AI-assisted Digital Video Analysis Reveals Changes in Gait Among Three-Day Event Horses During Competition.

The value and welfare of a performance horse are closely tie to locomotor behaviors, but we lack objective and quantitative measures for these characteristics, and qualitative approaches for assessing gait do not provide measures suitable for large-scale biomechanical research studies. Digital video analysis utilizing artificial intelligence-based strategies promise to meet the need for an economical, accurate, repeatable and objective technique for field quantification of equine locomotion. Here we describe pilot work using a consumer-level digital video camera to capture high-resolution and high-speed videos of horses moving at the trot during mandatory inspections for international-level eventing competitions.

Digital video analysis reveals gait parameters that predict performance in the jumping test phase of three-day eventing.

In international equestrian sport, visual inspections assess gait and lameness to protect the welfare of performance horses during competition. Horses competing internationally in three-day eventing must pass two mandatory inspections (pre-competition and post-cross country) before attempting the final phase: the jumping test (JT). We hypothesized that digitally quantifying objective gait parameters captured during the two mandatory inspections will identify locomotor characteristics that predict success during the jumping test.

Granular Hydrogels for Harnessing the Immune Response.

This review aims to understand the current progress in immune-instructive granular hydrogels and identify the key features used as immunomodulatory strategies. Published work is systematically reviewed and relevant information about granular hydrogels used throughout these studies is collected. The base polymer, microgel generation technique, polymer crosslinking chemistry, particle size and shape, annealing strategy, granular hydrogel stiffness, pore size and void space, degradability, biomolecule presentation, and drug release are cataloged for each work.

Bilateral Subdiaphragmatic Vagal Nerve Stimulation Using a Novel Waveform Decreases Body Weight, Food Consumption, Adiposity, and Activity in Obesity-Prone Rats.

Introduction: Obesity affects millions of Americans. The vagal nerves convey the degree of stomach fullness to the brain via afferent visceral fibers. Studies have found that vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) promotes reduced food intake, causes weight loss, and reduces cravings and appetite.

High frequency alternating current neurostimulation decreases nocifensive behavior in a disc herniation model of lumbar radiculopathy.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate if kilohertz frequency alternating current (KHFAC) stimulation of peripheral nerve could serve as a treatment for lumbar radiculopathy. Prior work shows that KHFAC stimulation can treat sciatica resulting from chronic sciatic nerve constriction. Here, we evaluate if KHFAC stimulation is also beneficial in a more physiologic model of low back pain which mimics nucleus pulposus (NP) impingement of a lumbar dorsal root ganglion (DRG).

Inter-user Comparison for Quantification of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxides with Magnetic Particle Imaging Across Two Institutions Highlights a Need for Standardized Approaches.

Purpose: Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is being explored in biological contexts that require accurate and reproducible quantification of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs). While many groups have focused on improving imager and SPION design to improve resolution and sensitivity, a few have focused on improving quantification and reproducibility of MPI. The aim of this study was to compare MPI quantification results by two different systems and the accuracy of SPION quantification performed by multiple users at two institutions.

Inter-user comparison for quantification of superparamagnetic iron oxides with magnetic particle imaging across two institutions highlights a need for standardized approaches.

Purpose: Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is being explored in biological contexts that require accurate and reproducible quantification of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs). While many groups have focused on improving imager and SPION design to improve resolution and sensitivity, few have focused on improving quantification and reproducibility of MPI. The aim of this study was to compare MPI quantification results by two different systems and the accuracy of SPION quantification performed by multiple users at two institutions.

Examining thefunctionality of the magnetically aligned regenerative tissue-engineered electronic nerve interface (MARTEENI).

. Although neural-enabled prostheses have been used to restore some lost functionality in clinical trials, they have faced difficulty in achieving high degree of freedom, natural use compared to healthy limbs. This study investigated thefunctionality of a flexible and scalable regenerative peripheral-nerve interface suspended within a microchannel-embedded, tissue-engineered hydrogel (the magnetically aligned regenerative tissue-engineered electronic nerve interface (MARTEENI)) as a potential approach to improving current issues in peripheral nerve interfaces.

Development of a magnetically aligned regenerative tissue-engineered electronic nerve interface for peripheral nerve applications.

Peripheral nerve injuries can be debilitating to motor and sensory function, with severe cases often resulting in complete limb amputation. Over the past two decades, prosthetic limb technology has rapidly advanced to provide users with crude motor control of up to 20° of freedom; however, the nerve-interfacing technology required to provide high movement selectivity has not progressed at the same rate. The work presented here focuses on the development of a magnetically aligned regenerative tissue-engineered electronic nerve interface (MARTEENI) that combines polyimide "threads" encapsulated within a magnetically aligned hydrogel scaffold.

Pump It Up! A randomized clinical trial to optimize insulin pump self-management behaviors in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) must engage in a variety of complex and burdensome self-management behaviors daily to maintain near normal blood glucose levels and prevent complications. There is a need for interventions to improve use of sophisticated diabetes technologies, such as insulin pumps, during adolescence - a very high-risk developmental period for individuals with T1D. All diabetes devices, including insulin pumps, store large amounts of behavioral data that can be downloaded and analyzed to evaluate adherence to recommended T1D self-management behaviors.

Evaluation for type 1 diabetes associated autoantibodies in diabetic and non-diabetic Australian terriers and Samoyeds.

Background: Evidence for an autoimmune etiology in canine diabetes is inconsistent and could vary based on breed. Previous studies demonstrated that small percentages of diabetic dogs possess autoantibodies to antigens known to be important in human type 1 diabetes, but most efforts involved analysis of a wide variety of breeds. The objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65), insulinoma-associated protein 2 (IA-2), and zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8) autoantibodies in diabetic and non-diabetic Australian Terriers and Samoyeds, two breeds with comparatively high prevalence of diabetes, in the United States.

Organisation of the human pancreas in health and in diabetes.

For much of the last century, our knowledge regarding the pancreas in type 1 and type 2 diabetes was largely derived from autopsy studies of individuals with these disorders or investigations utilising rodent models of either disease. While many important insights emanated from these efforts, the mode for investigation has increasingly seen change due to the availability of transplant-quality organ-donor tissues, improvements in pancreatic imaging, advances in metabolic assessments of living patients, genetic analyses, technological advances for laboratory investigation and more. As a result, many long-standing notions regarding the role for and the changes that occur in the pancreas in individuals with these disorders have come under question, while, at the same time, new issues (e.

Decellularized tissues as platforms for in vitro modeling of healthy and diseased tissues.

Biomedical engineers are at the forefront of developing novel treatments to improve human health, however, many products fail to translate to clinical implementation. In vivo pre-clinical animal models, although the current best approximation of complex disease conditions, are limited by reproducibility, ethical concerns, and poor accurate prediction of human response. Hence, there is a need to develop physiologically relevant, low cost, scalable, and reproducible in vitro platforms to provide reliable means for testing drugs, biomaterials, and tissue engineered products for successful clinical translation.

Oligonucleotide-functionalized hydrogels for sustained release of small molecule (aptamer) therapeutics.

Natural and synthetic hydrogels have been widely investigated as biomaterial scaffolds to promote tissue repair and regeneration. Nevertheless, the scaffold alone is often insufficient to drive new tissue growth, instead requiring continuous delivery of therapeutics, such as proteins or other biomolecules that work in concert with structural support provided by the scaffold. However, because of the high-water content, hydrogels tend to be permeable and cause rapid release of the encapsulated drug, which could lead to serious complications from local overdose and may result in the significant waste of encapsulated therapeutic(s).

Linkage Groups within Thiol-Ene Photoclickable PEG Hydrogels Control In Vivo Stability.

Thiol-norbornene (thiol-ene) photoclickable poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels are a versatile biomaterial for cell encapsulation, drug delivery, and regenerative medicine. Numerous in vitro studies with these 4-arm ester-linked PEG-norbornene (PEG-4eNB) hydrogels demonstrate robust cytocompatibility and ability to retain long-term integrity with nondegradable crosslinkers. However, when transplanted in vivo into the subcutaneous or intraperitoneal space, these PEG-4eNB hydrogels with nondegradable crosslinkers rapidly degrade within 24 h.

Detection and quantification of trace airborne transfluthrin concentrations via air sampling and thermal desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

A rapid thermal desorption-gas chromatography-electron ionization-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-EI-MS) method for airborne transfluthrin detection is studied. Active air sampling of 9 L over 1 h at 23 °C through a Tenax®-loaded tube resulted in efficient capture of airborne transfluthrin. Subsequent thermal desorption was employed to achieve an LOD of 2.

Correction to: Metabolic Abnormalities in the Pathogenesis of Type 1 Diabetes.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the author group section. Shuyao Zhang's family name was misspelled as "Zheng".

Tissue-Engineered Peripheral Nerve Interfaces.

Research on neural interfaces has historically concentrated on development of systems for the brain; however, there is increasing interest in peripheral nerve interfaces (PNIs) that could provide benefit when peripheral nerve function is compromised, such as for amputees. Efforts focus on designing scalable and high-performance sensory and motor peripheral nervous system interfaces. Current PNIs face several design challenges such as undersampling of signals from the thousands of axons, nerve-fiber selectivity, and device-tissue integration.

Human whole genome genotype and transcriptome data for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS), conducted by our group and others, have identified loci that harbor risk variants for neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Human disease variants are enriched for polymorphisms that affect gene expression, including some that are known to associate with expression changes in the brain. Postulating that many variants confer risk to neurodegenerative disease via transcriptional regulatory mechanisms, we have analyzed gene expression levels in the brain tissue of subjects with AD and related diseases.

Murine Aβ over-production produces diffuse and compact Alzheimer-type amyloid deposits.

Introduction: Transgenic overexpression of amyloid precursor protein (APP) genes that are either entirely human in sequence or have humanized Aβ sequences can produce Alzheimer-type amyloidosis in mice, provided the transgenes also encode mutations linked to familial Alzheimer's Disease (FAD). Although transgenic mice have been produced that overexpress wild-type mouse APP, no mice have been generated that express mouse APP with FAD mutations. Here we describe two different versions of such mice that produce amyloid deposits consisting of entirely of mouse Aβ peptides.

Respiration and substrate transport rates as well as reactive oxygen species production distinguish mitochondria from brain and liver.

Background: Aberrant mitochondrial function, including excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of human diseases. The use of mitochondrial inhibitors to ascertain the sites in the electron transport chain (ETC) resulting in altered ROS production can be an important tool. However, the response of mouse mitochondria to ETC inhibitors has not been thoroughly assessed.

Viral expression of ALS-linked ubiquilin-2 mutants causes inclusion pathology and behavioral deficits in mice.

Background: UBQLN2 mutations have recently been associated with familial forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and ALS-dementia. UBQLN2 encodes for ubiquilin-2, a member of the ubiquitin-like protein family which facilitates delivery of ubiquitinated proteins to the proteasome for degradation. To study the potential role of ubiquilin-2 in ALS, we used recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors to express UBQLN2 and three of the identified ALS-linked mutants (P497H, P497S, and P506T) in primary neuroglial cultures and in developing neonatal mouse brains.

Magnetic Capture of a Molecular Biomarker from Synovial Fluid in a Rat Model of Knee Osteoarthritis.

Biomarker development for osteoarthritis (OA) often begins in rodent models, but can be limited by an inability to aspirate synovial fluid from a rodent stifle (similar to the human knee). To address this limitation, we have developed a magnetic nanoparticle-based technology to collect biomarkers from a rodent stifle, termed magnetic capture. Using a common OA biomarker--the c-terminus telopeptide of type II collagen (CTXII)--magnetic capture was optimized in vitro using bovine synovial fluid and then tested in a rat model of knee OA.

Metabolic abnormalities in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes.

Clinical onset of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is thought to result from a combination of overt beta cell loss and beta cell dysfunction. However, our understanding of how beta cell metabolic abnormalities arise during the pathogenesis of disease remains incomplete. Despite extensive research on the autoimmune nature of T1D, questions remain regarding the time frame and nature of beta cell destruction and dysfunction.

Why does increased exercise decrease migraine?

Several lines of evidence affirm a positive role for exercise in the management of migraine. This review highlights the latest research supporting this view, covering not only its epidemiologic aspects but also the pain modulatory systems that are likely to be engaged by exercise. Recent research provides broad and consistent evidence indicating that cardiovascular exercise can activate multiple pain modulatory mechanisms, if not the underlying mechanisms that initiate the attack.