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Because atherosclerosis begins in childhood, universal lipid screening is recommended with special attention to conditions predisposing to early atherosclerosis. Data about real-world penetration of these guidelines is not available.Methods: Retrospective cohort study using MarketScan® commercial and Medicaid insurance claims databases, a geographically representative sample of U.S. children. Subjects who passed through the 9- to 11-year window and had continuous insurance coverage between 1/1/2013 and 12/31/2016 were studied. Multivariable models were calculated, evaluating the association between other patient factors and the likelihood of screening. The primary hypothesis was that screening rates would be low, but that high-risk conditions would be associated with a higher likelihood of screening.Results: In total, 572,522 children (51% male, 33% black, 11% Hispanic, 51% Medicaid) were studied. The prevalence of high-risk conditions was 2.2%. In unadjusted and adjusted analyses, these subjects were more likely to be screened than standard-risk subjects (47% vs. 20%, OR: 3.7, 95% CI 3.5-3.8, P < .001). Within this group, the diagnosis-specific likelihood of screening varied (26-69%). Endocrinopathies (OR 5.4, 95% CI 5.2-5.7), solid organ transplants (OR 5.0, 95% CI 3.8-6.6), and metabolic disease (OR 3.9, 95% CI 3.1-5.0, all P < .001) were associated with the highest likelihood of undergoing screening.Conclusions: Despite national recommendations, lipid screening was performed in a minority of children. Though subjects with high-risk conditions had a higher likelihood of screening, rates remained low. This study highlights the need for research and advocacy regarding obstacles to lipid screening of children in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Aim The present study aimed to develop nomograms estimating survival for patients with high-grade osteosarcoma. Methods 1990 patients with high-grade osteosarcoma between 1994 and 2013 were retrospectively retrieved from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Data from 12 cancer registries (n = 1460) were used to conduct multivariate Cox analysis to identify independent prognostic factors. Nomograms which estimate 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were constructed. The nomograms were internally validated for calibration and were also externally validated with an independent patient cohort from 1 cancer registry (n = 530). Results Age, primary site, tumor size, use of surgery, and extent of disease were found to be independently associated with OS and CSS (p < 0.05). The nomograms estimating 3- and 5-year OS and CSS were developed based on these prognostic factors. The concordance indices were high in internal validation (0.726 for OS and 0.731 for CSS) and external validation (0.716 for OS and 0.724 for CSS). Internal and external calibration plots demonstrated a good agreement between nomogram prediction and actual observation. Conclusions We constructed nomograms that accurately predict OS and CSS of high-grade osteosarcoma patients. The nomograms can be used for counseling patients and establishing risk stratification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giant cell tumor of bone (GCTB) is a benign but locally aggressive tumor, which can cause significant bone destruction at the epiphysis of long bones. Recent studies have demonstrated that norcantharidin (NCTD) can inhibit the proliferation and migration of various human cancer cells, but the role of NCTD in GCTB has not previously been evaluated. The aim of this study was to explore the nature of the anti-cancer effects of NCTD in GCTB and to elucidate the biomolecular mechanisms responsible for these effects. Primary stromal cell cultures, representing the main neoplastic component of GCTB, were used for cell-based experiments. Firstly, the anti-cancer effects of NCTD on GCTB stromal tumor cells were investigated by CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry and transwell invasion assay. Next, microRNA (miRNA) microarray and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses were performed to examine and verify altered expression of miRNAs associated with NCTD treatment. Subsequently, the GCTB stromal cells were transfected with miR-30a inhibitor to confirm its involvement in the observed anti-cancer effects of NCTD. Luciferase reporter assays were carried out to identify the target gene of miR-30a. Moreover, changes in the expression of protein markers of AKT signaling were measured by Western Blot analysis. The results demonstrated that NCTD treatment could inhibit cell proliferation, block the cell cycle process and induce cell apoptosis in GCTB stromal cells. An inhibitory effect of NCTD on GCTB stromal cell invasion through inhibition of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) was also observed. Expression of miR-30a was significantly upregulated by NCTD treatment and miR-30a knockdown significantly reversed the anti-tumor effects of NCTD against GCTB stromal cells. Of note, metadherin (MTDH), a novel oncogene which modulates the AKT pathway, was identified as a direct target of miR-30a in GCTB stromal cells. Further data showed that miR-30a could negatively regulate the expression of MTDH and the AKT pathway in GCTB stromal cells. Importantly, MTDH expression was found to be inversely correlated with miR-30a expression in clinical GCTB specimens. Moreover, NCTD treatment effectively suppressed the AKT signaling pathway as demonstrated by downregulation of phosphorylated-Akt S473 (p-Akt S473), p-Akt (T308), phosphorylated-glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)3β (p-GSK3β) and c-Myc, whilst miR-30a inhibition re-activated the AKT signaling pathway in GCTB stromal cells. Our findings demonstrate that NCTD can inhibit cell proliferation and metastasis of GCTB stromal cells in vitro , via modulating the miR-30a/MTDH/AKT signaling axis. This suggests that NCTD has potential as a novel therapeutic treatment for GCTB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing attention has been given to working memory (WM) impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Previous studies revealed that the space -orientated feature-based filtering (target and distractors in distinct locations) was impaired in PD patients. However, the object -orientated feature-based filtering (target and distractor information pertaining to one object) ability in PD patients remains unclear. In this study, we examined the object -orientated feature-based filtering ability of 14 PD patients and 14 healthy controls in a change detection task under EEG monitoring. Participants were asked to remember the colors of two different objects while ignoring their shapes. Critically, the irrelevant feature could be changed in the probe. A failure in complete feature-based filtering would lead to an “irrelevant-change distracting effect,” where the change of the irrelevant feature would impair the performance of the target feature, and lead to an enhanced anterior N2. We found that the distracting effect was larger in PD patients than in the control group in terms of d’; however, the N2 amplitude evoked by the irrelevant change was smaller in PD patients than in the control group. These results suggested that the object -orientated feature-based filtering ability was impaired in PD, which might derive from the deficit of their executive control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thoracic aortic injuries could be lethal events. Penetrating injuries to aortic are highly fatal, but these cases are rare in hospital. A 54-year-old man presented with cough for half a month and cough up blood for half a day before he went into our hospital. No obvious positive sign was detected in physical examination. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed positive foreign body in the mediastinum, which penetrated the left main bronchus from front to back and penetrated the thoracic aorta backwards. An endovascular stent graft was implanted to ensure that the penetrating aortic injury remains stable; then bronchoscopic evaluation was performed to remove the foreign body. The patient recovered uneventfully. No discomfort has been complained of during regular follow-up. Endovascular stent repair is an effective lifesaving method for patients with penetrating aortic injury and with surgical contraindications. • Thoracic aortic injury can be a lethal event. • Penetrating aortic injuries are highly fatal, but are rare cases in the hospital. • Our case penetrate-aortic passed to trachea injury of needle is rare. • Endovascular stent repair is a method for patients with penetrating aortic injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conversion of CO 2 into value-added chemicals has attracted considerable attention as an important method to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also to alleviate the current dependence on fossil fuels. Traditional reducing agent for CO 2 reduction relies heavily on gaseous hydrogen from high-pressure cylinder, which meets storage and transportation problem. Moreover, the elaborately prepared and noble-metal involved catalysts are required commonly. Thus, new safe and facile hydrogen source is needed urgently. Hydrous hydrazine, which possesses high hydrogen capacity (7.9%), is regarded as a promising liquid hydrogen storage material. Herein, hydrous hydrazine was employed as an in-situ hydrogen source which possesses high reactive activity for reduction of CO 2 under hydrothermal conditions. A 62% yield of formic acid with 99% selectivity was achieved by using a common Ni and ZnO powder catalyst. The proposed method is facile and safe because it requires neither elaborately prepared catalysts, nor high-purity hydrogen and hydrogen storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use a noise transfer function to filter the input–output data and propose a new recursive algorithm for multiple-input single-output systems under the maximum likelihood principle. The main contributions of this paper are to derive a filtering based maximum likelihood recursive least squares (F-ML-RLS) algorithm for reducing computational burden and to present two recursive least squares algorithms to show the effectiveness of the F-ML-RLS algorithm. In the end, an illustrative simulation example is provided to test the proposed algorithms and we show that the F-ML-RLS algorithm has a high computational efficiency with smaller sizes of its covariance matrices and can produce more accurate parameter estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Abacus experts have demonstrated extraordinary potential of mental calculation by using an imaginary abacus. But the neural correlates of abacus mental calculation and the imaginary abacus still remain unclear. Here, we report, respectively, the analysis of fMRI images of abacus experts and non-experts in response to the performance of simple and complex serial calculation by visual stimuli as well as the images of the abacus experts with performance of the same tasks by auditory stimuli. We found that activated areas were quite different between two groups. In experts, enhanced activations were mainly observed in fronto-temporal circuit (lateral premotor cortex (LPMC) and posterior temporal areas) in simple addition, but in fronto-parietal circuit (lateral premotor cortex (LPMC) and posterior superior parietal lobe (PSPL)) in complex one. By contrast, in controls, the activated areas were almost similar in both simple and complex tasks, including bilateral inferior parietal lobule, prefrontal and premotor cortices. Furthermore, visual and auditory stimuli generated almost similar activations in experts. These observations reveal that (1) abacus mental calculation induces special patterns of brain response, and simple and complex tasks are sustained by dissociated brain circuits between the temporal and parietal cortices, respectively; (2) the abacus mental calculation may rely on neural resources of visuospatial representations with a super-modal form of abacus beads; (3) the posterior temporal areas and PSPL may be recruited for imaginary abacus. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: To evaluate growth in a population of patients with Fontan circulation.Study Design: We performed a cross-sectional evaluation of patients followed in our multidisciplinary Fontan clinic from January 2011 through August 2015. We reviewed the historical data, anthropometry, clinical, and laboratory studies and performed bivariate and multivariate analysis of factors associated with height z score.Results: Patients (n = 210) were included in the study at median age 11.07 years (8.3, 14.73 years) (43% female); 138 (65%) had a dominant right systemic ventricle and 92 (44%) hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Median age at completion of Fontan circulation was 31 months (7.6, 135.8 months). Median height z score was -0.58 (-1.75, 0.26). Twenty-five (12%) had current or past history of protein-losing enteropathy (PLE). Median height z score for those with current or past history of PLE was -2.1 (-2.46, 1.24). Multivariate analysis revealed positive associations between height z score and body mass index z score, time since Fontan, mid-parental height, dominant systemic ventricle type, and serum alkaline phosphatase. Height correlated negatively with known genetic syndrome, PLE, use of stimulant or oral steroid medication.Conclusions: Children with Fontan circulation have mild deficits in height, with greater deficits in those with PLE. Height z score improves with time postsurgery. Improving weight, leading to improved body mass index, may be a modifiable factor that improves growth in those who are underweight. Biochemical markers may be helpful screening tests for high-risk groups in whom to intensify interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incorporating multi-solid wastes to prepare foam glass ceramics could effectively improve the utilization rate of solid wastes, beneficial to promoting the crystallization and bloating of samples. In this study, foam glass ceramics were prepared by a one-step sintering method using waste glass (WG), granite tailings (GT), and high titanium blast furnace slag (HTBFS). At the same time, the phase transformation, sintering, and physical properties of the samples were studied. The results showed that the sintering of foam glass ceramics consisted of three stages: sintering densification, bloating, and bubble coalescence. The low-temperature melting of WG created a favorable liquid phase environment to precipitate microcrystalline phases, such as wollastonite, diopside, and titanite. Adding HTBFS helped crystallize the sample, but increased the viscosity of the system, not favorable for bloating. When the HTBFS content was <15%, the physical properties of the samples were as follows: a bloating temperature of 980–1100 °C, crystallinity of 0%–38.9%, porosity of 48.5%–60.2%, water absorption of 0.6%–1.2%, compressive strength of 9.3–22.6 MPa, and thermal conductivity of 0.31–0.43 W/(m·K). Consequently, the foam glass ceramics prepared in this study can be used in the field of structural insulation of buildings and has significant economic and social benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Long-term abacus training in children reduces gray matter volume of fusiform. • Higher fusiform volume relates to better arithmetic ability in the abacus group. • Right fusiform is more specialized for number-related tasks in abacus experts. • Abacus training interacts with fusiform development in children. Abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training has a positive effect on number-related cognitive abilities. While visuospatial strategy may distinguish AMC from conventional calculation method, the underlying neural mechanism is still elusive. The current study aimed to address this question by examining the plasticity of fusiform induced by AMC training and whether this training affects the association between the volume of fusiform and behavioral performance in numerical cognitive tasks using voxel-based morphometry analysis. The results showed that gray matter volumes of bilateral fusiform were significantly smaller in the AMC group relative to the control group. In addition, the volume of right fusiform was positively correlated with digit memory span and negatively correlated with reaction time of an arithmetic operation task only within the AMC group. These results indicate that bilateral fusiform may be the essential neural substrate for AMC experts to recognize and reconstruct abacus-based representations for numbers. These results may advance our understanding of the neural mechanisms of AMC and shield some lights to potential interactions between brain development and cognitive training in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study examined the resting state neural networks for visual Chinese word processing in Chinese children and adults. Both the functional connectivity (FC) and amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) approaches were used to analyze the fMRI data collected when Chinese participants were not engaged in any specific explicit tasks. We correlated time series extracted from the visual word form area (VWFA) with those in other regions in the brain. We also performed ALFF analysis in the resting state FC networks. The FC results revealed that, regarding the functionally connected brain regions, there exist similar intrinsically organized resting state networks for visual Chinese word processing in adults and children, suggesting that such networks may already be functional after 3–4 years of informal exposure to reading plus 3–4 years formal schooling. The ALFF results revealed that children appear to recruit more neural resources than adults in generally reading-irrelevant brain regions. Differences between child and adult ALFF results suggest that children's intrinsic word processing network during the resting state, though similar in functional connectivity, is still undergoing development. Further exposure to visual words and experience with reading are needed for children to develop a mature intrinsic network for word processing. The developmental course of the intrinsically organized word processing network may parallel that of the explicit word processing network. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The functional connectivity of frontal-parietal network enhanced after training. • The coupling of bilateral superior parietal lobules was increased. • Pre-training connectivity strength influences training outcome. • The abacus-based mental calculation training improved short-term memory. Accumulating evidence indicates a positive effect of abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training on various cognitive functions including short-term memory (STM). Our previous work has shown AMC training-induced activation changes in the frontal–parietal network (FPN) using task fMRI. However, whether AMC training-induced functional plasticity in the same brain network can be detected at resting state remains unknown. The current study aimed to address this question using resting state functional connectivity in a longitudinal AMC training experiment engaging a training group (18 subjects, age = 21.439 ± 0.565) and a control group (18 subjects, age = 21.113 ± 1.140). Our results revealed that the average functional connectivity strength within the FPN showing task activation changes was significantly enhanced after training in the AMC group, whereas it remained stable in the control group. Further analysis indicated that such connectivity increase in the AMC group was primarily driven by the enhanced coupling of bilateral superior parietal lobules (SPL). In addition, a significant and positive correlation between letter forward memory span and SPL connectivity was found at post-training session in the AMC group. While the weakest quartile of SPL connections ranking by pre-training connectivity strength showed the largest effect of enhancement after training, it was the strongest quartile of SPL connectivity that correlated the most with memory span at post-training session. These findings suggest that AMC training may enhance bilateral SPL functional connectivity, through which AMC training might exert a transfer effect to improve short-term memory capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the neural mechanisms of training-induced brain plasticity has significant implications for improving academic achievement. Previous studies suggest abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training significantly improves individual's arithmetic capability, and the frontal–parietal network is suggested to be the key neural circuit underlying AMC. Yet, it remains unclear how AMC training shifts brain activation in this network and whether the training effect is transferable or not. The current study aimed to address these questions using a longitudinal design engaging an experimental group (20 days of AMC training) and a control group. The fMRI results indicated that AMC training increased sustained but reduced transient activation in the frontal–parietal network when the AMC group performed the training-related arithmetic task. More interestingly, similar pre- to post-training changes in activation were observed in two training-unrelated tasks. The control group, on the other hand, did not exhibit any pre- to post-training differences in brain activation on any of the three tasks. These findings extend the previous cross-sectional studies of AMC and suggest that AMC training induces functional changes in brain activation and such plasticity may be transferable beyond the AMC. The training effects on sustained and transient neural activity may also provide a new perspective to understand training-induced neural plasticity and related transfer effect. • A short-term abacus mental calculation training changes brain activation pattern. • The frontal–parietal network is core substrate of abacus mental calculation. • Training enhances sustained activity and reduces transient activity. • The training-induced activation change transfers to two training unrelated tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance In traditional Chinese medicine, supplementing Qi and strengthening body resistance are an important principle of anticancer treatment. Panax ginseng C.A.Mey. (ginseng) and Astragalus membranaceus Bunge (astragalus) are the representative herbs for this therapeutic principle. Aim of the study This study aims to explore the effect of the water extract of ginseng and astragalus (WEGA) on regulating macrophage polarization and mediating anticancer in the tumor microenvironment. Materials and methods A549 cells were cultured in tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) supernatant with various concentrations of WEGA (0, 5, 10, 20 mg/mL). A549 cell proliferation was determined through methyl thiazole tetrazolium (MTT) assay and real-time cell analysis (RTCA), respectively. In vivo experiments were performed with a Lewis lung cancer (LLC) xenograft mouse model. Forty-eight mice were divided into six groups and treated with saline, WEGA, or cis-diamine dichloro platinum (DDP) with dosage of WEGA (0, 30, 60, 120 mg/kg body weight/day). The different groups were administered with drugs via oral or intraperitoneal injection once a day for 21 consecutive days. Tumor inhibition rate, spleen index, thymus index, cytokine, protein, and mRNA expression levels were detected in mice. Results In a co-culture system, WEGA remarkably inhibited A549 cell proliferation, promoted the expression of M1 macrophage markers and inhibited M2 TAMs markers. Therefore, WEGA affected the biological behavior of cancer cells by regulating the expression of some markers relevant to macrophage polarization. In addition, the group of WEGA and DDP chemotherapy effectively inhibited the transplanted tumor growth in mice and improved weight loss and immunosuppressive with the cisplatin inducing. Conclusions This study provides mechanistic insights into the anticancer effect of WEGA through the regulation of macrophage polarization and highlights that WEGA could be a novel option for integrative cancer therapies. Graphical abstract fx1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a common orthopedic disease associated with high disability, and femoral neck fracture (FNF) is one of the most common reasons for traumatic ONFH. This study was designed to reveal the mechanisms underlying ONFH. Using fastx_toolkit and prinseq-lite tools, quality control was conducted for the sequencing data. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs, including both mRNAs and lncRNAs) between ONFH and FNF samples were identified using the edgeR package in R, and were then subjected to enrichment analysis using the BioCloud platform. Subsequently, protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed using Cytoscape software. After the target genes of DE-lncRNAs were predicted based on Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, lncRNA-gene coexpression network was visualized using the Cytoscape software. Furthermore, functional enrichment analysis was carried out for the target genes using the clusterprofiler package in R. Additionally, the key genes were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). A total of 2965 DEGs were identified from the ONFH samples, including 602 DE-lncRNAs (such as downregulated FAM201A ). In the PPI networks, eight upregulated genes (including FGF2 , IGF1 , SOX9 , and COL2A1 ) and 11 downregulated genes were among the top 20 genes according to all of the scores, such as degree centrality, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality scores. Functional enrichment analysis showed that IGF1 , SOX9 , and COL2A1 were significantly enriched during skeletal system development. Moreover, qRT-PCR experiments detected the upregulation of FGF2 and downregulation of FAM201A in ONFH samples. FGF2 and FAM201A were correlated with the development of ONFH. Besides, IGF1 , SOX9 , and COL2A1 might also affect the pathogenesis of ONFH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Astrocytes have become promising new agents against major depressive disorders (MDD) primarily due to the crucial role they play in the pathogenesis of such disorders. However, a simple and reliable animal model that can be used to screen for astrocyte-targeting antidepressants has not yet been developed. In this study, we utilized a repeated corticosterone (CORT) injection paradigm to develop a mouse depression model wherein we examined the occurrence of alterations in hippocampal astrocyte population by using two astrocytic markers, namely, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and S100β. Moreover, we determined the effects of fluoxetine and diazepam on CORT-induced astrocytic alterations to assess the predictive validity. Results showed that repeated CORT injections showed no effects on the number of GFAP + and S100β + astrocytes, but they decreased the protrusion length of GFAP + astrocytes and GFAP protein expression in the hippocampus. Furthermore, repeated CORT injections produced a sustained increase of S100β protein levels in the entire hippocampus of male mice. CORT-induced hippocampal astrocyte disruption was antagonized by chronic fluoxetine treatment. By contrast, the anxiolytic drug diazepam was ineffective in the same experimental setting. All these findings suggest that the repeated CORT injection paradigm produces the astrocytic alterations similar to those in MDD and can serve as a useful mouse model to screen antidepressants meant to target astrocytes. These observations can also help in further discussing the underlying mechanisms of CORT-induced astrocytic alterations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) activates the frontoparietal areas largely overlapping with the working memory (WM) network. Given the critical role of WM in cognition, how to improve WM capability has attracted intensive attention in past years. However, it is still unclear whether WM could be enhanced by AMC training. The current research thus explored the impact of AMC training on verbal and visuospatial WM, as well as the underlying neural basis. Participants were randomly assigned to an abacus group and a control group. Their verbal WM was evaluated by digit/letter memory span (DMS/LMS) tests, and visuospatial WM was assessed by a visuospatial n -back task. Neural activity during the n -back task was examined using functional MRI. Our results showed reliable improvements of both verbal and visuospatial WM in the abacus group after 20-day AMC training but not in the control. In addition, the n -back task-induced activations in the right frontoparietal circuitry and left occipitotemporal junction (OTJ) declined as a result of training. Notably, the decreases in activity were positively correlated with performance gains across trained participants. These results suggest AMC training not only improves calculating skills but also have the potential to promote individuals’ WM capabilities, which is associated with the functional plasticity of the common neural substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel composite, Ag@AgBr/SBA-15, was successfully synthesized by dispersion of AgBr on mesoporous silica SBA-15, characterized by several techniques, such as XRD, N 2 adsorption−desorption, SEM & EDS, UV−vis spectrum and XPS, and utilized for visible light photocatalytic degradation of dye Rhodamine B (RhB) in aqueous solutions. The results showed that for the various AgBr loadings in the composites, RhB photocatalytic degradation efficiency arrived at the maximum of 77% at 50% loading, or with 50Ag@AgBr/SBA-15. Under the combined mode, the RhB removal reached 88% at 0.3 g/L of 50Ag@AgBr/SBA-15 dosage, 20 mg L −1 of initial RhB concentration, 4.28 of unadjusted initial pH and 20 °C. The RhB photocatalytic degradation followed well with the second-order kinetics, and the increase of the 50Ag@AgBr/SBA-15 dosage, the decrease of the initial RhB concentration and the optimal initial solution pH would be favorable to RhB photocatalytic degradation. The quenching tests demonstrated that the RhB photocatalytic degradation was mainly attributed to the generation of active species such as O 2 − , OH and h + . Moreover, the adsorption characteristics of 50Ag@AgBr/SBA-15 were investigated, with its pH pzc of 6.21 acquired and the conclusion that the RhB adsorption isotherm well followed Langmuir model drawn. Additionally, photocatalyst 50Ag@AgBr/SBA-15 can be effectively regenerated with the H 2 O 2 solutions under visible light irradiation, and reused for up to five runs for the degradation of RhB in the presence of visible light, with RhB removal more than 75% and Ag + leaching undetected for each run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined whether there are neural markers of individual differences in working memory (WM) capacity and whether these differences are only manifest when performing a demanding WM task or at all levels of difficulty. Each subject’s WM capacity was estimated using a modified digit span task prior to participation in an N -back task that varied difficulty from 1- to 4-back. While performing the N -back task, subjects wore scalp electrodes that allowed measurement of both event-related potentials (ERP) and event-related synchronization and desynchronization (ERS/ERD). Those subjects classified as low WM were more affected by the higher cognitive demands (many more errors in the 4-back task and generally slower responses) than those classified as high WM. These behavioral differences between the two groups were also apparent in the neural markers. Specifically, low WM subjects, when compared with high WM subjects, produced smaller P300 amplitudes and theta ERS, as well as greater alpha ERD at the most difficult level. Importantly, the observed differences in electrophysiological responses between the two groups were also observed at the lowest difficulty level, not just when the task challenged WM capacity. In addition, P300 amplitudes and alpha ERD responses were found to correlate with individual WM capacities independent of the task difficulty. These results suggest that there are qualitative neural differences among individuals with different WM capacities when approaching cognitive operations. Individuals with high WM capacities may make more efficient use of neural resources to keep their attention focused on the task-relevant information when performing cognitive tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scalar implicatures are ordinarily activated in human communication when the speaker uses a weak expression (e.g., some ) from a set of stronger alternatives (e.g., many, all ). It has been debated whether scalar inferences are generated by default. To clarify this issue and examine whether individual pragmatic ability will affect the mechanism of scalar inference processing, we performed experiment with an MMN paradigm to capture the neurophysiological indicators of automatic processing of spoken sentences and divided participants into high and low pragmatic ability groups. Experimental results showed that compared with the condition that an informative sentence (“Some animals have tails”) is the deviant stimuli, when an underinformative sentence (“Some tigers have tails”) is the deviant stimuli, the high pragmatic ability group induced mismatch negativity (MMN) and sustained negativity, while the low pragmatic ability group had no ERP effects. These results indicated that at least some people can automatically activate the scalar implicatures when encountering scalar trigger words, even in the inattentive status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Training can induce significant changes in brain functioning and behavioral performance. One consequence of training is changing the pattern of brain activation. Abacus training is of interest because abacus experts gain the ability to handle digits with unusual speed and accuracy. However, the neural correlates of numerical memory in abacus-trained children remain unknown. In the current study, we aimed to detect a training effect of abacus-based mental calculations on numerical working memory in children. We measured brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activation patterns in 17 abacus-trained children and 17 control children as they performed two numerical working memory tasks (digits and beads). Functional MRI results revealed higher activation in abacus-trained children than in the controls in the right posterior superior parietal lobule/superior occipital gyrus (PSPL/SOG) and the right supplementary motor area (SMA) in both tasks. When these regions were used as seeds in a functional connectivity analysis of the resting brain, the abacus-trained children showed significantly enhanced integration between the right SMA and the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). The IFG is considered to be the key region for the control of attention. These findings demonstrate that extensive engagement of the fronto-parietal network occurs during numerical memory tasks in the abacus-trained group. Furthermore, abacus training may increase the functional integration of visuospatial-attention circuitry, which and thus enhances high-level cognitive process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using event-related potentials (ERPs), this study investigated the neuromechanism underlying verbal analogical reasoning of two different metaphorical relations: attributive metaphor and relational metaphor. The analogical reasoning of attributive metaphor (AM-AR) involves a superficial similarity between analogues, while the analogical reasoning of relational metaphor (RM-AR) requires a structural similarity. Subjects were asked to judge whether one word pair was semantically analogous to another word pair. Results showed that the schema induction stage elicited a greater N400 component at the right anterior scalp for the AM-AR and RM-AR tasks, possibly attributable to semantic processing of metaphorical word pairs. The N400 was then followed by a widely distributed P300 and a late negative component (LNC1) at the left anterior scalp. The P300 was possibly related to the formation of a relational category, while the LNC1 was possibly related to the maintenance of a reasoning cue in working memory. The analogy mapping stage elicited broadly distributed N400 and LNC2, which might indicate the presence of semantic retrieval and analogical transfer. In the answer production stage, all conditions elicited the P2 component due to early stimulus encoding. The largest P2 amplitude was in the RM-AR task. The RM-AR elicited a larger LPC than did the AM-AR, even though the baseline correction was taken as a control for the differential P2 effect. The LPC effect might suggest that relational metaphors involved more integration processing than attributive metaphors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The development of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology has made it possible to carry out functional brain imaging experiments in small animals. Usually, group data is required to form the assessment of population, which can not only increase the sensitivity of the overall experiment, but also allow the generalization of the conclusion to the whole population. In order to average the signals of functional brain images from different subjects, it is necessary to put all the mapping images into the same standard space (template image). However, up to now, most animal brain templates remain unavailable and it must be done by ourselves. In this study, a template image based on the brains of eight male Wistar rats is obtained, and it is successfully used in our present Alzheimer disease (AD) -like rat model studies as template for spatially normalizing images to the same stereotaxical space. The fMRI results processed with statistical parametric mapping (SPM99) software are in agreement with the results from immunohistochemical experiment, which proves that this method is universally applicable to the pathologic models of other small animals and to human brain lesion studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Structure-activity relatioship of dammarane-type compounds and creatine kinase were explored. • 20(S)-protopanaxadiol [20(S)-PPD] was the best activator of CK-MM among the 12 dammarane-type compounds. • Cyclization of side chain, hydroxyl group at C6, and glycosylation of C3, C6, C20 were not conducive to activate CK-MM. • Support for developing enhanced CK-MM activators via modification based on dammarane-type compounds were provided. Muscle-type creatine kinase (CK-MM) is the target protein of ginsenosides in skeletal muscle. 20(S)-protopanaxadiol [20(S)-PPD] is an activator of CK-MM and exerts an anti-fatigue effect. In this study, twelve dammarane-type compounds were used for structure-activity relationship analysis in terms of enzyme activity, intermolecular interaction, and molecular docking. Enzyme activity analysis showed that 20(S)-PPD, 20(R)-PPD, 20(S)-protopanaxatriol [20(S)-PPT], 25-OH-PPD, 24-COOH-PPD, panaxadiol (PD), and ginsenoside Rh2 significantly increased CK-MM activity. Panaxatriol (PT), ocotillol, ginsenoside Rg1, and ginsenoside Rd had no significant influence on CK-MM activity, while jujubogenin inhibited its activity. Biolayer Interferometry (BLI) assay produced the same results as those on enzyme activity. The interaction intensity between dammarane-type compounds and CK-MM was linearly related to the compounds' maximum increment rate of enzyme activity. Molecular docking showed the following sequence of docking scores: Rd > Rg1 > Rh2 > 24-COOH-PPD > 20(S)-PPD > 20(S)-PPT > 25-OH-PPD > 20(R)-PPD > ocotillol > PT > PD > jujubogenin. We demonstrated that 20(S)-PPD was the best activator of CK-MM among the 12 dammarane-type compounds. The cyclization of the dammarane side chain, the hydroxyl group at position C6, and the glycosylation of C3, C6, and C20 reduced the ability to activate CK-MM. These findings can help in the development of enhanced CK-MM activators through structural modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]