Resident research associateships. Postdoctoral and senior research awards: Opportunities for research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Opportunities for research as part of NASA-sponsored programs at the JPL cover: Earth and space sciences; systems; telecommunications science and engineering; control and energy conversion; applied mechanics; information systems; and observational systems. General information on applying for an award for tenure as a guest investigator, conditions, of the award, and details of the application procedure are provided

Masticatory Functionality in Post-Acute-COVID-Syndrome (PACS) Patients with and without Sarcopenia

Musculoskeletal symptoms are common in both acute COVID-19 disease and post-acute sequelae (Post-Acute COVID Syndrome). The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there are reduced levels of masticatory function in patients with PACS (Post Acute COVID Syndrome) who suffer from sarcopenia, under the hypothesis that the latter may also involve the masticatory muscles. This study includes 23 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 between February 2020 and April 2021 and currently suffering from PACS. Among these PACS patients, 13/23 (56%) suffer from sarcopenia, 5/23 (22%) complain of asthenia but do not suffer from sarcopenia and the remaining 5/23 (22%) do not present muscle symptoms (non-asthenic non-sarcopenic). Oral health indices of all patients were collected. The masticatory strength was assessed with a gnathodynamometer based on piezoresistive sensors, and the masticatory effectiveness was measured by administering the “chewing gum mixing ability test” by having patients perform 20 masticatory cycles on a two-color chewing gum and analyzing the outcome through the ViewGum© software. Moreover, we gathered data with a hand grip test and gait speed test. The data collected in this study show that PACS sarcopenic patients have decreased masticatory effectiveness and strength compared to PACS asthenic non-sarcopenic patients and PACS non-asthenic non-sarcopenic patients

Fractals in the Nervous System: conceptual Implications for Theoretical Neuroscience

This essay is presented with two principal objectives in mind: first, to document the prevalence of fractals at all levels of the nervous system, giving credence to the notion of their functional relevance; and second, to draw attention to the as yet still unresolved issues of the detailed relationships among power law scaling, self-similarity, and self-organized criticality. As regards criticality, I will document that it has become a pivotal reference point in Neurodynamics. Furthermore, I will emphasize the not yet fully appreciated significance of allometric control processes. For dynamic fractals, I will assemble reasons for attributing to them the capacity to adapt task execution to contextual changes across a range of scales. The final Section consists of general reflections on the implications of the reviewed data, and identifies what appear to be issues of fundamental importance for future research in the rapidly evolving topic of this review

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in Malta : a revolutionary therapy for psychiatric and neurological disorders

Severe depression is one of the most common psychological disabilities, with a global point prevalence of 4.7%. The World Health Organisation predicts it to be the leading cause of disease burden by 2030. With 350 million depressed people, depression is a debilitating condition where only a third of treated patients achieve remission after the first antidepressant treatment. Up to 34% of the patients are treatment resistant, whereas another 15% respond partially, following standard doses of antidepressants for 6 weeks or more. Failure to respond to two consecutive antidepressants leads to greater reductions in remission rates. Recurrence rates, despite specialised care, are 60% and 85% after 5 and 15 years post-recovery respectively. Inadequate efficacy, adverse effects, and sensitivity to current treatments call for more effective and tolerable treatment options. With over 20 years of research, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive treatment that alters brain activity and cortical excitability permanently, making it an effective antidepressant treatment beyond the conventional ones, including electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in some studies. Furthermore, rTMS is safe, natural, painless, fast acting and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). It has virtually no side effects and only one absolute contraindication (epilepsy). Experience of its use in Malta has shown improvement in diminishing the key symptoms of depression, decreased suicidal ideation and a decrease in other psychiatric and neurological symptoms within hours of the first sessions. Besides providing immediate relief and hope for patients and relatives, this improvement has many clinical and future management implications. Research is now underway to apply this novel technology and its variants to other physical and psychological disorders.peer-reviewe

Identification of factors associated with morbidity and postoperative length of stay in surgically managed chronic subdural haematoma using electronic health records: a retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic subdural haematoma (cSDH) tends to occur in older patients, often with significant comorbidity. The incidence and effect of medical complications as well as the impact of intraoperative management strategies are now attracting increasing interest. OBJECTIVES: We used electronic health record data to study the profile of in-hospital morbidity and examine associations between various intraoperative events and postoperative stay. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Single-centre, retrospective cohort of 530 cases of cSDH (2014-2019) surgically evacuated under general anaesthesia at a neurosciences centre in Cambridge, UK. METHODS AND OUTCOME DEFINITION: Complications were defined using a modified Electronic Postoperative Morbidity Score. Association between complications and intraoperative care (time with mean arterial pressure <80 mm Hg, time outside of end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) range of 3-5 kPa, maintenance anaesthetic, operative time and opioid dose) on postoperative stay was assessed using Cox regression. RESULTS: 53 (10%) patients suffered myocardial injury, while 24 (4.5%) suffered acute renal injury. On postoperative day 3 (D3), 280 (58% of remaining) inpatients suffered at least 1 complication. D7 rate was comparable (57%). Operative time was the only intraoperative event associated with postoperative stay (HR for discharge: 0.97 (95% CI: 0.95 to 0.99)). On multivariable analysis, postoperative complications (0.61 (0.55 to 0.68)), anticoagulation (0.45 (0.37 to 0.54)) and cognitive impairment (0.71 (0.58 to 0.87)) were associated with time to discharge. CONCLUSIONS: There is a high postoperative morbidity burden in this cohort, which was associated with postoperative stay. We found no evidence of an association between intraoperative events and postoperative stay.Wellcome Trust Studentshi

Concurrent environmental stressors and jellyfish stings impair caged European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) physiological performances

none8siThe increasing frequency of jellyfish outbreaks in coastal areas has led to multiple ecological and socio-economic issues, including mass mortalities of farmed fish. We investigated the sensitivity of the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), a widely cultured fish in the Mediterranean Sea, to the combined stressors of temperature, hypoxia and stings from the jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca, through measurement of oxygen consumption rates (MO2), critical oxygen levels (PO2crit), and histological analysis of tissue damage. Higher levels of MO2, PO2crit and gill damage in treated fish demonstrated that the synergy of environmental and biotic stressors dramatically impair farmed fish metabolic performances and increase their health vulnerability. As a corollary, in the current scenario of ocean warming, these findings suggest that the combined effects of recurrent hypoxic events and jellyfish blooms in coastal areas might also threaten wild fish populations.openBosch-Belmar, Mar; Giomi, Folco; Rinaldi, Alessandro; Mandich, Alberta; Fuentes, Verónica; Mirto, Simone; Sarà, Gianluca; Piraino, StefanoBosch Belmar, Mar; Giomi, Folco; Rinaldi, Alessandro; Mandich, Alberta; Fuentes, Verónica; Mirto, Simone; Sarà, Gianluca; Piraino, Stefan

Acute anxiety predicts components of the cold shock response on cold water immersion:toward an integrated psychophysiological model of acute cold water survival

Introduction: Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death. In cold-water, sudden skin cooling triggers the life-threatening cold shock response (CSR). The CSR comprises tachycardia, peripheral vasoconstriction, hypertension, inspiratory gasp, and hyperventilation with the hyperventilatory component inducing hypocapnia and increasing risk of aspirating water to the lungs. Some CSR components can be reduced by habituation (i.e., reduced response to stimulus of same magnitude) induced by 3–5 short cold-water immersions (CWI). However, high levels of acute anxiety, a plausible emotion on CWI: magnifies the CSR in unhabituated participants, reverses habituated components of the CSR and prevents/delays habituation when high levels of anxiety are experienced concurrent to immersions suggesting anxiety is integral to the CSR.Purpose: To examine the predictive relationship that prior ratings of acute anxiety have with the CSR. Secondly, to examine whether anxiety ratings correlated with components of the CSR during immersion before and after induction of habituation.Methods: Forty-eight unhabituated participants completed one (CON1) 7-min immersion in to cold water (15°C). Of that cohort, twenty-five completed four further CWIs that would ordinarily induce CSR habituation. They then completed two counter-balanced immersions where anxiety levels were increased (CWI-ANX) or were not manipulated (CON2). Acute anxiety and the cardiorespiratory responses (cardiac frequency [fc], respiratory frequency [fR], tidal volume [VT], minute ventilation [E]) were measured. Multiple regression was used to identify components of the CSR from the most life-threatening period of immersion (1st minute) predicted by the anxiety rating prior to immersion. Relationships between anxiety rating and CSR components during immersion were assessed by correlation.Results: Anxiety rating predicted the fc component of the CSR in unhabituated participants (CON1; p &lt; 0.05, r = 0.536, r2= 0.190). After habituation immersions (i.e., cohort 2), anxiety rating predicted the fR component of the CSR when anxiety levels were lowered (CON2; p &lt; 0.05, r = 0.566, r2= 0.320) but predicted the fc component of the CSR (p &lt; 0.05, r = 0.518, r2= 0.197) when anxiety was increased suggesting different drivers of the CSR when anxiety levels were manipulated; correlation data supported these relationships.Discussion: Acute anxiety is integral to the CSR before and after habituation. We offer a new integrated model including neuroanatomical, perceptual and attentional components of the CSR to explain these data