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Cervical tubercular disease (CTB) is a rare pathology and constitutes 3-5% of all spinal TB. It includes atlantoaxial TB and sub-axial TB. As the literature evidence on this subject is scarce, majority of issues concerning CTB are still controversial. The current narrative review comprehensively discusses the various aspects related to CTB.

An elaborate search was made using keywords cervical tuberculosis, atlantoaxial tuberculosis, sub-axial tuberculosis, and cervico-thoracic tuberculosis, on pubmed and google (scholar.google.com) databases on 2 December 2020. We identified crucial questions regarding CTB and included relevant articles pertaining to them.

The initial search using keywords cervical tuberculosis, atlantoaxial tuberculosis, sub-axial tuberculosis, and cervico-thoracic tuberculosis yielded 4128, 76, 3 and 9 articles on ‘pubmed’ database, respectively. A similar search using the aforementioned keywords yielded 1,96,000, 2130, 117 and 728 articles on ‘google scholar’ database. The initial sor stabilisation may be necessary in specific scenarios. The overall long-term outcome in CTB is favourable.

AATB and SACTB constitute 0.3 to 1% and 3% of spinal TB, respectively. The incidence of neuro-deficit in CTB is significantly more than other spinal TB. The general principles of management of CTB are similar to spinal TB elsewhere and medical therapy remains the cornerstone. Surgery is advocated in specific scenarios involving gross neuro-deficit, later stages of disease with significant bony/ligamentous disruptions, altered sagittal balance, drug resistance, and poor response to medications. The surgical approaches for AATB include anterior-alone, posterior-alone and combined approaches, although posterior access is the most preferred. Most of the studies on SACTB have supported the role of anterior approach. Additionally, posterior stabilisation may be necessary in specific scenarios. The overall long-term outcome in CTB is favourable.

To compare the effects of high-frequency (10Hz) versus low-frequency (1Hz) repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) on motor recovery and functional reorganization of the cortical motor network during the early phase of stroke.

Forty-six hospitalized, first-ever ischemic stroke patients in early stage (within two weeks) with upper limb motor deficits were recruited. They were randomly allocated to three groups with 10 Hz ipsilesional rTMS, 1 Hz contralesional rTMS, and sham rTMS of five daily session. All patients underwent motor function (Upper Extremity Fugl-Meyer), neurophysiological and resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) (rs-fMRI) assessments before and after rTMS intervention. Motor recovery (△Fugl-Meyer Assessment) was defined as motor function changes before and after rTMS intervention. selleck screening library Motor function assessment was reevaluated at time point of three month follow-up.

The two real rTMS groups manifested greater motor improvements than the sham group. The effect sustained for at least 3 months after the end of the treatment sessions. Compared with the sham group, 10 Hz ipsilesional rTMS group presented increased resting-state functional connectivity (FC) between ipsilesional primary motor cortex (M1) and contralesional M1 (P = .007), whereas 1 Hz contralesional rTMS group presented increased FC between contralesional M1 and ipsilesional supplementary motor area (P = .010), which were positively correlated with motor recovery (P < .05).

Beneficial effect of rTMS on motor recovery might be underlaid by increased FC between stimulating site and the remote motor areas, highlighting the motor network reorganization mechanism of rTMS in early post-stroke phase.

Beneficial effect of rTMS on motor recovery might be underlaid by increased FC between stimulating site and the remote motor areas, highlighting the motor network reorganization mechanism of rTMS in early post-stroke phase.

Computer-assisted navigation (CAN) is a well-established tool in spinal instrumentation surgery. Different techniques – each with specific advantages and disadvantages – are used in the cervical spine.

A structured summary of different spinal navigation techniques and a review of the literature were done to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of specific navigation tools in the cervical spine.

In cervical spine surgery, CAN increases the accuracy of pedicle screw placement, reduces screw mispositioning and leads to fewer revision surgeries. Due to the mobility of the cervical spine, preoperative CT followed by region matching or intraoperative CT are recommended.

CAN increases pedicle screw placement accuracy and should be used in spinal instrumentation for the cervical spine whenever possible.

CAN increases pedicle screw placement accuracy and should be used in spinal instrumentation for the cervical spine whenever possible.In studies that use subliminal presentations, participants may become aware of stimuli that are intended to remain subliminal. A common solution to this problem is to analyze the results of the group of participants for whom the stimuli remained subliminal. A recent article (Shanks, 2017) argued that this method leads to a regression to the mean artifact, which may account for many of the observed effects. However, conceptual and statistical characteristics of the original publication lead to overestimation of the influence of the artifact. Using simulations, we demonstrate that this overestimation leads to the mistaken conclusion that regression to the mean accounts for nonconscious effects. We conclude by briefly outlining a new description of the influence of the artifact and how it should be statistically addressed.Studies on attentional bias have overwhelmingly focused on the priority of different stimuli and have rarely manipulated the state of the observer. Recently, the threat of unpredictable shock has been utilized to experimentally induce anxiety and investigate how negative arousal modulates attentional control. Experimentally induced anxiety has been shown to reduce the attentional priority afforded to reward-related stimuli while enhancing the efficiency of goal-directed attentional control. It is unclear which of these two influences might dominate when attending to reward-related stimuli is consistent with task goals and by extension what the scope of the modulatory influence of threat on attention is. In contrast to paradigms in the visual domain, a novel auditory identification task has demonstrated a robust influence of target-value associations on selective attention. In the present study, we examined how the threat of shock modulates the influence of learned value on voluntary attention. In both threat and no-threat conditions, we replicate prior findings of voluntary prioritization of reward-associated sounds. However, unlike in studies measuring involuntary attentional capture, threat did not modulate the influence of reward on attention. Our findings highlight important limitations to when and how threat modulates the control of attention, contextualizing prior findings.The impact of sex-specific personality traits has often been investigated for visuospatial tasks such as mental rotation, but less is known about the influence of personality traits on visual search. We investigated whether the Big Five personality traits Extroversion (E), Openness (O), Agreeableness (A), Conscientiousness (C), and Neuroticism (N) and the Autism Quotient (AQ) influence visual search in a sample of N = 65 men and women. In three experiments, we varied stimulus complexity and predictability. As expected, latencies were longer when the target was absent. Pop-out search was faster than conjunction search. A large number of distracters slowed down reaction times (RTs). When stimulus complexity was not predictable in Experiment 3, this reduced search accuracy by about half. As could be predicted based on previous research on long RT tails, conjunction search in target absent trials revealed the impact of personality traits. The RT effect in visual search of the accelerating “less social” AQ score was specific to men, while the effects of the “more social” decelerating Big Five Inventory factors agreeableness and conscientiousness were specific to women. Thus, sex-specific personality traits could explain decision-making thresholds, while visual stimulus complexity yielded an impact of the classic personality traits neuroticism and extroversion.

Frequent blood glucose level (BGL) monitoring is essential for effective diabetes management. Poor compliance is common due to the painful finger pricking or subcutaneous lancet implantation required from existing technologies. There are currently no commercially available non-invasive devices that can effectively measure BGL. In this real-world study, a prototype non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring system (NI-CGM) developed as a wearable ring was used to collect bioimpedance data. The aim was to develop a mathematical model that could use these bioimpedance data to estimate BGL in real time.

The prototype NI-CGM was worn by 14 adult participants with type 2 diabetes for 14 days in an observational clinical study. Bioimpedance data were collected alongside paired BGL measurements taken with a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) meter and an FDA-approved CGM. The SMBG meter data were used to improve CGM accuracy, and CGM data to develop the mathematical model.

A gradient boosted model was developed using a randomized 80-20 training-test split of data. The estimated BGL from the model had a Mean Absolute Relative Difference (MARD) of 17.9%, with the Parkes error grid (PEG) analysis showing 99% of values in clinically acceptable zones A and B.

This study demonstrated the reliability of the prototype NI-CGM at collecting bioimpedance data in a real-world scenario. These data were used to train a model that could successfully estimate BGL with a promising MARD and clinically relevant PEG result. These results will enable continued development of the prototype NI-CGM as a wearable ring.

This study demonstrated the reliability of the prototype NI-CGM at collecting bioimpedance data in a real-world scenario. These data were used to train a model that could successfully estimate BGL with a promising MARD and clinically relevant PEG result. These results will enable continued development of the prototype NI-CGM as a wearable ring.

Transitional care may have different effects in males and females hospitalized for heart failure. We assessed the sex-specific effects of a transitional care model on clinical outcomes following hospitalization for heart failure.

In this stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial of adults hospitalized for heart failure in Ontario, Canada, 10 hospitals were randomized to a group of transitional care services or usual care. Outcomes in this exploratory analysis were composite all-cause readmission, emergency department visit, or death at 6 months; and composite all-cause readmission or emergency department visit at 6 months. Models were adjusted for stepped-wedge design and patient age.

Among 2494 adults, mean (SD) age was 77.7 (12.1) years, and 1258 (50.4%) were female. The first composite outcome occurred in 371 (66.3%) versus 433 (64.1%) males (hazard ratio [HR], 1.04 [95% CI, 0.86-1.26];

=0.67) and in 326 (59.9%) versus 463 (64.8%) females (HR, 0.83 [95% CI, 0.69-1.01];

=0.06) in the intervention and usual care groups, respectively (

=0.