Age differences in functional network reconfiguration with working memory training

Demanding cognitive functions like working memory (WM) depend on functional brain networks being able to communicate efficiently while also maintaining some degree of modularity. Evidence suggests that aging can disrupt this balance between integration and modularity. In this study, we examined how cognitive training affects the integration and modularity of functional networks in older and younger adults. Twenty three younger and 23 older adults participated in 10 days of verbal WM training, leading to performance gains in both age groups. Older adults exhibited lower modularity overall and a greater decrement when switching from rest to task, compared to younger adults. Interestingly, younger but not older adults showed increased task‐related modularity with training. Furthermore, whereas training increased efficiency within, and decreased participation of, the default‐mode network for younger adults, it enhanced efficiency within a task‐specific salience/sensorimotor network for older adults. Finally, training increased segregation of the default‐mode from frontoparietal/salience and visual networks in younger adults, while it diffusely increased between‐network connectivity in older adults. Thus, while younger adults increase network segregation with training, suggesting more automated processing, older adults persist in, and potentially amplify, a more integrated and costly global workspace, suggesting different age‐related trajectories in functional network reorganization with WM training.     

Comparative study of circulating immune complexes quantity detection by three assays--CIF-ELISA, C1q-ELISA and anti-C3 ELISA

The assessment of the soluble immune complexes (IC) in human sera is traditionally performed by the C1q binding assay. In the present study, a novel method for the quantity of immune complexes was reported. The methodology was based on measuring their deposition on solid-phase C3 binding glycoprotein (CIF), using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We also used ELISA that employed anti-C3 antibodies to determined the quantity of immune complexes. The three assays were evaluated for their performance characteristics on the same specially prepared samples: 55 normal sera, 99 sera from RA, 88 sera from SLE, and 27 sera from PSS. The results were compared by reference to a common standard-heat aggregated IgG that possesses many activities of immune complexes. Three of the tests used displayed almost the same specificity (over 95%), while their relative sensitivity varied depending on the disease sera tested. The sensitivity of the assays used was recorded highest for C1q ELISA-28.97% of positive sera, followed by CIF-ELISA-19.63% and lowest for anti-C3 ELISA-17.29%. A well-expressed correlation was found between CIF-ELISA and anti-C3 ELISA data (r=0.42), and a week correlation was noted when comparing CIF-ELISA and C1q ELISA IC levels detected (r=0.28). When the correlation coefficients were calculated individually for each disease category, they were clearly different, and that reflected indirectly in different sensitivities of the test for various disease categories. We also found that the results from the simultaneous performance of the tests demonstrated low percentage positive results when three or two assays were used. This is most probably due to the different assay abilities to detect IC with different sizes and composition, which shows that a small part of IC in the tested sera can be detected simultaneously by more than one assay. On the basis of the results obtained, we concluded that optimal screening for IC could be achieved by parallel application of several different methods.     

Endoprosthesis in patients with dysplastic coxarthrosis or in those who suffered Perthes' disease in childhood

Endoprosthesis of the hip joint was performed in 48 patients with coxarthrosis aged 40-50 years, which had occurred after the Perthes's disease. The non-cement fixing of the Ver Sys endoprosthesis was applied, osteotomy and bringing down of the greater trochanter were done in 33% of observations simultaneously or 3-6 months before doing the endoprosthesis.     

Prospective validation of a new airway management algorithm and predictive features of intubation difficulty

Background

Some patients have features that indicate possible difficulty with direct laryngoscopy for tracheal intubation. Prediction of the likely outcome and selection of patients for an enhanced management algorithm would reduce the possible harm from failed intubation attempts.

Monitoring of HTLV-1-associated diseases by proviral load quantification using multiplex real-time PCR

Journal of NeuroVirology - Proviral load (PVL) is one of the determining factors for the pathogenesis and clinical progression of the human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-1) infection. In the...     

LMA Supreme™ Versus Facemask Ventilation Performed by Novices: A Comparative Study in Morbidly Obese Patients Showing Difficult Ventilation Predictors

Background

We designed a study to compare ventilation characteristics performed in morbidly obese patients by medical students via the facemask to that via the LMA Supreme®.

Methods

This prospective, randomized, crossover study included 31 ASA I–III morbidly patients showing difficult mask ventilation predictors. After induction of anesthesia, ten medical students with no previous clinical experience in airway management, clinically educated to facemask ventilation maneuvers, and theoretically educated to laryngeal mask use were supervised by a senior anesthesiologist during performance of 60 s facemask and LMA Supreme® ventilation in a randomly assigned order. Ventilation quality and difficulty were measured using an original score calculated as the sum of seven indicators (0?=?no ventilation and complications, 12?=?optimal and safe ventilation) and a visual analog scale (VAS; 0?=?no difficult–100?=?impossible), respectively. Values are presented as means (standard deviation) or medians [extremes].

Results

Mean age and body mass index of the patients were 39 years (12 years) and 44 kg m^?2 (7 kg m^?2), respectively. One patient was excluded because of ventilation difficulty experienced by the senior anesthesiologist. Medical students successfully established ventilation with the LMA Supreme® in all the 30 patients after a delay of 21 s (9 s) compared to 34 s (14 s) with the facemask (P?P?Conclusions We showed that the LMA Supreme? placed in novice hands systematically promoted easier ventilation of better quality than the facemask in morbidly obese patients showing difficult mask ventilation predictors. Our data suggest that the LMA Supreme? could be considered as a standard airway management tool for both elective and rescue airway management of morbidly obese patients.     

Voxel-level functional connectivity using spatial regularization

Discovering functional connectivity between and within brain regions is a key concern in neuroscience. Due to the noise inherent in fMRI data, it is challenging to characterize the properties of individual voxels, and current methods are unable to flexibly analyze voxel-level connectivity differences. We propose a new functional connectivity method which incorporates a spatial smoothness constraint using regularized optimization, enabling the discovery of voxel-level interactions between brain regions from the small datasets characteristic of fMRI experiments. We validate our method in two separate experiments, demonstrating that we can learn coherent connectivity maps that are consistent with known results. First, we examine the functional connectivity between early visual areas V1 and VP, confirming that this connectivity structure preserves retinotopic mapping. Then, we show that two category-selective regions in ventral cortex - the Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA) and the Fusiform Face Area (FFA) - exhibit an expected peripheral versus foveal bias in their connectivity with visual area hV4. These results show that our approach is powerful, widely applicable, and capable of uncovering complex connectivity patterns with only a small amount of input data.