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This work investigates selective Ni locations over Ni/CeZrO x –Al 2 O 3 catalysts at different Ni loading contents and their influences on reaction pathways in ethanol steam reforming (ESR). Depending on the Ni loading contents, the added Ni selectively interacts with CeZrO x –Al 2 O 3 , resulting in the stepwise locations of Ni over CeZrO x –Al 2 O 3. This behavior induces a remarkable difference in hydrogen production and coke formation in ESR. The selective interaction between Ni and CeZrO x for 10-wt.% Ni generates more oxygen vacancies in the CeZrO x lattice. The Ni sites near the oxygen vacancies enhance reforming via steam activation, resulting in the highest hydrogen production rate of 1863.0 μmol/g cat ·min. In contrast, for 15 and 20-wt.% Ni, excessive Ni is additionally deposited on Al 2 O 3 after the saturation of Ni–CeZrO x interactions. These Ni sites on Al 2 O 3 accelerate coking from the ethylene produced on the acidic sites, resulting in a high coke amount of 19.1 mg c /g cat·h (20Ni/CZ-Al). [Display omitted] • Ni/CeZrO x –Al 2 O 3 for ethanol steam reforming are prepared at different Ni contents. • Depending on the Ni amounts, Ni selectively interacts with the CeZrO x –Al 2 O 3 support. • Stepwise Ni locations over CeZrO x –Al 2 O 3 remarkably affect the ESR reaction pathways. • Ni sites near the oxygen vacancies on CeZrO x enhance reforming via steam activation. • Ni sites on Al 2 O 3 accelerate coking from the ethylene produced on the acidic sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Injection laryngoplasty (IL) is performed to reduce the gap between vocal folds induced by unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP). Voice quality after IL may be different due to other factors that influence voice quality. Voice therapy has been reported to improve voice quality after IL in patients with UVFP. This study evaluated the efficacy of voice therapy combined with IL. Patients with UVFP who underwent IL as primary therapy from March 2017 to June 2019 were evaluated. The enrolled patients were divided into two groups, those who did and did not receive voice therapy after IL. Voice quality was evaluated using perceptual, acoustic, and aerodynamic parameters, and voice handicap index-30 scores one month after IL and after completing each treatment. Of 261 patients who underwent IL during the study period, 40 were enrolled, including 21 who did and 19 who did not receive voice therapy. Voice parameters one month after IL did not differ between these two groups. Jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio, and mean flow rate decreased, while maximum phonation time increased after voice therapy (both P < 0.05). In the absence of voice therapy, improved voice parameters were maintained for six months after IL. Total voice handicap index-30 scores decreased, from 35.6 to 19.1 (P < 0.05), in patients who received voice therapy. Voice therapy following IL is beneficial to patients with UVFP. Combined treatment can help to maintain improved voice quality more than six months after IL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The observation time in EGD is associated with detection rate of premalignant or neoplastic lesions in the upper GI (UGI) tract. The aim of this study was to evaluate an institutional policy of EGD observation time on the detection rate of UGI neoplasms. From July 2017 to March 2019, all endoscopists were requested to comply with our institutional policy of spending more than 3 minutes of observation time in every screening EGD. Observation time was defined as the time from when the endoscope reached the duodenum to when it was withdrawn. We obtained a neoplasm detection rate (NDR) during this period and compared it with that of a baseline period from 2009 to 2015. During the study period, 30,506 EGDs were performed. Mean subject age was 49.9 ± 10.5 years, and 56.5% were men. All endoscopists achieved an average EGD observation time of more than 3 minutes during this period. Mean observation time was 3:35 ± 0:50, which was significantly longer than the baseline (2:38 ± 0:21, P <.001). NDR was.33%, which was higher than the baseline (.23%, P <.001). Even after adjusting for subjects' age and gender, smoking history, and endoscopists' biopsy sampling rate, prolonged EGD observation time of more than 3 minutes increased the NDR of UGI neoplasms (odds ratio, 1.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.21-1.75). This study provides evidence that implementing a protocol of a prolonged observation time could increase NDR. Observation time should be an important quality indicator of the EGD examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a cerebellar ring network for the optokinetic response (OKR), and investigate the effect of diverse recoding of granule (GR) cells on OKR by varying the connection probability p c from Golgi to GR cells. For an optimal value of p c ∗ (= 0. 06) , individual GR cells exhibit diverse spiking patterns which are in-phase, anti-phase, or complex out-of-phase with respect to their population-averaged firing activity. Then, these diversely-recoded signals via parallel fibers (PFs) from GR cells are effectively depressed by the error-teaching signals via climbing fibers from the inferior olive which are also in-phase ones. Synaptic weights at in-phase PF-Purkinje cell (PC) synapses of active GR cells are strongly depressed via strong long-term depression (LTD), while those at anti-phase and complex out-of-phase PF-PC synapses are weakly depressed through weak LTD. This kind of "effective" depression (i.e., strong/weak LTD) at the PF-PC synapses causes a big modulation in firings of PCs, which then exert effective inhibitory coordination on the vestibular nucleus (VN) neuron (which evokes OKR). For the firing of the VN neuron, the learning gain degree L g , corresponding to the modulation gain ratio, increases with increasing the learning cycle, and it saturates at about the 300th cycle. By varying p c from p c ∗ , we find that a plot of saturated learning gain degree L g ∗ versus p c forms a bell-shaped curve with a peak at p c ∗ (where the diversity degree in spiking patterns of GR cells is also maximum). Consequently, the more diverse in recoding of GR cells, the more effective in motor learning for the OKR adaptation. • A cerebellar ring network for the optokinetic response (OKR) is considered. • Effect of diverse recoding of granule (GR) cells on the learning for the OKR adaptation is studied. • Diverse spiking patterns of GR cells appear relative to their population-averaged firing activity. • Diverse recoding of the GR cells leads to effective long-term depression and motor learning. • The more diverse in recoding of the GR cells, the more effective in learning for the OKR adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sarcopenia may result in negative outcomes in patients with cancer, but its impact on surgical and oncological outcomes in older adult patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has not been systematically studied. This study evaluated the clinical impact of sarcopenia on postsurgical and oncological outcomes in older adult patients with HNSCC. This is a prospective study of 190 consecutive HNSCC patients aged ≥65 years who underwent curative surgery at a tertiary referral hospital. Sarcopenia was determined from measurement of the cross-sectional area of skeletal muscles at the level of the third lumbar vertebra on pretreatment images of whole body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography. Primary outcomes were early complications and overall survival. Factors of early complications and readmission were identified using binary logistic regression analyses, and factors of overall survival and disease-free survival were identified using univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. Pretreatment sarcopenia were found in 64 (33.7%) patients. In multivariate analysis, sarcopenia and N classification were significantly associated with early complications, while sarcopenia and T classification were associated with readmission. Independent factors of overall survival outcomes were age, sarcopenia, and extranodal extension (all P <.005). Sarcopenia was also an independent factor predictive of disease-free survival outcome (P <.001). Sarcopenia was associated with a 3.2-fold increase in the early complication rate and 4.5-fold increase in mortality in older adult surgical patients with HNSCC. Sarcopenia may predict early complications and survival after curative surgery in older adult patients with HNSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), may predict treatment response and outcomes in some human malignancies. However, NLR has rarely been examined in older patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This study evaluated factors, including pre-treatment evaluation tests, predictive of mortality in older patients with HNSCC. This study prospectively enrolled 233 consecutive HNSCC patients aged 65 years or older. Pre-treatment evaluations included patient demographics, comorbidity, body weight loss, voice handicap index, dysphagia, Beck's depression inventory, comprehensive geriatric assessment, and circulating biomarkers. Cumulative incidence and cause-specific hazard functions were used to analyse the risk factors for overall mortality (OM), cancer mortality (CM), and non-cancer mortality (NCM). Multivariate analyses showed that age, performance scale, NLR, and nodal stage were independent predictors of OM and CM (all P <.05). Age, body weight loss, frailty, and NLR were independent predictors of NCM (all P <.05). Older age ≥ 75 years and NLR showed strong association with all OM, CM, and NCM (all P <.05). NLR >2.5 was related to a higher risk of OM (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.77, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05–2.97, P =.031), CM (HR = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.09–3.29, P =.023), and NCM (HR = 6.29, 95% CI: 2.16–18.37, P =.001). Cancer and non-cancer mortalities among older patients with HNSCC may be predicted by several clinical and haematological data. NLR might be used as a circulating prognostic marker for mortality in older patients with HNSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We consider the Watts–Strogatz small-world network (SWN) consisting of inhibitory fast spiking Izhikevich interneurons. This inhibitory neuronal population has adaptive dynamic synaptic strengths governed by the inhibitory spike-timing-dependent plasticity (iSTDP). In previous works without iSTDP, fast sparsely synchronized rhythms, associated with diverse cognitive functions, were found to appear in a range of large noise intensities for fixed strong synaptic inhibition strengths. Here, we investigate the effect of iSTDP on fast sparse synchronization (FSS) by varying the noise intensity D. We employ an asymmetric anti-Hebbian time window for the iSTDP update rule [which is in contrast to the Hebbian time window for the excitatory STDP (eSTDP)]. Depending on values of D , population-averaged values of saturated synaptic inhibition strengths are potentiated [long-term potentiation (LTP)] or depressed [long-term depression (LTD)] in comparison with the initial mean value, and dispersions from the mean values of LTP/LTD are much increased when compared with the initial dispersion, independently of D. In most cases of LTD where the effect of mean LTD is dominant in comparison with the effect of dispersion, good synchronization (with higher spiking measure) is found to get better via LTD, while bad synchronization (with lower spiking measure) is found to get worse via LTP. This kind of Matthew effect in inhibitory synaptic plasticity is in contrast to that in excitatory synaptic plasticity where good (bad) synchronization gets better (worse) via LTP (LTD). Emergences of LTD and LTP of synaptic inhibition strengths are intensively investigated via a microscopic method based on the distributions of time delays between the pre- and the post-synaptic spike times. Furthermore, we also investigate the effects of network architecture on FSS by changing the rewiring probability p of the SWN in the presence of iSTDP. Highlights • An inhibitory small-world network of fast spiking interneurons is considered. • Effects of inhibitory spike-timing-dependent plasticity are investigated. • A “Matthew” effect in inhibitory synaptic plasticity is found to occur. • Emergences of LTD and LTP are investigated via a microscopic studies. • Effects of network architecture on FSS are studied in the presence of iSTDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compost application has been considered to be one of the most promising methods for sustaining soil quality and crop productivity and possibly attenuates the impact of methane (CH 4 ) emission in rice paddies. The physico-chemical and biological characteristics of manure may vary, depending on the maturity of the compost. Therefore, compost obtained from different stages of maturation could differentially influence CH 4 production in rice paddies following input into the fields. In composting samples, we investigated the effect of composting on alterations in physico-chemical characteristics and changes in methanogenic abundance and community structure in manure during the maturation process using a conventional static chamber method. Thereafter, CH 4 production potential was monitored in soil samples amended with compost obtained from different composting stages (0 as a starting material, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 days after installation) via an incubation experiment. The results show that manure composting significantly decreased the methanogenic abundance and altered the methanogenic community structure by qPCR and T-RFLP analyses, respectively. The physico-chemical properties, such as labile carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) availabilities in manure, were gradually changed due to high temperature and oxygen supplement. These changes result in decreasing CH 4 production in a rice field soil amended with composts. Our results suggest that composting is a promising approach to mitigate the impact of CH 4 emissions in rice paddy fields with manure. In conclusion, composting should be indispensable for mitigating the impact of CH 4 emission in manure-amended paddy soil during cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the Watts–Strogatz small-world network (SWN) consisting of subthreshold neurons which exhibit noise-induced spikings. This neuronal network has adaptive dynamic synaptic strengths governed by the spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). In previous works without STDP, stochastic spike synchronization (SSS) between noise-induced spikings of subthreshold neurons was found to occur in a range of intermediate noise intensities. Here, we investigate the effect of additive STDP on the SSS by varying the noise intensity. Occurrence of a “Matthew” effect in synaptic plasticity is found due to a positive feedback process. As a result, good synchronization gets better via long-term potentiation of synaptic strengths, while bad synchronization gets worse via long-term depression. Emergences of long-term potentiation and long-term depression of synaptic strengths are intensively investigated via microscopic studies based on the pair-correlations between the pre- and the post-synaptic IISRs (instantaneous individual spike rates) as well as the distributions of time delays between the pre- and the post-synaptic spike times. Furthermore, the effects of multiplicative STDP (which depends on states) on the SSS are studied and discussed in comparison with the case of additive STDP (independent of states). These effects of STDP on the SSS in the SWN are also compared with those in the regular lattice and the random graph. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]