Maternal Singing but Not Speech Enhances Vagal Activity in Preterm Infants during Hospitalization: Preliminary Results.

Background: Early parental interventions in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) have beneficial effects on preterm infants' short and long-term outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Early Vocal Contact (EVC)-singing and speaking-on preterm infants' vagal activity and autonomic nervous system (ANS) maturation.

Methods: In this multi-center randomized clinical trial, twenty-four stable preterm infants, born at 25-32 weeks gestational age, were randomized to either the EVC group or control group, where mothers did not interact with the babies but observed their behavior.

A Multiscale Partition-Based Kolmogorov-Sinai Entropy for the Complexity Assessment of Heartbeat Dynamics.

Background: Several methods have been proposed to estimate complexity in physiological time series observed at different time scales, with a particular focus on heart rate variability (HRV) series. In this frame, while several complexity quantifiers defined in the multiscale domain have already been investigated, the effectiveness of a multiscale Kolmogorov-Sinai (K-S) entropy has not been evaluated yet for the characterization of heartbeat dynamics.

Methods: The use of the algorithmic information content, which is estimated through an effective compression algorithm, is investigated to quantify multiscale partition-based K-S entropy on publicly available experimental HRV series gathered from young and elderly subjects undergoing a visual elicitation task (Fantasia).

Inferring directionality of coupled dynamical systems using Gaussian process priors: Application on neurovascular systems.

Dynamical system theory has recently shown promise for uncovering causality and directionality in complex systems, particularly using the method of convergent cross mapping (CCM). In spite of its success in the literature, the presence of process noise raises concern about CCM's ability to uncover coupling direction. Furthermore, CCM's capacity to detect indirect causal links may be challenged in simulated unidrectionally coupled Rossler-Lorenz systems.

A computationally efficient dynamic model of human epicardial tissue.

We present a new phenomenological model of human ventricular epicardial cells and we test its reentry dynamics. The model is derived from the Rogers-McCulloch formulation of the FitzHugh-Nagumo equations and represents the total ionic current divided into three contributions corresponding to the excitatory, recovery and transient outward currents. Our model reproduces the main characteristics of human epicardial tissue, including action potential amplitude and morphology, upstroke velocity, and action potential duration and conduction velocity restitution curves.

Scaling of joint mass and metabolism fluctuations in in silico cell-laden spheroids.

Variations and fluctuations are characteristic features of biological systems and are also manifested in cell cultures. Here, we describe a computational pipeline for identifying the range of three-dimensional (3D) cell-aggregate sizes in which nonisometric scaling emerges in the presence of joint mass and metabolic rate fluctuations. The 3D cell-laden spheroids with size and single-cell metabolic rates described by probability density functions were randomly generated in silico.

Bioengineering Approaches to Improve In Vitro Performance of Prepubertal Lamb Oocytes.

Juvenile in vitro embryo technology (JIVET) provides exciting opportunities in animal reproduction by reducing the generation intervals. Prepubertal oocytes are also relevant models for studies on oncofertility. However, current JIVET efficiency is still unpredictable, and further improvements are needed in order for it to be used on a large-scale level.

Heart rate variability analysis for the assessment of immersive emotional arousal using virtual reality: Comparing real and virtual scenarios.

Many affective computing studies have developed automatic emotion recognition models, mostly using emotional images, audio and videos. In recent years, virtual reality (VR) has been also used as a method to elicit emotions in laboratory environments. However, there is still a need to analyse the validity of VR in order to extrapolate the results it produces and to assess the similarities and differences in physiological responses provoked by real and virtual environments.

Integration of a Passive Exoskeleton and a Robotic Supernumerary Finger for Grasping Compensation in Chronic Stroke Patients: The SoftPro Wearable System.

Upper-limb impairments are all-pervasive in Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). As a consequence, people affected by a loss of arm function must endure severe limitations. To compensate for the lack of a functional arm and hand, we developed a wearable system that combines different assistive technologies including sensing, haptics, orthotics and robotics.

Tools and approaches for analyzing the role of mitochondria in health, development and disease using human cerebral organoids.

Mitochondria are cellular organelles involved in generating energy to power various processes in the cell. Although the pivotal role of mitochondria in neurogenesis was demonstrated (first in animal models), very little is known about their role in human embryonic neurodevelopment and its pathology. In this respect human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC)-derived cerebral organoids provide a tractable, alternative model system of the early neural development and disease that is responsive to pharmacological and genetic manipulations, not possible to apply in humans.

A novel quantitative and reference-free ultrasound analysis to discriminate different concentrations of bone mineral content.

Bone fracture is a continuous process, during which bone mineral matrix evolves leading to an increase in hydroxyapatite and calcium carbonate content. Currently, no gold standard methods are available for a quantitative assessment of bone fracture healing. Moreover, the available tools do not provide information on bone composition.

Fabrication of New Hybrid Scaffolds for Perivascular Application to Treat Limb Ischemia.

Cell therapies are emerging as a new therapeutic frontier for the treatment of ischemic disease. However, femoral occlusions can be challenging environments for effective therapeutic cell delivery. In this study, cell-engineered hybrid scaffolds are implanted around the occluded femoral artery and the therapeutic benefit through the formation of new collateral arteries is investigated.

One-step automated bioprinting-based method for cumulus-oocyte complex microencapsulation for 3D in vitro maturation.

Three-dimensional in vitro maturation (3D IVM) is a promising approach to improve IVM efficiency as it could prevent cumulus-oocyte complex (COC) flattening and preserve its structural and functional integrity. Methods reported to date have low reproducibility and validation studies are limited. In this study, a bioprinting based production process for generating microbeads containing a COC (COC-microbeads) was optimized and its validity tested in a large animal model (sheep).

LiDAR-Based GNSS Denied Localization for Autonomous Racing Cars.

Self driving vehicles promise to bring one of the greatest technological and social revolutions of the next decade for their potential to drastically change human mobility and goods transportation, in particular regarding efficiency and safety. Autonomous racing provides very similar technological issues while allowing for more extreme conditions in a safe human environment. While the software stack driving the racing car consists of several modules, in this paper we focus on the localization problem, which provides as output the estimated pose of the vehicle needed by the planning and control modules.

Assessing the Quality of Heart Rate Variability Estimated from Wrist and Finger PPG: A Novel Approach Based on Cross-Mapping Method.

The non-invasiveness of photoplethysmographic (PPG) acquisition systems, together with their cost-effectiveness and easiness of connection with IoT technologies, is opening up to the possibility of their widespread use. For this reason, the study of the reliability of PPG and pulse rate variability (PRV) signal quality has become of great scientific, technological, and commercial interest. In this field, sensor location has been demonstrated to play a crucial role.

Functionalized Enzyme-Responsive Biomaterials to Model Tissue Stiffening .

The mechanical properties of the cellular microenvironment play a crucial role in modulating cell function, and many pathophysiological processes are accompanied by variations in extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness. Lysyl oxidase (LOx) is one of the enzymes involved in several ECM-stiffening processes. Here, we engineered poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based hydrogels with controlled mechanical properties in the range typical of soft tissues.

Uncovering complex central autonomic networks at rest: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study on complex cardiovascular oscillations.

This study aims to uncover brain areas that are functionally linked to complex cardiovascular oscillations in resting-state conditions. Multi-session functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and cardiovascular data were gathered from 34 healthy volunteers recruited within the human connectome project (the '100-unrelated subjects' release). Group-wise multi-level fMRI analyses in conjunction with complex instantaneous heartbeat correlates (entropy and Lyapunov exponent) revealed the existence of a specialized brain network, i.

Quantifying the lagged Poincaré plot geometry of ultrashort heart rate variability series: automatic recognition of odor hedonic tone.

The application of Poincaré plot analysis to characterize inter-beat interval dynamics has been successfully proposed in the scientific literature for the assessment of humans' physiological states and related aberrations. In this study, we proposed novel descriptors to trace the evolution of Poincaré plot shape over the lags. Their reliability in ultra-short cardiovascular series analysis was validated on synthetic inter-beat series generated through a physiologically plausible integral pulse frequency modulation model.

Nonlinear Analysis of Eye-Tracking Information for Motor Imagery Assessments.

This study investigates the assessment of motor imagery (MI) ability in humans. Commonly, MI ability is measured through two methodologies: a self-administered questionnaire (MIQ-3) and the mental chronometry (MC), which measures the temporal discrepancy between the actual and the imagined motor tasks. However, both measures rely on subjects' self-assessment and do not use physiological measures.

Engineering Gels with Time-Evolving Viscoelasticity.

From a mechanical point of view, a native extracellular matrix (ECM) is viscoelastic. It also possesses time-evolving or dynamic behaviour, since pathophysiological processes such as ageing alter their mechanical properties over time. On the other hand, biomaterial research on mechanobiology has focused mainly on the development of substrates with varying stiffness, with a few recent contributions on time- or space-dependent substrate mechanics.

Real vs. immersive-virtual emotional experience: Analysis of psycho-physiological patterns in a free exploration of an art museum.

Virtual reality is a powerful tool in human behaviour research. However, few studies compare its capacity to evoke the same emotional responses as in real scenarios. This study investigates psycho-physiological patterns evoked during the free exploration of an art museum and the museum virtualized through a 3D immersive virtual environment (IVE).

Electrospun Structures Made of a Hydrolyzed Keratin-Based Biomaterial for Development of Tissue Models.

The aim of this study is the analysis and characterization of a hydrolyzed keratin-based biomaterial and its processing using electrospinning technology to develop tissue models. This biomaterial, extracted from poultry feathers, was mixed with type A porcine gelatin and cross-linked with γ-glycidyloxy-propyl-trimethoxy-silane (GPTMS) to be casted initially in the form of film and characterized in terms of swelling, contact angle, mechanical properties, and surface charge density. After these chemical-physical characterizations, electrospun nanofibers structures were manufactured and their mechanical properties were evaluated.

A Parsimonious Granger Causality Formulation for Capturing Arbitrarily Long Multivariate Associations.

High-frequency neuroelectric signals like electroencephalography (EEG) or magnetoencephalography (MEG) provide a unique opportunity to infer causal relationships between local activity of brain areas. While causal inference is commonly performed through classical Granger causality (GC) based on multivariate autoregressive models, this method may encounter important limitations (e.g.

Real-time cellular impedance monitoring and imaging of biological barriers in a dual-flow membrane bioreactor.

The generation of physiologically relevant in-vitro models of biological barriers can play a key role in understanding human diseases and in the development of more predictive methods for assessing toxicity and drug or nutrient absorption. Here, we present an advanced cell culture system able to mimic the dynamic environment of biological barriers while monitoring cell behaviour through real-time impedance measurements and imaging. It consists of a fluidic device with an apical and a basal flow compartment separated by a semi-permeable membrane.

The central autonomic network at rest: Uncovering functional MRI correlates of time-varying autonomic outflow.

Peripheral measures of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity at rest have been extensively employed as putative biomarkers of autonomic cardiac control. However, a comprehensive characterization of the brain-based central autonomic network (CAN) sustaining cardiovascular oscillations at rest is missing, limiting the interpretability of these ANS measures as biomarkers of cardiac control. We evaluated combined cardiac and fMRI data from 34 healthy subjects from the Human Connectome Project to detect brain areas functionally linked to cardiovagal modulation at rest.