Decoding cerebro-spinal signatures of human behavior: Application to motor sequence learning.

Mapping the neural patterns that drive human behavior is a key challenge in neuroscience. Even the simplest of our everyday actions stem from the dynamic and complex interplay of multiple neural structures across the central nervous system (CNS). Yet, most neuroimaging research has focused on investigating cerebral mechanisms, while the way the spinal cord accompanies the brain in shaping human behavior has been largely overlooked. Although the recent advent of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sequences that can simultaneously target the brain and spinal cord has opened up new avenues for studying these mechanisms at multiple levels of the CNS, research to date has been limited to inferential univariate techniques that cannot fully unveil the intricacies of the underlying neural states. To address this, we propose to go beyond traditional analyses and instead use a data-driven multivariate approach leveraging the dynamic content of cerebro-spinal signals using innovation-driven coactivation patterns (iCAPs). We demonstrate the relevance of this approach in a simultaneous brain-spinal cord fMRI dataset acquired during motor sequence learning (MSL), to highlight how large-scale CNS plasticity underpins rapid improvements in early skill acquisition and slower consolidation after extended practice. Specifically, we uncovered cortical, subcortical and spinal functional networks, which were used to decode the different stages of learning with a high accuracy and, thus, delineate meaningful cerebro-spinal signatures of learning progression. Our results provide compelling evidence that the dynamics of neural signals, paired with a data-driven approach, can be used to disentangle the modular organization of the CNS. While we outline the potential of this framework to probe the neural correlates of motor learning, its versatility makes it broadly applicable to explore the functioning of cerebro-spinal networks in other experimental or pathological conditions.

Clinical profile, outcome and management of kidney disease in COVID-19 patients - a narrative review.

OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 disease can cause damage to various organs, especially the kidneys, so the main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different aspects of kidney damages caused by COVID-19 in a narrative review study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To conduct this study, all studies related to the topic under discussion during 2020-2021 were reviewed by systematic search in internationally available databases including Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Finally, 42 completely related studies were selected to extract the results. RESULTS: The prevalence of acute kidney injury (AKI) varies in different parts of the world and has reached almost 70%. The results showed that, in general, a high percentage of COVID-19 patients had symptoms of renal dysfunction at the time of hospitalization, and the most important of these symptoms were proteinuria, hematuria, and increased serum creatinine. Based on the results, it can be said that AKI most likely occurs early in the disease and in parallel with lung damage. So far, various drugs have been used to control or treat COVID-19 and reduce inflammation in patients. Regardless of their usefulness, some of these drugs may adversely affect kidney function and damage the kidneys. The study results show that chronic kidney disease (CKD) in COVID-19 patients plays a minor role in renal replacement therapy (RRT), and the highest impact on the need for RRT is COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that one of the major negative effects of COVID-19 on the human body is kidney damage, among which acute kidney injury (AKI) is the most important one. In addition, the prevalence of AKI due to COVID-19 varies widely around the world. Although any medication may damage the kidneys, COVID-19 or anti-inflammatory drugs are not an exception to this rule, but more research is needed to gain more information.

Clinicopathologic features of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders arising after pediatric small bowel transplant.

Few studies examined the clinicopathologic features of PTLD arising in pediatric SBT patients. Particularly, the association between ATG and PTLD in this population has not been described. Retrospective review of 81 pediatric patient charts with SBT--isolated or in combination with other organs--showed a PTLD incidence of 11%, occurring more frequently in females (median age of four yr) and with clinically advanced disease. Monomorphic PTLD was the most common histological subtype. There was a significant difference in the use of ATG between patients who developed PTLD and those who did not (p < 0.01); a similar difference was seen with the use of sirolimus (p < 0.001). These results suggested a link between the combination of ATG and sirolimus and development of more clinically and histologically advanced PTLD; however, the risk of ATG by itself was not clear. EBV viral loads were higher in patients with PTLD, and median time between detection of EBV to PTLD diagnosis was three months. However, viral loads at the time of PTLD diagnosis were most often lower than at EBV detection, thereby raising questions on the correlation between decreasing viral genomes and risk of PTLD.

Methyl (Z)-3-({5-[(E)-(tert-butyl-amino)-methyl-idene]-4-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1,3-thia-zol-2-yl}sulfan-yl)prop-2-enoate.

In the title compound, C(12)H(16)N(2)O(3)S(2), the S-vinyl, and tert-butyl-enamine fragments make dihedral angles of 14.19 (2) and 0.85 (2)°, respectively, with the thia-zole ring. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked into chains with graph-set motifs C(5) along [100] by C-H⋯O inter-actions. The mol-ecular conformation is stabilized by an intra-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bond.

tert-Butyl 6-benzoyl-5-hydr-oxy-2-oxo-2H-chromene-4-carboxyl-ate.

In the title compound, C(21)H(18)O(6), a previously unknown coumarin derivative, the benzoyl substitutent makes a dihedral angle of 53.80 (16)° with the plane of the coumarin rings. An intramolecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bond is observed.

(E)-Dimethyl 2-(6-benzoyl-7-hydr-oxy-4-methoxy-carbonyl-2-oxo-2H-chromen-8-yl)but-2-enedioate.

The mol-ecule of the title compound, C(24)H(18)O(10), a previously unknown coumarin derivative, contains methoxy-carbonyl, 2-butenedioate and benzoyl groups aligned at angles of 28.04 (2), 76.89 (3) and 42.48 (13)°, respectively, to the plane of the coumarin ring system. Intra-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonding between hydr-oxy and carbonyl groups and weak inter-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bonding is present in the crystal structure. The two carbon atoms and attached H atom of the ethylene bond are disordered over two positions, with site occupancy factors of ca 0.9 and 0.1.

Innovative pharmacologic approaches to cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

The survival rate of patients undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation is 5 to 15%. New cardiopulmonary resuscitation treatment approaches under investigation include the use of vasopressin as a vasopressor, amiodarone for the treatment of ventricular tachyarrhythmias, and adenosine antagonists (i.e., theophylline) for bradyasystolic rhythms. More innovative approaches include the use of thyroid hormone and endothelin.

Innovative pharmacologic approaches to cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

The survival rate of patients undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is 5% to 15%. New treatment approaches under investigation for CPR include the use of vasopressin as a vasopressor, amiodarone for the treatment of ventricular tachyarrhythmia, and adenosine antagonists (i.e., theophylline) for bradyasystolic rhythms. More innovative approaches include the use of thyroid hormone and endothelin.