Prognostic Value of Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Levels in Predicting Survival in Men With Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

The objective of the study was to assess the association between changes in plasma follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and the potential effect on idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) in male patients. A total of 116 male patients with IPAH and 53 healthy controls were included from XX Hospital. Plasma FSH concentration was assessed in all participants.

The expression profiling of microRNA in systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH) remains to be fully elucidated. This study evaluated the expression profile of miRNAs in the lung tissue of patients with SSc-PAH.

Methods: Lung tissue samples were collected from 3 SSc-PAH patients and 4 healthy controls.

Preparation of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers for the rapid detection of diethylstilbestrol in milk samples.

Background: Diethylstilbestrol (DES) residues are harmful to human health because of their potential carcinogenic properties. Therefore, it is important to develop a fast and efficient pretreatment method to prevent their harmful effects on human health and the environment.

Results: In this paper, two types of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIPs) of DES were prepared by bulk polymerization and the sol-gel method, respectively.

JAK/STAT signaling pathway-mediated immune response in silkworm (Bombyx mori) challenged by Beauveria bassiana.

Innate immunity was critical in insects defensive system and able to be induced by Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription cascade transduction (JAK/STAT) signaling pathway. Currently, it had been identified many JAK/STAT signaling pathway-related genes in silkworm, but little function was known on insect innate immunity. To explore the roles of JAK/STAT pathway in antifungal immune response in silkworm (Bombyx mori) against Beauveria bassiana infection, the expression patterns of B.

Efficiency of neural respiratory drive for the assessment of bronchodilator responsiveness in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: an exploratory study.

Background: Conventional lung function parameters, such as forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and inspiratory capacity (IC) are often used to assess the therapeutic outcomes of bronchodilators, but they lack sensitivity. A novel indicator, namely efficiency of neural respiratory drive (NRD), may objectively evaluate the physiological changes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We investigated whether this indicator could be used to more accurately assess the responsiveness to inhaled bronchodilators.

Comparison of inducible versus constitutive expression of plectasin on yields and antimicrobial activities in Pichia pastoris.

Background: Plectasin might serve as a substitute for traditional antibiotics, but its yields and antimicrobial activities warrant further investigation.

Objective: To identify the influence of inducible versus constitutive expression of plectasin on yields and antimicrobial activities.

Methods: Through SOE-PCR, a recombinant plectasin gene was generated and inserted into inducible (pPICZαA) and constitutive (pGAPZαA) vectors in order to create Pichia pastoris GS115 strains.

The delay effect on outcome evaluation: results from an event-related potential study.

Behavioral studies demonstrate that the timing of receiving gains or losses affects decision-making, a phenomenon known as temporal discounting, as participants are inclined to prefer immediate rewards over delayed ones and vice versa for losses. The present study used the event-related potential technique with a simple gambling task to investigate how delayed rewards and losses affected the brain activity in outcome evaluations made by 20 young adults. Statistical analysis revealed a larger feedback-related negativity (FRN) effect between loss and gain following immediate outcomes than following future outcomes.

Cross-brain neurofeedback: scientific concept and experimental platform.

The present study described a new type of multi-person neurofeedback with the neural synchronization between two participants as the direct regulating target, termed as "cross-brain neurofeedback." As a first step to implement this concept, an experimental platform was built on the basis of functional near-infrared spectroscopy, and was validated with a two-person neurofeedback experiment. This novel concept as well as the experimental platform established a framework for investigation of the relationship between multiple participants' cross-brain neural synchronization and their social behaviors, which could provide new insight into the neural substrate of human social interactions.

[Study on the bioleaching mechanism of manganse (II) from manganese-electrolytic residue by manganese-resistant strain Fusarium sp].

The manganse bioleaching mechanism by a manganese-resistant strain Fusarium sp. was investigated, through analyzing the bioleaching rate and manganese-electrolytic residue characterizations with the presence of Fusarium sp. and with the addition of organic acids.

Anxiety and feedback negativity.

It has been suggested that anxious individuals are more prone to feel that negative outcomes are particularly extreme and to interpret ambiguous outcomes as negative compared to nonanxious individuals. Previous studies have demonstrated that the feedback negativity (FN) component of event-related brain potential (ERP) is sensitive to outcome evaluation and outcome expectancy. Hence, we predicted that the FN should be different between high trait-anxiety (HTA) and low trait-anxiety (LTA) individuals.

Influence of trait-anxiety on inhibition function: evidence from ERPs study.

Patients suffering from anxiety disorder may experience a few problems in the inhibition function. Using event-related potentials, the current study investigated the differences between subjects with high versus low trait-anxiety when they tried to inhibit disturbances in novel emotional pictures in an oddball task. The results showed that P3 amplitudes evoked by negative pictures relative to neutral pictures were decreased in subjects with high as well as low anxiety.

Temporal course of vibrotactile imagery.

This study examined the temporal courses of imagery processes by having participants imagining vibrotactile sensation as if perceived by the right-hand second finger. The results indicate that the imagery condition elicited a less negative going N400 and then a less positive going P600 than the control condition (perceived without imagining). This is suggestive of a sequential process of retrieving experiences from memory, generating images, and then maintaining the images.

Attention shortage resistance of negative stimuli in an implicit emotional task.

Considerable evidence from behavioral studies has indicated that people tend to pay attention to negative stimuli preferentially. The attentional bias can occur rapidly and automatically. In the current study, a 'cue-target' paradigm was utilized to manipulate the attention allocation.

Temporal course of emotional negativity bias: an ERP study.

There is considerable evidence that people are especially sensitive to emotionally negative materials. However, the temporal course of the negativity bias is still unclear. To address this issue, we observed the changes of P2, late positive components (LPC) and lateralized readiness potential (LRP) under positive, negative and neutral conditions, with International Affective Picture System (IAPS) pictures as emotional stimuli.