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Maturation of auditory cortex neural encoding processes was assessed in children with typical development (TD) and autism. Children 6-9 years old were enrolled at Time 1 (T1), with follow-up data obtained ~ 18 months later at Time 2 (T2), and ~ 36 months later at Time 3 (T3). Findings suggested an initial period of rapid auditory cortex maturation in autism, earlier than TD (prior to and surrounding the T1 exam), followed by a period of faster maturation in TD than autism (T1-T3). As a result of group maturation differences, post-stimulus group differences were observed at T1 but not T3. In contrast, stronger pre-stimulus activity in autism than TD was found at all time points, indicating this brain measure is stable across time.

The published article contained errors in the descriptive reporting of the number of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) concentrations that were below the method limit of detection (LOD; 0.1 ng/mL) [...]

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are intriguing for biomass fractionation, but high DES dosage and low biomass loading make them challenging to be used in industry. In this study, a DES was integrated into a novel pretreatment technology, namely "Densifying Lignocellulosic biomass with Chemicals followed by Autoclave (DLCA)", to realize lignocellulose fractionation and valorization with low DES dosage and high fractionation efficiency. Remarkably, a total DES dosage of 2 g g−1 biomass, which is substantially low compared to traditional DES pretreatments, achieved a high delignification ratio of 75% with over 95% cellulose preserved at 50% solid loading. Moreover, DLCA(DES)-CS exhibited superior bioconversion efficiency even at high solid loadings, with the maximum total fermentable sugar concentration exceeding 300 g L−1 and the ethanol concentration as high as 110 g L−1. Comprehensive characterization methods such as SEM, XRD, FTIR and Simons' staining were used to disclose the properties of cellulose-rich solids, and the chemical structure of the extracted lignin was characterized by GPC and 2D-HSQC NMR spectroscopy, revealing that DLCA(DES) pretreatment not only ensured complete exposure of cellulose, but also remarkably protected the native structures of lignin. Without recondensation, lignin extracted by DLCA(DES) preserved more than 98% of native β-O-4 linkages. In brief, this study demonstrates great potential for lignocellulose valorization initiated by DLCA(DES) pretreatment, including polysaccharide conversion to bioethanol and selective lignin depolymerization to aromatic monomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a relaxed and awake state with the eyes closed, 8–12 Hz neural oscillations are the dominant rhythm, most prominent in parietal‐occipital regions. Resting‐state (RS) alpha is associated with processing speed and is also thought to be central to how networks process information. Unfortunately, the RS eyes‐closed (EC) exam can only be used with individuals who can remain awake with their eyes closed for an extended period. As such, infants, toddlers, and individuals with intellectual disabilities are usually excluded from RS alpha studies. Previous research suggests obtaining RS alpha measures in a dark room with the eyes open as a viable alternative to the traditional RS EC exam. To further explore this, RS EC and RS dark room (DR) eyes‐open alpha activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography in children with typical development (TD; N = 37) and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; N = 30) 6.9–12.6 years old. Findings showed good reliability for the RS EC and DR peak alpha frequency (frequency with strongest alpha power; interclass correlation (ICC) = 0.83). ICCs for posterior alpha power were slightly lower (ICCs in the 0.70 s), with an ~ 5% reduction in posterior alpha power in the DR than EC condition. No differences in the EC and DR associations were observed between the TD and ASD groups. Finally, age was associated with both EC and DR peak alpha frequency. Findings thus indicate the DR exam as a viable way to obtain RS alpha measures in populations frequently excluded from electrophysiology RS studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing interest in alpha‐range rhythms in the electroencephalogram (EEG) in relation to perceptual and attentional processes. The infant mu rhythm has been extensively studied in the context of linkages between action observation and action production in infancy, but less is known about the mu rhythm in relation to cross‐modal processes involving somatosensation. We investigated differences in mu responses to cued vibrotactile stimulation of the hand in two age groups of infants: From 6 to 7 months and 13 to 14 months. We were also interested in anticipatory neural responses in the alpha frequency range prior to tactile stimulation. Tactile stimulation of infants' left or right hand was preceded by an audiovisual cue signaling which hand would be stimulated. In response to the tactile stimulus, infants demonstrated significant mu desynchronization over the central areas contralateral to the hand stimulated, with higher mu peak frequency and greater contralateral mu desynchronization for older infants. Prior to the tactile stimulus, both age groups showed significant bilateral alpha desynchronization over frontocentral sites, which may be indicative of generalized anticipation of an upcoming stimulus. The findings highlight the potential of examining the sensorimotor mu rhythm in the context of infant attentional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines brain responses to boundary effects with respect to Mandarin lexical tone continua for three groups of adult listeners: (1) native English speakers who took advanced Mandarin courses; (2) naïve English speakers; and (3) native Mandarin speakers. A cross-boundary tone pair and a within-category tone pair derived from tonal contrasts (Mandarin Tone 1/Tone 4; Tone 2/Tone 3) with equal physical/acoustical distance were used in an auditory oddball paradigm. For native Mandarin speakers, the cross-category deviant elicited a larger MMN over left hemisphere sensors and larger P300 responses over both hemispheres relative to within-category deviants, suggesting categorical perception of tones at both pre-attentive and attentional stages of processing. In contrast, native English speakers and Mandarin learners did not demonstrate categorical effects. However, learners of Mandarin showed larger P300 responses than the other two groups, suggesting heightened sensitivity to tones and possibly greater attentional resource allocation to tone identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Brain responses to tactile stimulation have often been studied through the examination of ERPs elicited to touch on the body surface. Here, we examined two factors potentially modulating the amplitude of the somatosensory mismatch negativity (sMMN) and P300 responses elicited by touch to pairs of body parts: (a) the distance between the representation of these body parts in somatosensory cortex, and (b) the physical distances between the stimulated points on the body surface. The sMMN and the P300 response were elicited by tactile stimulation in two oddball protocols. One protocol leveraged a discontinuity in cortical somatotopic organization, and involved stimulation of either the neck or the hand in relation to stimulation of the lip. The other protocol involved stimulation to the third or fifth finger in relation to the second finger. The neck‐lip pairing resulted in significantly larger sMMN responses (with shorter latencies) than the hand‐lip pairing, whereas the reverse was true for the amplitude of the P300. Mean sMMN amplitude and latency did not differ between finger pairings. However, larger P300 responses were elicited to stimulation of the fifth finger than the third finger. These results suggest that, for certain combinations of body parts, early automatic somatosensory mismatch responses may be influenced by distance between the cortical representations of these body parts, whereas the later P300 response may be more influenced by the distance between stimulated body parts on the body surface. Future investigations can shed more light on this novel suggestion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the interactions between audition and sensorimotor processes is of theoretical importance, particularly in relation to speech processing. Although one current focus in this area is on interactions between auditory perception and the motor system, there has been less research on connections between the auditory and somatosensory modalities. The current study takes a novel approach to this omission by examining specific auditory–tactile interactions in the context of speech and non-speech sound production. Electroencephalography was used to examine brain responses when participants were presented with speech syllables (a bilabial sound /pa/ and a non-labial sound /ka/) or finger-snapping sounds that were simultaneously paired with tactile stimulation of either the lower lip or the right middle finger. Analyses focused on the sensory-evoked N1 in the event-related potential and the extent of alpha band desynchronization elicited by the stimuli. N1 amplitude over fronto-central sites was significantly enhanced when the bilabial /pa/ sound was paired with tactile lip stimulation and when the finger-snapping sound was paired with tactile stimulation of the finger. Post-stimulus alpha desynchronization at central sites was also enhanced when the /pa/ sound was accompanied by tactile stimulation of the lip. These novel findings indicate that neural aspects of somatosensory–auditory interactions are influenced by the congruency between the location of the bodily touch and the bodily origin of a perceived sound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we first introduce the notions of $(n,\beta)$-normed space and non-Archimedean $(n,\beta)$-normed space, then we study the Hyers-Ulam stability of the Cauchy functional equation and the Jensen functional equation in non-Archimedean $(n,\beta)$-normed spaces and that of the pexiderized Cauchy functional equation in $(n,\beta)$-normed spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]