Variations in brain glutamate and glutamine levels throughout the sleep-wake cycle.

Background: Glutamatergic signaling is essential for modulating synaptic plasticity and cognition. However, the dynamics of glutamatergic activity over the 24-hour sleep-wake cycle, particularly in relation to sleep, remain poorly understood. This study aims to investigate diurnal variations in brain Glx levels-representing the combined concentrations of glutamate and glutamine-in humans and to explore their implications for cognitive performance and sleep pressure.

Changes in Structural Covariance among Olfactory-related Brain Regions in Anosmia Patients.

Anosmia, characterized by the loss of smell, is associated not only with dysfunction in the peripheral olfactory system but also with changes in several brain regions involved in olfactory processing. Specifically, the orbitofrontal cortex is recognized for its pivotal role in integrating olfactory information, engaging in bidirectional communication with the primary olfactory regions, including the olfactory cortex, amygdala, and entorhinal cortex. However, little is known about alterations in structural connections among these brain regions in patients with anosmia.

Impact of sleep disturbance in shift workers on hippocampal volume and psychomotor speed.

Study Objectives: Shift work interferes with circadian rhythms, affecting sleep quality and cognitive function. Poor sleep quality in shift worker (SW)s can impair psychomotor performance due to fatigue and sleepiness, increasing the risk of errors, accidents, and reduced productivity. Given the potential for atrophic changes in the hippocampus due to sleep disturbances, our study investigates how poor sleep quality correlates with hippocampal structural alterations and impacts psychomotor performance among SWs.

Brain Age Prediction Using Multi-Hop Graph Attention Combined with Convolutional Neural Network.

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been used widely to predict biological brain age based on brain magnetic resonance (MR) images. However, CNNs focus mainly on spatially local features and their aggregates and barely on the connective information between distant regions. To overcome this issue, we propose a novel multi-hop graph attention (MGA) module that exploits both the local and global connections of image features when combined with CNNs.

Disturbed insular functional connectivity and its clinical implication in patients with complex regional pain syndrome.

Background: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is characterized by continued amplification of pain intensity. Given the pivotal roles of the insula in the perception and interpretation of pain, we examined insular functional connectivity and its associations with clinical characteristics in patients with CRPS.

Methods: Twenty-one patients with CRPS and 49 healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Distinctively different human neurobiological responses after trauma exposure and implications for posttraumatic stress disorder subtyping.

Trauma elicits various adaptive and maladaptive responses among all exposed people. There may be distinctively different patterns of adaptation/maladaptation or types according to neurobiological predisposition. The present study aims to dissect the heterogeneity of posttraumatic conditions in order to identify clinically meaningful subtypes in recently traumatized individuals and evaluate their neurobiological correlates and long-term prognosis.

Genetic profile for dopamine signaling predicts brain functional reactivity to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Research integrating molecular and imaging data provides important insights into how the genetic profile associated with dopamine signaling influences inter-individual differences in brain functions. However, the effects of genetic variations in dopamine signaling on the heterogeneity of brain changes induced by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) still remain unclear. The current study examined the composite effects of genetic variations in dopamine-related genes on rTMS-induced brain responses in terms of the functional network connectivity and working memory performance.

Severity of post-traumatic stress disorder and childhood abuse in adult crime victims as mediated by low resilience and dysfunctional coping strategies.

Background: Experience of childhood abuse has been suggested to increase the severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood. We hypothesized that resilience and coping strategies, which could be altered by experiencing childhood abuse, may mediate the effects of childhood abuse on PTSD severity in adulthood.

Methods: Crime victims with PTSD (n = 212, 38 men, aged 20-65 years) were recruited from South Korea.

A Group of Descending Glutamatergic Neurons Activated by Stress in Corticolimbic Regions Project to the Nucleus Accumbens.

The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is the major component of the ventral striatum that regulates stress-induced depression. The NAc receives dopaminergic inputs from the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and the role of VTA-NAc neurons in stress response has been recently characterized. The NAc also receives glutamatergic inputs from various forebrain structures including the prelimbic cortex (PL), basolateral amygdala (BLA), and ventral hippocampus (vHIP), whereas the role of those glutamatergic afferents in stress response remains underscored.

Discovery of a Novel Highly Selective Histamine H4 Receptor Antagonist for the Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis.

The histamine H4 receptor (H4R), a member of the G-protein coupled receptor family, has been considered as a potential therapeutic target for treating atopic dermatitis (AD). A large number of H4R antagonists have been disclosed, but no efficient agents controlling both pruritus and inflammation in AD have been developed yet. Here, we have discovered a novel class of orally available H4R antagonists showing strong anti-itching and anti-inflammation activity as well as excellent selectivity against off-targets.

Imaging characteristics of persistent left cranial vena cava incidentally diagnosed with computed tomography in dogs.

Persistent left cranial vena cava (PLCVC) is an uncommon congenital thoracic venous anomaly in dogs. This study examines the clinical and CT findings of dogs diagnosed with PLCVC incidentally. In this study, complete type of PLCVC was diagnosed in 26 dogs with CT angiography.

Multi-voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy of cerebral metabolites in healthy dogs at 1.5 Tesla.

This study was conducted to measure the difference in levels of cerebral metabolites in the right and left hemispheres, gray (GM) and white matter (WM), imaging planes, and anatomical regions of healthy dogs to establish normal variations. Eight male Beagle dogs (1 to 4 years of age; mean age, 2 years) with no evidence of neurologic disease were studied. Using the multi-voxel technique on a 1.

Quantitative assessment of inferior oblique muscle overaction using photographs of the cardinal positions of gaze.

Purpose: To report a novel method for measuring the degree of inferior oblique muscle overaction and to investigate the correlation with other factors.

Design: Cross-sectional diagnostic study.

Methods: One hundred and forty-two eyes (120 patients) were enrolled in this study.

Endogenous endophthalmitis in the Korean population: a six-year retrospective study.

Purpose: To identify the clinical features, treatment outcomes, and prognostic factors of endogenous endophthalmitis in multiple tertiary referral centers of South Korea over a 6-year period.

Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective review of medical records of 57 eyes of 43 patients diagnosed with endogenous endophthalmitis from January 2005 to December 2011, which was referred to tertiary referral centers.

Results: Fifty-seven cases of 43 patients were followed for a mean of 18.

Overcoming segmentation errors in measurements of macular thickness made by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.

Purpose: To assess the frequency and severity of segmentation errors in spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, and present an appropriate scan protocol for measuring macular thickness.

Methods: In this study we examined 40 eyes of healthy subjects, 45 eyes with retinal pathology and 31 eyes with subretinal pathology. Patients were prospectively imaged using 12 radial scans and 3-dimensional macular cube scans by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (3D OCT-1000; Topcon Corp.

Adjunctive use of a novel releasable suture technique in transconjunctival vitrectomy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the merits of a transconjunctival vitrectomy with the releasable suture technique in a large series of 20-gauge, 23-gauge, and hybrid trocar vitrectomy and to assess its effectiveness in minimizing the occurrence of incompetent wound closures.

Methods: One hundred and one patients, with a variety of vitreoretinal disorders, and totaling 125 eyes, were enrolled. Each entry site wound was closed, with the releasable suture technique using 8-0 nylon.

A study of the vascular network of the iris using flat preparation.

Purpose: This study was performed to examine the vascular network of the human iris using flat preparation.

Methods: The ciliary body-iris structures were separated from human eyeballs, and a portion of the irises were treated with trypsin to remove the pigment granules. These iris tissues were unfolded and placed onto glass slides using flat preparation, and the vascular network of each iris was examined by fluorescein microscopy.

Self-organization of amide dendrons and their dendronized macromolecules.

A polymerizable methacryl unit was introduced at the focal moiety of the amide dendrons which have amide branches and alkyl periphery. Their dendronized polymers were also prepared by the radical polymerization of the methacryl units. The self-organization characteristics of dendrons and dendronized polymers were then investigated in both the organic and aqueous phases.

Cyclodextrin-covered organic nanotubes derived from self-assembly of dendrons and their supramolecular transformation.

The dendritic building blocks with a focal pyrene unit self-organize into vesicles in aqueous phase. The in situ inclusion of the focal pyrene units into the cavity of beta- or gamma-cyclodextrin (CD) induces self-assembled organic nanotubes with an average outer diameter of approximately 45 nm and inner diameter of 22 nm. The surface of the nanotube is covered with CD.

[Study on the fluorescence spectra of LaL3 with DNA].

A fluorescence method is presented for the determination of DNA. The method is based on the interaction of LaL3 [L = morin (2', 3, 4', 5, 7-Pentahydroxyflavone), 2'-OH group deprotonated] with DNA in NH3 x H2O-NH4Cl buffer of pH = 8.0, with lambdaex at 387 nm, and lambdaem at 535 nm.