The use of cadaver models to diagnose rib fractures: A pilot study

Background

In the emergency department, rib fractures are a common finding in patients who sustain chest trauma. Rib fractures may be a sign of significant, underlying pathology, especially in the elderly patients where rib fractures are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. To date, no studies have evaluated the ability of ultrasound to detect rib fractures using cadaver models and subsequently use this model as a teaching tool.

The role of BDNF methylation and Val66Met in amygdala reactivity during emotion processing

Epigenetic alterations of the brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene have been associated with psychiatric disorders in humans and with differences in amygdala BDNF mRNA levels in rodents. This human study aimed to investigate the relationship between the functional BDNF‐Val⁶⁶Met polymorphism, its surrounding DNA methylation in BDNF exon IX, amygdala reactivity to emotional faces, and personality traits. Healthy controls (HC, n = 189) underwent functional MRI during an emotional face‐matching task. Harm avoidance, novelty seeking and reward dependence were measured using the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ). Individual BDNF methylation profiles were ascertained and associated with several BDNF single nucleotide polymorphisms surrounding the BDNF‐Val⁶⁶Met, amygdala reactivity, novelty seeking and harm avoidance. Higher BDNF methylation was associated with higher amygdala reactivity (x = 34, y = 0, z = ?26, t₍₁₆₆₎ = 3.00, TFCE = 42.39, p_(FWE) = .045), whereby the BDNF‐Val⁶⁶Met genotype per se did not show any significant association with brain function. Furthermore, novelty seeking was negatively associated with BDNF methylation (r = ?.19, p = .015) and amygdala reactivity (r = ?.17, p = .028), while harm avoidance showed a trend for a positive association with BDNF methylation (r = .14, p = .066). The study provides first insights into the relationship among BDNF methylation, BDNF genotype, amygdala reactivity and personality traits in humans, highlighting the multidimensional relations among genetics, epigenetics, and neuronal functions. The present study suggests a possible involvement of epigenetic BDNF modifications in psychiatric disorders and related brain functions, whereby high BDNF methylation might reduce BDNF mRNA expression and upregulate amygdala reactivity.     

Implementation of amplitude-integrated electroencephalography in tertiary Canadian Neonatal Intensive Care Units—a longitudinal study

AimTo investigate the implementation of amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) as bedside monitoring tool of cerebral function in tertiary Canadian Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) over the past decade.MethodsLongitudinal study consisting of online surveys of neonatologists on the use of aEEG in 2009 and 2018.ResultsThe response rate to the survey was 72 of 149 (49%) in 2009 and 18 of 30 (60%) in 2018, respectively. aEEG has been implemented in almost all (2009: 62.5%; 2018: 94%) tertiary Canadian NICUs. Two-thirds (2009: 67%; 2018: 71%) of the respondents considered information from aEEG tracing helpful in clinical practice. The main indications for aEEG were term neonates with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (2009 and 2018: 76%) and seizure detection/surveillance (2009: 88%; 2018: 94%). Teaching on aEEG has been implemented for neonatologists (2018: 100%) and health care providers (2018: 50%) in tertiary Canadian NICUs but there is a lack of standardization of training. Use of aEEG in preterm neonates (2009: 37%, 2018: 33%) and application of aEEG in research (18% reported occasional use) is less common.ConclusionaEEG is well established in tertiary Canadian NICUs to monitor cerebral function and detect seizure activity. There is a need to develop formalized aEEG training programs and methods to assess competence. Further implementation of aEEG in preterm neonates and research is desirable.     

Intranasal Delivery of Exendin-4 Confers Neuroprotective Effect Against Cerebral Ischemia in Mice

Exendin-4 is now considered as a promising drug for the treatment of cerebral ischemia. To determine the neuroprotective effects of intranasal exendin-4, C57BL/6J mice were intranasally administered with exendin-4 daily for 7 days before middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) surgery. Intranasally administered exendin-4 produced higher brain concentrations and lower plasma concentrations when compared to identical doses administered interperitoneally. Neurological deficits and volume of infarcted lesions were analyzed 24 h after ischemia. Intranasal administration of exendin-4 exhibited significant neuroprotection in C57BL/6 mice subjected to MCAO by reducing neurological deficit scores and infarct volume. The neuroprotective effects of exendin-4 were blocked by the knockdown of GLP-1R with shRNA. However, exendin-4 has no impact on glucose and insulin levels which indicated that the neuroprotective effect was mediated by the activation of GLP-1R in the brain. Exendin-4 intranasal administration restored the balance between pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins and decreased the expression of Caspase-3. The anti-apoptotic effect was mediated by the cAMP/PKA and PI3K/Akt pathway. These findings provided evidence that exendin-4 intranasal administration exerted a neuroprotective effect mediated by an anti-apoptotic mechanism in MCAO mice and protected neurons against ischemic injury through the GLP-1R pathway in the brain. Intranasal delivery of exendin-4 might be a promising strategy for the treatment of ischemic stroke.     

Sex-Specificity in the Reward Value of Facial Attractiveness

Studies of the sex-specificity of sexual arousal in adults (i.e., the tendency to respond more strongly to preferred-sex individuals than non-preferred sex individuals) have suggested that heterosexual men, homosexual men, and homosexual women show stronger sex-specific responses than do heterosexual women. Evidence for a similar pattern of results in studies investigating the reward value of faces is equivocal. Consequently, we investigated the effects of (1) sexual orientation (homosexual vs. heterosexual), (2) sex (male vs. female), (3) image sex (preferred-sex vs. non-preferred-sex), and (4) the physical attractiveness of the individual shown in the image on the reward value of faces. Participants were 130 heterosexual men, 130 homosexual men, 130 heterosexual women, and 130 homosexual women. The reward value of faces was assessed using a standard key-press task. Multilevel modeling of responses indicated that images of preferred-sex individuals were more rewarding than images of non-preferred-sex individuals and that this preferred-sex bias was particularly pronounced when more physically attractive faces were presented. These effects were not qualified by interactions involving either the sexual orientation or the sex of our participants, however, suggesting that the preferred-sex bias in the reward value of faces is similar in heterosexual men, homosexual men, heterosexual women, and homosexual women.     

Cinnamon Converts Poor Learning Mice to Good Learners: Implications for Memory Improvement

This study underlines the importance of cinnamon, a commonly used natural spice and flavoring material, and its metabolite sodium benzoate (NaB) in converting poor learning mice to good learning ones. NaB, but not sodium formate, was found to upregulate plasticity-related molecules, stimulate NMDA- and AMPA-sensitive calcium influx and increase of spine density in cultured hippocampal neurons. NaB induced the activation of CREB in hippocampal neurons via protein kinase A (PKA), which was responsible for the upregulation of plasticity-related molecules. Finally, spatial memory consolidation-induced activation of CREB and expression of different plasticity-related molecules were less in the hippocampus of poor learning mice as compared to good learning ones. However, oral treatment of cinnamon and NaB increased spatial memory consolidation-induced activation of CREB and expression of plasticity-related molecules in the hippocampus of poor-learning mice and converted poor learners into good learners. These results describe a novel property of cinnamon in switching poor learners to good learners via stimulating hippocampal plasticity.