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In addition to selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) which are available to remove NOx from flue gas, oxidation method is receiving more and more attention because this method makes it possible to remove NOx and SO2 from flue gas simultaneously by wet scrubbing. O3 as a strong oxidant has a high oxidation capacity and it can oxide NO to N2O5 which has a higher water solubility compared with NO2. However, it needs a long reaction time and the escape of unreacted ozone may cause secondary pollution. In this study, FeMnCo/Al2O3 catalyst and FeMnCe/Al2O3 catalyst were prepared and applied to enhance the deep oxidation of NOx with ozone and reduce O3 slip. Effects of various operating parameters such as O3/NO ratio, gas residence time, and operating temperature were evaluated, and the results demonstrate that N2O5 began to generate when O3/NO ratio was higher than 1.0 and increased with increasing O3/NO ratio. Little residual O3 was formed in the presence of catalyst, while 350 ppm O3 was measured at the outlet gas when O3/NO ratio was controlled at 2.0. The N2O5 conversion efficiency increased with increasing gas residence time and operating temperature, and the highest N2O5 conversion efficiency was achieved at 100°C. Furthermore, the conversion efficiency remained around 90% during 20 h operation over FeMnCe/Al2O3 catalyst with an O3/NO ratio of 1.73, a gas residence time of 1.2 s, and a temperature of 100°C. On the other hand, the N2O5 conversion efficiency remained around 80% during 3 h operation over FeMnCo/Al2O3 catalyst. Overall, FeMnCe/Al2O3 catalyst reveals good potential for deep oxidation of NO by O3 and can be further developed as a viable catalyst for reducing NO emission from industries.Implications: In this study, FeMnCo/Al2O3 catalyst and FeMnCe/Al2O3 catalyst were applied to enhance the deep oxidation of NO into N2O5 with O3. The catalysts can improve the conversion of NO into N2O5, shorten the reaction time and reduce the unreacted O3 slip, which are beneficial to reduce the size of the reactor required and cost of APCDs (air pollution control devices) in practical application. This method can make it possible to simultaneously remove NOx and SO2 from flue gas by wet scrubbing for reducing NO emissions from industries, especially small and medium scaled industries, to meet increasingly stringent emission standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanical thrombectomy has emerged as a promising treatment for acute ischemic stroke caused by large vessel occlusion. However, cases involving cancerous emboli retrieved during endovascular embolectomy are rare. We present a case of a 65-year-old man with a history of heavily treated rectal cancer, who developed a middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarction due to metastatic adenocarcinoma. The patient presented with sudden onset right-side weakness, right facial palsy, global aphasia, and left gaze deviation, with a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score of 16. Following intravenous thrombolysis, endovascular thrombectomy was performed, achieving nearly complete recanalization. Pathological examination of the retrieved thrombus revealed metastatic adenocarcinoma of rectal origin. The patient's neurological deficits gradually improved, and he was successfully discharged to undergo further palliative therapy. This case underscores the importance of considering mechanical thrombectomy for patients with advanced solid organ malignancy presenting with acute ischemic stroke, even when the etiology could be a tumor embolus. Our findings highlight the potential for mechanical thrombectomy to restore neurological function in such cases, allowing patients to proceed to the next level of care with a reasonably good post-stroke quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robotic-exoskeleton-assisted gait rehabilitation improves lower limb strength and functions in post-stroke patients. However, the predicting factors of significant improvement are unclear. We recruited 38 post-stroke hemiparetic patients whose stroke onsets were <6 months. They were randomly assigned to two groups: a control group receiving a regular rehabilitation program, and an experimental group receiving in addition a robotic exoskeletal rehabilitation component. After 4 weeks of training, both groups showed significant improvement in the strength and functions of their lower limbs, as well as health-related quality of life. However, the experimental group showed significantly better improvement in the following aspects: knee flexion torque at 60°/s, 6 min walk test distance, and the mental subdomain and the total score on a 12-item Short Form Survey (SF-12). Further logistic regression analyses showed that robotic training was the best predictor of a greater improvement in both the 6 min walk test and the total score on the SF-12. In conclusion, robotic-exoskeleton-assisted gait rehabilitation improved lower limb strength, motor performance, walking speed, and quality of life in these stroke patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a strong oxidizing capability, ozone (O3) is widely used in industry. However, ozone generators on the market are expensive and require a lot of energy to operate, which remains the bottleneck for the wide applications. In this study, a novel and energy-efficient ozone generation system is developed via the combination of black-TiO2 photocatalyst and plasma system. Black-TiO2 catalyst is prepared by calcining commercial TiO2 catalyst at 550 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere to extend the absorption spectrum to visible light range to improve catalytic activity. The experimental results show that ozone generation efficiency can be greatly increased to 415 g O3/kWh via combined black-TiO2 catalyst and plasma with O2 as the feeding gas. This can be attributed to the fact that black-TiO2 catalyst with a smaller energy gap is more efficiently activated to form electron–hole pairs in plasma, which can enhance ozone generation. On the other hand, black-TiO2 catalyst can provide abundant active sites for active O atoms and O2 molecules to promote O3 generation. Black-TiO2 catalyst prepared in this study reveals good stability. Overall, combination of black-TiO2 catalyst with plasma reveals good ozone generation efficiency and has a good potential for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sleep quality is important to health and life quality. Lack of sleep can lead to a variety of health issues and reduce in daytime function. Recent study by Fultz et al. also indicated that sleep is crucial to brain metabolism. Delta power in sleep EEG often indicates good sleep quality while alpha power usually indicates sleep interruptions and poor sleep quality. Essential oil has been speculated to improve sleep quality. Previous studies also suggest essential oil aroma may affect human brain activity when applied awake. However, those studies were often not blinded, which makes the effectiveness and mechanism of aroma a heavily debated topic. In this study, we aim to explore the effect of essential oil aroma on human sleep quality and sleep EEG in a single-blinded setup. The aroma was released when the participants are asleep, which kept the influence of psychological expectation to the minimum. We recruited nine young, healthy participants with regular lifestyle and no sleep problem. All participants reported better sleep quality and more daytime vigorous after exposing to lavender aroma in sleep. We also observed that upon lavender aroma releases, alpha wave in wake stage was reduced while delta wave in slow-wave sleep (SWS) was increased. Lastly, we found that lavender oil promote occurrence of SWS. Overall, our study results show that essential oil aroma can be used to promote both subjective and objective sleep quality in healthy human subjects. This makes aroma intervention a potential solution for poor sleep quality and insomnia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lots of evidence and guidelines recommended that stroke patients have to do the rehabilitation all the time, but in fact, the ratio of patients doing the rehabilitation is usually less than one third. In order to enhance the rehabilitation efficacy, we develop an innovative mixed‐reality music rehabilitation (MR2) system, which is consisted of an MR goggle, inertial measurement unit sensors, and an EEG system. Several music contents with different levels are implemented into the MR system. While doing the rehabilitation task, our system can monitor patient's both gait information and electroencephalographic (EEG) signals to understand the rehabilitation performance in both central and peripheral nervous systems. The MR2 system has been pilot testing on two stroke patients and three healthy controls. Experiment results show that the patient's motor function is significantly activating when wearing the MR2 system during the rehabilitation task. Furthermore, the gait analysis results also show that flexion angle of the hemiplegic knee during walking was significantly improved when following the tempo of the MR music content in the rehabilitation. The pilot testing results provide new insights into the understanding of complex brain functions of patients actively and continuously performing the rehabilitation ordinary tasks within the mixed‐reality applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Equipment productivity in semiconductor manufacturing has become a major topic due to high equipment prices. It is easier and more precise to calculate productivity based on the running logs; however, engineers may often be assigned to estimate the productivity of the equipment in the design phase to predict project benefits so that investment decisions can be made. In such situations, no running log is available to calculate equipment productivity. If the architecture of the equipment and the wafer flow are simple, equipment productivity still can be evaluated using algebra-based solutions. Unfortunately, with rapidly shrinking IC dimensions equipment architecture becomes more and more complicated so a linear platform is typically used. In a linear platform, multiple mainframes are used to install more chambers. In each main-frame, there may be multiple robots to enable efficient wafer transmission. It is very difficult to estimate the productivity of a linear platform using simple algebra-based solutions; however, accurate productivity estimation of a linear platform is critical due to its higher price. To address this problem, a novel estimative methodology is proposed in this paper. This method analyzes the potential wait time of a chamber and then identifies the productivity bottleneck of the platform. The proposed methodology is designed for calculating wafers per hour for the linear platform. The accuracy of the proposed methodology is then verified by a simulation model. By applying this methodology to estimate the productivity for a semiconductor manufacturing line incorrect equipment investment can be reduced, therefore enhancing market competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N 2 O is a potent greenhouse gas that also causes devastating effects on the ozone layer. In this study, N 2 O decomposition is evaluated via thermal catalysis, plasma-alone and plasma catalysis, respectively. In thermal catalysis, N 2 O decomposition achieved over γ-Al 2 O 3 catalyst is maintained at nearly 100% when operated at a temperature above 600 °C. In plasma-alone, the effects of various operating parameters were tested. As for plasma catalysis, N 2 O conversion can be maintained above 90% with the operating parameters controlled as applied voltage =12–22 kV, [N 2 O] =300 ppm and discharge gas = N 2. Overall, plasma catalysis has good potential for N 2 O decomposition. • γ-Al 2 O 3 catalyst has a good potential for N 2 O removal and the activation energy is calculated as 70.86 kJ mol−1. • N 2 O is destroyed by the plasma, but also generated in the presence of N 2 and O 2 , resulting in the reduction of N 2 O conversion. • Combination of NTP with catalysis integrates the advantages of high catalytic selectivity and rapid discharge response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of extensive exploitation, fossil fuels are gradually becoming depleted and global warming issues are increasing. Therefore, all nations must develop alternative energy resources to reduce the potential risk of exhausting the available fossil fuel energy supply and to resolve environmental degradation. The amount of sunlight and installed power capacity are crucial factors that influence solar photovoltaic (PV) efficiency. Among domestic and international studies, numerous scholars have proposed various installed power capacity assessment models, which typically calculate areas based on sub-fields, ground floors or per capita. However, an evaluation of the potential of solar PV power generation on rooftops indicated that the shadow effect caused by building structures substantially influence the amount of installed power capacity. This study aims to effectively compute the shadow areas (shaded areas) on rooftops. By using the Hillshade module, the buildings' elevation data and the solar azimuth and altitude angles at different hours were calculated to obtain the hourly sun/shade grayscale values. The grayscale values were then integrated into binary images to calculate the shadow areas on rooftops. This study suggests that the rooftop solar photovoltaic installation capacity is some 12,428.5 MW and power generation capacity 15,423.75 GWh in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a simple method to design a wave trapping mechanism, referred to as an elastic open cavity, for shear horizontal waves using the concept of metasurfaces. Conventional open cavity designs have utilized bulk metamaterial media with negative refractive indices at certain frequencies. Here, we show that wave trapping can be attained depending on the incident angle with a suitable design and arrangement of several metasurfaces. This design strategy can be applied to waves with various incident angles and frequencies. We show that the incident angles and the number of metasurfaces are closely related. In addition, connections between the characteristic length of the metasurfaces and the resonance frequency are discussed. As an illustration, we theoretically derive the wave fields for an elastic open cavity with six metasurfaces. Numerical simulations based on the finite element calculations are performed to verify the correctness and consistency of the theory. Instead of using reflecting walls to localize energy, this wave trapping mechanism stores mechanical energy via constructive interference by guiding wave fronts that travel around closed contours. The demonstration of this concept could be a potential guide to design new energy harvesting devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study investigated the effects of kinesthetic stimuli on brain activities during a sustained-attention task in an immersive driving simulator. Tonic and phasic brain responses on multiple timescales were analyzed using time–frequency analysis of electroencephalographic (EEG) sources identified by independent component analysis (ICA). Sorting EEG spectra with respect to reaction times (RT) to randomly introduced lane-departure events revealed distinct effects of kinesthetic stimuli on the brain under different performance levels. Experimental results indicated that EEG spectral dynamics highly correlated with performance lapses when driving involved kinesthetic feedback. Furthermore, in the realistic environment involving both visual and kinesthetic feedback, a transitive relationship of power spectra between optimal-, suboptimal-, and poor-performance groups was found predominately across most of the independent components. In contrast to the static environment with visual input only, kinesthetic feedback reduced theta-power augmentation in the central and frontal components when preparing for action and error monitoring, while strengthening alpha suppression in the central component while steering the wheel. In terms of behavior, subjects tended to have a short response time to process unexpected events with the assistance of kinesthesia, yet only when their performance was optimal. Decrease in attentional demand, facilitated by kinesthetic feedback, eventually significantly increased the reaction time in the suboptimal-performance state. Neurophysiological evidence of mutual relationships between behavioral performance and neurocognition in complex task paradigms and experimental environments, presented in this study, might elucidate our understanding of distributed brain dynamics, supporting natural human cognition and complex coordinated, multi-joint naturalistic behavior, and lead to improved understanding of brain–behavior relations in operating environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Taiwan is an isolated electric power system. [•] Multi-objective planning methods were applied for simulation and verification. [•] Goals are economizing power and minimizing CO2 emissions. [•] Extending the service of operation of nuclear power units is the most favorable solution. [•] An additional goal is to improve the efficiency of generators. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study investigates the independent modulators that mediate the power spectra of electrophysiological processes, measured by electroencephalogram (EEG), in a sustained-attention experiment. EEG and behavioral data were collected during 1–2hour virtual-reality based driving experiments in which subjects were instructed to maintain their cruising position and compensate for randomly induced drift using the steering wheel. Independent component analysis (ICA) applied to 30-channel EEG data separated the recorded EEG signals into a sum of maximally temporally independent components (ICs) for each of 30 subjects. Logarithmic spectra of resultant IC activities were then decomposed by principal component analysis, followed by ICA, to find spectrally fixed and temporally independent modulators (IM). Across subjects, the spectral ICA consistently found four performance-related independent modulators: delta, delta–theta, alpha, and beta modulators that multiplicatively affected the spectra of spatially distinct IC processes when the participants experienced waves of alternating alertness and drowsiness during long-hour simulated driving. The activation of the delta–theta modulator increased monotonically as subjects'' task performances decreased. Furthermore, the time courses of the theta–beta modulator were highly correlated with concurrent changes in driving errors across subjects (r=0.77±0.13). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A uniform dispersion of highly soluble phosphorescent dendrimer emitters is achieved by blending with a polymer host poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) containing N,N′-diphenyl-N,N′-(bis(3-methylphenyl)-[1,1-biphenyl]-4,4′-diamine (TPD) and 2-(4-biphen-4′-yl)-5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (PBD). No visible aggregation or self-quenching was observed for guest-to-host weight ratios of up to 33:67. The dendrimers contain a fac-tris(2-phenylpyridyl)iridium(III) [Ir(ppy)3] core, first generation biphenyl-based dendrons, and 2-ethylhexyloxy surface groups. The guest–host blend is used for all solution processed organic light-emitting diodes. A maximum external and current efficiency of 10.2% and 38cd/A (at 5V and a brightness of 50cd/m2), and a maximum brightness of 27,000cd/m2 (at 14.5V), were obtained when a CsF/Al cathode was used. Blade coating was used to fabricate a multi-layer structure that also contained an electron-transport layer. The device that had a LiF/Al cathode had a maximal efficiency of 40cd/A corresponding to an external quantum efficiency of 10.8% (at 5V and a brightness of 19cd/m2). The maximum brightness of the second device was 17,840cd/m2 at 14V. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Intracellular accumulation of filamentous α-synuclein (α-Syn) aggregates to form Lewy bodies is a pathologic hallmark of Parkinson''s disease. To determine whether mitochondrial impairment plays a role in the accumulation of α-Syn oligomer, we used 3D5 cell culture model of human neuronal type whereby conditional overexpression of wild-type α-Syn via the tetracycline-off (TetOff) induction mechanism results in formation of inclusions that exhibit many characteristics of Lewy bodies. In the present study, we compromised mitochondrial function in 3D5 cells by using shRNA to knockdown peroxisome-proliferator activated receptor gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α), a key regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis and cellular energy metabolism and found that PGC-1α suppression at both protein and mRNA levels results in α-Syn accumulation (i.e. monomeric and oligomeric species in the TetOff-induced cells and monomeric only in the non-induced). These changes were accompanied with reduced mitochondrial potential as well as decreased levels of AKT, GSK3β (total and Ser9-phosphorylated) and p53 that are important for cell survival. The extent to which these proteins decreased following PGC-1α knockdown, in contrast to what was demonstrable with the viability assay, is greater in the induced than the non-induced. Together these findings indicate that such knockdown increases the propensity to accumulate α-Syn oligomers, but the accumulation appears to have very little toxic impact to the neuronal cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A tetracycline inducible transfectant cell line (3D5) capable of producing soluble and sarkosyl-insoluble assemblies of wild-type human alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) upon differentiation with retinoic acid was used to study the impact of α-Syn accumulation on protein phosphorylation and glycosylation. Soluble proteins from 3D5 cells, with or without the induced α-Syn expression were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and staining of gels with dyes that bind to proteins (Sypro ruby), phosphoproteins (Pro-Q diamond) and glycoproteins (Pro-Q emerald). Phosphoproteins were further confirmed by binding to immobilized metal ion affinity column. α-Syn accumulation caused differential phosphorylation and glycosylation of 16 and 12, proteins, respectively, whose identity was revealed by mass spectrometry. These proteins, including HSP90, have diverse biological functions including protein folding, signal transduction, protein degradation and cytoskeletal regulation. Importantly, cells accumulating α-Syn assemblies with different abilities to bind thioflavin S displayed different changes in phosphorylation and glycosylation. Consistent with the cell-based studies, we demonstrated a reduced level of phosphorylated HSP90 α/β in the substantia nigra of subjects with Parkinson''s disease as compared to normal controls. Together, the results indicate that α-Syn accumulation causes complex cellular responses, which if persist may compromise cell viability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Intracellular accumulation of α-synuclein (α-Syn) as filamentous aggregates is a pathological feature shared by Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy, referred to as synucleinopathies. To understand the mechanisms underlying α-Syn aggregation, we established a tetracycline-off inducible transfectant (3D5) of neuronal lineage overexpressing human wild-type α-Syn. α-Syn aggregation was initiated by exposure of 3D5 cells to FeCl2. The exposure led to formation of α-Syn inclusions and oligomers of 34, 54, 68 kDa and higher molecular weights. The oligomers displayed immunoreactivity with antibodies to the amino-, but not to the carboxyl(C)-, terminus of α-Syn, indicating that C-terminally truncated α-Syn is a major component of oligomers. FeCl2 exposure also promoted accumulation of S129 phosphorylated monomeric α-Syn (Pα-Syn) and casein kinase 2 (CK2); however, G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 was reduced. Treatment of FeCl2-exposed cells with CK2 inhibitors (DRB or TBB) led to decreased formation of α-Syn inclusions, oligomers and Pα-Syn. FeCl2 exposure also enhanced the activity/level of cathepsin D. Treatment of the FeCl2-exposed cells with pepstatin A or NH4Cl led to reduced formation of oligomers/inclusions as well as of ∼ 10 and 12 kDa truncated α-Syn. Our results indicate that α-Syn phosphorylation caused by FeCl2 is due to CK2 upregulation, and that lysosomal proteases may have a role in producing truncated α-Syn for oligomer assembly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Intracellular assembly of microtubule-associated protein tau into filamentous inclusions is central to Alzheimer''s disease and related disorders collectively known as tauopathies. Although tau mutations, posttranslational modifications and degradations have been the focus of investigations, the mechanism of tau fibrillogenesis in vivo still remains elusive. Different strategies have been undertaken to generate animal and cellular models for tauopathies. Some are used to study the molecular events leading to the assembly and accumulation of tau filaments, and others to identify potential therapeutic agents that are capable of impeding tauopathy. This review highlights the latest developments in new models and how their utility improves our understanding of the sequence of events leading to human tauopathy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

ABSTRACT Utilizing data from 84 key Chinese higher education institutions, the present study attempts to examine the effectiveness of the Education Reform implemented in the mid-1980s in China. With focus on the research performance of the institutions, individual institution efficiency is computed by the method of data envelopment analysis. Regional differences in the efficiency of institutions are also addressed. It is found that research performance of institutions across regions has improved, although the institutions as a whole have remained inefficient from 1993 to 1995. Institutions located in the East region turn out to have out-performed those in the Central and the West regions. In addition, the decomposition of the group efficiency measure indicates that, for the 3 years under study, the 84 key institutions suffered from technical, allocative and reallocative inefficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with bilateral vestibular hypofunction (BVH) often suffer from imbalance, gait problems, and oscillopsia. Noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), a technique that non-invasively stimulates the vestibular afferents, has been shown to enhance postural and walking stability. However, no study has investigated how it affects stability and neural activities while standing and walking with a 2 Hz head yaw turning. Herein, we investigated this issue by comparing differences in neural activities during standing and walking with a 2 Hz head turning, before and after noisy GVS. We applied zero-mean gaussian white noise signal stimulations in the mastoid processes of 10 healthy individuals and seven patients with BVH, and simultaneously recorded electroencephalography (EEG) signals with 32 channels. We analyzed the root mean square (RMS) of the center of pressure (COP) sway during 30 s of standing, utilizing AMTI force plates (Advanced Mechanical Technology Inc., Watertown, MA, USA). Head rotation quality when walking with a 2 Hz head yaw, with and without GVS, was analyzed using a VICON system (Vicon Motion Systems Ltd., Oxford, UK) to evaluate GVS effects on static and dynamic postural control. The RMS of COP sway was significantly reduced during GVS while standing, for both patients and healthy subjects. During walking, 2 Hz head yaw movements was significantly improved by noisy GVS in both groups. Accordingly, the EEG power of theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands significantly increased in the left parietal lobe after noisy GVS during walking and standing in both groups. GVS post-stimulation effect changed EEG activities in the left and right precentral gyrus, and the right parietal lobe. After stimulation, EEG activity changes were greater in healthy subjects than in patients. Our findings reveal noisy GVS as a non-invasive therapeutic alternative to improve postural stability in patients with BVH. This novel approach provides insight to clinicians and researchers on brain activities during noisy GVS in standing and walking conditions in both healthy and BVH patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stop signal task has been used to quantify the human inhibitory control. The inter-subject and intra-subject variability was investigated under the inhibition of human response with a realistic environmental scenario. In present study, we used a battleground scenario where a sniper-scope picture was the background, a target picture was a go signal, and a nontarget picture was a stop signal. The task instructions were to respond on the target image and inhibit the response if a nontarget image appeared. This scenario produced a threatening situation and endorsed the evaluation of how subject's response inhibition manifests in a real situation. In this study, 32 channels of electroencephalography (EEG) signals were collected from 20 participants during successful stop (response inhibition) and failed stop (response) trials. These EEG signals were used to predict two possible outcomes: successful stop or failed stop. The inter-subject variability (between-subjects) and intra-subject variability (within-subjects) affect the performance of participants in the classification system. The EEG signals of successful stop versus failed stop trials were classified using quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) (i.e., parametric) and K-nearest neighbor classifier (KNNC) and Parzen density-based (PARZEN) (i.e., nonparametric) under inter- and intra-subject variability. The EEG activities were found to increase during response inhibition in the frontal cortex (F3 and F4), presupplementary motor area (C3 and C4), parietal lobe (P3 and P4), and occipital (O1 and O2) lobe. Therefore, power spectral density (PSD) of EEG signals (1-50Hz) in F3, F4, C3, C4, P3, P4, O1, and O2 electrodes were measured in successful stop and failed stop trials. The PSD of the EEG signals was used as the feature input for the classifiers. Our proposed method shows an intra-subject classification accuracy of 97.61% for subject 15 with QDA classifier in C3 (left motor cortex) and an overall inter-subject classification accuracy of 71.66% ± 9.81% with the KNNC classifier in F3 (left frontal lobe). These results display how inter-subject and intra-subject variability affects the performance of the classification system. These findings can be used effectively to improve the psychopathology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), schizophrenia, and suicidality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a new approach to exploring human inhibition in a realistic scenario. In previous inhibition studies, the stimulus design of go/no-go task generally used a simple symbol for the go and stop signals. We can understand the neural activity of inhibition through simple symbol scenario. In the real world, situations of human inhibition are more complex than performing an experiment in the laboratory scale. How to explore the neural activities of inhibition in a realistic environment is more complex. Consequently, we designed a battlefield scenario to investigate the neural activities of inhibition in a more realistic environmental setting. The battlefield scenario provides stronger emotion, motivation and real-world experiences for participants during inhibition. In the battlefield scenario, the signs of fixation, go and stop were replaced by images of a sniper scope, a target and a non-target. The battlefield scenario is a shooting game between the enemy and the soldiers. In battlefield scenario participants played the role of the soldiers for shooting target and to stop shooting when a non-target appeared. Electroencephalography (EEG) signals from twenty participants were acquired and analyzed using independent component analysis (ICA) and dipole source localization method. The results of event-related potential (ERP) showed a significant modulation of the peaks N1, N2 and P3 in the frontal and cingulate cortices under inhibitory control. The partially overlapping ERP N2 and P3 waves were associated with inhibition in the frontal cortex. The ERP N2, N1 and P3 waves in the cingulate cortex are related to sustained attention, motivation, emotion and inhibitory control. In addition, the event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) results shows that the powers of the delta and theta bands increased significantly in the frontal and cingulate cortices under human inhibitory control. The EEG-ERP waves and power spectra in the frontal and cingulate cortices were found more increased than in the parietal, occipital, left and right motor cortices after successful stop. These findings provide new insights to understand the global neural activities changes during human inhibitory control with realistic environmental scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substantial developments have been established in the past few years for enhancing the performance of brain–computer interface (BCI) based on steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP). The past SSVEP-BCI studies utilized different target frequencies with flashing stimuli in many different applications. However, it is not easy to recognize user's mental state changes when performing the SSVEP-BCI task. What we could observe was the increasing EEG power of the target frequency from the user's visual area. BCI user's cognitive state changes, especially in mental focus state or lost-in-thought state, will affect the BCI performance in sustained usage of SSVEP. Therefore, how to differentiate BCI users' physiological state through exploring their neural activities changes while performing SSVEP is a key technology for enhancing the BCI performance. In this study, we designed a new BCI experiment which combined working memory task into the flashing targets of SSVEP task using 12 Hz or 30 Hz frequencies. Through exploring the EEG activity changes corresponding to the working memory and SSVEP task performance, we can recognize if the user's cognitive state is in mental focus or lost-in-thought. Experiment results show that the delta (1–4 Hz), theta (4–7 Hz), and beta (13–30 Hz) EEG activities increased more in mental focus than in lost-in-thought state at the frontal lobe. In addition, the powers of the delta (1–4 Hz), alpha (8–12 Hz), and beta (13–30 Hz) bands increased more in mental focus in comparison with the lost-in-thought state at the occipital lobe. In addition, the average classification performance across subjects for the KNN and the Bayesian network classifiers were observed as 77% to 80%. These results show how mental state changes affect the performance of BCI users. In this work, we developed a new scenario to recognize the user's cognitive state during performing BCI tasks. These findings can be used as the novel neural markers in future BCI developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In post-stroke rehabilitation, functional connectivity (FC), motor-related cortical potential (MRCP), and gait activities are common measures related to recovery outcomes. However, the interrelationship between FC, MRCP, gait activities, and bipedal distinguishability have yet to be investigated. Methods: Ten participants were equipped with EEG devices and inertial measurement units (IMUs) while performing lower limb motor preparation (MP) and motor execution (ME) tasks. MRCP, FCs, and bipedal distinguishability were extracted from the EEG signals, while the change in knee degree during the ME phase was calculated from the gait data. FCs were analyzed with pairwise Pearson's correlation, and the brain-wide FC was fed into support vector machine (SVM) for bipedal classification. Results: Parietal–frontocentral connectivity (PFCC) dysconnection and MRCP desynchronization were related to the MP and ME phases, respectively. Hemiplegic limb movement exhibited higher PFCC strength than nonhemiplegic limb movement. Bipedal classification had a short-lived peak of 75.1% in the pre-movement phase. These results contribute to a better understanding of the neurophysiological functions during motor tasks, with respect to localized MRCP and nonlocalized FC activities. The difference in PFCCs between both limbs could be a marker to understand the motor function of the brain of post-stroke patients. Conclusions: In this study, we discovered that PFCCs are temporally dependent on lower limb gait movement and MRCP. The PFCCs are also related to the lower limb motor performance of post-stroke patients. The detection of motor intentions allows the development of bipedal brain-controlled exoskeletons for lower limb active rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auditory alarms are used to direct people's attention to critical events in complicated environments. The capacity for identifying the auditory alarms in order to take the right action in our daily life is critical. In this work, we investigate how auditory alarms affect the neural networks of human inhibition. We used a famous stop-signal or go/no-go task to measure the effect of visual stimuli and auditory alarms on the human brain. In this experiment, go-trials used visual stimulation, via a square or circle symbol, and stop trials used auditory stimulation, via an auditory alarm. Electroencephalography (EEG) signals from twelve subjects were acquired and analyzed using an advanced EEG dipole source localization method via independent component analysis (ICA) and EEG-coherence analysis. Behaviorally, the visual stimulus elicited a significantly higher accuracy rate (96.35%) than the auditory stimulus (57.07%) during inhibitory control. EEG theta and beta band power increases in the right middle frontal gyrus (rMFG) were associated with human inhibitory control. In addition, delta, theta, alpha, and beta band increases in the right cingulate gyrus (rCG) and delta band increases in both right superior temporal gyrus (rSTG) and left superior temporal gyrus (lSTG) were associated with the network changes induced by auditory alarms. We further observed that theta-alpha and beta bands between lSTG-rMFG and lSTG-rSTG pathways had higher connectivity magnitudes in the brain network when performing the visual tasks changed to receiving the auditory alarms. These findings could be useful for further understanding the human brain in realistic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human inhibitory control refers to the suppression of behavioral response in real environments, such as when driving a car or riding a motorcycle, playing a game and operating a machine. The P300 wave is a neural marker of human inhibitory control, and it can be used to recognize the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in human. In addition, the P300 neural marker can be considered as a stop command in the brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies. Therefore, the present study of electroencephalography (EEG) recognizes the mindset of human inhibition by observing the brain dynamics, like P300 wave in the frontal lobe, supplementary motor area, and in the right temporoparietal junction of the brain, all of them have been associated with response inhibition. Our work developed a hierarchical classification model to identify the neural activities of human inhibition. To accomplish this goal phase-locking value (PLV) method was used to select coupled brain regions related to inhibition because this method has demonstrated the best performance of the classification system. The PLVs were used with pattern recognition algorithms to classify a successful-stop versus a failed-stop in left-and right-hand inhibitions. The results demonstrate that quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA) yielded an average classification accuracy of 94.44%. These findings implicate the neural activities of human inhibition can be utilized as a stop command in BCI technologies, as well as to identify the symptoms of ADHD patients in clinical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Heat increased DAG amounts. • Cold increased only PA amounts. • Dry changed many lipids. Laboratory selection on environmental stress traits is an evolutionary approach that is informative in the context of understanding stress adaptation. Here we characterize changes in a lipidome of Drosophila melanogaster in lines selected for increased heat (elevated heat knockdown refractoriness), cold (decreased time to recover from chill-coma) and desiccation survival. Selection for desiccation resistance resulted in changes in multiple lipid classes used to characterize a lipidome. This included a decrease in triacylglycerols (TAGs) which is relevant to interpretation of storage lipid levels in previous D. melanogaster desiccation survival selection experiments. Chill-coma recovery rate selection was expected to show extensive changes in lipid classes, but only phosphatidic acids exhibited significant change. Selection for increased heat knockdown resistance resulted in a substantial change in the abundance of a class of lipids (diacylglycerols) which could play a role in mediating the heat shock response or result in an increase in neutral lipid mobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conducting electrophysiological measurements from human brain function provides a medium for sending commands and messages to the external world, as known as a brain–computer interface (BCI). In this study, we proposed a smart helmet which integrated the novel hygroscopic sponge electrodes and a combat helmet for BCI applications; with the smart helmet, soldiers can carry out extra tasks according to their intentions, i.e., through BCI techniques. There are several existing BCI methods which are distinct from each other; however, mutual issues exist regarding comfort and user acceptability when utilizing such BCI techniques in practical applications; one of the main challenges is the trade-off between using wet and dry electroencephalographic (EEG) electrodes. Recently, several dry EEG electrodes without the necessity of conductive gel have been developed for EEG data collection. Although the gel was claimed to be unnecessary, high contact impedance and low signal-to-noise ratio of dry EEG electrodes have turned out to be the main limitations. In this study, a smart helmet with novel hygroscopic sponge electrodes is developed and investigated for long-term usage of EEG data collection. The existing electrodes and EEG equipment regarding BCI applications were adopted to examine the proposed electrode. In the impedance test of a variety of electrodes, the sponge electrode showed performance averaging 118 kΩ, which was comparable with the best one among existing dry electrodes, which averaged 123 kΩ. The signals acquired from the sponge electrodes and the classic wet electrodes were analyzed with correlation analysis to study the effectiveness. The results indicated that the signals were similar to each other with an average correlation of 90.03% and 82.56% in two-second and ten-second temporal resolutions, respectively, and 97.18% in frequency responses. Furthermore, by applying the proposed differentiable power algorithm to the system, the average accuracy of 21 subjects can reach 91.11% in the steady-state visually evoked potential (SSVEP)-based BCI application regarding a simulated military mission. To sum up, the smart helmet is capable of assisting the soldiers to execute instructions with SSVEP-based BCI when their hands are not available and is a reliable piece of equipment for strategical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uremic pruritus (UP) is prevalent among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), which causes severe itching and affects their quality of life. Additionally, patients experience fatigue and depression, and an increased risk of mortality has also been reported. A meta-analysis of 17 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) has indicated that Chinese herbal bath therapy (CHBT) had adjuvant benefits in improving UP in ESRD patients, and previous studies have reported that herb combinations were more useful than treatment with a single herb. Association rule analysis has been used to evaluate potential correlations between herb combinations, and Apriori algorithms are one of the most powerful machine-learning algorithms available for identifying associations within databases. Therefore, we used the Apriori algorithm to analyze association rules of potential core herb combinations for use in CHBT for UP treatment using data from a meta-analysis of 17 RCTs that used CHBT for UP treatment. Data on 43 CHBT herbs were extracted from 17 RCTs included for analysis and we found 19 association rules. The results indicated that the following herb combinations {Chuanxiong, Baijili} ≥ {Dahuang} and {Dahuang, Baijili} ≥ {Chuanxiong} were most strongly associated, implying that these herb combinations represent potential CHBT treatments for UP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to integrate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and related somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP) features to assist in the diagnosis of spinal cord compression (SCC). MRI scans were graded from 0 to 3 according to the changes in the subarachnoid space and scan signals to confirm differences in SCC levels. The amplitude, latency, and time–frequency analysis (TFA) power of preoperative SSEP features were extracted and the changes were used as standard judgments to detect neurological function changes. Then the patient distribution was quantified according to the SSEP feature changes under the same and different MRI compression grades. Significant differences were found in the amplitude and TFA power between MRI grades. We estimated three degrees of amplitude anomalies and power loss under each MRI grade and found the presence or absence of power loss occurs after abnormal changes in amplitude only. For SCC, few integrated approach combines the advantages of both MRI and evoked potentials. However, integrating the amplitude and TFA power changes of SSEP features with MRI grading can help in the diagnosis and speculate progression of SCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the greenhouse gas emissions of amusement parks in Taiwan. The energy use of 26 parks evenly distributed throughout Taiwan was audited. An average of 583,000 people was found to visit each site annually. In addition, average annual energy consumption of 7699 MW h per site was observed, translating into 4096 t of carbon emissions per year. Every visitor generated an average of US$29.4 in revenue and 7.4 kg-CO 2 eq. The parks offering luxury services, such as 4-or 5-star accommodation and luxury food products, or many large-scale motorized water- or ground-based attractions consumed more energy than did ecology- and education-oriented parks. We categorized the parks into five categories, and found significant discrepancies among them in energy use. Two models for predicting annual carbon emissions and average carbon emissions per visit were developed, with the adjusted coefficient of determination being 0.934 and 0.792. This paper concludes by proposing several guidelines to assist park operators in reducing carbon emissions and improving energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the junctionless (JL) ultrathin polycrystalline-Si (poly-Si) nanowire (NW) transistors with gate-all-around configuration and raised source/drain were successfully fabricated by a low-temperature trimming process. The 140 °C-heated phosphoric acid (HPA) was adopted for trimming the channel dimension, which exhibits a near roughness degradation-free etching and excellent trimming uniformity. As the HPA immersing time increased, the channel dimension was thinned and narrowed, resulting in the greater electrostatic integrity. Therefore, the steep subthreshold swing ~75 mV/decade, low drain-induced barrier lowering ~33 mV/V, and high on/off currents ratio ( I\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}/I\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle OFF}) \sim 7 \times 10^{6} can be achieved. These superior characteristics of low-temperature JL poly-Si NW transistors are promising candidates for the low thermal budget monolithic 3-D ICs and the system on panel applications in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• This study investigated brain network functional connectivity and complexity by electroencephalogram (EEG) in young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibiting heterogeneous cognitive processing speed. • The ADHD with a faster processing speed (ADHD-F) group manifested weakening long-range intra-hemispheric brain connectivity during rest. • In addition to rest, the ADHD with a slower processing speed (ADHD-S) group manifested weakening frontal inter-hemispheric brain connectivity during a task, implying ADHD heterogeneity. • ADHD-S manifested lower frontal neural complexity during a task. • These study findings reveal functional connectivity and complexity neural markers may reflect cognitive processing speed heterogeneity and can facilitate clinical diagnosis and intervention planning for young children with ADHD. Early intervention is imperative for young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who manifest heterogeneous neurocognitive deficits. The study investigated the functional connectivity and complexity of brain activity among young children with ADHD exhibiting a fast cognitive processing speed (ADHD-F, n = 26), with ADHD exhibiting a slow cognitive processing speed (ADHD-S, n = 17), and typically developing children (n = 35) using wireless electroencephalography (EEG) during rest and task conditions. During rest, compared with the typically developing group, the ADHD-F group displayed lower long-range intra-hemispheric connectivity, while the ADHD-S group had lower frontal beta inter-hemispheric connectivity. During task performance, the ADHD-S group displayed lower frontal beta inter-hemispheric connectivity than the typically developing group. The ADHD-S group had lower frontal inter-hemispheric connectivity in broader frequency bands than the ADHD-F group, indicating ADHD heterogeneity in mental processing speed. Regarding complexity, the ADHD-S group tended to show lower frontal entropy estimators than the typically developing group during the task condition. These findings suggest that the EEG profile of brain connectivity and complexity can aid the early clinical diagnosis of ADHD, support subgrouping young children with ADHD based on cognitive processing speed heterogeneity, and may contain specific novel neural biomarkers for early intervention planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence and mortality rate of oral cancer continue to rise, partly due to the lack of effective early diagnosis and increasing environmental exposure to cancer-causing agents. To identify new markers for oral cancer, we used a sialylation probe to investigate the glycoproteins differentially expressed on oral cancer cells. Of the glycoproteins identified, B7 Homolog 3 (B7-H3) was significantly overexpressed in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and its overexpression correlated with larger tumor size, advanced clinical stage, and low survival rate in OSCC patients. In addition, knockdown of B7-H3 suppressed tumor cell proliferation, and restoration of B7-H3 expression enhanced tumor growth. It was also found that the N-glycans of B7-H3 from Ca9-22 oral cancer cells contain the terminal α-galactose and are more diverse with higher fucosylation and better interaction with DC-SIGN [DC-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3 (ICAM-3)-grabbing nonintegrin] and Langerin on immune cells than that from normal cells, suggesting that the glycans on B7-H3 may also play an important role in the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drowsy driving is among the most critical causes of fatal crashes. Thus, the development of an effective algorithm for detecting a driver’s cognitive state demands immediate attention. For decades, studies have observed clear evidence using electroencephalography that the brain’s rhythmic activities fluctuate from alertness to drowsiness. Recognition of this physiological signal is the major consideration of neural engineering for designing a feasible countermeasure. This study proposed a perceptual function integration system which used spectral features from multiple independent brain sources for application to recognize the driver’s vigilance state. The analysis of brain spectral dynamics demonstrated physiological evidenced that the activities of the multiple cortical sources were highly related to the changes of the vigilance state. The system performances showed a robust and improved accuracy as much as 88% higher than any of results performed by a single-source approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The study investigated the electroencephalography (EEG) functional connectivity (FC) profiles during rest and tasks of young children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and typical development (TD). Methods: In total, 78 children (aged 5–7 years) were enrolled in this study; 43 of them were diagnosed with ADHD and 35 exhibited TD. Four FC metrics, coherence, phase‐locking value (PLV), pairwise phase consistency, and phase lag index, were computed for feature selection to discriminate ADHD from TD. Results: The support vector machine classifier trained by phase‐locking value (PLV) features yielded the best performance to differentiate the ADHD from the TD group and was used for further analysis. In comparing PLVs with the TD group at rest, the ADHD group exhibited significantly lower values on left intrahemispheric long interelectrode lower‐alpha and beta as well as frontal interhemispheric beta frequency bands. However, the ADHD group showed higher values of central interhemispheric PLVs on the theta, higher‐alpha, and beta bands. Regarding PLV alterations within resting and task conditions, left intrahemispheric long interelectrode beta PLVs declined from rest to task in the TD group, but the alterations did not differ in the ADHD group. Negative correlations were observed between frontal interhemispheric beta PLVs and the Disruptive Behavior Disorder Rating Scale as rated by teachers. Conclusions: These results, which complement the findings of other sparse studies that have investigated task‐related brain FC dynamics, particularly in young children with ADHD, can provide clinicians with significant and interpretable neural biomarkers for facilitating the diagnosis of ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used a wireless EEG system to investigate neural dynamics in preschoolers with ADHD who exhibited varying cognitive proficiency pertaining to working memory and processing speed abilities. Preschoolers with ADHD exhibiting high cognitive proficiency (ADHD-H, n = 24), those with ADHD exhibiting low cognitive proficiency (ADHD-L, n = 18), and preschoolers with typical development (TD, n = 31) underwent the Conners' Kiddie Continuous Performance Test and wireless EEG recording under different conditions (rest, slow-rate, and fast-rate task). In the slow-rate task condition, compared with the TD group, the ADHD-H group manifested higher delta and lower beta power in the central region, while the ADHD-L group manifested higher parietal delta power. In the fast-rate task condition, in the parietal region, ADHD-L manifested higher delta power than those in the other two groups (ADHD-H and TD); additionally, ADHD-L manifested higher theta as well as lower alpha and beta power than those with ADHD-H. Unlike those in the TD group, the delta power of both ADHD groups was enhanced in shifting from rest to task conditions. These findings suggest that task-rate-related neural dynamics contain specific neural biomarkers to assist clinical planning for ADHD in preschoolers with heterogeneous cognitive proficiency. The novel wireless EEG system used was convenient and highly suitable for clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the brain dynamics accompanying spatial navigation based on distinct reference frames. Participants preferentially using an allocentric or an egocentric reference frame navigated through virtual tunnels and reported their homing direction at the end of each trial based on their spatial representation of the passage. Task-related electroencephalographic (EEG) dynamics were analyzed based on independent component analysis (ICA) and subsequent clustering of independent components. Parietal alpha desynchronization during encoding of spatial information predicted homing performance for participants using an egocentric reference frame. In contrast, retrosplenial and occipital alpha desynchronization during retrieval covaried with homing performance of participants using an allocentric reference frame. These results support the assumption of distinct neural networks underlying the computation of distinct reference frames and reveal a direct relationship of alpha modulation in parietal and retrosplenial areas with encoding and retrieval of spatial information for homing behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Glioblastoma is the most common malignant primary brain tumor and has a poor prognosis with inevitable recurrence or progression. The phenotypes of its progression patterns can be diverse, which may potentially affect the treatment plan and clinical outcome. Our study aimed to identify its progression pattern before surgery by using multimodal MRI. The results showed the different progression phenotypes are clinically important, and by using quantitative MR radiomics, together with neural network-based imaging analysis, we can predict glioblastoma progression phenotypes preoperatively. The phenotypes of glioblastoma (GBM) progression after treatment are heterogeneous in both imaging and clinical prognosis. This study aims to apply radiomics and neural network analysis to preoperative multimodal MRI data to characterize tumor progression phenotypes. We retrospectively reviewed 41 patients with newly diagnosed cerebral GBM from 2009–2016 who comprised the machine learning training group, and prospectively included 18 patients from 2017–2018 for data validation. Preoperative MRI examinations included structural MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and perfusion MRI. Tumor progression patterns were categorized as diffuse or localized. A supervised machine learning model and neural network-based models (VGG16 and ResNet50) were used to establish the prediction model of the pattern of progression. The diffuse progression pattern showed a significantly worse prognosis regarding overall survival (p = 0.032). A total of 153 of the 841 radiomic features were used to classify progression patterns using different machine learning models with an overall accuracy of 81% (range: 77.5–82.5%, AUC = 0.83–0.89). Further application of the pretrained ResNet50 and VGG 16 neural network models demonstrated an overall accuracy of 93.1 and 96.1%. The progression patterns of GBM are an important prognostic factor and can potentially be predicted by combining multimodal MR radiomics with machine learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between a solitary wave and a submerged circular plate of a finite thickness was investigated in this study. Analytical solutions based on the linear long wave theory were first derived to serve as the leading-order predictive tool for this physical process. While the analytical solutions provide an easy way to calculate the wave field, they are limited by the simplifying assumptions. To complement the analytical solutions, a 3D Navier–Stokes equation solver with the large eddy simulation turbulence model was employed. The numerical model was verified against the analytical solutions for nearly linear cases and then applied to study more nonlinear cases in which the analytical solutions were less accurate. Both the analytical solutions and the numerical results show that wave focusing occurs near the lee side of the circular plate, creating higher local wave heights than that of the incident wave. As the wave passes over the submerged plate, the plate experiences an uplifting net force, followed by a net force in the downward direction, and then an uplifting net force again. The flow and pressure fields and vortices were also examined. By presenting the analytical and numerical tools that can be used to study this problem, and discussing the overall physics of this process, it is hoped that this study paves the way for future studies on this subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zhibai Dihuang Wan (ZDW) is an eight-herbal formula of traditional Chinese medicine. Clinically, it regulated immune activity and was used to treat diabetes and renal disease. In this study, we aimed to explore the nephroprotective effect of ZDW in an aristolochic acid- (AA-) intoxicated zebrafish model. We used a green fluorescent kidney transgenic zebrafish to evaluate the nephroprotective effects of ZDW by recording subtle changes in the kidney. Our results demonstrated that ZDW treatment can attenuate AA-induced kidney malformations (60% for AA-treated, 47% for pretreatment with ZDW, and 17% for cotreatment ZDW with AA, n = 50). Furthermore, we found that the expression levels of tnfα and mpo were decreased either in pretreatment or cotreatment groups. In conclusion, our findings revealed that AA-induced nephrotoxicities can be attenuated by ZDW. Therefore, we believe that zebrafish represent an efficient model for screening AA-protective Chinese medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibitory control is a cognitive process that inhibits a response. It is used in everyday activities, such as driving a motorcycle, driving a car and playing a game. The effect of this process can be compared to the red traffic light in the real world. In this study, we investigated brain connectivity under human inhibitory control using the phase lag index and inter-trial coherence (ITC). The human brain connectivity gives a more accurate representation of the functional neural network. Results of electroencephalography (EEG), the data sets were generated from twelve healthy subjects during left and right hand inhibitions using the auditory stop-signal task, showed that the inter-trial coherence in delta (1–4 Hz) and theta (4–7 Hz) band powers increased over the frontal and temporal lobe of the brain. These EEG delta and theta band activities neural markers have been related to human inhibition in the frontal lobe. In addition, inter-trial coherence in the delta-theta and alpha (8–12 Hz) band powers increased at the occipital lobe through visual stimulation. Moreover, the highest brain connectivity was observed under inhibitory control in the frontal lobe between F3-F4 channels compared to temporal and occipital lobes. The greater EEG coherence and phase lag index in the frontal lobe is associated with the human response inhibition. These findings revealed new insights to understand the neural network of brain connectivity and underlying mechanisms during human response inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Downregulation of multiple cell cycle-regulatory molecules is a dominant event in TGF-β1-mediated growth inhibition of human carcinoma cells. It is known that KLF10 mimics the anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects that TGF-β1 has on epithelial cell growth and the growth of various tumor cells; based on these findings it is considered as a tumor suppressor. KLF10 protein expression is tightly associated with cell cycle-dependent events. However, the regulatory mechanism and its biological meaning have not been identified. In this study, we have demonstrated that KLF10 is a substrate of CDK2/cyclin E and can be phosphorylated. We also have shown that KLF10 efficiently binds to CDK2, while binding much less to CDK4, and displaying no binding to Cdk6. Using mass spectrometry, site direct mutagenesis, in vitro kinase assays and depletion assays, we have established that CDK2 phosphorylates Ser 206 , which subsequently affects the steady state level of KLF10 in cells. Our studies have also proved that CDK2 up-regulates the protein level of KLF10 through reducing its association with SIAH1, a KLF10 E3-ubiqutin ligase involved in proteasomal degradation. Taken all together, these findings indicate that CDK2-dependent phosphorylation regulates KLF10 stability and that this affects the role of KLF10 in cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel bioinspired control strategy design is proposed for generalized synchronization of nonlinear chaotic systems, combining the bioinspired stability theory, fuzzy modeling, and a novel, simple-form Lyapunov control function design of derived high efficient, heuristic and bioinspired controllers. Three main contributions are concluded: (1) apply the bioinspired stability theory to further analyze the stability of fuzzy error systems; the high performance of controllers has been shown in previous study by Li and Ge 2009, (2) a new Lyapunov control function based on bioinspired stability theory is designed to achieve synchronization without using traditional LMI method, which is a simple linear homogeneous function of states and the process of designing controller to synchronize two fuzzy chaotic systems becomes much simpler, and (3) three different situations of synchronization are proposed; classical master and slave Lorenz systems, slave Chen’s system, and Rossler’s system as functional system are illustrated to further show the effectiveness and feasibility of our novel strategy. The simulation results show that our novel control strategy can be applied to different and complicated control situations with high effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding brain function using electroencephalography (EEG) is an important issue for cerebral nervous system diseases, especially for epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease. Many EEG measurement systems are used reliably to study these diseases, but their bulky size and the use of wet sensors make them uncomfortable and inconvenient for users. To overcome the limitations of conventional EEG measurement systems, a wireless and wearable multichannel EEG measurement system is proposed in this paper. This system includes a wireless data acquisition device, dry spring-loaded sensors, and a size-adjustable soft cap. We compared the performance of the proposed system using dry versus conventional wet sensors. A significant positive correlation between readings from wet and dry sensors was achieved, thus demonstrating the performance of the system. Moreover, four different features of EEG signals (i.e., normal, eye-blinking, closed-eyes, and teeth-clenching signals) were measured by 16 dry sensors to ensure that they could be detected in real-life cognitive neuroscience applications. Thus, we have shown that it is possible to reliably measure EEG signals using the proposed system. This paper presents novel insights into the field of cognitive neuroscience, showing the possibility of studying brain function under real-life conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Laparoscopic surgery has become the standard for treating appendi - citis. The cosmetic benefits of using single-incision laparoscopy are well known, but its duration, complications and time to recovery have not been well documented. We compared 2 laparoscopic approaches for treating appendicitis and evaluated postoperative pain, complications and time to full recovery. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the cases of consecutive patients with appendicitis and compared those who underwent conventional laparoscopic appendectomy (CLA) performed using 3 incisions and those who underwent single-incision laparoscopic appendectomy (SILA). During SILA, the single port was prepared to increase visibility of the operative site. Results: Our analysis included 688 consecutive patients: 618 who underwent CLA and 70 who underwent SILA. Postsurgical complications occurred more frequently in the CLA than the SILA group (18.1% v. 7.1%, p = 0.018). Patients who underwent SILA returned to oral feeding sooner than those who underwent CLA (median 12 h v. 22 h, p < 0.001). These between-group differences remained significant after controlling for other factors. Direct comparison of only nonperforated cases, which was determined by pathological examination, revealed that SILA was significantly longer than CLA (60 min v. 50 min, p < 0.001). Patients who underwent SILA had longer in-hospital stays than those who underwent CLA (72 v. 55 h, p < 0.001); however, they had significantly fewer complications (3.0% v. 14.4%, p = 0.006). Conclusion: In addition to its cosmetic advantages, SILA led to rapid recovery and no increase in postsurgical pain or complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2) is a component of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) that negatively regulates angiotensin II (Ang II). Ang II, in turn, affects the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) to induce heart remodeling. The specific mechanisms by which ACE2 regulates MMP-2, however, remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the regulatory relationships between Ang II, ACE2, and MMP-2. ACE2 expression was upregulated and downregulated in human cardiofibroblasts (HCFs) by lentiviral infection. Effects on MMP-2 activity, shed ACE2 activity, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway, and ADAM metallopeptidase domain 17 (ADAM17) expression were assessed. ACE2 increased MMP-2 activity, and Ang II inhibited this effect through the Ang II type-1 receptor (AT1R) and ERK1/2 signaling pathway. Ang II also reduced the effect of ACE2 on ERK1/2 levels, the activity of shed ACE2, and adam17 expression in HCFs. Additionally, these Ang II-mediated reductions could be attenuated by AT1R antagonist valsartan. In conclusion, these data help to clarify how ACE2 and Ang II interact to regulate MMP-2 and control tissue remodeling in heart disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2) is a component of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) that negatively regulates angiotensin II (Ang II). Ang II, in turn, affects the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) to induce heart remodeling. The specific mechanisms by which ACE2 regulates MMP-2, however, remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the regulatory relationships between Ang II, ACE2, and MMP-2. ACE2 expression was upregulated and downregulated in human cardiofibroblasts (HCFs) by lentiviral infection. Effects on MMP-2 activity, shed ACE2 activity, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway, and ADAM metallopeptidase domain 17 (ADAM17) expression were assessed. ACE2 increased MMP-2 activity, and Ang II inhibited this effect through the Ang II type-1 receptor (AT1R) and ERK1/2 signaling pathway. Ang II also reduced the effect of ACE2 on ERK1/2 levels, the activity of shed ACE2, and adam17 expression in HCFs. Additionally, these Ang II-mediated reductions could be attenuated by AT1R antagonist valsartan. In conclusion, these data help to clarify how ACE2 and Ang II interact to regulate MMP-2 and control tissue remodeling in heart disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]