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In order to alleviate the enormous pressure that waste bagasse puts on the environment, BGO was prepared from waste bagasse. With Ca2+ crosslinked SA as the first network and BGO as the heterogeneous nucleus for the second network, the PVA/SA/BGO double-network hydrogel spheres were constructed with the help of freeze-thaw method. The structure, morphology and adsorption properties of the PVA/SA/BGO double-network hydrogel for the organic dye crystalline violet (CV) were investigated. The results show that the obtained BGO has a lamellar structure and abundant oxygen-containing groups. The maximum adsorption amount of PVA/SA/BGO double-network hydrogel toward CV is 460.21 mg ⋅ g-1, and the adsorption process is in accordance with the Langmuir adsorption model and the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Individual with internet gaming disorder (IGD) often experience a high level of loneliness, and neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that amygdala function is associated with both IGD and loneliness. However, the neurobiological basis underlying these relationships remains unclear. Methods: In the current study, Granger causal analysis was performed to investigate amygdalar subdivision-based resting-state effective connectivity differences between 111 IGD subjects and 120 matched participants with recreational game use (RGUs). We further correlated neuroimaging findings with clinical measures. Mediation analysis was conducted to explore whether amygdalar subdivision-based effective connectivity mediated the relationship between IGD severity and loneliness. Results: Compared with RGUs, IGD subjects showed inhibitory effective connections from the left pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC) to the left laterobasal amygdala (LBA) and from the right medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to the left LBA, as well as an excitatory effective connection from the left middle prefrontal gyrus (MFG) to the right superficial amygdala. Further analyses demonstrated that the left pACC-left LBA effective connection was negatively correlated with both Internet Addiction Test and UCLA Loneliness scores, and it mediated the relationship between the two. Conclusion: IGD subjects and RGUs showed different connectivity patterns involving amygdalar subdivisions. These findings support a neurobiological mechanism for the relationship between IGD and loneliness, and suggest targets for therapeutic approaches that could be used to treat IGD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has demonstrated that regular exercise modulates motor cortical plasticity and cognitive function, but the influence of short-term high-intensity interval training (HIIT) remains unclear. In the present study, the effect of short-term HIIT on neuroplasticity and executive function was assessed in 32 sedentary females. Half of the participants undertook 2 weeks of HIIT. Paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (ppTMS) was used to measure motor cortical plasticity via short intracortical inhibition (SICI) and intracortical facilitation (ICF). We further adapted the Stroop task using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to evaluate executive function in the participants. The results indicated that, compared with the control group, the HIIT group exhibited decreased ICF. In the Stroop task, the HIIT group displayed greater activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) even though no significant difference in task performance was observed. These findings indicate that short-term HIIT may modulate motor cortical plasticity and executive function at the neural level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, some rituals show that power is represented by seat positions. The current study empirically investigated the relationship between seat position and perception of power, and the cultural differences in this relationship. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to arrange seats for people with different power. The results showed that seats for high‐power people were placed facing the door while others' seats were placed with their backs to the door. In Experiment 2, a priming task was employed to test the link between seat position and perception of power. Results revealed that after pictures of the seat facing the door were primed, judgments for high‐power words were more accurate and faster than for low‐power words, as compared to priming with the condition of the seat with its back to the door. A Stroop task was employed in Experiment 3 to explore cultural differences. Results showed that Chinese participants judged high‐power words faster in the congruent trials than in the incongruent trials, but no such difference was found in African participants. These findings suggest that the concept of power can be partly represented by seat position in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]