RNA as a source of biomarkers for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Metabolic Brain Disease - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease, leads to the loss of motor neurons. There are currently no effective therapies to treat this...     

Correction to: RNA as a Source of Biomarkers for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Metabolic Brain Disease -     

First report of Mortierella wolfii causing fungal keratitis from a tertiary eye hospital in India

A young 33 year old male presented with non-resolving corneal infiltrate for 2 month duration in the right eye. KOH/ Calcoflour wet mount revealed sparsely septate fungal hyphae. Post therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty 3 doses of intracameral voriconazole(100μg/0.1ml) was administered suspecting recurrence. Fungal culture revealed non sporulating mould on SDA. PCR based DNA sequencing targeting the ITS region identified the fungal isolate as Mortierella wolfii (M. wolfii) belonging to zygomycetes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of human fungal keratitis caused by M. wolfii.     

Brain activation during the voiding phase of micturition in healthy adults: A meta‐analysis of neuroimaging studies

Several studies have used a variety of neuroimaging techniques to measure brain activity during the voiding phase of micturition. However, there is a lack of consensus on which regions of the brain are activated during voiding. The aim of this meta‐analysis is to identify the brain regions that are consistently activated during voiding in healthy adults across different studies. We searched the literature for neuroimaging studies that reported brain co‐ordinates that were activated during voiding. We excluded studies that reported co‐ordinates only for bladder filling, during pelvic floor contraction only, and studies that focused on abnormal bladder states such as the neurogenic bladder. We used the activation‐likelihood estimation (ALE) approach to create a statistical map of the brain and identify the brain co‐ordinates that were activated across different studies. We identified nine studies that reported brain activation during the task of voiding in 91 healthy subjects. Together, these studies reported 117 foci for ALE analysis. Our ALE map yielded six clusters of activation in the pons, cerebellum, insula, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), thalamus, and the inferior frontal gyrus. Regions of the brain involved in executive control (frontal cortex), interoception (ACC, insula), motor control (cerebellum, thalamus), and brainstem (pons) are involved in micturition. This analysis provides insight into the supraspinal control of voiding in healthy adults and provides a framework to understand dysfunctional voiding. Clin. Anat., 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Increased Social Interactions Reduce the Association Between Constricted Life-Space and Lower Daily Happiness in Older Adults With and Without HIV: A GPS and Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

ObjectiveOlder persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PWH) are particularly susceptible to life-space restrictions. The aims of this study included: 1) using global positioning system (GPS) derived indicators as an assessment of time spent at home among older adults with and without HIV; 2) using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine real-time relationships between life-space, mood (happiness, sadness, anxious), fatigue, and pain; and 3) determining if number of daily social interactions moderated the effect of life-space on mood.MethodsEighty-eight older adults (PWH n = 54, HIV-negative n = 34) completed smartphone-based EMA surveys assessing mood, fatigue, pain, and social interactions four times per day for two weeks. Participants’ smartphones were GPS enabled throughout the study. Mixed-effects regression models analyzed concurrent and lagged associations among life-space and behavioral indicators of health.ResultsPWH spent more of their time at home (79% versus 70%, z = ?2.08; p = 0.04) and reported lower mean happiness (3.2 versus 3.7; z = 2.63; p = 0.007) compared to HIV-negative participants. Controlling for covariates, more daily social interactions were associated with higher ratings of real-time happiness (b = 0.12; t = 5.61; df = 1087.9; p< 0.001). Similar findings were seen in lagged analyses: prior day social interactions (b = 0.15; t = 7.3; df = 1024.9; p < 0.0001) and HIV status (b = ?0.48; t = ?2.56; df = 1026.8; p = 0.01) attenuated the effect of prior day time spent at home on happiness.ConclusionAccounting for engagement in social interactions reduced the significant effect of time spent at home and lower happiness. Interventions targeting social isolation within the context of constricted life-space may be beneficial for increasing positive mood in older adults, and especially relevant to older PWH.