rudyvdbrink/CitationDatabase huggingface dataset:
Occipital cortical thickness in very low birth weight born adolescents predicts altered neural specialization of visual semantic category related neural networks.
Neuropsychologia, 2015

Very low birth weight (VLBW) premature born infants have a high risk to develop visual perceptual and learning deficits as well as widespread functional and structural brain abnormalities during infancy and childhood. Whether and how prematurity alters neural specialization within visual neural networks is still unknown. We used functional and structural brain imaging to examine the visual semantic system of VLBW born (<1250 g, gestational age 25-32 weeks) adolescents (13-15 years, n = 11, 3 males) and matched term born control participants (13-15 years, n = 11, 3 males). Neurocognitive assessment revealed no group differences except for lower scores on an adaptive visuomotor integration test. All adolescents were scanned while viewing pictures of animals and tools and scrambled versions of these pictures. Both groups demonstrated animal and tool category related neural networks. Term born adolescents showed tool category related neural activity, i.e. tool pictures elicited more activity than animal pictures, in temporal and parietal brain areas. Animal category related activity was found in the occipital, temporal and frontal cortex. VLBW born adolescents showed reduced tool category related activity in the dorsal visual stream compared with controls, specifically the left anterior intraparietal sulcus, and enhanced animal category related activity in the left middle occipital gyrus and right lingual gyrus. Lower birth weight of VLBW adolescents correlated with larger thickness of the pericalcarine gyrus in the occipital cortex and smaller surface area of the superior temporal gyrus in the lateral temporal cortex. Moreover, larger thickness of the pericalcarine gyrus and smaller surface area of the superior temporal gyrus correlated with reduced tool category related activity in the parietal cortex. Together, our data suggest that very low birth weight predicts alterations of higher order visual semantic networks, particularly in the dorsal stream. The differences in neural specialization may be associated with aberrant cortical development of areas in the visual system that develop early in childhood.
Vesicular γ-aminobutyric acid transporter expression in rat periaqueductal gray matter.
Neuroreport, 2011

Vesicular γ-aminobutyric acid transporter, an integral membrane protein, mediates γ-aminobutyric acid uptake into synaptic vesicles. Investigation of its expression in the rat periaqueductal gray matter using light and electron microscopic immunocytochemical techniques documents immunoreactivity in numerous puncta in all periaqueductal gray columns, with slightly denser labeling on the outer edge of the dorsolateral portion and least dense labeling in the rostral-dorsomedial portion. Electron microscopic observations show immunoreactivity over synaptic vesicles of terminals exhibiting the standard features of inhibitory synapses. Unlabeled axon terminals making symmetric synapses are also commonly observed. These data suggest the following: (i) the γ-aminobutyric acid uptake is slightly greater in the dorsolateral and less intense in the rostral-dorsomedial portion and (ii) the possible existence of an additional inhibitory amino acid transporter.
Fast recovery of disrupted tip links induced by mechanical displacement of hair bundles.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2020

Hearing and balance rely on the capacity of mechanically sensitive hair bundles to transduce vibrations into electrical signals that are forwarded to the brain. Hair bundles possess tip links that interconnect the mechanosensitive stereocilia and convey force to the transduction channels. A dimer of dimers, each of these links comprises two molecules of protocadherin 15 (PCDH15) joined to two of cadherin 23 (CDH23). The "handshake" that conjoins the four molecules can be disrupted in vivo by intense stimulation and in vitro by exposure to Ca
[Cloning and expression of Tbx3 gene in Siberian sturgeon, Acipenser baerii].
Dong wu xue yan jiu = Zoological research, 2012

Tbx3, a member of the TBX2 subfamily of T-box gene family, encodes a transcription factor with a highly conserved DNA-binding domain, which called T-domain. Tbx3 is involved in morphogenesis and organogenesis in vertebrates, such as limb development, heart remodeling, and neural placode differentiation. In the present study, a full-length 2 908 bp Tbx3 cDNA from Acipenser baerii (AbTbx3) was obtained using RT-PCR and RACE technique, which includes a 2 166 bp complete open reading frame encoding a putative peptide of 721 amino acids. AbTbx3 shares 73.5% identity with its human homolog. Particularly, the DNA-binding domain of AbTbx3 shared 95.2% identity with human Tbx3. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that AbTbx3 was grouped with Tbx3s in other vertebrates, which were clustered with Tbx2s and separated from Tbx4/5s. The predicted secondary and three-dimensional structures of the T-domain of AbTbx3 were remarkably similar to human Tbx3. Through semi-quantity RT-PCR, the expression of AbTbx3 was first detected at blastula stage during Siberian sturgeon embryonic development, increased gradually, reached its peak at early tail-bud stage and then decreased slightly. In adult sturgeon, AbTbx3 was strongly expressed in eye, brain, gill, intestines, pectoral fin and pelvic fin, but not in liver, blood, heart, kidney and muscle. The whole mount in situ hybridization showed that AbTbx3 was mainly expressed in the otic vesicle, hindbrain, dorsal notochord, pineal organ and dorsal fin bud in the larvae of stage 37 and 43.
Pharmacoepidemiology at Nordic School of Public Health NHV: Examples from 1999 to 2014.
Scandinavian journal of public health, 2015

Pharmacoepidemiology is a branch of public health and had a place at the Nordic School of Public Health. Courses, Master's theses and Doctorates of Public Health (DrPH) in Pharmacoepidemiology were a relatively minor, but still important part of the school's activities.
Rapid quantification of multi-cryoprotectant toxicity using an automated liquid handling method.
Cryobiology, 2021

Cryopreservation in a vitrified state has vast potential for long-term storage of tissues and organs that may be damaged by ice formation. However, the toxicity imparted by the high concentration of cryoprotectants (CPAs) required to vitrify these specimens remains a hurdle. To address this challenge, we previously developed a mathematical approach to design less toxic CPA equilibration methods based on the minimization of a toxicity cost function. This approach was used to design improved methods for equilibration of bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (BPAEC) with glycerol. To fully capitalize on the toxicity cost function approach, it is critical to describe the toxicity kinetics of additional CPAs, including multi-CPA mixtures that are commonly used for vitrification. In this work, we used automated liquid handling to characterize the toxicity kinetics of five of the most common CPAs (glycerol, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, and formamide), along with their binary and ternary mixtures for BPAEC. In doing so, we developed experimental methods that can be used to determine toxicity kinetics more quickly and accurately. Our results highlight some common CPA toxicity trends, including the relatively low toxicity of ethylene glycol and a general increase in toxicity as the CPA concentration increases. Our results also suggest potential new approaches to reduce toxicity, including a surprising toxicity neutralization effect of glycerol on formamide. In the future, this dataset will serve as the basis to expand our CPA toxicity model, enabling application of the toxicity cost function approach to vitrification solutions containing multiple CPAs.
Rehabilitation Improves Mitochondrial Energetics in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: The Significant Role of Robot-Assisted Gait Training and of the Personalized Intensity.
Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland), 2020

Abnormal levels of pyruvate and lactate were reported in multiple sclerosis (MS). We studied the response of markers of mitochondrial function to rehabilitation in relation to type, intensity and endurance performance in severely disabled MS patients. Forty-six progressive MS patients were randomized to receive 12 walking sessions of robot-assisted gait training (RAGT,
Upregulation of MTOR, RPS6KB1, and EIF4EBP1 in the whole blood samples of Iranian patients with multiple sclerosis compared to healthy controls.
Metabolic brain disease, 2020

Various genetic and epigenetic mechanisms have been suggested to play roles as the underlying pathophysiology of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Changes in different parts of the mTOR signaling pathway are among the potential suggested mechanisms based on the specific roles of this pathway in CNS. MTOR, RPS6KB1, and EIFEBP1 genes are among important genes in the mTOR pathway, responsible for the proper function of acting proteins in this signaling pathway. This study aimed to investigate the relative expression levels of these genes in the blood samples of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients compared to healthy controls. In this case-control study blood samples were collected from 30 newly diagnosed RRMS patients and 30 age and sex-matched healthy controls. mRNA level of MTOR, RPS6KB1, and EIFEBP1 genes were assessed using Real-Time PCR. The expression of MTOR, RPS6KB1, and EIF4EBP1 genes was up regulated in MS patients compared to healthy controls (p < 0.001 for all mentioned genes). Considering gender differences, expression of the mentioned genes was increased among female patients (all P < 0.001). However, no statistically significant changes were observed among male patients. Based on the receiver operating characteristic, MTOR gene had the highest diagnostic value followed by EIF4EBP1 and RPS6KB1 genes in differentiating RRMS patients from controls. In conclusion, we found the simultaneous upregulation of MTOR, RPS6KB1, and EIF4EBP1 genes among RRMS patients. MTOR showed to have the highest diagnostic value compared to other 2 genes in differentiating RRMS patients. Further studies evaluating the importance of these findings from pharmacological and prognostic perspectives are necessary.
The Meningioma Enhancer Landscape Delineates Novel Subgroups and Drives Druggable Dependencies.
Cancer discovery, 2020

Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumor with current classification offering limited therapeutic guidance. Here, we interrogated meningioma enhancer landscapes from 33 tumors to stratify patients based upon prognosis and identify novel meningioma-specific dependencies. Enhancers robustly stratified meningiomas into three biologically distinct groups (adipogenesis/cholesterol, mesodermal, and neural crest) distinguished by distinct hormonal lineage transcriptional regulators. Meningioma landscapes clustered with intrinsic brain tumors and hormonally responsive systemic cancers with meningioma subgroups, reflecting progesterone or androgen hormonal signaling. Enhancer classification identified a subset of tumors with poor prognosis, irrespective of histologic grading. Superenhancer signatures predicted drug dependencies with superior
Recurrent activity-induced headache associated with posttraumatic dural adhesion of the middle meningeal artery: A case report.
Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache, 2020

The middle meningeal artery is surrounded by a plexus of afferent fibers shown to be involved in the progression of some forms of headache, especially migraine. Posttraumatic headache disorders sharing characteristics with migraine and involving the middle meningeal artery are not readily available in the literature.
Moderation by socioeconomic status of the relationship between familiarity with mental illness and stigma outcomes.
SSM - population health, 2020

Multiple studies suggest response to mental health treatment is worse for people of lower socioeconomic status, a group who also express more mental illness stigma. Worse response to treatment may lead to greater therapeutic pessimism, an important component of stigma. However, familiarity with mental illness is associated with lower levels of stigma. This study therefore examines whether, among the general public, socioeconomic status moderates the relationships between familiarity and stigma related outcomes: knowledge; attitudes; and desire for social distance.
Ultrasound evaluation of pupil: secrets of the "black hole" unveiled.
Brain injury, 2020

This Letter to the Editor is in response to Stevens and colleagues, who presented a study about pupillometry in patients with traumatic brain injury. They did not find any correlation between pupil diameter and intracranial pressure. We agree with the clinical importance of pupil assessment and we would like to suggest the application of transorbital ultrasound for this evaluation. This approach has been proposed in the past and, with our work, we show the possible quantification of symmetry of pupil diameter variation in response to a stimulus. This approach may represent a proficient and safe method for patients' supervision.
Headache in neurological emergency.
Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2020

Headache represents the second neurological cause of emergency room admittance. The differentiation of the small number of patients with life-threatening headaches from the overwhelming majority with benign primary headaches is an important problem in the emergency department since the misdiagnosis of a secondary headache can have serious consequences, including permanent neurologic deficits and death. The presence of one or more high-risk features (red flags) in patient clinical history or neurological examination warrants an urgent diagnostic workup including blood tests, neuroradiological studies, and lumbar puncture.
Eszopiclone stimulates the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in the rat.
European journal of pharmacology, 2011

Eszopiclone (Lunesta®) is used for the treatment of insomnia. It is the S (+)-enantiomer of racemic zopiclone, a cyclopyrrolone with no structural similarity to the hypnotic drugs zolpidem and zaleplon or to the benzodiazepines and barbiturates. Although eszopiclone interacts with the gamma-aminobutyric acid A-type (GABA(A)) receptor complex, it has a different binding profile than other sedative/hypnotic agents and modulates the receptor complex in a unique manner. Thus, eszopiclone might produce different pharmacological effects compared to other sedative/hypnotic agents. Beside their behavioral properties, sedative/hypnotic drugs affect the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. In general, low doses of benzodiazepine-type drugs decrease, whereas high doses increase the activity of the HPA axis. Furthermore, benzodiazepines reduce stress-induced increases in HPA axis activity. The goal of the present study was to characterize the effects of eszopiclone on the HPA axis in the rat. Male rats were injected with saline or eszopiclone and trunk blood was collected for the measurement of plasma levels of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and corticosterone by radioimmunoassay. The acute administration of eszopiclone produced dose-dependent increases in plasma levels of ACTH and corticosterone, and tolerance developed to these effects after repeated drug administration. Pretreatment with eszopiclone did not affect stress-induced stimulation of the HPA axis. These results show that eszopiclone and the benzodiazepine-type drugs differentially affect the HPA axis.
A novel sensory nerve conduction study technique to evaluate the sural nerve from the forefoot to the knee.
Journal of clinical neurophysiology : official publication of the American Electroencephalographic Society, 2015

Length-dependent polyneuropathy is common. Current electrophysiological methods cannot assess sensory nerve function proximal to the distal calf, limiting their utility in the quantification of severity of length-dependent polyneuropathy.
Dedifferentiation and neuronal repression define familial Alzheimer's disease.
Science advances, 2020

Identifying the systems-level mechanisms that lead to Alzheimer's disease, an unmet need, is an essential step toward the development of therapeutics. In this work, we report that the key disease-causative mechanisms, including dedifferentiation and repression of neuronal identity, are triggered by changes in chromatin topology. Here, we generated human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived neurons from donor patients with early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease (EOFAD) and used a multiomics approach to mechanistically characterize the modulation of disease-associated gene regulatory programs. We demonstrate that EOFAD neurons dedifferentiate to a precursor-like state with signatures of ectoderm and nonectoderm lineages. RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and ChIP-seq analysis reveals that transcriptional alterations in the cellular state are orchestrated by changes in histone methylation and chromatin topology. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these mechanisms are observed in EOFAD-patient brains, validating our hiPSC-derived neuron models. The mechanistic endotypes of Alzheimer's disease uncovered here offer key insights for therapeutic interventions.
Neuroscience highlights: The mirror inside our brain.
Ideggyogyaszati szemle, 2021

Over the second half of the 19th century, numerous theories arose concerning mechanisms involved in understanding of action, imitative learning, language development and theory of mind. These explorations gained new momentum with the discovery of the so called "mirror neurons". Rizzolatti's work inspired large groups of scientists seeking explanation in a new and hitherto unexplored area of how we perceive and understand the actions and intentions of others, how we learn through imitation to help our own survival, and what mechanisms have helped us to develop a unique human trait, language. Numerous studies have addressed these questions over the years, gathering information about mirror neurons themselves, their subtypes, the different brain areas involved in the mirror neuron system, their role in the above mentioned mechanisms, and the varying consequences of their dysfunction in human life. In this short review, we summarize the most important theories and discoveries that argue for the existence of the mirror neuron system, and its essential function in normal human life or some pathological conditions.
Evaluation of mexiletine effect on conduction delay and bradyarrhythmic complications in patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1 over long-term follow-up.
Heart rhythm, 2020

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a multisystemic disorder characterized by progressive cardiac conduction impairment, arrhythmias, and sudden death. Mexiletine is a sodium channel blocker drug used by patients with DM1 for treatment of myotonia, even though definitive proof of its safety over long-term follow-up is lacking.
Influence of uninformative visual cues on gravity perception.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2009

The perception of the subjective direction of up (subjective visual zenith, SVZ) is influenced by various sensory cues, such as, vestibular and visual input, and by the idiotropic vector, which acts as prior information about self-orientation with respect to gravity. Here, we tested the influence of a subject-fixed visual cue, which was uninformative with respect to the direction of gravity, on SVZ settings in different pitch angles. Our results show that in most subjects the SVZ was influenced by the gravity-unrelated visual cue in a way suggesting that the cue's orientation was memorized in the first trial and used thereafter as reference.
Interleukin-4 and Interleukin-13 Exacerbate Neurotoxicity of Prothrombin Kringle-2 in Cortex In Vivo via Oxidative Stress.
International journal of molecular sciences, 2019

The present study investigated the effects of activated microglia-derived interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-13 on neurodegeneration in prothrombin kringle-2 (pKr-2)-treated rat cortex. pKr-2 was unilaterally injected into the Sprague-Dawley rat cerebral cortex and IL-4 and IL-13 neutralizing antibody was used to block the function of IL-4 and IL-13. Immunohistochemical analysis showed a significant loss of NeuN
Seasonal plasticity in the adult somatosensory cortex.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2020

Seasonal cycles govern life on earth, from setting the time for the mating season to influencing migrations and governing physiological conditions like hibernation. The effect of such changing conditions on behavior is well-appreciated, but their impact on the brain remains virtually unknown. We investigate long-term seasonal changes in the mammalian brain, known as Dehnel's effect, where animals exhibit plasticity in body and brain sizes to counter metabolic demands in winter. We find large seasonal variation in cellular architecture and neuronal activity in the smallest terrestrial mammal, the Etruscan shrew,
Distinct neural correlates of social and object reward seeking motivation.
The European journal of neuroscience, 2020

The "Choose-a-Movie-CAM" is an established task to quantify the motivation for seeking social rewards. It allows participants to directly assess both the stimulus value and the effort required to obtain it. In the present study, we aimed to identify the neural mechanisms of such cost-benefit decision-making. To this end, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging data were collected from 24 typical adults while they completed the CAM task. We partly replicated the results from our previous behavioural studies showing that typical adults prefer social over object stimuli and low effort over higher effort stimuli but found no interaction between the two. Results from neuroimaging data suggest that there are distinct neural correlates for social and object preferences. The precuneus and medial orbitofrontal cortex, two key areas involved in social processing are engaged when participants make a social choice. Areas of the ventral and dorsal stream pathways associated with object recognition are engaged when making an object choice. These activations can be seen during the decision phase even before the rewards have been consumed, indicating a transfer the hedonic properties of social stimuli to its cues. We also found that the left insula and bilateral clusters in the inferior occipital gyrus and the inferior parietal lobule were recruited for increasing effort investment. We discuss limitations and implications of this study which reveals the distinct neural correlates for social and object rewards, using a robust behavioural measure of social motivation.
The biological and diagnostic roles of MicroRNAs in meningiomas.
Reviews in the neurosciences, 2020

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) refer to a class of small endogenous non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Emerging studies have shown that miRNAs play critical roles in tumorigenesis and cancer progression. However, roles and mechanisms of miRNA dysregulation in the pathogenesis of meningioma are not fully understood. Here, we first reviewed existing research of aberrantly expressed miRNAs identified by high throughput microarray profiling in meningioma. We also explored the potential of miRNA as biomarkers and therapeutic targets for novel treatment paradigms of meningiomas. In addition, we summarized recent researches that focused on the possible mechanisms involved in miRNA-mediate meningioma occurrence and progression. This review provides an overview of miRNA deregulation in meningioma and indicates the potential of miRNAs to be used as biomarkers or novel therapeutic targets.