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BackgroundMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a major cause of neurological disability in adults. Depression is one of the most common psychiatric comorbidities in MS patients with negative impact on patients’ quality of life. The aim of the study is to evaluate the role of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in monitoring the therapeutic response after high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS) versus selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) therapy for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients presenting with depression by measuring the factional anisotropy of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) before and after treatment and also to assess the treatments’ impact on patients’ cognitive functions and depression.ResultsFractional anisotropy (FA) only increased in rTMS group (0.44 ± 0.03 pre-rTMS vs 0.53 ± 0.05 post-rTMS,P< 0.001), but there were no significant changes in the SSRI group (0.44 ± 0.04 pre-SSRIs vs 0.45 ± .37 post-SSRIs,P= 0.072). Both rTMS and SSRI groups showed significant clinical improvement in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) after either intervention (17.6 ± 3.25 pre-rTMS vs 10.6 ± 1.89 post-rTMS and 23 ± 6.36 pre-rTMS vs 24.87 ± 6.6 post-rTMS, respectively,P< 0.001; 17.67 ± 3.15 pre-SSRIs vs 0.6 ± 1.84 post-SSRIs and 23.8 ± 6.45 pre-SSRIs vs 25.07 ± 7.02 post-SSRIs, respectively,P< 0.001).ConclusionDTI is an ideal non-invasive tool for examining white matter integrity and can detect microstructural changes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex after rTMS and SSRI therapies for patients with MS and depression. FA increased only with rTMS denoting positive alteration in white matter microstructure. Both rTMS and SSRIs were equally effective in improving depression and cognition.

The recent advances in wearable technologies had caused a surge in the demand for stretchable Li-ion microbatteries. Herein, a special design based on micropillar electrodes supported on metallic serpentines has been investigated to achieve the fabrication of a functionning device. Besides achieving high areal capacity values like 2.5 ​mA ​h ​cm−2 at C/10 (i.e. 0.07 ​mA ​cm−2), the micropillars make the system reversibly stretchable. Electrochemical tests revealed excellent performance when the stretchable micropower source was subjected to different mechanical strains. Indeed, 73% of the capacity is retained over 100 cycles under 30% strain and all fatigue tests showed that capacity retention remain higher than 70%.

Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the structural alteration of corpus callosum (CC) in adolescent females with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and detect the relationship between these changes and BPD symptoms. Methods A comparative case control study was conducted on 50 adolescent females that were divided into 2 groups; 25 outpatients suffering from BPD (according to DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria) compared to 25 healthy adolescents. All subjects were assessed by Borderline Personality Questionnaire, Barratt impulsivity scale-11, Brief Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Assessment tool, Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation, and Diffusion tensor imaging. Results Relative to control subjects, BPD patients had significantly lower fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the genu and lower mean diffusivity (MD) values in the body of CC. There was a negative correlation between FA values in the genu and body of CC and impulsivity. MD in the body of CC was positively correlated with motor impulsiveness and negatively correlated with suicidality. Conclusion Adolescent females with BPD show structural alterations in the CC that are related to symptoms of emotional dysregulation and impulsivity.

Central nervous system (CNS) involvement in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has different facets such as anxiety, depression, cognitive impairment and vasculitis. We were interested in detecting subclinical CNS involvement in chronic HCV infected subjects with and without systemic vasculitis.Nineteen patients (15 females and 4 males) with chronic HCV infection (mean age 46.5 ± 7 and mean duration since diagnosis of HCV infection 4.7 ± 4 years, including 6 (32%) Child-Pugh class A cirrhotic patients) and 30 age, sex and education matched healthy control subjects were studied. Thirteen patients had associated vasculitis. Patients and control subjects were assessed using the block design and comprehension subtests of Wechsler Bellevue Adult Intelligence Scale, Wechsler Memory scale (WMS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Brain HMPAO Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) was performed for HCV patients.Patients with HCV had lower scores on the block design test compared to control subjects (8.37 ± 1.89 versus 10.37 ± 1.47, p 0.001), lower total WMS scores (43.15 ± 10.49 versus 60.27 ± 8.08, p 0.001) and higher anxiety and depression scores (16.94 ± 10.46 and 37.17 ± 10.38 versus 10.3 ± 4.67 and 28.9 ± 5.99, p = 0.004 and 0.001, respectively). Total WMS were lower in HCV patients with vasculitis compared to those without vasculitis (39.14 ± 9.3 versus 51.17 ± 8.3, p = 0.019) while the block design and comprehension tests, BAI and BDI were not significantly different between both groups. The block design and comprehension tests, WMS, BAI and BDI were not significantly different between cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients. Seven patients had different patterns of cerebral hypoperfusion on SPECT, and all of them had associated vasculitis. Abnormal SPECT was associated with lower total WMS scores (35.87 ± 10.8 versus 46.79 ± 8.6 in those with normal SPECT, p = 0.049).Vasculitis may contribute to the development of neuropsychiatric involvement in HCV patients.

Background Studies have compared electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) with regard to their clinical efficacy in the treatment of depression, but only a few studies have addressed their differential impact on cognition. The purpose of this study was to compare the neurocognitive side effects of both treatment modalities. Methods In this comparative study, 40 patients with major depressive disorder referred for ECT were randomly assigned either to a course of 25 sessions of rTMS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or to a course of ECT ranging from 4 to 8 sessions. The primary outcome measures were the results of a cognitive battery that assessed different aspects of cognitive functioning. The cognitive battery comprised the Digit Span Subtest from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, the Stroop Color-Word Test-Victoria version, the Color Trails Test Trials 1 and 2, and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test. Results At the end of treatment, scores on the Digit Span Subtest, the Stroop Color-Word Test-Victoria version, and the Color Trails Test showed statistically significant better results in the rTMS group compared with the ECT group. Conclusions rTMS was well tolerated with less negative impact on cognitive functioning than ECT.

Background End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a severe and debilitating disease. Insignificant data exist on depression, anxiety, quality of life (QoL), and life satisfaction in patients on hemodialysis (HD) in comparison with patients with renal transplantation (RT). Aim The aim of this study was to compare the presence and severity of depression and accompanying anxiety symptoms between HD patients and RT recipients and to correlate both depression and anxiety with the QoL and life satisfaction affection in both groups of patients. Patients and methods A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted on 64 patients with ESRD who were recruited consecutively from the nephrology outpatient clinic of Kasr Al Ainy, Cairo University Hospitals, over a period of 1 year. Patients were applied the Physical, Cognitive, Affective, Social, Economic and Ego Questionnaire to assess QoL, Beck Depression Inventory to assess depression, Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire to assess anxiety, and Life Satisfaction Scale for life satisfaction. Results The study results showed that depression, anxiety, and somatization in the HD group showed significant higher scores than the RT group. Patients on HD were significantly less satisfied with their life and showed lower scores on the physical domain, whereas patients with RT had significant lower scores on the economic domain of QoL. Life satisfaction and most domains of QoL were negatively correlated with depression, anxiety, and somatization in the HD group. Conclusion Depression accompanied with a variety of anxiety symptoms constituted determinants of poor QoL in the setting of ESRD and consequently, less life satisfaction. HD patients showed higher levels of depression, anxiety, and somatization along with poorer QoL and less life satisfaction than patients with RT.

WOS:000462880800032; In this work, it is reported the fabrication of highly stretchable electrodes on a polydimethylsiloxane substrate. A laser ablation technique is used to design lithium nickel manganese oxide micropillars supported on serpentine Al interconnects. Morphological, mechanical, and chemical analyses have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, and energy dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy. We show that unlike compact and continuous electrode thin-films, vertical micropillar structures supported on Al serpentines can be stretched up to 70% without structural damage, which opens a new alternative for the fabrication and development of truly stretchable devices such as stretchable micro-batteries. (C) 2019 Author(s).

Since the beginning of the Egyptian political conflict, Tahrir Square has been the epicentre of intense political violence. Students attending schools located near this square witnessed and/or directly experienced the consequences of a series of violent events.This study will investigate the presence of psychiatric symptoms in children attending these schools to explore patterns of responses according to their perceptions of the revolution on their lives, adjusted for, gender and socio-economic status.A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted with 515 Egyptian school children attending government, experimental, and private language schools located within 1 km of Tahrir Square. To assess psychiatric symptoms in these children, a specially designed questionnaire was used to detect, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and impairments.Children attending schools near Tahrir Square showed high rates of depression, PTSD and anxiety symptoms. The risk factors identified for developing psychiatric symptoms were a negative perception of the effect of the revolution, knowing someone exposed to trauma during the events, female gender and low socio-economic class.These results highlight the need for large-scale studies to explore the consequences of ongoing political violence on children and to establish baseline data on the mental health of Egyptian children.

Background Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a chronic progressive disease resulting in substantial morbidity and mortality. The cardinal symptom of ILD is dyspnea; however, other pulmonary and extra-pulmonary symptoms are often present. Depression is a common comorbidity of many chronic diseases and directly impacts quality of life. Aim of work To determine the relationship of dyspnea with selected clinical and psychiatric variables including functional status and depression in patients with ILD. Patients and methods The work included thirty five clinically and radiologically known cases of ILD and ten healthy controls, they were subdivided into Group I: Twenty patients without pulmonary hypertension. Group II: Fifteen patients with pulmonary hypertension. Group III: Ten healthy controls. All cases subjected to medical history, clinical examination, plain X-ray chest, HRCT, 6-minute walk test, arterial blood gases, Flow/volume loop , echocardiography, Other investigations e.g., collagen profile and depression, anxiety, pain, sleep and dyspnea questionnaire. Results Among ILD groups: Dyspnea score showed a statistically significant positive correlation with psychiatric disorders (depression score, anxiety score, sleep disorders and pain score) while a statistically significant negative correlation with 6MWD, spirometric variables (FEV1 % and FVC %) and ABG variables (PaO2 and SO2 %). Dyspnea score, clinical variables (6MWD, RVSP, spirometric and ABG variables) and psychiatric disorders were statistically significantly more affected in ILD group with PHTN than in ILD group without PHTN. There was no statistically significant correlation between psychiatric disorders and both sex and smoking history among ILD groups. Conclusion Dyspnea is common in ILD and is strongly correlated with functional status and psychiatric disorders. Dyspnea score, functional status and psychiatric disorders are more affected in ILD with PHTN than in ILD without PHTN. Accordingly, routine screening for mental disorders is recommended for patients with ILD, and should be accompanied by accurate assessment of patient’s symptoms, particularly in patients with high levels of functional impairment.