Eight-week exercise program improved the quality of life of Alzheimer's patients through functional, cognitive, and biochemical parameters.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, it was aimed to examine the effect of 8-week exercise in Alzheimer's disease (AD) aged 65 and over through functional, cognitive, and biochemical parameters and irisin metabolism. METHODS: Two groups consisting of healthy individuals and diagnosed with Alzheimer's over the age of 65 were followed up with a combined exercise program of 45-60 min, 3 days a week, for 8 weeks. At the end of the exercise period, various cognitive and functional tests were performed on the participants, and blood samples were taken for biochemical parameters and irisin level measurements. RESULTS: In functional evaluations, while there was no difference in pre-exercise measurements of timed performance and quadriceps femoris muscle strength, there was a difference between groups in all other measurements (p < 0.05). Nutritional status increased significantly after exercise in AD individuals. Although there was an increase in mental score values after exercise, it was not statistically significant. Similar to the elderly with Alzheimer's, the improvements in functional tests in the healthy also led to improvements in activities of daily living and auxiliary activities of daily living. The exercise training did not have an effect on the lipid profile in AD patients, but showed an effect on glycemia and irisin levels (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Changes in functional, cognitive, and biochemical parameters after the exercise program improved quality of life in Alzheimer's patients.

Immediate impact of yogic breathing on pulsatile cerebrospinal fluid dynamics.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), a clear fluid bathing the central nervous system (CNS), undergoes pulsatile movements. Together with interstitial fluid, CSF plays a critical role for the removal of waste products from the brain, and maintenance of the CNS health. As such, understanding the mechanisms driving CSF movement is of high scientific and clinical impact. Since pulsatile CSF dynamics is sensitive and synchronous to respiratory movements, we are interested in identifying potential integrative therapies such as yogic breathing to regulate CSF dynamics, which has not been reported before. Here, we investigated the pre-intervention baseline data from our ongoing randomized controlled trial, and examined the impact of four yogic breathing patterns: (i) slow, (ii) deep abdominal, (iii) deep diaphragmatic, and (iv) deep chest breathing with the last three together forming a yogic breathing called three-part breath. We utilized our previously established non-invasive real-time phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging approach using a 3T MRI instrument, computed and tested differences in single voxel CSF velocities (instantaneous, respiratory, cardiac 1st and 2nd harmonics) at the level of foramen magnum during spontaneous versus yogic breathing. In examinations of 18 healthy participants (eight females, ten males; mean age 34.9 ± 14 (SD) years; age range: 18-61 years), we observed immediate increase in cranially-directed velocities of instantaneous-CSF 16-28% and respiratory-CSF 60-118% during four breathing patterns compared to spontaneous breathing, with the greatest changes during deep abdominal breathing (28%, p = 0.0008, and 118%, p = 0.0001, respectively). Cardiac pulsation was the primary source of pulsatile CSF motion except during deep abdominal breathing, when there was a comparable contribution of respiratory and cardiac 1st harmonic power [0.59 ± 0.78], suggesting respiration can be the primary regulator of CSF depending on the individual differences in breathing techniques. Further work is needed to investigate the impact of sustained training yogic breathing on pulsatile CSF dynamics for CNS health.

Dosimetric evaluation of the effect of dental restorative materials in head and neck radiotherapy.

Background: The aim of our study is to assess the dose enhancement from scattered radiation due to dental restorative materials used for occlusal and mesio-occlusal-distal (MOD) cavity filling during simulated head and neck radiotherapy. Methods: We have studied the dose enhancement ratio (DER) of conventional amalgam, high-copper amalgam, and resin composite dental restorative materials at cadaver mandible teeth using 2 therapeutic photon energies of 1.25 MeV (Co-60 gamma ray) and 6 MV (Linac X-ray) for irradiation. Results: DER values at buccal position for Co-60 and 6 MV X-ray were 1.250 ± 0.013 and 1.151 ± 0.012, respectively. For dental cavity fillings, DER values for 6 MV X-ray were 1.065 ± 0.021, 1.100 ± 0.014, and 1.162 ± 0.016 for resin composite filling, low-copper amalgam filling, and high-copper amalgam filling, respectively. Our results revealed that DER regarding irradiation energy was minimum for 6 MV X-rays. With respect to dental restorative filling material, DER was minimum for resin composite filling. Regarding the cavity type, our results with standard deviation (SD) calculations revealed that DER was slightly but not significantly different for both Co-60 gamma ray (1.25 MeV) and 6 MV X-ray energies for both occlusal and MOD cavities. Conclusion: Our dosimetric results for a single beam geometry suggest that, among the three types of filling, resin composite filling is an ideal restorative filling material with minimal morbidity-inducing radiation dose enhancement that may result in increased osteoradionecrosis and secondary caries risk. There is a need for further dosimetric studies with actual clinical beam arrangements.

Branches of ulnar artery in human fetuses: anatomical and morphometric study.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to demonstrate morphological pattern of the ulnar artery and to evaluate morphometrically its anatomical branching pattern in human fetuses. METHODS: Branching pattern of ulnar artery was evaluated on 121 upper limbs of dissected 63 of formalin-fixed fetus cadavers with gestational age ranging from 17 to 40 weeks. In order to obtain second and third trimester data, according to their gestational age, two groups were determined. RESULTS: In 79 of all 121 upper limbs (65%) ulnar artery gave anterior and posterior ulnar recurrent arteries as separate branches. In this study frequency of presence of a median artery was 46.28% among total examined 121 upper limbs. Median arteries originated from ulnar artery (3.57%) and from the common interosseous artery (53.57%) and anterior interosseous artery (42.85%). Mean distances of the measured parameters were demonstrated according to the gestational age and differences between group I (second trimester) and group II (third trimester). No statistical difference for groups was observed for gender and between right and left sides. CONCLUSIONS: Ulnar artery shows predictable patterns during second and third trimester of fetal period and can be suitable access effective alternative for diagnostic and therapeutic coronary interventions. Persistent median artery is important variation and knowledge of its incidence is important for diagnostic difficulties and also during awareness of its injury during surgical approaches.

Categorizing Sleep in Older Adults with Wireless Activity Monitors Using LSTM Neural Networks.

Novel approaches are needed to accurately classify and monitor sleep patterns in older adults, particularly those with cognitive impairment and non-normative sleep. Traditional methods ignore underlying sleep architecture in these patient populations, and other modern approaches tend to focus on healthy, normative patient populations. In this paper, we developed a model using a long-short-term memory neural network (LSTM) and trained it on a sample of older, non-normative patients. The 22 nights of data collected were trained on gold-standard polysomnography (PSG) as ground truth and were compared against the clinical standard threshold-based method for sleep detection. The LSTM more than doubled the traditional method's ability to detect clinically-relevant wakefulness during sleep (37.7% vs. 15%) without significantly sacrificing accuracy (67.7% vs. 75%) or precision (90.7% vs. 94%) of sleep classification.

Quantifying the influence of respiration and cardiac pulsations on cerebrospinal fluid dynamics using real-time phase-contrast MRI.

PURPOSE: To validate a real-time phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (RT-PCMRI) sequence in a controlled phantom model, and to quantify the relative contributions of respiration and cardiac pulsations on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) velocity at the level of the foramen magnum (FM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: To validate the 3T MRI techniques, in vitro studies used a realistic model of the spinal subarachnoid space driven by pulsatile flow waveforms mimicking the respiratory and cardiac components of CSF flow. Subsequently, CSF flow was measured continuously during 1-minute RT-PCMRI acquisitions at the FM while healthy subjects (N = 20) performed natural breathing, deep breathing, breath-holding, and coughing. Conventional cardiac-gated PCMRI was obtained for comparison. A frequency domain power ratio analysis determined the relative contribution of respiration versus cardiac ([r/c]) components of CSF velocity. RESULTS: In vitro studies demonstrating the accuracy of RT-PCMRI within 5% of input values showed that conventional PCMRI measures only the cardiac component of CSF velocity (0.42 ± 0.02 cm/s), averages out respiratory effects, and underestimates the magnitude of CSF velocity (0.96 ± 0.07 cm/s). In vivo RT-PCMRI measurements indicated the ratio of respiratory to cardiac velocity pulsations averaged over all subjects as [r/c = 0.14 ± 0.27] and [r/c = 0.40 ± 0.47] for natural and deep breathing, respectively. During coughing, the peak CSF velocity increased by a factor of 2.27 ± 1.40. CONCLUSION: RT-PCMRI can noninvasively measure instantaneous CSF velocity driven by cardiac pulsations, respiration, and coughing in real time. A comparable contribution of respiration and cardiac pulsations on CSF velocity was found during deep breathing but not during natural breathing. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 1 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2017;46:431-439.

Tomographic evaluation on bone morphology in posterior mandibular region for safe placement of dental implant.

The aim of this study was to examine the morphology of submandibular fossae at edentulous posterior regions of dried mandibles and to determine a safe range for proper lingual angulation during the placement of a dental implant in the posterior mandibular region, with a computerized tomographic scan study. Spiral computed tomographic images of 77 dry adult human mandibles were evaluated to determine the deepest area in the submandibular fossa. Then, the proper lingual angulations for the placement of a dental implant at these regions were measured. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to show the relation between the depths of submandibular fossa and lingual implant angulations. "Paired t test" was used for differences between the lingual implant angulations and the depths of submandibular fossa on each side of the mandibles. Depths of the submandibular fossa and lingual implant angulations were varied between 1.1 and 4.6 mm: 62°-84° on right side of the mandibles, and 1.1-4.5 mm, 65°-83° on left side of the mandibles. There were statistically medium negative correlations between the degree of lingual implant angulations and the depth of submandibular fossa on each side of the mandible (r = -0.44, p < 0.001, and r = -0.38, p = 0.001). There was a statistically significant difference between the right and left sides of the mandibles in terms of the depth of submandibular fossa (p = 0.01). Within the limits of this study, the depth of submandibular fossa was measured as ≥ 2 mm in around 71.5 % of examined regions, and lingual implant angulations were between 62° and 84°. These results may be considered by clinicians who are planning the dental implant placement in posterior mandible to avoid potential risk of lingual cortical plate perforation.

Target localization through a data-based sensitivity kernel: a perturbation approach applied to a multistatic configuration.

A method to isolate the forward scattered field from the incident field on an object in a complex environment is developed for the purpose of localization. The method is based on a finite-frequency perturbation approach, through the measurement of a data-based sensitivity kernel. Experimental confirmation of the method is obtained using a cylindrical tank and an aggregate of ping-pong balls as targets surrounded by acoustic sources and receivers in a multistatic configuration. The spatial structure of the sensitivity kernel is constructed from field data for the target at a sparse set of positions, and compared with the expected theoretical structure. The localization of one or a few targets is demonstrated using the direct-path only. The experimental observations also show that the method benefits from including later arrivals from the tank wall and the bottom/surface reverberation, which indeed enhance the localization.

Correlation between the residual ridge height and the perforation limit of sinus membrane in crestal sinus elevation.

OBJECTIVES: The residual alveolar bone height at the implant recipient site plays a key role in determination of the risk of sinus membrane perforation during crestal sinus elevation. In this study, we aimed to determine the correlation between residual ridge height and perforation limit of sinus membrane and to examine the safety range for the sinus membrane continuity in crestal sinus elevation. Formalin-fixed cadavers were used for the experiment to observe outcomes. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Crestal sinus elevations were performed on 14 preserved human cadavers' heads. Residual ridge heights were measured using a bone caliper. The physiodispenser was preset to 30 Ncm and sinus floors were elevated by a concave sinus screw with diameter of 4 mm until sinus membrane perforation occurred. The perforations were identified either as Class I or Class II and the portion of the concave sinus screw in the sinus was measured each time using a ruler. Spearman's correlation coefficient was calculated to show the relation between the residual ridge heights and the membrane elevations at the time of perforation of the sinus membranes. RESULTS: In general, the perforation limit of sinus membrane after elevation was higher with greater residual ridge height. A statistically significant correlation was found between residual ridge heights and perforations of the sinus membrane (r = 0.620, P < .001). CONCLUSION: Although it is not always possible to extrapolate results from cadavers to an in vitro clinical setting, it could be considered to have clinical significance. Our findings suggest that higher subsinusoidal elevation may be achieved when the residual ridge bone height increases. The conclusions of this study should be verified with studies of more rigorous design.

The anterior talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments: an anatomic study.

Inversion injuries of the ankle are the most common sport injuries. Extreme inversion of the ankle affects frequently lateral ankle ligaments, especially the anterior talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments. The aim of this study is to investigate the ligaments in detail to contribute to accurate evaluation of radiological investigations and more precise surgical interventions by clarifying the anatomic structure of the ligaments by considering their functional importance. In the study, length between the attachment points and width at the midpoint of the anterior talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments, length and width of the bands of anterior talofibular ligament, and connecting ligaments extending from the talus to calcaneus exchanging from the both ligaments were measured on the 46 ankles. In addition, angles between these ligaments and between longitudinal axis of the fibula and both ligaments were measured. Relationship between determined variables on the right and left sides was statistically analyzed. In diagnosis and treatment methods, the clinical importance of the anatomy of the lateral collateral ligaments of the ankle, especially the anterior talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments, was frequently reported in the literature. Angular measurements benefit in determination of the ligament injury. Therefore, knowledge about normal anatomic angles between each other and angles between longitudinal axis of the fibula and both ligaments was certainly important for the correct diagnosis. Nowadays, surgical reconstructions of the ligaments are frequently used. During the surgical invention, length and width of the ligaments are necessary to determine quantity of ligament loss. Nonetheless, knowledge of ligament attachments contributes to more accurate reconstructions.

An unique variation of the peroneus tertius muscle.

Peroneus tertius (fibularis tertius) is a muscle unique to humans. It often appears to be a part of extensor digitorum longus, and might be described as its "fifth tendon". Although its insertion variation has been reported by many authors, variations of its origin points are not common. A variation of the peroneus tertius muscle was found during routine dissection of a 75-year-old male cadaver. The muscle originated from the extensor hallucis longus. The muscle belly of the extensor hallucis longus arose from the middle two-fourths of the medial surface of the fibula, medial to the extensor digitorum longus, and anterior surface of the interosseous membrane. It lay under the extensor digitorum longus, and lateral to the tibialis anterior muscle. The muscle belly of the extensor hallucis longus divided into medial and lateral parts 17 cm below its origin point. The lateral part, named as peroneus tertius, continued downward to reach the medial part of the dorsal surface of the base of the fifth metatarsal bone. The medial part ran also downward and divided into two tendons reaching the dorsal surface of the base of the distal phalanx of the great toe. This kind of variation may be important during foot or leg surgery.

Accessory head of flexor pollicis longus muscle in fetuses and adult cadavers and its relation to anterior interosseous nerve.

This study was conducted to examine the accessory head of flexor pollicis longus muscle (ahFPL) and its relation with the anterior interosseous nerve (AIN) in human fetuses and adult cadavers. Ninety fetus forearms and 52 adult cadaver forearms were dissected to evaluate the incidence, morphology, and innervation of the ahFPL. The ahFPL was observed in 29/90 (32%) of the fetus forearms and 20/52 (39%) of the adult cadaver forearms. The overall side incidence was 34.5% (49/142) among total forearms examined. On the other hand, the population incidence of ahFPL was 42% (19/45) in fetuses while it was 50% (12/24) in adult cadavers. So, the overall incidence in humans was 44.9% (31/69) in the population studied. Compression of the AIN in the forearm by the ahFPL is known as one of the causes of the anterior interosseous nerve syndrome (AINS). So, the relation of ahFPL with the AIN was evaluated, and in light of previous classifications a modified new classification is proposed. The most common relation detected in this study was Type IVa (71.4%) (AIN and its branches coursed posterior to the ahFPL). While Type I was not observed in this study, the incidences of Type II, Type III, and Type IVb (all AIN branches 'without AIN itself' coursed posterior to the ahFPL) were 2%, 14.3%, and 12.3%, respectively. The Types I, IVa, and IVb are thought to be associated with complete or incomplete types of AINS and Type III with incomplete type of AINS only.

A case of connected superior and middle trunks of the brachial plexus or with abnormal upper trunk.

During treatment of tumors of nerve sheaths, such as schwannomas and neurofibromas, neurosurgeons should be aware of variations and aberrant formations of brachial plexus. Variations of the branches of brachial plexus are common, but its variations in the level of the roots and trunks are rare. Variations regarding lower trunk were founded more frequent in previous studies. An unusual variant of the brachial plexus was found unilaterally during routine dissection of a 75-year-old male cadaver. It was observed that middle trunk was connected to superior trunk. Deep cervical artery originating from subclavian artery passed between C6 and C7 roots. Similar variations in the brachial plexus were not observed on the contralateral side. In available literature, only two similar bilateral cases were reported. The details of this variation and its clinical significance were discussed. Knowledge about these rare variations in the trunks is very useful in surgical practice and anesthesia.