Review of EEG-based neurofeedback as a therapeutic intervention to treat depression

Depression, or major depressive disorder, is a common mental disorder that affects individuals' behavior, mood, and physical health, and its prevalence has increased during the lockdowns implemented to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. There is an urgent need to update the treatment recommendations for mental disorders during such crises. Conventional interventions to treat depression include long-term pharmacotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Electroencephalogram-neurofeedback (EEG-NF) training has been suggested as a non-invasive option to treat depression with minimal side effects. In this systematic review, we summarize the recent literature on EEG-NF training for treating depression. The 12 studies included in our final sample reported that despite several issues related to EEG-NF practices, patients with depression showed significant cognitive, clinical, and neural improvements following EEG-NF training. Given its low cost and the low risk of side effects due to its non-invasive nature, we suggest that EEG-NF is worth exploring as an augmented tool for patients who already receive standard medications but remain symptomatic, and that EEG-NF training may be an effective intervention tool that can be utilized as a supplementary treatment for depression. We conclude by providing some suggestions related to experimental designs and standards to improve current EEG-NF training practices for treating depression.

The effects of aging and perceived loneliness on lexical ambiguity resolution

Language is central to the interactional nature of the social life within which it is situated. To react or respond in a particular situation, we must be able to recognize the social situation. Growing evidence has demonstrated the negative impact of perceived loneliness on late-life executive functions. Yet little is known about how social factors impact language processing for older people. The current study aims to fill this gap, first by assessing age-related changes in lexical processing during Chinese word reading, second, by examining whether older adults’ individual differences, such as processing speed and verbal abilities, modulate meaning retrieval and, third, by investigating whether perceived loneliness can hinder word reading. The use of compound words in Chinese enables significant sublexical ambiguity, requiring varying executive load during word recognition: when a word’s constituent characters carry multiple meanings, readers must consider the meaning contributions of both constituent characters and use top-down word information to determine the most accurate meaning of the ambiguous character, a process termed “sublexical ambiguity resolution.” In this study, adults read real Chinese words (including both sublexically ambiguous and unambiguous words) and pseudowords, and they were asked to make lexical decisions. Older adults exhibited greater lexicality effects (i.e., real words were easier to be identified than pseudowords) and similar sublexical ambiguity effects compared with young adults. Among older participants, processing speed could account for their ability to differentiate between words and pseudowords. In contrast, the level of perceived loneliness modulated the efficacy of sublexical ambiguity resolution: the participants with higher perceived loneliness displayed a greater sublexical ambiguity disadvantage effect. These results indicate that perceived loneliness may affect the use of contextual information in meaning retrieval during reading. The findings provide an important link between social connections and language processing.

Neurofeedback for the Education of Children with ADHD and Specific Learning Disorders: A Review

Neurofeedback (NF) is a type of biofeedback in which an individual’s brain activity is measured and presented to them to support self-regulation of ongoing brain oscillations and achieve specific behavioral and neurophysiological outcomes. NF training induces changes in neurophysiological circuits that are associated with behavioral changes. Recent evidence suggests that the NF technique can be used to train electrical brain activity and facilitate learning among children with learning disorders. Toward this aim, this review first presents a generalized model for NF systems, and then studies involving NF training for children with disorders such as dyslexia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other specific learning disorders such as dyscalculia and dysgraphia are reviewed. The discussion elaborates on the potential for translational applications of NF in educational and learning settings with details. This review also addresses some issues concerning the role of NF in education, and it concludes with some solutions and future directions. In order to provide the best learning environment for children with ADHD and other learning disorders, it is critical to better understand the role of NF in educational settings. The review provides the potential challenges of the current systems to aid in highlighting the issues undermining the efficacy of current systems and identifying solutions to address them. The review focuses on the use of NF technology in education for the development of adaptive teaching methods and the best learning environment for children with learning disabilities.

[Diagnostic efficacy of metagenomic next-generation sequencing for intracranial bacterial infection pathogens after neurosurgery]

Objective: To explore the diagnostic efficacy of metagenomicnext-generation sequencing (mNGS) technique for pathogen diagnosis of intracranial infection after neurosurgery. Methods: Patients with suspected intracranial infection after neurosurgery who were treated in Beijing Tiantan Hospital of Capital Medical University from May 2017 to October 2018 were selected. Cerebrospinal fluid samples were collected for mNGS detection and bacterial culture. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of these two methods were calculated, and their differences were compared. Results: A total of 80 cerebrospinal fluid samples from patient with suspected intracranial infection after neurosurgery were included, including 53 males and 27 females, with a mean age of (41±19) years old(age range: 2-80 years).After clinical review, a clinical diagnosis was made by two neurosurgery specialists through comprehensively interpretation of the patient's clinical data, laboratory tests and imaging examinations. Finally, 42 cases of intracranial infection and 38 cases of non-infection were clinically diagnosed. The sensitivity and specificity of mNGS detection were 83.33%(35/42) and 76.32%(29/38), and the positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 79.55%(35/44) and 80.56%(29/36). Meanwhile, the sensitivity and specificity of bacterial culture were 59.52%(28/42) and 68.42%(26/38), the positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 68.00% (28/40) and 60.47%(26/40). The sensitivity of mNGS detection washigher than that of bacterial culture, and the difference was statistically significant(χ²=5.83, P=0.015).Compared with bacterial culture, there was no statistically significant difference in the specificity of mNGS detection(χ²=0.59, P=0.441). Conclusion: mNGS detection technique can improve the detection rate of intracranial infection pathogens after neurosurgery, and may become a promising auxiliary diagnostic tool for pathogen detection.

[Prevention and treatment of stroke in Chinese and African young adults]

Over the past two decades, with the improvement of living standards and the change of lifestyle, the incidence of stroke in young adults had been increasing year by year. Compared with elderly patients, young patients had a higher proportion of intracranial and subarachnoid hemorrhage. The etiologies of ischemic stroke in young patients were more diverse, with increasing risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking, alcoholism, and oral contraceptives. Due to the atypical clinical symptoms, various etiologies, the clinical inertia of the receiving physicians and the concerns about the use of statins in young stroke patients, timely diagnosis and standardized treatment are still challenging. China has been providing medical assistance to African countries for nearly 60 years. Considering the regional differences in medical level between China and Africa, in order to help Chinese medical teams to have a deep understanding of the current situation of stroke in young African adults, this paper comprehensively analyzed the epidemiology, etiology, risk factors and prevention measures of stroke in young adults, especially in Chinese and African, which could provide corresponding reference for early identification, treatment, prevention and education of stroke in young people.

The Neurobiological Basis of Love: A Meta-Analysis of Human Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Maternal and Passionate Love

Maternal and passionate love are both crucial for reproduction and involve attachment behaviors with high rewards. Neurobiological studies of attachment in animal and human neuroimaging studies have suggested that the coordination of oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic pathways, coupled with the dopaminergic reward system, contribute to the formation and maintenance of maternal and passionate love. In the present study, we carried out a quantitative meta-analysis of human neuroimaging to identify common and dissociable neural substrates associated with maternal and passionate love, using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach. The ALE results showed significant activation of the brain regions in the left ventral tegmental area (VTA), right thalamus, left substantia nigra, and the left putamen for maternal love, but in the bilateral VTA for passionate love. The meta-analytic neuroimaging evidence suggests the greater involvement of cognitive–affective regulation in maternal attachment and the greater desire to combine liking and wanting in romantic love behaviors. The conjunction analysis highlights the functional convergence of the VTA across the two types of human love, indicating a shared neurobiological mechanism of maternal and passionate love with evolutionary roots. Our findings suggest that the processing of both maternal and passionate love involve the affective and motivational regulation associated with dopaminergic systems; our neuroimaging evidence supports the notion that maternal and passionate love share a common evolutionary origin and neurobiological basis in the human brain.

[Effects of statins on mortality and neurologic outcomes in patients with traumatic brain injury: a meta-analysis]

Objective: To systematically evaluate the effects of statins on the mortality and neurologic function prognosis in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: The PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, the Cochrane Clinical Controlled Trial Center Registry Database, Chinese Journal Full-text Database (CNKI), and WanFang database up to 2021.1 were searched to obtain clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and retrospective cohort studies of statins in the treatment of TBI. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to screen literature and extract data. Ottawa scale and the RCT bias risk assessment tool was used for quality evaluation. Comprehensive Meta Analysis V3 statistical software for meta-analysis was applied. Results: Thirteen studies were included, with a total of 116, 500 patients, including 46, 933 patients using statins in the intervention group and 69, 567 patients in the control group. Meta-analysis results showed that compared with the control group, statins can reduce the mortality of TBI patients (OR=0.82, 95%CI: 0.74-0.92, P<0.01), significantly improve the neurologic outcomes of TBI patients (OR=0.19, 95%CI: 0.13-0.26, P<0.01), and reduce the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β after TBI (TNF-α: OR=0.16, 95%CI: 0.07-0.34, P<0.01; IL-1β: OR=0.08, 95%CI: 0.04-0.18, P<0.01), with statistically significant differences. Conclusion: Statins can reduce the mortality of patients with TBI and improve the neurologic outcomes. Their reduction of inflammation in the body may be the basis of potential treatment, but more high-quality RCTs are still warranted.

Category Exemplar Production Norms for Hong Kong Cantonese: Instance Probabilities and Word Familiarity

The lexical system of Hong Kong Cantonese has been heavily shaped by the local trilingual environment. The development of cultural- and language-specific norms for Hong Kong Cantonese is fundamental for understanding how the speaker population organize semantic memory, how they utilize their semantic resources, and what information processing strategies they use for the retrieval of semantic knowledge. This study presents a normative database of 72 lexical categories in Hong Kong Cantonese produced by native speakers in a category exemplar production task. Exemplars are enlisted under a category label, along with the instance probabilities and word familiarity scores. Possible English equivalents are given to the exemplars for the convenience of non-HKC speaker researchers. Statistics on categories were further extracted to capture the heterogeneity of the categories: the total number of valid exemplars, the number of exemplars covering 90% of the occurrence and the probabilities of the most frequent exemplars in each category. The database offers a direct lexical sketch of the vocabulary of modern Hong Kong Cantonese in a categorical structure. The category-exemplar lists and the comparative statistics together lay the foundations for further investigations on the Hong Kong Cantonese speaking population from multiple disciplines, such as the structure of semantic knowledge, the time-course of knowledge access, and the processing strategies of young adults. Results of this norm can be also used as a benchmark for other age groups. The database can serve as a crucial resource for establishing initial screening tests to assess the cognitive and psychological functioning of the Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong population in both educational and clinical settings. In sum, this normative study provides a fundamental resource for future studies on language processing mechanisms of Hong Kong Cantonese speaking population, as well as language studies and other cross-language/culture studies on Hong Kong Cantonese.

Novel REST Truncation Mutations Causing Hereditary Gingival Fibromatosis

Hereditary gingival fibromatosis (HGF) is a rare genetic disorder featured by nonsyndromic pathological overgrowth of gingiva. The excessive gingival tissues can cause dental, masticatory, and phonetic problems, which impose severe functional and esthetic burdens on affected individuals. Due to its high recurrent rate, patients with HGF have to undergo repeated surgical procedures of gingival resection, from childhood to adulthood, which significantly compromises their quality of life. Unraveling the genetic etiology and molecular pathogenesis of HGF not only gains insight into gingival physiology and homeostasis but also opens avenues for developing potential therapeutic strategies for this disorder. Recently, mutations in REST (OMIM *600571), encoding a transcription repressor, were reported to cause HGF (GINGF5; OMIM #617626) in 3 Turkish families. However, the functions of REST in gingival homeostasis and pathogenesis of REST-associated HGF remain largely unknown. In this study, we characterized 2 HGF families and identified 2 novel REST mutations, c.2449C>T (p.Arg817*) and c.2771_2793dup (p.Glu932Lysfs*3). All 5 mutations reported to date are nonsenses or frameshifts in the last exon of REST and would presumably truncate the protein. In vitro reporter gene assays demonstrated a partial or complete loss of repressor activity for these truncated RESTs. When coexpressed with the full-length protein, the truncated RESTs impaired the repressive ability of wild-type REST, suggesting a dominant negative effect. Immunofluorescent studies showed nuclear localization of overexpressed wild-type and truncated RESTs in vitro, indicating preservation of the nuclear localization signal in shortened proteins. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated a comparable pattern of ubiquitous REST expression in both epithelium and lamina propria of normal and HGF gingival tissues despite a reduced reactivity in HGF gingiva. Results of this study confirm the pathogenicity of REST truncation mutations occurring in the last exon causing HGF and suggest the pathosis is caused by an antimorphic (dominant negative) disease mechanism.

Static and dynamic functional connectivity supports the configuration of brain networks associated with creative cognition

Creative cognition is recognized to involve the integration of multiple spontaneous cognitive processes and is manifested as complex networks within and between the distributed brain regions. We propose that the processing of creative cognition involves the static and dynamic re-configuration of brain networks associated with complex cognitive processes. We applied the sliding-window approach followed by a community detection algorithm and novel measures of network flexibility on the blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal of 8 major functional brain networks to reveal static and dynamic alterations in the network reconfiguration during creative cognition using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Our results demonstrate the temporal connectivity of the dynamic large-scale creative networks between default mode network (DMN), salience network, and cerebellar network during creative cognition, and advance our understanding of the network neuroscience of creative cognition.

Which digit is larger? Brain responses to number and size interactions in a numerical Stroop task

When comparing the digits of different physical sizes, the processing of numerical value interacts with the processing of physical size. Given the universal use of Arabic numbers in mathematics and daily life, this study aims to elucidate the cognitive processes involved in the interactions of task-relevant and task-irrelevant features during information processing. We investigated this question by examining event-related potential (ERP) using a modified version of the size congruity comparison, which is a Stroop-like task. Numerical value and physical size were varied independently under task-relevant and task-irrelevant conditions. To better examine how the task-irrelevant features modulated the processing of the task-relevant attributes, a neutral condition was included in both tasks. For the physical task, congruent trials showed a less negative N200 response than neutral trials (indicating a facilitation effect), and incongruent trials elicited a larger N450 and smaller late positive complex (LPC) response than neutral trials (indicating an interference effect). For the numerical task, congruent trials showed a larger LPC response than neutral trials (indicating a facilitation effect). These ERP findings indicate that the sources of the facilitation and interference effects appear in different cognitive processes for each task. We further suggest that language characteristics may be a factor in the superior numerical processing exhibited in this study.

[Chromosomal aberrations detection in chronic lymphocytic leukemia by conventional cytogenetics using DSP30 and IL-2]

Objective: To study the value of unmethylated cytosine guanine dinucleotide oligodeoxynucleotide (DSP30) and IL-2 in the conventional cytogenetic (CA) detection of the chromosomal aberrations in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) . Methods: Bone marrow or peripheral blood cells of CLL patients were cultured with DSP30 plus IL-2 for 72 h, following which R-banding analysis was conducted. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed in 85 patients. CA results were compared with data obtained by FISH. Results: Among 89 CLL patients, the success rate of chromosome analysis was 94.38% (84/89) . Clonal aberrations were detected in 51 patients (51/84, 60.71%) . Of them, 27 (27/51, 52.94%) were complex karyotype. Among 85 CLL patients tested by FISH, chromosomal abnormalities were detected in 74 (74/85, 87.06%) patients, of which 2 (2/74) patients were complex karyotypes, accounting for 2.70%. Of the 85 CLL patients examined by FISH, 50 had abnormal karyotype analysis, 30 had normal karyotype, 5 failed to have chromosome analysis. Among them, 25 cases showed clonal aberrations by FISH assay but normal by CA, and 4 cases were normal by FISH but displayed aberrations in chromosome analysis, and totally 78 (91.76%) cases with abnormality detected by the combination of the two methods. The frequency of 13q- abnormality detected by FISH was significantly higher than that by CA analysis (69.41%vs 16.67%, P<0.001) , while the frequency of 11q-,+12 and 17p- detected by two methods showed no significant difference (P>0.05) . The detection rate of complex abnormalities in conventional karyotype analysis was higher than that in FISH (50.98%vs 2.70%) . In addition, 11 low-risk and 9 intermediate-risk patients according to FISH results showed complex karyotype by cytogenetics, and were classified into high-risk cytogenetic subgroup. Conclusion: DSP30 and IL-2 are effective in improving the detection rate of CA in CLL patients (60.71%) and CA is more effective to detect complex karyotype. However, FISH had a higher overall abnormality detection rate (87.06%) than CA, especially for 13q-. The combination of CA and FISH not only enhanced the detection rate of clonal aberrations to 91.76%, but also provided more precise prognosis stratification for CLL patients, thus to provide more information for clinical implication.

Incidence and mortality of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: interim analysis of a cluster randomized controlled screening trial (PRO-NPC-001) in southern China

BACKGROUND

Previous mass screening studies have shown that IgA antibodies against Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) can facilitate early detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), but the impact of EBV-antibody screening for NPC-specific mortality remains unknown.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A prospective, cluster randomized, controlled trial for NPC screening (PRO-NPC-001) was conducted in 3 selected towns of Zhongshan City and 13 selected towns of Sihui City in southern China beginning in 2008. Serum samples of the screening group were tested for two previously selected anti-EBV antibodies. Subjects with serological medium risk were subsequently retested annually for 3 years, and those with serological high risk were referred to otorhinolaryngologists for diagnostic check-up. An interim analysis was carried out to evaluate the primary end points of the NPC-specific mortality and the early diagnostic rate, and the secondary end point of the NPC incidence, through linkage with the database of Zhongshan City.

RESULTS

Among 70 296 total subjects, 29 413 screened participants (41.8% of the total subjects) in the screening group and 50 636 in the control group, 153 (43.3 per 100 000 person-year), 62 (55.3 per 100 000 person-year) and 99 (33.1 per 100 000 person-year) NPC cases were identified. The early diagnostic rates of NPC were significantly higher in the participants (79.0%, P < 0.0001) and the screening group (45.9%, P < 0.0001) compared with the control group (20.6%). Although no differences were found between NPC-specific mortality of the screening group and the control group [relative risk (RR)= 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37-1.79], lower NPC-specific mortality was noticed among participants from the screening group versus the control group (RR = 0.22, 95% CI 0.09-0.49).

CONCLUSION

IgA antibodies against EBV can identify high-risk population and was effective in screening for early asymptomatic NPC. Although the mortality reduction was not significant in the primary end point, we noted encouraging evidence of a mortality reduction in screening participants in this interim analysis.

CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER

NCT00941538.

Culture-Related and Individual Differences in Regional Brain Volumes: A Cross-Cultural Voxel-Based Morphometry Study

Converging behavioral and functional neuroimaging evidence indicates that East Asian and Western individuals have different orientations for processing information that may stem from contrasting cultural values. In this cross-cultural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) approach to investigate culture-related and individual differences of independent-interdependent orientation in structural brain volume between 57 Taiwanese and 56 Western participants. Each participant’s degree of endorsement of independent and interdependent cultural value was assessed by their self-report on the Singelis Self-Construal Scale (SCS). Behaviorally, Taiwanese rated higher SCS scores than Westerners in interdependent value and Westerners rated higher SCS scores than Taiwanese in independent value. The VBM results demonstrated that Western participants showed greater gray matter (GM) volume in the fronto-parietal network, whereas Taiwanese participants showed greater regional volume in temporal and occipital regions. Our findings provide supportive evidence that socio-cultural experiences of learned independent-interdependent orientations may play a role in regional brain volumes. However, strategic differences in cognition, genetic variation, and/or modulations of other environmental factors should also be considered to interpret such culture-related effects and potential individual differences.

[Propensity-matched comparison of laparoscopic and open radical cystectomy for female patients with bladder cancer]

OBJECTIVE

To compare the perioperative and oncologic outcomes of female patients receiving laparoscopic radical cystectomy (LRC) and open radical cystectomy (ORC).

METHODS

Retrospective review of 91 consecutive female patients with urothelial carcinoma of bladder undergoing radical cystectomy at a single academic institution from 2006 to 2017. Those female patients received open radical cystectomy were matched to the patients who underwent laparoscopic radical cystectomy by using propensity score matching in 1 ∶1 ratio. The matching factors included age, body mass index (BMI), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, pathologic stage and pathologic nodal stage. The perioperation and oncology characteristics were compared, and Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the overall survival (OS), cancer specific survival (CSS) and progression-free survival (PFS) estimates. Finally, we did a sensitive analysis by using multivariable COX regression of all the patients, adjusting for the matching factors.

RESULTS

There were 65 ORC and 26 LRC patients identified in this cohort with urothelial carcinoma of bladder, the median follow-up time was 38 months (interquartile range 18-69). The age (P<0.001) and ASA scores (P=0.018) were less for LRC before being matched. There were 22 LRC and 22 ORC patients matching successfully. Before being matched, the estimate blood loss (P=0.005), transfusion rate (P<0.001) and total complications rate (P=0.015) were less for LRC, and the lymph nodes yield was greater for LRC, but there were no differences in OS (P=0.698), CSS (P=0.942) and PFS (P=0.837) between the two groups. After being matched, the estimate blood loss (P=0.009), transfusion rate (P=0.001) and total complications rate (P=0.040) were less for LRC, but there was no difference in the lymph nodes yield. Besides, there were no statistic differences in OS (P=0.432), CSS (P=0.429) and PFS (P=0.284) between the two groups. In addition, in multivariable COX regression analysis, surgical approaches (LRC/ORC) were not found to be a predictor of OS (HR 1.134, 95%CI 0.335-3.835, P=0.839), CSS (HR 1.051, 95%CI 0.234-4.719, P=0.949) and PFS (HR 0.538, 95%CI 0.138-2.095, P=0.371) of the female patients with urothelial carcinoma of bladder.

CONCLUSION

It is advantageous for laparoscopic radical cystectomy in terms of estimating blood loss, transfusion rate and complication rate. But there was no evidence that laparoscopic radical cystectomy for female patients with bladder cancer had a better oncologic prognosis than open radical cystectomy from this study.

Aging, cognition, and the brain: effects of age-related variation in white matter integrity on neuropsychological function

Alterations in brain structure are viewed as neurobiological indicators which are closely tied to cognitive changes in healthy human aging. The current study used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography to investigate the relationship between age, brain variation in white matter (WM) integrity, and cognitive function. Sixteen younger adults (aged 20-28 years) and 18 healthy older adults (aged 60-75 years) underwent DTI scanning and a standardized battery of neuropsychological measures. Behaviorally, older adults exhibited poorer performance on multiple cognitive measures compared to younger adults. At the neural level, the effects of aging on theWM integrity were evident within interhemispheric (the anterior portion of corpus callosum) and transverse (the right uncinate fasciculus) fibers of the frontal regions, and the cingulum-angular fibers. Our correlation results showed that age-related WM differentially influenced cognitive function, with increased fractional anisotropy values in both the anterior corpus callosum and the right cingulum/angular fibers positively correlated with performance on the visuospatial task in older adults. Moreover, mediation analysis further revealed that the WM tract integrity of the frontal interhemspheric fibers was a significant mediator of age-visuospatial performance relation in older adults, but not in younger adults. These findings support the vulnerability of the frontal WM fibers to normal aging and push forward our understanding of cognitive aging by providing a more integrative view of the neural basis of linkages among aging, cognition, and brain.

[Clinical characteristics of the Wilson disease carrier]

Objective: To study the clinical symptoms, copper metabolism and imaging characteristics of Wilson disease (WD) carriers and to explore the treatment strategy of WD carriers. Methods: Forty WD carriers, 40 WD patients and 20 normal controls from the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from July 2007 to May 2018 were included. The modified Young scale was used for neural symptom scoring, and Child grading of liver function, mental symptoms rating scale, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) inspection, metal metabolism tests were also applied to all the included subjects. Corrected phase (CP) was measured by SWI. WD carriers were divided into symptomatic group and asymptomatic group. Symptomatic WD carriers were treated with penicillamine for 2 weeks and zinc gluconate for 3 months, then their neurological symptoms, liver function grade, metal metabolism index were rechecked. Results: Six WD carriers presented with some clinical symptoms, including 5 with neurological symptoms and 4 with liver dysfunction. The score of Hamilton anxiety (HAMA) scale of symptomatic WD carriers was higher than that of normal control group (P=0.021). 85% of carriers had ceruloplasmin level less than 0.26 g/L. 80% of carriers had serum copper between normal controls and WD patients. The free copper level of WD carriers was lower than that of WD patients (P=0.012, 0.019). Urinary copper in symptomatic WD carriers was higher than normal controls (P=0.047). The CP values of thalamus, globus pallidus and putamen in symptomatic WD carriers were lower than those in normal control group. After treatment with penicillamine in symptomatic WD carriers, urinary copper was higher than that before treatment (P=0.036). After treatment, the liver enzymes of symptomatic WD carriers returned to normal, and the score of modified Young scale was lower than before treatment (P=0.031). Conclusions: Mild copper metabolism abnormality is seen in WD carriers. A few carriers have neurological symptoms such as limb tremors, or liver symptoms such as abnormal liver enzymes. Abnormal copper metabolism is more serious in symptomatic WD carriers than in asymptomatic WD carriers. Symptomatic WD carriers can be treated with zinc gluconate.

[An experimental study of CD4 targeted chimeric antigen receptor modified T cell with anti-lymphoma activity]

目的

探讨针对CD4膜蛋白的CAR-T细胞对CD4⁺T细胞淋巴瘤细胞的靶向特异性杀伤作用。

方法

采用重组DNA技术构建含4-1BB共刺激分子的第二代针对CD4的CAR慢病毒载体，应用293T细胞包装慢病毒，采用流式细胞术检测T细胞的转染效率及T细胞亚群动态变化，采用流式细胞术微球法检测培养上清中IFN-γ浓度。

结果

①构建的慢病毒载体转染激活的T细胞后CAR膜蛋白阳性率达到50.0%~70.0%。T细胞激活后部分CD8⁺T细胞弱表达（dim）CD4膜蛋白。T细胞转染针对CD4的CAR慢病毒后CD4⁺ T细胞、CD8⁺ CD4^dim T细胞逐渐被清除。②CAR-T细胞、对照组T细胞（空载体转染的T细胞）以8∶1效靶比分别与CD4⁺人T细胞淋巴瘤细胞株KARPAS 299细胞共培养24 h，杀伤效率分别为（96.9±2.1）%和（11.2±3.1）%，前者明显高于后者（t=7.137，P=0.028）。③CAR-T细胞单独培养，与转染慢病毒载体表达人CD4的K562细胞（K562-CD4细胞）、K562细胞共培养后上清中IFN-γ浓度分别为（1 785±268）、（15 648±2 168）、（1 978±354）pg/ml，CAR-T细胞与K562-CD4细胞共培养上清IFN-γ浓度明显高于其他两组，差异有统计学意义（P<0.01）。

结论

CD4特异性CAR-T细胞效应细胞免疫表型为CD8⁺ CD4⁺ T细胞，在体外具有杀伤正常CD4⁺ T细胞和CD4⁺ T细胞淋巴瘤细胞的活性，对于CD4^dim T细胞也有较好的清除活性。

Application of Nonlinear Optical Microscopic Imaging Technology for Quality Assessment of Donor Kidneys

BACKGROUND

Nonlinear optical microscopic (NLOM) imaging technique shows its high resolution imaging features in histocytology. The purpose of this study was to investigate NLOM imaging technique as a useful tool for a donor kidney quality assessment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Eighty-three pretransplant kidney biopsies from adult donors were analyzed retrospectively. Each specimen was paraffin-embedded and sectioned into 2 consecutive 5-μm thick sections. One section was stained with Masson trichrome, and the other was left unstained for NLOM imaging using second harmonic generation combined with two-photon excited fluorescence (SHG/TPEF). The pretransplant kidney quality was assessed by an experienced pathologist using the Remuzzi scoring system, which characterizes renal tissue morphology into 4 aspects: tubular atrophy, interstitial fibrosis, glomerulosclerosis, and vascular injury. The K coefficient was used to measure the consistency of the Remuzzi scores between conventional Masson trichrome stained images and SHG/TPEF images.

RESULTS

NLOM imaging technology can capture high-resolution tissue images from unstained renal tissue, is easy to operate, and shortens time-consuming histological processing procedures. No significant differences (P > .05) were found between the Remuzzi scores of the SHG/TPEF images and the Masson trichrome stained images. The high κ coefficients (0.804-0.895) showed a good consistency between these 2 techniques.

CONCLUSION

The NLOM technique is suitable for renal tissue imaging and could potentially be used for routine pretransplant kidney evaluation in clinical settings.

[Comparison of allogeneic or autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant for high-risk peripheral T cell lymphomas]

目的

比较自体造血干细胞移植（auto-HSCT）和异基因造血干细胞移植（allo-HSCT）治疗高危外周T细胞淋巴瘤（PTCL）疗效的差异。

方法

回顾性分析苏州大学附属第一医院60例接受HSCT治疗的高危PTCL患者临床资料。

结果

60例PTCL患者均为高危组患者（IPI评分≥3分），接受移植时中位年龄31 (12~58）岁。包括PTCL非特指型22例、ALK阴性的间变大细胞淋巴瘤22例、血管免疫母细胞淋巴瘤16例。其中接受auto-HSCT的有39例（63.5%），接受allo-HSCT的有21例（36.5%）。移植前40例完全缓解（CR），2例部分缓解（PR），18例未缓解（NR）。40例CR患者中10例接受allo-HSCT, 30例接受auto-HSCT。20例PR+NR患者中11例接受allo-HSCT, 9例接受auto-HSCT。移植后中位随访时间为39 (1~96）个月，auto-HSCT和allo-HSCT组的5年无进展生存率分别为61％和60%（P=0.724）。auto-HSCT和allo-HSCT组的5年总生存率分别为62％和61%（P=0.724）。auto-HSCT和allo-HSCT组的5年移植相关死亡率分别为22.7％和41.8%（P=0.250）。截至末次随访时间，auto-HSCT中7例患者复发，allo-HSCT组中2例复发，auto-HSCT和allo-HSCT组的5年累计复发率分别为37.2％和10.1%（P=0.298）。

结论

高危PTCL患者选择auto-HSCT或allo-HSCT治疗长期生存无明显差异，但allo-HSCT组患者移植前多为NR状态，表明对于NR患者，allo-HSCT效果可能较好。

Number of Meanings and Number of Senses: An ERP Study of Sublexical Ambiguities in Reading Chinese Disyllabic Compounds

In English, an extensive body of work in both behavioral and neuropsychological domains has produced strong evidence that homonymy (words with many distinct meanings) and polysemy (many related senses) are represented, retrieved, and processed differently in the human brain. In Chinese, most words are compounds, and the constituent characters within a compound word can have different meanings and/or related senses on their own. Thus, in order to resolve lexical ambiguity in Chinese, one has to consider the composition of constituent characters, as well as how they contribute to whole word reading, known as “sublexical ambiguity.” This study investigates how two types of sublexical ambiguity affect Chinese word processing. The number of meanings (NOM) and the number of senses (NOS) corresponding to the first character of Chinese compounds were manipulated in a lexical decision task. The interactions between NOM and NOS were observed in both behavioral results and N400s, in which NOM disadvantage effect was found for words with few-senses only. On the other hand, the NOS facilitation effect was significant for words with multiple-meanings (NOM > 1) only. The sublexical ambiguity disadvantage suggested that semantically unrelated morphemes are represented as separate entries. For characters with multiple meanings, one orthographic form is associated with more than one morphemic representation. In contrast, the sublexical sense advantage supported the idea that semantically related senses that shared a morphological root are represented within a single entry. The more senses listed in a morphological root, the stronger representation will be formed. These results suggest that two types of sublexical ambiguities are represented and processed differently in Chinese word recognition models and also demonstrate that how they interact with each other in the mental lexicon.

Sensory and semantic activations evoked by action attributes of manipulable objects: Evidence from ERPs

"Two route" theories of object-related action processing posit different temporal activation profiles of grasp-to-move actions (rapidly evoked based on object structure) versus skilled use actions (more slowly activated based on semantic knowledge). We capitalized on the exquisite temporal resolution and multidimensionality of Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) to directly test this hypothesis. Participants viewed manipulable objects (e.g., calculator) preceded by objects sharing either "grasp", "use", or no action attributes (e.g., bar of soap, keyboard, earring, respectively), as well as by action-unrelated but taxonomically-related objects (e.g., abacus); participants judged whether the two objects were related. The results showed more positive responses to "grasp-to-move" primed objects than "skilled use" primed objects or unprimed objects starting in the P1 (0-150 ms) time window and continuing onto the subsequent N1 and P2 components (150-300 ms), suggesting that only "grasp-to-move", but not "skilled use", actions may facilitate visual attention to object attributes. Furthermore, reliably reduced N400s (300-500 ms), an index of semantic processing, were observed to taxonomically primed and "skilled use" primed objects relative to unprimed objects, suggesting that "skilled use" action attributes are a component of distributed, multimodal semantic representations of objects. Together, our findings provide evidence supporting two-route theories by demonstrating that "grasp-to-move" and "skilled use" actions impact different aspects of object processing and highlight the relationship of "skilled use" information to other aspects of semantic memory.

[Efficacy of surgery and rituximab in primary gastric diffuse large B-cell lymphoma]

目的

探讨手术联合化疗与单纯化疗对原发胃弥漫大B细胞淋巴瘤（PGDLBCL）患者生存的影响，并分析化疗过程中联合应用利妥昔单抗（R）对其预后的影响。

方法

回顾性分析83例PGDLBCL患者的临床资料，并分析外科手术及利妥昔单抗对患者生存的影响。

结果

83例患者中男43例，女40例，中位年龄52 (20~76）岁，中位随访时间为36 (4~59）个月。手术联合化疗组（40例）和单纯化疗组（43例）患者的5年总生存（OS）率分别为68.4%、85.9%（P=0.117），疾病无进展生存（PFS）率分别为66.7%、82.6%（P=0.258），差异均无统计学意义。手术联合化疗患者中R-CHOP方案组（23例）和CHOP方案组（17例）患者的5年OS率分别为73.6%、64.2%（P=0.113），PFS率分别为71.2%、62.5%（P= 0.147）；单纯化疗患者中R-CHOP方案组（24例）和CHOP方案组（19例）患者的5年OS率分别为85.7%、83.5%（P=0.152），PFS率分别为83.4%、81.8%（P=0.307）。单纯化疗组和手术联合化疗组Lugano分期早期（Ⅰ~Ⅱ1期）患者的5年OS率分别为86.4%、78.7%，差异无统计学意义（P=0.283）；晚期（Ⅱ2~Ⅳ期）患者分别为74.6%、58.5%，差异有统计学意义（P=0.040）。多因素分析显示IPI评分是影响预后的独立因素（RR=0.370，95% CI 0.089~3.537，P=0.015）。

结论

单纯化疗或手术联合化疗对PGDLBCL患者长期生存的影响差异无统计学意义，但由于手术可能造成患者生存质量的下降，因此对于无手术指征者更倾向于推荐单纯化疗。本研究中利妥昔单抗的联合应用未能使大部分这类患者的生存显著获益，但这需要进一步多中心、大样本的研究来证实。

[Difference in imaging and metal metabolism between hepatic and cerebral type Wilson disease]

Objective: To evaluate the difference of metal metabolism, damage to structure and functional activity in brains between hepatic and cerebral type Wilson disease (WD). Methods: Forty patients with WD, including 20 with cerebral type and 20 with hepatic type, and 20 age-matched healthy controls in the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University between Jul 2013 and May 2016 were enrolled.All study subjects underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) and susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) of the brain.Six regions of interest (ROIs) were chosen.The values of fractional anisotropy (FA), λ in ROIs were determined on DTI, FA and fiber volumes between ROIs were also determined on DTI.The values of amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (REHO) in ROIs were determined on rs-fMRI.The values of corrected phase (CP) were calculated on SWI.The copper and iron content were measured.The difference of imaging and metal metrics between cerebral type and hepatic type WD were evaluated. Results: DTI metrics differed between patients with the cerebral and hepatic types of WD.ALFF values in the caudate nucleus, and thalamus were lower (P=0.037, 0.040), and REHO values in the caudate nucleus were lower (P=0.029), in patients of cerebral type than in hepatic type patients.CP values of the right caudate nucleus and left putamen in cerebral type WD patients were lower than in hepatic type patients (P=0.020, 0.23). The serum iron content of hepatic type WD patients was higher than the normal (P=0.013), and the urine copper content was higher than the cerebral type patients (P=0.021). Conclusions: Metal deposition and damage to the structure and functional activity in the brain may occur in hepatic type WD patients.The structural and functional activity damage of the brain in hepatic type is less severe than that in cerebral type patients, while the metal deposition is not significant different between hepatic and cerebral type.

[Effect of mouse nerve growth factor on cognitive impairment in whole brain irradiation rats]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the positive effects of mouse nerve growth factor(mNGF) on cognitive impairment in whole brain irradiation rats.

METHODS

Fifty-five male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal control group, mNGF treated group, saline treated group.mNGF treated group and saline treated group were cranial irradiated at a single dose of 12 Gy by X-ray.30 days after radiation each group were treated with correspondent drugs.60 days after radiation, Morris water maze experiment, EB leakage of the brain, and expressions of neuN, vWF, ZO-1 in hippocampus by immunofluorescence, and expressions of neuN, vWF, ZO-1, VEGF and GFAP in hippocampus by Western blot were tested and analyzed.

RESULTS

The escape latencies: normal control group< mNGF treated group< saline treated group; the numbers of crossing hidden platform in these 3 groups were 3.00± 1.08, 1.50± 1.08, 0.38± 0.48 times (P<0.01). EB leakage of these 3 groups were 0.14±0.14, 0.66±0.20 and 1.36±0.27 μg/g (P<0.05). In immunofluorescence, expressions of neuN, vWF and ZO-1: normal control group> mNGF treated group> saline treated group.In Western blot, expressions of neuN, vWF and ZO-1: normal control group> mNGF treated group> saline treated group, yet the expressions of VEGF and GFAP: normal control group< mNGF treated group< saline treated group.

CONCLUSION

mNGF ameliorates cognitive impairment after whole brain irradiation.

Imaginative Language: What Event-Related Potentials have Revealed about the Nature and Source of Concreteness Effects

Behavioral and neuropsychological evidence suggest that abstract and concrete concepts may be represented, retrieved, and processed differently in the human brain. As reviewed in this paper, data using event-related potential measures, some in combination with visual half-field presentation methods, have offered a detailed picture of the nature and source of concreteness effects. In particular, the results provide strong evidence for multiple mechanisms underlying the behavioral processing differences that have long been noted for concrete and abstract words and, further, suggest an intriguing, unique role for the right hemisphere in associating words with sensory imagery.

Footprints of divergent selection in natural populations of Castanopsis fargesii (Fagaceae)

Given predicted rapid climate change, an understanding of how environmental factors affect genetic diversity in natural populations is important. Future selection pressures are inherently unpredictable, so forest management policies should maintain both overall diversity and identify genetic markers associated with the environmental factors expected to change most rapidly, like temperature and rainfall. In this study, we genotyped 648 individuals in 28 populations of Castanopsis fargesii (Fagaceae) using 32 expressed sequence tag (EST)-derived microsatellite markers. After removing six loci that departed from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, we measured genetic variation, population structure and identified candidate loci putatively under selection by temperature and precipitation. We found that C. fargesii populations possessed high genetic diversity and moderate differentiation among them, indicating predominant outcrossing and few restrictions to gene flow. These patterns reduce the possible impact of stochastic effects or the influence of genetic isolation. Clear footprints of divergent selection at four loci were discovered. Frequencies of five alleles at these loci were strongly correlated with environmental factors, particularly extremes in precipitation. These alleles varied from being near fixation at one end of the gradient to being completely absent at the other. Our study species is an important forest tree in the subtropical regions of China and could have a major role in future management and reforestation plans. Our results demonstrate that the gene flow is widespread and abundant in natural populations, maintaining high diversity, while diversifying selection is acting on specific genomic regions.

Number of sense effects of Chinese disyllabic compounds in the two hemispheres

The current study manipulated the visual field and the number of senses of the first character in Chinese disyllabic compounds to investigate how the related senses (polysemy) of the constituted character in the compounds were represented and processed in the two hemispheres. The ERP results in experiment 1 revealed crossover patterns in the left hemisphere (LH) and the right hemisphere (RH). The sense facilitation in the LH was in favor of the assumption of single-entry representation for senses. However, the patterns in the RH yielded two possible interpretations: (1) the nature of hemispheric processing in dealing with sublexical sense ambiguity; (2) the semantic activation from the separate-entry representation for senses. To clarify these possibilities, experiment 2 was designed to push participants to a deeper level of lexical processing by the word class judgment. The results revealed the sense facilitation effect in the RH. In sum, the current study was in support of the single-entry account for related senses and demonstrated that two hemispheres processed sublexical sense ambiguity in a complementary way.

A "concrete view" of aging: event related potentials reveal age-related changes in basic integrative processes in language

Normal aging is accompanied by changes in both structural and functional cerebral organization. Although verbal knowledge seems to be relatively stable across the lifespan, there are age-related changes in the rapid use of that knowledge during on-line language processing. In particular, aging has been linked to reduce effectiveness in preparing for upcoming words and building an integrated sentence-level representation. The current study assessed whether such age-related changes extend even to much simpler language units, such as modification relations between a centrally presented adjective and a lateralized noun. Adjectives were used to elicit concrete and abstract meanings of the same, polysemous lexical items (e.g., "green book" vs. "interesting book"). Consistent with findings that lexical information is preserved with age, older adults, like younger adults, exhibited concreteness effects at the adjectives, with more negative responses to concrete adjectives over posterior (300-500 ms; N400) and frontal (300-900 ms) channels. However, at the noun, younger adults exhibited concreteness-based predictability effects linked to left hemisphere processing and imagery effects linked to right hemisphere processing, contingent on whether the adjectives and nouns formed a cohesive conceptual unit. In contrast, older adults showed neither effect, suggesting that they were less able to rapidly link the adjective-noun meaning to form an integrated conceptual representation. Age-related changes in language processing may thus be more pervasive than previously realized.

Sublexical ambiguity effect in reading Chinese disyllabic compounds

For Chinese compounds, neighbors can share either both orthographic forms and meanings, or orthographic forms only. In this study, central presentation and visual half-field (VF) presentation methods were used in conjunction with ERP measures to investigate how readers solve the sublexical semantic ambiguity of the first constituent character in reading a disyllabic compound. The sublexical ambiguity of the first character was manipulated while the orthographic neighborhood sizes of the first and second character (NS1, NS2) were controlled. Subjective rating of number of meanings corresponding to a character was used as an index of sublexical ambiguity. Results showed that low sublexical ambiguity words elicited a more negative N400 than high sublexical ambiguity words when words were centrally presented. Similar patterns were found when words were presented to the left VF. Interestingly, different patterns were observed for pseudowords. With left VF presentation, high sublexical ambiguity psudowords showed a more negative N400 than low sublexical ambiguity pseudowords. In contrast, with right VF presentation, low sublexical ambiguity pseudowords showed a more negative N400 than high sublexical ambiguity pseudowords. These findings indicate that a level of morphological representation between form and meaning needs to be established and refined in Chinese. In addition, hemispheric asymmetries in the use of word information in ambiguity resolution should be taken into account, even at sublexical level.

The Study of Myogenin Expression in Denervated Human Skeletal Muscles

Skeletal muscle denervation eventually causes atrophy as a result of interrupted nerve conduction and the lack of nutritional factors. Myogenin is a myogenic regulatory factor that plays a key role in myoblast differentiation. Changes in myogenin expression in denervated rat skeletal muscle have been demonstrated, but myogenin expression in denervated human skeletal muscle has not been reported. Human muscle samples were analysed at different time-points post-denervation to evaluate changes in myogenin expression and their relationship with skeletal muscle atrophy. Post-denervation, myogenin mRNA levels peaked at 7 months and were 37.5 times the normal level. Expression levels then declined to 21 and 11 times the normal level at 12 and 26 months post-denervation, respectively. Prolonged denervation resulted in pathological changes characterized by decreased numbers of intact muscle fibres.

Light extraction efficiency enhancement of GaN-based light emitting diodes on n-GaN layer using a SiO2 photonic quasi-crystal overgrowth

In this paper, GaN-based LEDs with a SiO2 photonic quasi-crystal (PQC) pattern on an n-GaN layer by nano-imprint lithography (NIL) are fabricated and investigated. At a driving current of 20 mA on Transistor Outline (TO)-can package, the better light output power of LED III (d = 1.2 microm) was enhanced by a factor of 1.20. After 1000 h life test (55 degrees C/50 mA) condition, Normalized output power of LED with a SiO2 PQC pattern (LED III (d = 1.2 microm)) on an n-GaN layer only decreased by 5%. This results offer promising potential to enhance the light output power of commercial light-emitting devices using the technique of nano-imprint lithography.

Lipid-alamethicin interactions influence alamethicin orientation

Whereas the barrel-stave configuration is accepted by most investigators as a good description of the conducting state of alamethicin, there are conflicting interpretations on its nonconducting state; in the absence of an applied field, some found alamethicin molecules on the membrane surface, but others found them incorporated in the hydrophobic core of the membrane. This problem is resolved by the discovery of a phase-transitionlike behavior of alamethicin in the membrane. As a function of lipid/peptide ratio L/P and the chemical potential of water mu, alamethicin molecules were observed to switch between two states: in one, the majority of the peptide molecules bind parallel to the membrane surface; in another, the majority of the peptide molecules insert perpendicularly into the membrane. The state of alamethicin was monitored by the method of oriented circular dichroism (OCD; Wu, Y., H. W. Huang, and G. A. Olah, 1990, Biophys. J. 57:797-806) using aligned multilayer samples in the liquid crystalline L(alpha) phase. If L/P exceeds a critical value, most of the peptide molecules are on the membrane surface. If L/P is below the critical value, most of the peptide molecules are incorporated in the membrane when mu is high; when mu is low, most of them are again on the membrane surface. In a typical conduction experiment of voltage dependence, alamethicin molecules are in a partition equilibrium between the aqueous phase and the lipid phase before the application of voltage; in the lipid phase, the lipid/peptide ratio is such that most of alamethicin molecules are on the membrane surface. This is the nonconducting state of alamethicin. The OCD analysis showed that there is essentially no change in the secondary structure when alamethicin changes between the surface state and the inserted state. The voltage-gating mechanism can be explained if we assume that these surface peptide molecules probabilistically turn into the membrane core to form channels due to the dipole-electric field interactions. We speculate that the phase-transitionlike behavior is a manifestation of membrane-mediated intermolecular interactions between peptide molecules.

Imagine that! ERPs provide evidence for distinct hemispheric contributions to the processing of concrete and abstract concepts

Although abstract and concrete concepts are processed and remembered differently, the underlying nature of those differences remains in dispute. The current study used visual half-field (VF) presentation methods and event-related potential (ERP) measures to examine how the left (LH) and right (RH) cerebral hemispheres process concrete and abstract meanings of polysemous nouns (e.g., "green book," referring to the concrete, physical object that is a book, versus "engaging book," referring to the abstract information that a book conveys). With presentation to the right VF, nouns preceded by concrete modifiers were associated with more positivity on the P2 and N400, suggesting that concrete concepts were easier for the LH to process perceptually and semantically. In contrast, with presentation to the left VF (RH), nouns used in a concrete sense elicited a sustained frontal negativity (500-900 ms) that has been previously linked to imagery. The results thus reveal multiple, distinct neural and cognitive sources for concreteness effects and point to a critical role for the RH in linking language input to sensory imagery.

Enhanced light output from a nitride-based power chip of green light-emitting diodes with nano-rough surface using nanoimprint lithography

Enhanced light extraction from a GaN-based power chip (PC) of green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a rough p-GaN surface using nanoimprint lithography is presented. At a driving current of 350 mA and with a chip size of 1 mm × 1 mm packaged on transistor outline (TO)-cans, the light output power of the green PC LEDs with nano-rough p-GaN surface is enhanced by 48% when compared with the same device without a rough p-GaN surface. In addition, by examining the radiation patterns, the green PC LED with nano-rough p-GaN surface shows stronger light extraction with a wider view angle. These results offer promising potential to enhance the light output powers of commercial light-emitting devices by using the technique of nanoimprint lithography under suitable nanopattern design.

The temporal signatures of semantic and phonological activations for Chinese sublexical processing: an event-related potential study

A large number of Chinese characters are made up by pairing a semantic radical and a phonetic radical. The phonetic radical usually gives a phonological clue for the pronunciation of the whole character but does not contribute to its meaning. Using an event-related potential (ERP) measurement, the present study was able to trace the very intricate interplay between phonological and semantic information embedded in the phonetic radical. It was found that, within the first 50 to 100 ms of perceiving the character, the semantic information of the phonetic radical was better preserved when the constituent phonetic radical provided a valid phonological clue (e.g., regular phonogram) than when it contained an invalid phonetic cue (e.g., irregular phonogram). However, no trace of semantic information from the phonetic radical was preserved after 300 ms. These ERP results detail the neuropsychological steps in reading Chinese and support the framework of the lexical constituent model.

Orthographic neighborhood effects in reading Chinese two-character words

The present study investigates the effects of neighborhood size and neighborhood frequency in reading Chinese two-character words. The neighborhood size of a word is defined as the summation of neighbors sharing the first constituent (neighborhood size 1) and the second constituent (neighborhood size 2) characters. The first experiment found two opposite neighborhood size effects in lexical decision of high-frequency and low-frequency words. The regression analysis showed that neighborhood size 1 influenced word reading more than the neighborhood size 2. The second experiment confirmed this finding and showed that reading words with higher frequency neighbors took a longer time and elicited greater N400 and LPC than those without higher frequency neighbors. These findings indicate that, when reading Chinese two-character words, all words sharing the first constituent character are activated in the early stage of word recognition and the existence of high-frequency words among neighbors leads to greater competition in the stage of semantic integration and response selection.

Protective mechanisms induced by a Japanese encephalitis virus DNA vaccine: requirement for antibody but not CD8(+) cytotoxic T-cell responses

We have previously shown that a plasmid (pE) encoding the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) envelope (E) protein conferred a high level of protection against a lethal viral challenge. In the present study, we used adoptive transfer experiments and gene knockout mice to demonstrate that the DNA-induced E-specific antibody alone can confer protection in the absence of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) functions. Plasmid pE administered by either intramuscular or gene gun injection produced significant E-specific antibodies, helper T (Th)-cell proliferative responses, and CTL activities. Animals receiving suboptimal DNA vaccination produced low titers of anti-E antibodies and were only partially or not protected from viral challenge, indicating a strong correlation between anti-E antibodies and the protective capacity. This observation was confirmed by adoptive transfer experiments. Intravenous transfer of E-specific antisera but not crude or T-cell-enriched immune splenocytes to sublethally irradiated hosts conferred protection against a lethal JEV challenge. Furthermore, experiments with gene knockout mice showed that DNA vaccination did not induce anti-E titers and protective immunity in Igmu(-/-) and I-Abeta(-/-) mice, whereas in CD8alpha(-/-) mice the pE-induced antibody titers and protective rate were comparable to those produced in the wild-type mice. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the anti-E antibody is the most critical protective component in this JEV challenge model and that production of anti-E antibody by pE DNA vaccine is dependent on the presence of CD4(+) T cells but independent of CD8(+) T cells.

Isolated craniosynostosis: prenatal ultrasound of scaphocephaly with polyhydramnios

Craniosynostosis is an abnormal shape or dimension of the skull caused by premature closure of one or more skull sutures. It includes scaphocephaly, brachycephaly, oxycephaly, plagiocephaly, trigonocephaly, turricephaly, and a cloverleaf-shaped head. The only cases of craniosynostosis that have been reported concern fetuses with complex and marked craniosynostosis syndromes such as acrocraniofacial dysostosis, Apert's syndrome, Beare-Stevenson cutis gyratum syndrome, Calabro's syndrome, etc. Isolated or simple craniosynostosis, however, is a developmental anomaly rarely found on routine ultrasound examination. We present a case that was diagnosed as scaphocephaly with moderate polyhydramnios by prenatal ultrasound. No other structural anomaly was detected, and the karyotyping was normal. So isolated sagittal craniosynostosis was diagnosed prenatally and was confirmed by postnatal skull radiography as well as 3-dimensional computed tomography. The infant underwent bilateral parietal craniectomy at the age of 3 months. He obtained a good result with no mental problems 4 years after the operation. To our knowledge, this is the second report on the prenatal detection of an isolated form of craniosynostosis.

Lactate dehydrogenase genes of caiman and Chinese soft-shelled turtle, with emphasis on the molecular phylogenetics and evolution of reptiles

L-Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) cDNAs encoding for LDH-A(4) (muscle) and LDH-B(4) (heart) isozymes from caiman (Caiman crocodilus apaporiensis) belonging to the order Crocodilia and Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) belonging to the order Chelonia were sequenced. The phylogenetic relationships of the newly determined cDNA and their deduced protein sequences, as well as the previously published sequences of vertebrate LDH isozymes, were analyzed by various phylogenetic tree construction methods. These results indicated that Chelonia is indeed more closely related to Crocodilia. The divergent times between caiman and alligator, turtle and soft-shelled turtle, and Chelonia and Crocodilia were estimated to be approximately 36, 100 and 177 million years, respectively.

Hematometra of the rudimentary horn of a unicornuate uterus resulting from cesarean section

A 30-year-old woman complained of increasing dysmenorrhea and progressive right lower-quadrant pain after cesarean section. A pelvic mass was observed and subsequently a congenital müllerian anomaly was diagnosed upon serial examination. We report the first apparent case of hematometra of the rudimentary horn of a unicornuate uterus resulting from cesarean section.

Barrel-stave model or toroidal model? A case study on melittin pores

Transmembrane pores induced by amphiphilic peptides, including melittin, are often modeled with the barrel-stave model after the alamethicin pore. We examine this assumption on melittin by using two methods, oriented circular dichroism (OCD) for detecting the orientation of melittin helix and neutron scattering for detecting transmembrane pores. OCD spectra of melittin were systematically measured. Melittin can orient either perpendicularly or parallel to a lipid bilayer, depending on the physical condition and the composition of the bilayer. Transmembrane pores were detected when the helices oriented perpendicularly to the plane of the bilayers, not when the helices oriented parallel to the bilayers. The evidence that led to the barrel-stave model for alamethicin and that to the toroidal model for magainin were reviewed. The properties of melittin pores are closely similar to that of magainin but unlike that of alamethicin. We conclude that, among naturally produced peptides that we have investigated, only alamethicin conforms to the barrel-stave model. Other peptides, including magainins, melittin and protegrins, all appear to induce transmembrane pores that conform to the toroidal model in which the lipid monolayer bends continuously through the pore so that the water core is lined by both the peptides and the lipid headgroups.

[Culture of human muscle satellite cell]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the biological characteristics of human muscle satellite cell cultured in vitro.

METHODS

Human muscle satellite cells were obtained from skeletal muscle biopsies of six patients during corrective orthopedic surgery, cultivated in growth medium for ten days, then in differentiation medium for additional five days. Human satellite cells were identified with monoclonal antibody against desmin. Cells were observed under phase contrast microscopy.

RESULTS

Human muscle satellite cells proliferated in growth medium, and fused to form myotubes in differentiation medium. After 24 hours in differentiation medium, the confluent satellite cells began to fuse actively and achieved the top level at 72 hours.

CONCLUSION

Human muscle satellite cell can proliferate and differentiate in appropriate culture condition. Immunocytochemical detection of desmin is the effective early method to determine satellite cell.

Effect of chromium supplementation and exercise on body composition, resting metabolic rate and selected biochemical parameters in moderately obese women following an exercise program

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of chromium picolinate (CP) supplementation on body composition, resting metabolic rate (RMR), selected biochemical parameters and iron and zinc status in moderately obese women participating in a 12-week exercise program.

METHODS

Forty-four women, 27 to 51 years of age, were randomly assigned to two groups based on their body mass index. Subjects received either 400 microg/day of chromium as a CP supplement or a placebo in double-blind fashion and participated in a supervised weight-training and walking program two days per week for 12 weeks. Body composition and RMR were measured at baseline, 6 and 12 weeks. Selected biochemical parameters and iron and zinc status were measured at baseline and 12 weeks.

RESULTS

Body composition and RMR were not significantly changed by CP supplementation. No significant differences in fasting plasma glucose, serum insulin, plasma glucagon, serum C-peptide and serum lipid concentrations or in iron and zinc indices were found between the two groups over time. Serum total cholesterol concentration significantly decreased (p = 0.0016) over time for all subjects combined, probably as a result of the exercise training. Exercise training significantly reduced total iron binding capacity (TIBC) by 3% for all subjects combined (p = 0.001 1).

CONCLUSIONS

Twelve weeks of 400 microg/day of chromium as a CP supplement did not significantly affect body composition, RMR, plasma glucose, serum insulin, plasma glucagon, serum C-peptide and serum lipid concentrations or iron and zinc indices in moderately obese women placed on an exercise program. The changes in serum total cholesterol levels and TIBC were a result of the exercise program.

Collective dynamics in fully hydrated phospholipid bilayers studied by inelastic x-ray scattering

The short wavelength density fluctuation of DLPC (dilaurylphosphatidylcholine) bilayers close to full hydration has been studied by the inelastic x-ray scattering technique below and above the main transition temperature. The analysis based on a generalized three effective eigenmode theory allows us to construct the dispersion relation of the high frequency sound mode for the first time. The marked softening of the excitation near k = 14 nm(-1), corresponding to the lipid chain-chain correlation peak in the structure factor, in the L(alpha) phase implies prevalent occurrences of short-wavelength in-plane motions of lipid chains that might be of importance for transportation of small molecules across membranes.

Prenatal diagnosis of persistent fetal bradycardia: report of four cases

Persistent fetal bradycardia is infrequent in prenatal life and difficult to manage optimally. It is generally attributable to sinus bradycardia due to fetal distress, blocked atrial extrasystoles, and congenital complete heart block. We reported four cases of persistent fetal bradycardia from 1995 to 1999 in our hospital. The first, second, and third cases of sustained fetal bradycardia had congenital complete heart block with positive titers for anti-Ro/SSA antibodies in both mothers and fetuses. Because of progressive fetal hydrops in the second case, the pregnancy was terminated. The first and third cases were isolated congenital complete heart block without structural anomaly. After prenatal examination the babies were followed up closely until term and both had a good prognosis without any implantation of pacemaker. In the fourth case there was no clinically known etiology associated with sustained fetal bradycardia. The fetal heart rate returned to normal after 6 weeks of follow-up and the baby was delivered without any cardiac problems. Congenital complete heart block is the most common cause of persistent fetal bradycardia. Prenatal detailed monitoring until delivery is necessary before heart failure develops. Treatment strategies (corticosteroids, ritodrine, and plasmapheresis) are debatable and may include prophylactic therapy for high-risk pregnant women.