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Background: Observation, execution, and imitation of target actions based on mirror neuron network (MNN) have become common physiotherapy strategies. Electrical stimulation (ES) is a common intervention to improve muscle strength and motor control in rehabilitation treatments. It is possible to enhance MNN's activation by combining motor execution (ME) and motor imitation (MI) with ES simultaneously. This study aims to reveal whether ES could impact cortical activation during ME and MI.
Methods: We recruited healthy individuals and assigned them randomly to the control group (CG) or experiment group (EG). Participants in EG performed ME and MI tasks with ES, while participants in CG performed the same two tasks with sham ES. We utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to detect brain activation of MNN during ME and MI with and without ES, a randomized block design experiment paradigm was designed. Descriptive analysis of oxy-hemoglobin (HbO) and deoxy-hemoglobin (HbR) were used to show the hemoglobin (Hb) concentration changes after different event onsets in both CG and EG, a linear mixed-effects model (LMM) of HbO data was employed to analyze the effect of ES on the activation of MNN.
Results: A total of 102 healthy adults were recruited and 72 participants' data were analysed in the final report. The block averaged Hb data showed that HbO concentration increased and HbR concentration decreased in most MNN regions during ME and MI in both groups. The LMM results showed that ES can significantly improve the activation of inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and precentral gyrus during MI, the supplementary motor area, inferior parietal lobule, and superior temporal gyri showed increased activation, but without statistical significance. Although the results did not reach statistical significance during ME, ES still showed positive effects on increased overall activations.
Conclusions: In this study, we present potential novel rehabilitation approaches that combines MNN strategies and low-frequency ES to enhance cortical activation. Our results revealed that ES has potential to increase activation of most MNN brain areas, providing evidence for related rehabilitative interventions and device development.
Clinical Trial Registration: This study was registered on the China Clinical Trial Registration Center (identifier: ChiCTR2200064082, registered 26, September 2022, https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=178285).
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http://dx.doi.org/10.31083/JIN25731 | DOI Listing |
Vet Ophthalmol
September 2025
Ophthalmology Section, Equine Department, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Objective: To describe the use of transcorneal iris photocoagulation (TCIP) to improve intraocular visualization of intended incision lines, reduce hemorrhage, and facilitate excision of pigmented iridal tumors in four canine eyes and one feline eye.
Materials And Methods: A Rhodesian Ridgeback (treated bilaterally), a German Shepherd, a Labrador Retriever, and a Scottish Fold underwent sector iridectomy due to rapidly growing, pigmented, raised, iridal tumors affecting 1/4-1/3 of the iris circumference (3- to 4-clock hours). A diode laser was used to delineate the intended sector iridectomy incision lines, approximately 1-2 mm away from the grossly visible tumor margins, with the aim of improving visualization to achieve tumor-free margins and reduce tissue handling/trauma.
Neurorehabil Neural Repair
September 2025
Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Background: Gait impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD) occurs early and pharmaceutical interventions do not fully restore this function. Visual cueing has been shown to improve gait and alleviate freezing of gait (FOG) in PD. Technological development of digital laser shoe visual cues now allows for visual cues to be used continuously when walking.
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September 2025
Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center; Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
Objective: To evaluate the clinical characteristics, social deprivation, insurance coverage, and medication use across regional subsets of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in the US.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of PsA patients in the Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) registry between January 2020 and March2023 was conducted. Distribution of high disease activity (HDA - RAPID3>12), high comorbidity (RxRisk ≥90 percentile), high Area Deprivation Index (ADI ≥80), insurance coverage, prednisone ≥10mg daily, and all DMARD therapies across geographic regions were evaluated.
Nanoscale Horiz
September 2025
Department of Physical Chemistry, São Carlos Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
This study developed heterogeneous catalysts composed of ZnO and CeO supported on H-ZSM-5 for the direct conversion of methane (CH) and carbon dioxide (CO) into acetic acid. The acid-base and electronic properties were modulated through oxide impregnation and reduction, aiming to create active sites capable of simultaneously activating both reactants. The samples were characterized by XRD, N physisorption, HRTEM/EDS, NH-TPD, CO-TPD, TPR, FTIR, XPS, CO-DRIFTS, and TGA, and tested in a batch reactor at 300 °C and 10 bar.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOrg Lett
September 2025
Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Techology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India.
The direct α-α coupling of 3-pyrrolyl boron dipyrromethenes (BODIPYs) affords helical near-infrared (NIR)-active dimers in one step via a radical Pd-catalyzed process. X-ray analysis reveals Z-type helical packing stabilized by π-π stacking and hydrogen-bonding interactions. These dimers showed pronounced bathochromic absorption shifts compared to monomers and solvent-dependent charge-transfer bands up to 905 nm with fluorescence quenching.
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