Dual-wavelength synchronously mode-locked Cr:LiSAF laser with a tunable beating frequency and a central wavelength.

We demonstrate a versatile dual-wavelength synchronous mode-locking of a diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF laser for the first time, to our knowledge. A two-color mode-locked operation is achieved by using intracavity birefringent filters (BRFs) or etalons as frequency-selective elements. Using filters with different thicknesses and hence different free spectral ranges (FSRs), wavelength separation in two-color mode-locking could be selected between 1 and 9 nm, with corresponding beating frequencies in the 0.4-3.5 THz range. Moreover, the central wavelength of the two-color output could be tuned smoothly between 840 and 875 nm, only limited by the bandwidth of the semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) used for mode-locking. The method, which enables easy adjustment of the central wavelength and beating frequency of a dual-wavelength operation, is suitable for use in other laser gain media as well.

Challenges in power scaling of Cr:LiCAF lasers: effect of passive losses.

In this work, we have investigated the continuous-wave (cw) lasing potential of thin slab-shaped Cr:LiCAF crystals with a low chromium doping level of around 1% and various lengths of 1 to 2 cm. These relatively long crystals with low Cr-doping facilitate the distribution of heat load in a larger volume and could enable power scaling of Cr:LiCAF lasers. However, long crystals tend to have larger passive losses, and it is also more challenging to achieve efficient mode-matching to the low-brightness pump mode in a longer gain element, which could hinder laser performance. To explore the issue, we have performed detailed cw lasing experiments in single- and multimode diode-pumped Cr:LiCAF laser systems employing crystals with different doping and length. Our results showed that current state-of-the-art crystal growth methods provide Cr:LiCAF crystals with low enough passive losses to enable cw laser efficiencies of up to 50%, even in these long samples. The pump powers available in this study (5.35 W) limited the cw powers we could achieve experimentally to 2.25 W level; however, our simulations indicate that thin slab-type Cr:LiCAF crystals with low Cr-doping have the potential to achieve cw powers above 10 W level.

Emotion dysregulation and social communication problems but not ToM properties may predict obsessive-compulsive disorder symptom severity.

OBJECTIVE: Studies have shown that theory of mind, emotion regulation and pragmatic abilities are negatively affected in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We aimed to investigate theory of mind (ToM) abilities, social responsiveness, pragmatic language, and emotion regulation skills in children with OCD and to compare them to healthy controls. METHODS: This study was designed as a single-center, cross-sectional, case-control study. ToM abilities were evaluated via "Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test" (RMET), "Faces Test", "Faux-Pas Test", "Comprehension Test" and "Unexpected Outcomes Test". Social responsiveness, pragmatic language and emotion regulation were evaluated by Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), Children's Communication Checklist- Second Edition (CCC-2), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS). Within the study period, we enrolled 85 adolescents (42 with OCD and 43 controls). RESULTS: The OCD group performed significantly lower than healthy controls in the Faux Pass and Comprehension tests (p = 0.003 for both). We found a statistically significant difference between groups in terms of the goal, strategy, non-acceptance subscales of the DERS (p < 0.001, p = 0.006, p = 0.008, respectively) as well as the total DERS score (p < 0.001). CY-BOCS total scores correlated significantly and negatively with Comprehension, Faux Pas and Unexpected Outcomes tests, and positively with CCC total, SRS total and DERS total scores. In regression analysis the DERS, SRS and CCC tests emerged as significant predictors of CY-BOCS total score. CONCLUSION: Addressing ToM, pragmatic, and ER difficulties when planning the treatment of young people with OCD may contribute to positive outcomes.

The effect of motor imagery training on individuals with unilateral cerebral palsy on motor imagery ability, functional mobility and muscle activity.

AIM: This study aims to examine the effect of motor imagery (MI) training on MI abilities, functional mobility, and lower extremity muscle activity in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP). METHOD: 34 UCP and 17 typically developing participants were included. UCP was randomised into 2 groups as UCP MI and UCP control. Participants typically developing were included for baseline comparisons. UCP MI group received 8 weeks of physiotherapy and MI training, the UCP control group 8 weeks of physiotherapy training. The MI abilities, functional mobility, and lower extremity muscle activation were assessed in all groups. RESULTS: It was found that MI training made a significant difference in favour of the UCP MI group in terms of Movement Imagery Questionnaire-For Children (MIQ-C), mental chronometry, functional mobility, and resting muscle activation (p < 0.05). There was no such significant change in the UCP control group. CONCLUSION: This current approach in UCP is a feasible method, beneficial to include it in the rehabilitation process.

Broadly tunable two-color lasing of Cr:LiCAF with on-surface and off-surface optical axis birefringent filters: performance comparison.

We studied the two-color lasing performance of a Cr:LiCAF laser using crystal quartz on-surface and off-surface optical axis birefringent filters (BRFs). Four different on-surface optical axis BRFs with thicknesses of 2 mm, 4 mm, 8 mm, and 16 mm, and three different off-surface optical axis BRFs with a diving angle of 25° and thicknesses of 2 mm, 4 mm, and 8 mm have been tested. Two-color lasing operation could be achieved in tens of different pairs of wavelengths using both types of BRFs. Regular on-surface optical axis BRFs provided two-color lasing in the 772-810 nm interval, with a discretely tunable wavelength separation of 1 to 37 nm (0.5 to 17 THz). In comparison, the off-surface optical axis BRFs enabled scanning of two-color lasing spectra in a much broader wavelength range between 745 nm and 850 nm with a discretely tunable wavelength separation of 0.8 to 99 nm (0.4 to 46 THz). The results clearly demonstrate the advantages of using off-surface optical axis BRFs to achieve two-color lasing with broadly tunable wavelength separation.

Evaluation of Depression, Anxiety, and Sleep Quality in Children Diagnosed With COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: COVID-19 has affected individuals of all age groups, both physically and mentally. We aimed to determine anxiety and depression in children diagnosed with COVID-19. Fifty children aged 8 to 18 years diagnosed with COVID-19 were included in the study. The children were evaluated the revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale, STAI form TX-I (state anxiety inventory), and STAI form TX-II (trait anxiety inventory). Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire was applied for one of the parents according to three different periods. The periods were established as before the pandemic, during the illness-quarantine process, and after the quarantine. We observed the highest scores for depression-anxiety and the poorest sleep quality during the quarantine period. The scores for depression-anxiety were lower, and sleep quality scores were higher in the prepandemic period compared with after the quarantine period. Measures should be taken to protect mental health for children with COVID-19.

Extraction of Lumbar Spine Motion Using a 3-IMU Wearable Cluster.

Spine movement is a daily activity that can indicate health status changes, including low back pain (LBP) problems. Repetitious and continuous movement on the spine and incorrect postures during daily functional activities may lead to the potential development and persistence of LBP problems. Therefore, monitoring of posture and movement is essential when designing LBP interventions. Typically, LBP diagnosis is facilitated by monitoring upper body posture and movement impairments, particularly during functional activities using body motion sensors. This study presents a fully wireless multi-sensor cluster system to monitor spine movements. The study suggests an attempt to develop a new method to monitor the lumbopelvic movements of interest selectively. In addition, the research employs a custom-designed robotic lumbar spine simulator to generate the ideal lumbopelvic posture and movements for reference sensor data. The mechanical motion templates provide an automated sensor pattern recognition mechanism for diagnosing the LBP.

The association between pragmatic language impairment, social cognition and emotion regulation skills in adolescents with ADHD.

OBJECTIVE: Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with significant pragmatic language impairment and theory of mind deficits, but there are only a handful of studies have investigated the relationship between them in these conditions. This study aimed that investigate two different aspects of Theory of Mind (ToM) (ToM decoding and reasoning), pragmatic language impairment, and emotion regulation in patients with ADHD. METHOD: Seventy adolescents with ADHD were compared to matched 64 healthy controls. We administered Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Kiddie-SADS, Conners Parent Rating Scale, Children's Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2), Faux Pas, Comprehension Test, and Reading Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) to all study participants. RESULTS: The CCC-2 scores were found to be statistically significantly higher in the ADHD group than in healthy controls. ADHD group had lower performance in the Faces Test and RMET compared to healthy controls, which did not survive from false discovery rate correction. We also found that CCC-2 performance and Conners scores were significant predictors of social responsiveness. CONCLUSION: Our results point to widespread impairment in pragmatic language use and communication from many perspectives. These results might be important to understand the difficulties in social functioning and interpersonal relationship in adolescents with ADHD.Key pointsADHD is associated with significant impairment in pragmatic language use and social cognitive functions.ToM-Decoding (RMET) is impaired much more than ToM-Reasoning (Faux Pas) in ADHD.Pragmatic language skills and severity of ADHD may be significant predictors of social responsiveness.Emotion regulation problems may affect communication and pragmatic language use.

Adolescents with asthma reported more peer victimization, more anger repression, and less anger expression.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the peer victimization and anger expression in adolescents with asthma. The relationship between asthma control and psychological features was also examined. METHODS: The study was a cross-sectional study with a healthy control group. The sample of the study was composed of 61 adolescents who were previously diagnosed by a physician with asthma of various intensities. Sixty adolescents with no chronic disorders were enrolled as the control group. Peer victimization was examined using the Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale (MPVS). The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) was used to assess anger expression styles. Emotional and behavioral symptoms of the adolescents were measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). RESULTS: Adolescents with asthma reported more peer victimization in the subscales of physical, social, verbal, attacks on property, and frightening in the MPVS; and having more problems in emotional, social, and peer relations areas in the SDQ (p < .001 for all subscales) compared to the control group. The results were similar between the groups regarding the conduct problems and hyperactive behaviors. The adolescents with asthma reported more anger repression and less anger expression than the control group (p < .001 for both subscales). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that the adolescents with asthma were subjected to more peer victimization and experienced more difficulties in anger expression than the controls. Based on the findings of this study, we suggest that these psychological factors should be kept in mind during the management of asthma in adolescents.

Drug holidays may not affect processing speed while they may reduce beneficial effects on resistance to interference among children with treated with methylphenidate: a single-center, prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effects of drug holidays during summer vacations among children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who were treated with methylphenidate in terms of ADHD symptoms and executive functions. METHODS: The study was a prospective cohort study that includes pre-treatment, post-treatment and post-drug holiday evaluations. ADHD symptom severity was evaluated with the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI), the Conners' Parental Rating Scale-Short Form (CPRS) and the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale- Short Form (CTRS). The Stroop Color Word Test- TBAG Form (SCWT) was used to evaluate executive functions. Fifty-one patients participated in the study according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methylphenidate (MPH) was started at 0.5 mg/kg/day and titrated weekly to a maximum of 1.2 mg/kg/day. During the follow-up period, 22 (43.0%) of the patients stopped treatment. RESULTS: Completion times for all SCWT subtests were significantly reduced after treatment (p < 0.001, p = 0.002, p < 0.001, p = 0.002, p < 0.001; respectively). Mean number of corrections in SCWT-3 and mean number of errors as well as corrections in SCWT-5 significantly reduced after treatment (p = 0.047, p = 0.005, p = 0.007; respectively). Mean number of corrections in SCWT-3 and mean number of errors in SCWT-5 increased significantly after drug holiday compared to post-treatment (p = 0.032 and p = 0.037; respectively). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that psychomotor speed and resistance to interference improved in children with ADHD receiving methylphenidate treatment. Drug holidays did not affect psychomotor speed while beneficial effects on resistance to interference were reduced with drug holidays.

In vitro and in silico evaluation of new thiazole compounds as monoamine oxidase inhibitors.

New twenty compounds bearing thiazole ring (3a-3t) were designed and synthesized as monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors. The fluorometric enzyme inhibition assay was used to determine the biological effects of synthesized compounds. Most of them showed remarkable inhibitory activity against both MAO-A and MAO-B. By comparing their IC50 values, it can be seen that active derivatives displayed generally selectivity on MAO-B enzyme. Compounds 3j and 3t, which bear dihydroxy moiety at the 3rd and 4th position of phenyl ring, were the most active derivatives in the series against both isoenzymes. Compounds 3j and 3t showed significant inhibition profile on MAO-A with the IC50 values of 0.134 ±â€¯0.004 µM and 0.123 ±â€¯0.005 µM, respectively, while they performed selectivity against MAO-B with the IC50 values of 0.027 ±â€¯0.001 µM and 0.025 ±â€¯0.001 µM, respectively. Also, docking studies about these compounds were carried out to evaluate their binding modes on the active regions of MAO-A and MAO-B.

Persistent Isolated Elevation of Aspartate Aminotransferase in an Asymptomatic Female Patient: a Case Report and Review of Current Literature.

BACKGROUND: Persistent isolated elevation of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) is a rare observation and might lead to unnecessary laboratory testing and invasive procedures, if the possibility of macro-AST is not considered. METHODS: We report the case of a healthy 28-year-old female patient with persistent isolated elevation of AST. In order to confirm the suspected diagnosis of macro-AST, polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation and repeated measurements of enzyme activity after refrigeration at 2 - 8°C were performed. RESULTS: PEG precipitation confirmed the presence of macro-AST, while repeated measurements after refrigeration did not show any relevant decrease in enzyme activity. CONCLUSIONS: Especially in clinically asymptomatic patients, macro-AST must be considered as a cause of persistent isolated elevations in AST activity to avoid costly and potentially harmful medical tests or procedures. PEG precipitation is a feasible and cost-effective way to establish the diagnosis, while repeated measurement of enzyme activity after refrigeration potentially leads to wrong conclusions.

Identification of Gait Motion Patterns Using Wearable Inertial Sensor Network.

Gait signifies the walking pattern of an individual. It may be normal or abnormal, depending on the health condition of the individual. This paper considers the development of a gait sensor network system that uses a pair of wireless inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors to monitor the gait cycle of a user. The sensor information is used for determining the normality of movement of the leg. The sensor system places the IMU sensors on one of the legs to extract the three-dimensional angular motions of the hip and knee joints while walking. The wearable sensor is custom-made at San Diego State University with wireless data transmission capability. The system enables the user to collect gait data at any site, including in a non-laboratory environment. The paper also presents the mathematical calculations to decompose movements experienced by a pair of IMUs into individual and relative three directional hip and knee joint motions. Further, a new approach of gait pattern classification based on the phase difference angles between hip and knee joints is presented. The experimental results show a potential application of the classification method in the areas of smart detection of abnormal gait patterns.

Increased zonulin is associated with hyperactivity and social dysfunctions in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

BACKGROUND: In attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), deteriorations of brain gut axis has been shown in previous studies. One area where the most important challenges are seen in ADHD is social functioning. Zonulin is a protein found in the intestinal intraepithelial component; it has been shown that the level of zonulin increases when intestinal permeability is impaired. Changes in intestinal function were shown in ADHD. Zonulin has been shown to be associated with social impairment in children with autism spectrum disorder. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the relationship between the ADHD symptoms and zonulin in children with ADHD. Secondarily relation of zonulin and difficulties in social functioning was examined in these children. METHODS: Forty children diagnosed with ADHD and forty-one healthy children similar age and gender to ADHD group and their mothers were included in the study. Children without any chronic systemic immunological or infectious diseases were included in the case and control group. The ADHD symptoms were scored by the DuPaul ADHD scale and the social functioning of the children was assessed by the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Serum zonulin levels were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Children with ADHD had higher serum zonulin levels and were more impaired in social functioning compared to controls. The level of zonulin was independently predicted with hyperactivity symptoms and SRS scores in regression analysis. CONCLUSION: In this sample of children with ADHD, elevated zonulin levels were associated with increased symptoms of hyperactivity and impairment of social functioning.

Extraction and Analysis of Respiratory Motion Using Wearable Inertial Sensor System during Trunk Motion.

Respiratory activity is an essential vital sign of life that can indicate changes in typical breathing patterns and irregular body functions such as asthma and panic attacks. Many times, there is a need to monitor breathing activity while performing day-to-day functions such as standing, bending, trunk stretching or during yoga exercises. A single IMU (inertial measurement unit) can be used in measuring respiratory motion; however, breathing motion data may be influenced by a body trunk movement that occurs while recording respiratory activity. This research employs a pair of wireless, wearable IMU sensors custom-made by the Department of Electrical Engineering at San Diego State University. After appropriate sensor placement for data collection, this research applies principles of robotics, using the Denavit-Hartenberg convention, to extract relative angular motion between the two sensors. One of the obtained relative joint angles in the "Sagittal" plane predominantly yields respiratory activity. An improvised version of the proposed method and wearable, wireless sensors can be suitable to extract respiratory information while performing sports or exercises, as they do not restrict body motion or the choice of location to gather data.

New Benzimidazole-1,2,4-Triazole Hybrid Compounds: Synthesis, Anticandidal Activity and Cytotoxicity Evaluation.

Owing to the growing need for antifungal agents, we synthesized a new series 2-((5-(4-(5-substituted-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)phenyl)-4-substituted-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl)thio)-1-(substitutedphenyl)ethan-1-one derivatives, which were tested against Candida species. The synthesized compounds were characterized and elucidated by FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, 13C-NMR and HR-MS spectroscopies. The synthesized compounds were screened in vitro anticandidal activity against Candida species by broth microdiluation methods. In vitro cytotoxic effects of the final compounds were determined by MTT assay. Microbiological studies revealed that compounds 5m, 5o, 5r, 5t, 5y, 5ab, and 5ad possess a good antifungal profile. Compounds 5w was the most active derivative and showed comparable antifungal activity to those of reference drugs ketoconazole and fluconazole. Cytotoxicity evaluation of compounds 5m, 5o, 5r, 5w, 5y, 5ab and 5ad showed that compounds 5w and 5ad were the least cytotoxic agents. Effects of these two compounds against ergosterol biosynthesis were observed by LC-MS-MS method, which is based on quantification of ergosterol level in C. albicans. Compounds 5w and 5d inhibited ergosterol biosynthesis concentration dependently. A fluorescence microscopy study was performed to visualize effect of compound 5w against C. albicans at cellular level. It was determined that compound 5w has a membrane damaging effect, which may be related with inhibition of biosynthesis of ergosterol.

Comparison of antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of a novel proteasome inhibitor MLN2238 with bortezomib on K562 chronic myeloid leukemia cells.

Inhibition of the proteasome has emerged as a clinically effective anticancer therapeutic approach in recent years. Bortezomib (Velcade®) showed extremely high potency against a wide range of cancer cell lines. Ixazomib (MLN9708-MLN2238), the second-generation proteasome inhibitor, selectivity and potency were similar to that of bortezomib, is currently being investigated in phase I studies. It shows superior antitumor activity in hematologic malignancy, especially multiple myelomas. In this study, for the first time, we evaluated and compared the antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of the novel proteasome inhibitor MLN2238 (the active form of MLN9708) with bortezomib using in vitro chronic myeloid leukemia. Cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of MLN2238 and bortezomib were determined by trypan blue dye exclusion assays, WST-1 cell proliferation assay, increased AnnexinV-PI binding capacity, changes in caspase-3 activity and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (JC-1). Associated with proteasome pathway NFκB1 and c-myc mRNA expression levels were examined by the qRT-PCR method. We observed that cytotoxic and apoptotic effects on K562 cells were started at 5 µm of MLN2238 and 1 µm of bortezomib after 24 and 48 h. Also, MLN2238 and bortezomib downregulated NFκB1 and c-myc mRNA expression at 24 h. Our result revealed that MLN22238 and bortezomib had significant cytotoxic and apoptotic effects on K562 cells. Here, we first demonstrate in vitro data that support the development of MLN2238, by direct comparison with bortezomib on K562 cells.

A Wireless 32-Channel Implantable Bidirectional Brain Machine Interface.

All neural information systems (NIS) rely on sensing neural activity to supply commands and control signals for computers, machines and a variety of prosthetic devices. Invasive systems achieve a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by eliminating the volume conduction problems caused by tissue and bone. An implantable brain machine interface (BMI) using intracortical electrodes provides excellent detection of a broad range of frequency oscillatory activities through the placement of a sensor in direct contact with cortex. This paper introduces a compact-sized implantable wireless 32-channel bidirectional brain machine interface (BBMI) to be used with freely-moving primates. The system is designed to monitor brain sensorimotor rhythms and present current stimuli with a configurable duration, frequency and amplitude in real time to the brain based on the brain activity report. The battery is charged via a novel ultrasonic wireless power delivery module developed for efficient delivery of power into a deeply-implanted system. The system was successfully tested through bench tests and in vivo tests on a behaving primate to record the local field potential (LFP) oscillation and stimulate the target area at the same time.

Effects of long-term agomelatine treatment on the cognitive performance and hippocampal plasticity of adult rats.

Agomelatine is an antidepressant with a distinct pharmacological mechanism of action as an MT1 and MT2 receptor agonist and as a 5-HT2C receptor antagonist. We evaluated the chronic effects of agomelatine administration (40 mg/kg, 20 weeks) on the cognitive performance of rats in the Morris water maze task. We applied unbiased stereological quantification methods to estimate the total numbers of granular and pyramidal neurons located in the dorsal hippocampus. We also analyzed the dendritic spines of pyramidal neurons in the CA1 region using the Golgi-Cox impregnation method. The agomelatine-treated group found the hidden platform more quickly than did the control group and spent significantly more time in the target quadrant. Agomelatine administration caused significant volumetric and numerical enhancements in granular and pyramidal neurons in the dentate gyrus and CA1-3 subregions, respectively. Increased densities of the mushroom and stubby types of spines, with no alteration in the thin-shaped spines, were observed in the agomelatine-treated group. These results showed that long-term agomelatine administration induced a nootropic effect supported by structural changes. Enhancement of the more stable types of dendritic spines might indicate improved adaptive capacity in hippocampal neurons. Future studies will provide a better understanding of the effect of this drug on synaptic plasticity.

Differential Effects of Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder Comorbidity in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder on Social Cognition and Empathy.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate social cognition and empathy properties in children among Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD) + Attention and Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD); ADHD and healthy controls from Türkiye. METHODS: Twenty-two children with DMDD were compared to matched 30 children with ADHD and 60 healthy controls. We administered Affective Reactivity Index (ARI), KaSi Empathy Scale, Kiddie-SADS, and Reading Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) to evaluate Theory of Mind skills to all study participants. RESULTS: DMDD + ADHD group had lower performance in ToM skills and empathy than in two groups. The ARI scores were found to be statistically significantly higher in the DMDD group than in two groups. It was also found that ARI, empathy, and ToM scores were significantly related in children with DMDD + ADHD. CONCLUSION: These results might be important to understand the difficulties in social functioning and interpersonal relationship in children with DMDD and ADHD. Children with DMDD may attend specific therapeutic programs which include specific techniques in social cognition, emotion regulation, and irritability.