A randomized controlled trial of a housing intervention to reduce endocrine disrupting chemical exposures in children.

Few studies have considered household interventions for reducing endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) exposures. We conducted a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial, originally designed to reduce lead exposure, to evaluate if the intervention lowered EDC exposures in young children. Study participants were children from the Cincinnati, Ohio area (n = 250, HOME Study).

Fluid Flow Analysis of Neonatal Dual-Lumen Cannulas for Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

Hemolysis persists as a common and serious problem for neonatal patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Since the cannula within the ECMO circuit is associated with hemolysis-inducing shear stresses, real-world internal fluid flow measurements are urgently needed to understand the mechanism and confirm computational estimates. This study appears to be the first experimental study of fluid flow inside commercial ECMO dual-lumen cannulas (DLCs) and first particle image velocimetry (PIV) visualization inside a complicated medical device.

Artifact characterization and mitigation techniques during concurrent sensing and stimulation using bidirectional deep brain stimulation platforms.

Bidirectional deep brain stimulation (DBS) platforms have enabled a surge in hours of recordings in naturalistic environments, allowing further insight into neurological and psychiatric disease states. However, high amplitude, high frequency stimulation generates artifacts that contaminate neural signals and hinder our ability to interpret the data. This is especially true in psychiatric disorders, for which high amplitude stimulation is commonly applied to deep brain structures where the native neural activity is miniscule in comparison.

A 3Dmodel of the device-tissue interface: functional and structural symptoms of innate neuroinflammation are mitigated by antioxidant ceria nanoparticles.

The recording instability of neural implants due to neuroinflammation at the device-tissue interface is a primary roadblock to broad adoption of brain-machine interfaces. While a multiphasic immune response, marked by glial scaring, oxidative stress (OS), and neurodegeneration, is well-characterized, the independent contributions of systemic and local 'innate' immune responses are not well-understood. We aimed to understand and mitigate the isolated the innate neuroinflammatory response to devices.

Long-term ecological assessment of intracranial electrophysiology synchronized to behavioral markers in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Detection of neural signatures related to pathological behavioral states could enable adaptive deep brain stimulation (DBS), a potential strategy for improving efficacy of DBS for neurological and psychiatric disorders. This approach requires identifying neural biomarkers of relevant behavioral states, a task best performed in ecologically valid environments. Here, in human participants with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) implanted with recording-capable DBS devices, we synchronized chronic ventral striatum local field potentials with relevant, disease-specific behaviors.

Lipopolysaccharide-induced neuroinflammation disrupts functional connectivity and community structure in primary cortical microtissues.

Three-dimensional (3D) neural microtissues are a powerful in vitro paradigm for studying brain development and disease under controlled conditions, while maintaining many key attributes of the in vivo environment. Here, we used primary cortical microtissues to study the effects of neuroinflammation on neural microcircuits. We demonstrated the use of a genetically encoded calcium indicator combined with a novel live-imaging platform to record spontaneous calcium transients in microtissues from day 14-34 in vitro.

Uncovering biomarkers during therapeutic neuromodulation with PARRM: Period-based Artifact Reconstruction and Removal Method.

Advances in therapeutic neuromodulation devices have enabled concurrent stimulation and electrophysiology in the central nervous system. However, stimulation artifacts often obscure the sensed underlying neural activity. Here, we develop a method, termed Period-based Artifact Reconstruction and Removal Method (PARRM), to remove stimulation artifacts from neural recordings by leveraging the exact period of stimulation to construct and subtract a high-fidelity template of the artifact.

Honeycomb: a template for reproducible psychophysiological tasks for clinic, laboratory, and home use.

Objective: To improve the ability of psychiatry researchers to build, deploy, maintain, reproduce, and share their own psychophysiological tasks. Psychophysiological tasks are a useful tool for studying human behavior driven by mental processes such as cognitive control, reward evaluation, and learning. Neural mechanisms during behavioral tasks are often studied via simultaneous electrophysiological recordings.

SARS-CoV-2 Variants in Rhode Island.

COVID-19 is a worldwide public health emergency caused by SARS-CoV-2. Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 emerging variants is important for pandemic monitoring and informing public health responses. Through an interstate academic-public health partnership, we established Rhode Island's capacity to sequence SARS-CoV-2 genomes and created a systematic surveillance program to monitor the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variants in the state.

Lamellar architectures in stiff biomaterials may not always be templates for enhancing toughness in composites.

The layered architecture of stiff biological materials often endows them with surprisingly high fracture toughness in spite of their brittle ceramic constituents. Understanding the link between organic-inorganic layered architectures and toughness could help to identify new ways to improve the toughness of biomimetic engineering composites. We study the cylindrically layered architecture found in the spicules of the marine sponge Euplectella aspergillum.

Solubility and reactivity of surfactant-enhanced alkaline hydrolysis of organophosphorus pesticide DNAPL.

The study presented in this paper evaluated the effectiveness of surfactants in enhancing mass removal of organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) from soil under highly alkaline conditions and potential for enhancing in situ alkaline hydrolysis for treatment of OPPs, particularly parathion (EP3) and methyl parathion (MP3). In control and surfactant experiments, hydrolysis products EP2 acid, MP2 acid, and PNP were formed in non-stoichiometric amounts indicating instability of these compounds. MP3 and malathion were found to have faster hydrolysis rates than EP3 under the conditions studied.

Decoding task engagement from distributed network electrophysiology in humans.

Objective: Here, our objective was to develop a binary decoder to detect task engagement in humans during two distinct, conflict-based behavioral tasks. Effortful, goal-directed decision-making requires the coordinated action of multiple cognitive processes, including attention, working memory and action selection. That type of mental effort is often dysfunctional in mental disorders, e.

Longitudinal associations between white matter maturation and cognitive development across early childhood.

From birth to 5 years of age, brain structure matures and evolves alongside emerging cognitive and behavioral abilities. In relating concurrent cognitive functioning and measures of brain structure, a major challenge that has impeded prior investigation of their time-dynamic relationships is the sparse and irregular nature of most longitudinal neuroimaging data. We demonstrate how this problem can be addressed by applying functional concurrent regression models (FCRMs) to longitudinal cognitive and neuroimaging data.

The Case for Adaptive Neuromodulation to Treat Severe Intractable Mental Disorders.

Mental disorders are a leading cause of disability worldwide, and available treatments have limited efficacy for severe cases unresponsive to conventional therapies. Neurosurgical interventions, such as lesioning procedures, have shown success in treating refractory cases of mental illness, but may have irreversible side effects. Neuromodulation therapies, specifically Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), may offer similar therapeutic benefits using a reversible (explantable) and adjustable platform.

Measuring Total PFASs in Water: The Tradeoff between Selectivity and Inclusivity.

Millions of people around the world may be exposed to drinking water impacted by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) at levels exceeding local or national advisories. Many studies indicate that the full extent of PFAS contamination is significantly underestimated when only targeted analytical methods are used. Here, we review techniques using bulk organofluorine measurement to quantify the (as of yet) unidentified fraction of PFASs.

Age-dynamic networks and functional correlation for early white matter myelination.

The maturation of the myelinated white matter throughout childhood is a critical developmental process that underlies emerging connectivity and brain function. In response to genetic influences and neuronal activities, myelination helps establish the mature neural networks that support cognitive and behavioral skills. The emergence and refinement of brain networks, traditionally investigated using functional imaging data, can also be interrogated using longitudinal structural imaging data.

Human amygdala functional network development: A cross-sectional study from 3 months to 5 years of age.

Although the amygdala's role in shaping social behavior is especially important during early post-natal development, very little is known of amygdala functional development before childhood. To address this gap, this study uses resting-state fMRI to examine early amygdalar functional network development in a cross-sectional sample of 80 children from 3-months to 5-years of age. Whole brain functional connectivity with the amygdala, and its laterobasal and superficial sub-regions, were largely similar to those seen in older children and adults.

Delivering the Sense of Touch to the Human Brain.

Intracortical somatosensory interfaces have now entered the clinical domain. Darie et al. explore the implications of research published in Science Translational Medicine by Flesher et al.

Thermodynamic study of (anthracene + phenanthrene) solid state mixtures.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are common components of many materials, such as petroleum and various types of tars. They are generally present in mixtures, occurring both naturally and as byproducts of fuel processing operations. It is important to understand the thermodynamic properties of such mixtures in order to understand better and predict their behavior (, fate and transport) in the environment and in industrial operations.

Mapping an index of the myelin g-ratio in infants using magnetic resonance imaging.

Optimal myelination of neuronal axons is essential for effective brain and cognitive function. The ratio of the axon diameter to the outer fiber diameter, known as the g-ratio, is a reliable measure to assess axonal myelination and is an important index reflecting the efficiency and maximal conduction velocity of white matter pathways. Although advanced neuroimaging techniques including multicomponent relaxometry (MCR) and diffusion tensor imaging afford insight into the microstructural characteristics of brain tissue, by themselves they do not allow direct analysis of the myelin g-ratio.

Examining the relationships between cortical maturation and white matter myelination throughout early childhood.

Cortical development and white matter myelination are hallmark processes of infant and child neurodevelopment, and play a central role in the evolution of cognitive and behavioral functioning. Non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used to independently track these microstructural and morphological changes in vivo, however few studies have investigated the relationship between them despite their concurrency in the developing brain. Further, because measures of cortical morphology rely on underlying gray-white matter tissue contrast, which itself is a function of white matter myelination, it is unclear if contrast-based measures of cortical development accurately reflect cortical architecture, or if they merely represent adjacent white matter maturation.

Myelination Is Associated with Processing Speed in Early Childhood: Preliminary Insights.

Processing speed is an important contributor to working memory performance and fluid intelligence in young children. Myelinated white matter plays a central role in brain messaging, and likely mediates processing speed, but little is known about the relationship between myelination and processing speed in young children. In the present study, processing speed was measured through inspection times, and myelin volume fraction (VFM) was quantified using a multicomponent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approach in 2- to 5-years of age.

Lubricin restoration in a mouse model of congenital deficiency.

Objective: Congenital deficiency of the principal boundary lubricant in cartilage (i.e., lubricin, encoded by the gene PRG4) increases joint friction and causes progressive joint failure.

Cortical maturation and myelination in healthy toddlers and young children.

The maturation of cortical structures, and the establishment of their connectivity, are critical neurodevelopmental processes that support and enable cognitive and behavioral functioning. Measures of cortical development, including thickness, curvature, and gyrification have been extensively studied in older children, adolescents, and adults, revealing regional associations with cognitive performance, and alterations with disease or pathology. In addition to these gross morphometric measures, increased attention has recently focused on quantifying more specific indices of cortical structure, in particular intracortical myelination, and their relationship to cognitive skills, including IQ, executive functioning, and language performance.

White matter maturation profiles through early childhood predict general cognitive ability.

Infancy and early childhood are periods of rapid brain development, during which brain structure and function mature alongside evolving cognitive ability. An important neurodevelopmental process during this postnatal period is the maturation of the myelinated white matter, which facilitates rapid communication across neural systems and networks. Though prior brain imaging studies in children (4 years of age and above), adolescents, and adults have consistently linked white matter development with cognitive maturation and intelligence, few studies have examined how these processes are related throughout early development (birth to 4 years of age).