Opposing Modulation of EEG Aperiodic Component by Ketamine and Thiopental: Implications for the Noninvasive Assessment of Cortical E/I Balance in Humans.

The balance between excitatory and inhibitory (E/I) activity is critical for brain function, and its disruption is implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders. Electrophysiological signals can be decomposed into periodic (oscillatory) and aperiodic components. In the power spectrum, the periodic component appears as narrowband peaks, while the aperiodic component underlies its characteristic 1/f power-law decay.

Opposing Modulation of EEG Aperiodic Component by Ketamine and Thiopental: Implications for the Noninvasive Assessment of Cortical E/I Balance in Humans.

The balance between excitatory and inhibitory (E/I) activity is critical for brain function, and its disruption is implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders. Electrophysiological signals can be decomposed into periodic (oscillatory) and aperiodic components. In the power spectrum, the periodic component appears as narrowband peaks, while the aperiodic component underlies its characteristic 1/f power-law decay.

Tissue-specific DNA isolation from dissected millipedes for nanopore sequencing.

There are approximately 12,000 described species within the class Diplopoda. Only five species, falling within 4 of 16 described orders, have fully sequenced genomes. No whole genomes are available for incredibly diverse families like Xystodesmidae.

Stress-induced changes in endogenous TP53 mRNA 5' regulatory region.

Tumor suppressor protein p53 is regulated in a number of ways, including during initiation of TP53 mRNA translation. The 5' end of TP53 mRNA contains regulatory structures that enable noncanonical initiation using mechanisms that remain poorly described. Here we analyze per-nucleotide reactivity changes in the 5' end secondary structure of TP53 mRNA under in-cell conditions using A549 human lung carcinoma cells.

Exploring cardiac vector propagation in acute myocardial infarction: a spatial velocity perspective.

Aims: To objectively characterize the spatial-velocity dynamics of the QRS-loop in the vectorcardiogram (VCG) of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Methods: VCG was constructed as a space curve directly with three quasi-orthogonal leads I, aVF and V2 recorded by conventional ECG of 25 healthy individuals and 50 AMI patients. Spatial velocity (SV) of the dynamic QRS loop, spatial distance (SD), and spatial magnitude (SM) were recorded, along with axis-specific component attributes of vector magnitude such as ΔX, ΔY, and ΔZ.

Efficacy of an online lung ultrasound module on skill acquisition by clinician: a new paradigm.

Introduction: Lung ultrasound (LUS) as an assessment tool has seen significant expansion in adult, paediatric, and neonatal populations due to advancements in point-of-care ultrasound over the past two decades. However, with fewer experts and learning platforms available in low- and middle-income countries and the lack of a standardised supervised training programme, LUS is not currently effectively used to the best of its potential in neonatal units.

Methodology: A cross-sectional survey assessed the efficacy of learning LUS via a mentor-based online teaching module (NEOPOCUS).

Mixed Connective Tissue Disease Presenting With Psychosis-A Case Report.

Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) is a systemic autoimmune disease with features overlapping multiple autoimmune disorders. One study found that over 55% of patients with MCTD experienced neuropsychiatric symptoms, the most common of which was an "aseptic meningitis-like syndrome." We present a case of a 17-year-old adolescent girl presenting with abnormal speech and behavior, auditory hallucinations, and paranoid delusions after an isolated episode of fever.

Novel AI-based HRV analysis (NAIHA) in healthcare automation and related applications.

Background: Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis computed on R-R interval series of ECG records with heavy burden of ectopic beats or non-sinus rhythm can significantly distort HRV parameters and hence clinically ineligible for HRV analysis. Yet, existing algorithmic methods of HRV analysis do not check such eligibility and require manual identification of eligible window (portion of ECG record) to ensure reliability.

Objective: We aimed to propose a robust algorithm with a sliding window feature to automate the identification of an eligible window, if available, which compute HRV parameters within that window obviating manual input.

Structural basis for the tryptophan sensitivity of TnaC-mediated ribosome stalling.

Free L-tryptophan (L-Trp) stalls ribosomes engaged in the synthesis of TnaC, a leader peptide controlling the expression of the Escherichia coli tryptophanase operon. Despite extensive characterization, the molecular mechanism underlying the recognition and response to L-Trp by the TnaC-ribosome complex remains unknown. Here, we use a combined biochemical and structural approach to characterize a TnaC variant (R23F) with greatly enhanced sensitivity for L-Trp.

Geometry of the Poincaré plot can segregate the two arms of autonomic nervous system - A hypothesis.

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) operates to achieve the optimum physiological functioning and maintains homeostasis in a tonic and continuous manner. Evaluation of ANS profile is crucial in assessing autonomic dysfunction. Conventional ANS evaluation procedures fail to capture minute dynamic alterations of ANS activities.

When is My Baby Going Home? Moderate to Late Preterm Infants are Discharged at 36 Weeks Based on Admission Data.

Objective: This study evaluates the effect of admission characteristics of uncomplicated moderate to late preterm infants on timing of discharge. One of the first questions that families of infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) ask is, "When is my baby going home?" Moderate to late preterm infants are the largest cohort of NICU patients but little data exist about their length of stay (LOS).

Study Design: A retrospective electronic chart review was completed on 12,498 infants admitted to our NICU between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2015.

Spatial velocity of the dynamic vectorcardiographic loop provides crucial insight in ventricular dysfunction.

Vectorcardiogram (VCG) represents the trajectory of the tip of cardiac vectors in three dimensional space with varying time. It is a recurring, near-periodic pattern of cardiac dynamics that is constructed by drawing the instantaneous vectors from a zero reference point according to direction, magnitude and polarity in the space. Being a three dimensional entity, it is more informative and more sensitive than conventional ECG as an evaluation tool of the physiology of cardiac dynamics, because of its extra degree of freedom.

The regulatory TnaC nascent peptide preferentially inhibits release factor 2-mediated hydrolysis of peptidyl-tRNA.

The regulatory gene from the operon of controls the transcription of its own operon through an attenuation mechanism relying on the accumulation of arrested ribosomes during inhibition of its own translation termination. This free l-Trp-dependent mechanism of inhibition of translation termination remains unclear. Here, we analyzed the inhibitory effects of l-Trp on the function of two known translation termination factors, RF1 and RF2.

Single-molecule correlated chemical probing reveals large-scale structural communication in the ribosome and the mechanism of the antibiotic spectinomycin in living cells.

The ribosome moves between distinct structural states and is organized into multiple functional domains. Here, we examined hundreds of occurrences of pairwise through-space communication between nucleotides in the ribosome small subunit RNA using RNA interaction groups analyzed by mutational profiling (RING-MaP) single-molecule correlated chemical probing in bacterial cells. RING-MaP revealed four structural communities in the small subunit RNA, each distinct from the organization defined by the RNA secondary structure.

Guidelines for SHAPE Reagent Choice and Detection Strategy for RNA Structure Probing Studies.

Chemical probing is an important tool for characterizing the complex folded structures of RNA molecules, many of which play key cellular roles. Electrophilic SHAPE reagents create adducts at the 2'-hydroxyl position on the RNA backbone of flexible ribonucleotides with relatively little dependence on nucleotide identity. Strategies for adduct detection such as mutational profiling (MaP) allow accurate, automated calculation of relative adduct frequencies for each nucleotide in a given RNA or group of RNAs.

An evaluation of planarity of the spatial QRS loop by three dimensional vectorcardiography: Its emergence and loss.

Aims: To objectively characterize and mathematically justify the observation that vectorcardiographic QRS loops in normal individuals are more planar than those from patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Methods: Vectorcardiograms (VCGs) were constructed from three simultaneously recorded quasi-orthogonal leads, I, aVF and V (sampled at 1000 samples/s). The planarity of these QRS loops was determined by fitting a surface to each loop.

Effect of polishing on the microleakage of three different restorative materials: an in vitro study.

Aims And Objectives: The purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate the effect of polishing systems on the microleakage of three different restorative materials (Ketac Molar Easymix, Ketac N100 and Filtek P90).

Materials And Methods: Class V cavities were prepared at the cemento-enamel junction of 60 freshly extracted premolars. The prepared teeth were randomly divided into three groups and restored with the three materials.

Interactions of the TnaC nascent peptide with rRNA in the exit tunnel enable the ribosome to respond to free tryptophan.

A transcriptional attenuation mechanism regulates expression of the bacterial tnaCAB operon. This mechanism requires ribosomal arrest induced by the regulatory nascent TnaC peptide in response to free L-tryptophan (L-Trp). In this study we demonstrate, using genetic and biochemical analyses, that in Escherichia coli, TnaC residue I19 and 23S rRNA nucleotide A2058 are essential for the ribosome's ability to sense free L-Trp.

Postdischarge surveillance to identify subsequent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in colonized children.

Some hospitals screen and identify high risk patients for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization. We performed postdischarge surveillance, including a telephone survey, and estimated a 9.5% incidence of infection in MRSA-colonized children in the year following discharge.

Detecting respiratory viruses in asymptomatic children.

Background: Viral respiratory infections are among the most common reasons for hospitalization of children in the United States. Our objective was to compare molecular and conventional methods in a cohort of hospitalized children with and without symptoms of respiratory viral illness (RVI).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of infants and toddlers hospitalized between December 2007 and March 2008 at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Central line-associated bloodstream infection in hospitalized children with peripherally inserted central venous catheters: extending risk analyses outside the intensive care unit.

Background: Increasingly, peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICCs) are placed for prolonged intravenous access. Few data exist regarding risk factors for central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) complicating PICCs in hospitalized children, especially children hospitalized outside the intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: We identified all children with a PICC inserted at The Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, MD) from 1 January 2003 through 31 December 2009 and used Poisson regression models to identify risk factors for PICC-associated CLABSIs.