rudyvdbrink/CitationDatabase huggingface dataset:
Effect of Hemodynamic Changes in Plasma Propofol Concentrations Associated with Knee-Chest Position in Spinal Surgery: A Prospective Study.
Anesthesiology and pain medicine, 2019

Anesthesia induction and maintenance with propofol can be guided by target-controlled infusion (TCI) systems using pharmacokinetic (Pk) models. Physiological variables, such as changes in cardiac output (CO), can influence propofol pharmacokinetics. Knee-chest (KC) surgical positioning can result in CO changes.
New Cav1.2 Channelopathy with High-Functioning Autism, Affective Disorder, Severe Dental Enamel Defects, a Short QT Interval, and a Novel 
International journal of molecular sciences, 2020

Complex neuropsychiatric-cardiac syndromes can be genetically determined. For the first time, the authors present a syndromal form of short QT syndrome in a 34-year-old German male patient with extracardiac features with predominant psychiatric manifestation, namely a severe form of secondary high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD), along with affective and psychotic exacerbations, and severe dental enamel defects (with rapid wearing off his teeth) due to a heterozygous loss-of-function mutation in the
Unchanged expression of the ceramide transfer protein in the acute 6-OHDA neurodegenerative model.
Neuroscience letters, 2012

Ceramides are lipids that are abundant in brain tissue where they have an important structural role in cellular membranes. Ceramides are also powerful intracellular signalling molecules controlling cell death, growth and differentiation. So far, the ceramide transfer protein (CERT), a shorter splice variant of the Goodpasture antigen-binding protein (GPBP), is the only known protein with the ability to shuttle ceramide from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus. GPBP/CERT are widely distributed in the central nervous system where they act as key factors for normal brain development and homeostasis. Ceramide accumulates in neurons during acute neurodegeneration. The objective of this study was to define whether levels of the ceramide transfer protein GPBP/CERT are altered in the acute neurodegenerative process. We used design-based stereology to quantify the number of GPBP/CERT immunoreactive cells in the striatum of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesioned rats as an animal model of Parkinson's disease (PD). In addition, gray value measurement was performed to quantify GPBP/CERT immunoreactivity-levels within individual cells. No difference in the striatal expression levels of GPBP/CERT proteins was found between diseased and control animals, suggesting that the expression pattern of GPBP/CERT in the striatum is not affected in the 6-OHDA rat model of PD.
Treatment of Dystonia: Medications, Neurotoxins, Neuromodulation, and Rehabilitation.
Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics, 2020

Dystonia is a complex disorder with numerous presentations occurring in isolation or in combination with other neurologic symptoms. Its treatment has been significantly improved with the advent of botulinum toxin and deep brain stimulation in recent years, though additional investigation is needed to further refine these interventions. Medications are of critical importance in forms of dopa-responsive dystonia but can be beneficial in other forms of dystonia as well. Many different rehabilitative paradigms have been studied with variable benefit. There is growing interest in noninvasive stimulation as a potential treatment, but with limited long-term benefit shown to date, and additional research is needed. This article reviews existing evidence for treatments from each of these categories. To date, there are many examples of incomplete response to available treatments, and improved therapies are needed.
A blueprint for performing SERS measurements in tissue with plasmonic nanofibers.
The Journal of chemical physics, 2020

Plasmonic nanostructures have found increasing utility due to the increased popularity that surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has achieved in recent years. SERS has been incorporated into an ever-growing list of applications, with bioanalytical and physiological analyses having emerged as two of the most popular. Thus far, the transition from SERS studies of cultured cells to SERS studies involving tissue has been gradual and limited. In most cases, SERS measurements in more intact tissue have involved nanoparticles distributed throughout the tissue or localized to specific regions via external functionalization. Performing highly localized measurements without the need for global nanoparticle uptake or specialized surface modifications would be advantageous to the expansion of SERS measurements in tissue. To this end, this work provides critical insight with supporting experimental evidence into performing SERS measurements with nanosensors inserted in tissues. We address two critical steps that are otherwise underappreciated when other approaches to performing SERS measurements in tissue are used. Specifically, we demonstrate two mechanical routes for controlled positioning and inserting the nanosensors into the tissue, and we discuss two means of focusing on the nanosensors both before and after they are inserted into the tissue. By examining the various combinations of these steps, we provide a blueprint for performing SERS measurements with nanosensors inserted in tissue. This blueprint could prove useful for the general development of SERS as a tool for bioanalytical and physiological studies and for more specialized techniques such as SERS-optophysiology.
Backward walking sensitively detects fallers in persons with multiple sclerosis.
Multiple sclerosis and related disorders, 2020

Individuals with multiple sclerosis experience deficits in mobility resulting in injurious falls. Fall detection has proved challenging; the majority of clinical measures rely on forward walking and balance measures, yet these measures have poor sensitivity and predictive value for differentiating between fallers and non-fallers. Backward walking better differentiates fallers from non-fallers in the elderly and other neurodegenerative diseases; therefore, the objective of this study was to examine both forward and backward walking to determine the strongest, unique contributor that differentiates fallers from non-fallers in persons with multiple sclerosis.
Beyond the Stimulus: A Neurohumanities Approach to Language, Music, and Emotion.
Neuron, 2020

The brain basis of language, music, and emotion can be studied from the perspective of the psychological and cognitive sciences. Does this approach link to concerns of the humanities meaningfully? We outline prospects of developing a genuine neurohumanities research program.
Modeling and simulation of the modified Rankin Scale and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale neurological endpoints in intracerebral hemorrhage.
Journal of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, 2019

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a form of stroke characterized by uncontrolled bleeding into the parenchyma of the brain. There is no approved therapy for ICH and it is associated with very poor neurological outcomes with around half of subjects dying within 1 month and most subjects showing complete or partial disability. A key challenge is to identify subjects who could benefit from intervention using characteristics such as baseline hemorrhage volume and the increase in hemorrhage volume in the first few hours, which have been correlated with final outcomes in ICH. Combined longitudinal models were developed to describe stroke scales using categorical data (Modified Rankin Scale, mRS), continuous bounded data (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, NIHSS), and time to death. Covariate effects for baseline hematoma volume and maximum increase in hematoma volume were incorporated to assess the improvement in outcome when hematoma volume increase would be reduced by a potential treatment. The combined model provided an adequate description of stroke scales, with patients split into a Non-survival and a High-survival sub-population, and dropout due to death was well described by a constant hazard survival model. Models were compared indicating that the combined mRS/NIHSS model provided the most information, followed by the NIHSS-only model, and the mRS-only model, and finally the traditional statistical analysis on dichotomized response at 90 days. Simulations showed that substantial reductions in hematoma volume increase were required to increase the probability of a favorable outcome.
Physician failure to stratify patients hospitalized with acute pulmonary embolism.
Hospital practice (1995), 2017

In 2011, the AHA recommended risk stratification of patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE). Failure to risk stratify may cause under recognition of intermediate-risk PE and its attendant short- and long-term consequences. We sought to determine if patients hospitalized with acute PE were appropriately risk stratified according to the 2011 AHA Scientific Statement within our hospital system and whether differences exist in adherence to risk stratification by hospital or treating hospital service. We also wished to know the frequency of in-hospital consultations for acute PE which might assist in the risk stratification process.
Nonlinear temporal integration of brain stimulation reward.
Behavioral neuroscience, 2011

A good deal is known about psychological factors that contribute to reward value, but very little is known about how reward is computed in the brain. Integration in the circuit for brain stimulation reward may provide a simple model system. Parametric studies have favored the idea that the integration is linear, although a few have suggested that it involves adaptation. However, these studies have generally not focused on relevance to psychological factors such as temporal discounting of reward. To begin to address these issues, I gave rats a choice between a simple train of 2 seconds of stimulation at a uniform frequency and a compound train of 1 second of stimulation at either 50, 150, or 250 Hz immediately followed by 1 second of stimulation at 50, 150, or 250 Hz, for a total of nine compound trains. For each compound train, the frequency of the simple train was varied until a level was found that produced indifference. The order of the frequencies was important, with Hi-Lo compound stimulation having a higher matching frequency than the symmetrical Lo-Hi. Furthermore, there was an interaction between the first and second frequencies, with the second frequency counting less when the first frequency was high. The results could be fit by computational models incorporating the ideas of either (a) adaptation or (b) temporal discounting and a power function psychological scale. These results suggest that integration in the brain stimulation reward system is nonlinear, and involves either adaptation or temporal discounting of reward value.
Overview of the Canadian Clinician Investigator Trainees' research presented at the 2019 CSCI-CITAC Joint Meeting.
Clinical and investigative medicine. Medecine clinique et experimentale, 2020

The 2019 Annual General Meeting and Young Investigators' Forum of the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation / Société Canadienne de Recherche Clinique (CSCI/SCRC) and Clinician Investigator Trainee Association of Canada / Association des Cliniciens-Chercheurs en Formation du Canada (CITAC/ACCFC) was held in Banff, Alberta on November 8-10th, 2019. The theme was "Positioning Early Career Investigators for Success: Strategy and Resilience". Lectures and workshops provided knowledge and tools to facilitate the attendees' development as clinician investigators. Dr. Jason Berman (President of CSCI/SCRC), Elina Cook (President of CITAC/ACCFC) and Drs. Doreen Rabi and Zelma Kiss (University of Calgary Organizing Co-Chairs) gave opening presentations. The keynote speakers were Dr. William Foulkes (McGill University) (Distinguished Scientist Award winner) and Dr. Andrés Finzi (Université de Montréal) (Joe Doupe Young Investigator Award winner). Dr. Robert Bortolussi (Dalhousie University) received the Distinguished Service Award for his work as the Editor-in-Chief of Clinical and Investigative Medicine and for being instrumental in the development of the Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program. This meeting was the first to host a panel discussion with Drs. Stephen Robbins and Marcello Tonelli from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Workshops on communication, career planning and work-life balance were hosted by André Picard and Drs. Todd Anderson, Karen Tang, William Ghali, May Lynn Quan, Alicia Polachek and Shannon Ruzycki. The AGM showcased 90 presentations from clinician investigator trainees from across Canada. Most of the abstracts are summarized in this review. Eight outstanding abstracts were selected for oral presentation at the President's Forum.
Absolute and relative reliability of lumbar interspinous process ultrasound imaging measurements.
Journal of physical therapy science, 2016

[Purpose] The intra- and inter-examiner reliabilities of lumbar interspinous process distances measured by ultrasound imaging were examined. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects were 10 males who had no history of orthopedic diseases or dysfunctions. Ten lumbar interspinous images from 360 images captured from 10 subjects were selected. The 10 images were measured by nine examiners. The lumbar interspinous process distance measurements were performed five times by each examiner. In addition, four of the nine examiners measured the distances again after 4 days for test-retest analysis. In statistical analysis, the intraclass correlation coefficient was used to investigate relative reliability, and Bland-Altman analysis was used to investigate absolute reliability. [Results] The intraclass correlation coefficients (1, 1) for intra-examiner reliability ranged from 0.985 to 0.998. For inter-rater reliability, the intraclass correlation coefficient (2, 1) was 0.969. The intraclass correlation coefficients (1, 2) for test-retest reliability ranged from 0.991 to 0.999. The Bland-Altman analysis results indicated no systematic error. [Conclusion] The results indicate that ultrasound measurements of interspinous process distance are highly reliable even when measured only once by a single person.
Behavioural and molecular effects of cannabidiolic acid in mice.
Life sciences, 2020

Cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) is one of the most abundant phytocannabinoid acids in the Cannabis sativa plant. It has been shown that it is able to exert some therapeutic effects such as antiemetic, anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic or antidepressant, although some of them remain under debate. In the present study we aim to assess the potential behavioural effects of CBDA as well as its modulation of neuroinflammatory markers in the prefrontal cortex (PFC).
Central afferents to the nucleus of the solitary tract in rats and mice.
The Journal of comparative neurology, 2020

The nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) regulates life-sustaining functions ranging from appetite and digestion to heart rate and breathing. It is also the brain's primary sensory nucleus for visceral sensations relevant to symptoms in medical and psychiatric disorders. To better understand which neurons may exert top-down control over the NTS, here we provide a brain-wide map of all neurons that project axons directly to the caudal, viscerosensory NTS, focusing on a medial subregion with aldosterone-sensitive HSD2 neurons. Injecting an axonal tracer (cholera toxin b) into the NTS produces a similar pattern of retrograde labeling in rats and mice. The paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVH), lateral hypothalamic area, and central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) contain the densest concentrations of NTS-projecting neurons. PVH afferents are glutamatergic (express Slc17a6/Vglut2) and are distinct from neuroendocrine PVH neurons. CeA afferents are GABAergic (express Slc32a1/Vgat) and are distributed largely in the medial CeA subdivision. Other retrogradely labeled neurons are located in a variety of brain regions, including the cerebral cortex (insular and infralimbic areas), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, periaqueductal gray, Barrington's nucleus, Kölliker-Fuse nucleus, hindbrain reticular formation, and rostral NTS. Similar patterns of retrograde labeling result from tracer injections into different NTS subdivisions, with dual retrograde tracing revealing that many afferent neurons project axon collaterals to both the lateral and medial NTS subdivisions. This information provides a roadmap for studying descending axonal projections that may influence visceromotor systems and visceral "mind-body" symptoms.
Eliminating air bubble in microfluidic systems utilizing integrated in-line sloped microstructures.
Biomedical microdevices, 2020

In most microfluidic systems, formation and accumulation of air and other gas bubbles can be detrimental to their operation. Air bubbles in a microfluidic channel induce a pressure profile fluctuation and therefore disturb the stability of the system. Once an air bubble is generated, it is also extremely difficult to remove such bubbles from the microfluidic systems. In tissue and cell culture microfluidic systems, a single air bubble can completely shear off cells that are being cultured. Air bubbles can be especially problematic in microfluidic systems that have to operate for long periods of time, since completely eliminating the generation of air bubbles for prolonged periods of time, where a single air bubble can ruin an entire multi-day/multi-week experiment, is extremely challenging. Several in-line and off-chip bubble traps have been developed so far, but cannot completely eliminate air bubbles from the system or are relatively difficult to integrate into microfluidic systems. Recent advancements in two-photon polymerization (2PP)-based microfabrication method eliminates the restriction in Z-axis control in conventional two-dimensional microfabrication methods, and thus enables complex 3D structures to be fabricated at sub-micrometer resolution. In this work, by utilizing this 2PP technique, we developed a sloped microfluidic structure that is capable of both trapping and real-time removal of air bubbles from the system in a consistent and reliable manner. The novel structures and designs developed in this work present a unique opportunity to overcome many limitations of current methods, bring state-of-the-art solutions in air bubble removal, and enable a multifunctional microfluidic device to operate seamlessly free from air bubble disruption. The microfabricated system was tested in both droplet microfluidics and continuous-flow microfluidics applications, and demonstrated to be effective in preventing air bubble aggregation over time. This simple sloped microstructure can be easily integrated into broad ranges of microfluidic devices to minimize bubble introduction, which will contribute to creating a stable and bubble-free microfluidic platform amenable for long-term operation.
On the Nontechnical Limits of Brain Imaging.
Cambridge quarterly of healthcare ethics : CQ : the international journal of healthcare ethics committees, 2020

Since the advent of neuroimaging technologies, their limits and possibilities have captivated scientists and philosophers. Thus far, the debate has largely concerned technical limits of our capacity to "read minds." This paper extends the discussion concerning the limitations of neuroimaging to issues that are not dependent on technical issues or on our understanding of the complexity of brain activities. The author argues that there is a serious chance that brain scanning cannot replace usual intentional assertions, and that neuroimaging has principled limits. The information that people usually receive by neuroimaging is different in kind from the information they hear from what others tell them. To assert something is to act in a certain way, and scanners do not usually scan actions, but brain activities and the neural correlates of actions. Although it is possible to scan "mental assertions," our usual assertions are not accompanied by separate "mental assertions."
Synaptic modulation of excitatory synaptic transmission by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in spinal ventral horn neurons.
Neuroscience, 2015

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are distributed widely in the central nervous system and play important roles in higher brain functions, including learning, memory, and recognition. However, functions of the cholinergic system in spinal motoneurons remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the actions of presynaptic and postsynaptic nAChRs in spinal ventral horn neurons by performing whole-cell patch-clamp recordings on lumbar slices from male rats. The application of nicotine or acetylcholine generated slow inward currents and increased the frequency and amplitude of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs). Slow inward currents by acetylcholine or nicotine were not inhibited by tetrodotoxin (TTX) or glutamate receptor antagonists. In the presence of TTX, the frequency and amplitude of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) were also increased by acetylcholine or nicotine. A selective α4β2 nicotinic receptor antagonist, dihydro-β-erythroidine hydrobromide (DhβE), significantly decreased nicotine-induced inward currents without affecting the enhancement of sEPSCs and mEPSCs. In addition, a selective α7 nicotinic receptor antagonist, methyllycaconitine, did not affect either nicotine-induced inward currents or the enhancement of sEPSCs and mEPSCs. These results suggest that α4β2 AChRs are localized at postsynaptic sites in the spinal ventral horn, non-α4β2 and non-α7 nAChRs are located presynaptically, and nAChRs enhance excitatory synaptic transmission in the spinal ventral horn.
The enigmatic fetal subplate compartment forms an early tangential cortical nexus and provides the framework for construction of cortical connectivity.
Progress in neurobiology, 2020

The most prominent transient compartment of the primate fetal cortex is the deep, cell-sparse, synapse-containing subplate compartment (SPC). The developmental role of the SPC and its extraordinary size in humans remain enigmatic. This paper evaluates evidence on the development and connectivity of the SPC and discusses its role in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders. A synthesis of data shows that the subplate becomes a prominent compartment by its expansion from the deep cortical plate (CP), appearing well-delineated on MR scans and forming a tangential nexus across the hemisphere, consisting of an extracellular matrix, randomly distributed postmigratory neurons, multiple branches of thalamic and long corticocortical axons. The SPC generates early spontaneous non-synaptic and synaptic activity and mediates cortical response upon thalamic stimulation. The subplate nexus provides large-scale interareal connectivity possibly underlying fMR resting-state activity, before corticocortical pathways are established. In late fetal phase, when synapses appear within the CP, transient the SPC coexists with permanent circuitry. The histogenetic role of the SPC is to provide interactive milieu and capacity for guidance, sorting, "waiting" and target selection of thalamocortical and corticocortical pathways. The new evolutionary role of the SPC and its remnant white matter neurons is linked to the increasing number of associative pathways in the human neocortex. These roles attributed to the SPC are regulated using a spatiotemporal gene expression during critical periods, when pathogenic factors may disturb vulnerable circuitry of the SPC, causing neurodevelopmental cognitive circuitry disorders.