Using multi-modal neuroimaging to characterise social brain specialisation in infants.

The specialised regional functionality of the mature human cortex partly emerges through experience-dependent specialisation during early development. Our existing understanding of functional specialisation in the infant brain is based on evidence from unitary imaging modalities and has thus focused on isolated estimates of spatial or temporal selectivity of neural or haemodynamic activation, giving an incomplete picture. We speculate that functional specialisation will be underpinned by better coordinated haemodynamic and metabolic changes in a broadly orchestrated physiological response. To enable researchers to track this process through development, we develop new tools that allow the simultaneous measurement of coordinated neural activity (EEG), metabolic rate, and oxygenated blood supply (broadband near-infrared spectroscopy) in the awake infant. In 4- to 7-month-old infants, we use these new tools to show that social processing is accompanied by spatially and temporally specific increases in coupled activation in the temporal-parietal junction, a core hub region of the adult social brain. During non-social processing, coupled activation decreased in the same region, indicating specificity to social processing. Coupling was strongest with high-frequency brain activity (beta and gamma), consistent with the greater energetic requirements and more localised action of high-frequency brain activity. The development of simultaneous multimodal neural measures will enable future researchers to open new vistas in understanding functional specialisation of the brain.

Relationship between musculoskeletal discomfort and cell phone use among young adults: A cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Cell phone usage is highly prevalent among young adults. They are used for multiple purposes including communication, studies, social networking and entertainment. However, its excessive usage has been associated with adverse health outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to find the association of cell phone usage with musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD) and its associated factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on young adult students from a low-middle income country over a period of 3 months from December 2018 to February 2019. A structured questionnaire based on the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (QuickDASH scoring) was used to record the musculoskeletal discomfort. RESULTS: Out of 803 questionnaires, data of 754 (94%) were entered and the remaining questionnaires (n = 49) were discarded due to incomplete answers. The mean age was 20.83 (1.62) years. In our study, there were 194 (25.7%) males and 560 (74.3%) female participants. Neck and shoulder were the most frequently affected regions. A significant difference in QuickDASH score was observed between genders (p-value p ≤ 0.001). Left-handed individuals scored significantly higher on QuickDASH score compared to right-handed individuals (p < 0.05). Increased musculoskeletal discomfort was reported by individuals with daily cell phone use of more than four hours (p < 0.05). A positive significant correlation was found between continuous one hour cell-phone use and higher mean QuickDASH scores (correlation coefficient 0.124, p value 0.001). Shorter eye-to-screen distance was significantly associated with MSD (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Musculoskeletal discomfort is associated with the female gender, duration of cell phone use and a small eye-to-screen distance.

Regional Haemodynamic and Metabolic Coupling in Infants.

Metabolic pathways underlying brain function remain largely unexplored during neurodevelopment, predominantly due to the lack of feasible techniques for use with awake infants. Broadband near-infrared spectroscopy (bNIRS) provides the opportunity to explore the relationship between cerebral energy metabolism and blood oxygenation/haemodynamics through the measurement of changes in the oxidation state of mitochondrial respiratory chain enzyme cytochrome-c-oxidase (ΔoxCCO) alongside haemodynamic changes. We used a bNIRS system to measure ΔoxCCO and haemodynamics during functional activation in a group of 42 typically developing infants aged between 4 and 7 months. bNIRS measurements were made over the right hemisphere over temporal, parietal and central cortical regions, in response to social and non-social visual and auditory stimuli. Both ΔoxCCO and Δ[HbO2] displayed larger activation for the social condition in comparison to the non-social condition. Integration of haemodynamic and metabolic signals revealed networks of stimulus-selective cortical regions that were not apparent from analysis of the individual bNIRS signals. These results provide the first spatially resolved measures of cerebral metabolic activity alongside haemodynamics during functional activation in infants. Measuring synchronised changes in metabolism and haemodynamics have the potential for uncovering the development of cortical specialisation in early infancy.

Prevalence and Predictors of Contraception Usage in Karachi, Pakistan.

Background Contraception, also known as family planning, refers to methods that intercept unwanted pregnancies. The modalities of contraception have evolved and multiplied over time to facilitate users. Despite enormous benefits, the contraceptive methods remain underutilized in developing countries such as Pakistan. Accordingly, the primary purpose of our study is to determine the prevalence, perception, and attitude of contraceptive usage in Karachi. The study further assesses the knowledge and core determinants of contraception. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Karachi, Pakistan. The sample population comprised currently married males and females residing in Karachi, with females from 16 to 45 years of age and males of 16 years of age and forth. Pregnant females, divorcees, and widowed individuals were excluded. A pre-tested questionnaire was administered to record the demographics, knowledge, and frequency of contraceptive usage, and attitude and perception towards contraception. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS( v. 23.0 (IBM Corp. Armonk, NY). Results Results depicted that 93.4% (n=468) had knowledge of contraception while 49.7% (n=249) were currently using contraception. The most frequently employed contraceptive modality emerged as condoms (n=163, 65.5%), followed by withdrawal (n=71, 28.5%) and pills (n=62, 24.9%). The prevalence of contraceptive usage was more inclined towards the educated stratum and higher socioeconomic class. Potential predictors for contraceptive usage came out as the number of children, knowledge regarding contraception, spouse's support for usage, a desire for more children, and family planning counseling (p<0.05). Conclusion There is a drastic increase in the prevalence of contraceptive usage in Pakistan as compared to previous studies. Efforts must be made to further augment the knowledge and awareness regarding contraceptive modalities to increase acceptability and eliminate myths prevalent in society regarding contraception.

Immune Modulatory Effects of Vitamin D on Viral Infections.

Viral infections have been a cause of mortality for several centuries and continue to endanger the lives of many, specifically of the younger population. Vitamin D has long been recognized as a crucial element to the skeletal system in the human body. Recent evidence has indicated that vitamin D also plays an essential role in the immune response against viral infections and suggested that vitamin D deficiency increases susceptibility to viral infections as well as the risk of recurrent infections. For instance, low serum vitamin D levels were linked to increased occurrence of high burdens viral diseases such as hepatitis, influenza, Covid-19, and AIDS. As immune cells in infected patients are responsive to the ameliorative effects of vitamin D, the beneficial effects of supplementing vitamin D-deficient individuals with an infectious disease may extend beyond the impact on bone and calcium homeostasis. Even though numerous studies have highlighted the effect of vitamin D on the immune cells, vitamin D's antiviral mechanism has not been fully established. This paper reviews the recent mechanisms by which vitamin D regulates the immune system, both innate and adaptive systems, and reflects on the link between serum vitamin D levels and viral infections.

Non-invasive measurement of a metabolic marker of infant brain function.

While near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) haemodynamic measures have proven to be vastly useful in investigating human brain development, the haemodynamic response function (HRF) in infants is not yet fully understood. NIRS measurements of the oxidation state of mitochondrial enzyme cytochrome-c-oxidase (oxCCO) have the potential to yield key information about cellular oxygen utilisation and therefore energy metabolism. We used a broadband NIRS system to measure changes in oxCCO, in addition to haemodynamic changes, during functional activation in a group of 33 typically developing infants aged between 4 and 6 months. The responses were recorded over the right temporal lobe while the infants were presented with engaging videos containing social content. A significant increase in oxCCO was found in response to the social stimuli, with maximum increase of 0.238 ± 0.13 µM. These results are the first reported significant change in oxCCO in response to stimulus-evoked activation in human infants and open new vistas for investigating human infant brain function and its energy metabolism.

Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are classified as neurodevelopmental disorders characterised by diminished social communication and interaction. Recently, evidence has accrued that a significant proportion of individuals with autism have concomitant diseases such as mitochondrial disease and abnormalities of energy generation. This has therefore led to the hypothesis that autism may be linked to mitochondrial dysfunction. We review such studies reporting decreased activity of mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) complexes and reduced gene expression of mitochondrial genes, in particular genes of respiratory chain complexes, in individuals with autism. Overall, the findings support the hypothesis that there is an association of ASD with impaired mitochondrial function; however, many of the studies have small sample sizes and there is variability in the techniques utilised. There is therefore a vital need to utilise novel imaging techniques, such as near-infrared spectroscopy, that will allow non-invasive measurement of metabolic markers for neuronal activity such as cytochrome c oxidase, in order to better establish the link between autism and mitochondrial dysfunction.