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Using the Time-Varying Parameter-Stochastic Volatility-Vector Auto Regression model, this study examines the dynamic relationship between Non-deliverable Forwards, Stock Index Gap, Interest Rate Gap, and short-term fluctuations of the RMB exchange rate during the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak. Our findings indicate that these variables exhibit time-varying characteristics and a relatively significant stable trend. Additionally, in the initial phase of the pandemic, there were substantial capital outflows from the Chinese stock market. However, as the Chinese economic situation improved and the government intervened in a timely manner, exchange rate and Non-deliverable Forwards volatility decreased, leading to a slowdown in outflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual leucine-zipper kinase (DLK; a MAP3K) mediates neuronal responses to diverse injuries and insults through the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) family of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). Here, we identified two ways through which DLK is coupled to the neural-specific isoform JNK3 to control prodegenerative signaling. JNK3 catalyzed positive feedback phosphorylation of DLK that further activated DLK and locked the DLK-JNK3 module in a highly active state. Neither homologous MAP3Ks nor a homologous MAPK could support this positive feedback loop. Unlike the related JNK1 isoform JNK2 and JNK3 promote prodegenerative axon-to-soma signaling and were endogenously palmitoylated. Moreover, palmitoylation targeted both DLK and JNK3 to the same axonal vesicles, and JNK3 palmitoylation was essential for axonal retrograde signaling in response to optic nerve crush injury in vivo. These findings provide previously unappreciated insights into DLK-JNK signaling relevant to neuropathological conditions and answer long-standing questions regarding the selective prodegenerative roles of JNK2 and JNK3. Palmitoylation for axonal degeneration: In response to nerve injury, activation of the kinases DLK and JNK3 in axons induces retrograde signaling to the soma, where consequent gene expression changes promote neuronal degeneration. Using cultured neurons and an optic nerve crush model in mice, Niu et al. found that DLK promoted the activation of JNK3 in a localization-dependent manner. Palmitoylation of both kinases mediated their colocalization onto axon vesicles, where a positive feedback phosphorylation loop between the kinases maintained their activation state as the vesicles trafficked to the soma. In addition to revealing a potentially targetable mechanism to reduce neurodegeneration, the findings uncover a role for palmitoylation in axon-to-soma signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Detailed morphological features of the peripheral nerves could improve the diagnostic sensitivity in some polyneuropathies. In this study we aimed to establish multiple-site, cross-sectional area (CSA) reference values for peripheral nerves of upper extremities in a healthy Chinese population.Methods: One hundred eleven healthy subjects, 15 to 70 years of age, were prospectively recruited. CSA at predetermined sites of the median, ulnar, radial nerves, and brachial plexus was measured bilaterally. Ten consecutive sites were studied along the median/ulnar nerves.Results: The CSA at ten sites of the median nerve ranged from 5.59 ± 0.89 to 8.43 ± 1.30 mm2 , and for the ulnar nerve from 2.94 ± 0.57 to 5.63 ± 1.08 mm2 . Both age and gender correlated with nerve CSA at most sites.Discussion: CSA was not uniform along the length of the median and ulnar nerves. The multiple-site reference values could be helpful for investigating polyneuropathies in the Asian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can cause adverse reactions in the nervous system. The incidence rate is 0.1%–12% and 80% of nervous system adverse reactions occur within the first four months of application. ICIs can cause diseases of various parts of the nervous system including central nervous system diseases such as aseptic meningitis, meningeal encephalitis, necrotizing encephalitis, brainstem encephalitis, transverse myelitis, etc., and peripheral neuropathy such as cranial nerve peripheral neuropathy, multifocal nerve root neuropathy, Guillain‐Barré syndrome, spinal nerve root neuropathy, myasthenia gravis, myopathy, etc. For these complications of the nervous system, diagnosis could be difficult. Physicians require a specific collection of nervous system symptoms and signs, combined with supplementary examinations including imaging, cerebrospinal fluid cytology, EEG or electromyography in order to exclude infection or malignant tumor before reaching a final diagnosis. With regard to treatment, ICIs should be discontinued in severe cases, and large doses of glucocorticoid or gamma globulin administered, and supportive treatment may be necessary. If severe adverse reactions of the nervous system occur, the prognosis could be poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The abduction range of the little finger in the long exercise test (ET) has rarely been reported in patients with hypokalemic periodic paralysis (HypoPP) during inter-attack periods, and the diagnostic value requires clarification.Methods: The long ET was performed in 43 HypoPP patients during inter-attack periods and in 20 healthy controls (HCs). The compound muscle action potential (CMAP) and the abduction range of the little finger were recorded concurrently.Results: There were significant differences in the percent changes of the CMAP amplitudes and the abduction ranges after exercise between HypoPP patients and the HCs. The curve of percent changes in abduction ranges overlapped substantially with that of the CMAP amplitudes, and the sensitivity, specificity, and cutoff values were 0.860, 0.900, and 22.6%, respectively.Conclusions: The abduction range of the little finger can serve as a novel parameter in the long ET for the diagnosis of HypoPP during inter-attack periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the possibility of age-related differences of visual integration at an automatic and at a task-related level. Data of 15 young (21.9 ± 1.8 years) and 15 older (66.6 ± 3.5 years) women were analyzed in our experiment. Automatic processing was investigated in a passive oddball paradigm, and the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) of event-related brain potentials was measured. Letters and pseudo-letters were presented either as single characters, or the characters were presented successively in two fragments. In case of simultaneous presentation of the two fragments (whole character) vMMN emerged in both age groups. However, in successive presentation vMMN was elicited only by the deviant pseudo-letters, and only in the older group. The longest stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) in this group was 50 ms, indicating longer information persistence in elderly. In a psychophysical experiment, the task was to indicate, which member of a character pair was a legal letter. Again, the letters and pseudo-letters were presented as fragments. We obtained successful integration at 30 ms (0 ms interstimulus interval), but not at longer SOAs in both age groups, showing that in case of task-relevant stimulation level there was no detectable age-related performance difference. We interpreted the results as the efficiency of local inhibitory circuits is compromised in elderly, leading to longer stimulus persistence, and hence better visual perception in this particular case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are commonly found in various environmental matrices and have received significant attention due to their toxic effects on ecosystems and environmental health. In this study, a specific magnetic composite material derived from MXene, known as phenyl-functionalized NiFe 2 O 4 @Ti 3 C 2 T X , was designed and synthesized using a simple method. This composite material was used to develop an effective magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) method for enriching trace polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in tea and coffee samples. The eluted PAHs were analyzed via gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Under optimal conditions, this method exhibited excellent linear relationships for 16 PAHs within the ranges of 0.001–25 and 0.0005–25 μg/L, with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.9979. The limits of detection for the target PAHs ranged from 0.1 to 0.3 ng/L. The effectiveness of the proposed method was evaluated by analyzing tea and coffee samples, and the satisfactory spiked recoveries of PAHs ranged from 84.5% to 112.6%. [Display omitted] • Phenyl functionalized NiFe 2 O 4 @Ti 3 C 2 T X nanocomposites were fabricated. • Phenyl functionalized NiFe 2 O 4 @Ti 3 C 2 T X exhibited good adsorption for target analytes. • Adsorption of targets followed pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm model. • The proposed method provided high sensitivity for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original version of this Article contained an error in the spelling of the author Brett L. Ecker, which was incorrectly given as Brett Ecker. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]