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This paper presents an analytical model of substrate mass transfer through the lumen of a membrane bioreactor. The model is a solution of the convective-diffusion equation in two dimensions using a regular perturbation technique. The analysis accounts for radial-convective flow as well as axial diffusion of the substrate specie. The model is applicable to the different modes of operation of membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems (e.g., dead-end, open-shell, or closed-shell mode), as well as the vertical or horizontal orientation. The first-order limit of the Michaelis-Menten equation for substrate consumption was used to test the developed model against available analytical results. The results obtained from the application of this model, along with a biofilm growth kinetic model, will be useful in the derivation of an efficiency expression for enzyme production in an MBR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects up to 936 million adults globally and is linked to significant health risks, including neurocognitive impairment, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic conditions. Despite its prevalence, OSA remains largely underdiagnosed. This study aimed to enhance OSA awareness and risk assessment using the STOP-Bang questionnaire in a telemedicine format., Methods: During a six-week campaign on a popular Latin American news portal, 5,966 adults completed the STOP-Bang questionnaire. Participants reporting moderate or severe OSA risk were advised to seek clinical evaluation., Results: Among respondents, 44.7% were identified as having a moderate-to-high risk for OSA. Key risk factors included snoring, witnessed apneas, hypertension, male gender, older age, high BMI, and larger neck circumference. Statistical analyses showed significant associations between these variables and OSA risk., Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of increasing OSA visibility and early detection in the general population. Despite limitations such as selection bias and potential false negatives/positives with the STOP-Bang tool, the findings demonstrate the potential of media campaigns to raise awareness and prompt early medical consultation. Future efforts should include follow-up assessments to evaluate healthcare-seeking behavior and confirm OSA diagnoses, contributing to improved public health outcomes., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The Ethical Committee of the Zonal Hospital of Trelew, Chubut, Argentina, granted approval for the study in accordance with internationally accepted ethical standards, including the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS), the Declaration of Helsinki, and the World Medical Association’s guidelines. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Patient consent: This study did not require formal informed consent, as it was conducted via a news portal. No personally identifiable information was collected, and participants were not required to provide identifying details. Providing an email address was optional. Participation was voluntary, and all data shared was anonymized to ensure privacy. No images or sensitive information that could identify participants were used., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Study Objectives: Actigraphy devices are used in sleep medicine. The Actiwatch 2 (Philips Respironics) was an example of a frequently used device in this field. Nevertheless, the discontinuation of this device has led to an increased necessity for the implementation of other available actigraphy methods capable of providing objective information. The objective of this study was to assess the performance of the new ActTrust 2 compared to the Actiwatch 2 model., Methods: This observational prospective study included nine subjects (77.760 activity logs), who were monitored for seven days using two actigraphy wrist devices (ActTrust 2 and Actiwatch 2) simultaneously. The following variables were evaluated: Mesor, amplitude, and acrophase, Intradaily Variability (IV), Interdaily Stability (IS), Relative Amplitude (RA), the mean of five consecutive hours with the lowest activity (L5), and the ten consecutive hours with the highest activity (M10). Furthermore, total sleep time (TST), time in bed (TIB), sleep efficiency (SE), sleep onset latency (SOL), wake after sleep onset (WASO), and awakenings were also included., Results: Actigraphy models indicated statistically significant differences in activity levels. Regarding the analysis of circadian rest-activity rhythms, M10, Mesor, and amplitude also exhibited these differences. Furthermore, the analysis of sleep-wakefulness revealed significant differences in the sleep onset latency (SOL) and the number of awakenings., Conclusions: The ActTrust 2 and Actiwatch 2 models showed equivalent results in measuring circadian rest-activity rhythm and sleep. However, caution is advised when interpreting parameters like Mesor, amplitude, SOL, awakenings, and M10 variables., (© 2025 American Academy of Sleep Medicine.)

Background/objectives: Functional MRI (fMRI) is widely used to assess language lateralization, but its application in patients with brain tumors can be hindered by cognitive impairments, compensatory neuroplasticity, and artifacts due to patient movement or severe aphasia. Gray matter volume (GMV) analysis via voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in language-related brain regions may offer a stable complementary approach. This study investigates the relationship between GMV and fMRI-derived language lateralization in healthy individuals and patients with left-hemisphere brain tumors, aiming to enhance accuracy in complex cases., Methods: The MRI data from 22 healthy participants and 28 individuals with left-hemisphere brain tumors were analyzed. Structural T1-weighted and functional images were obtained during three language tasks. Language lateralization was assessed based on activation in predefined regions of interest (ROIs), categorized as typical (left) or atypical (right or bilateral). The GMV in these ROIs was measured using VBM. Linear regressions explored GMV-lateralization associations, and logistic regressions predicted the lateralization based on the GMV., Results: In the healthy participants, typical left-hemispheric language dominance correlated with higher GMV in the left pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus. The brain tumor participants with atypical lateralization showed increased GMV in six right-hemisphere ROIs. The GMV in the language ROIs predicted the fMRI language lateralization, with AUCs from 80.1% to 94.2% in the healthy participants and 78.3% to 92.6% in the tumor patients., Conclusions: GMV analysis in language-related ROIs effectively complements fMRI for assessing language dominance, particularly when fMRI is challenging. It correlates with language lateralization in both healthy individuals and brain tumor patients, highlighting its potential in preoperative language mapping. Further research with larger samples is needed to refine its clinical utility.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been found to be promising in the neurorehabilitation of post-stroke patients. Aphasia and cognitive impairment (CI) are prevalent post-stroke; however, there is still a lack of consensus about the characteristics of interventions based on TMS and its neuropsychological and anatomical-functional benefits. Therefore, studies that contribute to creating TMS protocols for these neurological conditions are necessary. To analyze the evidence of the neuropsychological and anatomical-functional TMS effects in post-stroke patients with CI and aphasia and determine the characteristics of the most used TMS in research practice. The present study followed the PRISMA guidelines and included articles from PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and EMBASE databases, published between January 2010 and March 2023. In the 15 articles reviewed, it was found that attention, memory, executive function, language comprehension, naming, and verbal fluency (semantic and phonological) are the neuropsychological domains that improved post-TMS. Moreover, TMS in aphasia and post-stroke CI contribute to greater frontal activation (in the inferior frontal gyrus, pars triangularis, and opercularis). Temporoparietal effects were also found. The observed effects occur when TMS is implemented in repetitive modality, at a frequency of 1 Hz, in sessions of 30 min, and that last more than 2 weeks in duration. The use of TMS contributes to the neurorehabilitation process in post-stroke patients with CI and aphasia. However, it is still necessary to standardize future intervention protocols based on accurate TMS characteristics., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Cannabidiol (CBD) and Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are the two major constituents of cannabis with contrasting mechanisms of action. THC is the major psychoactive, addiction-promoting, and psychotomimetic compound, while CBD may have opposite effects. The brain effects of these drugs alone and in combination are poorly understood. In particular, the striatum is implicated in the pathophysiology of several psychiatric disorders, but it is unclear how THC and CBD influence striato-cortical connectivity., Aims: To examine effects of THC, CBD, and THC + CBD on functional connectivity of striatal sub-divisions (associative, limbic and sensorimotor)., Method: Resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) was used across two within-subjects, placebo-controlled, double-blind studies, with a unified analysis approach., Results: Study 1 ( N  = 17; inhaled cannabis containing 8 mg THC, 8 mg THC + 10 mg CBD or placebo) showed strong disruptive effects of both THC and THC + CBD on connectivity in the associative and sensorimotor networks, but a specific effect of THC in the limbic striatum network which was not present in the THC + CBD condition. In Study 2 ( N  = 23, oral 600 mg CBD, placebo), CBD increased connectivity in the associative network, but produced only relatively minor disruptions in the limbic and sensorimotor networks., Outcomes: THC strongly disrupts striato-cortical networks, but this effect is mitigated by co-administration of CBD in the limbic striatum network. Oral CBD administered has a more complex effect profile of relative increases and decreases in connectivity. The insula emerges as a key region affected by cannabinoid-induced changes in functional connectivity, with potential implications for understanding cannabis-related disorders, and the development of cannabinoid therapeutics.