Amygdala Volume and Social Anxiety Symptom Severity: A Mutli-method Study

Neuroimaging research has strongly influenced a biologically-based conceptualization of social anxiety, which is the fear of evaluation from others. Functional neuroimaging research has shown consistently a robust association between atypical amygdala activation and social anxiety symptoms. However, there are disparities in the small structural imaging literature on the amygdala and social anxiety. The inconsistent findings may, in part, be a function of differences across studies in the methods used to obtain amygdala volumes. Freesurfer and manual tracings are two common segmentation techniques, and the use of one over the other involves different tradeoffs. The present study directly compared amygdala volumes generated based on Freesurfer’s boundaries to those generated based on manually corrected boundaries, in neurotypical adults with varying levels of social anxiety. Also, it examined whether amygdala volume predicted social anxiety symptom severity. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale – Self-Report version served as a measure of social anxiety. Participants (N = 76) were selected from three larger archival projects. They had social anxiety scores ranging from 0 - 108 (M = 54.59 ± 33.34). The results suggest Freesurfer’s boundaries consistently produced larger amygdala volumes than manually corrected boundaries. However, in neurotypical individuals with and without social anxiety, manual correction did not provide added benefit over the use of Freesurfer with regard to predicting social anxiety symptoms. The present findings strongly suggest that volumetric measurement of the amygdala is not helpful for understanding variability in social anxiety symptom severity and call into question numerous aspects of existing volumetric studies of the neural correlates of social anxiety

Hippocampal Volume and its Association with Verbal Memory in Adult Survivors of Pediatric Brain Tumor

Verbal memory (VM) has been shown to be impacted in brain tumor (BT) survivors, but the nature of VM problems and underlying neuropathology are poorly understood and a long-term outlook is lacking. Our study examined hippocampus volume (HV) and VM in adult survivors of pediatric BT (n=32) and controls (n=48). Results indicate that disruption to a maturing brain in childhood is detectable 17 years (mean) after diagnosis, as HV is significantly lower in survivors compared to controls. Analysis of the VM scores shows that survivors have significantly lower overall immediate recall compared to controls, but learning slope, retention, and recognition are not different across the groups. Survivors’ memory profile indicates that auditory attention and retrieval difficulties could be contributing to their lower immediate recall. For survivors, HV is significantly correlated with delayed free recall but not with other VM indices. Implications of these findings are discussed

NETWORK ANALYTICS FOR THE MIRNA REGULOME AND MIRNA-DISEASE INTERACTIONS

miRNAs are non-coding RNAs of approx. 22 nucleotides in length that inhibit gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. By virtue of this gene regulation mechanism, miRNAs play a critical role in several biological processes and patho-physiological conditions, including cancers. miRNA behavior is a result of a multi-level complex interaction network involving miRNA-mRNA, TF-miRNA-gene, and miRNA-chemical interactions; hence the precise patterns through which a miRNA regulates a certain disease(s) are still elusive. Herein, I have developed an integrative genomics methods/pipeline to (i) build a miRNA regulomics and data analytics repository, (ii) create/model these interactions into networks and use optimization techniques, motif based analyses, network inference strategies and influence diffusion concepts to predict miRNA regulations and its role in diseases, especially related to cancers. By these methods, we are able to determine the regulatory behavior of miRNAs and potential causal miRNAs in specific diseases and potential biomarkers/targets for drug and medicinal therapeutics

Embolized Transcatheter Mitral Valve: Rare But Devastating Complication

Introduction: 83 year old female who presents with heart failure exacerbation due to severe bio prosthetic mitral valve dysfunction. Past Medical History: CHF, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, CKD Stage III, MVR with St. Jude bio prosthetic valve, Maze procedure, left atrial appendage exclusion, and PFO closure. Why TMVR: Due to her frailty and co morbidities, she was deemed to not be a surgical candidate. TMVR was attempted. Case Presentation: General anesthesia, OETT, TEE guidance, invasive monitoring, and a sentinel cerebral protection device. During deployment the valve embolized into the LV. The embolized valve was snared and multiple attempts were made unsuccessfully to retrieve the embolized valve percutaneously with balloon dilation. Patient emergently transferred to the OR for retrieval of the mitral valve prosthesis from the LV and subsequent MVR with the Edwards Sapien 3 26 mm valve via median sternotomy, and cardiopulmonary bypass. Intraop was uneventful and she was transferred to CVICU for recovery on minimal vasopressor support. Patient did not wake up post operatively and was sent for CT head and CT angiogram head/neck. Complete occlusion of the right MCA with extensive infarct throughout the right MCA distribution and acute infarctions throughout the cerebellar hemispheres and left parietal temporal lobe were found suggestive of embolic stroke. After discussion comfort care was initiated and support was withdrawn leading to demise of the patient. TMVR is a less invasive alternative in patients with high or prohibitive surgical risk with high rate of successful valve implantation and excellent hemodynamic results. However, periprocedural complications and all cause mortality are relatively high. Malposition and migration are common, embolization of the valve is a rare but devastating complication. Management includes percutaneous retrieval, may be more challenging than embolized TAVI. Surgical management is often the only option. The embolized mitral valve may be a source of thromboembolism as highlighted here. Management of these patients involves paying meticulous attention to formation of a thrombus and consideration for utilizing a cerebral protection device.https://scholarlycommons.henryford.com/sarcd2021/1007/thumbnail.jp

Anti-diabetic and spermatogenic activity of Cocculus hirsutus (L) Diels

Anti-diabetic effect was observed with Cocculus hirsutus when given as an aerial part extract in normal as well as diabetic rats. The effect, however, was more pronounced in diabetic animals in which administration for 15 days after streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes, significantly reducedblood glucose levels. After STZ-induced diabetes, it was observed that both standard drug (glibenclamide) and methanolic extract of C. hirsutus were significantly superior to control in reducing blood sugar on long treatment (15 days). The data suggested that C. hirsutus could be ofbenefit in diabetes mellitus in controlling blood sugar. The present investigation established pharmacological evidence to support the folklore claim that it is an anti-diabetic