Aberrant brain entropy in posttraumatic stress disorder comorbid with major depressive disorder during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic

AimPreviously, neuroimaging studies on comorbid Posttraumatic-Major depression disorder (PTSD-MDD) comorbidity found abnormalities in multiple brain regions among patients. Recent neuroimaging studies have revealed dynamic nature on human brain activity during resting state, and entropy as an indicator of dynamic regularity may provide a new perspective for studying abnormalities of brain function among PTSD-MDD patients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in the number of patients with PTSD-MDD. We have decided to conduct research on resting-state brain functional activity of patients who developed PTSD-MDD during this period using entropy.MethodsThirty three patients with PTSD-MDD and 36 matched TCs were recruited. PTSD and depression symptoms were assessed using multiple clinical scales. All subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. And the brain entropy (BEN) maps were calculated using the BEN mapping toolbox. A two-sample t-test was used to compare the differences in the brain entropy between the PTSD-MDD comorbidity group and TC group. Furthermore, correlation analysis was conducted between the BEN changes in patients with PTSD-MDD and clinical scales.ResultsCompared to the TCs, PTSD-MDD patients had a reduced BEN in the right middle frontal orbital gyrus (R_MFOG), left putamen, and right inferior frontal gyrus, opercular part (R_IFOG). Furthermore, a higher BEN in the R_MFOG was related to higher CAPS and HAMD-24 scores in the patients with PTSD-MDD.ConclusionThe results showed that the R_MFOG is a potential marker for showing the symptom severity of PTSD-MDD comorbidity. Consequently, PTSD-MDD may have reduced BEN in frontal and basal ganglia regions which are related to emotional dysregulation and cognitive deficits

Optical asymmetric double-image encryption and authentication in an interference-based scheme using sparse representation

We report an optical asymmetric scheme for double-image encryption and authentication based on interference using sparse representation. We employ sparse representation and interference to process the Fresnel spectra related with the two original images, and then respectively acquire two ciphertexts and two pairs of private keys. Each original image possesses its corresponding two private keys. Furthermore, the decrypted image is compared with its corresponding plaintext with the aid of a nonlinear correlation for authentication. In the proposed scheme, any information concerning each primary image and comprising its silhouette cannot be recognized even though one, two, or even three masks of the two ciphertexts and two private keys are utilized for decryption. The Fresnel spectrum functions which have different diffraction distances enhance the security of the proposal significantly. Moreover, the proposal also avoids the crosstalk problem. The effectiveness and security of this proposed method are demonstrated via numerical simulations

Design and Experiment of Oil-Electric Hybrid Air-Suction Sorghum Plot Seeder

To tackle the issues of low seeding accuracy and seed injury caused by the seeders utilized at a small scale and in the plot seeding of sorghum in mountainous or hilly regions, this study presents the design of an oil–electric hybrid air suction sorghum plot seeder. The main working parts of the seeder are described, and the performance of the seed-mixing device is simulated using EDEM software. An oil–electric hybrid drive mode is used to provide power for operation and to the seed-metering device and fan. Additionally, a sowing control and monitoring system is designed using a single-chip microcomputer controller to ensure uniform plant spacing at different forward speeds. A multi-factor experiment is conducted using the central synthesis method to determine the optimal operating parameters of the seed-metering device through bench tests. The results show that a profile hole diameter of 2.5 mm on the seed tray, a negative-pressure chamber vacuum of 8.0 kPa, and a seed-metering device speed of 28 r/min result in a 95.95% pass rate, 0.5% missing rate, and 3.55% reseeding rate. The deviation between the experimental and analytical results that validate the optimum parameters is kept within acceptable limits. Field tests are conducted at different forward speeds using the optimum parameter combinations, and a comparison is made with the widely used duckbill planter. The results show pass, missing, and reseeding rates of 94.41%, 2.3%, and 3.29%, respectively. The missing monitoring error is less than 7.19%. All of the indices of the oil–electric hybrid air suction sorghum plot seeder are superior to those of the duckbill planter; thus, it fulfills the agronomic requirements for seeding a sorghum plot

Design of Animal Myocardial Contractile Force Detection System Based on Tissue Engineering

International audienceThis paper uses the sensor convert animal myocardial contractile force into a voltage signal, which is collect by a MCU acquisition, transferred to the computer, using the PC visualization language VB compiled a data acquisition and processing platform, collected data can be stored into a computer, and real-time curve of the data changes is plotted at any time. Through testing the tissue engineered cardiac tissue strips micro contractility, it was proved that the platform operation is of stable performance, accurate data acquisition, processing method effective, the system can also be applied in other similar signal detection and acquisition and other fields

Impact of Interventions on Influenza A(H7N9) Virus Activity in Live Poultry Markets

There are constant exposure of influenza A(H7N9) virus from live poultry market for poultry workers and the general population, but rapid reduction of viable virus in the market setting can be achieved by market closure and disinfection. Our findings highlight the value in intensive surveillance in a natural live poultry market setting, to assess human infection risk at the human-animal interface and effect of control measures on virus activity

Data_Sheet_1_Altered functional connectivity strength in chronic insomnia associated with gut microbiota composition and sleep efficiency.zip

BackgroundThere is limited evidence on the link between gut microbiota (GM) and resting-state brain activity in patients with chronic insomnia (CI). This study aimed to explore the alterations in brain functional connectivity strength (FCS) in CI and the potential associations among altered FCS, GM composition, and neuropsychological performance indicators.Materials and methodsThirty CI patients and 34 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Each participant underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) for the evaluation of brain FCS and was administered sleep-, mood-, and cognitive-related questionnaires for the evaluation of neuropsychological performance. Stool samples of CI patients were collected and subjected to 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing to assess the relative abundance (RA) of GM. Redundancy analysis or canonical correspondence analysis (RDA or CCA, respectively) was used to investigate the relationships between GM composition and neuropsychological performance indicators. Spearman correlation was further performed to analyze the associations among alterations in FCS, GM composition, and neuropsychological performance indicators.ResultsThe CI group showed a reduction in FCS in the left superior parietal gyrus (SPG) compared to the HC group. The correlation analysis showed that the FCS in the left SPG was correlated with sleep efficiency and some specific bacterial genera. The results of CCA and RDA showed that 38.21% (RDA) and 24.62% (CCA) of the GM composition variation could be interpreted by neuropsychological performance indicators. Furthermore, we found complex relationships between Alloprevotella, specific members of the family Lachnospiraceae, Faecalicoccus, and the FCS alteration, and neuropsychological performance indicators.ConclusionThe brain FCS alteration of patients with CI was related to their GM composition and neuropsychological performance indicators, and there was also an association to some extent between the latter two, suggesting a specific interaction pattern among the three aspects: brain FCS alteration, GM composition, and neuropsychological performance indicators.</p