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BackgroundIntermittent theta-burst stimulation priming (iTBS-P) can improve clinical outcome of patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) who do not show early benefit from 10 Hz stimulation of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), also known as high-frequency left-sided (HFL) stimulation. The intensity and pulse number for iTBS-P needed to induce clinical benefit have not been systematically examined.ObjectiveTo study the effect of intensity and pulse number on the clinical efficacy of iTBS-P.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective review of 71 participants who received at least five sessions of HFL with limited clinical benefit and received iTBS-P augmentation for between 5 and 25 sessions. Intensity of iTBS-P priming stimuli ranged from 75 to 120% of motor threshold (MT) and pulse number ranged from 600 to 1800. Associations among intensity, pulse number, and clinical outcome were analyzed using a mixed methods linear model with change in IDS-SR as the primary outcome variable, priming stimulation intensity (subthreshold or suprathreshold), pulse number (<1200 or >1200 pulses), and gender as fixed factors, and number of iTBS-P treatments and age as continuous covariates.ResultsSubjects who received subthreshold intensity iTBS-P experienced greater reduction in depressive symptoms than those who received suprathreshold iTBS-P (p = 0.011) with no effect of pulse number after controlling for stimulus intensity.ConclusionsSubthreshold intensity iTBS-P was associated with greater clinical improvement than suprathreshold stimulation. This finding is consistent with iTBS-P acting through homeostatic plasticity mechanisms.

Special features of formation of the structure of a layered intermetallic material based on titanium aluminide obtained by the method of plasma-spark sintering of foils are studied. The dependence of the structure on the temperature-and-time treatment parameters is determined. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Influence of synthesis conditions (type of atmosphere: reduction or oxidation, annealing temperature) on the chemical composition and structure of the compounds formed in the "HfO2 - CeO2/Ce2O3" system has been investigated by X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy combined with Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis. It was revealed that isothermal annealing of precursor at temperatures less than 1000°C in air leads to formation of Ce0.5Hf0.5O2 powders with cubic fluorite-type structure (space group Fm-3m). Further increase of annealing temperatures above 1000°C causes decomposition of formed crystal structure into two phases: cubic and monoclinic. Annealing in reduction hydrogen atmosphere causes formation of Ce4+ 2xCe3+ 2-2xHf2O7+x compounds with intermediate oxidation state of cerium, where value of x depends on the reducing conditions and treatment parameters. Annealing in vacuum at 1400°C strongly reduces the content of Ce4+ in a powder samples and leads to formation of pyrochlore structure (space group Fd-3m) with predominant +3 oxidation state of cerium. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

Influence of synthesis conditions (type of atmosphere, reduction and oxidation, annealing temperature) on the chemical composition and structure of the compounds formed in the "ZrO2 - Ce2O3 / CeO2" system has been investigated by X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy combined with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It is revealed that isothermal annealing of precursor at temperatures less than 1000 °C in air leads to formation of Ce0.5Zr0.5O2 powders with cubic fluorite-type structure (Fm-3m). Further increase of annealing temperatures above 1000 °C causes decomposition of formed crystal structure into two phases: cubic and tetragonal. Annealing in reduction hydrogen atmosphere causes formation of Ce4 + 2xCe3 + 2-2xZr2O7 + x compounds with intermediate valency of cerium, where value of x depends on the reducing conditions and treatment parameters of precursor. Annealing in vacuum at 1400 °C strongly reduces the content of Ce4+ in a powder samples and leads to formation of pyrochlore structure (space group Fd-3m) with practically Ce3+ valence state.