Abstract
Introduction:
Recently we attempted an ECG recording in intact freely-behaving mice by using a plate sensor that has multiple (15) gold-plated electrodes, on which mice can walk around ...freely, without the use of tether or telemetry system. Although the electrodes are a kind of dry electrode, we found that the ECG plate sensor detects ECG from mouse’s footpads during sleep or even during wake-sleep transition probably because of the sweating from their footpads.
Methods:
A mouse cage, in which the ECG plate sensor was mounted, was placed in a Faraday cage. Fifteen ECG signals of the ECG plate sensor were fed to a PC via a 15-channel amplifier and a 16-channel A/D converter with using Clampex7 (Axon Instruments) signal acquisition software. Mouse behavior was also recorded by a DVD recorder. Intact, wild-type C57BL/6J mice were simply put on the ECG plate sensor for the recording for about 2 hours.
Results:
Although the ECG plate sensor could not detect ECG most of the period during active state, ECG signal appeared relatively stably during sleep state from 10 out of 12 mice examined; two mice did not fall asleep within 2 hours. The ECG appearance during sleep continued for a maximum of ~15 minutes and disappeared when they awoke. One mouse allowed us to record ECG from the period before sleep onset that appeared to be quiet waking state based on the images stored in the DVD recorder.
Conclusion:
The physiological role of the sweating during sleep in mice is inexplicable because most of mammals including mice have eccrine sweat glands that are considered to be activated by sympathetic nerve activity in response to emotional stressors, to which mice would not exposed during sleep. Nonetheless, the finding of the sweating during sleep in mice that enables noninvasive ECG recording may provide us a new tool to investigate cardiac and autonomic nervous system activities during sleep and wake-sleep transition states.
Support (If Any):
This work was supported by a JSPS KAKENHI Grant, Number 24590268, Tokyo, Japan.
Asthma is characterized by chronic respiratory tract inflammation, which requires periodic inhalation therapy. Because the operational technique differs among the various available inhalers, the ...correct method of use is unclear, which can result in reduced treatment efficacy, misdiagnosis of treatment-resistant asthma, and consequential treatment step-up. Thirty-three outpatients (13 men, 20 women) under treatment for asthma (12 by puffer metered-dose inhaler, and 21 by dry powder inhaler containing inhaled corticosteroids), with an Asthma Control Test (ACT) score of 20-24, were randomly assigned to the DVD-viewing group (17 subjects) or non-viewing group (16 subjects).
1,25(OH)2D3 (vitamin D) appears essential for the normal development of dopaminergic neurons. Vitamin D affects dopamine synthesis and metabolism as well as expression of glial cell line–derived ...neurotrophic factor (GDNF), which is crucial for the survival of dopaminergic neurons. We investigated the role of vitamin D on GDNF and its receptors protooncogene tyrosine–protein kinase receptor Ret (C‐Ret) and GDNF family receptor alpha 1 (GFRα1) signaling. To this end, we used a developmental vitamin D–deficient rat model and SH‐SY5Y cells transfected with vitamin D receptor (VDR). The absence of vitamin D ligand in gestation reduces C‐Ret expression, but not GDNF and GFRα1, in embryo forebrains. Overexpression of VDR in SH‐SY5Y in the absence of ligand (mimicking in vivo developmental vitamin D deficiency) also suppressed C‐Ret mRNA levels. In the presence of vitamin D, C‐Ret mRNA and protein expression were increased. The chromatin immunoprecipitation results suggested that C‐Ret is directly regulated by vitamin D via VDR. GDNF was also increased by vitamin D in these cells. Our small interfering RNA studies showed that knocking down VDR leads to an increase in C‐Ret in the absence of ligand. Finally, we confirmed the inverse relationship between GFRα1 and C‐Ret, as knocking down C‐Ret led to increases in GFRα1 expression. These data extend our knowledge of the diverse and important roles played by vitamin D in dopamine physiology.—Pertile, R.A.N., Cui, X., Hammond, L., Eyles, D.W. Vitamin D regulation of GDNF/Ret signaling in dopaminergic neurons. FASEB J. 32, 819–828 (2018). www.fasebj.org
Summary Bortezomib is regularly used as frontline therapy for systemic AL amyloidosis. We assess the efficacy of second‐line daratumumab‐bortezomib‐dexamethasone (DVD) in AL amyloidosis in ...bortezomib‐exposed patients. A total of 116 patients treated with second‐line DVD were identified from a prospective observational study of newly diagnosed AL amyloidosis (ALchemy). DVD was initiated in both the relapsed setting or where there was an inadequate response defined as very good partial response (VGPR) or VGPR with organ progression/lack of organ improvement. A complete response (CR)/VGPR to second‐line DVD was achieved in 81 (69.8%) patients. A CR/VGPR was achieved in 67 (79.7%) in those who achieved a VGPR/CR to first line versus 14/32 (43.8%) in those who did not. Where DVD was initiated due to an inadequate response to first line (vs. at relapse), the median event‐free survival (EFS) was 18 vs. 34 months ( p = 0.002). If a CR/VGPR was achieved to DVD, the 2‐year EFS was still lower in those with prior inadequate response 54% vs. 66% ( p = 0.062). DVD is an efficacious second‐line treatment in systemic AL amyloidosis in a bortezomib‐exposed population. However, the response to DVD is poorer in those with an inadequate response to first‐line bortezomib.
Autonomous driving, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and various other vehicular navigation schemes heavily depend on the accurate position, velocity, and timing (PVT) information offered by global ...navigation satellite systems (GNSSs). Meanwhile, GNSS security is challenged by spoofing attacks that aim to deceive users by inducing false PVT solutions. Therefore, detecting these attacks on time is vital for vehicular navigation security. Spoofing attacks involve transmitting counterfeit signals from spoofers instead of authentic satellites, making it difficult to coordinate spatial information accurately. To this end, the Doppler shift, revealing spatial features between transmitters and receivers, is regarded as an effective metric for spoofing detection. Especially for vehicles, due to their motion relative to the spoofer, Doppler bias is appended to the raw measurement, providing an observable spoofing signature. Conventional approaches tend to directly monitor the Doppler bias but require complex requirements like static initialization, random motion, and multiple receivers. Moreover, the commonly utilized single-antenna assumption renders them ineffective against multi-antenna spoofing attacks. This paper proposes a new approach that indirectly exploits the Doppler bias by examining its adverse impact on velocity consistency. The introduced direct velocity determination (DVD) method calculates velocity directly from the Doppler measurements, which is then utilized for consistency-checking alongside the velocity obtained from the conventional pseudorange-aided approach. We thoroughly investigate the impact of Doppler bias on velocities and analyze their consistency across different scenarios. Field tests validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, surpassing previous Doppler-based methods and the widely used receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) method.