Filtered Point Processes Tractably Capture Rhythmic And Broadband Power Spectral Structure in Neural Electrophysiological Recordings.

Neural electrophysiological recordings arise from interacting rhythmic (oscillatory) and broadband (aperiodic) biological subprocesses. Both rhythmic and broadband processes contribute to the neural power spectrum, which decomposes the variance of a neural recording across frequencies. Although an extensive body of literature has successfully studied rhythms in various diseases and brain states, researchers only recently have systematically studied the characteristics of broadband effects in the power spectrum.

Will a patient information brochure increase acceptance of Omani women with varicose veins to be examined by a male surgeon ?- A prospective randomized single blinded study.

Varicose veins are not uncommon among Omani women. As currently there are no female vascular surgeons, it has been noticed in our outpatient clinic that a number of them are reluctant to be examined by a male vascular surgeon, have a duplex ultrasound done and therefore a management plan cannot be made in this subset. This study is a first of its kind in Oman, looking at the impact of a patient information booklet about varicose veins etiology, symptoms, signs, assessment and management, on the attitude of a female patient's acceptance towards examination by a male surgeon in the presence of a chaperone.

Electrographic seizures during low-current thalamic deep brain stimulation in mice.

Background: Deep brain stimulation of the central thalamus (CT-DBS) has potential for modulating states of consciousness, but it can also trigger electrographic seizures, including poly-spike-wave trains (PSWT).

Objectives: To report the probability of inducing PSWTs during CT-DBS in awake, freely-moving mice.

Methods: Mice were implanted with electrodes to deliver unilateral and bilateral CT-DBS at different frequencies while recording electroencephalogram (EEG).

Spike-wave discharges during low-current thalamic deep brain stimulation in mice.

Background: Deep brain stimulation of central thalamus (CT-DBS) has potential for modulating states of consciousness, but it can also trigger spike-wave discharges (SWDs).

Objectives: To report the probability of inducing SWDs during CT-DBS in awake mice.

Methods: Mice were implanted with electrodes to deliver unilateral and bilateral CT-DBS at different frequencies while recording EEG.

Sociodemographic factors linked to food allergy diagnosis among high-risk children with atopic dermatitis.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a known risk factor for the development of food allergy (FA). Prior work has suggested disparities in diagnosis/management of FA in urban populations.

Objective: To determine whether socioeconomic conditions, as measured by the area deprivation index and insurance status, or racial/ethnic self-identity was associated with risk of FA diagnosis (DFA), evaluation by an allergist, or objective FA testing among high-risk children with AD.

Patient-Centered Practice Guidelines: GRADEing Evidence to Incorporate Certainty, Balance Between Benefits and Harms, Equity, Feasibility, and Cost-Effectiveness.

The practice of medicine in recent years has emphasized the use of evidence-based clinical guidelines to help inform treatment decisions. Since its development in 2004, the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach has offered a systematic process for reviewing and summarizing the certainty of evidence found in the medical literature regarding various treatment options. To develop truly patient-centered care guidelines, this appraisal of the certainty of evidence must be combined with an understanding of the balance between benefits and harms, patient preferences, equity, feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and policy implications.

Factors Affecting the Early Maturation of Arteriovenous Fistulae Created at a Tertiary Centre in Oman.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the risk factors associated with the failure of arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) maturation.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted from January 2014 to December 2018 in Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman. Patients were followed-up 3 months after surgery, and their electronic medical records were accessed for demographic and clinical data.

Classic ketogenic diet versus further antiseizure medicine in infants with drug-resistant epilepsy (KIWE): a UK, multicentre, open-label, randomised clinical trial.

Background: Many infancy-onset epilepsies have poor prognosis for seizure control and neurodevelopmental outcome. Ketogenic diets can improve seizures in children older than 2 years and adults who are unresponsive to antiseizure medicines. We aimed to establish the efficacy of a classic ketogenic diet at reducing seizure frequency compared with further antiseizure medicine in infants with drug-resistant epilepsy.

Propofol-mediated Unconsciousness Disrupts Progression of Sensory Signals through the Cortical Hierarchy.

A critical component of anesthesia is the loss of sensory perception. Propofol is the most widely used drug for general anesthesia, but the neural mechanisms of how and when it disrupts sensory processing are not fully understood. We analyzed local field potential and spiking recorded from Utah arrays in auditory cortex, associative cortex, and cognitive cortex of nonhuman primates before and during propofol-mediated unconsciousness.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Pattern of Trauma Presenting to a Tertiary Care Trauma Centre in Oman.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the change in the pattern of the presentation of trauma cases at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, before the COVID-19 pandemic and during its two waves/phases.

Methods: This retrospective study was carried out from January 2019 to October 2021. Data on all trauma patients were collected from the hospital information system after ethics committee approval.

Latent neural dynamics encode temporal context in speech.

Direct neural recordings from human auditory cortex have demonstrated encoding for acoustic-phonetic features of consonants and vowels. Neural responses also encode distinct acoustic amplitude cues related to timing, such as those that occur at the onset of a sentence after a silent period or the onset of the vowel in each syllable. Here, we used a group reduced rank regression model to show that distributed cortical responses support a low-dimensional latent state representation of temporal context in speech.

Propofol Mediated Unconsciousness Disrupts Progression of Sensory Signals through the Cortical Hierarchy.

A critical component of anesthesia is the loss sensory perception. Propofol is the most widely used drug for general anesthesia, but the neural mechanisms of how and when it disrupts sensory processing are not fully understood. We analyzed local field potential (LFP) and spiking recorded from Utah arrays in auditory cortex, associative cortex, and cognitive cortex of non-human primates before and during propofol mediated unconsciousness.

Propofol disrupts alpha dynamics in functionally distinct thalamocortical networks during loss of consciousness.

During propofol-induced general anesthesia, alpha rhythms measured using electroencephalography undergo a striking shift from posterior to anterior, termed anteriorization, where the ubiquitous waking alpha is lost and a frontal alpha emerges. The functional significance of alpha anteriorization and the precise brain regions contributing to the phenomenon are a mystery. While posterior alpha is thought to be generated by thalamocortical circuits connecting nuclei of the sensory thalamus with their cortical partners, the thalamic origins of the propofol-induced alpha remain poorly understood.

A Central Venous Catheter Line Misadventure: "Doctor why do I have a humming sound in my ear?".

We report a 32-year-old female patient who was referred to a tertiary care hospital in Muscat, Oman, in 2021 with an iatrogenic arteriovenous fistula (AVF) that presented as a neck swelling which developed few weeks after an attempt of central venous catheterisation through the right internal jugular vein. The fistula was corrected surgically with a successful outcome. AVF is an abnormal communication between an artery and vein which can occur as a congenital anomaly, after trauma or iatrogenic following central venous catheter or endovenous thermal ablation.

Understanding the CRSwNP Patient as Whole.

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is a distinct inflammatory disease of the upper airways with a significant impact on the health and quality of life of affected patients. Several comorbid conditions such as allergic rhinitis, asthma, sleep disorders, and gastroesophageal reflux disease are commonly reported in patients with CRSwNP.

Objective: In this article, we intended to review the UpToDate information on how these comorbidities can impact CRSwNP patients' health and well-being.