Protective effect of MitoTEMPO against cardiac dysfunction caused by ischemia-reperfusion: MCAO stroke model study.

PURPOSE: Neurological impairments are the leading cause of post-stroke mortality, while stroke-related cardiovascular diseases rank second in significance. This study investigates the potential protective effects of MitoTEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-[[2-(triphenylphosphonio) acetyl] amino]-1-piperidinyloxy, monochloride, monohydrate), a mitochondria-specific antioxidant, against cardiac and neurological complications following stroke. The objective is to assess whether MitoTEMPO can be utilized as a protective agent for individuals with a high risk of stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen-week-old male Wistar Albino rats were randomly assigned to three groups: SHAM, ischemia-reperfusion and MitoTEMPO + ischemia-reperfusion (MitoTEMPO injection 0.7 mg/kg/day for 14 days). The SHAM group underwent a sham operation, while the ischemia-reperfusion group underwent 1-h middle cerebral artery occlusion followed by three days of reperfusion. Afterwards, noninvasive thoracic electrical bioimpedance and electrocardiography measurements were taken, and sample collection was performed for histological and biochemical examinations. RESULTS: Our thoracic electrical bioimpedance and electrocardiography findings demonstrated that MitoTEMPO exhibited a protective effect on most parameters affected by ischemia-reperfusion compared to the SHAM group. Furthermore, our biochemical and histological data revealed a significant protective effect of MitoTEMPO against oxidative damage. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that both ischemia-reperfusion-induced cardiovascular abnormalities and the protective effect of MitoTEMPO may involve G-protein coupled receptor-mediated signaling mechanisms. This study was conducted with limitations including a single gender, a uniform age group, a specific stroke model limited to middle cerebral artery, and pre-scheduled only one ischemia-reperfusion period. In future studies, addressing these limitations may enable the implementation of preventive measures for individuals at high risk of stroke.

The effect of 4.5 G (LTE Advanced-Pro network) mobile phone radiation on the optic nerve.

PURPOSE: Rapid development in mobile phone technologies increase the average mobile phone usage duration. This increase also triggers exposure to radiofrequency radiation (RF), which is a risk factor for the health. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of mobile phone working with LTE-Advanced Pro (4.5 G) mobile network on the optic nerve, which is responsible for the transmission of visual information. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty-two rats divided into two groups as control (no RF, sham exposure) and experimental (RF exposure using a mobile phone with LTE-Advanced Pro network; 2 hours/day, 6 weeks). The visual evoked potential (VEP) was recorded and determined amplitudes and latencies of VEP waves. Optic nerve malondialdehyde level, catalase and superoxide dismutase activities were determined. Furthermore, ultrastructural and morphometric changes of optic nerve were evaluated. RESULTS: In VEP recordings, the mean VEP amplitudes of experimental group were significantly lower than control group. In ultrastructural evaluation, myelinated nerve fibres and glial cells were observed in normal histologic appearance both in sham and experimental group. However, by performing morphometric analysis, in the experimental group, axonal diameter and myelin thickness were shown to be lower and the G-ratio was higher than in the sham group. In the experimental group, malondialdehyde level was significantly higher and superoxide dismutase and catalase activities were significantly lower than sham group. There was a high correlation between VEP wave amplitudes and oxidative stress markers. CONCLUSION: Findings obtained in this study support optic nerve damage. These results point out an important risk that may decrease the quality of life.

Developing a Three- to Six-State EEG-Based Brain-Computer Interface for a Virtual Robotic Manipulator Control.

OBJECTIVE: We develop an electroencephalography (EEG)-based noninvasive brain-computer interface (BCI) system having short training time (15 min) that can be applied for high-performance control of robotic prosthetic systems. METHODS: A signal processing system for detecting user's mental intent from EEG data based on up to six-state BCI paradigm is developed and used. RESULTS: We examine the performance of the developed system on experimental data collected from 12 healthy participants and analyzed offline. Out of 12 participants 3 achieve an accuracy of six-state communication in 80%-90% range, while 2 participants do not achieve a satisfactory accuracy. We further implement an online BCI system for control of a virtual 3 degree-of-freedom (dof) prosthetic manipulator and test it with our three best participants. Two participants are able to successfully complete 100% of the test tasks, demonstrating on average the accuracy rate of 80% and requiring 5-10 s to execute a manipulator move. One participant failed to demonstrate a satisfactory performance in online trials. CONCLUSION: We show that our offline EEG BCI system can correctly identify different motor imageries in EEG data with high accuracy and our online BCI system can be used for control of a virtual 3 dof prosthetic manipulator. SIGNIFICANCE: Our results prepare foundation for further development of higher performance EEG BCI-based robotic assistive systems and demonstrate that EEG-based BCI may be feasible for robotic control by paralyzed and immobilized individuals.

Effect of low-level 1800 MHz radiofrequency radiation on the rat sciatic nerve and the protective role of paricalcitol.

The nervous system is an important target of radiofrequency (RF) radiation exposure since it is the excitable component that is potentially able to interact with electromagnetic fields. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of 1,800 MHz RF radiation and the protective role of paricalcitol on the rat sciatic nerve. Rats were divided into four groups as control, paricalcitol, RF, and RF + paricalcitol. In RF groups, the rats were exposed to 1,800 MHz RF for 1 h per day for 4 weeks. Control and paricalcitol rats were kept under the same conditions without RF application. In paricalcitol groups, the rats were given 0.2 µg/kg/day paricalcitol, three times per week for 4 weeks. Amplitude and latency of nerve compound action potentials, catalase activities, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and ultrastructural changes of sciatic nerve were evaluated. In the RF group, a significant reduction in amplitude, prolongation in latency, an increase in the MDA level, and an increase in catalase activity and degeneration in the myelinated nerve fibers were observed. The electrophysiological and histological findings were consistent with neuropathy, and the neuropathic changes were partially ameliorated with paricalcitol administration. Bioelectromagnetics. 39:631-643, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A large electroencephalographic motor imagery dataset for electroencephalographic brain computer interfaces.

Recent advancements in brain computer interfaces (BCI) have demonstrated control of robotic systems by mental processes alone. Together with invasive BCI, electroencephalographic (EEG) BCI represent an important direction in the development of BCI systems. In the context of EEG BCI, the processing of EEG data is the key challenge. Unfortunately, advances in that direction have been complicated by a lack of large and uniform datasets that could be used to design and evaluate different data processing approaches. In this work, we release a large set of EEG BCI data collected during the development of a slow cortical potentials-based EEG BCI. The dataset contains 60 h of EEG recordings, 13 participants, 75 recording sessions, 201 individual EEG BCI interaction session-segments, and over 60 000 examples of motor imageries in 4 interaction paradigms. The current dataset presents one of the largest EEG BCI datasets publically available to date.

Postnatal management of infants with antenatally detected hydronephrosis.

With the increasing use of antenatal sonography, fetal hydronephrosis has been reported more frequently. Because of the lack of consensus regarding treatment of these infants, the postnatal approach toward fetal renal pelvis enlargement remains controversial. The aim of this prospective study is to demonstrate the postnatal investigation, treatment, and outcome of infants with prenatally diagnosed hydronephrosis. Infants whose antenatal ultrasound scan showed a fetal renal pelvis of 5 mm or greater were investigated postnatally using ultrasound (US) and voiding cystourethrography. When indicated, isotope studies and intravenous urograms were also performed. We followed prospectively neonates with antenatally diagnosed hydronephrosis and recommended management guidelines on the basis of our findings. In 156 neonates (193 kidney units) that were found to have hydronephrosis, the average gestational age at which the diagnosis was made was 32.94+/-5.10 weeks. The mean duration of postnatal follow-up was 26.3+/-13.56 months (range 3-60 months). The mean APPD of the fetal renal pelvis was 10.35+/-3.24 mm (5-9 mm in 84 kidneys, 10-14 mm in 96 kidneys and > or =15 mm in 13 kidneys). Of the 193 kidney units, 145 units were found to be pathological. The most common detected underlying abnormalities were ureteropelvic junction obstruction (in 91 kidneys; 62.7%) and vesicoureteral reflux (in 24 kidneys; 16.6%). Postnatally, 23 (45%) of 51 patients whose first US was normal were diagnosed postnatally as having urinary tract abnormality. There was a negative correlation between APPD and the rate of spontaneous resolution and positive correlation between APPD and the rate of surgery (P<0.01). In conclusion, because it is not possible to determine an upper limit of normal for the antenatal renal pelvis, any baby with AH should not be considered clinically insignificant. Infants with antenatal renal pelvis measurements > or =5 mm should be investigated postnatally. A normal postnatal ultrasound scan does not preclude the presence of urinary tract abnormality.