Brain substrate metabolism and ß-cell function in humans: A positron emission tomography study.

Aims: Recent clinical studies have shown enhanced brain glucose uptake during clamp and brain fatty acid uptake in insulin-resistant individuals. Preclinical studies suggest that the brain may be involved in the control of insulin secretion. The aim of this study was to investigate whether brain metabolism assessed as brain glucose and fatty acid uptake is associated with the parameters of β-cell function in humans.

Constraints and Adaptation of Closed-Loop Neuroprosthetics for Functional Restoration.

Closed-loop neuroprosthetics aim to for lost function, e.g., by controlling external devices such as prostheses or wheelchairs.

What Turns Assistive into Restorative Brain-Machine Interfaces?

Brain-machine interfaces (BMI) may support motor impaired patients during activities of daily living by controlling external devices such as prostheses (assistive BMI). Moreover, BMIs are applied in conjunction with robotic orthoses for rehabilitation of lost motor function via neurofeedback training (restorative BMI). Using assistive BMI in a rehabilitation context does not automatically turn them into restorative devices.

Establishment of a novel retinoblastoma (Rb) nude mouse model by intravitreal injection of human Rb Y79 cells - comparison of in vivo analysis versus histological follow up.

Retinoblastoma (Rb) is the most frequent primary intraocular tumour in children and, if left untreated, can cause death. Preclinical animal models that mimic molecular, genetic, and cellular features of cancers are essential for studying cancer and searching for promising diagnosis and treatment modalities. There are several models described for Rb, but none of them fully meet our requirements.

Hybrid Neuroprosthesis for the Upper Limb: Combining Brain-Controlled Neuromuscular Stimulation with a Multi-Joint Arm Exoskeleton.

Brain-machine interface-controlled (BMI) neurofeedback training aims to modulate cortical physiology and is applied during neurorehabilitation to increase the responsiveness of the brain to subsequent physiotherapy. In a parallel line of research, robotic exoskeletons are used in goal-oriented rehabilitation exercises for patients with severe motor impairment to extend their range of motion (ROM) and the intensity of training. Furthermore, neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is applied in neurologically impaired patients to restore muscle strength by closing the sensorimotor loop.

Closed-Loop Neuroprosthesis for Reach-to-Grasp Assistance: Combining Adaptive Multi-channel Neuromuscular Stimulation with a Multi-joint Arm Exoskeleton.

Stroke patients with severe motor deficits cannot execute task-oriented rehabilitation exercises with their affected upper extremity. Advanced rehabilitation technology may support them in performing such reach-to-grasp movements. The challenge is, however, to provide assistance as needed, while maintaining the participants' commitment during the exercises.

Brain State-Dependent Closed-Loop Modulation of Paired Associative Stimulation Controlled by Sensorimotor Desynchronization.

Background: Pairing peripheral electrical stimulation (ES) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) increases corticospinal excitability when applied with a specific temporal pattern. When the two stimulation techniques are applied separately, motor imagery (MI)-related oscillatory modulation amplifies both ES-related cortical effects-sensorimotor event-related desynchronization (ERD), and TMS-induced peripheral responses-motor-evoked potentials (MEP). However, the influence of brain self-regulation on the associative pairing of these stimulation techniques is still unclear.

Detecting a Cortical Fingerprint of Parkinson's Disease for Closed-Loop Neuromodulation.

Recent evidence suggests that deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in Parkinson's disease (PD) mediates its clinical effects by modulating cortical oscillatory activity, presumably via a direct cortico-subthalamic connection. This observation might pave the way for novel closed-loop approaches comprising a cortical sensor. Enhanced beta oscillations (13-35 Hz) have been linked to the pathophysiology of PD and may serve as such a candidate marker to localize a cortical area reliably modulated by DBS.

Self-regulation of circumscribed brain activity modulates spatially selective and frequency specific connectivity of distributed resting state networks.

The mechanisms of learning involved in brain self-regulation have still to be unveiled to exploit the full potential of this methodology for therapeutic interventions. This skill of volitionally changing brain activity presumably resembles motor skill learning which in turn is accompanied by plastic changes modulating resting state networks. Along these lines, we hypothesized that brain regulation and neurofeedback would similarly modify intrinsic networks at rest while presenting a distinct spatio-temporal pattern.

An integration of competing accounts on children's number line estimation.

Children's estimation patterns in bounded number line estimation (NLE) reveal marked developmental changes. Three different theoretical accounts were proposed to explain these changes: a log-to-linear shift account, a proportion-judgment account and a two-linear account considering familiarity with numbers or the understanding of the place-value structure of the Arabic number system. However, only the first two accounts are considered prominently in the ongoing scientific debate.

Reinforcement learning of self-regulated β-oscillations for motor restoration in chronic stroke.

Neurofeedback training of Motor imagery (MI)-related brain-states with brain-computer/brain-machine interfaces (BCI/BMI) is currently being explored as an experimental intervention prior to standard physiotherapy to improve the motor outcome of stroke rehabilitation. The use of BCI/BMI technology increases the adherence to MI training more efficiently than interventions with sham or no feedback. Moreover, pilot studies suggest that such a priming intervention before physiotherapy might-like some brain stimulation techniques-increase the responsiveness of the brain to the subsequent physiotherapy, thereby improving the general clinical outcome.

Estimating cognitive load during self-regulation of brain activity and neurofeedback with therapeutic brain-computer interfaces.

Neurofeedback (NFB) training with brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) is currently being studied in a variety of neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions in an aim to reduce disorder-specific symptoms. For this purpose, a range of classification algorithms has been explored to identify different brain states. These neural states, e.

Reinforcement learning for adaptive threshold control of restorative brain-computer interfaces: a Bayesian simulation.

Restorative brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are increasingly used to provide feedback of neuronal states in a bid to normalize pathological brain activity and achieve behavioral gains. However, patients and healthy subjects alike often show a large variability, or even inability, of brain self-regulation for BCI control, known as BCI illiteracy. Although current co-adaptive algorithms are powerful for assistive BCIs, their inherent class switching clashes with the operant conditioning goal of restorative BCIs.

Learned self-regulation of the lesioned brain with epidural electrocorticography.

Introduction: Different techniques for neurofeedback of voluntary brain activations are currently being explored for clinical application in brain disorders. One of the most frequently used approaches is the self-regulation of oscillatory signals recorded with electroencephalography (EEG). Many patients are, however, unable to achieve sufficient voluntary control of brain activity.

Tracheocutaneous fistula closure using a Cartilo-musculo-cutaneous bilobed flap.

In general, the development of a tracheocutaneous fistula (TCF) after tracheotomy is a seldom but recurrent clinical problem in long-term ventilated patients. In cases of prolonged wound healing with no spontaneous wound closure or insufficient later closure by secondary suture, different surgical procedures have been previously described for the closure of TCFs. Nonetheless, each procedure has its individually associated complications so that definite closure of TCFs still remains a challenge.

Coupling brain-machine interfaces with cortical stimulation for brain-state dependent stimulation: enhancing motor cortex excitability for neurorehabilitation.

Motor recovery after stroke is an unsolved challenge despite intensive rehabilitation training programs. Brain stimulation techniques have been explored in addition to traditional rehabilitation training to increase the excitability of the stimulated motor cortex. This modulation of cortical excitability augments the response to afferent input during motor exercises, thereby enhancing skilled motor learning by long-term potentiation-like plasticity.

Influence of Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors and DNA-Methyltransferase Inhibitors on the NK Cell-Mediated Lysis of Pediatric B-Lineage Leukemia.

Epigenetic drugs like histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) and DNA-methyltransferase inhibitors (DNMTi) have been shown to be effective against a variety of tumor entities. Among different molecular anticancer activities of epigenetic active substances, up-regulation of natural killer (NK) cell ligands was described to contribute to an enhanced NK cell-mediated killing of tumor cell lines. So far, no data is available on this effect in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Instruments for the evaluation of ergonomics in surgery.

Ergonomics in the operating room (OR) remains an unsolved problem for both users and engineers. For the design of ergonomic products evaluating studies need to accompany the development process from the very beginning. For this purpose, ergonomic research provides a number of methods which are described and discussed in the present article.

Ergonomics in the operating room - from the anesthesiologist's point of view.

Over the past years, progress in medicine and the development of a multitude of new devices have made the tasks to be performed in operating rooms increasingly complex; at the same time, more and more equipment is necessary to perform these tasks and make surgery as safe as possible for the patients. These developments are also relevant for the field of anesthetic care; when planning new operating rooms or restructuring existing ones, attention should be paid to provide the anesthesia team with an adequate work environment so that all anesthetic procedures can be carried out safely and efficiently and an optimal workflow can be established in the OR environment. The present paper illuminates this topic from various angles, discussing questions of space requirements, monitoring, alarm systems, equipment design, documentation and human factors.