The Role of Toll-Like Receptor 2 and 4 Innate Immunity Pathways in Intracortical Microelectrode-Induced Neuroinflammation

We have recently demonstrated that partial inhibition of the cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14) innate immunity co-receptor pathway improves the long-term performance of intracortical microelectrodes better than complete inhibition. We hypothesized that partial activation of the CD14 pathway was critical to a neuroprotective response to the injury associated with initial and sustained device implantation. Therefore, here we investigated the role of two innate immunity receptors that closely interact with CD14 in inflammatory activation. We implanted silicon planar non-recording neural probes into knockout mice lacking Toll-like receptor 2 (Tlr2−/−), knockout mice lacking Toll-like receptor 4 (Tlr4−/−), and wildtype (WT) control mice, and evaluated endpoint histology at 2 and 16 weeks after implantation. Tlr4−/− mice exhibited significantly lower BBB permeability at acute and chronic time points, but also demonstrated significantly lower neuronal survival at the chronic time point. Inhibition of the Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) pathway had no significant effect compared to control animals. Additionally, when investigating the maturation of the neuroinflammatory response from 2 to 16 weeks, transgenic knockout mice exhibited similar histological trends to WT controls, except that knockout mice did not exhibit changes in microglia and macrophage activation over time. Together, our results indicate that complete genetic removal of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) was detrimental to the integration of intracortical neural probes, while inhibition of TLR2 had no impact within the tests performed in this study. Therefore, approaches focusing on incomplete or acute inhibition of TLR4 may still improve intracortical microelectrode integration and long term recording performance

Understanding consumer adoption of mobile payment in India: Extending Meta-UTAUT model with personal innovativeness, anxiety, trust, and grievance redressal

YesMobile payments are the future as we move towards a cashless society. In some markets, cash is already being replaced by digital transactions, but consumers of many developing countries are slower in transition towards digital payments. This study aims to identify major determinants of consumer mobile payment adoption in India the country with second largest mobile subscribers in the world. Existing mobile payments adoption studies have predominantly utilised Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which was primarily developed in organisational context and criticised for having deterministic approach without much consideration for users’ individual characteristics. Therefore, this study adapted meta-UTAUT model with individual difference variable attitude as core construct and extended the model with consumer related constructs such as personal innovativeness, anxiety, trust, and grievance redressal. Empirical examination of the model among 491 Indian consumers revealed performance expectancy, intention to use, and grievance redressal as significant positive predictor of consumer use behaviour towards mobile payment. Moreover, intention to use was significantly influenced by attitude, social influence, and facilitating conditions. The major contribution of this study includes re-affirming the central role of attitude in consumer adoption studies and examining usage behaviour in contrast to most existing studies, which examine only behavioural intention

Examining How CBT Interventions for Anxious Youth Are Delivered Across Settings

Most efforts to assess treatment integrity-the degree to which a treatment is delivered as intended-have conflated content (i.e., therapeutic interventions) and delivery (i.e., strategies for conveying the content, such as modeling). However, there may be value in measuring content and delivery separately. This study examined whether the quantity (how much) and quality (how well) of delivery strategies for individual cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) for youth anxiety varied when the same evidence-based treatment was implemented in research and community settings. Therapists (N = 29; 69.0% White; 13.8% male) provided ICBT to 68 youths (M age = 10.60 years, SD = 2.03; 82.4% white; 52.9% male) diagnosed with a principal anxiety disorder in research or community settings. Training and supervision protocols for therapists were comparable across settings. Two independent teams of trained coders rated 744 sessions using observational instruments designed to assess the quantity and quality of delivery of interventions found in ICBT approaches. Overall, both the quantity and quality of delivery of interventions found in ICBT approaches were significantly lower in the community settings. The extent to which didactic teaching, collaborative teaching, and rehearsal were used systematically varied over the course of treatment. In general, differences in the quantity and quality of delivery observed between settings held when differences in youth characteristics between settings were included in the model. Our findings suggest the potential relevance of measuring how therapists deliver treatment separate from the content

Exercise in cancer

Physical exercise has attracted increased interest in rehabilitation of oncological patients. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature and summarize the evidence of physical exercise in preventing cancer, its ability in attenuating the effect of cancer and its treatments and to provide guidelines for exercise prescription Review of recent literature by electronic search of MEDline (Pub Med), Cancer lit, Cochrane libraries, CINAHL were done using Keywords and the variables were identified and systematically evaluated. There is strong evidence for reduced risk of colorectal and breast cancer with possible association for prostate, endometrial and lung cancer with increasing physical activity. Exercise helps cancer survivors cope with and recover from treatment; exercise may improve the health of long term cancer survivors and extend survival. Physical exercise will benefit throughout the spectrum of cancer. However, an understanding of the amount, type and intensity of exercise needed has not been fully elucidated. There is sufficient evidence to promote exercise in cancer survivors following careful assessment and tailoring on exercise prescription