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Background: Early identification of degenerative processes in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is essential. Cerebello-cerebral network changes can be used for early diagnosis of dementia and its stages, namely mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD. Methods: Features of cortical thickness (CT) and cerebello-cerebral functional connectivity (FC) extracted from MRI data were used to analyze structural and functional changes, and machine learning for the disease progression classification. Results: CT features have an accuracy of 92.05% for AD vs. HC, 88.64% for MCI vs. HC, and 83.13% for MCI vs. AD. Additionally, combined with convolutional CT and cerebello-cerebral FC features, the accuracy of the classifier reached 94.12% for MCI vs. HC, 90.91% for AD vs. HC, and 89.16% for MCI vs. AD, evaluated using support vector machines. Conclusions: The proposed pipeline offers a promising low-cost alternative for the diagnosis of preclinical AD and can be useful for other degenerative brain disorders.

Objective Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) provides a lot of evidence for local abnormal brain activity in schizophrenia, but the results are not consistent. Our aim is to find out the consistent abnormal brain regions of the patients with schizophrenia by using regional homogeneity (ReHo), and indirectly understand the degree of brain damage of the patients with drug-naive first episode schizophrenia (Dn-FES) and chronic schizophrenia.Methods We performed the experiment by activation likelihood estimation (ALE) software to analysis the differences between people with schizophrenia group (all schizophrenia group and chronic schizophrenia group) and healthy controls.Results Thirteen functional imaging studies were included in quantitative meta-analysis. All schizophrenia group showed decreased ReHo in bilateral precentral gyrus (PreCG) and left middle occipital gyrus (MOG), and increased ReHo in bilateral superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and right insula. Chronic schizophrenia group showed decreased ReHo in bilateral MOG, right fusiform gyrus, left PreCG, left cerebellum, right precuneus, left medial frontal gyrus and left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). No significant increased brain areas were found in patients with chronic schizophrenia.Conclusion Our findings suggest that patients with chronic schizophrenia have more extensive brain damage than FES, which may contribute to our understanding of the progressive pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

Background: Voxel-based morphometry studies have not yielded consistent results among patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Objective: Therefore, we aimed to conduct a meta-analysis of gray matter (GM) abnormalities acquired from these studies to determine their respective neuroanatomical changes. Methods: We systematically searched for voxel-based whole-brain morphometry studies that compared MCI or SCD subjects with healthy controls in PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases. We used the coordinate-based method of activation likelihood estimation to determine GM changes in SCD, MCI, and MCI sub-groups (amnestic MCI and non-amnestic MCI). Results: A total of 45 studies were included in our meta-analysis. In the MCI group, we found structural atrophy of the bilateral hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), amygdala, right lateral globus pallidus, right insula, and left middle temporal gyrus. The aMCI group exhibited GM atrophy in the bilateral hippocampus, PHG, and amygdala. The naMCI group presented with structural atrophy in the right putamen, right insula, right precentral gyrus, left medial/superior frontal gyrus, and left anterior cingulate. The right lingual gyrus, right cuneus, and left medial frontal gyrus were atrophic GM regions in the SCD group. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis identified unique patterns of neuroanatomical alternations in both the MCI and SCD group. Structural changes in SCD patients provide new evidence for the notion that subtle impairment of visual function, perception, and cognition may be related to early signs of cognitive impairment. In addition, our findings provide a foundation for future targeted interventions at different stages of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.

A compact 60GHz power amplifier chip in 65nm CMOS technology of three-stage common source structure is presented. The first two amplifiers offer sufficient gain to pre-amplify the small input power. The third stage amplifier uses two sets of differential pairs to achieve power synthesis. On-chip transformer coupling is adopted to realize inter-stage impedance matching as well as input and output matching. The compact structure of on-chip transformer can reduce the chip size and improve the integration degree. The measured small signal gain at 60GHz of 22.3dB, the saturation power of 20.2dBm, the output P-1dB of 17.3dBm, the PAE of 14%, and the core area is 0.19mm2. The power amplifier can be used in high-speed short-range wireless communication system to enhance communication data transmission capacity.

Purpose Right ventricular pacing threshold (RVPT) may rise over time accompanied by the increased use of implantable cardiac pacemakers. However, risk factors for permanent RVPT increase are not fully clarified in patients without definite lead fracture and dislodgment. We aimed to evaluate the long-term performance of RV pacing leads and identify risk factors associated with the occurrence of permanent RVPT increase in this population. Methods Patients with first implantation of cardiac pacemakers from January 2008 to June 2016 were consecutively enrolled. Follow-up for RVPT increase was until December 2017. The clinical data, specific data on the pacemaker implantation, and routine follow-up were retrieved. Results During a follow-up duration of 5.4 ± 2.1 years, permanent RVPT increase (except lead fracture and dislodgment) was found in 8.4% (87/1033) patients. Patients with permanent RVPT increase had higher prevalence of myocardial infarction (MI), diabetes, and the use of amiodarone. The risk factors independently associated with permanent RVPT increase were MI (HR = 1.094, 95% CI 1.014–1.180, p = 0.031), diabetes (HR = 2.804, 95% CI 1.064–3.775, p = 0.003). MI patients with RVPT increase had higher prevalence of multivessel disease and atrioventricular block. Diabetic patients with RVPT increase exhibited higher serum fasting blood glucose (FBG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels, which were correlated with the maximum RVPT (p

A simple and stable method to detect dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) was studied. Through direct monitoring of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition without histological substrate, the concentration of DMMP was sensitively detected. In the experimental setup, a liquid–gas interface was developed to improve the oscillation stability of quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs) and to prevent protein denaturation of AChE. AChE was immobilised on the surface of gold electrodes on QCM by creating a cross-linked gel with glutaraldehyde. Experimental results showed that the prepared biosensor had a frequency fall of ∼4 Hz when a concentration of 1 ng/ml increment occurred for liquid DMMP. Furthermore, the detection was repeatable and selective to only DMMP. Frequency response to DMMP in gas phase was also studied. The considerable frequency response and its complete recovery showed that the sensor had wide application potential in attack defence and public safety construction.

Background: Preclinical models have suggested a role for sex hormones in the development of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). However, the impact of gender on the survival time of patients with GBM has not been fully understood. The objective of the present study was to clarify the association between gender and survival of patients with GBM by analyzing population-based data.Methods: We searched the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results database who were diagnosed with GBM between 2000 and 2008 and were treated with surgery. Five-year cancer specific survival data were obtained. Kaplan–Meier methods and multivariable Cox regression models were used to analyze long-term survival outcomes and risk factors.Results: A total of 6586 patients were identified; 61.5% were men and 38.5% were women. The 5-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates in the male and female groups were 6.8% and 8.3%, respectively (P=0.002 by univariate and PConclusions: Gender has prognostic value for determining GBM risk. The role of sex hormones in the development of GBM warrants further investigation.

Moss cushion plays an important role in recruitment of vascular plants. In this study, we examined the effects of water soluble extracts (WSE) of Abietinella abietina on germination of Qinghai spruce (Picea crassifolia) and the effects of moss substrates (A. abietina) on seedling emergence of P. crassifolia in two greenhouse experiments. We found that the WSE of moss affected germination of P. crassifolia in two ways: (1) the WSE reducing the risk of fungal infection to the seeds, improve the germination rate; and (2) the WSE affects germination by its concentration, that is, low concentrations of WSE (i.e., 0.5 mg ml-1 and 5 mg ml-1) stimulate, while high concentrations (i.e., 50 mg ml-1) inhibit it. In seedling emergence experiments, we detected that the moss substrates (both thick and thin mosses) facilitate the emergence of P. crassifolia in dry and intermediate moisture conditions, but inhibit it in moist conditions. In bare soil, the P. crassifolia emergence was also controlled by moisture ...

An acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-reduced graphene oxide (RGO) hybrid films based biosensor enabled by quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) has been developed for the detection of organophosphorus neurotoxin in gas phase at room temperature. To improve the sensing performance, RGO was used to immobilize large quantities of enzyme and provide a favorable microenvironment to maintain the enzyme activity. The experimental results reveal that the response of AChE-RGO/glutaraldehyde based sensors is about 8 times larger than that of the AChE with the sensitivity of 1.583 Hz/mg/m 3 . 1.0 mg amount of RGO, 5% concentration of glutaraldehyde and pH 6.8 is the optimal condition of this biosensor.

The aims of this study were to investigated the changes of brain function and cognitive function in patients with acute posterior cerebellar infarction using the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tecniques: fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and functional connectivity (FC). Forty acute cerebellar infarction patients and 40 healthy controls were included. The differences of fALFF were compared. The regions showed significant differences were set as regions of interest (ROIs), and then the FC values between ROIs and the whole brain were analysed. Pearson correlation analysis was used to understand the correlation between FC values and cognitive function scores. The results showed significant group differences in fALFF values in the four brain regions, including the right frontal lobe, left hippocampus, right cingulate gyrus and cerebellum posterior lobe. Pearson correlation analysis suggested that abnormal alterations in the left hippocampus and right cingulate gyrus may play a core role in the cognitive impairment associated with cerebellar infarction. The changes of fALFF and FC values in related brain area from cerebellar stroke complement and enrich our understanding of cerebellar involvement in cognition involved in cognitive performance.

We propose a refractive index sensor based on the mode interference in a five-layer waveguide. The propagation properties are analyzed by the coupled mode theory, and the function of the waveguide as a refractive index sensor is also explored based on simulation results. Taking into consideration a trade-off between the sensitivity and the size of the proposed sensor, we can get a very compact device of 10.8 μm×1 μm, and the sensing resolution of the proposed refractive index can reach 2.25×10 −5 RIU for index change at around 1.455.

We construct a prism-waveguide system with electro-optical (EO) crystal and biaxially anisotropic metamaterial (BAM) as the prism and guiding layer, respectively. Stationary-phase approach is employed to explore the modulation of EO material on the phase, reflectivity and lateral shift, different thicknesses of air and BAM are also considered. Simulation results show that the refractive index change of EO material does not change the maximum value of lateral shift and a configuration with larger phase maximum value, smaller reflectivity minimum and sharper angle-reflectivity curve generates a larger value of absolute value of lateral shift. These results give us a guidance for the design of EO-modulated sensors based on tunable lateral shift.

In this paper, poly (dimethyldiallylammonium chloride) (PDDA)/graphene oxide (GO) composite thin films with multilayer are layer-by-layer (LbL) assembled on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) for humidity detection. The static and dynamic humidity sensing performances are successively studied using impedance analysis and oscillating circuit methods. The experiment results show that PDDA/GO composite thin films coated QCM humidity sensor exhibits large humidity sensing response, low humidity hysteresis, fast response and recovery, and excellent repeatability. In addition, the influence of the number of assembled layers of PDDA/GO on the performances of QCM humidity sensor has also been investigated. Meanwhile, the origin of the obtained excellent humidity sensing performances has been analyzed by considering the water adsorption/desorption mechanism of PDDA/GO composite multilayer thin films. This paper suggests that LbL self-assembly technique is a promising candidate method for fabricating high-performance QCM humidity sensor using PDDA/GO composite multilayer thin films as sensing material.

Controlling the major auxin biosynthetic pathway to manipulate auxin content could be a target for genetic engineering of crops with desired traits, but little progress had been made because low or high auxin contents often cause developmental inhibition. Here, we performed a genome-wide analysis of bread wheat (

A pseudo-three-layer electrostatic repulsive out-of-plane actuator is proposed. It combines the advantages of two-layer and three-layer repulsive actuators, i.e., fabrication requirements and fill factor. A theoretical model for the proposed actuator is developed and solved through the numerical calculation of Schwarz-Christoffel mapping. Theoretical and simulated results show that the pseudo-three-layer actuator offers higher performance than the two-layer and three-layer actuators with regard to the two most important characteristics of actuators, namely, driving force and theoretical stroke. Given that the pseudo-three-layer actuator structure is compatible with both the parallel-plate actuators and these two types of repulsive actuators, a 19-element two-layer repulsive actuated deformable mirror is operated in pseudo-three-layer electrical connection mode. Theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the pseudo-three-layer mode produces a larger displacement of 0–4.5 μm for a dc driving voltage of 0–100 V, when compared with that in two-layer mode.

The design and development of a sensitive, fast and selective chloroform vapour sensor based on a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) transduction layer and a plasmonic nanostructures transducer is presented. The PMMA layer swelled when it was in exposure to the vapours, which would in turn bring in an extinction efficiency change in the localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectrum for triangular silver nanoprisms. The LSPR spectral response to chloroform and other vapours was measured by a UV-vis spectrometer in real time. Experiment results showed that the PMMA-LSPR sensor indicated a sensitivity of 4.76 x 10(-5) ppm(-1) and a detection limit of 21 ppm. A fast, stable and reversible response was observed during positive and negative test cycles upon variations of the environment in the gas cell between clean air and saturated chloroform contained air. The PMMA-LSPR sensor also showed good selectivity of chloroform when it was exposed to vapours with different functional groups. It has been demonstrated that plasmonic nanostructures coated with PMMA transduction films can be applied to chloroform sensing and vapour classifying applications.

OBJECTIVE: To carry out a retrospective analysis of the correlation between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and intracoronary thrombus burden. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 270 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary PCI were analyzed retrospectively. They were divided into two groups: patients with (group A, n=111) and patients without (group B, n=159) angiographic characteristics of thrombus. The results showed that the level of HDL-C was markedly lower in group A than that in group B. The logistic regression analysis of the relationship between multiple factors showed that only the level of HDL-C was correlated negatively with the angiographic characteristics of thrombus. CONCLUSION: HDL-C is correlated with the angiographic presence of thrombus.

Conformal mapping is an important mathematical tool in many physical and engineering fields, especially in electrostatics, fluid mechanics, classical mechanics, and transformation optics. However in the existing textbooks and literatures, it is only adopted to solve the problems which have only two terminals. Two terminals with electric potential differences, pressure difference, optical path difference, etc., can be mapped conformally onto a solvable structure, e.g., a rectangle, where the two terminals are mapped onto two opposite edges of the rectangle. Here we show a conformal mapping method for multiple terminals, which is more common in practical applications. Through accurate analysis of the boundary conditions, additional terminals or boundaries are folded in the inner of the mapped rectangle. Then the solution will not be influenced. The method is described in several typical situations and two application examples are detailed. The first example is an electrostatic actuator with three electrodes. A previous literature dealt with this problem by approximately treat the three electrodes as two electrodes. Based on the proposed method, a preciser result is achieved in our paper. The second example is a light beam splitter designed by transformation optics, which is recently attracting growing interests around the world. The splitter has three ports, one for input and two for output. Based on the proposed method, a relatively simple and precise solution compared with previously reported results is obtained., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

A diarylprolinol-derived organocatalyst is successfully applied in the highly stereoselective cycloaddition reaction of 2-vinylindoles towards α,β-unsaturated aldehydes.

A series of indole derivatives were synthesized through the intramolecularhydroamination of alkynyl sulfonamides using 20 mol% ofdiethylzinc as the catalyst. A tandem cyclization-nucleophilicaddition reaction was also possible to afford C2,C3-disubstituted indolesusing 120 mol% of diethylzinc.

The plasma membrane Na + /H + -antiporter salt overly sensitive1 (SOS1) from the halophytic Arabidopsis-relative Thel- lungiella halophila (ThSOS1) shows conserved sequence and domain structure with the orthologous genes from Arabidopsis thaliana and other plants. When expression of ThSOS1 was reduced by RNA interference (RNAi), pronounced characteristics of salt-sensitivity were observed. We were interested in monitoring altered transcriptional responses between Thellungiella wild type and thsos1-4, a representative RNAi line with particular emphasis on root responses to salt stress at 350 mmol/L NaCl, a concentration that is only moderately stressful for mature wild type plants. Transcript profiling revealed several functional categories of genes that were differently affected in wild-type and RNAi plants. Down-regulation of SOS1 resulted in different gene expression even in the absence of stress. The pattern of gene induction in the RNAi plant under salt stress was similar to that of glycophytic Arabidopsis rather than that of wild type Thellungiella. The RNAi plants failed to down-regulate functions that are normally reduced in wild type Thellungiella upon stress and did not up-regulate functions that characterize the Thellungiella salt stress response. Metabolite changes observed in wild type Thellungiella after salt stress were less pronounced or absent in RNAi plants. Transcript and metabolite behavior suggested SOS1 functions including but also extending its established function as a sodium transporter. The down-regulation of ThSOS1 converted the halophyte Thellungiella into a salt-sensitive plant.

A one-dimensional integral imaging (1DII) display with large viewing angle is proposed in this paper. The proposed 1DII display is composed of a display panel, a barrier array and a parallax barrier. The barriers, which are located at the junction of adjacent elemental images on the display panel, are perpendicular to the display panel and the parallax barrier. It is different from the previous 1DII display using the barrier array that the aperture centers of the slits aren’t aligned with the centers of the corresponding element images. Moreover, the most important difference is that the pitch of the slit is small than that of the elemental image. The widths of all viewing zones reconstructed by elemental images are identical at the optimal viewing distance. Thus, the viewing angle of the proposed 1DII display isn’t affected by the number of the slits and the elemental images. A prototype of the proposed 1DII display is developed, and good experimental results are obtained.

Melamine is an insalubrious chemical, and has been frequently added into milk products illegally, to make the products more protein-rich. However, it can cause some various diseases, such as kidney stones and bladder cancer. In this paper, a novel optical fiber sensor with high sensitivity based on absorption of the evanescent field for melamine detection is successfully proposed and developed. Different concentrations of melamine changing from 0 to 10mg/mL have been detected using the micro/nano-sensing fiber decorated with silver nanoparticles cluster layer. As the concentration increases, the sensing fiber’s output intensity gradually deceases and the absorption of the analyte becomes large. The concentration changing of 1mg/ml can cause the absorbance varying 0.664 and the limit of the melamine detectable concentration is 1ug/mL. Besides, the coupling properties between silver nanoparticles have also been analyzed by the FDTD method. Overall, this evanescent field enhanced optical fiber sensor has potential to be used in oligo-analyte detection and will promote the development of biomolecular and chemical sensing applications.

A diarylprolinol-derived organocatalyst is successfully applied in the highly stereoselective cycloaddition reaction of 2-vinylindoles towards α,β-unsaturated aldehydes.

is paper demonstrates a 2D (two-dimensional) electrostatic MEMS scanning mirror. This scanner rotates on both axis X and Y, giving a two degrees of freedom. Finite element analysis has shown that optical scanning angle on axis X is 5.0° at 120V and axis Y is 4.4°at 160V. The structure has been optimized to achieve good dynamic performance.

Intramolecular hydroamination of alkynyl amides was effected by a catalytic amount of Et2Zn (20 mol %) to form indole derivatives, and a tandem cyclization/nucleophilic addition procedure involving reaction of the indole zinc salt intermediate with acid chlorides or halides was developed to provide an efficient approach to C3-substituted indole derivatives when an excess of Et2Zn (120 mol %) was used.