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The Effect of Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (iTBS) in Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.
BACKGROUND: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive stimulation technique which has a treatment potential for alcohol use disorder. Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) is a new rTMS technique which is shorter in duration and thus with better tolerability and shows similar efficacy as rTMS for the treatment of depression. The effect of iTBS on reducing craving in alcohol use disorder patients requires further investigation. METHODS: A randomized, controlled, single-blind, multicenter study with 60 alcohol use disorder patients randomized (2:1) to the iTBS group or the control group (sham iTBS). The stimulation target will be identical in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Baseline evaluations will be occurred before the intervention, after the intervention immediately, and 1 and 3 months after the intervention. The primary outcome of the study will be decrease of visual analogue scale (VAS) scores from baseline to the end of treatment. DISCUSSION: This study is a randomized controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of left DLPFC iTBS in a population of alcohol use disorder patients, compared with sham iTBS. If it is effective for alcohol use disorder, it may provide a potential treatment which is tolerable, accessible, and clinical useful. CINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered in the ClinicalTrials with trial number NCT03932149. Registered 17 April 2019
Modified detrended fluctuation analysis based on empirical mode decomposition
Detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) is a simple but very efficient method
for investigating the power-law long-term correlations of non-stationary time
series, in which a detrending step is necessary to obtain the local
fluctuations at different timescales. We propose to determine the local trends
through empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and perform the detrending operation
by removing the EMD-based local trends, which gives an EMD-based DFA method.
Similarly, we also propose a modified multifractal DFA algorithm, called an
EMD-based MFDFA. The performance of the EMD-based DFA and MFDFA methods is
assessed with extensive numerical experiments based on fractional Brownian
motion and multiplicative cascading process. We find that the EMD-based DFA
method performs better than the classic DFA method in the determination of the
Hurst index when the time series is strongly anticorrelated and the EMD-based
MFDFA method outperforms the traditional MFDFA method when the moment order
of the detrended fluctuations is positive. We apply the EMD-based MFDFA to the
one-minute data of Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite index, and the presence of
multifractality is confirmed.Comment: 6 RevTex pages including 5 eps figure
The cellular distribution of Na+/H+ exchanger regulatory factor 1 is determined by the PDZ-I domain and regulates the malignant progression of breast cancer
The oncogenic role of ectopic expression of Na+/H+ exchanger regulatory factor 1 (NHERF1) was recently suggested. Here, we show that NHERF1 was upregulated in high grades compared with low grades. Increased NHERF1 expression was correlated with poor prognosis and poor survival. NHERF1 expression was higher in the nucleus of cancer cells than in contiguous non- mammary epithelial cells. A novel mutation, namely NHERF1 Y24S, was identified in human breast cancer tissues and shown to correspond to a conserved residue in the PDZ-I domain of NHERF1. Truncation and mutation of the PDZ-I domain of NHERF1 increased the nuclear distribution of the NHERF1 protein, and this redistribution was associated with the malignant phenotype of breast cancer cells, including growth, migration, and adhesion. The present results suggest a role for NHERF1 in the progression of breast cancer mediated by the nuclear distribution of the NHERF1 protein, as determined by the truncation or key site mutation of the PDZ-I domain
Fabrication of hydrophobic inorganic coatings on natural lotus leaves for nanoimprint stamps
Hydrophobic inorganic films were obtained by direct deposition of copper or
silicon onto natural lotus leaves by ion beam sputtering deposition technique.
Scanning electron microscopy observations showed a lotus-leaf-like surface
structure of the deposited inorganic films. Hydrophobic nature of the inorganic
films on lotus leaves had been improved compared to the inorganic films
deposited on flat silicon substrates. Water contact angles measured on the
lotus-leaf-like copper and silicon films were 136.3 \pm 8{\deg} and 117.8 \pm
4.4{\deg}, respectively. The hydrophobic lotus-leaf-like inorganic films had
been repeated used as nanoimprint stamps. Negative structures of
lotus-leaf-like inorganic films were obtained on the polystyrene resist layers.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
Responses of the Ocular Anterior Segment and Refraction to 0.5% Tropicamide in Chinese School-Aged Children of Myopia, Emmetropia, and Hyperopia
Purpose. To investigate the changes of anterior segment after cycloplegia and estimate the association of such changes with the changes of refraction in Chinese school-aged children of myopia, emmetropia, and hyperopia.
Methods. 309 children were recruited and eligible subjects were assigned to three groups: hyperopia, emmetropia, or myopia. Cycloplegia was achieved with five cycles of 0.5% tropicamide. The Pentacam system was used to measure the parameters of interest before and after cycloplegia. Results. In the myopic group, the lenses were thinner and the lens position was significantly more posterior than that of the emmetropic and hyperopic groups in the cycloplegic status. The correlations between refraction and lens thickness (age adjusted; r=0.26, P<0.01), and lens position (age adjusted; r=-0.31, P<0.01) were found. After cycloplegia, ACD and ACV significantly increased, while ACA significantly decreased. Changes in refraction, ACD, ACV, and ACA were significantly different among the three groups (P<0.05, all). Changes of refraction were correlated with changes of ACD (r=0.41, P<0.01). Conclusions. Myopia presented thinner lenses and smaller changes of anterior segment and refraction after cycloplegia when compared to emmetropia and hyperopia. Changes of anterior chamber depth were correlated with refraction changes. This may contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between anterior segment and myopia
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