A longitudinal study of the brain structure network changes in HIV patients with ANI: combined VBM with SCN

BackgroundDespite the widespread adoption of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in managing HIV, the virus’s impact on the brain structure of patients remains significant. This study aims to longitudinally explore the persistent effects of HIV on brain structure, focusing on changes in gray matter volume (GMV) and structural covariance network (SCN) among patients at the Asymptomatic Neurocognitive Impairment (ANI) stage.MethodsThis research involved 45 HIV patients diagnosed with ANI and 45 demographically matched healthy controls (HCs). The participants were observed over a 1.5-year period. Differences in GMV between groups were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), while the graph theory model facilitated the establishment of topological metrics for assessing network indices. These differences were evaluated using two-sample t-tests and paired-sample t-tests, applying the network-based statistics method. Additionally, the study examined correlations between GMV and cognitive performance, as well as clinical variables.ResultsCompared with HCs, HIV patients demonstrated reduced GMV in the right middle temporal gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus (FWE, p < 0.05), along with decreased betweenness centrality (BC) in the left anterior cingulate and paracingulate cortex. Conversely, an increase in the clustering coefficient (Cp) was observed (FDR, p < 0.05). During the follow-up period, a decline in GMV in the right fusiform gyrus (FWE, p < 0.05) and a reduction in node efficiency (Ne) in the triangular part of the inferior frontal gyrus were noted compared with baseline measurements (FDR, p < 0.05). The SCN of HIV patients exhibited small-world properties across most sparsity levels (Sigma >1), and area under the curve (AUC) analysis revealed no significant statistical differences between groups.ConclusionThe findings suggest that despite the administration of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), HIV continues to exert slow and sustained damage on brain structures. However, when compared to HCs, the small-world properties of the patients’ SCNs did not significantly differ, and the clustering coefficient, indicative of the overall information-processing capacity of the brain network, was slightly elevated in HIV patients. This elevation may relate to compensatory effects of brain area functions, the impact of cART, functional reorganization, or inflammatory responses

Disproportionately Elevated Proinsulin Levels as an Early Indicator of -Cell Dysfunction in Nondiabetic Offspring of Chinese Diabetic Patients

Objective. To study the characteristics of -cell dysfunction and insulin resistance (IR) in the first-degree relatives (FDRs) of T2DM in Chinese population and to examine the usefulness of proinsulin (PI) for evaluating -cell dysfunction. Methods. 229 subjects of nondiabetic FDRs, 71 newly diagnosed T2DM, and 114 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) but not FDRs (NGT-non-FDRs) were verified by a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test. Specific insulin (SI) and PI were measured by highly sensitive ELISA. Results. Compared to NGT-non-FDRs, NGT-FDRs showed higher levels of fasting and 2-hour PI, fasting PI-to-SI ratio (FPI/SI), and HOMA-IR ( < 0.01). Meanwhile, fasting PI, FPI/SI, and HOMA-IR were increased steadily from NGT-FDRs to prediabetesFDRs and were highest in T2DM group ( < 0.001), whereas a significant decrease in HOMA-B could be observed only in T2DM group. Moreover, a progressive deterioration of -cell function in NGT-FDRs, prediabetes-FDRs, and T2DM could be identified by FPI/SI even after adjusting for HOMA-IR: relative to non-FDRs controls, mean FPI/SI levels were increased 1.5, 2.0, and 4.7-fold, respectively (all < 0.01). Conclusions. -cell dysfunction as assessed by disproportionate secretion of proinsulin and IR by HOMA (using specific insulin assay) already exist in FDRs of T2DM even with normal glucose status. Compared with HOMA-B, FPI/SI could detect -cell failure in earlier stage of diabetes development

Baseline Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Adrenal Incidentaloma from a Single Center in China: A Survey

Aim. To investigate the clinical and endocrinological characteristics of patients with adrenal incidentaloma (AI). Materials and Methods. This retrospective study enrolled 1941 AI patients hospitalized at the Department of Endocrinology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China, between January 1997 and December 2016. The patient gender, age at visits, imaging features, functional status, and histological results were analyzed. Results. Of the 1941 patients, 984 (50.70%) were men. The median age was 52 years (interquartile range: 44–69 years). 140 cases had bilateral AI. Endocrine evaluation showed that 1411 (72.69%) patients had nonfunctional tumor, 152 (7.83%) had subclinical Cushing syndrome (SCS), and 82 (4.33%) had primary hyperaldosteronism. A total of 925 patients underwent operation for removal of 496 cortical adenomas (53.62%), 15 adrenal cortical carcinomas (1.62%), and 172 pheochromocytomas (18.59%). The bilateral group had a higher proportion of SCS (18.57% versus 7.10%, P<0.001, P=0.006). A mass size of 46 mm was of great value in distinguishing malignant tumors from the benign tumors, with sensitivity of 88.2% and specificity of 95.5%. Conclusions. We reported the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with AI in a large series from a single center in China

Peranan Pendidikan Dalam Perubahan Masyarakat

Social classification is always happenned in the society calledby social stratification and determine someone\u27s social class. There is a strict or curt, then to determine someone\u27s social class depends on the parents or the child\u27s birth. And it happened in India where the society consists of levels or castes or in the kingdom state, for example if wants to be a king, he must be the king\u27s child. While in the opensociety such as a state that adheres to a democracy system, to determine someone\u27s social class with any ways, means that there is always a change for someone\u27s social class in a society, namely the bottom, to the middle or up or reverse by using an objective method, subjective and reputation. Then in this open society, the education role is very influential toward the social class change in the society. That is why the education is hoped to bring the society to a change, even their incomeresult or their position in the society, which is certainly give the cognitive and psychomotoric ability or education is able to produce an inteligent human beings also expert in his field. In other words, education is hoped to create humans development that is finally able to make a change in the society, even social class change or a change from the traditional society to the modern one

Research Progress on the Typical Variants of Simulated Moving Bed: From the Established Processes to the Advanced Technologies

Simulated moving bed (SMB) chromatography is a highly efficient adsorption-based separation technology with various industrial applications. At present, its application has been successfully extended to the biochemical and pharmaceutical industrial sectors. SMB possesses the advantages of high product purity and yield, large feed treatment capacity, and simple process control due to the continuous operation mode and the efficient separation mechanism, particularly for difficult separation. Moreover, SMB performs well, particularly for multi-component separation or complicated systems’ purification processes in which each component exhibits similar properties and low resolution. With the development of the economy and technology, SMB technology needs to be improved and optimized to enhance its performance and deal with more complex separation tasks. This paper summarizes the typical variants or modifications of the SMB process through three aspects: zone variant, gradient variant, and feed or operation variant. The corresponding modification principles, operating modes, advantages, limitations, and practical application areas of each variant were comprehensively investigated. Finally, the application prospect and development direction were summarized, which could provide valuable recommendations and guidance for future research in the SMB area

Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor: a Key Gene Risk Factor and Potential Therapy Target in Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a worldwide, multifactorial mental disorder characterized by manic and depressive symptoms of varying degrees. Among all the genetic risk factors correlated with BD, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has emerged as a crucial neutropin that influences BD susceptibility with strong conservative across species and multiple downstream signaling pathways. However, the mechanisms of how BDNF polymorphism can contribute to BD are not yet lucid and systematically reviewed. BDNF Val66Met variant is capable of inducing neurodegenisis and Long-term Depression (LTD), both of which account for pathogenesis in BD. The Val66Met variant is associated with rapid cycling episodes in BD. Another variant, Arg125Met is a potential BD risk variant which elicits neuronal apoptosis by affecting the maturation of BDNF. In this paper, we briefly summarized BD epidemiology, symptoms, BDNF structure, and its action of function. We reviewed various mechanisms of BDNF Val66Met and Arg125Met variant for BD pathogenesis in detail and provided insights into possible BD clinical treatment targets. BDNF has been proven to be a noteworthy gene factor in BD and gene therapy targeted on BDNF is a promising therapeutic strategy that requires further research