Glutamatergic neurometabolite levels in the caudate are associated with the ability of rhythm production

IntroductionGlutamatergic neurometabolites play important roles in the basal ganglia, a hub of the brain networks involved in musical rhythm processing. We aimed to investigate the relationship between rhythm processing abilities and glutamatergic neurometabolites in the caudate.MethodsWe aquired Glutamatergic function in healthy individuals employing proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We targeted the right caudate and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) as a control region. Rhythm processing ability was assessed by the Harvard Beat Assessment Test (H-BAT).ResultsWe found negative correlations between the production part of the Beat Saliency Test in the H-BAT and glutamate and glutamine levels in the caudate (r = −0.693, p = 0.002) whereas there was no such association in the dACC.ConclusionThese results suggest that higher glutamatergic neurometabolite levels in the caudate may contribute to rhythm processing, especially the ability to produce meter in music precisely

Frequency drift in MR spectroscopy at 3T

Purpose: Heating of gradient coils and passive shim components is a common cause of instability in the B-0 field, especially when gradient intensive sequences are used. The aim of the study was to set a benchmark for typical drift encountered during MR spectroscopy (MRS) to assess the need for real-time field-frequency locking on MRI scanners by comparing field drift data from a large number of sites.Method: A standardized protocol was developed for 80 participating sites using 99 3T MR scanners from 3 major vendors. Phantom water signals were acquired before and after an EPI sequence. The protocol consisted of: minimal preparatory imaging; a short pre-fMRI PRESS; a ten-minute fMRI acquisition; and a long post-fMRI PRESS acquisition. Both pre- and post-fMRI PRESS were non-water suppressed. Real-time frequency stabilization/adjustment was switched off when appropriate. Sixty scanners repeated the protocol for a second dataset. In addition, a three-hour post-fMRI MRS acquisition was performed at one site to observe change of gradient temperature and drift rate. Spectral analysis was performed using MATLAB. Frequency drift in pre-fMRI PRESS data were compared with the first 5:20 minutes and the full 30:00 minutes of data after fMRI. Median (interquartile range) drifts were measured and showed in violin plot. Paired t-tests were performed to compare frequency drift pre- and post-fMRI. A simulated in vivo spectrum was generated using FID-A to visualize the effect of the observed frequency drifts. The simulated spectrum was convolved with the frequency trace for the most extreme cases. Impacts of frequency drifts on NAA and GABA were also simulated as a function of linear drift. Data from the repeated protocol were compared with the corresponding first dataset using Pearson's and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC).Results: Of the data collected from 99 scanners, 4 were excluded due to various reasons. Thus, data from 95 scanners were ultimately analyzed. For the first 5:20 min (64 transients), median (interquartile range) drift was 0.44 (1.29) Hz before fMRI and 0.83 (1.29) Hz after. This increased to 3.15 (4.02) Hz for the full 30 min (360 transients) run. Average drift rates were 0.29 Hz/min before fMRI and 0.43 Hz/min after. Paired t-tests indicated that drift increased after fMRI, as expected (p &lt; 0.05). Simulated spectra convolved with the frequency drift showed that the intensity of the NAA singlet was reduced by up to 26%, 44 % and 18% for GE, Philips and Siemens scanners after fMRI, respectively. ICCs indicated good agreement between datasets acquired on separate days. The single site long acquisition showed drift rate was reduced to 0.03 Hz/min approximately three hours after fMRI.Discussion: This study analyzed frequency drift data from 95 3T MRI scanners. Median levels of drift were relatively low (5-min average under 1 Hz), but the most extreme cases suffered from higher levels of drift. The extent of drift varied across scanners which both linear and nonlinear drifts were observed.</p

女子大生の咀嚼の実態と心身の各種因子との関係について

咀嚼を含めた食行為が女子大生の心身に与える影響を把握するため、マシュマロとチャーハンにおける咀嚼回数の測定並びに、生活習慣および心理状況調査を実施した。また、咀嚼回数の測定と併せて口腔部のサイズや容量、1口の食物投入量、咀嚼数、咀嚼スピード、スプーンの移動回数を測定し、体重や体脂肪量などの各種身体情報の調査も行った。　咀嚼の状況と身体特性との関係性を相関分析により検討したところ、相関関係は確認できなかった。咀嚼の状況と生活習慣との関連の検討において、メタボリックシンドロームに対するリスクと有意な負の相関関係が見られた項目は、スプーン移動回数、チャーハン摂取量、1分あたりの摂取量であった。　以上のように咀嚼の状況と生活習慣および心理状況調査結果との関係については、関連性が示唆される傾向が見られた

Abnormally low regional cerebral oxygen saturation after induction of anesthesia without neurological abnormality: A case report

Measurement of regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2) using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in cardiac surgery is known to be useful in reducing postoperative neurological complications. We here present a case of a 71-year-old man in whom severe decrease in unilateral rSO2 was observed after induction of general anesthesia for percutaneous mitral valve clipping, although no neurological abnormalities were found. NIRS does not always predict postoperative neurological complications

Swelling of lignin-based gel in salt-containing organic solvents and its application as gel electrolyte

A lignin-based gel prepared by the chemical crosslinking of hardwood acetic acid lignin (AL) with poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether has been reported to shrink in water and organic solvents but swell specifically in aqueous binary solutions. In this study, the AL-based gel was also found to swell in lithium-salt-containing organic solvents, namely, liquid electrolytes. The uptake of salt solutions reached five times the dry weight of the gel. The ionic conductivity of the gel swollen with 1 M LiBF4 in propylene carbonate or a mixed solution (1:1, v/v) of ethylene carbonate and dimethyl carbonate exceeded 1 mS cm(-1 )at room temperature (25 & DEG;C), suggesting that this gel can be applied as a gel electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). A prototype LIB was assembled with the AL-based gel electrolyte and LiCoO2/graphite-based electrodes and exhibited low bulk and charge transfer resistances of 4.1 and 9.7 ?, respectively. Moreover, its initial specific capacity reached 104 mAh g(-1) at a current density of 28 mA g(-1), which is comparable to that of a reference LIB assembled using a commercial polyethylene separator. These results indicate the significant potential of this lignin-based gel for application in energy storage devices

Short-Term Effect of Auditory Stimulation on Neural Activities: A Scoping Review of Longitudinal Electroencephalography and Magnetoencephalography Studies

Explored through EEG/MEG, auditory stimuli function as a suitable research probe to reveal various neural activities, including event-related potentials, brain oscillations and functional connectivity. Accumulating evidence in this field stems from studies investigating neuroplasticity induced by long-term auditory training, specifically cross-sectional studies comparing musicians and non-musicians as well as longitudinal studies with musicians. In contrast, studies that address the neural effects of short-term interventions whose duration lasts from minutes to hours are only beginning to be featured. Over the past decade, an increasing body of evidence has shown that short-term auditory interventions evoke rapid changes in neural activities, and oscillatory fluctuations can be observed even in the prestimulus period. In this scoping review, we divided the extracted neurophysiological studies into three groups to discuss neural activities with short-term auditory interventions: the pre-stimulus period, during stimulation, and a comparison of before and after stimulation. We show that oscillatory activities vary depending on the context of the stimuli and are greatly affected by the interplay of bottom-up and top-down modulational mechanisms, including attention. We conclude that the observed rapid changes in neural activitiesin the auditory cortex and the higher-order cognitive part of the brain are causally attributed to short-term auditory interventions

Expression Levels of Long Non-Coding RNAs Change in Models of Altered Muscle Activity and Muscle Mass

Skeletal muscle is a highly plastic organ that is necessary for homeostasis and health of the human body. The size of skeletal muscle changes in response to intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli. Although protein-coding RNAs including myostatin, NF-&kappa;&beta;, and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), have pivotal roles in determining the skeletal muscle mass, the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the regulation of skeletal muscle mass remains to be elucidated. Here, we performed expression profiling of nine skeletal muscle differentiation-related lncRNAs (DRR, DUM1, linc-MD1, linc-YY1, LncMyod, Neat1, Myoparr, Malat1, and SRA) and three genomic imprinting-related lncRNAs (Gtl2, H19, and IG-DMR) in mouse skeletal muscle. The expression levels of these lncRNAs were examined by quantitative RT-PCR in six skeletal muscle atrophy models (denervation, casting, tail suspension, dexamethasone-administration, cancer cachexia, and fasting) and two skeletal muscle hypertrophy models (mechanical overload and deficiency of the myostatin gene). Cluster analyses of these lncRNA expression levels were successfully used to categorize the muscle atrophy models into two sub-groups. In addition, the expression of Gtl2, IG-DMR, and DUM1 was altered along with changes in the skeletal muscle size. The overview of the expression levels of lncRNAs in multiple muscle atrophy and hypertrophy models provides a novel insight into the role of lncRNAs in determining the skeletal muscle mass

Hydrogen transport property of polymer-derived cobalt cation-doped amorphous silica

International audienceThe effect of the local structure of Co-doped amorphous silica on the hydrogen transport property was studied with the aim to improve the high-temperature hydrogen-permselectivity of microporous amorphous silica-based membranes. Co-Doped silica materials with measured Co/Si atomic ratios ranging from 0.01 to 0.18 were successfully synthesized through the polymer-derived ceramic (PDC) route. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) analyses confirmed the amorphous state of the polymer-derived Co-doped silica, while both X-ray photoelectron and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy analyses revealed that the divalent Co cation (Co 2+) modified the matrix amorphous silica network to form hydrogen-bonded silanol. After dehydration treatment at 500°C in argon, hydrogen (H)/deuterium (D) isotope exchange behavior on the surface silanol groups (Si-OH/OD conversion) of the polymer-derived non-doped and Co-doped amorphous silica was in situ monitored by measuring diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectra at 500°C. The self-diffusion coefficient for OH/OD conversion of free silanol groups of non-doped silica was 6.1 × 10 −15 m 2 s −1 , while that on the hydrogen bonded Si-OH was found to reach 15.6 × 10 −15 m 2 s −1 by Co-doping at the measured Co/Si atomic ratio of 0.05.The effect of the amount of Co 2+ doping on the hydrogen transport property was further studied by scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy (STEM-EELS) analyses, and it was suggested that a rather small amount of Co-doping, i.e. Co/Si atomic ratio of 0.05 was effective for enhancing high-temperature hydrogen permeance through microporous amorphous silica-based membranes