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Sensory integration of touch and sight is crucial to perceiving and navigating the environment. While recent evidence from other sensory modality combinations suggests that low-level sensory areas integrate multisensory information at early processing stages, little is known about how the brain combines visual and tactile information. We investigated the dynamics of multisensory integration between vision and touch using the high spatial and temporal resolution of intracranial electrocorticography in humans. We present a novel, two-step metric for defining multisensory integration. The first step compares the sum of the unisensory responses to the bimodal response as multisensory responses. The second step eliminates the possibility that double addition of sensory responses could be misinterpreted as interactions. Using these criteria, averaged local field potentials and high-gamma-band power demonstrate a functional processing cascade whereby sensory integration occurs late, both anatomically and temporally, in the temporo-parieto-occipital junction (TPOJ) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Results further suggest two neurophysiologically distinct and temporally separated integration mechanisms in TPOJ, while providing direct evidence for local suppression as a dominant mechanism for synthesizing visual and tactile input. These results tend to support earlier concepts of multisensory integration as relatively late and centered in tertiary multimodal association cortices.

Discussions about coping, resilience, and mental health accompanied the COVID-19 shutdowns and gradual return to academic and workspaces across the US through 2021. As physical and spiritual practices, yoga and meditation have been shown to help people through adversity and create resilience. Academic librarians were surveyed about yoga and meditation programs throughout the pandemic. The survey found that while yoga and meditation programs in academic libraries are on the rise, many cancelled their sessions because of the pandemic. Additionally, more can be done to make these sessions accessible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Management of transvenous leads in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) can be complicated by venous obstructions and residual shunts. We present our experience performing concurrent lead extraction and dilation/stenting of venous pathways, including patients with complete venous obstruction. Methods: All cases of concurrent lead extraction and recanalization of vena cavae/baffles between 2017 and 2021 at Boston Children's Hospital were retrospectively included and reviewed for safety and efficacy. Results: Eight patients, 4 female, median 38.5 years of age (range 16.7−49 years) and 81.6 kg weight (range 41.3−97.8 kg) at time of procedure were included. All patients had CHD, a majority (n = 7) having transposition of the great arteries palliated via atrial switch. All leads were removed in their entirety, with most patients having two leads extracted (n = 7). Median lead dwell time was 13.8 years (range 3.6−35.3 years). Three patients had complete obstructions, three required stenting of their innominate veins and three required recanalization of their femoral vessels. Median procedure time was 9.8 h (range 5.4−12.8 h). Complications included blood transfusion (n = 2), arrhythmia (n = 3), pleural effusion (n = 1), and pressure ulcer (n = 1). There were no cardiac perforations, venous tears, or deaths. Conclusion: Lead extraction along with dilation and stenting of venous anomalies, though long in duration, proved effective with minimal complications. This combined procedure can safely and effectively resolve complete obstructions secondary to transvenous leads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This industrial research focuses on the implementation and development of a productive process for an automotive structural component (Shock tower) manufactured by a high-pressure die casting (HPDC) process made of aluminum alloy AuralTM-5. This aluminum alloy has been considered in diverse automotive and aerospace components that do not require heat treatment due to its mechanical properties as cast material (F temper). On the other hand, AuralTM-5 has been designed for processing as HPDC because it is an alloy with good fluidity, making it ideal for large castings with thin-wall thicknesses, like safety structural components such as rails, supports, rocker panels, suspension crossmembers, and shock towers. The mechanical properties that were evaluated for the evaluated components were yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and elongation. Eight samples were taken from different areas of each produced shock tower for evaluating and verifying the homogeneity of each casting. The samples were evaluated from the first hours after they were manufactured by casting until eight weeks after being produced. This was performed to understand the behavior of the alloy during its natural aging process. Two groups of samples were obtained. One set of components was heat-treated by a water quench process after the castings' extraction and the other set of components was not quenched. Results demonstrated that both sets of components, quenched and not quenched, achieved the expected values for the AuralTM-5 of yield strength ≥ 110 MPa, ultimate tensile strength ≥ 240 MPa, and elongation ≥ 8%. Additionally, this is very important for industry since by not treating the structural components by quenching, there are savings in terms of infrastructure and energy consumption, together with benefits in the environmental aspect by avoiding CO2 emissions and being sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]