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Objective means of predicting treatment responses in patients with schizophrenia using quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) as an electrophysiological indicator. We obtained qEEG recordings from patients with schizophrenia and explored them for patterns indicative of treatment responsiveness. Patients and Methods: The study included 68 patients had been diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorder. After retrospectively gathering demographic information, clinical data such as qEEG, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), a multiple regression analysis was performed. This analysis employed baseline qEEG findings as independent variables and PANSS score changes as dependent variables to discern causal relationships. Results: The mean age of the participants was 38.4 years(SD =13.73). The mean PANSS score on admission was 92.97, decreasing to 67.41 at discharge. Multiple regression analysis revealed that delta waves in T4 (β=0.346, t=3.165, p=0.002), and high-beta waves in Fp2 (β=0.231, t=2.361, p=0.021) were associated with PANSS changes in absolute power. In addition, the delta waves of O2 (β=0.250, t=3.288, p=0.002); beta waves of T3 (β=− 1.463, t=− 5.423, p< 0.001) and O2 (β=0.551, t=3.366, p=0.001); high beta waves of Fp1 (β=0.307, t=4.026, p< 0.001), T3 (β=0.855, t=4.414, p< 0.001) and T6 (β=− 0.838, t=− 4.559, p< 0.001) of absolute power using the Z-score were also related to PANSS changes. Pearson's correlation analysis showed that only delta waves at Cz (r= 0.246, p=0.043) in absolute power correlated with changes in the PANSS. Conclusion: We found that certain qEEG wave patterns in patients with schizophrenia prior to antipsychotic treatment were linked to PANSS changes before and after treatment. Delta waves and beta waves, primarily in the frontal and temporal regions, were found to be significantly associated with changes in PANSS scores. In the future, the qEEG indicators identified in this study could serve as electrophysiological markers for predicting antipsychotic treatment responses in patients with schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunocompromised patients with coronavirus disease 2019 were prospectively enrolled from March to November 2022 to understand the association between antibody responses and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 shedding. A total of 62 patients were analyzed, and the results indicated a faster decline in genomic and subgenomic viral RNA in patients with higher neutralizing and S1-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies (both P <.001). Notably, high neutralizing antibody levels were associated with a significantly faster decrease in viable virus cultures (P =.04). Our observations suggest the role of neutralizing antibodies in prolonged virus shedding in immunocompromised patients, highlighting the potential benefits of enhancing their humoral immune response through vaccination or monoclonal antibody treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the positive impact of mobile neurofeedback (MNF) in neurotypical children compared to sham mobile neurofeedback. Methods: Neurotypical children aged 10– 15 participated in the study. All subjects were assessed using the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia Present and Lifetime Version Korean Version (K-SADS-PL-K) and confirmed to have no psychiatric symptoms. The participants were randomly assigned to the MNF active (N=31) or sham control (N=30) groups. The MNF program was administered using a mobile app for 30 min/day, 3 days/week, for 3 months. All participants and their parents completed self-report scales and participants complete neurocognitive function assessments including the continuous performance test, Stroop, children's color trails test-1 and 2, and intelligence test at baseline and after the 3-month MNF program. Results: This study involved 61 participants (mean [SD] age, 11.24 [1.84] years; 30 male participants [49.2%]). To verify the difference between the MNF group and the sham group, 2(MNF-Sham) X 2(Pre-Post) repeated measures ANOVA was performed. The main effect of the K-scale (Korea Internet addiction scale) between-group factor (MNF vs Sham) was not significant, but the main effect of the within-group factor (Pre vs Post) was significant (F=7.595, p=0.008). The interaction effect of between-group factors and within-group factors was also significant (F=5.979, p=0.017). In other self-reported scales of children and parents and neurocognitive function assessments, there was no significant difference between the two groups. Conclusion: Active mobile neurofeedback significantly improved children's K-scale score compared to the sham group. Therefore, mobile neurofeedback could be an easy-to-access therapeutic option for children at risk of Internet addiction. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in other scales and neurocognitive function. A 3-month intervention may not have been long enough to cause change, so longer interventions are needed for confirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In patients with head and neck cancer treated with radiation therapy, the choice of which neck levels require elective radiation can dramatically influence the risk of regional failure and may contribute to cancer mortality and overall survival. Retrospective evaluation of elective nodal coverage in previously treated patients with head and neck cancer is a time intensive and, in most cases, subjective process. In order to objectively assess the extent of lymph node irradiation in large cohorts of patients, automated objective methods to assess elective lymph node treatment are crucial. In this work, we demonstrate a novel approach using a convolutional neural network (CNN) to autosegment, retrospectively label, and classify the extent of elective neck irradiation in previously treated patients. Initially, 100 patients with head and neck cancer were contoured to identify all elective neck level targets as per standard guidelines1, including levels IA, IB, II, III, IV, V, VIIA on both left and right necks. These patients were used to train a CNN neck level model (NLM) which was validated on a further 10 patients clinically. After training, the resultant NLM was applied retrospectively to all patients in the RADCURE dataset2. Overlap between the autosegmented NLM model contours with existing elective neck CTV targets was assessed using the proportion of voxel overlap of the individual neck structures with the elective CTV which was clinically defined. Primary tumor laterality as assessed in the clinical database was used to normalize right and left neck targets to ipsilateral and contralateral relative to the primary tumor. Neck levels were assumed to be 'treated' if >70% of the auto-segmented volume was overlapped with the clinical elective CTV target in the respective neck. Summary statistics were calculated by disease site, tumor volume, staging information, and clinical variables to evaluate patterns of CTV coverage and associations with tumor or patient factors. A total of 1,748 patients within the RADCURE dataset were included in the analysis as they had the primary tumor laterality defined clinically. After NLM application, comprehensive neck irradiation (IA-VIIA) occurred in 33%, 55%, 31%, 16%, 14%, and 12% of patients with oropharynx, nasopharynx, hypopharynx, larynx, oral cavity, and paranasal/nasal primary disease sites, respectively. Within primary disease sites, the proportion of the entire elective neck (IA-VII) which was included in the elective target volume varied substantially within sites but also showed expected differences in elective neck treatment (Figure) with nasopharynx representing the most comprehensive approach and nasal and salivary glands the least comprehensive approaches. Important patterns of elective treatment were visible with variations in specific levels of treatment related to primary site evident in the objective classifications of levels IA, II, and the retropharyngeal (VIIA) nodes. (Table). Specifically, coverage of level IA was rare, but more common in patients with lip/oral cavity or paranasal/nasal primary site. In patients with oropharyngeal primary disease, contralateral level II overlap showed approximately 12% of oropharynx patients were treated with ipsilateral intent only consistent with our previous reports from our institution.3 Retropharyngeal lymph node coverage was highest in the patients with nasopharyngeal disease, but identified a critical variation in contouring whereby a subset of patients did not have a formal elective VIIA target and instead relied on the overlap of primary site CTVs to ensure coverage of these regions. [Display omitted] Automatic assessment of elective neck coverage using a neck level auto-segmentation model shows substantial (but anticipated) variation in elective neck coverage based on disease site. Objective methods to interrogate target volumes and the resultant plan information will allow more detailed analysis and understanding of patterns of failure following radiation therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]