Midbrain encodes sound detection behavior without auditory cortex.

Hearing involves analyzing the physical attributes of sounds and integrating the results of this analysis with other sensory, cognitive, and motor variables in order to guide adaptive behavior. The auditory cortex is considered crucial for the integration of acoustic and contextual information and is thought to share the resulting representations with subcortical auditory structures via its vast descending projections. By imaging cellular activity in the corticorecipient shell of the inferior colliculus of mice engaged in a sound detection task, we show that the majority of neurons encode information beyond the physical attributes of the stimulus and that the animals' behavior can be decoded from the activity of those neurons with a high degree of accuracy.

The role of early temperament on oral language development of New Zealand children speaking Mandarin or Cantonese.

This study investigated the role of temperament in oral language development in over 200 Mandarin and Cantonese speakers in the pre-birth longitudinal cohort study. Mothers assessed infant temperament at nine months using a five-factor Infant Behaviour Questionnaire-Revised Very Short Form. They also reported on children's vocabulary and word combinations at age two using adapted MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory short forms.

Cortico-cortical feedback engages active dendrites in visual cortex.

Sensory processing in the neocortex requires both feedforward and feedback information flow between cortical areas. In feedback processing, higher-level representations provide contextual information to lower levels, and facilitate perceptual functions such as contour integration and figure-ground segmentation. However, we have limited understanding of the circuit and cellular mechanisms that mediate feedback influence.

Impact of National Volume-Based Procurement on the Procurement Volumes and Spending for Antiviral Medications of Hepatitis B Virus.

Although persistent inhibition of HBV replication by antiviral therapy has shown to slow disease progression, cost-related access barriers to these essential medicines are becoming salient. The national volume-based procurement (NVBP) was piloted in China and led to substantial reduction in the list price of prescription drugs. To examine the impact of NVBP on selected antiviral medication costs per defined daily dose (DDD), procurement volumes, and spending.

Corrigendum: Big Data and Real-World Data Based Cost-Effectiveness Studies and Decision-Making Models: A Systematic Review and Analysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.

Big Data and Real-World Data based Cost-Effectiveness Studies and Decision-making Models: A Systematic Review and Analysis.

Big data and real-world data (RWD) have been increasingly used to measure the effectiveness and costs in cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA). However, the characteristics and methodologies of CEA based on big data and RWD remain unknown. The objectives of this study were to review the characteristics and methodologies of the CEA studies based on big data and RWD and to compare the characteristics and methodologies between the CEA studies with or without decision-analytic models.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage for Late Talkers Treatment: Effect on Expressive Vocabulary and Phonology.

Purpose This study examined the effect of Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage for Late Talkers (VAULT) treatment on toddlers' expressive vocabulary and phonology. Parent acceptability of VAULT treatment was also considered. Method We used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline single case experimental design with three late talking toddlers aged 21-25 months.

Pharmacotherapy Management for COVID-19 and Cardiac Safety: A Data Mining Approach for Pharmacovigilance Evidence from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).

Background: Several pharmacological agents, such as chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine, have been promoted for COVID-19 treatment or pre-exposure prophylaxis. However, no comprehensive evaluation of the safety of these possible agents is available, and is urgently needed.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the risks of cardiac adverse events associated with the possible pharmacotherapies for COVID-19, including certain antimalarial, antiviral, and antibiotic drugs.

Economic and clinical burdens and associated health disparities in HIV/AIDS management using big data: potentially inappropriate use and deprescribing of benzodiazepines.

This study aimed to examine factors, healthcare utilization, and medical costs associated with potentially inappropriate use of benzodiazepines in persons living with HIV (PLWH). We used big data from Medicare claims in 2017. Potentially inappropriate use of benzodiazepines was defined as having any benzodiazepine claims in individuals 65+ years or having benzodiazepine claims for more than four weeks in individuals 18-64 years.

Deletion of Acid-Sensing Ion Channel 3 Relieves the Late Phase of Neuropathic Pain by Preventing Neuron Degeneration and Promoting Neuron Repair.

Neuropathic pain is one type of chronic pain that occurs as a result of a lesion or disease to the somatosensory nervous system. Chronic excessive inflammatory response after nerve injury may contribute to the maintenance of persistent pain. Although the role of inflammatory mediators and cytokines in mediating allodynia and hyperalgesia has been extensively studied, the detailed mechanisms of persistent pain or whether the interactions between neurons, glia and immune cells are essential for maintenance of the chronic state have not been completely elucidated.

Treating acute hypertensive cardiogenic pulmonary edema with high-dose nitroglycerin.

Acute pulmonary edema due to sympathetic surge and increased peripheral vascular resistance often present to the emergency department (ED) with markedly elevated blood pressure, severe dyspnea, and desaturation. This condition is known as "SCAPE" (sympathetic crashing acute pulmonary edema). We present three SCAPE patients who were successfully treated with high-dose nitroglycerin (NTG) and bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) ventilation.

A phonation therapy approach for Mandarin-English bilingual clients with dysarthria.

This study aims to measure the speech intelligibility of Mandarin-English speakers with dysarthria before and after phonation therapy, in order to determine the effectiveness of this approach. A within-group design was used with two case studies which allowed one to measure therapy variables (single word and sentences); language variables (Mandarin and English); and speech production variables (respiration, phonation, articulation, resonance, and prosody). Both participants demonstrated highly significant improvement in Mandarin intelligibility scores after therapy compared with minimal changes in English intelligibility.