Does rTMS alter neurocognitive functioning in patients with panic disorder/agoraphobia? An fNIRS-based investigation of prefrontal activation during a cognitive task and its modulation via sham-controlled rTMS.

Objectives: Neurobiologically, panic disorder (PD) is supposed to be characterised by cerebral hypofrontality. Via functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we investigated whether prefrontal hypoactivity during cognitive tasks in PD-patients compared to healthy controls (HC) could be replicated. As intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) modulates cortical activity, we furthermore investigated its ability to normalise prefrontal activation.

The mechanism of protein release from triglyceride microspheres.

The purpose of this study was to reveal factors that have an impact on the protein release kinetics from triglyceride microspheres prepared by spray congealing. We investigated the effect of protein particle size, morphology and distribution on protein release from microspheres by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM)(.) The microspheres were loaded with three types of model particles made of FITC-labeled bovine serum albumin: freeze dried protein, spherical particles obtained by precipitation in the presence of PEG and micronized material.