This paper explores the most common methods of data collection used in qualitative research: interviews and focus groups. The paper examines each method in detail, focusing on how they work in ...practice, when their use is appropriate and what they can offer dentistry. Examples of empirical studies that have used interviews or focus groups are also provided.
Axon degeneration, a hallmark of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), is thought to be caused by a loss of the essential metabolite nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺) via the ...prodegenerative protein SARM1. Some studies challenge this notion, however, and suggest that an aberrant increase in a direct precursor of NAD⁺, nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), rather than loss of NAD⁺, is responsible. In support of this idea, blocking NMN accumulation in neurons by expressing a bacterial NMN deamidase protected axons from degeneration. We hypothesized that protection could similarly be achieved by reducing NMN production pharmacologically. To achieve this, we took advantage of an alternative pathway for NAD⁺ generation that goes through the intermediate nicotinic acid mononucleotide (NAMN), rather than NMN. We discovered that nicotinic acid riboside (NAR), a precursor of NAMN, administered in combination with FK866, an inhibitor of the enzyme nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase that produces NMN, protected dorsal root ganglion (DRG) axons against vincristine-induced degeneration as well as NMN deamidase. Introducing a different bacterial enzyme that converts NAMN to NMN reversed this protection. Collectively, our data indicate that maintaining NAD⁺ is not sufficient to protect DRG neurons from vincristine-induced axon degeneration, and elevating NMN, by itself, is not sufficient to cause degeneration. Nonetheless, the combination of FK866 and NAR, which bypasses NMN formation, may provide a therapeutic strategy for neuroprotection.
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•STN beta-band desynchronization could be a novel therapy for PD patients.•Participants learn to control STN beta-band oscillations.•Participants imagined stiff and easy movements to ...create two conditions.•Individual participants could acquire volitional control of their brain signals.•The imagined parkinsonian vs. smooth movement also modulates the beta burst rates.
Patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have difficulty initiating and executing movements due to an acquired imbalance of the basal ganglia thalamocortical circuit secondary to loss of dopaminergic input into the striatum. The unbalanced circuit is hyper-synchronized, presenting as larger and longer bursts of beta-band (13–30 Hz) oscillations in the subthalamic nucleus (STN). As a first step toward a novel PD therapy that aims to improve symptoms through beta desynchronization, we sought to determine if individuals with PD could acquire volitional control of STN beta power in a neurofeedback task. We found a significant difference in STN beta power between task conditions, and relevant brain signal features could be detected and decoded in real time. This demonstration of volitional control of STN beta motivates development of a neurofeedback therapy to modulate PD symptom severity.
This is a transcript of my talk for Nuclear Data for Science and Technology conference, ND2022. The talk is available on YouTube:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_WYcTHco00
. This work is derived from a ...2021 paper I wrote in the American Nuclear Society’s journal Nuclear Technology 207, S24 (2021). It was published in a special issue together with twenty-three other papers, for the 75
th
Anniversary of the culmination of the Manhattan Project. It would be better to watch the video than read this transcript!
This paper provides a pragmatic approach to analysing qualitative data, using actual data from a qualitative dental public health study for demonstration purposes. The paper also critically explores ...how computers can be used to facilitate this process, the debate about the verification (validation) of qualitative analyses and how to write up and present qualitative research studies.
The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) of primates is thought to play a role in associative learning. However, it remains unclear how LPFC neuronal ensembles dynamically encode and store memories for ...arbitrary stimulus-response associations. We recorded the activity of neurons in LPFC of two macaques during an associative learning task using multielectrode arrays. During task trials, the color of a symbolic cue indicated the location of one of two possible targets for a saccade. During a trial block, multiple randomly chosen associations were learned by the subjects. A state-space analysis indicated that LPFC neuronal ensembles rapidly learn new stimulus-response associations mirroring the animals’ learning. Multiple associations acquired during training are stored in a neuronal subspace and can be retrieved hours after learning. Finally, knowledge of old associations facilitates learning new, similar associations. These results indicate that neuronal ensembles in the primate LPFC provide a flexible and dynamic substrate for associative learning.
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•LPFC neurons are selective for task rules once learned•Rules are encoded in low-dimensional neural subspaces•Neural distance between rules correlates with behavioral similarity•Rules stored in LPFC activity subspaces enable flexible memory associations
The study investigated how stimulus-response associations are encoded in lateral prefrontal cortex of the brain in a learning task using working and long-term memory. The recorded neuronal activities change after learning the associations, and in a low-dimensional space, similar associations occupy closer subspaces.
Cellular metabolism is regulated over space and time to ensure that energy production is efficiently matched with consumption. Fluorescent biosensors are useful tools for studying metabolism as they ...enable real-time detection of metabolite abundance with single-cell resolution. For monitoring glycolysis, the intermediate fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (FBP) is a particularly informative signal as its concentration is strongly correlated with flux through the whole pathway. Using GFP insertion into the ligand-binding domain of the
transcriptional regulator CggR, we developed a fluorescent biosensor for FBP termed HYlight. We demonstrate that HYlight can reliably report the real-time dynamics of glycolysis in living cells and tissues, driven by various metabolic or pharmacological perturbations, alone or in combination with other physiologically relevant signals. Using this sensor, we uncovered previously unknown aspects of β-cell glycolytic heterogeneity and dynamics.
The importance of understanding barriers to dental attendance of adults in the UK was acknowledged in the first Adult Dental Health Survey in 1968 and has been investigated in all subsequent ADH ...surveys. In 1968, approximately 40% of dentate adults said they attended for a regular check-up; by 2009 this was 61%. Attendance patterns were associated with greater frequency of toothbrushing, use of additional dental hygiene products, lower plaque and calculus levels. Just under three-fifths of adults said they had tried to make an NHS dental appointment in the previous five years. The vast majority (92%) successfully received and attended an appointment, while a further 1% received an appointment but did not attend. The remaining 7% of adults were unable to make an appointment with an NHS dentist. The majority of adults were positive about their last visit to the dentist, with 80% of adults giving no negative feedback about their last dentist visit. Cost and anxiety were important barriers to care. Twenty-six percent of adults said the type of treatment they had opted for in the past had been affected by the cost and 19% said they had delayed dental treatment for the same reason. The 2009 survey data demonstrated a relationship between dental anxiety and dental attendance. Adults with extreme dental anxiety were more likely to attend only when they had trouble with their teeth (22%) than for a regular check-up.
Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) translate brain signals into artificial output to restore or replace natural central nervous system (CNS) functions. Multiple processes, including sensorimotor ...integration, decision-making, motor planning, execution, and updating, are involved in any movement. For example, a BCI may be better able to restore naturalistic motor behaviors if it uses signals from multiple brain areas and decodes natural behaviors’ cognitive and motor aspects. This review provides an overview of the preliminary information necessary to plan a BCI project focusing on intracortical implants in primates. Since the brain structure and areas of non-human primates (NHP) are similar to humans, exploring the result of NHP studies will eventually benefit human BCI studies. The different types of BCI systems based on the target cortical area, types of signals, and decoding methods will be discussed. In addition, various successful state-of-the-art cases will be reviewed in more detail, focusing on the general algorithm followed in the real-time system. Finally, an outlook for improving the current BCI research studies will be debated.
The impact of local recurrence and surgical resection margin status on survival in extremity soft-tissue sarcomas remains to be clearly defined. Our aim was to conduct a retrospective analysis of ...prospectively collected data to determine the prognostic relevance of positive resection margins and local recurrence for extremity soft-tissue sarcomas for survival.
Three hundred and sixty-three patients who underwent resection of localized primary extremity soft-tissue sarcomas with curative intent were selected from the United States Department of Defense Automated Central Tumor Registry. Outcomes for local recurrence, distant recurrence, disease-specific survival, and overall survival were analyzed according to clinical, pathological, and treatment variables with use of the Kaplan-Meier method (log-rank test) and the multivariate Cox regression model.
Positive margins (hazard ratio, 1.99 95% confidence interval, 1.15 to 3.45), local recurrence (hazard ratio, 2.93 95% confidence interval, 1.38 to 6.23), and distant recurrence (hazard ratio, 12.13 95% confidence interval, 5.97 to 24.65) were significantly associated with overall survival on multivariate Cox regression analysis. However, for disease-specific survival, local recurrence was not significant and tumor size of >10 cm (hazard ratio, 2.83 95% confidence interval, 1.15 to 6.95), positive margins (hazard ratio, 1.95 95% confidence interval, 1.05 to 3.63), and distant recurrence (hazard ratio, 9.46 95% confidence interval, 4.37 to 20.47) were independent adverse prognostic factors. The disease-specific survival rate for patients with localized soft-tissue sarcomas was 89% (95% confidence interval, 85% to 92%) for five years and 75% (95% confidence interval, 70% to 81%) for ten years.
Positive surgical margins are consistently associated with adverse survival-related outcomes in localized soft-tissue sarcomas of the extremity. Local recurrence had a significant impact on overall survival, but not on disease-specific survival.
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