Sleep is required to consolidate odor memory and remodel olfactory synapses.

Animals with complex nervous systems demand sleep for memory consolidation and synaptic remodeling. Here, we show that, although the Caenorhabditis elegans nervous system has a limited number of neurons, sleep is necessary for both processes. In addition, it is unclear if, in any system, sleep collaborates with experience to alter synapses between specific neurons and whether this ultimately affects behavior. C. elegans neurons have defined connections and well-described contributions to behavior. We show that spaced odor-training and post-training sleep induce long-term memory. Memory consolidation, but not acquisition, requires a pair of interneurons, the AIYs, which play a role in odor-seeking behavior. In worms that consolidate memory, both sleep and odor conditioning are required to diminish inhibitory synaptic connections between the AWC chemosensory neurons and the AIYs. Thus, we demonstrate in a living organism that sleep is required for events immediately after training that drive memory consolidation and alter synaptic structures.

Dual-Modal Colorimetric and Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS)-Based Lateral Flow Immunoassay for Ultrasensitive Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Using a Plasmonic Gold Nanocrown.

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak created an unprecedented need for rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective point-of-care diagnostic tests to prevent and mitigate the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Herein, we demonstrated an advanced lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) platform with dual-functional [colorimetric and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)] detection of the spike 1 (S1) protein of SARS-CoV-2. The nanosensor was integrated with a specially designed core-gap-shell morphology consisting of a gold shell decorated with external nanospheres, a structure referred to as gold nanocrown (GNC), labeled with a Raman reporter molecule 1,3,3,1',3',3'-hexamethyl-2,2'-indotricarbocyanine iodide (HITC) to produce a strong colorimetric signal as well as an enhanced SERS signal. Among the different plasmonics-active GNC nanostructures, the GNC-2 morphology, which has a shell decorated with an optimum number and size of nanospheres, produces an intense dark-blue colorimetric signal and ultrahigh SERS signal. The limit of detection (LOD) of the S1 protein via colorimetric detection LFIA was determined to be 91.24 pg/mL. On the other hand, the LOD for the SERS LFIA method was more than three orders of magnitude lower at 57.21 fg/mL. Furthermore, we analyzed the performance of the GNC-2 nanosensor for directly analyzing the S1 protein spiked in saliva samples without any sample pretreatment and achieving the LOD as low as 39.65 fg/mL using SERS-based plasmonics-enhanced LFIA, indicating ultrahigh detection sensitivity. Overall, our GNC nanosensor showed excellent sensitivity, reproducibility, and rapid detection of the SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein, demonstrating excellent potential as a promising point-of-care platform for the early detection of respiratory virus infections.

A Review of Current Uses of Amniotic Membrane Transplantation in Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

PURPOSE: To review and summarize the existing literature on the clinical applications of amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) in ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery. METHODS: A literature review was conducted on the PubMed database using the following search terms: "amniotic membrane" and "eyelid" or "orbit" or "fornix" or "socket" or "lacrimal". RESULTS: In total 516 articles resulted from the search, of which 62 were included. Numerous cases and case series have been published on the use of amniotic membrane transplantation for ocular surface reconstruction, eyelid and forniceal reconstruction, and cicatricial eyelid abnormalities. Surgical methods of securing the graft vary. Few comparative studies exist; some show a similar or improved result when compared to oral mucous membrane grafting for certain indications. CONCLUSIONS: Amniotic membrane transplantation can be a useful tool for the oculoplastic surgeon when faced with a case requiring reconstruction of the posterior lamellae, particularly in patients without other graft donor sites available, and uses of AMT continue to expand. Additional studies directly comparing AMT to other reconstructive techniques would be helpful in choosing between the available surgical techniques and standardizing best practices.

An Analysis of Surgical Factors Associated with Clinically Significant Eyelid Edema (CSEE) in Patients Undergoing Blepharoplasty: Lid Crease Techniques Associated with CSEE.

PURPOSE: Severe postoperative edema after eyelid surgery can have negative clinical and psychological effects. In this study, we investigated whether surgical factors, including surgical techniques and suture type, were associated with clinically significant eyelid edema (CSEE). METHODS: A chart review was performed on 269 patients who underwent upper eyelid blepharoplasty with or without external levator advancement by 2 surgeons at a single institution between January 2021 and December 2022. Postoperative photos were graded by 2 physicians for eyelid edema using a standardized grading scale ranging from 0 (no edema) to 3 (severe edema). CSEE was defined either as having a grade of 3 at any point postoperatively or any grade that was 1 or greater after 90 days postoperatively. Logistic regression controlling for race was used for analysis; the statistical significance level was defined as p < 0.05. RESULTS: Of 269 patients, 56 developed CSEE. Of those who underwent blepharoplasty with mini crease enhancement (closure with every other bite incorporating levator aponeurosis), 40.5% developed CSEE versus 12.5% of those without (p < 0.001). Patients with lid crease formation using buried interrupted sutures had greater CSEE than those with externalized interrupted sutures removed at 1 week (43.8% versus 11.5%, p < 0.01). There was no increased risk of CSEE with additional procedures performed versus blepharoplasty alone. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who underwent blepharoplasty with mini crease enhancement, where more than 4 sutures are placed from skin to levator, and/or had buried suture lid crease formation had greater rates of CSEE.

Multiplex SERS detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pollutants in water samples using gold nanostars and machine learning analysis.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have attracted a lot of environmental concern because of their carcinogenic and mutagenic properties, and the fact they can easily contaminate natural resources such as drinking water and river water. This study presents a simple and sensitive point-of-care SERS detection of PAHs combined with machine learning algorithms to predict the PAH content more precisely and accurately in real-life samples such as drinking water and river water. We first synthesized multibranched sharp-spiked surfactant-free gold nanostars (GNSs) that can generate strong surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signals, which were further coated with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) for long-term stability of the GNSs as well as to trap PAHs. We utilized CTAB-capped GNSs for solution-based 'mix and detect' SERS sensing of various PAHs including pyrene (PY), nitro-pyrene (NP), anthracene (ANT), benzo[a]pyrene (BAP), and triphenylene (TP) spiked in drinking water and river water using a portable Raman module. Very low limits of detection (LOD) were achieved in the nanomolar range for the PAHs investigated. More importantly, the detected SERS signal was reproducible for over 90 days after synthesis. Furthermore, we analyzed the SERS data using artificial intelligence (AI) with machine learning algorithms based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) model in order to discriminate the PAHs in samples more precisely and accurately. Using a CNN classification model, we achieved a high prediction accuracy of 90% in the nanomolar detection range and an f1 score (harmonic mean of precision and recall) of 94%, and using a CNN regression model, achieved an RMSEconc = 1.07 × 10-1 µM. Overall, our SERS platform can be effectively and efficiently used for the accurate detection of PAHs in real-life samples, thus opening up a new, sensitive, selective, and practical approach for point-of-need SERS diagnosis of small molecules in complex practical environments.

Characterization of Clinical and Immune Responses in an Experimental Chronic Autoimmune Uveitis Model.

Autoimmune uveitis is a sight-threatening intraocular inflammatory disease. For >30 years, the mouse model of experimental autoimmune uveitis has been employed to investigate disease mechanisms and test immunotherapeutic approaches. However, inflammation in this model is self-limited, and does not replicate the chronic, insidious nature prevalent in the human disease. Herein, a robust and reliable model of chronic autoimmune uveitis was developed and characterized in two strains of wild-type mice by modifying interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein dose and peptide fragments from conventional experimental autoimmune uveitis models. In both of these murine strains, immunization with our modified protocols resulted in a slowly progressive uveitis, with retinal scars and atrophy observed in the chronic stage by fundoscopy. Optical coherence tomography demonstrated decreased retinal thickness in chronic autoimmune uveitis mice, and electroretinography showed significantly reduced amplitudes of dark-adapted a- and b-waves and light-adapted b-waves. Histologic examination revealed prominent choroiditis with extensive retinal damage. Flow cytometry analysis showed substantially increased numbers of CD44hiIL-17+IFN-γ- memory T-helper 17 (Th17) cells in the retina, cervical lymph nodes, inguinal lymph nodes, and spleen. These data establish new modified protocols for inducing chronic uveitis in wild-type mice, and demonstrate a predominant memory Th17 cell response, suggesting an important role for memory Th17 cells in driving chronic inflammation in autoimmune uveitis.

Vaginoplasty tips and tricks.

Vaginoplasty is a commonly performed surgery for the transfeminine patient. In this review, we discuss how to achieve satisfactory surgical outcomes, and highlight solutions to common complications involved with the surgery, including: wound separation, vaginal stenosis, hematoma, and rectovaginal fistula. Pre-operative evaluation and standard technique are outlined. Goal outcomes regarding aesthetics, creation of a neocavity, urethral management, labial appearance, vaginal packing and clitoral sizing are all described. Peritoneal vaginoplasty technique and visceral interposition technique are detailed as alternatives to the penile inversion technique in case they are needed to be used. Post-operative patient satisfaction, patient care plans, and solutions to common complications are reviewed.

Impact of intra-operative ketamine on postoperative outcomes in abdominal surgery: a narrative review.

Background and Objective: Ketamine offers a promising solution to common postoperative issues in abdominal surgery, including pain, nausea, opioid use, and opioid-related side effects. The purpose of this literature review is to analyze the benefits and potential adverse effects associated with the intraoperative utilization of ketamine during abdominal surgeries. Methods: A comprehensive search of PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE was conducted by two independent reviewers. Studies were included if they targeted adult patients and evaluated intra-operative use of ketamine for abdominal operations. Key Content and Findings: We identified 13 studies of intraoperative use of ketamine in abdominal surgery. The results of these studies showed improved pain management as demonstrated by lower pain scores, decreased hyperalgesia, and a decreased need for additional analgesics. The results also demonstrated a decrease in opioid consumption during the critical 24-hour postoperative period. However, a few studies reported undesirable side effects such as hallucinations and delirium. Conclusions: The intraoperative use of ketamine holds promise as a valuable adjunct to anesthesia during abdominal surgeries. Studies support its use in improving post-operative pain and decreasing opioid consumption. Due to risks of adverse effects, further studies in larger patient populations may help identify which patients will benefit the most. This review offers a succinct selection of the pertinent literature.

Duane syndrome in association with congenital disorder of glycosylation type Ig (ALG12-CDG).

Congenital disorders of glycosylation type I (CDG-I) are a group of autosomal recessive genetic multisystem disorders that arise from defective glycoprotein biosynthesis. Although ocular abnormalities have been described in patients with CDG-I, few ocular abnormalities have been associated with ALG12-CDG (CDG-Ig), a rare subtype of CDG-I. We report a case of Duane syndrome, a congenital strabismus syndrome, in a 17-year-old young woman with ALG12-CDG.

Isolated Abducens Nerve Palsy: A Rare Manifestation of Recurrent Extramedullary Myeloma.

Multiple myeloma is a plasma cell neoplasm, which may present as a solitary plasmacytoma and, uncommonly, as an extramedullary plasmacytoma. Intracranial plasmacytomas may manifest in central nervous system involvement as cranial nerve palsies. Cranial nerve six palsy is the most common in cases of malignancy. However, isolated abducens palsy presenting as multiple myeloma recurrence is very uncommon. Here, we detail two cases in which intracranial plasmacytoma lesions were present within the region of the Dorello canal, resulting in acute isolated unilateral diplopia from disease recurrence in the absence of systemic marrow involvement.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy-Based Detection of Micro-RNA Biomarkers for Biomedical Diagnosis Using a Comparative Study of Interpretable Machine Learning Algorithms.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has wide diagnostic applications due to narrow spectral features that allow multiplex analysis. We have previously developed a multiplexed, SERS-based nanosensor for micro-RNA (miRNA) detection called the inverse molecular sentinel (iMS). Machine learning (ML) algorithms have been increasingly adopted for spectral analysis due to their ability to discover underlying patterns and relationships within large and complex data sets. However, the high dimensionality of SERS data poses a challenge for traditional ML techniques, which can be prone to overfitting and poor generalization. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) reduces the dimensionality of SERS data while preserving information content. In this paper, we compared the performance of ML methods including convolutional neural network (CNN), support vector regression, and extreme gradient boosting combined with and without NMF for spectral unmixing of four-way multiplexed SERS spectra from iMS assays used for miRNA detection. CNN achieved high accuracy in spectral unmixing. Incorporating NMF before CNN drastically decreased memory and training demands without sacrificing model performance on SERS spectral unmixing. Additionally, models were interpreted using gradient class activation maps and partial dependency plots to understand predictions. These models were used to analyze clinical SERS data from single-plexed iMS in RNA extracted from 17 endoscopic tissue biopsies. CNN and CNN-NMF, trained on multiplexed data, performed most accurately with RMSElabel = 0.101 and 9.68 × 10-2, respectively. We demonstrated that CNN-based ML shows great promise in spectral unmixing of multiplexed SERS spectra, and the effect of dimensionality reduction on performance and training speed.

Evaluation of the Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Nonradiation Treatment Response Assessment LI-RADS v2024 Using Data From a Multi-Center Transarterial Chemoembolization Study.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) locoregional treatment response is commonly evaluated using the Modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors and the American College of Radiology (ACR) Liver Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) Treatment Response Assessment (TRA) for MRI/CT. This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the new ACR contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) Nonradiation TRA LI-RADS v2024 in HCC treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective observational study included 87 patients treated with TACE from a previously reported cohort. At 15- and 30-days post-treatment, 68 and 72 HCC lesions were evaluated. Three blinded radiologists with different levels of CEUS experience interpreted the images independently. According to CEUS Nonradiation TRA LI-RADSv2024, both intralesional and perilesional tumor viability were evaluated and final TRA categories were as follows: TR-Nonviable, TR-Equivocal, and TR-Viable. The reference standard used was a composite of histology and imaging. RESULTS: 140 HCC lesions were analyzed. At 15 days post-treatment, the sensitivity (SN), specificity (SP), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of TR-Viable classification ranged from 72.5-94.3%, 72.2-86.4%, 86.8-91.4%, 65.6-86.7%, 76.9-86.8%, respectively. At 30 days post-treatment, the SN, PPV, and NPV of TR-Viable classification decreased, ranging from 65.9-84.2%, 85.7-90.6%, and 59.5-73.9%, respectively, while the SP increased, ranging from 80.0-88.0%. Kappa values ranged from 0.557-0.730, indicating moderate to substantial agreement. CONCLUSION: CEUS Nonradiation TRA LI-RADS is a reliable tool for the detection of viable tumors in lesions treated with TACE and demonstrates reproducibility across readers.

Plasmonics nanorod biosensor for in situ intracellular detection of gene expression biomarkers in intact plant systems.

The intracellular developmental processes in plants, particularly concerning lignin polymer formation and biomass production are regulated by microRNAs (miRNAs). MiRNAs including miR397b are important for developing efficient and cost-effective biofuels. However, traditional methods of monitoring miRNA expression, like PCR, are time-consuming, require sample extraction, and lack spatial and temporal resolution, especially in real-world conditions. We present a novel approach using plasmonics nanosensing to monitor miRNA activity within living plant cells without sample extraction. Plasmonic biosensors using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection offer high sensitivity and precise molecular information. We used the Inverse Molecular Sentinel (iMS) biosensor on unique silver-coated gold nanorods (AuNR@Ag) with a high-aspect ratio to penetrate plant cell walls for detecting miR397b within intact living plant cells. MiR397b overexpression has shown promise in reducing lignin content. Thus, monitoring miR397b is essential for cost-effective biofuel generation. This study demonstrates the infiltration of nanorod iMS biosensors and detection of non-native miRNA 397b within plant cells for the first time. The investigation successfully demonstrates the localization of nanorod iMS biosensors through TEM and XRF-based elemental mapping for miRNA detection within plant cells of Nicotiana benthamiana. The study integrates shifted-excitation Raman difference spectroscopy (SERDS) to decrease background interference and enhance target signal extraction. In vivo SERDS testing confirms the dynamic detection of miR397b in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves after infiltration with iMS nanorods and miR397b target. This proof-of-concept study is an important stepping stone towards spatially resolved, intracellular miRNA mapping to monitor biomarkers and biological pathways for developing efficient renewable biofuel sources.

Investigating Sex-Based Neural Differences in Autism and Their Extended Reality Intervention Implications.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects millions of individuals worldwide, and there is growing interest in the use of extended reality (XR) technologies for intervention. Despite the promising potential of XR interventions, there remain gaps in our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying ASD, particularly in relation to sex-based differences. This scoping review synthesizes the current research on brain activity patterns in ASD, emphasizing the implications for XR interventions and neurofeedback therapy. We examine the brain regions commonly affected by ASD, the potential benefits and drawbacks of XR technologies, and the implications of sex-specific differences for designing effective interventions. Our findings underscore the need for ongoing research into the neurobiological underpinnings of ASD and sex-based differences, as well as the importance of developing tailored interventions that consider the unique needs and experiences of autistic individuals.

Does the Combination of Phone, Email and Text-Based Reminders Improve No-show Rates for Patients in Breast Imaging?

The issue of no-shows in radiology is complicated and challenging. Mammography and ultrasound have the highest rate of no-shows among radiologic exams. Screening mammography is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce breast cancer related deaths. However, the benefit of screening is heavily dependent on patient compliance to routine exams. Enhancing patients' commitments to their scheduled appointments, thereby improving early detection and decreasing breast cancer related mortality. Retrospective analysis of no-show visits scheduled from August 2017 to December 2017 (before the implementation of combined phone, email and text-based reminders) and from August 2019 to December 2019 (after the implementation of reminder and follow-up phone calls after missed appointments by the coordinator) in an urban academic breast imaging center was conducted. There were 368 no-show patients in 2017 and 238 no-show patients in 2019. Percentage of no-shows, and delay time to the rescheduled missed appointment were calculated. Subgroup analysis of the type of studies that were missed and those who did not reschedule the missed appointment was conducted. Mann Whitney U test was used to analyze differences between group means. No-show visits decreased by 50% in 2019 when compared to 2017. The average wait time between the missed appointment and the rescheduled appointment decreased significantly from 30.7 weeks in 2017 to 12.1 weeks in 2019 (P = 0.047). The percentage of no-show visits was highest among the unemployed, patients scheduled for screening mammograms and patients with a high average of no-show visits. No-show visits adversely impact patient outcome and contribute to increased cost of healthcare. Through a deeper understanding of the factors contributing to no-shows, we can strive to make appropriate interventions to alleviate the consequences of no-shows.