Day 1 :
- Brain Science
Session Introduction
M. Bronan
University of Bristol Medical School in collaboration with the Centre of Applied Autism Research (CAAR) at the Univeristy of Bath, England
Title: The use of social stories as an intervention for autism, a state-of-the-art systematic review and qualitative data analysis, with consideration of the efficacy of digital technologies in interventions for autistic children.
Biography:
Sumiya Hussain and Christian Grieco are both final year medical students at the Univeristy of Bristol Medical School. Professor Mark Brosnan is a Chartered psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Bath. He is also the director of the Centre of Applied Autism research at the Univrsity of Bath.
Abstract:
Background and Aims:
Autism is a complex neurobehavioural disorder, characterised by impairments in the development of language and communication skills. The burden of disease is high, with over 62 million cases worldwide. The study involved a state-of-art systematic review, in addition to qualitative data analysis, to establish the evidence for social stories as an intervention strategy for autistic children. An up-to-date review of the use of digital technologies in the delivery of interventions to autistic children was also carried out; to propose the efficacy of digital technologies and the use of social stories to improve intervention outcomes for autistic children.
Methods:
Two student researchers reviewed a range of randomised control trials, and observational studies. The aim of the review was to establish if there was adequate evidence to justify recommending social stories to autistic patients. Students devised their own search strategies to be used across a range of search engines, including Ovid-Medline, Google Scholar and PubMed. Students then critically appraised the generated literature. Additionally, qualitative data obtain from a comprehensive online questionnaire on social stories was also thematically analysed. The thematic analysis was carried out independently by each researcher, using a ‘bottom-up’ approach, meaning contributors read and analysed responses to questions and devised semantic themes from reading the responses to a given question. The researchers then placed each response into a semantic theme or sub-theme. The students then joined to discuss the merging of their theme headings. The Inter-rater reliability (IRR) was calculated before and after theme headings were merged, giving IRR for pre- and post-discussion. Lastly, the thematic analysis was assessed by a third researcher.
Results:
A review of the literature, as well as thematic analysis of qualitative data found supporting evidence for social story use. The thematic analysis uncovered some novel and very interesting themes from the questionnaire responses, relating to the reasons why social stories were used and the factors influencing its effectiveness in each case. However, overall the evidence for digital technologies interventions was limited and the literature could not prove a causal link between better intervention outcomes for autistic children and the use of technologies. However, they did offer valid proposed theories for the suitability of digital technologies for autistic children.
Conclusions:
Overall the review concluded that there was adequate evidence to justify advising the use of social stories with autistic children. The role of digital technologies is clearly a fast-emerging field and appears to be a promising method of intervention for autistic children; however, it should not yet be considered an evidence-based approach.
Mohammed M Refaat
Ibb University, Yemen
Title: Enhancement of neural regeneration after spinal cord injury using muscle graft in experimental dogs
Biography:
Mohammed Alobaidi was completed PhD in mental health from Baghdad University 2003. And I got a degree (Professor) in 2012. worked Professor of mental health and clinical psychology at several universities. Clinical psychotherapist and worked in several hospitals, Then she served as Dean of the Psychological Counseling Center in Ibb, Yemen and Head of Mental Health at Majd Specialist Hospital. More than 21 published scientific research. And wrote 6 books in the specialty. Participated in a number of scientific conferences. Many psychological services provided in the field of humanitarian and voluntary work, especially psychological support to groups which suffered war and conflicts.
Abstract:
Spinal cord injuries can cause severe disability. The principal treatments for traumatic SCI include surgical stabilization. Using muscle as a scaffold is a new approach. This work aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of muscle graft as a scaffold for the growing axons organizing their growth, preventing gliosis in the damaged area and enhancing neural recovery in canine model of traumatic spinal cord injury. 14 dogs were divided into Group-1: 4 dogs subjected to Sham operation, Group-2: 5 dogs subjected to dorsal laminectomy with excision of 1 cm segment of the spinal cord and Group-3: 5 dogs subjected to dorsal laminectomy then muscle graft was inserted into the spinal cord gap. The animals of all groups were euthanatized after 8 weeks. Olby and modified Tarlov scores were used to clinically evaluate the therapeutic effects. Spinal cord specimens were subjected to histological, morphometric and statistical studies. Olby and modified Tarlov scores revealed significant improvement in group-3. Histological sections showed overgrowth of axons on the muscle graft. CD44 and CD105 stains were positive for endogenous stem cells. This study proved the clinical efficacy of muscle grafting as a tool for induction of neurodegeneration after traumatic spinal cord injury.
Wei Chieh Chang
Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, Taiwan
Title: Preliminary experience in Taiwan of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound surgery for patients with essential tremor
Biography:
Wei Chieh Chang is presently working in Department of neurosurgery in Focused Ultrasound Brain Treatment Cente at Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, Taiwan.
Abstract:
Background & Aim: The Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) technology offers feasible results in unilateral thalamotomy with optimized accuracy. We describe here the initial result of MRgFUS surgery for patients with Essential Tremor (ET) in Show Chwan Memorial Hospital. Methods: The authors describe the results of MRgFUS in 12 patients with ET during the period from June 2017 to February 2018. A unilateral Ventralis Intermedius (VIM) thalamotomy was performed in patients with dominant hand tremor and medications refractory. In all treatments, a 1.5-T MRI scanner was used for planning and monitoring. Primary relief symptoms were evaluated with subjective statement and tremography. The Clinical Rating Scale for Tremor (CRST) and the MR examinations were performed before the treatment and immediately, 3 and 6 months after operation. Results: During the study period, a total of 12 patients (10 males and 2 females, age from 27 to 76 years-old and symptoms persisted from 6 to 35 years) with ET were successfully underwent MRgFUS unilateral VIM thalamotomy (10 left VIMs and 2 right VIMs). All the enrolled patients were evaluated before the treatment and after with a clinical control of the treatment effectiveness. The target was defined real time with patient’s subjective statements during low power sonication. As a consequence, the treatment protocol was adapted by applying repetition of the final temperatures 56 °C to 59 °C. MRI showed thermal lesions on VIM in T2-weighted (T2w) images after sonication. All the ET treated patients who completed the procedure showed immediately free from tremor, with no intra or post operation severe permanent side effects. Conclusion: This is the first experience in Taiwan of a unilateral thalamotomy using the MRgFUS. Our experience demonstrated the feasibility, safety and accuracy of the MRgFUS thalamotomy in treating ET. In the treatment of movement disorders, the MRgFUS may be an alternative choice.
Abbas Nikravesh
University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Title: Genetic background influences immunity-related genes in two Iranian ethnical multiple sclerosis groups
Biography:
Abbas Nikravesh has obtained his PhD from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden in 2008. He is an Assistant Professor in Molecular Genetics in North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran. His interested research area is genetics of multiple sclerosis.
Abstract:
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) remains a poorly-understood autoimmune disease in the Central Nervous System (CNS) with unknown etiology and pathogenesis. Iranian population consisted of different ethnical groups with a specific history and genetic background having different prevalence of MS and responses to drugs. So, to find the role of genetic background on the expression of immunity-related genes, we are trying to evaluate the expression of STAT3, lnc-DC and THRIL in MS patients and healthy controls of two different ethnicities including Sistani population in the south-east and Kurmanj population in the northeast of Iran. To assess the effect of ethnicity on the expression levels of the immunity-related genes, blood samples were obtained from two different cohorts including Sistani and Kurmanj MS patients and their relevant controls. The expressions of the selected genes were assessed by real time PCR method. Surprisingly, in stratification for ethnicity, our results showed that although the expression level of THRIL significantly increased in Kurmanj MS patients (P=0.03), this lncRNA down regulated in Sistani patients (P=0.028) in comparison with their relative healthy controls. Moreover, lnc-DC did not show any significantly different expression in both Kurmanj (P=0.33) and Sistani patients (P=0.54). In conclusion, our results showed that besides the role of lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of MS through different mechanism, to be more successful in effective MS therapies based on personalized medicine, genetic background is an important factor which must to be considered.