Bioprinting Sensory Systems to Design Central Nervous System Conditions

Background. Ultrasound has been explored as an alternative, less bulky, less time-consuming and less expensive means of intraoperative imaging in pituitary surgery. However, its use has been limited by the size of its probes relative to the transsphenoidal corridor. We developed a novel prototype that is more slender than previously reported forward-viewing probes and, in this report, we assess its feasibility and safety in an initial patient cohort. Method. The probe was integrated into the transsphenoidal approach in patients with pituitary adenoma, following a single-centre prospective proof of concept study design, as defined by the Innovation, Development, Exploration, Assessment and Long-Term Study (IDEAL) guidelines for assessing innovation in surgery (IDEAL stage 1 - Idea phase). Results. A939572 The probe was employed in 5 cases, and its ability to be used alongside the standard surgical equipment was demonstrated in each case. No adverse events were encountered. The average surgical time was 20 minutes longer than that of 30 contemporaneous cases operated without intraoperative ultrasound. Conclusion. We demonstrate the safety and feasibility of our novel ultrasound probe during transsphenoidal procedures to the pituitary fossa, and, as a next step, plan to integrate the device into a surgical navigation system (IDEAL Stage 2a - Development phase).Differences in effect estimates between early primary trials included in a meta-analysis and the pooled estimate of meta-analysis might indicate potential novelty bias. The objective of this study was to assess the presence of novelty bias in a sample of studies published in periodontology and implant dentistry. On August 7, 2020, we searched the PubMed database for meta-analyses of clinical studies published between August 2015 and August 2020. Meta-analyses with at least 4 primary studies were selected for assessment. We fitted logistic regression models using trial characteristics as predictors to assess the association between these characteristics and 1) the odds of the first trial's estimate to be included in the meta-analysis confidence interval (CI) and 2) the odds of overlap between the first trial's CI and the meta-analysis prediction interval (PI). Ninety-two meta-analyses provided data for assessment. In absolute values, 70% of the meta-analyses have a pooled estimate smaller than the corresponding estimate of the first trial, although there was overlap of the CI of estimates from the first trial and the meta-analysis in 87% of the cases. This is probably due to the small number of trials in most meta-analyses and the subsequently large uncertainty associated with the pooled effect estimate. As the number of trials in the meta-analysis increased, the odds of the treatment effect estimate of the first trial to be included in the meta-analysis CI decreased by 15% for every additional trial (odds ratio, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.96). Meta-analytic effect estimates appear to be more conservative than those from the first trial in the meta-analysis. Our findings show evidence of novelty bias in periodontology and implant dentistry; therefore, clinicians should be aware of the risk of making decisions based on the information reported in new trials because of the risk of exaggerated estimates in these trials.
Examine the effect of language experience on auditory evoked and oscillatory brain responses to lexical tone in passive (ACC) and active (P300) listening conditions.
Language experience was evaluated using two groups, Mandarin- vs. English-listeners (with vs. without lexical tone experience). Two Mandarin lexical tones with pitch movement (T2 rising; T3 dipping) produced on the syllable /ba/ were used as stimuli. For passive listening, each tone was presented in a block. For active listening, each tone was the standard (80%) or deviant (20%) presented in two blocks. Presentation order was counterbalanced across participants in both tasks.
10 adult Mandarin-listeners and 13 Australian-English-listeners contributed to the data.
Both global field power (GFP) and time frequency analysis (TFA) failed to detect group differences in passive listening conditions for the ACC response. In contrast, the active listening condition revealed significant group differences for T2. GFP showed a trending significance with larger GFP (less consistent responses) in English- than Mandarin-listeners. TFA showed significantly higher alpha synchronisation (more focussed attention) for Mandarin- compared to English-listeners.
Acoustic responses to speech is influenced by language experience but only during active listening, suggesting that focussed attention is linked to higher level language processes.
Acoustic responses to speech is influenced by language experience but only during active listening, suggesting that focussed attention is linked to higher level language processes.The geographic prevalence of various altruistic behaviors (nonreciprocal acts that improve other people's welfare) is not uniformly distributed, but whether this reflects variation in a superordinate construct linked to national-level outcomes or cultural values is unknown. We compiled data on seven altruistic behaviors across 48 to 152 nations and found evidence that these behaviors reflect a latent construct positively associated with national-level subjective well-being (SWB) and individualist values, even when we controlled for national-level wealth, health, education, and shared cultural history. Consistent with prior work, our results showed that SWB mediated the relationship between two objective measures of well-being (wealth and health) and altruism (n = 130). Moreover, these indirect effects increased as individualist values increased within the subset of countries (n = 90) with available data. Together, our results indicate that altruism increases when resources and cultural values provide objective and subjective means for pursuing personally meaningful goals and that altruistic behaviors may be enhanced by societal changes that promote well-being.Reproduction is a considerable concern in contemporary Europe and has attracted growing academic interest in the context of austerity. This paper brings together literature on social reproduction, the life-course and vital conjunctures, and develops innovative methodologies to understand reproduction in the context of everyday life in austerity. Using biographical vignettes from family ethnographies, themes of welfare restructuring, debt and care responsibilities emerge. Empirical insights explore social reproduction and defaulted futures, indebtedness and indecision as reproductive conjuncture, and incongruous biographies and absent possibilities. Conclusions call for further research on the relationship between reproductive futures and austerity, and methodological experimentation.