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Introduction: The search for a cortical signature of intelligent behavior has been a longtime motivation in Neuroscience. One noticeable characteristic of intelligence is its association with visuospatial skills. This has led to a steady focus on the functional and structural characteristics of the frontoparietal network (FPN) of areas involved with higher cognition and spatial behavior in humans, including the question of whether intelligence is correlated with larger or smaller activity in this important cortical circuit. This question has broad significance, including speculations about the evolution of human cognition. One way to indirectly measure cortical activity with millisecond precision is to evaluate the event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) of alpha power (alpha ERSP) during cognitive tasks. Mental rotation, or the ability to transform a mental representation of an object to accurately predict how the object would look from a different angle, is an important feature of everyday activities and has been shown in previous work by our group to be positively correlated with intelligence. In the present work, we evaluate whether alpha ERSP recorded over the parietal, frontal, temporal, and occipital regions of adolescents performing easy and difficult trials of the Shepard-Metzler's mental rotation task, correlates or are predicted by intelligence measures of the Weschler's intelligence scale. Methods: We used a database obtained from a previous study of intellectually gifted (N = 15) and average intelligence (N = 15) adolescents. Results: Our findings suggest that in challenging task conditions, there is a notable difference in the prominence of alpha event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) activity between various cortical regions. Specifically, we found that alpha ERSP in the parietal region was less prominent relative to those in the frontal, temporal and occipital regions. Working memory scores predict alpha ERSP values in the frontal and parietal regions. In the frontal cortex, alpha ERSP of difficult trials was negatively correlated with working memory scores. Discussion: Thus, our results suggest that even though the FPN is task-relevant during mental rotation tasks, only the frontal alpha ERSP is correlated with working memory score in mental rotation tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Este trabajo aborda la temática de la equidad en la salud, pero específicamente, en la distribución geográfica de los recursos financieros. Hace un repaso de las principales teorías de justicia social en el pensamiento contemporáneo y discute el concepto de equidad en general y en el campo de la salud. Tomando como base la discusión de algunas experiencias internacionales (Inglaterra, España e Italia), se identifica como metodología distributiva más adecuada la fórmula RAWP llevada a cabo en Inglaterra, que proporciona dimensiones a las necesidades relativas a partir de los perfiles tanto demográficos como epidemiológicos de la población. Finalmente se presentan los resultados obtenidos en simulación efectuados para el caso brasileño. Los resultados presentados para el caso brasileño permitieron verificar que, para una distribución geográfica de recursos financieros más equitativa, sería necesaria una redistribución en favor de los estados de las regiones Norte y Nordeste. Finalmente se destaca que, la comparación entre la utilización de recursos efectuada en 1994 por el Ministerio de Salud y los resultados obtenidos en la simulación de la metodología RAWP para el caso brasileño muestran que los principios enunciados en la legislación no estuvieron presentes en la distribución geográfica de recursos financieros.

The article analyzes the World Health Organization Report for 2000, with emphasis placed on the methodology used to analyze the indicators utilized to compare and classify the performance of the health systems of the 191 member countries. The Report's contribution was the compromise of monitoring the performance of the health systems of member countries, but because of the inconsistent way it was elaborated, and the utilization of questionable scientific evaluation methodologies, the Report fails to give a clear picture. A criterion-based methodology revision is imposed. The main problems in evidence are the choice of individual indicators of disparity in health that discount the population profile, the inadequate control of the impact of social disparities over the performance of the systems, the evaluation of the responsibility of systems that are only partially articulated to the right of the citizens, the lack of data for a great number of countries, consequently having inconsistent estimations, and the lack of transparency in the methodological procedures in the calculation of some indicators. The article suggests a wide methodological revision of the Report.

Visual-spatial abilities are usually neglected in academic settings, even though several studies have shown that their predictive power in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics domains exceeds that of math and verbal ability. This neglect means that many spatially talented youths are not identified and nurtured, at a great cost to society. In the present work, we aim to identify behavioral and electrophysiological markers associated with visual spatial-ability in intellectually gifted adolescents (N = 15) compared to age-matched controls (N = 15). The participants performed a classic three-dimensional mental rotation task developed by Shepard and Metzler (1971) [33] while event-related potentials were measured in both frontal and parietal regions of interest. While response time was similar in the two groups, gifted subjects performed the test with greater accuracy. There was no indication of interhemispheric asymmetry of ERPs over parietal regions in both groups, although interhemispheric differences were observed in the frontal lobes. Moreover, intelligence quotient and working memory measures predicted variance in ERP's amplitude in the right parietal and frontal hemispheres. We conclude that while gifted adolescents do not display a different pattern of electroencephalographic activity over the parietal cortex while performing the mental rotation task, their performance is correlated with the amplitude of ERPs in the frontal cortex during the execution of this task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a new methodology, where in polystyrene-bound chiral derivatizing agents (CDA-resins) are employed for assigning the configuration of chiral mono- and polyfunctional compounds by using NMR spectroscopy. The technique is shown to be highly versatile and effective.

Suggests changes to the flawed approach of the World Health Report 2000. Concern about data availability, as well as the methods for determining health-system responsiveness, health distribution and inequalities; Flaws in the definition of fair financing; Methodological limitations and controversies; Use of relevant publications; Controversies about the measure of health status; Concerns about the multi-component indices used; Policy context of measurement issues; Conclusion.

Introduction: The search for a cortical signature of intelligent behavior has been a longtime motivation in Neuroscience. One noticeable characteristic of intelligence is its association with visuospatial skills. This has led to a steady focus on the functional and structural characteristics of the frontoparietal network (FPN) of areas involved with higher cognition and spatial behavior in humans, including the question of whether intelligence is correlated with larger or smaller activity in this important cortical circuit. This question has broad significance, including speculations about the evolution of human cognition. One way to indirectly measure cortical activity with millisecond precision is to evaluate the event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) of alpha power (alpha ERSP) during cognitive tasks. Mental rotation, or the ability to transform a mental representation of an object to accurately predict how the object would look from a different angle, is an important feature of everyday activities and has been shown in previous work by our group to be positively correlated with intelligence. In the present work, we evaluate whether alpha ERSP recorded over the parietal, frontal, temporal, and occipital regions of adolescents performing easy and difficult trials of the Shepard-Metzler's mental rotation task, correlates or are predicted by intelligence measures of the Weschler's intelligence scale., Methods: We used a database obtained from a previous study of intellectually gifted ( N = 15) and average intelligence ( N = 15) adolescents., Results: Our findings suggest that in challenging task conditions, there is a notable difference in the prominence of alpha event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) activity between various cortical regions. Specifically, we found that alpha ERSP in the parietal region was less prominent relative to those in the frontal, temporal and occipital regions. Working memory scores predict alpha ERSP values in the frontal and parietal regions. In the frontal cortex, alpha ERSP of difficult trials was negatively correlated with working memory scores., Discussion: Thus, our results suggest that even though the FPN is task-relevant during mental rotation tasks, only the frontal alpha ERSP is correlated with working memory score in mental rotation tasks., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Anomal, Brandão, Souza, Oliveira, Porto, Hazin Pires and Pereira.)

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative pathology with unmet clinical needs. A highly desirable approach to this syndrome would be to find a single lead that could bind to some or all of the selected biomolecules that participate in the amyloid cascade, the most accepted route for Alzheimer disease genesis. In order to circumvent the challenge posed by the sizable differences in the binding sites of the molecular targets, we propose a computer-assisted protocol based on a pharmacophore and a set of required interactions with the targets that allows for the automated screening of candidates. We used a combination of docking and molecular dynamics protocols in order to discard nonbinders, optimize the best candidates, and provide a rationale for their potential as inhibitors. To provide a proof of concept, we proceeded to screen the literature and databases, a task that allowed us to identify a set of carbazole-containing compounds that initially showed affinity only for the cholinergic targets in our experimental assays. Two cycles of design based on our protocol led to a new set of analogues that were synthesized and assayed. The assay results revealed that the designed inhibitors had improved affinities for BACE-1 by more than 3 orders of magnitude and also displayed amyloid aggregation inhibition and affinity for AChE and BuChE, a result that led us to a group of multitarget amyloid cascade inhibitors that also could have a positive effect at the cholinergic level.

A general NMR spectroscopy protocol for determination of absolute configuration of thiols, that includes the introduction of new aryl-tert-butoxyacetic acids as chiral derivatizing agents (CDAs), is described.

[reaction: see text] A new methodology for determining absolute configurations by NMR in just a few minutes is presented. The required derivatives are obtained by mixing a solid matrix-bound auxiliary reagent (MPA, MTPA, or BPG) with the chiral substrate (primary amines or secondary alcohols) directly in the NMR tube. The NMR spectra of the derivatives are obtained without any type of separation, workup, or manipulation. The use of a 1:2 (R)/(S)-MPA resin permits the configurational assignment to be carried out with just one spectrum.