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Abstract Maintenance of autonomic homeostasis is continuously calibrated by sensory fibers of the vagus nerve and sympathetic chain that convey compound action potentials (CAPs) to the central nervous system. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) intravenous challenge reliably elicits a robust inflammatory response that can resemble systemic inflammation and acute endotoxemia. Here, we administered LPS intravenously in nine healthy subjects while recording ventral cervical magnetoneurography (vcMNG)-derived CAPs at the rostral Right Nodose Ganglion (RNG) and the caudal Right Carotid Artery (RCA) with optically pumped magnetometers (OPM). We observed vcMNG RNG and RCA neural firing rates that tracked changes in TNF-α levels in the systemic circulation. Further, endotype subgroups based on high and low IL-6 responders segregate RNG CAP frequency (at 30-120 min) and based on high and low IL-10 response discriminate RCA CAP frequency (at 0-30 min). These vcMNG tools may enhance understanding and management of the neuroimmune axis that can guide personalized treatment based on an individual’s distinct endophenotype.

Abstract This study introduces a flexible, adhesive-integrated electrode array that was developed to enable non-invasive monitoring of cervical nerve activity. The device uses silver-silver chloride as the electrode material of choice and combines it with an electrode array consisting of a customized biopotential data acquisition unit and integrated graphical user interface (GUI) for visualization of real-time monitoring. Preliminary testing demonstrated this electrode design can achieve a high signal to noise ratio during cervical neural recordings. To demonstrate the capability of the surface electrodes to detect changes in cervical neuronal activity, the cold-pressor test (CPT) and a timed respiratory challenge were employed as stressors to the autonomic nervous system. This sensor system recording, a new technique, was termed Cervical Electroneurography (CEN). By applying a custom spike sorting algorithm to the electrode measurements, neural activity was classified in two ways: (1) pre-to-post CPT, and (2) during a timed respiratory challenge. Unique to this work: (1) rostral to caudal channel position-specific (cephalad to caudal) firing patterns and (2) cross challenge biotype-specific change in average CEN firing, were observed with both CPT and the timed respiratory challenge. Future work is planned to develop an ambulatory CEN recording device that could provide immediate notification of autonomic nervous system activity changes that might indicate autonomic dysregulation in healthy subjects and clinical disease states.

Electrodiagnosis is routinely integrated into clinical neurophysiology practice for peripheral nerve disease diagnoses, such as neuropathy, demyelinating disorders, nerve entrapment/impingement, plexopathy, or radiculopathy. Measured with conventional surface electrodes, the propagation of peripheral nerve action potentials along a nerve is the result of ionic current flow which, according to Ampere’s Law, generates a small magnetic field that is also detected as an “action current” by magnetometers, such as superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) Magnetoencephalography (MEG) systems. Optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) are an emerging class of quantum magnetic sensors with a demonstrated sensitivity at the 1 fT/√Hz level, capable of cortical action current detection. But OPMs were ostensibly constrained to low bandwidth therefore precluding their use in peripheral nerve electrodiagnosis. With careful OPM bandwidth characterization, we hypothesized OPMs may also detect compound action current signatures consistent with both Sensory Nerve Action Potential (SNAP) and the Hoffmann Reflex (H-Reflex). In as much, our work confirms OPMs enabled with expanded bandwidth can detect the magnetic signature of both the SNAP and H-Reflex. Taken together, OPMs now show potential as an emerging electrodiagnostic tool.

Abstract Well-established in the field of bioelectronic medicine, Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) offers an implantable, non-pharmacologic treatment for patients with intractable chronic pain conditions. Chronic pain is a widely heterogenous syndrome with regard to both pathophysiology and the resultant phenotype. Despite advances in our understanding of SCS-mediated antinociception, there still exists limited evidence clarifying the pathways recruited when patterned electric pulses are applied to the epidural space. The rapid clinical implementation of novel SCS methods including burst, high frequency and dorsal root ganglion SCS has provided the clinician with multiple options to treat refractory chronic pain. While compelling evidence for safety and efficacy exists in support of these novel paradigms, our understanding of their mechanisms of action (MOA) dramatically lags behind clinical data. In this review, we reconstruct the available basic science and clinical literature that offers support for mechanisms of both paresthesia spinal cord stimulation (P-SCS) and paresthesia-free spinal cord stimulation (PF-SCS). While P-SCS has been heavily examined since its inception, PF-SCS paradigms have recently been clinically approved with the support of limited preclinical research. Thus, wide knowledge gaps exist between their clinical efficacy and MOA. To close this gap, many rich investigative avenues for both P-SCS and PF-SCS are underway, which will further open the door for paradigm optimization, adjunctive therapies and new indications for SCS. As our understanding of these mechanisms evolves, clinicians will be empowered with the possibility of improving patient care using SCS to selectively target specific pathophysiological processes in chronic pain.

Brain Computer Interface BCI is a real-time communication system that connects the brain and external devices. The BCI system can directly convert the information sent by the brain into commands that can drive external devices and replace human limbs or language organs to achieve hu-man communication with the outside world and the external environment Control. In other words, the BCI system can replace the normal peripheral nerve and muscle tissue to achieve communication between the human and the computer or between the human and the external environment. The objective of this paper is to assist the network security for the BCI applications to identify brain activities in a secure real-time mode. To achieve this, we proposed the design of a Radio Frequency Identification RFID-based system having semi− active RFID tags placed outside the brain on the scalp transmit the collected brain activities wirelessly to a devise SC (Scanner Controller) consist of mini-reader and timer integrated together for every patient. Additionally, the paper implemented a novel system prototype interface called BCI Identification System (BCIIS) to assist the patient in the identification process. Given the benefits of RFID, we believed that if the idea is adopted and implemented by industry, it could enhance and provide secure BCI applications.

Immunoglobulin genes are formed through V(D)J recombination, which joins the variable (V), diversity (D), and joining (J) germline genes. Since variations in germline genes have been linked to various diseases, personalized immunogenomics focuses on finding alleles of germline genes across various patients. Although reconstruction of V and J genes is a well-studied problem, the more challenging task of reconstructing D genes remained open until the IgScout algorithm was developed in 2019. In this work, we address limitations of IgScout by developing a probabilistic MINING-D algorithm for D gene reconstruction, apply it to hundreds of immunosequencing datasets from multiple species, and validate the newly inferred D genes by analyzing diverse whole genome sequencing datasets and haplotyping heterozygous V genes.

With the widespread of Internet of things, varied innovative tools are required to control the nearby smart devices. In this contest, brain-computer interface (BCI) technology can empower individuals to directly control varied electronic devices such as those used in smart home/office and associative robots via their thoughts. This process requires efficient transmission of electro-corticographical (ECoG) signals from implanted electrodes inside the brain to an external receiver located outside on the scalp. However, the realization of this vision is still challenging task due to the limited reliability of adopted wireless BCI communication systems. In particular, the generated artifacts due to in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) imbalance of utilized down converter and time interleaved analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) may lead to significant interference to desired signal which affects the detection performance. In this paper, an efficient low complexity balance technique is proposed for BCI communications to mitigate the interference using the adaptive least mean square (LMS) algorithm. Performance results of conducted experiments on a near-realistic phantom human brain model are shown to validate the designed balanced BCI (BBCI) scheme compared with the existing BCI approach. Keywords: BCI communications, IoT, I/Q down converter, LMS algorithm, Time-interleaved ADCs

The mechanisms by which noninvasive vagal nerve stimulation (nVNS) affect central and peripheral neural circuits that subserve pain and autonomic physiology are not clear, and thus remain an area of intense investigation. Effects of nVNS vs sham stimulation on subject responses to five noxious thermal stimuli (applied to left lower extremity), were measured in 30 healthy subjects (n = 15 sham and n = 15 nVNS), with fMRI and physiological galvanic skin response (GSR). With repeated noxious thermal stimuli a group × time analysis showed a significantly (p < .001) decreased response with nVNS in bilateral primary and secondary somatosensory cortices (SI and SII), left dorsoposterior insular cortex, bilateral paracentral lobule, bilateral medial dorsal thalamus, right anterior cingulate cortex, and right orbitofrontal cortex. A group × time × GSR analysis showed a significantly decreased response in the nVNS group (p < .0005) bilaterally in SI, lower and mid medullary brainstem, and inferior occipital cortex. Finally, nVNS treatment showed decreased activity in pronociceptive brainstem nuclei (e.g. the reticular nucleus and rostral ventromedial medulla) and key autonomic integration nuclei (e.g. the rostroventrolateral medulla, nucleus ambiguous, and dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve). In aggregate, noninvasive vagal nerve stimulation reduced the physiological response to noxious thermal stimuli and impacted neural circuits important for pain processing and autonomic output.

In Cell Biology, a sophomore/junior undergraduate-level high-enrollment core course, students areexpected to develop a broad and detailed understanding of the functioning of eukaryotic cells. Forexample, some of the more challenging biological concepts include machinery involved in thereplication and translational processes, protein trafficking/orientation in membranes, as well as bothG protein-coupled receptor and receptor tyrosine kinase signal transduction pathways. Inthis instructional article, we describe prior published reports of the use of interactive demonstrations of several of these key biological concepts in the classroom. Furthermore, we narrate our efforts tointegrate several of these disparate evidence-based techniques (EBTs) with supplementation of our own demonstrations into a common cell biology curriculum. We have adapted these EBTs to suit large lecture classrooms (200+) as well as extended it to an online course format. We expect the hands-onnature of these learning activities will facilitate active learning of these challenging concepts in the short-term, while helping narrow achievement gaps for marginalized students, increasing student retention in majors such as Cell and Molecular Biology, and lastly for enhancing student success inpost-graduate career goals over the long-term. Our overall goal is to share our own experiencesdeploying these approaches in-person and online that could potentially lead to a more widespreadadoption of these learning props in undergraduate cell biology education as well as to stimulate research interests in evaluating the effectiveness of this unique and expanded collection of prop demonstration activities for undergraduate cell biology courses.

The gravity of the impact of renal failure on human health is well known and as there is no specific pharmacotherapy for renal failure, the current study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of root extract of Azima tetracantha, an ancient medicinal plant used in Siddha and Ayurvedhic systems of medicine. The experiment was done in glycerol-induced acute renal failure in Wistar albino rats. Thirty rats were divided into five groups. Group 1 was given normal saline (10 ml/kg) per oral, group 2 with single dose of hypertonic glycerol (8 ml/kg) by intramuscular injection into the hind limbs, group 3 with glycerol and ethanolic extract of A. tetracantha root (ATR) 250 mg/kg, group 4, glycerol and ATR 500 mg/kg and group 5, 500 mg/kg ATR. Extract was given orally 60 min prior to glycerol injection. 24 h urine output, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, total proteins and albumin were measured for all the groups. Kidneys were examined for histopathological changes. The antioxidant activity of the extract was tested in vitro and in vivo. Rats treated with ATR showed significant improvement in biochemical parameters and histopathological changes compared to glycerol treated group. The protective effect was highly significant at 500 mg/kg. Both in vitro and in vivo assays showed significant antioxidant activity. The in vitro activity was comparable to vitamin-C. The ethanolic extract of ATR has nephroprotective effect in glycerol-induced acute renal failure and the mechanism of action could be the antioxidant effect.

Acinetobacter baumannii is a Gram Negative coccobacilli implicated in causation of wide spectrum of nosocomial infections. Multidrug resistant Acinetobacter (MDR Acinetobacter) is emerging as an important cause of hospital acquired infections like urinary tract infection, ventilator associated pneumonia, meningitis, bacteremia and infection in burns patients. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of Acinetobacter infections and ascertain the burden of MDR Acinetobacter in this hospital. This study is a retrospective review of Microbiology laboratory culture reports during the period 01 Jan 2012 to 31 Dec 2012 at INHS Asvini and includes 172 isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii. Multidrug resistant Acinetobacter was defined as resistance to more than three classes of antibiotics. Out of a total of3283 different isolates from various clinical samples during this period, 172 isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii were obtained. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns for all available antibiotic classes for Acinetobacter were studied. Of all the Acinetobacter baumannii isolated, 38% were found to be Multidrug resistant which were resistant to most of the commonly used antibiotics including Aminoglycosides, Cephalosporins, Carbepenems, Extended Spectrum Penicillins and Fluroquinolones. The data suggests that Acinetobacter infections are a growing threat affecting a considerable proportion of critically ill patients.

Introduction: Natural killer cells are believed to promote placental and trophoblastic growth and provide immunemodulation at maternal-fetal interface in pregnancy and their role in reproductive failure has been a matter of discussion. Aim: To study CD56+ Natural killer cells in spontaneous pregnancy loss. Materials and Methods: In this prospective observational study, formalin-fixed paraffin embedded sections from products of conception from twenty women each with spontaneous early pregnancy loss (test group) and elective pregnancy termination (control group). Immunohistochemical staining with CD 56 monoclonal antibody was done by avidin-biotin peroxidase technique. CD56+ cells in decidua were counted under light microscopy by two independent observers in ten high power fields (40X) and mean cell count taken. Student’s paired ‘t’-test was used to statistically compare CD56+ NK cell population between the test and control groups. Results: The mean number of CD56+ NK cells was higher in the decidual tissue of women who had spontaneous early pregnancy loss (mean±SD, 57.55±1.79) as compared to the mean number of CD56+ NK cells in the decidual tissue from women who underwent elective termination (mean±SD, 50.9±3.46). The difference was statistically significant (difference of 6.65 with 95% confidence interval of 4.76 to 8.54, p-value

Anomalies of anterior arch of atlas vertebra are seldom reported in the literature. Presence of inferior accessory ossicle is one of the reported anomalies of the anterior arch of atlas. In the present case, we report a rare case of unusual morphology of the atlas vertebra. It was observed in one of the bones macerated locally for the teaching purpose. There were two wide accessory bony laminae extending from the middle three fourth of the superior and inferior aspect of the anterior arch proper. Each bony lamina was measured 4 cm x 0.3 mm. Further, there were small foramina along the attached border of the each bony lamina. Anterior tubercle was situated at the lower edge of the anterior arch proper. Accessory bony lamina may interfere with rotatory movements of the atlas and may lead to degenerative changes of the dense. Reporting of unusual morphology of anterior arch of atlas vertebra is clinically important during diagnostic procedures of neck pain. Sometimes this extra growth of the anterior arch may be mistaken for the pathologic mass.

Background: Gestational infections induced inflammation (GIII) is a cause of various postnatal neurological deficits in developing countries. Such intra uterine insults could result in persistent learning-memory disabilities. There are no studies elucidating the efficacy of adolescence exercise on spatial learning- memory abilities of young adult rats pre-exposed to inflammatory insult during fetal life. Aims and Objectives: The present study addresses the efficacy of physical (running) exercise during adolescent period in attenuating spatial memory deficits induced by exposure to GIII in rats. Materials and Methods: Pregnant Wistar dams were randomly divided into control and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) groups, injected intra peritoneally (i.p) with saline (0.5ml) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (0.5mg/kg) on alternate days from gestation day 14 (GD 14) till delivery. After parturition, pups were divided into 3 groups (n=6/group) a) Sham control and LPS group divided into 2 subgroups- b) LPS and c) LPS exercise group. Running exercise was given only to LPS exercise group during postnatal days (PNDs) 30 to 60 (15min/day). Spatial learning and memory performance was assessed by Morris water maze test (MWM), on postnatal day 61 to 67 in all groups. Results: Young rats pre-exposed to GIII and subjected to running exercise through juvenile period displayed significant decrease in latency to reach escape platform and spent significant duration in target quadrant in MWM test, compared to age matched LPS group. Results of the current study demonstrated that exercise through juvenile/adolescent period effectively mitigates gestational inflammation-induced cognitive deficits in young adult rats. Conclusion: Inflammation during gestation impairs offspring’s spatial memory and learning abilities. Whereas, early postnatal physical exercise attenuates, to higher extent, cognitive impairment resulted from exposure to LPS induced inflammation during intrauterine growth period.

Self Directed learning, oral presentation and peer group assessment are some of the phrases gaining momentum in the domain of teaching and learning. The merits and challenges in using them had attracted the attention of many educational researches. This study hopes to contribute by investigating one element which plays an important role in oral presentation. Language plays an important role in conveying the message. The uniqueness of this study lies in the language used by the presented and the participants. The Sign Language was used, where the raters consist of two groups of people. Only one group knows the sign language. The participants of study are 36 pre-service teachers. A total of 20 pre-service teachers are undergoing training to become hearing impaired special education teachers. As such, sign language is included in the programme. The balance 16 pre-service teachers enrolled in TESL programme. The presenter, himself is a hearing impaired pre-service teacher. Therefore, he had to use the sign language during his oral presentation, know sign language. The pre-service teachers had assessed the presenter using three criteria. These are communication, content and delivery. The findings show that comprehension and interpreting the rubrics used during oral presentation is crucial. As such it is suggested that students are consulted when drawing the rubrics.

An innovative gateway placement scheme is proposed for wireless mesh networks (WMNs) in this paper. It determines the location of a gateway based on a new performance metric called multihop traffic-flow weight (MTW). The MTW computation takes into account many factors that impact the throughput of WMNs, that is, the number of mesh routers, the number of mesh clients, the number of gateways, traffic demand from mesh clients, locations of gateways, and possible interference among gateways. Thus, the proposed gateway placement scheme provides a framework of significantly improving throughput of WMNs through proper placement of gateways. To evaluate the performance of the new gateway placement scheme, a nonasymptotic throughput of WMNs is derived by considering TDMA scheduling. The derivations also provide a guideline for designing scheduling schemes of WMNs. Numeric results show that the proposed gateway placement scheme constantly outperforms other schemes by a large margin.

It is not very uncommon to find accessory renal artery (or arteries) or double ureter and a number of such cases have been reported. The various types of accessory renal arteries, their positions, method of entry to the kidney and its segmentation were studied extensively by David Sykes. [1] However, multiple variations in a single subject was not reported so far, with best of our knowledge. During routine dissection it was observed in one of the male cadavers that the kidney presented a number of vari-ations bilaterally. It was found that the right kidney had four (accessory) renal arteries and three renal veins. The hilum extending on to the anterior surface and presented double ureter.

Well-established in the field of bioelectronic medicine, Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) offers an implantable, non-pharmacologic treatment for patients with intractable chronic pain conditions. Chronic pain is a widely heterogenous syndrome with regard to both pathophysiology and the resultant phenotype. Despite advances in our understanding of SCS-mediated antinociception, there still exists limited evidence clarifying the pathways recruited when patterned electric pulses are applied to the epidural space. The rapid clinical implementation of novel SCS methods including burst, high frequency and dorsal root ganglion SCS has provided the clinician with multiple options to treat refractory chronic pain. While compelling evidence for safety and efficacy exists in support of these novel paradigms, our understanding of their mechanisms of action (MOA) dramatically lags behind clinical data. In this review, we reconstruct the available basic science and clinical literature that offers support for mechanisms of both paresthesia spinal cord stimulation (P-SCS) and paresthesia-free spinal cord stimulation (PF-SCS). While P-SCS has been heavily examined since its inception, PF-SCS paradigms have recently been clinically approved with the support of limited preclinical research. Thus, wide knowledge gaps exist between their clinical efficacy and MOA. To close this gap, many rich investigative avenues for both P-SCS and PF-SCS are underway, which will further open the door for paradigm optimization, adjunctive therapies and new indications for SCS. As our understanding of these mechanisms evolves, clinicians will be empowered with the possibility of improving patient care using SCS to selectively target specific pathophysiological processes in chronic pain.

A crucial element in any teacher training programme is teaching practice. Terms such as practicum, refers to teaching practice which is embedded in the teacher training programme itself. Such stints become more challenging for a teacher, for their teaching would be observed and assessed by a teacher educator. The purpose of this study was to explore the music pre-service teachers' concerns before embarking on practicum. A total of 24 pre-service teachers participated in this study. Their concerns were captured through a written reflection. This reflection was written seven days before these pre-service teachers were to begin their practicum stint. The written reflections were analysed using a thematic approach. Among the concerns are issues related to communication skills, lesson planning and meeting the expectations of teacher educators. The recommendations made in enhancing teacher education programme, notably in training music teachers are also made.