Intrinsic Resting-State Activity in Older Adults With Video Game Experience

Playing video games is a prevalent leisure activity in current daily life, and studies have found that video game experience has positive effects in several cognitive domains. However, few studies have examined the effect of video game experience on the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) among older adults. In the current study, we compared behavioral performance in the flanker task and ALFF activities of older adults, of whom 15 were video game players (VGPs) and 18 non-video game players (NVGPs). The results showed that VGPs outperformed NVGPs in the flanker task and that VGPs showed significantly increased ALFF relative to NVGPs in the left inferior occipital gyrus, left cerebellum and left lingual gyrus. Furthermore, the ALFF in the left inferior occipital gyrus and left lingual gyrus was positively correlated with cognitive performance as measured by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. These results revealed that playing video games might improve behavioral performance and change intrinsic brain activity in older adults. Future video game training studies in older adults are warranted to provide more evidence of the positive effects of video game experience on behavioral and brain function

Rapid and continuous regulating adhesion strength by mechanical micro-vibration

Controlled tuning of interface adhesion is crucial to a broad range of applications, such as space technology, micro-fabrication, flexible electronics, robotics, and bio-integrated devices. Here, we show a robust and predictable method to continuously regulate interface adhesion by exciting the mechanical micro-vibration in the adhesive system perpendicular to the contact plane. An analytic model reveals the underlying mechanism of adhesion hysteresis and dynamic instability. For a typical PDMS-glass adhesion system, the apparent adhesion strength can be enhanced by 77 times or weakened to 0. Notably, the resulting adhesion switching timescale is comparable to that of geckos (15 ms), and such rapid adhesion switching can be repeated for more than 2×10^7 vibration cycles without any noticeable degradation in the adhesion performance. Our method is independent of surface microstructures and does not require a preload, representing a simple and practical way to design and control surface adhesion in relevant applications

Modelling the Effects of Climatic Factors on the Biomass and Rodent Distribution in a Tibetan Grassland Region in China

To identify the main climatic factors from 2007 to 2009 that influence biomass and rodent distribution, 576 fixed sample plots within 81 million km2 of different climatic grassland in Tibet were monitored. The aboveground biomass, the total burrows, the active burrows, the burrow index, and the rodent density in the plots were measured yearly in October. The monthly precipitation and the average temperatures from April to November were obtained for four successive years (2006-2009). Correlative and modelling analyses between the aboveground biomass, the rodent density, and the climatic factors were performed. The results showed that biomass and rodent density were significantly correlated with the climatic factors. Using ridge regression analyses, models of the biomass and rodent density with respect to the monthly precipitations and average temperatures of the previous year were developed. The raw testing data demonstrated that the models can be used approximately to predict biomass and rodent density

Intra- and Inter-Scanner Reliability of Voxel-Wise Whole-Brain Analytic Metrics for Resting State fMRI

As the multi-center studies with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) have been more and more applied to neuropsychiatric studies, both intra- and inter-scanner reliability of RS-fMRI are becoming increasingly important. The amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and degree centrality (DC) are 3 main RS-fMRI metrics in a way of voxel-wise whole-brain (VWWB) analysis. Although the intra-scanner reliability (i.e., test-retest reliability) of these metrics has been widely investigated, few studies has investigated their inter-scanner reliability. In the current study, 21 healthy young subjects were enrolled and scanned with blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) RS-fMRI in 3 visits (V1 – V3), with V1 and V2 scanned on a GE MR750 scanner and V3 on a Siemens Prisma. RS-fMRI data were collected under two conditions, eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC), each lasting 8 minutes. We firstly evaluated the intra- and inter-scanner reliability of ALFF, ReHo, and DC. Secondly, we measured systematic difference between two scanning visits of the same scanner as well as between two scanners. Thirdly, to account for the potential difference of intra- and inter-scanner local magnetic field inhomogeneity, we measured the difference of relative BOLD signal intensity to the mean BOLD signal intensity of the whole brain between each pair of visits. Last, we used percent amplitude of fluctuation (PerAF) to correct the difference induced by relative BOLD signal intensity. The inter-scanner reliability was much worse than intra-scanner reliability; Among the VWWB metrics, DC showed the worst (both for intra-scanner and inter-scanner comparisons). PerAF showed similar intra-scanner reliability with ALFF and the best reliability among all the 4 metrics. PerAF reduced the influence of BOLD signal intensity and hence increase the inter-scanner reliability of ALFF. For multi-center studies, inter-scanner reliability should be taken into account

Molecular subtypes predict the preferential site of distant metastasis in advanced breast cancer: a nationwide retrospective study

ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore possible associations between molecular subtypes and site of distant metastasis in advanced breast cancer (ABC).Methods3577 ABC patients were selected from 21 hospitals of seven geographic regions in China from 2012-2014. A questionnaire was designed to collect medical information regarding demographic characteristics, risk factors, molecular subtype, recurrence/metastasis information, and disease-free survival (DFS). The cancers were classified into Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2-enriched and Triple Negative subtypes. Chi-square test and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were performed to explore the associations between molecular subtypes and distant metastasis sites.ResultsA total of 2393 cases with molecular subtypes information were finally examined. Patients with Luminal A (51.1%) and Luminal B (44.7%) were most prone to bone metastasis, whereas liver metastasis was more frequently observed in HER2-enriched ABC patients (29.1%).The cumulative recurrence and metastasis rates of ABC patients at 36 months of DFS were the most significant within molecular types, of which Triple Negative was the highest (82.7%), while that of Luminal A was the lowest (58.4%). In the adjusted Cox regression analysis, Luminal B, HER2-enriched and Triple Negative subtypes increased the risk of visceral metastasis by 23%, 46% and 87% respectively. In addition, Triple Negative patients had a higher probability of brain metastasis (HR 3.07, 95% CI: 1.04-9.07).ConclusionMolecular subtypes can predict the preferential sites of distant metastasis, emphasizing that these associations were of great help in choices for surveillance, developing appropriate screening and cancer management strategies for follow-up and personalized therapy in ABC patients

Corrigendum to: The TianQin project: current progress on science and technology

In the originally published version, this manuscript included an error related to indicating the corresponding author within the author list. This has now been corrected online to reflect the fact that author Jun Luo is the corresponding author of the article

Associations of lipid accumulation product, visceral adiposity index, and triglyceride-glucose index with subclinical organ damage in healthy Chinese adults

Background and aimsObesity is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease development. Here, we aimed to examine and compare the predictive values of three novel obesity indices, lipid accumulation product (LAP), visceral adiposity index (VAI), and triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index, for cardiovascular subclinical organ damage.MethodsA total of 1,773 healthy individuals from the Hanzhong Adolescent Hypertension Study cohort were enrolled. Anthropometric, biochemical, urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), and Cornell voltage-duration product data were collected. Furthermore, the potential risk factors for subclinical organ damage were investigated, with particular emphasis on examining the predictive value of the LAP, VAI, and TyG index for detecting subclinical organ damage.ResultsLAP, VAI, and TyG index exhibited a significant positive association with baPWV and uACR. However, only LAP and VAI were found to have a positive correlation with Cornell product. While the three indices did not show an association with electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy, higher values of LAP and TyG index were significantly associated with an increased risk of arterial stiffness and albuminuria. Furthermore, after dividing the population into quartiles, the fourth quartiles of LAP and TyG index showed a significant association with arterial stiffness and albuminuria when compared with the first quartiles, in both unadjusted and fully adjusted models. Additionally, the concordance index (C-index) values for LAP, VAI, and TyG index were reasonably high for arterial stiffness (0.856, 0.856, and 0.857, respectively) and albuminuria (0.739, 0.737, and 0.746, respectively). Lastly, the analyses of continuous net reclassification improvement (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) demonstrated that the TyG index exhibited significantly higher predictive values for arterial stiffness and albuminuria compared with LAP and VAI.ConclusionLAP, VAI, and, especially, TyG index demonstrated utility in screening cardiovascular subclinical organ damage among Chinese adults in this community-based sample. These indices have the potential to function as markers for early detection of cardiovascular disease in otherwise healthy individuals

Associations of long-term visit-to-visit blood pressure variability with subclinical kidney damage and albuminuria in adulthood: a 30-year prospective cohort study

Background: Recent evidence indicates that long-term visit-to-visit blood pressure variability (BPV) may be associated with risk of cardiovascular disease. We, therefore, aimed to determine the potential associations of long-term BPV from childhood to middle age with subclinical kidney damage (SKD) and albuminuria in adulthood. Methods: Using data from the ongoing cohort of Hanzhong Adolescent Hypertension study, which recruited children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years at baseline, we assessed BPV by SD and average real variability (ARV) for 30 years (6 visits). Presence of SKD was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate between 30 and 60 mL/min per 1.73 m2 or elevated urinary albumin-to creatinine ratio at least 30 mg/g. Albuminuria was defined as urinary albumin-to creatinine ratio ≥30 mg/g. Results: During 30 years of follow-up, of the 1771 participants, 204 SKD events occurred. After adjustment for demographic, clinical characteristics, and mean BP during 30 years, higher SDSBP, ARVSBP, SDDBP, ARVDBP, SDMAP, ARVMAP, and ARVPP were significantly associated with higher risk of SKD. When we used cumulative exposure to BP from childhood to adulthood instead of mean BP as adjustment factors, results were similar. In addition, greater long-term BPV was also associated with the risk of albuminuria. Long-term BPV from childhood to middle age was associated with higher risk of SKD and albuminuria in adulthood, independent of mean BP or cumulative exposure to BP during follow-up. Conclusions: Identifying long-term BPV from early age may assist in predicting kidney disease and cardiovascular disease in later life