Functional electrical stimulation driven by a brain–computer interface in acute and subacute stroke patients impacts beta power and long-range temporal correlation

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a standard rehabilitation approach applied by therapists to aid motor recovery in a paretic limb post-stroke. Information pertaining to the timing of a movement attempt can be obtained from changes in the power of oscillatory electrophysiological activity in motor cortical regions, derived from scalp electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings. The use of a brain–computer interface (BCI), to enable delivery of FES within a tight temporal window with a movement attempt detected in scalp EEG, is associated with greater motor recovery than conventional FES application in patients in the chronic phase post-stroke. We hypothesized that the heightened neural plasticity early post-stroke could further enhance motor recovery and that motor improvements would be accompanied by changes in the motor cortical sensorimotor rhythm after compared with before treatment. Here we assessed clinical outcome and changes in the sensorimotor rhythm in patients following subcortical stroke affecting the non-dominant hemisphere from a study comparing timing of FES delivery using a BCI, with a Sham group, receiving FES with no such temporal relationship. The BCI group showed greater clinical improvement following the treatment, particularly early post-stroke, and a greater decrease in beta oscillatory power and long-range temporal correlation over contralateral (ipsilesional) motor cortex. The electrophysiological changes are consistent with a reduction in compensatory processes and a transition towards a subcritical state when movement is triggered at the time of movement detection based on motor cortical oscillations

Progranulin and Its Related MicroRNAs after Status Epilepticus: Possible Mechanisms of Neuroprotection

The current knowledge about neuroprotective mechanisms in humans after status epilepticus is scarce. One reason is the difficulty to measure possible mediators of these neuroprotective mechanisms. The dawn of microRNA detection in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the recent advancements in measuring proteins in the CSF such as progranulin, which is, e.g., responsible for neurite outgrowth and limiting exceeding neuroinflammatory responses, have given us new insights into putative neuroprotective mechanisms following status epilepticus. This should complement the animal data. In this review, we cover what is known about the role of progranulin as well as the links between microRNA changes and the progranulin pathway following status epilepticus in humans and animals hypothesizing neuroprotective and neurorehabilitative effects. Progranulin has also been found to feature prominently in the neuroprotective processes under hypoxic conditions and initiating neurorehabilitative processes. These properties may be used therapeutically, e.g., through drugs that raise the progranulin levels and therefore the cerebral progranulin levels as well with the goal of improving the outcome after status epilepticus

Per comprendere la complessità di ciò che resta. Il Campo di Fossoli: costruzione, evoluzione, status quo

So as to understand the complexity of what remains. The Fossoli camp: construction, evolution, status quo. STRATIFIED MATTER. 1942-1943: building of the camp. In 1942, an area suitable for building POW camp no.73 (PG 73) is identified in Fossoli. Known from then on as Campo Vecchio (the ‘old camp’) or Camp no.1, the complex featured four sectors that contained 93 huts. The requirements of a quick and cheap construction phase resulted in simple buildings: rectangular, one-storey units with masonry walls and wooden trusses. However, the arrival of its prisoners before construction work had been completed imposed the creation of a second detention centre, which initially consisted of tents and only later was built in masonry. Known as Campo Nuovo (‘the new camp’) or Camp no.2, it was divided into three sectors, within which a whole series of buildings were constructed, only slightly different from those of the adjacent area. 1943-1945: the war years. From 1943 to 1945, the Polizei und Durchgangslager (Dulag 152), the General Bevollmachtigte Fur Den Arbeitseinsatz (or ‘Gathering and Sorting Centre for Forced Labour’), the Fascist concentration camp and the Foreign Refugee Centre were all based at the camp. The simplicity of the buildings and the alternating and dishonourable uses to which the camp was put made preservation of both complexes difficult. At the end of the war, the old camp was demolished (1945) and the new camp was abandoned (1946). 1947-1952: Nomadelfia. In 1947, thanks to the work of a parish priest, Fr. Zeno Saltini, the Opera Piccoli Apostoli di San Giacomo in Roncole was granted a transfer to Fossoli. The new settlement, known as the Community of Nomadelfia, inaugurated a profound rebirth: the symbols of oppression were removed and renovation work was carried out on both the buildings – roofs were repaired, walls were cut and replastered, windows and doors replaced, new fixtures and fittings added – and the open spaces, with the redesign of the outdoor layout and a planting programme. In 1952, the Nomadelfia period came to an end for a variety of reasons. 1954-1970: Villaggio San Marco. In 1954, the Julian-Dalmatian refugee assistance organisation of Rome transferred a hundred or so families from Istria to the camp at Fossoli: this marked the beginning of Villaggio San Marco. This new purpose required the creation of new divisions and new decor – mostly stencilled – inside dwellings and the conversion of hut no.9 into a church. In 1970, the camp was almost entirely abandoned. 1970-2004: Dereliction. Many decades followed, during which the precarious state of the buildings rendered them unable to resist the signs of neglect. WORN-OUT MATTER. In the years that followed the Villaggio San Marco period, the camp rapidly became derelict. The commendable work of the Fondazione ex Campo di Fossoli (the Fossoli Foundation), founded in 1996, only managed to halt part of the deterioration and collapse, which worsened in 2012 due to earthquakes and heavy snowfall. To date, apart from hut 14.1, which was reconstructed in keeping with its original state in 2004, the camp can be grouped according to three different states of conservation: one where huts still have a proportion of their walls and limited sections of roof, a similar group with remains of roofs and a third group with only fragments of wall. The analysis and comprehension of the surviving remains is the conditio sine qua non for their hoped-for survival

Cerebrospinal fluid microRNAs are potential biomarkers of temporal lobe epilepsy and status epilepticus

There is a need for diagnostic biomarkers of epilepsy and status epilepticus to support clinical examination, electroencephalography and neuroimaging. Extracellular microRNAs may be potentially ideal biomarkers since some are expressed uniquely within specific brain regions and cell types. Cerebrospinal fluid offers a source of microRNA biomarkers with the advantage of being in close contact with the target tissue and sites of pathology. Here we profiled microRNA levels in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with temporal lobe epilepsy or status epilepticus, and compared findings to matched controls. Differential expression of 20 microRNAs was detected between patient groups and controls. A validation phase included an expanded cohort and samples from patients with other neurological diseases. This identified lower levels of miR-19b in temporal lobe epilepsy compared to controls, status epilepticus and other neurological diseases. Levels of miR-451a were higher in status epilepticus compared to other groups whereas miR-21-5p differed in status epilepticus compared to temporal lobe epilepsy but not to other neurological diseases. Targets of these microRNAs include proteins regulating neuronal death, tissue remodelling, gliosis and inflammation. The present study indicates cerebrospinal fluid contains microRNAs that can support differential diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy and status epilepticus from other neurological and non-neurological diseases

"TORNADO" - Theranostic One-Step RNA Detector; microfluidic disc for the direct detection of microRNA-134 in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid.

Diagnosis of seizure disorders such as epilepsy currently relies on clinical examination and electroencephalogram recordings and is associated with substantial mis-diagnosis. The miRNA, miR-134 (MIR134 in humans), has been found to be elevated in brain tissue after experimental status epilepticus and in human epilepsy cells and their detection in biofluids may serve as unique biomarkers. miRNAs from unprocessed human plasma and human cerebrospinal fluid samples were used in a novel electrochemical detection based on electrocatalytic platinum nanoparticles inside a centrifugal microfluidic device where the sandwich assay is formed using an event triggered release system, suitable for the rapid point-of-care detection of low abundance biomarkers of disease. The device has the advantage of controlling the rotation speed of the centrifugal device to pump nanoliter volumes of fluid at a set time and manipulate the transfer of liquids within the device. The centrifugal platform improves reaction rates and yields by proposing efficient mixing strategies to overcome diffusion-limited processes and improve mass transport rates, resulting in reduced hybridization times with a limit of detection of 1 pM target concentration. Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid samples (unprocessed) from patients with epilepsy or who experienced status epilepticus were tested and the catalytic response obtained was in range of the calibration plot. This study demonstrates a rapid and simple detection for epilepsy biomarkers in biofluid.</p