Stimulus Repetition and Sample Size Considerations in Item-Level Representational Similarity Analysis.

In studies using representational similarity analysis (RSA) of fMRI data, the reliability of the neural representational dissimilarity matrix (RDM) is a limiting factor in the ability to detect neural correlates of a model. A common strategy for boosting neural RDM reliability is to employ repeated presentations of the stimulus set across imaging runs or sessions. However, little is known about how the benefits of stimulus repetition are affected by repetition suppression, or how they compare with the benefits of increasing the number of participants.

Urea-Loaded PLGA Microspheres as Chemotaxis Stimulants for Helicobacter pylori.

Helicobacter pylori cells undergo chemotaxis toward several small molecules, called chemo-attractants, including urea produced by the epithelial cells of the stomach. The biophysical mechanisms of chemotaxis are not well understood in H. pylori.

Current advances in experimental and computational approaches to enhance CAR T cell manufacturing protocols and improve clinical efficacy.

Since the FDA's approval of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in 2017, significant improvements have been made in the design of chimeric antigen receptor constructs and in the manufacturing of CAR T cell therapies resulting in increased CAR T cell persistence and improved clinical outcome in certain hematological malignancies. Despite the remarkable clinical response seen in some patients, challenges remain in achieving durable long-term tumor-free survival, reducing therapy associated malignancies and toxicities, and expanding on the types of cancers that can be treated with this therapeutic modality. Careful analysis of the biological factors demarcating efficacious from suboptimal CAR T cell responses will be of paramount importance to address these shortcomings.

Predicting success using response after lead implantation with sacral neuromodulation for urgency incontinence.

Importance: Many women report inadequate symptom control after sacral neuromodulation (SNM), despite 50% reduction in urgency incontinence episodes (UUIE) after test stimulation.

Objective: To determine the ideal percent UUIE reduction after test stimulation that predicts 24-month success.

Study Design: Using data from a multicenter SNM trial, we constructed receiver operating characteristic curves to identify an ideal threshold of percent UUIE reduction after test stimulation.

Identification of a subpopulation of highly adherent endothelial cells for seeding synthetic vascular grafts.

Objective: There is an unmet clinical need for alternatives to autologous vessel grafts. Small-diameter (<6 mm) synthetic vascular grafts are not suitable because of unacceptable patency rates. This mainly occurs due to the lack of an endothelial cell (EC) monolayer to prevent platelet activation, thrombosis, and intimal hyperplasia.

Analysis of Injury Metrics From Experimental Cardiac Injuries From Behind Armor Blunt Trauma Using Live Swine Tests: A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Warfighters are issued hard body armor designed to defeat ballistic projectiles. The resulting backface deformation can injure different thoracoabdominal organs. Developed over decades ago, the behind armor blunt impact criterion of maximum 44 mm depth in clay continues to be used independent of armor type or impact location on the thoracoabdominal region covered by the armor.

Non-hemorrhagic cerebellar contrast enhancement on intraoperative MRI during a supratentorial glioma resection: Concerning finding of no significance.

Intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) is a powerful tool used to verify maximal safe resection of gliomas. However, unsuspected new or incidental findings can present difficult clinical scenarios. Here we present a case of a large supratentorial glioma resection where new, incidental bilateral cerebellar hemispheric enhancement was noted on iMRI.

Are neuronal mechanisms of attention universal across human sensory and motor brain maps?

One's experience of shifting attention from the color to the smell to the act of picking a flower seems like a unitary process applied, at will, to one modality after another. Yet, the unique and separable experiences of sight versus smell versus movement might suggest that the neural mechanisms of attention have been separately optimized to employ each modality to its greatest advantage. Moreover, addressing the issue of universality can be particularly difficult due to a paucity of existing cross-modal comparisons and a dearth of neurophysiological methods that can be applied equally well across disparate modalities.

In vivo biodistribution and ototoxicity assessment of cationic liposomal-ceftriaxone via noninvasive trans-tympanic delivery in chinchilla models: Implications for otitis media therapy.

Objectives: We report the in vivo biodistribution and ototoxicity of cationic liposomal-ceftriaxone (CFX) delivered via ear drop formulation in adult chinchilla.

Methods: CFX was encapsulated in liposomes with size of ∼100 nm and surface charge of +20 mV. 100 μl liposomes or free drug was applied twice daily in both external ear canals of adult chinchillas for either 3 or 10 days.

The object-based shift direction anisotropy is modulated by the horizontal visual field meridian.

Reallocating object-based attention across the visual field meridians is significantly faster horizontally than vertically (termed the shift direction anisotropy; SDA), implicating the meridians in reorienting object-based attention. Here, we tested the modulatory role of the meridians in the emergence of the SDA by manipulating meridian local feature contrast. Considering the notion of separate pools of attentional resources in each cortical hemisphere, we hypothesised that manipulating the horizontal meridian would selectively modulate the SDA.

Metabolic Responses of Normal Rat Kidneys to a High Salt Intake.

In this study, novel methods were developed, which allowed continuous (24/7) measurement of arterial blood pressure and renal blood flow in freely moving rats and the intermittent collection of arterial and renal venous blood to estimate kidney metabolic fluxes of O and metabolites. Specifically, the study determined the effects of a high salt (HS; 4.0% NaCl) diet upon whole kidney O consumption and arterial and renal venous plasma metabolomic profiles of normal Sprague-Dawley rats.

Aberrations in Energetic Metabolism and Stress-Related Pathways Contribute to Pathophysiology in the Neb Conditional Knockout Mouse Model of Nemaline Myopathy.

Nemaline myopathy (NM) is a genetically and clinically heterogeneous disease that is diagnosed on the basis of the presence of nemaline rods on skeletal muscle biopsy. Although NM has typically been classified by causative genes, disease severity or prognosis cannot be predicted. The common pathologic end point of nemaline rods (despite diverse genetic causes) and an unexplained range of muscle weakness suggest that shared secondary processes contribute to the pathogenesis of NM.

Effect of muscle activation scheme in human head-neck model on estimating cervical spine ligament strain from military volunteer frontal impact data.

Cervical spine (c-spine) injuries are a common injury during automobile crashes. The objective of this study is to verify an existing head-neck (HN) finite element model with military volunteer frontal impact kinematics by varying the muscle activation scheme from previous literature. Proper muscle activation will allow for accurate percent elongation (strain) of the c-spine ligaments and will serve to establish ligamentous response during non-injury frontal impacts.

How Do Classroom-Based Interprofessional Education Interactions Influence Medical Students' Clerkship Experiences?

Background: Classroom-based interprofessional education (IPE) has been shown to improve medical students' understanding of IPE competencies, but less is known about how those skills apply in clinical environments. This study assesses an IPE session's influence on medical students' interactions with cross-disciplinary colleagues during their pediatrics clerkship.

Methods: Medical, nursing, and pharmacy students in pediatrics clinical rotations participated in an hour-long, virtual classroom-based small-group IPE activity in which they answered questions about a hypothetical case of a febrile neonate's course of hospitalization.

Magnetic and Biocompatible Polyurethane Nanofiber Biomaterial for Tissue Engineering.

Recruitment of endothelial cells to cardiovascular device surfaces could solve issues of thrombosis, neointimal hyperplasia, and restenosis. Since current targeting strategies are often nonspecific, new technologies to allow for site-specific cell localization and capture are needed. The development of cytocompatible superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles has allowed for the use of magnetism for cell targeting.

Neuroimaging evidence for the direct role of auditory scene analysis in object perception.

Auditory Scene Analysis (ASA) refers to the grouping of acoustic signals into auditory objects. Previously, we have shown that perceived musicality of auditory sequences varies with high-level organizational features. Here, we explore the neural mechanisms mediating ASA and auditory object perception.

Structural and biomechanical characterizations of acellular porcine mitral valve scaffolds: anterior leaflets, posterior leaflets, and chordae tendineae.

Mitral valve (MV) tissue engineering is still in its early stage, and one major challenge in MV tissue engineering is to identify appropriate scaffold materials. With the potential of acellular MV scaffolds being demonstrated recently, it is important to have a full understanding of the biomechanics of the native MV components and their acellular scaffolds. In this study, we have successfully characterized the structural and mechanical properties of porcine MV components, including anterior leaflet (AL), posterior leaflet (PL), strut chordae, and basal chordae, before and after decellularization.

Influence of bending pre-load on the tensile response of the lumbar spine.

Previous full body cadaver testing has shown that both obliquely oriented seats in survivable aircraft crashes and far-side oblique crashes in vehicles present distinctive occupant kinematics that are not yet well understood. Knowledge surrounding how these loading scenarios affect the lumbar spine is particularly lacking as there exists minimal research concerning oblique loading. The current study was created to evaluate a novel experimental method through comparison with existing literature, and to examine the impact of a static bending pre-load (posture) on the load-displacement response for the whole lumbar spine loaded in non-destructive axial distraction.

Clinical, Experimental, and Computational Validation of a New Doppler-Based Index for Coarctation Severity Assessment.

Background: Long-term morbidity including hypertension often persists in coarctation patients despite current guidelines. Coarctation severity can be invasively assessed via peak-to-peak catheter pressure gradient (PPCG), which is estimated noninvasively via simplified Bernoulli equation and conventionally reported as peak instantaneous Doppler gradient (PIDG). However, underlying simplifications of the equation limit diagnostic accuracy.

Intergrader agreement of foveal cone topography measured using adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy.

The foveal cone mosaic can be directly visualized using adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO). Previous studies in individuals with normal vision report wide variability in the topography of the foveal cone mosaic, especially the value of peak cone density (PCD). While these studies often involve a human grader, there have been no studies examining intergrader reproducibility of foveal cone mosaic metrics.

Pediatric chest-abdomen-pelvis and abdomen-pelvis CT images with expert organ contours.

Purpose: Organ autosegmentation efforts to date have largely been focused on adult populations, due to limited availability of pediatric training data. Pediatric patients may present additional challenges for organ segmentation. This paper describes a dataset of 359 pediatric chest-abdomen-pelvis and abdomen-pelvis Computed Tomography (CT) images with expert contours of up to 29 anatomical organ structures to aid in the evaluation and development of autosegmentation algorithms for pediatric CT imaging.