Masseteric-facial nerve neurorrhaphy: results of a case series

OBJECTIVE: Facial palsy is a well-known functional and esthetic problem that bothers most patients and affects their social relationships. When the time between the onset of paralysis and patient presentation is less than 18 months and the proximal stump of the injured facial nerve is not available, another nerve must be anastomosed to the facial nerve to reactivate its function. The masseteric nerve has recently gained popularity over the classic hypoglossus nerve as a new motor source because of its lower associated morbidity rate and the relative ease with which the patient can activate it. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of masseteric-facial nerve neurorrhaphy for early facial reanimation. METHODS: Thirty-four consecutive patients (21 females, 13 males) with early unilateral facial paralysis underwent masseteric-facial nerve neurorrhaphy in which an interpositional nerve graft of the great auricular or sural nerve was placed. The time between the onset of paralysis and surgery ranged from 2 to 18 months (mean 13.3 months). Electromyography revealed mimetic muscle fibrillations in all the patients. Before surgery, all patients had House-Brackmann Grade VI facial nerve dysfunction. Twelve months after the onset of postoperative facial nerve reactivation, each patient underwent a clinical examination using the modified House-Brackmann grading scale as a guide. RESULTS: Overall, 91.2% of the patients experienced facial nerve function reactivation. Facial recovery began within 2-12 months (mean 6.3 months) with the restoration of facial symmetry at rest. According to the modified House-Brackmann grading scale, 5.9% of the patients had Grade I function, 61.8% Grade II, 20.6% Grade III, 2.9% Grade V, and 8.8% Grade VI. The morbidity rate was low; none of the patients could feel the loss of masseteric nerve function. There were only a few complications, including 1 case of postoperative bleeding (2.9%) and 2 local infections (5.9%), and a few patients complained about partial loss of sensitivity of the earlobe or a small area of the ankle and foot, depending on whether great auricular or sural nerves were harvested. CONCLUSIONS: The surgical technique described here seems to be efficient for the early treatment of facial paralysis and results in very little morbidity

Emotional training of facial nerve palsy : a preliminary report

Introduction: Differently from limb muscles, facial muscles motoneurons can be recruited by two descending motor pathways, one arising from the primary motor cortex and the second arising from the midcingulate area (1). Lesions involving the former pathway are associated to voluntary facial paresis, while lesions involving the latter are associated to emotional paresis (2). Patients suffering a voluntary facial paresis cannot voluntary smile, but for example they smile normally in response to jokes. On the contrary, patients suffering an emotional paresis can voluntarily mimic facial expressions, but are unable to produce spontaneous emotional expressions. During rehabilitation after facial nerve lesion, patients are commonly trained to produce symmetric and isolated voluntary movements [e.g. neuromuscular retraining (3)]. In this work we used emotional activation to train facial muscles after peripheral facial nerve palsy, according to the hypothesis that midcingulate area in addition to the primary motor cortex can participate to the motor recovery after facial nerve lesion. Materials: Tue House-Brackmann scale (HBS) was used to evaluate facial symmetry and synkinesis, both before and after the rehabilitation program. Methods: Ten patients (36-76 years) suffering a facial nerve lesion (6 Bell's palsy, 2 Ramsay Hunt syndrome, 2 post-surgery palsy) underwent up to 20 physiotherapy sessions. Each session ( 45 minutes long) was led by a physiotherapist. Consecutive sessions were kept at least 3 days apart. The emotional activation of the paretic facial muscles was obtained by asking patients to recall pleasant memories. Patients were guided by the therapist in increasing their awareness of the emotion-evoked movement by concentrating on kinesthesis. Results: On average, patients started the rehabilitation 80 days after the nerve lesion. At the beginning of the rehabilitation program, patients suffered a moderate facial asymmetry according to the HBS (median HBS score: 3.5; IQR: 3). At the end of the rehabilitation program, HBS score median was reduced to 1 (IQR: 1), indicating a more symmetric face and less severe synkinesis (Wilcoxon test, p = 0.002). Ali patients improved their HBS score. Discussion: Emotional training, a form of repetitive task-specific training, seems beneficial for people receiving rehabilitation following facial nerve lesion. Tue neural network mediating the emotional training effects could include structures of the limbic system such as the amygdala which are known to project to the facial muscle motoneurons via the midcingulate area (1). Conclusion: Emotional training of facial muscles led by a physiotherapist is a promising tool for rehabilitation after facial nerve lesions. References: 1. Morecraft RJ, Louie JL, Herrick JL, Stilwell-Morecraft KS. Cortical innervation of the facial nucleus in the non-human primate: a new interpretation of the effects of stroke and related subtotal brain trauma on the muscles of facial expression. Brain (2001);124:176-208 2. Gothard KM. Tue amygdalo-motor pathways and the control of facial expressions. Front Neurosci. (2014); 19(8):43 3. Nicastri M, Mancini P, De Seta D, Bertoli G, Prosperini L, Toni D, lnghilleri M, Filipo R. Efficacy of early physical therapy in severe Bell's palsy: a randomized controlled trial. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. (2013);27(6):542-5

The Taxonomic Revolution of New World dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae)

After almost two decades of stagnation, the taxonomy of the New World Scarabaeinae dung beetles has since 1988 been going through a period of great effervescence. In the last 35 years, 81 complete revisions and 69 supplements have been produced by 86 authors based in 15 countries, addressing the taxonomic status of 950 species. This is what we christen as the Taxonomic Revolution of New World dung beetles. We review the history and products of this revolution, explore its causes and its apparent exceptionalism among most other New World Coleoptera groups, and point to the many great challenges that still face the scarabaeine taxonomists. An aspect of interest to ecologists is the coevolution of the Taxonomic Revolution with what we call the Ecological Revolution of dung beetles, i.e., the similar expansion in ecological studies about these organisms. We argue that it has been the continuous feedback between these two simultaneous processes that has enabled each of them to exist and flourish: without the Ecological Revolution, the Taxonomic Revolution could not have existed, and vice-versa. Ecologists and taxonomists are partners in the scientific enterprise, symbionts one may say

The Mini‐Organo: A rapid high‐throughput 3D coculture organotypic assay for oncology screening and drug development

Background: The use of in vitro cell cultures is a powerful tool for obtaining key insights into the behaviour and response of cells to interventions in normal and disease situations. Unlike in vivo settings, in vitro experiments allow a fine-tuned control of a range of microenvironmental elements independently within an isolated setting. The recent expansion in the use of three-dimensional (3D) in vitro assays has created a number of representative tools to study cell behaviour in a more physiologically 3D relevant microenvironment. Complex 3D in vitro models that can recapitulate human tissue biology are essential for understanding the pathophysiology of disease. Aim: The development of the 3D coculture collagen contraction and invasion assay, the "organotypic assay," has been widely adopted as a powerful approach to bridge the gap between standard two-dimensional tissue culture and in vivo mouse models. In the cancer setting, these assays can then be used to dissect how stromal cells, such as cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), drive extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling to alter cancer cell behaviour and response to intervention. However, to date, many of the published organotypic protocols are low-throughput, time-consuming (up to several weeks), and work-intensive with often limited scalability. Our aim was to develop a fast, high-throughput, scalable 3D organotypic assay for use in oncology screening and drug development. Methods and results Here, we describe a modified 96-well organotypic assay, the "Mini-Organo," which can be easily completed within 5 days. We demonstrate its application in a wide range of mouse and human cancer biology approaches including evaluation of stromal cell 3D ECM remodelling, 3D cancer cell invasion, and the assessment of efficacy of potential anticancer therapeutic targets. Furthermore, the organotypic assay described is highly amenable to customisation using different cell types under diverse experimental conditions. Conclusions: The Mini-Organo high-throughput 3D organotypic assay allows the rapid screening of potential cancer therapeutics in human and mouse models in a time-efficient manner

Change in hippocampal theta oscillation associated with multiple lever presses in a bimanual two-lever choice task for robot control in rats.

Hippocampal theta oscillations have been implicated in working memory and attentional process, which might be useful for the brain-machine interface (BMI). To further elucidate the properties of the hippocampal theta oscillations that can be used in BMI, we investigated hippocampal theta oscillations during a two-lever choice task. During the task body-restrained rats were trained with a food reward to move an e-puck robot towards them by pressing the correct lever, ipsilateral to the robot several times, using the ipsilateral forelimb. The robot carried food and moved along a semicircle track set in front of the rat. We demonstrated that the power of hippocampal theta oscillations gradually increased during a 6-s preparatory period before the start of multiple lever pressing, irrespective of whether the correct lever choice or forelimb side were used. In addition, there was a significant difference in the theta power after the first choice, between correct and incorrect trials. During the correct trials the theta power was highest during the first lever-releasing period, whereas in the incorrect trials it occurred during the second correct lever-pressing period. We also analyzed the hippocampal theta oscillations at the termination of multiple lever pressing during the correct trials. Irrespective of whether the correct forelimb side was used, the power of hippocampal theta oscillations gradually decreased with the termination of multiple lever pressing. The frequency of theta oscillation also demonstrated an increase and decrease, before and after multiple lever pressing, respectively. There was a transient increase in frequency after the first lever press during the incorrect trials, while no such increase was observed during the correct trials. These results suggested that hippocampal theta oscillations reflect some aspects of preparatory and cognitive neural activities during the robot controlling task, which could be used for BMI

Alterations of Blood Brain Barrier Function in Hyperammonemia: An Overview

Ammonia is a neurotoxin involved in the pathogenesis of neurological conditions associated with hyperammonemia, including hepatic encephalopathy, a condition associated with acute—(ALF) or chronic liver failure. This article reviews evidence that apart from directly affecting the metabolism and function of the central nervous system cells, ammonia influences the passage of different molecules across the blood brain barrier (BBB). A brief description is provided of the tight junctions, which couple adjacent cerebral capillary endothelial cells to each other to form the barrier. Ammonia modulates the transcellular passage of low-to medium-size molecules, by affecting their carriers located at the BBB. Ammonia induces interrelated aberrations of the transport of the large neutral amino acids and aromatic amino acids (AAA), whose influx is augmented by exchange with glutamine produced in the course of ammonia detoxification, and maybe also modulated by the extracellularly acting gamma-glutamyl moiety transferring enzyme, gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase. Impaired AAA transport affects neurotransmission by altering intracerebral synthesis of catecholamines (serotonin and dopamine), and producing “false neurotransmitters” (octopamine and phenylethylamine). Ammonia also modulates BBB transport of the cationic amino acids: the nitric oxide precursor, arginine, and ornithine, which is an ammonia trap, and affects the transport of energy metabolites glucose and creatine. Moreover, ammonia acting either directly or in synergy with liver injury-derived inflammatory cytokines also evokes subtle increases of the transcellular passage of molecules of different size (BBB “leakage”), which appears to be responsible for the vasogenic component of cerebral edema associated with ALF

Characterization of a Gene Family Encoding SEA (Sea-urchin Sperm Protein, Enterokinase and Agrin)-Domain Proteins with Lectin-Like and Heme-Binding Properties from Schistosoma japonicum

BackgroundWe previously identified a novel gene family dispersed in the genome of Schistosoma japonicum by retrotransposon-mediated gene duplication mechanism. Although many transcripts were identified, no homolog was readily identifiable from sequence information.Methodology/Principal FindingsHere, we utilized structural homology modeling and biochemical methods to identify remote homologs, and characterized the gene products as SEA (sea-urchin sperm protein, enterokinase and agrin)-domain containing proteins. A common extracellular domain in this family was structurally similar to SEA-domain. SEA-domain is primarily a structural domain, known to assist or regulate binding to glycans. Recombinant proteins from three members of this gene family specifically interacted with glycosaminoglycans with high affinity, with potential implication in ligand acquisition and immune evasion. Similar approach was used to identify a heme-binding site on the SEA-domain. The heme-binding mode showed heme molecule inserted into a hydrophobic pocket, with heme iron putatively coordinated to two histidine axial ligands. Heme-binding properties were confirmed using biochemical assays and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, which showed high affinity heme-binding (KD = 1.605×10?6 M) and cognate spectroscopic attributes of hexa-coordinated heme iron. The native proteins were oligomers, antigenic, and are localized on adult worm teguments and gastrodermis; major host-parasite interfaces and site for heme detoxification and acquisition.ConclusionsThe results suggest potential role, at least in the nucleation step of heme crystallization (hemozoin formation), and as receptors for heme uptake. Survival strategies exploited by parasites, including heme homeostasis mechanism in hemoparasites, are paramount for successful parasitism. Thus, assessing prospects for application in disease intervention is warranted

On the validity of some species names of South American longhorn beetles (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae)

Monné, Miguel A., Cupello, Mario (2015): On the validity of some species names of South American longhorn beetles (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae). Zootaxa 3981 (3): 360-366, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3981.3.