A Risk Prediction Model for Mortality in Patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy

The aim of this study was to build a risk prediction model for 1-year mortality on the bases of clinical and functional indicators in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Materials and Methods: The study included 205 patients (aged from 16 to 61 years) with DCM and chronic heart failure in NYHA FC II-IV. The study included the collection of anamnestic data, physical examinations, clinical and biochemical laboratory methods, 12-lead ECG, echocardiography, and Holter ECG monitoring , 6-minute walk test. The duration of follow-up was 3 to 170 months (36.7±5.6). The study end-points were death (sudden death or progression of heart failure) and thromboembolic complications (pulmonary embolism, ischemic stroke, thromboembolism of the vessels of kidneys and lower extremities). Results: A sequential evaluation of clinical-anamnestic and instrumental data with analysis of the life expectancy and the subsequent construction of a risk prediction model for 1-year mortality by the method of multiple stepwise logistic regression was performed. In accordance with the results of multiple regression analysis, among the clinico-functional parameters, NYHA class III/IV, low blood pressure, a relatively young age, abnormal QRS complex, high-grade ventricular arrhythmias and an increase in LVESV/LVEDV ratio (>0.66) are the most influencing factors for a fatal outcome within 1 year of observation

Contextual processing and its alterations in patients with addictive disorders

Contextual processing is implicated in the pathophysiology of addictive disorders, but the nature of putative deficiencies remains unclear. We assessed some aspects of contextual processing across multimodal experimental procedures with detoxified subjects who were dependent on opioids (n = 18), alcohol- (n = 20), both opioids and alcohol (n = 22) and healthy controls (n = 24) using a) facial- and b) emotionally laden images; c) gambling task and d) sucrose solutions. Healthy subjects displayed consistent response pattern throughout all categories of the presented stimuli. As a group, dependent subjects rated (i.e., valuated) attractive and average faces respectively more and less attractive in comparison to controls. Dependent subjects' motivational effort, measured in the units of computer keypress to determine the attractive faces' viewing time, accorded the valuational context but was diminished relatively to the average faces’ valuation. Dependent subjects’ motivational effort for pleasant and aversive images respectively mirrored the attractive and average faces; their neutral images’ motivational effort was incongruent with the valuational context framed by the intermixed images. Also, dependent subjects’ emotional responses to counterfactual comparisons of gambling outcomes were unmatched by the riskiness context. Moreover, dependent subjects failed to show greater liking of sweet solutions that normally accompanies low sweetness perceptual context indicative of higher sucrose concentration needed for maximal hedonic experience. Consistent differences among the dependent groups (opioid vs. alcohol vs. comorbid) on the above procedures were not observed. The present findings suggest that opioid and/or alcohol dependence may be associated with amplified hedonic and motivational valuation of pleasant stimuli and with a disrupted link between behavioral/emotional responsivity and contextual variations. Further research is warranted to unravel the distinctive features of contextual processing in opioid- vis-à-vis alcohol addiction and how these features may interrelate in comorbid conditions

Neuropunk Revolution. Hacking Cognitive Systems towards Cyborgs 3.0

This work is dedicated to the review and perspective of the new direction that we call "Neuropunk revolution" resembling the cultural phenomenon of cyberpunk. This new phenomenon has its foundations in advances in neuromorphic technologies including memristive and bio-plausible simulations, BCI, and neurointerfaces as well as unconventional approaches to AI and computing in general. We present the review of the current state-of-the-art and our vision of near future development of scientific approaches and future technologies. We call the "Neuropunk revolution" the set of trends that in our view provide the necessary background for the new generation of approaches technologies to integrate the cybernetic objects with biological tissues in close loop system as well as robotic systems inspired by the biological processes again integrated with biological objects. We see bio-plausible simulations implemented by digital computers or spiking networks memristive hardware as promising bridge or middleware between digital and (neuro)biological domains

The Eurasian Heartland: A continental perspective on Y-chromosome diversity

The nonrecombining portion of the human Y chromosome has proven to be a valuable tool for the study of population history. The maintenance of extended haplotypes characteristic of particular geographic regions, despite extensive admixture, allows complex demographic events to be deconstructed. In this study we report the frequencies of 23 Y-chromosome biallelic polymorphism haplotypes in 1,935 men from 49 Eurasian populations, with a particular focus on Central Asia. These haplotypes reveal traces of historical migrations, and provide an insight into the earliest patterns of settlement of anatomically modern humans on the Eurasian continent. Central Asia is revealed to be an important reservoir of genetic diversity, and the source of at least three major waves of migration leading into Europe, the Americas, and India. The genetic results are interpreted in the context of Eurasian linguistic patterns