Building Resilience: The Stress Response as a Driving Force for Neuroplasticity and Adaptation.

People exhibit an extraordinary capacity to adjust to stressful situations. Here, we argue that the acute stress response is a major driving force behind this adaptive process. In addition to immediately freeing energy reserves, facilitating a rapid and robust neurocognitive response, and helping to reinstate homeostasis, the stress response also critically regulates neuroplasticity.

Diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndromes: the classic and the novel.

The Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogenous group of clonal bone marrow (BM) stem cell myeloid neoplasms, characterized by bone marrow (BM) dysplasia, macrocytic anemia or cytopenia with a tendency for leukemic transformation. The suspicion of MDS is raised by a typical but not specific clinical picture and routine labs, but the gold standard for MDS diagnosis is still BM examination with the presence of uni-or multi-lineage dysplasia and blast percentage, together with exclusion of other reasons. Cytogenetics is also a part of the diagnostic process.

When to choose intraosseous access in prehospital trauma care: A registry-based study from the Israel Defense Forces.

Purpose: Prompt vascular access is crucial for resuscitating bleeding trauma casualties in prehospital settings but achieving peripheral intravenous (PIV) access can be challenging during hemorrhagic shock due to peripheral vessel collapse. Early intraosseous (IO) device use is suggested as an alternative. This study examines injury characteristics and factors linked to IO access requirements.

Central nervous system manifestations in acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease.

Despite the growing evidence supporting the existence of CNS involvement in acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (CNS-GvHD), the characteristics and course of the disease are still largely unknown. In this multicenter retrospective study, we analyzed the clinical, biological, radiological, and histopathological characteristics, as well as the clinical course of 66 patients diagnosed with possible CNS-GvHD (pCNS-GvHD), selected by predetermined diagnostic criteria. Results were then contrasted depending on whether pCNS-GvHD occurred before or after day 100 following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Video Head Impulse Test Results.

Objective: To investigate the association between sleep deprivation and vestibular dysfunction by Video Head Impulse Test (vHIT).

Methods: This prospective clinical trial explores the impact of acute sleep deprivation on the vestibular-ocular reflex (VOR) in medical residents. The study involved healthy physicians from diverse medical disciplines.

Expert Consensus on Clinical Recommendations for Fractional Ablative CO Laser, in Facial Skin Rejuvenation Treatment.

Background: For three decades, fractional ablative CO lasers have been used for skin rejuvenation. With breakthroughs in laser technology and expanding popularity, new recommendations and suggestions arise on a regular basis.

Objective: To develop up-to-date clinical recommendations on safety measures, therapeutic framework, and techniques to improve treatment outcomes.

The protective role of green spaces in mitigating myopia prevalence.

Near-sightedness, or myopia, is becoming more prevalent worldwide, but its etiopathogenesis is not fully understood. This review examines the potential protective role of green spaces in reducing myopia prevalence among children and adolescents, based on recent epidemiological studies from various countries. The studies consistently used the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to quantify green space exposure.

Brain health and national neurological societies: Results of the European Academy of Neurology survey on brain health awareness and areas of implementation for European countries.

Background And Purpose: The European Academy of Neurology (EAN) has adhered to the global plan for reducing the burden of neurological disorders and promoting brain health launched by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the WHO Intersectoral Global Action Plan on Epilepsy and Other Neurological Disorders. This study reports the results of an EAN survey among national neurological societies (NNSs) on their awareness of brain health policies.

Methods: The EAN survey on the current state of national brain health policies was conducted among the 47 presidents of the NNSs affiliated with the EAN, with the aim of developing the best strategy for close collaboration among stakeholders.

Neurofeedback: new territories and neurocognitive mechanisms of endogenous neuromodulation.

Neurofeedback (NF) is endogenous neuromodulation of circumscribed brain circuitry. While its use of real-time brain activity in a closed-loop system is similar to brain-computer interfaces, instead of controlling an external device like the latter, the goal of NF is to change a targeted brain function. In this special issue on NF, we present current and future methods for extracting and manipulating neural function, how these methods may reveal new insights about brain function, applications, and rarely discussed ethical considerations of guiding and interpreting the brain activity of others.

Amygdala self-neuromodulation capacity as a window for process-related network recruitment.

Neurofeedback (NF) has emerged as a promising avenue for demonstrating process-related neuroplasticity, enabling self-regulation of brain function. NF targeting the amygdala has drawn attention to therapeutic potential in psychiatry, by potentially harnessing emotion-regulation processes. However, not all individuals respond equally to NF training, possibly owing to varying self-regulation abilities.

Cost-effectiveness of exome sequencing and chromosomal microarray for low-risk pregnancies.

Background: Chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) has been central to prenatal genetic diagnosis, detecting copy number variants with a ∼1% yield in low-risk cases. Next-generation sequencing (NGS), including exome sequencing (ES), enhances diagnostic capabilities with higher yields (8.5-10%) but at greater cost and complexity.

Longitudinal safety and efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in children aged 4-11 years with juvenile-onset autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases: A prospective multicenter study.

This prospective, longitudinal, multicenter study assessed the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine among children 4-11 years-old with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatologic disease (AIIRD), compared to healthy controls. The study was conducted from 11/2021-12/2022 at 4 tertiary pediatric rheumatology units in Israel. Participants received at least 2 vaccine doses.

Fetal body composition reference charts and sexual dimorphism using magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that the nutrition of preterm infants should target a body composition similar to that of a fetus in utero. Still, reference charts for intrauterine body composition are missing. Moreover, data on sexual differences in intrauterine body composition during pregnancy are limited.

PET-CT Defined Micro-Vascular Dysfunction and Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy Risk Factors in Heart Transplant Recipients.

Microvascular dysfunction (MVD) is considered a form of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), independently associated with poor prognosis after heart transplantation (HTX). It is unknown whether traditional risk factors for CAV are also applicable to MVD. We retrospectively analyzed factors associated with MVD in 94 HTX recipients who completed a PET scan after a normal baseline left heart catheterization excluding epicardial CAV.

The Role of Inflammation in Early Left Ventricular Thrombus Formation Following ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction-A Matched Case-Control Study.

Background: There is limited data on the association between inflammation and the formation of early left ventricular thrombus (LVT) following ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This study aimed to explore the predictive value of several inflammatory biomarkers for LVT formation following STEMI.

Methods And Results: Our cohort included 2534 consecutive patients admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) with STEMI.

The Outcome of Octogenarian Patients with Multiple Myeloma Treated Outside Clinical Studies, Focusing on Tolerability and Efficacy of Treatment.

Data on the outcome of octogenarian multiple myeloma (MM) patients (pts), especially if treated outside clinical studies, are scanty. : MM pts ≥ 80 years, treated at TASMC with first-line therapy between 2010 and 2023, were reviewed. Characteristics and outcomes were analyzed.

Nociplastic Pain: A Critical Paradigm for Multidisciplinary Recognition and Management.

Our understanding of chronic pain has evolved significantly, shifting from a focus on peripheral damage to recognizing the central mechanisms underlying pain perception. This perspective article explores the concept of nociplastic pain, a term introduced by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) in 2017, which describes pain arising from altered pain modulation within the central nervous system, without clear evidence of tissue damage or inflammation. The historical progression from fibrositis to fibromyalgia, and now to nociplastic pain, underscores the complexity of chronic pain syndromes and the need for a multidisciplinary approach to management.

A cross-disease resource of living human microglia identifies disease-enriched subsets and tool compounds recapitulating microglial states.

Human microglia play a pivotal role in neurological diseases, but we still have an incomplete understanding of microglial heterogeneity, which limits the development of targeted therapies directly modulating their state or function. Here, we use single-cell RNA sequencing to profile 215,680 live human microglia from 74 donors across diverse neurological diseases and CNS regions. We observe a central divide between oxidative and heterocyclic metabolism and identify microglial subsets associated with antigen presentation, motility and proliferation.