Association of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome with Anticonvulsant Use: ACase Report

A 20-year-old woman with epilepsy had resolution of features of polycystic ovary syndrome on discontinuing valproic acid; they reappeared with the newer antiepileptic divalproex sodium.     

Pathological speech signal analysis and classification using empirical mode decomposition

Automated classification of normal and pathological speech signals can provide an objective and accurate mechanism for pathological speech diagnosis, and is an active area of research. A large part of this research is based on analysis of acoustic measures extracted from sustained vowels. However, sustained vowels do not reflect real-world attributes of voice as effectively as continuous speech, which can take into account important attributes of speech such as rapid voice onset and termination, changes in voice frequency and amplitude, and sudden discontinuities in speech. This paper presents a methodology based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD) for classification of continuous normal and pathological speech signals obtained from a well-known database. EMD is used to decompose randomly chosen portions of speech signals into intrinsic mode functions, which are then analyzed to extract meaningful temporal and spectral features, including true instantaneous features which can capture discriminative information in signals hidden at local time-scales. A total of six features are extracted, and a linear classifier is used with the feature vector to classify continuous speech portions obtained from a database consisting of 51 normal and 161 pathological speakers. A classification accuracy of 95.7 % is obtained, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the methodology.     

Role of mitochondrial calcium uptake homeostasis in resting state fMRI brain networks

Mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uptake influences both brain energy metabolism and neural signaling. Given that brain mitochondrial organelles are distributed in relation to vascular density, which varies considerably across brain regions, we hypothesized different physiological impacts of mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uptake across brain regions. We tested the hypothesis by monitoring brain “intrinsic activity” derived from the resting state functional MRI (fMRI) blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) fluctuations in different functional networks spanning the somatosensory cortex, caudate putamen, hippocampus and thalamus, in normal and perturbed mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uptake states. In anesthetized rats at 11.7 T, mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uptake was inhibited or enhanced respectively by treatments with Ru360 or kaempferol. Surprisingly, mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uptake inhibition by Ru360 and enhancement by kaempferol led to similar dose‐dependent decreases in brain‐wide intrinsic activities in both the frequency domain (spectral amplitude) and temporal domain (resting state functional connectivity; RSFC). The fact that there were similar dose‐dependent decreases in the frequency and temporal domains of the resting state fMRI‐BOLD fluctuations during mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uptake inhibition or enhancement indicated that mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uptake and its homeostasis may strongly influence the brain's functional organization at rest. Interestingly, the resting state fMRI‐derived intrinsic activities in the caudate putamen and thalamic regions saturated much faster with increasing dosage of either drug treatment than the drug‐induced trends observed in cortical and hippocampal regions. Regional differences in how the spectral amplitude and RSFC changed with treatment indicate distinct mitochondrion‐mediated spontaneous neuronal activity coupling within the various RSFC networks determined by resting state fMRI. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A systematic narrative synthesis of acute amplification-induced improvements in cognitive ability in hearing-impaired adults

Objective: This systematic review investigated if hearing aid use was associated with acute improvements in cognitive function in hearing-impaired adults.

Design: The review question and inclusion/exclusion criteria were designed using the Population, Intervention, Control, Outcomes, and Study design (PICOS) mnemonic. The review was pre-registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Review (PROSPERO) and performed in accordance with the statement on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA).

Study sample: Thirteen articles, of various designs, published between 1990 and 2018, were identified via a search of five electronic databases.

Results: Most studies reported 1–2 cognitive outcome measures. Nine studies reported a significant improvement in outcome and four studies reported no significant change. None of the 13 studies received a high score on a quality assessment checklist. Due to concerns over risk of bias and indirectness, the overall quality of evidence was graded as low.

Conclusions: Only a few studies were identified, some of which report a small improvement in cognitive outcome; however, the overall quality of evidence was low. Further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in answering the review question.     

Torsion deformity and joint loading for medial knee osteoarthritis

PurposeThe consequences of lower limb torsion deformity on knee loading in knee osteoarthritis are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to quantify the associations between the mechanical axis, tibial torsion and knee loading in subjects with medial knee OA and in controls.MethodsTwenty-four subjects: end-staged medial knee osteoarthritis (OA) with apparent torsion deformity (TKO, n = 6) and without torsion deformity (KOA, n = 8) and controls (CON, n = 10) were imaged using long standing lower extremity (LSLE) radiographs and computed tomography (CT). Medial knee loading was assessed using the internal knee varus moment determined by gait analysis. The LSLE mechanical axis, CT tibial torsion and the foot progression angle were used to predict medial knee loading.ResultsThe TKOs had significantly greater mechanical axis varus and knee varus moment compared to KOAs and CONs. The regression model predicting medial knee loading using the mechanical axis (β = 0.898), tibial torsion (β = 0.264) and foot progression angle (β = −0.369) showed a goodness of fit of 0.774.ConclusionsMedial knee loading was predicted by the mechanical axis and the foot progression angle. Future longitudinal studies are needed to assess the role of tibial intorsion during disease progression and following total knee replacement surgery.     

VERDICT MRI validation in fresh and fixed prostate specimens using patient‐specific moulds for histological and MR alignment

The VERDICT framework for modelling diffusion MRI data aims to relate parameters from a biophysical model to histological features used for tumour grading in prostate cancer. Validation of the VERDICT model is necessary for clinical use. This study compared VERDICT parameters obtained ex vivo with histology in five specimens from radical prostatectomy. A patient‐specific 3D‐printed mould was used to investigate the effects of fixation on VERDICT parameters and to aid registration to histology. A rich diffusion data set was acquired in each ex vivo prostate before and after fixation. At both time points, data were best described by a two‐compartment model: the model assumes that an anisotropic tensor compartment represents the extracellular space and a restricted sphere compartment models the intracellular space. The effect of fixation on model parameters associated with tissue microstructure was small. The patient‐specific mould minimized tissue deformations and co‐localized slices, so that rigid registration of MRI to histology images allowed region‐based comparison with histology. The VERDICT estimate of the intracellular volume fraction corresponded to histological indicators of cellular fraction, including high values in tumour regions. The average sphere radius from VERDICT, representing the average cell size, was relatively uniform across samples. The primary diffusion direction from the extracellular compartment of the VERDICT model aligned with collagen fibre patterns in the stroma obtained by structure tensor analysis. This confirmed the biophysical relationship between ex vivo VERDICT parameters and tissue microstructure from histology.     

Acrylic acid grafted tamarind kernel polysaccharide-based hydrogel for bone tissue engineering in absence of any osteo-inducing factors

ABSTRACT

Purpose: With increased life expectancy, disorders in lifestyle and other clinical conditions, and the changes in the connective tissues such as in bone, impose diverse biomedical problems. Cells belong to osteogenic lineages are extremely specific for their surface requirements. Therefore, suitable surfaces are the critical bottle neck for successful bone tissue engineering. This study involves assessment of polysaccharide-based hydrogel which effectively allows growth, differentiation and mineralisation of osteogenic cells even in the absence of osteogenic inducing factors. Materials and methods: Tamarind Kernel Polysaccharide was grafted with acrylic acid at different mole ratio. The critical parameter, surface morphology for bio application was assessed by SEM. MTT assay has been performed with hydrogels on Saos-2 cells. The biocompatibility and adhesion of different cell lines (F-11, Saos-2, Raw 264.7 and MSCs) on hydrogel surface was performed by Phalloidin and DAPI staining. Further the differentiation, mineralization and expression of different osteogenic markers, ALP assay, Alizarin Red staining and q-PCR was performed. Results: The hydrogels show highly porous and interconnected pores. MTT assay demonstrates the hydrogel have no cytotoxicity towards Saos-2 cells and are suitable for proliferation of different lineage of cell lines. ALP, Alizarin red staining and q-PCR assay shows that the hydrogel surface enhances the differentiation, mineralization and expression of different osteogenic genes in Saos-2 cells in the absence of any osteogenic inducing factors. Conclusion Synthesized hydrogel surface triggers signalling events towards osteogenesis even in the absence of added growth factors. We proposed that this material can be used for effective bone tissue engineering in vitro at low cost.