Getting the Joke: Insight during Humor Comprehension - Evidence from an fMRI Study.

As a high-level cognitive activity, humor comprehension requires incongruity detection and incongruity resolution, which then elicits an insight moment. The purpose of the study was to explore the neural basis of humor comprehension, particularly the moment of insight, by using both characters and language-free cartoons in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. The results showed that insight involving jokes elicited greater activation in language and semantic-related brain regions as well as a variety of additional regions, such as the superior frontal gyrus (SFG), the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), the middle temporal gyrus (MTG), the superior temporal gyrus (STG), the temporoparietal junctions (TPJ), the hippocampus and visual areas.

Guanxintai Exerts Protective Effects on Ischemic Cardiomyocytes by Mitigating Oxidative Stress.

Oxidative stress participates in numerous myocardial pathophysiological processes and is considered a therapeutic target for myocardial ischemia and heart failure. Guanxintai (GXT), a traditional Chinese medicine, is commonly used to treat cardiovascular disease on account of its numerous beneficial physiological activities, such as dilating coronary arteries, inhibiting platelet aggregation, and reducing the serum lipid content. However, the antioxidative properties of GXT and potential underlying mechanisms remain to be established.

Emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between regional gray matter volume in the bilateral temporal pole and critical thinking disposition.

Critical thinking enables people to form sound beliefs and provides a basis for emotional life. Research has indicated that individuals with better critical thinking disposition can better recognize and regulate their emotions, though the neuroanatomical mechanisms involved in this process remain to be elucidated. Further, the influence of emotional intelligence on the relationship between brain structure and critical thinking disposition has not been examined.

Brain structure links everyday creativity to creative achievement.

Although creativity is commonly considered to be a cornerstone of human progress and vital to all realms of our lives, its neural basis remains elusive, partly due to the different tasks and measurement methods applied in research. In particular, the neural correlates of everyday creativity that can be experienced by everyone, to some extent, are still unexplored. The present study was designed to investigate the brain structure underlying individual differences in everyday creativity, as measured by the Creative Behavioral Inventory (CBI) (N=163).

Cardioprotective effects of baicalein on heart failure via modulation of Ca(2+) handling proteins in vivo and in vitro.

Aims: Baicalein is a widely used Chinese herbal medicine extracted from Labiatae plants Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi's dry root, which has multiple pharmacological activities. However, the precise mechanism of baicalein against myocardial remodeling remains poorly understood. The aim of our study was to investigate the underlying mechanism of baicalein treatment in rats model of heart failure (HF) and rat myocardial cells (H9C2).

Quantitative analysis of breast echotexture patterns in automated breast ultrasound images.

Purpose: Breast tissue composition is considered to be associated with breast cancer risk. This study aimed to develop a computer-aided classification (CAC) system to automatically classify echotexture patterns as heterogeneous or homogeneous using automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) images.

Methods: A CAC system was proposed that can recognize breast echotexture patterns in ABUS images.

Automatic detection of microcalcifications in breast ultrasound.

Purpose: In an ultrasound (US) image, the presence of microcalcifications within breast lesions is an important indicator of malignancy. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel automatic detection system to find microcalcifications inside a breast lesion using an US image.

Methods: Breast US images from 103 cases with microcalcifications were obtained using an US system with a 6-14 MHz transducer, and 585 microcalcification foci marked on 103 breast US images by a radiologist were used as the ground truth.

The effect of allogenetic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation on lung aquaporin-1 and -5 in a rat model of severe acute pancreatitis.

Background/aims: We aimed to determine the effect of transplantation on post- ALI (acute lung injury) edema in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and the expression levels of aquaporins -1 and -5 (AQP-1 and -5).

Methodology: Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomized into control-SAP and BMSCs-SAP groups. SAP model was prepared through retrograde injection of 5% taurocholic acid.