Effect of Listening to A Relaxing Water Sound for Fifteen Minutes On Traumatic Stress Subjects’ Immediate Stress Levels and Electroencephalograms

BACKGROUND: Music and calmness are noteworthy stimulators that significantly affect mental health. Listening to relaxing sounds activates the feeling of wellbeing. The present study aimed to analyze the effect of closed eyes brief exposure to a relaxing water sound on Electroencephalogram (EEG) in pre and post-test states. METHODOLOGY: A total of 20 traumatic stress subjects were included to participate in this study. The subjects were requested to be seated with eyes closed while the sound of water flowing was played for 15 min in between (before and after) the EEG recordings. A subsection of the Sadaf Stress Scale (SSS) i.e. traumatic stress scale was used to assess the traumatic stress and muse (SCR_014418) monitor headband was utilized for EEG evaluation i.e. Alpha waves, Beta waves, Theta waves & Delta waves. RESULTS: Significantly increased theta wave & alpha waves were found after the listening of relaxing water sound in the eyes-closed state. While no significant change was observed in beta & delta waves. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that exposure to the sound of water flowing quietly significantly generates alteration in brain waves. Although, the applied stimulators were for a brief period changes in frequencies suggest if applied for a longer period it could generate a relaxation state

The lived experiences of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Deep Brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) is an effective treatment for Parkinson’s disease (PD). In this study we used an interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore how 10 male people with PD experienced life after STN-DBS surgery. Two themes emerged. The first: “Healed and relieved: all that glitters isn’t gold,” highlights the benefits and the personal ‘costs’ of surgery. The second: “The change within: new interpretations of the present and future unfold”, explores how the operated patients reinterpreted their lives as individuals and members of society in the present and as they face their future. Relief, gratitude, disappointment, the need for social support are expressed as well as a new appraisal of values and the future. STN-DBS alters the life course of people with PD and this study provides new insight into psychological and social issues that surgery raises for the patient and their family system. These psychosocial issues should be taken into account when preparing the patient and their family for surgery or supporting them post operatively

Outer Surface Protein C Typing of Borrelia burgdorferi in the Tick Populations of the Upper Susquehanna River Basin, New York

Lyme disease, the most common zoonotic disease in the United States, is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. In order to manage and confront the notable rise in Lyme disease cases, it is crucial to cultivate a deeper understanding of B. burgdorferi and its genes. The outer surface protein C (ospC) gene is highly polymorphic and commonly used as a genetic marker due to its crucial role in establishing mammalian infection. We report novel data on the prevalence of B. burgdorferi ospC genotypes in the infected tick populations of the Upper Susquehanna River Basin of New York State. DNA extracted from 266 Ixodes scapularis, the blacklegged ticks, were tested for the presence of ospC gene and the positive samples were subjected to sequencing. The specific ospC genotype was identified for 56 positive samples which were infected with B. burgdorferi representing a single ospC genotype. A total of 12 ospC genotypes were identified in the 56 ticks, with genotypes I, K, and A being the most prevalent across the Upper Susquehanna River Basin with little variation among the six counties. The frequency distribution of ospC variants in this region is significantly different from the few previously studied regions in the Northeast. This research will have implications in the public health sector by providing assessment for Lyme disease risk in the Upper Susquehanna River Basin and insight into strain specific vaccines based on OspC. Further research can be done into the dispersion pattern of B. burgdorferi within the Upper Susquehanna River Basin, while also replicating this study for other regions

Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East

We report genome-wide ancient DNA from 44 ancient Near Easterners ranging in time between ~12,000 and 1,400 BC, from Natufian hunter–gatherers to Bronze Age farmers. We show that the earliest populations of the Near East derived around half their ancestry from a ‘Basal Eurasian’ lineage that had little if any Neanderthal admixture and that separated from other non-African lineages before their separation from each other. The first farmers of the southern Levant (Israel and Jordan) and Zagros Mountains (Iran) were strongly genetically differentiated, and each descended from local hunter–gatherers. By the time of the Bronze Age, these two populations and Anatolian-related farmers had mixed with each other and with the hunter–gatherers of Europe to greatly reduce genetic differentiation. The impact of the Near Eastern farmers extended beyond the Near East: farmers related to those of Anatolia spread westward into Europe; farmers related to those of the Levant spread southward into East Africa; farmers related to those of Iran spread northward into the Eurasian steppe; and people related to both the early farmers of Iran and to the pastoralists of the Eurasian steppe spread eastward into South Asia

Preparedness of the CTSA's Structural and Scientific Assets to Support the Mission of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)

The formation of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) brings new promise for moving basic and discoveries to clinical practice, ultimately improving the health of the nation. The CTSA sites, now housed with NCATS, are organized and prepared to support in this endeavor. The CTSAs provide a foundation for capitalizing on such promise through provision of a disease-agnostic infrastructure devoted to C&T science, maintenance of training programs designed for C&T investigators of the future, by incentivizing institutional reorganization and by cultivating institutional support

Abnormal Growth Hormone Responses to Hypoglycemia and Exercise in Adults With Type I Diabetes

Abnormal regulation of growth hormone (GH) secretion has been reported in some patients with insulin-dependent diabetes (IDD). We compared the GH responses in 32 healthy subjects (age 25 ± 2 SE years) and in 23 IDD patients (28 ± 1.9 years old, diabetes duration 10.4 ± 2 years, and glycohemoglobin levels 9.3 ± 2.0%). During acute, severe hypoglycemia (glucose \u3c 40 mg/dl), the mean GH levels were similar. When prolonged mild hypoglycemia was induced (58.0 ± 2.0 mg/dl in the controls and 54.0 ± 2.0 mg/dl in the IDD patients), the mean GH levels were similar, although the increase in GH was delayed in the latter group. During brief (30 min) exercise at 40-50% of VO2 max, GH rose comparably in both groups (IDD patients maintained euglycemia with basal insulin infusion). However, with more prolonged and intense exercise using a glucose clamp to maintain euglycemia, GH rose to 5.4 ± 2.2 ng/ml in controls and 26.4 ± 12.6 ng/ml in the diabetics (P \u3c 0.05). When the combination of intense exercise and hypoglycemia (~ 55 mg/dl) was used, GH rose to a peak of 21.7 ± 2.7 ng/ml in the controls and to 33 ± 3.0 ng/ml in the diabetics (P = NS). Our data show that in insulin-infused IDD patients made euglycemic for these experiments: a) The GH response to acute, severe hypoglycemia was identical to that in the controls and the response to mild, prolonged hypoglycemia was delayed, but of similar magnitude compared with controls; b) Exercise-induced GH responses were observed in both groups, but exaggerated in the diabetics at a higher exercise intensity; c) Hypoglycemia during exercise produced an additive effect on GH secretion in the controls but not in the IDD patients. We conclude that the wide range of abnormal GH secretory responses in type I diabetes reflects a central, possibly hypothalamic, defect in GH regulation