Day 2 :
Keynote Forum
Leon Isaemidis
Louisiana Tech University, USA
Keynote: The dynamics of epileptic seizures: prediction, resetting and control
Time : 10:00-10:50
Biography:
Leon D. Iasemidis was born in Athens, Greece, and received the Diploma degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece. He subsequently earned the M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering, the M.S. degree in Physics and the Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan (1991–1993), a Research Assistant Professor of electrical and computer engineering, neurology, and neuroscience at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA, the Director of the clinical neurophysiology laboratory, neurology service, Malcolm Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, FL (1993–1997), and a tenured Associate Professor in biomedical engineering at the Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA. Since 2012, he has been the Rhodes Eminent Scholar Chair and Professor of biomedical engineering at the Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA, USA, the Founder and Director of the Brain Dynamics Laboratory (http://www.braindynamics.latech.edu). His research interests include the areas of biomedical signal processing, complex systems theory and nonlinear dynamics, neurophysiology, monitoring and analysis of the electrical and magnetic activity of the brain in epilepsy and other brain dynamical disorders, intervention and control of CNS. His research has been highlighted in multiple forums, including the New York Times, Discover magazine, the Teaching Company, and the American Society for the Advancement of Science. He is internationally recognized as an expert in nonlinear dynamics, the detection, prediction and control of crises in complex coupled systems, is one of the founders of the field of seizure prediction and of two companies in this area. His research and more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, patents, interdisciplinary conference organizations, presentations, and invited talks have stimulated an international interest in the prediction and control of epileptic seizures and understanding of the mechanisms of epileptogenesis.
Abstract:
Epileptic seizures are the hallmark of epilepsy. Of the world’s 50 million people with epilepsy, fully 1/3 have seizures that are not controlled by current anti-epileptic medication. To capture the essential features underlying the transition of the epileptic brain to seizures, engineering technologies are used to monitor and decode brain signals, search for precursors of impending epileptic seizures, and intervene in time to avert seizure occurrences. This approach holds great promise to elucidate the dynamical mechanisms underlying the disorder, as well as to improve the effectiveness of new treatments for epilepsy, like neuromodulation of brain networks via intelligent stimulators. Examples of seizure prediction and brain resetting in humans and closed-loop seizure control with simulation and animal models of epilepsy will be presented. Broader application of these developments to complex systems requiring monitoring, forecasting and control is a natural outgrowth of this field.
Keynote Forum
Seth Omari Mensah
Kharkov National Medical University, Ukraine
Keynote: Management of epileptic seizures in ghana: complications of putting a spoon into an epileptic seizure patient’s mouth to prevent biting of their tongue
Biography:
Seth Omari Mensah is a 5th year Medical Student of Kharkov National Medical University of Ghanaian Nationality. He has attended numerous conferences held in Ukraine, Denmark and Netherlands regarding various topics of healthcare to share and obtain ideas to assist the public in developing countries with a focus on his Nation of Origin, Ghana, to improve their health conditions
Abstract:
Epilepsy is the most common neurological problem worldwide particularly in the sub-Saharan district there is less data collection in West Africa and this has made public awareness more difficult. The most common management of an epileptic patient in seizure at home is the placing of the back of the metal spoon in the patient’s mouth with the aim of avoiding patient from biting their tongue. But this method turn out to be hazardous leading to complications like injury to the mouth especially the teeth and gums thusresulting in excessive bleeding in the mouth, loss of teeth and most serious cases aspiration of blood and oral fluids (foamy mucous) into the lungs which eventually leads to pneumonia. According to the survey done, majority of people still use the spoon method because of the adage that patient may swallow the tongue during seizures. Due to my vivid research, more awareness must be created on the complications of the method of using the back of the metallic spoon during epileptic seizures and also awareness must be created on the proper steps to take when a patient is in an epileptic seizure.
Keynote Forum
Luciene Covolan
Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Brazil
Keynote: Effects of thalamic deep brain stimulation in the pilocarpine model of temporal epilepsy for rodents
Time : 12:00-12:50
Biography:
Abstract:
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been proposed as an alternative treatment for patients with epilepsy who are refractory to conventional treatment. There is a consensus that high frequency stimulation of the anterior nucleus of thalamus (ANT) is capable to reduce seizure frequency. Our group has focused on studies of ANT DBS in pilocarpine model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Here, I’ll present the data relative to the effects of ANT DBS in the acute and chronic phases of this rodent model, focusing in some interesting aspects of hippocampal excitabilitiy, plasticity, neuroprotection and spatial memory.
- Impact of the Epilepsies on daily life |Epilepsy in Women and Inborn
Location: Diplomat
Session Introduction
Ali H Alwadei
National Neuroscience Institute, Saudi Arabia
Title: Loss-of-function mutation in RUSC2 causes intellectual disability and secondary microcephaly
Biography:
Ali H Alwadei currently works at Pediatric Neurology Department, National Neuroscience Institute, King Fahad Medical City, PO Box 59046, Riyadh 11525, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract:
Intellectual disability is seen in up to 1% to 3% of the general population, and is often dichotomized into syn- dromic and non-syndromic forms.1 A genetic aetiology accounts for about 25% to 50% of cases, with up to 700 monogenic mutations identified so far.2 Recent advances in genetic testing have allowed the identification of an ever- increasing repertoire of genes causing intellectual disabil- ity.2 Characterization of their protein products has shed light onto the diverse biological pathways affected in this important neurological disease that results in significant impairment in cognitive and adaptive behaviour, and which has important medical and social implications.3 Aberrancies in synaptic vesicular transport and intracel- lular protein trafficking have been highlighted among the various biological pathways reported to cause intellectual disability.3 Included in these are mutations in genes coding for Rab proteins (rabaptins), a group of small Ras GTPases that have been shown to play an important role at different levels of the cellular trafficking pathway.4–6 Although over 60 Rab proteins have been identified so far, only a few have been implicated in human disease, including in patients with intellectual disability with or without associ- ated brain malformations.7,8 RUSC2, officially known as RUN and SH3 domain con- taining-2, is a gene found on chromosome 9p13.3 (gene identifier [ID] 9853, Mendelian Inheritance in Man [MIM] 611053). RUSC2 codes for iporin, a ubiquitous protein with moderate to high expression in the human brain.9,10 The literature on the functions of iporin remains sparse, but there is some evidence that it interacts with Rab1b and Rab1-binding protein GM130,10 both of which are also expressed in the brain, with highest expression in dendritic spines where they appear to play an important role in synaptogenesis.
So far, no mutations in RUSC2 have ever been shown to cause human disease, and no animal models disrupting this gene have been described. However, to our knowledge for the first time, we describe the clinical presentations of three patients (two male siblings and one unrelated female) with severe intellectual disability and microcephaly. Through whole-exome sequencing, all three were found to have inherited homozygous nonsense mutations in RUSC2. This report adds to the expanding landscape of genetic causes of intellectual disability, and suggests that RUSC2, probably through its interactions with Rab proteins and their effector molecules, may play an important role.
Mootaz Salman
Shefield Hallam University, UK
Title: Validation of the aquaporin role as a novel drug targets in therapeutic mannitol action and resistance in cerebral oedema and stroke
Biography:
Mootaz Salman is a pharmacist and researcher PhD student at the Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre (BMRC) at Sheffield Hallam University, working with Prof. Nicola Woodroofe and Dr. Matthew Conner’s research group and a member of the multi-institute Aquaporin research collaboration. His research interest focus on the identification of new drug targets for brain oedema and epilepsy through his work on the special water channels called “Aquaporins”. Mootaz graduated with Outstanding Distinction in his MSc winning the Sheffield Hallam University prize for the most scientific contribution and ranked 1st in year. His PhD research requires the skilled use of numerous techniques ranging from standard biochemical and molecular biology to cutting edge micro-array and laser confocal microscopy. Mootaz is an international ambassador at Sheffield Hallam University, ambassador for British Society of Experimental Biology (SEB); and STEM ambassador since 2014. He has given four invited oral presentations and talks at major international conferences in Canada, Netherlands, Romania and Japan along with three talks at a national level. He is also an active member in a number of scientific societies nationally and internationally including USA, Canada and Japan. He has been selected to be an abstract reviewer at two major international conferences; Brain 2015 in Canada and also for the upcoming Brain 2017 in Berlin, along with being an abstract reviewer and a member of poster judgement panel during the North of England Postgraduate Conference (NEPG) which is the UK's largest annual postgraduate conference for medical biosciences. Mootaz has successfully participated in organising a number of national and international high profile conferences and also he has been selected to chair scientific sessions at two national events
Abstract:
In humans there are 13 established members of the aquaporin (AQP) membrane protein water channels (AQP0-12) with a further two possible members recently discovered (AQP 13 & 14). AQPs are distributed throughout a wide range of tissues and involved in many physiologies; they have been shown to play a role in diverse disorders and pathologies1. Consequently, AQPs have been highlighted as key drug targets2. AQPs mediate water influx during cerebral oedema following ischemia as a result of traumatic brain injury or stroke. A number of AQPs have been shown to be expressed in the brain with AQP1 and 4 the most abundant. This project aimed to identify and study the molecular tools that could manipulate the translocation of brain AQPs as promising drug targets and also understanding the mechanisms of action/resistance for mannitol; which is considered to be a mainstay and gold standard to treat brain edema in order improve its therapeutic effectiveness.
Microarray on primary rat astrocytes has been used to investigate the possible mechanisms involved in the process of oedema under hypoxic and/or normoxic conditions. qRT-PCR was used to confirm the transcriptional capacity of the genes of interest from the microarray data. Potential key proteins within suggested mechanistic pathways were identified through analysis using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID).
Abbas Alnaji
Alsadir Teaching Hospital, Iraq
Title: Cefixime and Azothromycin are beneficial in uncontrolled seizures in pediatric age group with or without mental retardation
Biography:
Abstract:
According to what had been mentioned in an article to the conference of Epilepsy and treatment 2015 USA, which is due the whole issue of the epilepsies or seizures to a specific type of chronic active bacterial global encephalitis CABGE, in our study it was mostly due to Neurobrucellosis, however other bacteria did not excluded and we recommended wider screening especially to those of intracellular nature. This combination was tailored due to Doxycyclin is not preferred in those of less than six of age. It has been choosed from several regimens were used by us as a trial treatment for what can be chronic Brucellosis patients diagnosed on clinical basis only to hinder emergence of antibiotics resistance in long term eradication efforts which exceeds that of complicated Tb in the old days. Mental retardation in some of patients was the event which followed the phase of uncontrolled attacks in presence of the classical antiepileptics both quantitatively and qualitatively. The old or traditional teachings due this brain dysfunction to the cerebral trauma from repeated fits as anoxia or so. While, however it is correct, the major or the real event behind this mental retardation in our vision is the ongoing parenchyma destruction by the infective agent, where if this hypothesis is correct! (we say hypothesis in spite of presence of vast number of successfully treated patients +/- PCR results), antiepileptics do not stop destruction, and this explains why incremental doses of antiepileptics are needed like analgesics in headache. This can be considered as a trial treatment based on clinical facts plus some PCR positive cases to reveal the cause behind abnormal cerebral electric discharge. The nomenclatures as idiopathic, post traumatic and so the other conditions are precipitating or a triggering factors.