve enzyme mechanisms of actions and can guide therapeutic development. We have developed a selective new activity-based probe (ABP) targeting a highly conserved surface bound enzyme, C5a peptidase, present in several pathogenic .

Reversible Suppression of Fear Memory Recall by Transient Circadian Arrhythmia.

We tested the hypothesis that a temporary period of circadian arrhythmia would transiently impair recall of an aversive memory in Siberian hamsters (). Unlike mice or rats, circadian arrhythmia is easily induced in this species by a one-time manipulation of their ambient lighting [i.e.

P018 How to Improve Transition of Pediatric IBD Patients Through Use of EMR.

Background: Despite major medical advances in the IBD world, the incidence of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) continues to increase. This patient population is at risk for higher rates of complications from their chronic disease. The transition from pediatric to adult care is crucial as this population is at an increased risk for loss to follow up, delays in receipt of appropriate medical care, poor adherence, and increased emergency department visits and hospital admissions.

Friendships in Integrative Settings: Network Analyses in Organized Sports and a Comparison with School.

Social networks affect health. In this empirical study, friendship networks in integrative organized sports were examined and then compared with friendship networks in integrative school. Relevant factors for friendship network formation were investigated, with a particular interest in the relevance of intellectual disability.

Durable memories and efficient neural coding through mnemonic training using the method of loci.

Mnemonic techniques, such as the method of loci, can powerfully boost memory. We compared memory athletes ranked among the world's top 50 in memory sports to mnemonics-naïve controls. In a second study, participants completed a 6-week memory training, working memory training, or no intervention.

A set of composite, non-redundant EEG measures of NREM sleep based on the power law scaling of the Fourier spectrum.

Features of sleep were shown to reflect aging, typical sex differences and cognitive abilities of humans. However, these measures are characterized by redundancy and arbitrariness. Our present approach relies on the assumptions that the spontaneous human brain activity as reflected by the scalp-derived electroencephalogram (EEG) during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep is characterized by arrhythmic, scale-free properties and is based on the power law scaling of the Fourier spectra with the additional consideration of the rhythmic, oscillatory waves at specific frequencies, including sleep spindles.

Loss of Circadian Timing Disrupts Theta Episodes during Object Exploration.

This study examined whether theta oscillations were compromised by the type of circadian disruption that impairs hippocampal-dependent memory processes. In prior studies on Siberian hamsters, we developed a one-time light treatment that eliminated circadian timing in the central pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). These arrhythmic animals had impaired hippocampal-dependent memory whereas animals made arrhythmic with SCN lesions did not.

Sleep in pituitary insufficient patients compared to patients with depression and healthy controls at baseline and after challenge with CRH.

Sleep disturbances are prevalent in both patients with pituitary insufficiency and with depression. The role of corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH), involved in sleep regulation, has not been fully clarified. Pituitary insufficiency is an ideal model for studying sleep-endocrine effects since no consecutive hormone releases and feedback effects occur after hormone administration.

The renin secretion profile under the influence of sleep deprivation and the neuropeptides CRH and GHRH.

It is already known that during normal sleep plasma renin activity (PRA) shows oscillations with decreases during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep and increases during non-REM (NREM) sleep. We also know that renin correlates positively with slow-wave sleep (SWS). Sleep deprivation is known to enhance significantly SWS and slow wave activity (SWA, known as δ power).

Probe-enabled approaches for function-dependent cell sorting and characterization of microbiome subpopulations.

Understanding the roles that individual species or communities play within a microbiome is a significant challenge. The complexity and heterogeneity of microbiomes presents a challenge to researchers looking to unravel the function that microbiomes serve within larger environments. While identification of the species and proteins present in a microbiome can be accomplished through genomics approaches, strategies that report on enzyme activity are limited.