A Glove-Based Virtual Hand Rehabilitation System for Patients With Post-Traumatic Hand Injuries.

Recent studies have shown that virtual gamified therapy can be a potential adjunct to conventional orthopedic rehabilitation. However, the off-the-shelf gaming consoles used for virtual rehabilitation pose several practical challenges in deploying them in clinical settings. In this article, we present the design of a portable glove-based virtual hand rehabilitation system (RehabRelive Glove) that can be used at both clinics and homes for physiotherapy. We also evaluate the system's efficacy on patients with post-traumatic hand injuries. Thirty patients were randomly categorized into groups A (virtual rehabilitation) and B (conventional physiotherapy). Both groups received fifteen 25-minute sessions of respective therapy over three weeks. The wrist and finger joints' range of motion (ROM) and grip strength were measured every seven sessions to compare the efficacy. Group A showed about 1.5 times greater improvement in flexion/extension ROM of the wrist compared to Group B. While both groups improved finger ROM and grip strength with time, no significant difference was observed between the groups. The results suggest that the proposed virtual rehabilitation system effectively enables patients with hand injuries to recover ROM faster.

Effect of Binding-Affinity and ATPase Activity on the Velocities of Kinesins Using Ratchet Models.

We use two-state ratchet models containing single and coupled Brownian motors to understand the role of motor-microtubule binding, ATPase reaction rate and dimerisation on the translational velocities of Kinesin motors. We use model parameters derived from the experimental measurements on KIF1A, KIF13A, KIF13B, and KIF16B motors to compute velocities in µm/s. We observe that both the models show the same trend in velocities (KIF1A > KIF13A > KIF13B > KIF16B) as the experimental results. However, the models significantly underpredict the velocities when compared with the experiments. The predictions of the coupled-motor model are closer to the experiments than those of the single-motor model. Our results indicate that the variation of ATPase reaction rate governs the trend in velocities for the above four motors. The variation of motor-microtubule binding affinity and the coupling strength between the motor domains may only have a secondary effect. More rigorous models that incorporate the power-stroke mechanism are necessary for better quantitative compliance with the experiments.

Stochastic Mechanisms of Cell-Size Regulation in Bacteria.

How bacteria are able to maintain their sizes remains an open question. It is believed that cells have narrow distributions of sizes as a consequence of a homeostasis that allows bacteria to function at the optimal conditions. Several phenomenological approaches to explain these observations have been presented, but the microscopic origins of the cell-size regulation are still not understood. Here, we propose a new stochastic approach to investigate the molecular mechanisms of maintaining the cell sizes in bacteria. It is argued that the cell-size regulation is a result of coupling of two stochastic processes, cell growth and division, which eliminates the need for introducing the thresholds. Dynamic properties of the system are explicitly evaluated, and it is shown that the model is consistent with the experimentally supported adder principle of the cell-size regulation. In addition, theoretical predictions agree with experimental observations on E. coli bacteria. Theoretical analysis clarifies some important features of bacterial cell growth.

Influence of pharmacological and epigenetic factors to suppress neurotrophic factors and enhance neural plasticity in stress and mood disorders.

Stress-induced major depression and mood disorders are characterized by behavioural abnormalities and psychiatric illness, leading to disability and immature mortality worldwide. Neurobiological mechanisms of stress and mood disorders are discussed considering recent findings, and challenges to enhance pharmacological effects of antidepressant, and mood stabilizers. Pharmacological enhancement of ketamine and scopolamine regulates depression at the molecular level, increasing synaptic plasticity in prefrontal regions. Blood-derived neurotrophic factors facilitate mood-deficit symptoms. Epigenetic factors maintain stress-resilience in hippocampal region. Regulation of neurotrophic factors blockades stress, and enhances neuronal survival though it paralyzes limbic regions. Molecular agents and neurotrophic factors also control behavioral and synaptic plasticity in addiction and stress disorders. Future research on neuronal dynamics and cellular actions can be directed to obtain the etiology of synaptic dysregulation in mood disorder and stress. For the first time, the current review contributes to the literature of synaptic plasticity representing the role of epigenetic mechanisms and glucocorticoid receptors to predict depression and anxiety in clinical conditions.

Use of Prosocial Word Enhances the Processing of Language: Frequency Domain Analysis of Human EEG.

Use of prosocial language enhances human cooperation and harmony. Previous research has shown that talking about helping, sharing and giving to others creates positive impression on others, by which individuals and governments gain public approval. So far, the value judgement of approval and disapproval in terms of prosocial or antisocial has not been investigated in the domain of neuroscience of language. Here, the influence of prosocial words towards neural adaptability for greater acceptance is examined using behavioural response mapping with electroencephalography activities of human brain. The prosocial and antisocial words employing correct and incorrect set of sentences in English are presented to participants for performing grammatical judgement task. Our results show that processing of antisocial word requires larger neurocognitive resources as compared to prosocial one, which is corroborated with our behavioural response time suggesting higher response time for antisocial than prosocial words.