Cheese-induced body weight gain is not accompanied by an increase of gastric cells producing leptin, ghrelin, gastrin, or pancreastatin in mice

The stomach is a source of several circulating peptides/hormones, such as gastrin, pancreastatin, leptin and ghrelin, which are thought to play important roles in the regulation of food intake and body growth. The present study was undertaken in mice in order to examine the effects of diet composition on the body weight gain and the gastric cells that produce these peptides/hormones.Both young and adult female mice (BALB/cABBom strain) were given a standard pelleted dry diet, with or without cheese ad libitum, during a 7 week period. The diet supplement consisted either of carbohydrate- free white cheese containing 27% fat or sweet-tasting but sucrose-free Norwegian “brown cheese” containing 29% fat and 39% carbohydrate, mainly lactose. The total intake of the various types of food and the change in body weight were recorded. At the end of the observation period, blood samples were obtained for determination of gastric hormone levels by radioimmunoassay, and the stomachs were removed for examination of hormone producing cells by immunohistochemistry.The young mice increased their body weight more than the adult mice. In the groups offered white cheese, both young and adult mice increased their body weight more than the animals kept on the standard diet alone. In contrast, the “brown cheese” supplement led to a relative overweight only in adult mice. Despite the changes in body weight gain, there were no differences with respect to the circulating levels of gastrin, leptin or ghrelin, and to the numbers of cells stained with antibodies to pancreastatin (including ECL cells and G cells), leptin (subpopulation of chief cells) and ghrelin (A-like cells) in all groups.Body weight gain was increased in both young and adult mice by a white cheese diet supplement, whereas ‘brown cheese’ produced overweight only in adult mice. The increased body weight gain was not accompanied by an icrease of gastric cells producing leptin, ghrelin, gastrin, or pancreastatin

Effects of losses in the hybrid atom-light interferometer

Enhanced Raman scattering can be obtained by injecting a seeded light field which is correlated with the initially prepared collective atomic excitation. This Raman amplification process can be used to realize atom-light hybrid interferometer. We numerically calculate the phase sensitivities and the signal-to-noise ratios of this interferometer with the method of homodyne detection and intensity detection, and give their differences between this two methods. In the presence of loss of light field and atomic decoherence the measure precision will be reduced which can be explained by the break of the intermode decorrelation conditions of output modesComment: 9 pages, 7 figure

A Chan Dietary Intervention Enhances Executive Functions and Anterior Cingulate Activity in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Executive dysfunctions have been found to be related to repetitive/disinhibited behaviors and social deficits in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This study aims to investigate the potential effect of a Shaolin-medicine-based dietary modification on improving executive functions and behavioral symptoms of ASD and exploring the possible underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. Twenty-four children with ASD were randomly assigned into the experimental (receiving dietary modification for one month) and the control (no modification) groups. Each child was assessed on his/her executive functions, behavioral problems based on parental ratings, and event-related electroencephalography (EEG) activity during a response-monitoring task before and after the one month. The experimental group demonstrated significantly improved mental flexibility and inhibitory control after the diet modification, which continued to have a large effect size within the low-functioning subgroup. Such improvements coincided with positive evaluations by their parents on social communication abilities and flexible inhibitory control of daily behaviors and significantly enhanced event-related EEG activity at the rostral and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex. In contrast, the control group did not show any significant improvements. These positive outcomes of a one-month dietary modification on children with ASD have implicated its potential clinical applicability for patients with executive function deficits

A Chan Dietary Intervention Enhances Executive Functions and Anterior Cingulate Activity in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Executive dysfunctions have been found to be related to repetitive/disinhibited behaviors and social deficits in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This study aims to investigate the potential effect of a Shaolin-medicine-based dietary modification on improving executive functions and behavioral symptoms of ASD and exploring the possible underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. Twenty-four children with ASD were randomly assigned into the experimental (receiving dietary modification for one month) and the control (no modification) groups. Each child was assessed on his/her executive functions, behavioral problems based on parental ratings, and event-related electroencephalography (EEG) activity during a response-monitoring task before and after the one month. The experimental group demonstrated significantly improved mental flexibility and inhibitory control after the diet modification, which continued to have a large effect size within the low-functioning subgroup. Such improvements coincided with positive evaluations by their parents on social communication abilities and flexible inhibitory control of daily behaviors and significantly enhanced event-related EEG activity at the rostral and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex. In contrast, the control group did not show any significant improvements. These positive outcomes of a one-month dietary modification on children with ASD have implicated its potential clinical applicability for patients with executive function deficits

Dejian Mind-Body Intervention on Depressive Mood of Community-Dwelling Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a short-term mind-body intervention program on improving the depressive mood of an adult community sample. Forty adult volunteers with various degrees of depressive mood were randomly assigned to the experimental group (Dejian Mind-Body Intervention, DMBI) and control group (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, CBT). For each group, a total of four 90-min weekly sessions were conducted. Treatment-related changes were measured using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), an electroencephalographic indicator of positive affect (i.e., prefrontal activation asymmetry), and self-report ratings on physical health. Results indicated that both the DMBI and the CBT group demonstrated significant reduction in depressive mood. However, among individuals with moderate to severe depressive mood at baseline, only those in the DMBI but not the CBT group showed significant reduction in depressive mood. Besides, only the DMBI group demonstrated a significant increase in prefrontal activation asymmetry, suggesting increase in positive affect. While most psychological therapies for depressive mood normally take several months to show treatment effect, the present findings provided initial data suggesting that the DMBI was effective in improving depressive mood of community adults after 1 month of training

An Herbal Nasal Drop Enhanced Frontal and Anterior Cingulate Cortex Activity

The present study examined the neuro-electrophysiological activity of the brain associated with the application of a herbal remedy developed by a Shaolin monk based upon the Chan healing principle of clearing the orifices (i.e., the nasal cavities). A repeated-measures design was used. Fourteen normal adults were administered herbal remedy and saline solution intranasally on separate sessions. Two intervals of eyes-closed resting EEG data were obtained individually before and after each administration. Results showed that only the herbal remedy but not the saline solution induced elevation in cordance, an index correlated with cerebral perfusion, in the anterior brain region. In addition, the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), as examined by the LORETA analysis, was also increased after the application of the herbal remedy but not saline solution. The present study provided some preliminary evidence suggesting that the herbal nasal drop enhanced the activity of the frontal lobe and ACC. Implications for the potential clinical application of the herbal remedy to treat patients with frontal lobe disorders were discussed

Shaolin Dan Tian Breathing Fosters Relaxed and Attentive Mind: A Randomized Controlled Neuro-Electrophysiological Study

Neuro-electrophysiological studies on meditative breathing revealed its association with either a relaxed or an attentive state. The present study aimed to investigate whether the Shaolin Dan Tian Breathing (DTB) technique, which consists of the Passive and Active subtypes and can be considered as a relaxation exercise and Qigong, would induce both relaxed and attentive states. Twenty-two adults and 22 age-, gender- and education-matched controls received training on the Shaolin DTB (experimental group) and the progressive muscle relaxation respectively for one month. Eyes-closed resting EEG data before and immediately after each type of breathing were obtained individually at baseline and after one-month training. At baseline, the EEG changes after the Shaolin DTB between both groups were comparable. After one-month training, participants in the experimental, but not the control, group showed enhanced temporal alpha asymmetry (an index of relaxation and positive mood) after performing the Passive DTB for five minutes, and enhanced intra- and inter-hemispheric theta coherence (an index of attention and alertness) after performing the Active DTB. The present findings suggested a positive effect of the Shaolin DTB technique on enhancing human neural activity and connectivity, which may possibly enhance mood state and cognitive functions

Dejian Mind-Body Intervention Improves the Cognitive Functions of a Child with Autism

There has been increasing empirical evidence for the enhancing effects of Dejian Mind-Body Intervention (DMBI), a traditional Chinese Shaolin healing approach, on human frontal brain activity/functions, including patients with autism who are well documented to have frontal lobe problems. This study aims to compare the effects of DMBI with a conventional behavioural/cognitive intervention (CI) on enhancing the executive functions and memory of a nine-year-old boy with low-functioning autism (KY) and to explore possible underlying neural mechanism using EEG theta cordance. At post-one-month DMBI, KY's inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and memory functioning have significantly improved from “severely-to-moderately impaired” to “within-normal” range. This improvement was not observed from previous 12-month CI. Furthermore, KY showed increased cordance gradually extending from the anterior to the posterior brain region, suggesting possible neural mechanism underlying his cognitive improvement. These findings have implicated potential applicability of DMBI as a rehabilitation program for patients with severe frontal lobe and/or memory disorders

Electronic Properties of NaCdF3: A First-Principles Prediction

Based on first-principles total energy calculations, we predict that NaCdF3 could be formed in a ferroelectric crystal structure. Using a symmetry guided search with structure optimization, we found two ferroelectric structures, nearly degenerate in energy, competing for the ground state: a rhombohedral structure with space group R3c and an orthorhombic structure with space group Pna21. The energies of both structures are \u2760 meV lower than the sum of those of the constituents, NaF and CdF2, implying chemical stability

A Chinese Chan-Based Mind-Body Intervention Improves Sleep on Patients with Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Sleep disturbance is a common problem associated with depression, and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a more common behavioral intervention for sleep problems. The present study compares the effect of a newly developed Chinese Chan-based intervention, namely Dejian mind-body intervention (DMBI), with the CBT on improving sleep problems of patients with depression. Seventy-five participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder were randomly assigned to receive 10 weekly sessions of CBT or DMBI, or placed on a waitlist. Measurements included ratings by psychiatrists who were blinded to the experimental design, and a standardized questionnaire on sleep quantity and quality was obtained before and after the 10-week intervention. Results indicated that both the CBT and DMBI groups demonstrated significantly reduced sleep onset latency and wake time after sleep onset (effect size range = 0.46–1.0, P ≤ 0.05) as compared to nonsignificant changes in the waitlist group (P > 0.1). Furthermore, the DMBI group, but not the CBT or waitlist groups, demonstrated significantly reduced psychiatrist ratings on overall sleep problems (effect size = 1.0, P = 0.00) and improved total sleep time (effect size = 0.8, P = 0.05) after treatment. The present findings suggest that a Chinese Chan-based mind-body intervention has positive effects on improving sleep in individuals with depression