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Abstract The voluntary nature of decision-making is fundamental to human behavior. The subthalamic nucleus is important in reactive decision-making, but its role in voluntary decision-making remains unclear. We recorded from deep brain stimulation subthalamic electrodes time-locked with acute stimulation using a Go/Nogo task to assess voluntary action and inaction. Beta oscillations during voluntary decision-making were temporally dissociated from motor function. Parkinson’s patients showed an inaction bias with high beta and intermediate physiological states. Stimulation reversed the inaction bias highlighting its causal nature, and shifting physiology closer to reactive choices. Depression was associated with higher alpha during Voluntary-Nogo characterized by inaction or inertial status quo maintenance whereas apathy had higher beta-gamma during voluntary action or impaired effortful initiation of action. Our findings suggest the human subthalamic nucleus causally contributes to voluntary decision-making, possibly through threshold gating or toggling mechanisms, with stimulation shifting towards voluntary action and suggest biomarkers as potential clinical predictors.

Abstract Adaptive behavior requires the ability to shift responding within (intra-dimensional) or between (extra-dimensional) stimulus dimensions when reward contingencies change. Studies of shifting in humans have focused mainly on the prefrontal cortex and/ or have been restricted to indirect measures of neural activity such as fMRI and lesions. Here, we demonstrate the importance of the amygdala and hippocampus by recording local field potentials directly from these regions intracranially in human epilepsy patients. Reward signals were coded in the high frequency gamma activity (HFG; 60-250 Hz) of both regions and synchronised via low frequency (3-5 Hz) phase-locking only after a shift when patients did not already know the rule and it signalled to stop shifting (“Win-Stay”). In contrast, HFG punishment signals were only seen in the amygdala when the rule then changed and it signalled to start shifting (“Lose-Shift”). During decision-making, hippocampal HFG was more inhibited on non-shift relative to shift trials, suggesting a role in preventing interference in rule representation and amygdala HFG was sensitive to stimulus novelty. The findings expand our understanding of human amygdala-hippocampal function and shifting processes, the disruption of which could contribute to shifting deficits in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Resistance to sorafenib, an effective first-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), greatly compromised the prognosis of patients. The extracellular matrix is one of the most abundant components of the tumor microenvironment. Beyond acting as a physical barrier, it remains unclear whether cell interactions and signal transduction mediated by the extracellular matrix contribute to sorafenib resistance. With the analysis of primary HCC organoid RNA-seq data combined with in vivo and in vitro experiments validation, we discovered that fibronectin extra domain A (FN-EDA) derived from cancer-associated fibroblasts played a critical role in sorafenib resistance. Mechanistically, FN-EDA stimulates the up-regulation of the key one-carbon metabolism enzyme SHMT1 in HCC cells via the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway, thereby countering the oxidative stress induced by sorafenib. Moreover, we reinforced the clinical significance of our discoveries by conducting in vivo assays with an immunodeficiency subcutaneous xenograft tumor model, which was established using primary cancer-associated fibroblasts derived from clinical HCC tissues, and through the analysis of HCC samples obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Our findings suggest that targeting the FN-EDA/SHMT1 pathway could be a potential strategy to improve sorafenib responsiveness in HCC patients.

Objective To investigate the relationship between FKBP prolyl isomerase 5 ( FKBP5 ) gene expression and CD8 T cells in tumour progression and immunology of the luminal B subtype of breast cancer (LBBC) using bioinformatics analyses. Methods The Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2, Human Protein Atlas and breast cancer gene-expression miner v4.5 databases were used for data mining and analysing FKBP5 , its co-expressed genes and CD8 T cell-related markers. The Tumor IMmune Estimation Resource 2.0 database was used for analysing the correlation and prognosis of FKBP5 and CD8 T cell infiltration level in LBBC. Results Upregulated FKBP5 expression was correlated with improved survival in LBBC. Upregulated FKBP5 -related CD8 T cell markers were also demonstrated to be significantly correlated with better survival in LBBC and might play a role in the biological activity of FKBP5 . Conclusion These findings suggest that FKBP5 and its associated CD8 T cell infiltration are potential benign prognostic indicators for LBBC.

Abstract Introduction This study aimed to explore the association of serum lactate with clinical outcomes in elderly patients with sepsis based on data from the MIMIC-IV database. Methods All elderly patients with sepsis (age ≥ 65 years) were included. Different models were constructed for exploring the relationships between lactate and 28-day mortality. A two-segment linear regression model was performed to verify the threshold effects of lactate on clinical outcomes and smooth curve fitting was performed. Results A total of 4199 elderly patients with sepsis were included. The 28-day mortality was 32.22% (n = 1395). After adjustment for all potential cofounders, for each 1 mmol/l increment in lactate, the odds ratio (OR) of 28-day mortality was 1.23 (95% CI 1.18–1.28, P 5.7 mmol/l (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.04–1.18, P = 0.0019). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of lactate was 0.618 (95% CI 0.599–0.635) and the cutoff value of lactate was 2.4 mmol/l with a sensitivity of 0.483 and a specificity of 0.687. Conclusion In elderly patients with sepsis, a non-linear positive relationship was discovered between serum lactate and 28-day mortality. Physicians should be alert to lactate assessment at admission and pay more attention to those patients with higher levels of lactate.

IntroductionDeep brain stimulation (DBS) studies in Parkinson's Disease (PD) targeting the subthalamic nucleus (STN) have characterized its spectral properties across cognitive processes. In emotional evaluation tasks, specific alpha frequency (8–12 Hz) event-related de-synchronization (ERD) (reduced power) has been demonstrated. The time-locked stimulation of STN relative to stimuli onset has shown subjective positive valence shifts with 10 Hz but not with 130 Hz. However, neurophysiological effects of stimulation on power modulation have not been investigated. We aim to investigate effects of acute stimulation of the right STN on concurrent power modulation in the contralateral STN and frontal scalp EEG. From our previous study, we had a strong a priori hypothesis that negative imagery without stimulation would be associated with alpha ERD; negative imagery with 130 Hz stimulation would be also associated with alpha ERD given the lack of its effect on subjective valence ratings; negative imagery with 10 Hz stimulation was to be associated with enhanced alpha power given the shift in behavioral valence ratings.MethodsTwenty-four subjects with STN DBS underwent emotional picture-viewing tasks comprising neutral and negative pictures. In a subset of these subjects, the negative images were associated with time-locked acute stimulation at either 10 or 130 Hz. Power of signals was estimated relative to the baseline and subjected to non-parametric statistical testing.ResultsAs hypothesized, in 130 Hz stimulation condition, we show a decrease in alpha power to negative vs. neutral images irrespective of stimulation. In contrast, this alpha power decrease was no longer evident in the negative 10 Hz stimulation condition consistent with a predicted increase in alpha power. Greater beta power in the 10 Hz stimulation condition along with correlations between beta power across the 10 Hz stimulation and unstimulated conditions suggest physiological and cognitive generalization effects.ConclusionAcute alpha-specific frequency stimulation presumably was associated with a loss of this expected decrease or desynchronization in alpha power to negative images suggesting the capacity to facilitate the synchronization of alpha and enhance power. Acute time-locked stimulation has the potential to provide causal insights into the spectral frequencies and temporal dynamics of emotional processing.

Abstract There is currently insufficient evidence of correlation between on-admission serum uric acid and in-hospital mortality of patients with acute type A aortic dissection. Thus, this study analysed the relation between serum uric acid and in-hospital deaths in patients with acute type A aortic dissection. A total of 1048 patients with acute type A aortic dissection participated in this study between January 2010 and December 2018. The independent variable was on-admission serum uric acid, whilst the dependent variable was in-hospital deaths. The covariates of the study included patient age, gender, body mass index, smoking status, hypertension, diabetes, Marfan syndrome, bicuspid aortic valve, chronic renal insufficiency, stroke, atherosclerosis, time to presentation, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, aortic diameter, aortic regurgitation, abdominal vessel involvement, arch vessel involvement, ejection fraction value, laboratory parameters, symptom, coronary malperfusion, mesenteric malperfusion, cerebral malperfusion, hypotension/shock, cardiac tamponade and operation status. The mean age of the sample was 50.17 ± 11.47 years, with approximately 24.24% of the participants being female. After analysis, it was found that the admission serum uric acid of patients with acute type A aortic dissection was positively correlated with in-hospital death (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.02–1.06). Subsequently, a non-linear relationship was determined between admission serum uric acid (point 260 µmol/L) and in-hospital mortality for patients with acute type A aortic dissection. The effect sizes and confidence intervals of the right (serum uric acid > 260 µmol/L) and left (serum uric acid ≤ 260 µmol/L) aspects of the inflection point were 1.04 (1.02–1.05) and 1.00 (0.99–1.02), respectively. Furthermore, subgroup analysis indicated a stable relationship between serum uric acid and in-hospital mortality, whilst an insignificant difference was found for the interactions between different subgroups. Overall, a non-linear correlation was determined between admission serum uric acid and in-hospital mortality of patients with acute type A aortic dissection. When serum uric acid > 260 µmol/L, it showed a positive correlation with in-hospital mortality.

Abstract The habenula is an epithalamic structure implicated in negative reward mechanisms and plays a downstream modulatory role in regulation of dopaminergic and serotonergic functions. Human and animal studies show its hyperactivity in depression which is curtailed by the antidepressant response of ketamine. Deep brain stimulation of habenula (DBS) for major depression have also shown promising results. However, direct neuronal activity of habenula in human studies have rarely been reported. Here, in a cross-sectional design, we acquired both spontaneous resting state and emotional task-induced neuronal recordings from habenula from treatment resistant depressed patients undergoing DBS surgery. We first characterise the aperiodic component (1/f slope) of the power spectrum, interpreted to signify excitation-inhibition balance, in resting and task state. This aperiodicity for left habenula correlated between rest and task and which was significantly positively correlated with depression severity. Time-frequency responses to the emotional picture viewing task show condition differences in beta and gamma frequencies for left habenula and alpha for right habenula. Notably, alpha activity for right habenula was negatively correlated with depression severity. Overall, from direct habenular recordings, we thus show findings convergent with depression models of aberrant excitatory glutamatergic output of the habenula driving inhibition of monoaminergic systems.

Wetlands have received intensive interdisciplinary attention as unique ecosystems with valuable resources. As a new technology, the airborne LiDAR system has recently been applied in wetland research. However, most of the studies have focused on one or two LiDAR observations to extract either terrain or vegetation information from wetlands. This research aims at evaluating the combination of LiDAR’s spatial, spectral, and derived information to improve the mapping and classification of wetlands. Six LiDAR data derived attributes (DSM, DTM, off-ground features, slope map, multiple pulse returns, and normalized intensity) have been utilized for wetland classification based on an object-oriented classification method. The overall classify accuracy of the proposed LiDAR’s multi-attribute approach reaches 91.2%.

Abstract Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a fatal hematopoietic malignancy and has a prognosis that varies with its genetic complexity. However, there has been no appropriate integrative analysis on the hierarchy of different AML subtypes. Methods Using Microwell-seq, a high-throughput single-cell mRNA sequencing platform, we analyzed the cellular hierarchy of bone marrow samples from 40 patients and 3 healthy donors. We also used single-cell single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing to investigate the clonal heterogeneity of AML cells. Results From the integrative analysis of 191727 AML cells, we established a single-cell AML landscape and identified an AML progenitor cell cluster with novel AML markers. Patients with ribosomal protein high progenitor cells had a low remission rate. We deduced two types of AML with diverse clinical outcomes. We traced mitochondrial mutations in the AML landscape by combining Microwell-seq with SMRT sequencing. We propose the existence of a phenotypic “cancer attractor” that might help to define a common phenotype for AML progenitor cells. Finally, we explored the potential drug targets by making comparisons between the AML landscape and the Human Cell Landscape. Conclusions We identified a key AML progenitor cell cluster. A high ribosomal protein gene level indicates the poor prognosis. We deduced two types of AML and explored the potential drug targets. Our results suggest the existence of a cancer attractor.

This study evaluates the phenolic profile as well as the antioxidant properties of Shennongjia Apis cerana honey through a comparison with Apis mellifera honey in China. The total phenolic content (TPC) ranges from 263 ± 2 to 681 ± 36 mg gallic acid/kg. The total flavonoids content (TFC) ranges from 35.9 ± 0.4 to 102.2 ± 0.8 mg epicatechin/kg. The correlations between TPC or TFC and the antioxidant results (FRAP, DPPH, and ABTS) were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the phenolic compounds are quantified and qualified by high performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS), and a total of 83 phenolic compounds were tentatively identified in this study. A metabolomics analysis based on the 83 polyphenols was carried out and subjected to principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis. The results showed that it was possible to distinguish Apis cerana honey from Apis mellifera honey based on the phenolic profile.

Vitiligo is a complex disorder characterized by the loss of pigment in the skin. The current therapeutic strategies are limited. The identification of novel drug targets and candidates is highly challenging for vitiligo. Here we proposed a systematic framework to discover potential therapeutic targets, and further explore the underlying mechanism of kaempferide, one of major ingredients from Vernonia anthelmintica (L.) willd, for vitiligo. By collecting transcriptome and protein-protein interactome data, the combination of random forest (RF) and greedy articulation points removal (GAPR) methods was used to discover potential therapeutic targets for vitiligo. The results showed that the RF model performed well with AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve) = 0.926, and led to prioritization of 722 important transcriptomic features. Then, network analysis revealed that 44 articulation proteins in vitiligo network were considered as potential therapeutic targets by the GAPR method. Finally, through integrating the above results and proteomic profiling of kaempferide, the multi-target strategy for vitiligo was dissected, including 1) the suppression of the p38 MAPK signaling pathway by inhibiting CDK1 and PBK, and 2) the modulation of cellular redox homeostasis, especially the TXN and GSH antioxidant systems, for the purpose of melanogenesis. Meanwhile, this strategy may offer a novel perspective to discover drug candidates for vitiligo. Thus, the framework would be a useful tool to discover potential therapeutic strategies and drug candidates for complex diseases.

Loss of function of the lipid kinase diacylglycerol kinase ε (DGKε), encoded by the gene DGKE, causes a form of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome that is not related to abnormalities of the alternative pathway of the complement, by mechanisms that are not understood. By generating a potentially novel endothelial specific Dgke-knockout mouse, we demonstrate that loss of Dgke in the endothelium results in impaired signaling downstream of VEGFR2 due to cellular shortage of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-biphosphate. Mechanistically, we found that, in the absence of DGKε in the endothelium, Akt fails to be activated upon VEGFR2 stimulation, resulting in defective induction of the enzyme cyclooxygenase 2 and production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Treating the endothelial specific Dgke-knockout mice with a stable PGE2 analog was sufficient to reverse the clinical manifestations of thrombotic microangiopathy and proteinuria, possibly by suppressing the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 2 through PGE2-dependent upregulation of the chemokine receptor CXCR4. Our study reveals a complex array of autocrine signaling events downstream of VEGFR2 that are mediated by PGE2, that control endothelial activation and thrombogenic state, and that result in abnormalities of the glomerular filtration barrier.

Wild relatives of crop plants are invaluable germplasm for genetic improvement. Here, Xie et al. report a reference-grade wild soybean genome and show that it can be used to identify structural variation and refine quantitative trait loci.

ObjectivesLate-life depression (LLD) has negative impacts on somatic, emotional and cognitive domains of the lives of patients. Elucidating the abnormality in the brain networks of LLD patients could help to strengthen the understanding of LLD pathophysiology, however, the studies exploring the spontaneous brain activity in LLD during the resting state remain limited. This study aimed at identifying the voxel-level whole-brain functional connectivity changes in LLD patients.MethodsFifty patients with late-life depression (LLD) and 33 healthy controls were recruited. All participants underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan to assess the voxel-wise degree centrality (DC) changes in the patients. Furthermore, DC was compared between two patient subgroups, the late-onset depression (LOD) and the early-onset depression (EOD).ResultsCompared with the healthy controls, LLD patients showed increased DC in the inferior parietal lobule, parahippocampal gyrus, brainstem and cerebellum (p < 0.05, AlphaSim-corrected). LLD patients also showed decreased DC in the somatosensory and motor cortices and cerebellum (p < 0.05, AlphaSim-corrected). Compared with EOD patients, LOD patients showed increased centrality in the superior and middle temporal gyrus and decreased centrality in the occipital region (p < 0.05, AlphaSim-corrected). No significant correlation was found between the DC value and the symptom severity or disease duration in the patients after the correction for multiple comparisons.ConclusionsThese findings indicate that the intrinsic abnormality of network centrality exists in a wide range of brain areas in LLD patients. LOD patients differ with EOD patients in cortical network centrality. Our study might help to strengthen the understanding of the pathophysiology of LLD and the potential neural substrates underlie related emotional and cognitive impairments observed in the patients.

This paper presents a measurement method of bridge vibration based on three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction. A video of bridge model vibration is recorded by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and the displacement of target points on the bridge model is tracked by the digital image correlation (DIC) method. Due to the UAV motion, the DIC-tracked displacement of the bridge model includes the absolute displacement caused by the excitation and the false displacement induced by the UAV motion. Therefore, the UAV motion must be corrected to measure the real displacement. Using four corner points on a fixed object plane as the reference points, the projection matrix for each frame of images can be estimated by the UAV camera calibration, and then the 3D world coordinates of the target points on the bridge model can be recovered. After that, the real displacement of the target points can be obtained. To verify the correctness of the results, the operational modal analysis (OMA) method is used to extract the natural frequencies of the bridge model. The results show that the first natural frequency obtained from the proposed method is consistent with the one obtained from the homography-based method. By further comparing with the homography-based correction method, it is found that the 3D reconstruction method can effectively overcome the limitation of the homography-based method that the fixed reference points and the target points must be coplanar.

Short-read sequencing has inherent limitations in the characterisation of long repeat elements. Shi and Guo et al.combine single-molecule real-time sequencing and IrysChip to construct a Chinese reference genome that fills many gaps in the reference genome, and identify novel spliced genes.

Liquid metals are widely applied in various fields, including chemistry, catalysis, energy storage, chemical sensing, and stretchable electronics, due to their unique deformabilities. However, their behavior under a rod or ring electrode has never been analyzed. Furthermore, research on the deformation behavior of eutectic Ga--In (EGaIn), the most commonly used Ga-based liquid metal, under electric fields of varying intensities and shapes is lacking. Therefore, investigating the deformation behavior of liquid metals under electric fields is expected to contribute to the accurate regulation of their morphologies. To this end, herein, an electrochemical device was fabricated using EGaIn, and experiments were conducted by adjusting the potential and the cathode shape. Further, the mechanism of the deformation was analyzed in detail. When a potential was applied, EGaIn droplets deformed into fractal dendrites under circular, polygonal, and nonpolygonal electric fields. Dendrite symmetry was influenced by the cathode shape, as the resulting electric fields varied in shape. The results of this study will aid in precisely controlling the behaviors of LMs and their alloys using electric fields. This topic is suitable for upper-division undergraduates who possess a basic understanding of electrochemistry. Through these experiments, students may explore the effects of potential on the morphology of EGaIn and analyze experimental phenomena such as electrowetting, dendrite formation, and surface oxidation, thereby developing a preliminary understanding of interfacial tension and electrocapillarity. Additionally, these experiments encourage undergraduates to actively participate in laboratory work, which helps foster their enthusiasm for chemistry.

Background At present, the concentration of botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) injection in the treatment of hemifacial spasm (HFS) is different in various reports, and the efficacy and adverse drug reactions incidence are varied. Few randomized controlled trials are related to this subject. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two concentrations of BTX-A in the treatment for HFS. Methods Eighty patients with HFS from 4 research centers were included in this multicenter randomized double-blind self-crossover controlled trial. Patients were randomly assigned to high-density group (given injection of 50 U/ml BTX-A) and low-density group (given injection of 25 U/ml BTX-A). They were subjected to a cross-over repetitive injection of BTX-A of different concentrations after recurrence. Therapeutic efficacy and adverse effect were compared between two groups. Results Both high-density and low-density BTX-A were effective. Cohen spasms strength grade scores before and after the treatment in high-density group were 2.89 ± 0.53 vs 0.24 ± 0.46, while in low-density group was 2.89 ± 0.55 vs 0.24 ± 0.46 (P = 0.000, for all). The therapeutic efficacy was not different between the two groups in different concentration order (P > 0.05). But the lasting time of therapeutic efficacy was much longer in high-density group than that of low-density group (4.18 ± 0.49 months vs 3.26 ± 0.44 months, P = 0.000). Within three months, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the decrease of Cohen spasms strength grade scores (2.65 ± 0.62 vs 2.66 ± 0.66, P = 0.863). Four months after treatment, it was different between the two groups in the decrease of Cohen spasms strength grade scores (2.60 ± 0.65 vs 1.70 ± 0.72, P = 0.000). Five months after treatment, it was also different between the two groups in the decrease of Cohen spasms strength grade scores (1.56 ± 0.94 vs 0.25 ± 0.49, P = 0.000). After six months of treatment, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the decrease of Cohen spasms strength grade scores (0.08 ± 0.27 vs 0.05 ± 0.22, P = 0.515). There were no allergic reactions and systemic adverse effects. The adverse effect of the high-density group was more than that of the low-density group (26.56% vs 7.81%, P = 0.000). All of the adverse effects were mild and temporary, and no special intervention was involved. The duration of adverse effect was longer in high-density group [(5.71 ± 1.61) weeks vs (3.16 ± 0.62) weeks, P = 0.000]. Conclusion This study showed that injection of BTX⁃A with different concentrations in HFS patients was safe and effective. With high-density, the repeated injection interval time was longer; the pain of patients was reduced; the cost of treatment was low; but adverse drug reactions were relatively evident and lasted for a longer period of time.

Acquisition of cis-regulatory elements is a major driving force of evolution, and there are several examples of developmental enhancers derived from transposable elements (TEs). However, it remains unclear whether one enhancer element could have been produced via cooperation among multiple, yet distinct, TEs during evolution. Here we show that an evolutionarily conserved genomic region named AS3_9 comprises three TEs (AmnSINE1, X6b_DNA and MER117), inserted side-by-side, and functions as a distal enhancer for wnt5a expression during morphogenesis of the mammalian secondary palate. Functional analysis of each TE revealed step-by-step retroposition/transposition and co-option together with acquisition of a binding site for Msx1 for its full enhancer function during mammalian evolution. The present study provides a new perspective suggesting that a huge variety of TEs, in combination, could have accelerated the diversity of cis-regulatory elements involved in morphological evolution.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form symbiotic associations with most plant species in terrestrial ecosystems, and are affected by environmental variations. To reveal the impact of disturbance on an AM fungal community under future global warming, we examined the abundance and community composition of AM fungi in both soil and mixed roots in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Warming and grazing had no significant effect on AM root colonization, spore density and extraradical hyphal density. A total of 65 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of AM fungi were identified from soil and roots using molecular techniques. AM fungal OTU richness was higher in soil (54 OTUs) than in roots (34 OTUs), and some AM fungi that differed between soil and roots, showed significantly biased occurrence to warming or grazing. Warming and grazing did not significantly affect AM fungal OTU richness in soil, but warming with grazing significantly increased AM fungal OTU richness in roots compared to the grazing-only treatment. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis showed that the AM fungal community composition was significantly different between soil and roots, and was significantly affected by grazing in roots, whereas in soil it was significantly affected by warming and plant species richness. The results suggest that the AM fungal community responds differently to warming and grazing in soil compared with roots. This study provides insights into the role of AM fungi under global environmental change scenarios in alpine meadows of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Fungal diversity within plant roots is affected by several factors such as dispersal limitation, habitat filtering, and plant host preference. Given the differences in life style between symbiotic and non-symbiotic fungi, the main factors affecting these two groups of fungi may be different. We assessed the diversity of root associated fungi of Rhododendron decorum using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis, and our aim was to evaluate the role of different factors in structuring ericoid mycorrhizal (ERM) and non-ericoid mycorrhizal (NEM) fungal communities. Thirty-five fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were found in roots of R. decorum, of which 25 were putative ERM fungal species. Of the two main groups of known ERM, helotialean fungi were more abundant and common than sebacinalean species. Geographic and host patterning of the fungal assemblages were different for ERM and NEM. The distribution of putative ERM fungal terminal restriction fragments (TRFs) showed that there were more common species within ERM than in the NEM fungal assemblages. Results of Mantel tests indicated that the composition of NEM fungal assemblages correlated with geographic parameters while ERM fungal assemblages lacked a significant geographic pattern and instead were correlated with host genotype. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that the NEM fungal assemblages were significantly correlated with latitude, longitude, elevation, mean annual precipitation (MAP), and axis 2 of a host-genetic principle component analysis (PCA), while ERM fungal assemblages correlated only with latitude and axis 1 of the host-genetic PCA. We conclude that ERM and NEM assemblages are affected by different factors, with the host genetic composition more important for ERM and geographic factors more important for NEM assemblages. Our results contribute to understanding the roles of dispersal limitation, abiotic factors and biotic interactions in structuring fungal communities in plant roots.

AIM: To observe the effect of 23G micro invasive vitrectomy in treating Terson syndrome. METHODS: Six cases(11 eyes)of Terson syndrome with severe vitreous hemorrhage were performed 23G micro invasive vitrectomy since conservative treatment did not show effect on them. Membrane peeling and silicone oil tamponade were applied according to the retinal conditions. We observed the postoperative visual acuity(VA), retina and complications. RESULTS: All the cases had obvious improvement of postoperative VA,in which 8 eyes in 11(73%)was better than 0.5. The postoperative VA of one eye(9%)were less than 0.1 because of pre-existing proliferative vitreoretinal diseases and retinal detachment.CONCLUSION: 23G micro invasive vitrectomy is an effective approach in treating Terson syndrome. Most of the cases indicate good visual outcome. However, the cases with severe proliferation have poor outcome. We recommend performing an early 23G micro invasive vitrectomy for the failure of conservative treatment in Terson syndrome.

Introduction: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) studies in Parkinson's Disease (PD) targeting the subthalamic nucleus (STN) have characterized its spectral properties across cognitive processes. In emotional evaluation tasks, specific alpha frequency (8-12Hz) event-related de-synchronization (ERD) (reduced power) has been demonstrated. The time-locked stimulation of STN relative to stimuli onset has shown subjective positive valence shifts with 10Hz but not with 130Hz. However, neurophysiological effects of stimulation on power modulation have not been investigated. We aim to investigate effects of acute stimulation of the right STN on concurrent power modulation in the contralateral STN and frontal scalp EEG. Fromour previous study, we had a strong a priori hypothesis that negative imagery without stimulation would be associated with alpha ERD; negative imagery with 130Hz stimulation would be also associated with alpha ERD given the lack of its effect on subjective valence ratings; negative imagery with 10Hz stimulation was to be associated with enhanced alpha power given the shift in behavioral valence ratings. Methods: Twenty-four subjects with STN DBS underwent emotional picture-viewing tasks comprising neutral and negative pictures. In a subset of these subjects, the negative images were associated with time-locked acute stimulation at either 10 or 130Hz. Power of signals was estimated relative to the baseline and subjected to non-parametric statistical testing. Results: As hypothesized, in 130Hz stimulation condition, we show a decrease in alpha power to negative vs. neutral images irrespective of stimulation. In contrast, this alpha power decrease was no longer evident in the negative 10Hz stimulation condition consistent with a predicted increase in alpha power. Greater beta power in the 10Hz stimulation condition along with correlations between beta power across the 10Hz stimulation and unstimulated conditions suggest physiological and cognitive generalization effects. Conclusion: Acute alpha-specific frequency stimulation presumably was associated with a loss of this expected decrease or desynchronization in alpha power to negative images suggesting the capacity to facilitate the synchronization of alpha and enhance power. Acute time-locked stimulation has the potential to provide causal insights into the spectral frequencies and temporal dynamics of emotional processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]