Lateralization difference in functional activity during Stroop tasks: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy and EEG simultaneous study

IntroductionConflict monitoring and processing is an important part of the human cognitive system, it plays a key role in many studies of cognitive disorders.MethodsBased on a Chinese word-color match Stroop task, which included incongruent and neutral stimuli, the Electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) signals were recorded simultaneously. The Pearson correlation coefficient matrix was calculated to analyze brain connectivity based on EEG signals. Granger Causality (GC) method was employed to analyze the effective connectivity of bilateral frontal lobes. Wavelet Transform Coherence (WTC) was used to analyze the functional connectivity of the bilateral hemisphere and ipsilateral hemisphere.ResultsResults indicated that brain connectivity analysis on EEG signals did not show any significant lateralization, while fNIRS analysis results showed the frontal lobes especially the left frontal lobe play the leading role in dealing with conflict tasks. The human brain shows leftward lateralization while processing the more complicated incongruent stimuli. This is demonstrated by the higher functional connectivity in the left frontal lobe and the information flow from the left frontal lobe to the right frontal lobe.DiscussionOur findings in brain connectivity during cognitive conflict processing demonstrated that the dual modality method combining EEG and fNIRS is a valuable tool to excavate more information through cognitive and physiological studies

All-solid-state flexible asymmetric supercapacitors with high energy and power densities based on NiCo2S4@MnS and active carbon

Electrode material based on a novel core-shell structure consisting of NiCo2S4 (NCS) solid fiber core and MnS (MS) sheet shell (NCS@MS) in situ grown on carbon cloth (CC) has been successfully prepared by a simple sulfurization-assisted hydrothermal method for high performance supercapacitor. The synthesized NiCo2S4@MnS/CC electrode shows high capacitance of 1908.3 F g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1 which is higher than those of NiCo2S4 and MnS at the same current density. A flexible all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) is constructed by using NiCo2S4@MnS/CC as positive electrode, active carbon/CC as negative electrode and KOH/poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as electrolyte. The optimized ASC shows a maximum energy density of 23.3 Wh kg-1 at 1 A g-1, a maximum power density of about 7.5 kw kg-1 at 10 A g-1 and remarkable cycling stability. After 9000 cycles, the ASC still exhibited 67.8% retention rate and largely unchanged charge/discharge curves. The excellent electrochemical properties are resulted from the novel core-shell structure of the NiCo2S4@MnS/CC electrode, which possesses both high surface area for Faraday redox reaction and superior kinetics of charge transport. The NiCo2S4@MnS/CC electrode shows a promising potential for energy storage applications in the future

Classification and instability mechanism of anchored “beam-arch” composite structure in rock burst roadways with top-coal

The rock burst frequently occurs in the roadways with top coal, and the roof disasters are particularly severe under dynamic stress in China. In order to explore the classification and instability mechanisms of anchoring structures in the roadways with top-coal, analog simulation experiments, theoretical analysis, and data statistics were used under the engineering background of the large-area rock burst roof failure in the Working Face 301 of a mine in Shaanxi Province, China. The dynamic load response characteristics of the stress, displacement, and surface acceleration of the surrounding rock in the roadways with top coal were analyzed. The classification characteristics of the roof anchoring structure under the influence of top coal thickness and cables were studied. The stress response mechanism of the roadways with top coal under elastic waves was explored, and the instability mechanism of the anchoring “beam arch” structure was proposed. The rock burst resistance of the air-return roadway in the Working Face 301 was evaluated, and the corresponding optimization schemes for the “beam-arch” composite structure were proposed. The results show that ① the monitoring data of stress and displacement of the surrounding rock in the roadways with top coal under dynamic stress verify the existence of internal and external beam or arch anchoring structures in the roof. Due to the increase in the thickness of top coal, there is a transition from “beam” to “arch” in the anchoring structure of the inner layer of the roof; ② based on the relative relationship between the thickness of the top coal and the cables, the roof anchoring structure is divided into “superimposed-beam and arch” for thin top coal, “composite-beam and arch” for thick top coal, and “combined arch” for extra thick top coal. A critical thickness index for the transformation of thick coal beams from “beam” to “arch” is established; ③ the instability mechanism of the beam structure and the arch structure is that they fail after reaching their tensile and shear strength limits under dynamic and static stress, respectively. The amplification effect of the “beam-arch” composite structure on the load stress is significantly affected by its size; ④ the bearing strength of the inner arch in the "combined arch" structure is relatively low. Increasing the length of cables can increase the thickness of the inner arch, and the corresponding “combined arch” structure’s bearing strength increases significantly, which is consistent with the evaluation results of the rock burst resistance

Resveratrol Delivery by Albumin Nanoparticles Improved Neurological Function and Neuronal Damage in Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Rats

Human serum albumin (HSA) is an intrinsic protein and important carrier that transports endogenous as well as exogenous substances. It is demonstrated in this study that the regional accumulation of albumin in the ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) brain may lead in the application of HSA based nanoparticles in the study of cerebral I/R injury. Resveratrol (RES) is potential in the treatment of cerebral I/R injury but is restricted for its water insolubility and short half-life in vivo. In our study, RES loaded HSA nanoparticles (RES-HSA-NPs) were prepared to facilitate the application of RES in protection from cerebral I/R injury. RES-HSA-NPs demonstrated spherical shape, a diameter about 100 nm, a highest RES encapsulation efficiency of 60.9 ± 5.07%, and controlled release pattern with the maximum release ratio of 50.2 ± 4.91% [in pH = 5.0 phosphate buffered saline (PBS)] and 26. 2 ± 2.73% (in pH = 7.4 PBS), respectively, after 90 h incubation at 37°C. After intravenous injection into transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) rats, RES-HSA-NPs improved neurological score and decreased infarct volume at 24 h after tMCAO in a dose dependent manner. A single dose of 20 mg/kg RES-HSA-NPs via tail vein improved neurological outcomes and decreased infarct volume at 24 and 72 h in tMCAO rats. I/R increased oxidative stress (indicated by products of lipid peroxidation, MDA) and neuronal apoptosis (indicated by yellow-brown TUNEL-positive cells), RES-HSA-NPs significantly attenuated oxidative stress and neuronal apoptosis. These results demonstrated the potential of RES-HSA-NPs in the therapy of cerebral I/R injury

Efficacy and safety of tigecycline monotherapy vs. imipenem/cilastatin in Chinese patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections: a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tigecycline, a first-in-class broad-spectrum glycylcycline antibiotic, has broad-spectrum in vitro activity against bacteria commonly encountered in complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAIs), including aerobic and facultative Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and anaerobic bacteria. In the current trial, tigecycline was evaluated for safety and efficacy vs. imipenem/cilastatin in hospitalized Chinese patients with cIAIs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this phase 3, multicenter, open-label study, patients were randomly assigned to receive IV tigecycline or imipenem/cilastatin for ≤2 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoints were clinical response at the test-of-cure visit (12-37 days after therapy) for the microbiologic modified intent-to-treat and microbiologically evaluable populations. Because the study was not powered to demonstrate non-inferiority between tigecycline and imipenem/cilastatin, no formal statistical analysis was performed. Two-sided 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for the response rates in each treatment group and for differences between treatment groups for descriptive purposes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One hundred ninety-nine patients received ≥1 dose of study drug and comprised the modified intent-to-treat population. In the microbiologically evaluable population, 86.5% (45 of 52) of tigecycline- and 97.9% (47 of 48) of imipenem/cilastatin-treated patients were cured at the test-of-cure assessment (12-37 days after therapy); in the microbiologic modified intent-to-treat population, cure rates were 81.7% (49 of 60) and 90.9% (50 of 55), respectively. The overall incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events was 80.4% for tigecycline vs. 53.9% after imipenem/cilastatin therapy (<it>P </it>< 0.001), primarily due to gastrointestinal-related events, especially nausea (21.6% vs. 3.9%; <it>P </it>< 0.001) and vomiting (12.4% vs. 2.0%; <it>P </it>= 0.005).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Clinical cure rates for tigecycline were consistent with those found in global cIAI studies. The overall safety profile was also consistent with that observed in global studies of tigecycline for treatment of cIAI, as well as that observed in analyses of Chinese patients in those studies; no novel trends were observed.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00136201</p

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)