Temporal and Spatial Gene Expression Profile of Stroke Recovery Genes in Mice.

Stroke patients show some degree of spontaneous functional recovery, but this is not sufficient to prevent long-term disability. One promising approach is to characterize the dynamics of stroke recovery genes in the lesion and distant areas. We induced sensorimotor cortex lesions in adult C57BL/6J mice using photothrombosis and performed qPCR on selected brain areas at 14, 28, and 56 days post-stroke (P14-56). Based on the grid walk and rotating beam test, the mice were classified into two groups. The expression of cAMP pathway genes Adora2a, Pde10a, and Drd2, was higher in poor- compared to well-recovered mice in contralesional primary motor cortex (cl-MOp) at P14&56 and cl-thalamus (cl-TH), but lower in cl-striatum (cl-Str) at P14 and cl-primary somatosensory cortex (cl-SSp) at P28. Plasticity and axonal sprouting genes, Lingo1 and BDNF, were decreased in cl-MOp at P14 and cl-Str at P28 and increased in cl-SSp at P28 and cl-Str at P14, respectively. In the cl-TH, Lingo1 was increased, and BDNF decreased at P14. Atrx, also involved in axonal sprouting, was only increased in poor-recovered mice in cl-MOp at P28. The results underline the gene expression dynamics and spatial variability and challenge existing theories of restricted neural plasticity.

A systematic review of the relationship between magnetic resonance imaging based resting-state and structural networks in the rodent brain.

Recent developments in rodent brain imaging have enabled translational characterization of functional and structural connectivity at the whole brain level in vivo. Nevertheless, fundamental questions about the link between structural and functional networks remain unsolved. In this review, we systematically searched for experimental studies in rodents investigating both structural and functional network measures, including studies correlating functional connectivity using resting-state functional MRI with diffusion tensor imaging or viral tracing data. We aimed to answer whether functional networks reflect the architecture of the structural connectome, how this reciprocal relationship changes throughout a disease, how structural and functional changes relate to each other, and whether changes follow the same timeline. We present the knowledge derived exclusively from studies that included in vivo imaging of functional and structural networks. The limited number of available reports makes it difficult to draw general conclusions besides finding a spatial and temporal decoupling between structural and functional networks during brain disease. Data suggest that when overcoming the currently limited evidence through future studies with combined imaging in various disease models, it will be possible to explore the interaction between both network systems as a disease or recovery biomarker.

How to establish and maintain a multimodal animal research dataset using DataLad.

Sharing of data, processing tools, and workflows require open data hosting services and management tools. Despite FAIR guidelines and the increasing demand from funding agencies and publishers, only a few animal studies share all experimental data and processing tools. We present a step-by-step protocol to perform version control and remote collaboration for large multimodal datasets. A data management plan was introduced to ensure data security in addition to a homogeneous file and folder structure. Changes to the data were automatically tracked using DataLad and all data was shared on the research data platform GIN. This simple and cost-effective workflow facilitates the adoption of FAIR data logistics and processing workflows by making the raw and processed data available and providing the technical infrastructure to independently reproduce the data processing steps. It enables the community to collect heterogeneously acquired and stored datasets not limited to a specific category of data and serves as a technical infrastructure blueprint with rich potential to improve data handling at other sites and extend to other research areas.

The Effect of a Handball Warm-Up Program on Dynamic Balance among Elite Adolescent Handball Players.

This study examined the effect of the handball warm-up program (HWP) on dynamic balance among elite adolescent handball players. In this case, 24 handball players were randomly assigned into experimental warm-up and control groups. The HWP was performed over 8 weeks (3 times per week). Dynamic balance before and after the intervention training programs were measured by the Biodex Balance System (BBS) and Y Balance test for the dominant (DL) and non-dominant legs (non-DL). After HWP training, BBS scores significantly improved in the overall (OSI) (30.4% and 31.1%), anterior-posterior (APSI) (44.6% and 35.2%), and medial-lateral stability indexes (MLSI) (38.8% and 43%) for both DL and non-DL. Post-training, the Y Balance test exhibited significant improvements in OSI (13.2% and 10.6%), anterior (17.2% and 12.6%), posteriolateral (12.8% and 11.3%), and posteriomedial stability indexes (9.2% and 7.9%) with DL and non-DL, respectively. In conclusion, dynamic balance improved overall after eight weeks of the HWP, with this improvement significantly greater with the trained versus the control group. Optimal balance during handball is an important factor to ensure coordinated and efficient movements and it is speculated that improved balance could positively impact injury prevention. Hence, the HWP program can be used as an alternative to a conventional warm-up program.

Comparison of Knee and Hip Kinematics during Landing and Cutting between Elite Male Football and Futsal Players.

To design an accurate sport injury prevention program, alterations in the knee and hip kinematic variables involved in injury mechanisms should be known. The main purpose of the current study was to compare knee and hip kinematic variables during landing and cutting among male football and futsal players, and to discuss them within an injury description frame. Twenty football (20.5 ± 2.1 years., 74.5 ± 6.9 kg and 1.79 ± 0.07 m) and twenty futsal players (20.3 ± 2.0 years., 73.5 ± 7.1 kg and 1.78 ± 0.07 m), with at least three years' experience of playing in the Kerman Province League, participated in this study. Hip flexion, knee flexion and knee valgus angle during two main movements with risk of injury, such as landing and cutting, were measured using a motion capture system with passive markers at 120-Hz sampling frequency. Landing and cutting maneuvers were administered in as natural way as possible. Results showed significant differences in landing and cutting maneuvers between groups in hip flexion, knee flexion and knee valgus angle. Results indicated that footballers have less extension of hip and knee joints than futsal players in landing maneuvers, which may be due to the higher requirement of jumping-landing maneuvers when playing football. In cutting maneuvers, footballers showed less hip and knee flexion than futsal players, whereas the knee valgus angle in cutting maneuvers was lower in futsal players. More information on the injury mechanisms of landing and cutting in football and futsal are needed to improve the design of injury prevention programs.

[Neurostimulation by music - an overview]. / Neurostimulation durch Musik.

What is music and how does it affect the human body? Historically, music is considered something divine because it has a huge impact on human emotions. This effect also has a psychosomatic effect and can influence and control the thoughts and actions of the listener. For example, purchasing behavior can be severely manipulated by musical accompaniment alone. Even the motivation can be either increased or reduced with the appropriate setting. In today's civilization, music accompanies people every day and is used for many different purposes. Thus, the musical stimulation is to be evaluated as a kind of psychotherapy, which is often used purposefully, but subconsciously takes place in the influenced. Of course, as there are still unanswered questions about the exact effect of music on the brain, many studies are currently being conducted in the field of neuroscience to fully understand this phenomenon.

Detection of Salmonella strains and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in feces of small ruminants and their isolation with various media.

Salmonella strains and Escherichia coli O157:H7 were detected in 17 and 5 small ruminants in Virginia, respectively, of 287 tested. Background microflora interfered with the fecal analysis. The combination of Salmonella enzyme immunoassay (EIA) detection and xylose-lysine-deoxycholate agar isolation was satisfactory. Modifying enrichment to a 1:100 dilution enabled effective E. coli O157:H7 detection by EIA and isolation by sorbitol-MacConkey agar with cefixime-tellurite.