578 research outputs found
Correlation between Pineal Activation and Religious Meditation Observed by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
The human brain possesses plenty of functions but little is known about its scientific relationship with mind and spirit. Conferences^1,2^ focused on the connection between science and religion were held very recently in which neuroscientists, Buddhist scholars and Dalai Lama discussed attention, mental imagery, emotion, mind, brain functions and meditation, suggesting religious meditation offers an effective means to investigate the mystery of mind and spirit. In the past decade, scientists struggled to obtain brain mappings for various meditation styles using different brain imaging techniques and stimulating results have been observed^3-17^. In this letter we report that, together with other brain regions, pineal body exhibit significant activation during meditation process, supporting the long lasting speculation that pineal plays an important role in the intrinsic awareness which might concern spirit or soul. Pineal is known as an endocrine organ which produces substrates including melatonin and has been ascribed numerous even mysterious functions but its activation during meditation has never been observed by brain imaging technique. In seventeenth century, based on anatomic observation, Descartes ventured to suggest that pineal serves as the principal seat of the soul^18-20^. Inspired by its geometric center in the brain, physiologists, psychologists, philosophers and religionists have been speculating for centuries about pineal's function relevant to spirit and soul. In this study, we chose Chinese Original Quiet Sitting, one style of meditation, to explore this long lasting speculation by functional magnetic resonance imaging technique. Our results demonstrate a correlation between pineal activation and religious meditation which might have profound implications in physiological understanding of the intrinsic awareness
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Value of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein assays in predicting atrial fibrillation recurrence: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Objectives: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) assays to see whether these tests are predictive of atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence after cardioversion. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane databases as well as a hand search of the reference lists in the retrieved articles from inception to December 2013. Study eligibility criteria This review selected observational studies in which the measurements of serum CRP were used to predict AF recurrence. An hs-CRP assay was defined as any CRP test capable of measuring serum CRP to below 0.6 mg/dL. Primary and secondary outcome measures We summarised test performance characteristics with the use of forest plots, hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curves and bivariate random effects models. Meta-regression analysis was performed to explore the source of heterogeneity. Results: We included nine qualifying studies comprising a total of 347 patients with AF recurrence and 335 controls. A CRP level higher than the optimal cut-off point was an independent predictor of AF recurrence after cardioversion (summary adjusted OR: 3.33; 95% CI 2.10 to 5.28). The estimated pooled sensitivity and specificity for hs-CRP was 71.0% (95% CI 63% to 78%) and 72.0% (61% to 81%), respectively. Most studies used a CRP cut-off point of 1.9 mg/L to predict long-term AF recurrence (77% sensitivity, 65% specificity), and 3 mg/L to predict short-term AF recurrence (73% sensitivity, 71% specificity). Conclusions: hs-CRP assays are moderately accurate in predicting AF recurrence after successful cardioversion
Surface Second Harmonic Generation from Topological Dirac Semimetal PdTe
Recent experiments and calculations in topological semimetals have observed
anomalously strong second-order optical nonlinearity, but yet whether the
enhancement also occurs at surfaces of topological semimetals in general
remains an open question. In this work, we tackle this problem by measuring
polarization-dependent and rotational-anisotropy optical second harmonic
generation (SHG) from centrosymmetric type-II Dirac semimetal PdTe. We
found the SHG to follow C surface symmetry with a time-varying intensity
dictated by the oxidation kinetics of the material after its surface cleavage,
indicating the surface origin of SHG. Quantitative characterization of the
surface nonlinear susceptibility indicates a large out-of-plane response of
PdTe with up to 25 10 m/V. Our
results support the topological surfaces/interfaces as a new route toward
applications of nonlinear optical effects with released symmetry constraints,
and demonstrate SHG as a viable means to in situ study of kinetics of
topological surfaces
Yeast Prions: Protein Aggregation Is Not Enough
Although many proteins -- both damaged and normal -- have a tendency to aggregate, only some are capable of dividing and propagating. What does it take to turn a protein aggregate into an infectious prion
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Multiplex PCR System for Rapid Detection of Pathogens in Patients with Presumed Sepsis – A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis
Background: Blood culture is viewed as the golden standard for the diagnosis of sepsis but suffers from low sensitivity and long turnaround time. LightCycler SeptiFast (LC-SF) is a real-time multiplex polymerase chain reaction test able to detect 25 common pathogens responsible for bloodstream infections within hours. We aim to assess the accuracy of LC-SF by systematically reviewing the published studies. Method Related literature on Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases was searched up to October 2012 for studies utilizing LC-SF to diagnose suspected sepsis and that provided sufficient data to construct two-by-two tables. Results: A total of 34 studies enrolling 6012 patients of suspected sepsis were included. The overall sensitivity and specificity for LC-SF to detect bacteremia or fungemia was 0·75 (95% CI: 0·65–0·83) and 0·92 (95%CI:0·90–0·95), respectively. LC-SF had a high positive likelihood ratio (10·10) and a moderate negative likelihood ratio (0·27). Specifically, LC-SF had a sensitivity of 0·80 (95%CI: 0·70–0·88) and a specificity of 0·95(95%CI: 0·93–0·97) for the bacteremia outcome, and a sensitivity of 0·61 (95%CI: 0·48–0·72) and a specificity of 0·99 (95%CI: 0·99–0·99) for the fungemia outcome. High heterogeneity was found in the bacteremia outcome subgroup but not in the fungemia outcome subgroup. Conclusion: LC-SF is of high rule-in value for early detection of septic patients. In a population with low pretest probability, LC-SF test can still provide valuable information for ruling out bacteremia or fungemia
Theory of the temperature and doping dependence of the Hall effect in a model with x-ray edge singularities in d=oo
We explain the anomalous features in the Hall data observed experimentally in
the normal state of the high-Tc superconductors. We show that a consistent
treatment of the local spin fluctuations in a model with x-ray edge
singularities in d=oo reproduces the temperature and the doping dependence of
the Hall constant as well as the Hall angle in the normal state. The model has
also been invoked to justify the marginal-Fermi-liquid behavior, and provides a
consistent explanation of the Hall anomalies for a non-Fermi liquid in d=oo.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, To appear in Phys. Rev. B, title correcte
Structure and Electrochemical Impedance of LiNiMnO
Ni-substitution spinel LiNixMn2−xO4 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2) materials were synthesized by the sol--gel method. The structure and morphology of the samples were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the scanning electron microscopy. The ac conduction of the materials was investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. The refinement results showed that the substitution of Ni decreased the lattice constant and Mn--O distance, while increased Li--O bond length and 16c octahedral volume. The EIS results confirmed the decrease of conductivity with increasing Ni substitution content. Based on XRD and EIS results, the relationship between the crystal structure and electrochemical behavior of the materials was discussed and explained
Production of fructooligosaccharides and b-fructofuranosidase by batch and repeated batch fermentation with immobilized cells of Penicillium expansum
The production of fructooligosaccharides
(FOS) and b-fructofuranosidase (FFase) by immobilized
cells of Penicillium expansum was evaluated. In an initial
stage, different low-cost materials including synthetic fiber,
polyurethane foam, stainless steel sponge, loofah sponge,
and cork oak were tested as carrier for the fungus immobilization.
Additionally, the influence of the inoculum age
(1 or 3 weeks) on cells immobilization, FOS and FFase
production was also verified. Synthetic fiber and polyurethane
foam were the best materials for P. expansum
immobilization (2.21 and 1.98 g/g carrier, respectively)
and FOS production (120.3 and 104.8 g/l), and gave also
high results of FFase activity (23.01 and 32.42 U/ml).
Then, the production of FOS and FFase by repeated batch
fermentation with P. expansum immobilized on synthetic
fiber was studied, aiming to improve the batch fermentation
results. The results obtained in this stage were very
promising with FOS yields of 87, 72, and 44 %, in the 3
initial cycles (60 h), respectively; the FFase activity was
constant throughout the process (6 cycles, 96 h). Repeated
batch fermentation with immobilized cells of P. expansum
was found as being a technology with great potential for
FOS and FFase production on industrial scaleThe financial support from FCT, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (research grant SFRH/BPD/38212/2007) is gratefully acknowledged
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