Murray law-based quantitative flow ratio for assessment of nonculprit lesions in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

INTRODUCTION: Revascularization of nonculprit arteries in patients with ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) is now recommended based on several trials. However, the optimal therapeutic strategy of nonculprit lesions remains unknown. Murray law-based Quantitative Flow Ratio (µQFR) is a novel, non-invasive, vasodilator-free method for evaluating the functional severity of coronary artery stenosis, which has potential applications for nonculprit lesion assessment in STEMI patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with STEMI who received staged PCI before hospital discharge were enrolled retrospectively. µQFR analyses of nonculprit vessels were performed based on both acute and staged angiography. RESULTS: Eighty-one patients with 110 nonculprit arteries were included. The mean acute µQFR was 0.76 ± 0.18, and the mean staged µQFR was 0.75 ± 0.19. The average period between acute and staged evaluation was 8 days. There was a good correlation (r = 0.719, P < 0.001) between acute µQFR and staged µQFR. The classification agreement was 89.09%. The area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve for detecting staged µQFR ≤ 0.80 was 0.931. CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to calculate the µQFR during the acute phase of STEMI patients. Acute µQFR and staged µQFR have a good correlation and agreement. The µQFR could be a valuable method for assessing functional significance of nonculprit arteries in STEMI patients.

The muscle-enriched myokine Musclin impairs beige fat thermogenesis and systemic energy homeostasis via Tfr1/PKA signaling in male mice.

Skeletal muscle and thermogenic adipose tissue are both critical for the maintenance of body temperature in mammals. However, whether these two tissues are interconnected to modulate thermogenesis and metabolic homeostasis in response to thermal stress remains inconclusive. Here, we report that human and mouse obesity is associated with elevated Musclin levels in both muscle and circulation. Intriguingly, muscle expression of Musclin is markedly increased or decreased when the male mice are housed in thermoneutral or chronic cool conditions, respectively. Beige fat is then identified as the primary site of Musclin action. Muscle-transgenic or AAV-mediated overexpression of Musclin attenuates beige fat thermogenesis, thereby exacerbating diet-induced obesity and metabolic disorders in male mice. Conversely, Musclin inactivation by muscle-specific ablation or neutralizing antibody treatment promotes beige fat thermogenesis and improves metabolic homeostasis in male mice. Mechanistically, Musclin binds to transferrin receptor 1 (Tfr1) and antagonizes Tfr1-mediated cAMP/PKA-dependent thermogenic induction in beige adipocytes. This work defines the temperature-sensitive myokine Musclin as a negative regulator of adipose thermogenesis that exacerbates the deterioration of metabolic health in obese male mice and thus provides a framework for the therapeutic targeting of this endocrine pathway.

Myofiber Baf60c controls muscle regeneration by modulating Dkk3-mediated paracrine signaling.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are the leading causes of the progressive decline in muscle regeneration and fitness in adults. The muscle microenvironment is known to play a key role in controlling muscle stem cell regenerative capacity, yet the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, we found that Baf60c expression in skeletal muscle is significantly downregulated in obese and T2D mice and humans. Myofiber-specific ablation of Baf60c in mice impairs muscle regeneration and contraction, accompanied by a robust upregulation of Dkk3, a muscle-enriched secreted protein. Dkk3 inhibits muscle stem cell differentiation and attenuates muscle regeneration in vivo. Conversely, Dkk3 blockade by myofiber-specific Baf60c transgene promotes muscle regeneration and contraction. Baf60c interacts with Six4 to synergistically suppress myocyte Dkk3 expression. While muscle expression and circulation levels of Dkk3 are markedly elevated in obese mice and humans, Dkk3 knockdown improves muscle regeneration in obese mice. This work defines Baf60c in myofiber as a critical regulator of muscle regeneration through Dkk3-mediated paracrine signaling.

Effects of Thermal Treatment on the Mechanical Properties of Bamboo Fiber Bundles.

Bamboo is known as a typical kind of functional gradient natural composite. In this paper, fiber bundles were extracted manually from various parts of the stem in the radial direction, namely the outer, middle, and inner parts. After heat treatment, the mechanical properties of the fiber bundles were studied, including the tensile strength, elastic modulus, and fracture modes. The micromechanical properties of the fiber cell walls were also analyzed. The results showed that the mean tensile strength of the bamboo fiber bundles decreased from 423.29 to 191.61 MPa and the modulus of elasticity increased from 21.29 GPa to 27.43 GPa with the increase in temperature. The elastic modulus and hardness of the fiber cell walls showed a positive correlation with temperature, with the modulus of elasticity and the hardness increasing from 15.96 to 18.70 GPa and 0.36 to 0.47 GPa, respectively. From the outside to the inside of the bamboo stems, the tensile strength and elastic modulus showed a slight decrease. The fracture behavior of the fiber bundles near the outside approximates ductile fracture, while that of the bundles near to the inside tend to be a brittle fracture. The fracture surfaces of the bamboo bundles and the single fibers became smoother after heat treatment. The results show that bamboo fiber bundles distributed near the outside are most suitable for industrial development under heat treatment at 180 °C. Therefore, this study can provide a reasonable scientific basis for the selective utilization, functional optimization, and bionic utilization of bamboo materials, which has very important theoretical and practical significance.

Effects of conversion of natural forest to plantations on the abundance of nitrite reducing genes in soil aggregates in subtropical forest region.

Large proportion of natural forest has been transformed into plantations in subtropical regions, with consequences on forest ecosystem structure and function. In order to understand the responses of two nitrite reducing genes (nirK and nirS) in N2O production to forest conversion, we collected soil samples from Castanopsis carlesii natural forest, Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation and Pinus massoniana plantation and examined the abundance of nirK and nirS genes in soils and aggregates. Results showed that forest conversion increased soil pH, while decreased soil ammonium content. Forest conversion did not influence the mass proportion of soil aggregates. The abundance of nirK and nirS genes varied in aggregates with different particle sizes. The abundance of nirK and nirS genes was the highest in small macraoaggregates and the lowest in the silt-clay particles. Moreover, the abundance of nirK was significantly higher than that of nirS in soils of all forest types, indicating that nirK dominated in the acidic forest soils. Conversion of natural forest to plantations significantly increased the abundance of nirK and nirS genes in the bulk soil and aggregates, indicating that forest conversion would be beneficial for the growth of microorganisms bearing nirK and nirS genes, which might be associated with the increases of soil pH. Taken together, conversion of natural forest to C. lanceolata plantation or P. massoniana plantation significantly increased the abundance of nirK and nirS in soils and aggregates, but did not affect the mass proportions of aggregates.

Intrahepatic paracrine signaling by cardiotrophin-like cytokine factor 1 ameliorates diet-induced NASH in mice.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The mammalian liver harbors heterogeneous cell types that communicate via local paracrine signaling. Recent studies have delineated the transcriptomic landscape of the liver in NASH that provides insights into liver cell heterogeneity, intercellular crosstalk, and disease-associated reprogramming. However, the nature of intrahepatic signaling and its role in NASH progression remain obscure. APPROACH AND RESULTS: Here, we performed transcriptomic analyses and identified cardiotrophin-like cytokine factor 1 (CLCF1), a member of the IL-6 family cytokines, as a cholangiocyte-derived paracrine factor that was elevated in the liver from diet-induced NASH mice and patients with NASH. Adenovirus-associated virus-mediated overexpression of CLCF1 in the liver ameliorated NASH pathologies in two diet-induced NASH models in mice, illustrating that CLCF1 induction may serve an adaptive and protective role during NASH pathogenesis. Unexpectedly, messenger RNA and protein levels of leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR), a subunit of the receptor complex for CLCF1, were markedly downregulated in NASH liver. Hepatocyte-specific inactivation of LIFR accelerated NASH progression in mice, supporting an important role of intrahepatic cytokine signaling in maintaining tissue homeostasis under metabolic stress conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Together, this study sheds light on the molecular nature of intrahepatic paracrine signaling during NASH pathogenesis and uncovers potential targets for therapeutic intervention.

Effects of oxygen content on gaseous and solid products during molten salt oxidation of cation exchange resins.

Molten salt oxidation (MSO) is an advanced method for waste resins treatment; nevertheless, the research about gas product variations of resins under different stoichiometric air feed coefficient (α) is rare. The optimal working condition of hazardous waste disposal is obtained through thermodynamic equilibrium calculation, and the method to improve the treatment efficiency is found to guide the optimization of the actual experiment. In this paper, Fact Sage was used to calculate the oxidation products of cation exchange resins (CERs) at different temperatures and α, focusing on the similarities and differences through the contents of CO, CH4, CO2, and SO2 during the oxidation of CERs, the MSO of CERs, and the theoretical calculation. The results indicated that the gas products of the calculation and reality of the oxidation process of CERs are quite different, while the CO contents of CERs during MSO are close to the calculated values. The main reason for this consequence is that in the oxidation process of CERs, the S in the sulfonic acid group will form thermally stable C-S with the styrene-divinylbenzene skeleton. Moreover, the introduction of carbonate can promote the destruction of C-S and absorb SO2 as sulfate, weakening the influence of C-S on the oxidation products of CERs. The gas chromatograph results indicated that the SO2 content is reduced from 0.66% in the process of CERs oxidation to 0.28% in MSO of CERs. When 1.25 times stoichiometric air feed coefficient is fed, the sulfate content in the carbonate is the highest at 900 °C, which is 23.4%.

Hepatic-Targeted Nano-enzyme with Resveratrol Loading for Precise Relief of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is characterized by massive lipid deposition in hepatocytes and is often associated with hepatic inflammation and other severe metabolic syndromes. The intervention of NASH can prevent its further progression into hepatocarcinoma. In this study we have successfully constructed liver-targeted Ce-based hollow mesoporous nanocarriers loaded with bioactive drugs. This may provide an effective approach for eliminating NASH. Liver-section-specific targeting was realized by covalently linked galactose (Gal), which can be specifically recognized by receptors in the membranes of hepatocytes. Meanwhile, resveratrol (Res), a drug used to treat NASH, was efficiently loaded into the pores and cavity of CeO2 (Res@H-CeO2 -Gal). In steatotic HepG2 cells (free fatty acid induction), this nanosystem was found to enhance cellular Res internalization for improved anti-lipogenesis activity. In mice with NASH, Res@H-CeO2 -Gal increased Res delivery to liver sections for a reduction in lipid accumulation and enhanced anti-inflammatory activity from the antioxidant capacity of Ce-based nanocarriers. This effectively recovered NASH mice to the normal state. These findings show that the hepatic targeting and Res delivery nanoplatform could act as a safe and promising strategy for the elimination of NASH and other liver diseases.

Association between fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and facial emotion recognition ability in first-episode schizophrenia patients: a fMRI study.

It was still unclear that the correlation between the resting-state intrinsic activity in brain regions and facial emotion recognition (FER) ability in patients with first-episode schizophrenia (FSZ). Our aim was to analyse the correlation between the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and FER ability in FSZ patients. A total of 28 patients with FSZ and 33 healthy controls (HCs) completed visual search tasks for FER ability. Regions of interest (ROIs) related to facial emotion were obtained from a previous meta-analysis. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to understand the correlation between fALFF and FER ability. Our results indicated that the patients performed worse than the HCs in the accuracy performances of happy FER and fearful FER. The previous meta-analysis results showed that the brain regions related to FER included the bilateral amygdala (AMY)/hippocampus (HIP), right fusiform gyrus (FFG), and right supplementary motor area (SMA). Partial correlation analysis showed that the fALFF of the right FFG was associated with high-load fearful FER accuracy (r = - 0.60, p = 0.004). Our study indicated that FER ability is correlated with resting-state intrinsic activity in brain regions related to facial emotion, which may provide a reference for the study of FER deficiency in schizophrenia.

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The reactive nitrogen deposition in subtropical region of China has been increasing annually, which affects biogeochemical processes in forest soils. In this study, three treatments were established, including control (no N addition, CK), low nitrogen deposition (40 kg·hm-2·a-1, LN), and high nitrogen deposition (80 kg·hm-2·a-1, HN) to study the response of denitrifying functional genes and potential N2O emissions to simulated nitrogen deposition in the soils of a natural Castanopsis carlesii forest. Results showed that HN significantly decreased soil potential N2O emission, while 8-year nitrogen deposition did not affect the abundances of nirS, nirK, nosZ Ⅰ and nosZ Ⅱ. However, the abundance of nosZ Ⅰwas significantly higher than nosZ Ⅱ in all the treatments, indicating that nosZ Ⅰ dominated over nosZ Ⅱ in the acidic soils. HN significantly decreased the ratio of (nirK+nirS)/(nosZ Ⅰ+nosZ Ⅱ), which was positively correlated with soil pH. The results suggested that long-term high nitrogen deposition reduced soil pH and the abundance ratio of (nirK+nirS)/(nosZ Ⅰ+nosZ Ⅱ), which subsequently reduced the potential N2O emission.

Dietary risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease in Shanghai: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a multifactorial condition involving the complex interplay of genomics, microbiota, immunology, environment, and personal behaviors, particularly diet. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: A case-control study in a tertiary referral hospital. Fifty patients with IBD and 50 controls without gastrointestinal diseases were enrolled consecutively from October 1, 2016, to December 31, 2017. Sociodemographic and Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs) were completed, and dietary risk factors for IBD were identified. RESULTS: Six major foods were associated with the recurrent incidence of IBD (p<0.05): chili, fish, milk, nuts, eggs, and fruit. Logistic regression analysis revealed that eating chili and drinking milk more than three times weekly increased the risk of relapse, as did eating fish and nuts one or two times weekly. Eating fruit more than once weekly reduced the risk of IBD. Fish, seafood, vegetables, nuts, beef, and fruit, along with a history of food allergy, were associated with a high risk of clinically recurrent IBD. Dietary patterns featuring seafood and nuts also increased the risk of relapse. CONCLUSIONS: The consumption of chili, milk, fish, and nuts beyond moderate weekly frequencies increased the risk of IBD, whereas fruit consumption was consistently protective against IBD development. Relapse susceptibility was also associated with a history of food allergy. Thus, IBD risk management can involve more personalized and less restrictive dietary patterns, as well as the enforcement of weekly dose thresholds. Uncertainty remains regarding association differentials between ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD).

Catalytic effect of cesium on the oxidation behavior of cation exchange resins in Li2CO3-Na2CO3-K2CO3 melt.

After the treatment of liquid radioactive waste, there is a certain amount of Cs in the waste resin, and these Cs-doped resins are prone to volatilize during the thermal treatment process and cause radionuclide leakage. The molten salt oxidation (MSO) can effectively prevent the volatilization of toxic metal, especially the volatilization of Cs. Under nitrogen and air conditions, it is found that the oxidation behavior between Cs-doped and clean cation exchange resins (CERs) is quite different. In the presence of oxygen and molten carbonate salt, Cs2CO3 is generated by the destruction of functional groups in Cs-doped CERs. The Cs2CO3 in Na2CO3-K2CO3-Li2CO3 reacts with oxygen to form Li2O2, which reduces the content of S in residue from 26.33 to 13.38% in air conditions at 400 °C and promotes the generation of sulfate in the molten carbonate salt. The elements Cs and S in the Cs doped CERs spontaneously form thermally stable Cs2SO4 in the molten carbonate salt.

The Moderating Role of Lifestyle on Insomnia in Home Quarantine College Students During the COVID-19 Epidemic.

There has been sufficient evidence for the relationship between lifestyle and insomnia in the general population, but for individuals who already suffer from insomnia, it is not clear whether a healthy lifestyle can also pose similar benefits. The present study investigated the roles of different aspects of lifestyle in the development of individual insomnia by tracking insomnia symptoms of college students during the COVID-19 lock-down. Two surveys were conducted on 65,200 college students in the process of home isolation in Guangdong Province of China, at the pandemic outbreak period (T1) and the initial remission period (T2), respectively. Given the objectives of the present study, a total of 1,702 college students with clinical insomnia from T1 were selected as subjects. Insomnia symptoms were assessed using the Youth Self Rating Insomnia Scale (YSIS), while demographic information, epidemic exposure, and lifestyle were all measured by self-developed questionnaire, through network survey. The 1,702 college students (mean age ± standard deviation, 20.06 ± 1.46, range 16-25; 71.9% females) with insomnia symptoms were divided into three trajectory groups: recovery group, remission group, and chronic insomnia group according to their insomnia scores in T2 phase. The results showed that there was no significant difference in demographic backgrounds or epidemic exposure among the three groups, however, there were significant differences in food intake, exercise, and Internet use. The regression results further showed that both the recovery group and the remission group adopted more regular food intake than the chronic group. The recovery group exhibited better daily exercise habits than both the remission group and the chronic group. The duration of Internet use was significantly shorter for the recovery group than for the chronic group. These findings indicate a strong relationship between the lifestyle and the recovery of insomnia for college students isolated at home during the epidemic period. Significance of the different aspects of lifestyle on the recovery of insomnia are discussed.

A Selective Review of the Excitatory-Inhibitory Imbalance in Schizophrenia: Underlying Biology, Genetics, Microcircuits, and Symptoms.

Schizophrenia is a chronic disorder characterized by specific positive and negative primary symptoms, social behavior disturbances and cognitive deficits (e.g., impairment in working memory and cognitive flexibility). Mounting evidence suggests that altered excitability and inhibition at the molecular, cellular, circuit and network level might be the basis for the pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. In the past decades, human and animal studies have identified that glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmissions are critically involved in several cognitive progresses, including learning and memory. The purpose of this review is, by analyzing emerging findings relating to the balance of excitatory and inhibitory, ranging from animal models of schizophrenia to clinical studies in patients with early onset, first-episode or chronic schizophrenia, to discuss how the excitatory-inhibitory imbalance may relate to the pathophysiology of disease phenotypes such as cognitive deficits and negative symptoms, and highlight directions for appropriate therapeutic strategies.

Risk factors for cerebral complications after type A aortic dissection surgery: single center's experience.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to retrospectively review the rate and risk factors of cerebral complications (CC) after type A aortic dissection (TAAD) surgery. METHODS: A total of 746 TAAD patients who underwent hypothermic circulatory arrest (HCA) surgery were enrolled. Postoperative CC were defined as intracranial hemorrhage or ischemic infarct stroke as confirmed by cranial CT scan. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the risk factors for CC and mortality. To identify the risk role of arch repair methods and flow rate in antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP), propensity-score matching studies were performed (conservative vs. total arch replacement, n=135; low vs. normal flow rate, n=148). RESULTS: Thirty-five patients developed CC (6 with intracranial hemorrhage and 29 with ischemic stroke). Thirty-day mortality (34.3%) among patients with CC was significantly higher than that among patients without CC (12.2%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified preoperative cerebral ischemia, limb ischemia, end-stage renal disease, and salvage surgery as risk factors for postoperative CC. CAR (P=0.044; odds ratio, 4.587; 95% CI: 1.045-20.130) and low flow rate ACP (P=0.046; odds ratio, 2.139; 95% CI: 1.014-4.515) had protective roles. In the propensity-score matching studies, the CAR group (0.7% and 9.6%, P=0.005 and 0.175, respectively) and the low flow rate ACP group had lower rates of mortality (8.8% and 5.4%, P=0.067 and 0.012, respectively) and CC. CONCLUSIONS: CC are common and lethal after TAAD surgery. Low-flow ACP could be a safer and suitable antegrade perfusion method for cerebral protection.

Training non-native vowel perception: In quiet or noise.

Noise makes speech perception much more challenging for non-native listeners than for native listeners. Training for non-native speech perception is usually implemented in quiet. It remains unclear if background noise may benefit or hamper non-native speech perception learning. In this study, 51 Chinese-native listeners were randomly assigned into three groups, including vowel training in quiet (TIQ), vowel training in noise (TIN), and watching videos in English as an active control. Vowel identification was assessed before (T1), right after (T2), and three months after training (T3) in quiet and various noise conditions. Results indicated that compared with the video watching group, the TIN group improved vowel identification in both quiet and noise significantly more at T2 and at T3. In contrast, the TIQ group improved significantly more in quiet and also in non-speech noise conditions at T2, but the improvement did not hold at T3. Moreover, compared to the TIQ group, the TIN group showed significantly less informational masking at both T2 and T3 and less energetic masking at T3. These results suggest that L2 speech training in background noise may improve non-native vowel perception more effectively than TIQ background only. The implications for non-native speech perception learning are discussed.

Deletion of the Feeding-Induced Hepatokine TSK Ameliorates the Melanocortin Obesity Syndrome.

Work in recent decades has established that metabolic hormones released by endocrine cells and diverse other cell types serve to regulate nutrient intake and energy homeostasis. Tsukushi (TSK) is a leucine-rich repeat-containing protein secreted primarily by the liver that exerts an inhibitory effect on brown fat sympathetic innervation and thermogenesis. Despite this, physiological regulation of TSK and the mechanisms underlying its effects on energy balance remain poorly understood. Here we show that hepatic expression and plasma concentrations of TSK are induced by feeding and regulated by melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) signaling. We generated TSK and MC4R-double-knockout mice to elucidate the nature of cross talk between TSK and the central regulatory circuit of energy balance. Remarkably, TSK inactivation restores energy balance, ameliorates hyperphagia, and improves metabolic health in MC4R-deficient mice. TSK ablation enhances thermogenic gene expression in brown fat, dampens obesity-association inflammation in the liver and adipose tissue, and protects MC4R-null mice from diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. At the cellular level, TSK deficiency augments feeding-induced c-Fos expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. These results illustrate physiological cross talk between TSK and the central regulatory circuit in maintaining energy balance and metabolic homeostasis.

The rice germin-like protein OsGLP1 participates in acclimation to UV-B radiation.

Exposure to ultraviolet B radiation (UV-B) stress can have serious effects on the growth and development of plants. Germin-like proteins (GLPs) may be involved in different abiotic and biotic stress responses in different plants, but little is known about the role of GLPs in UV-B stress response and acclimation in plants. In the present study, knockout of GLP 8-14 (OsGLP1) using the CRISPR/Cas9 system resulted in mutant rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants (herein called glp1) that exhibited UV-B-dependent formation of lesion mimic in leaves. Moreover, glp1 grown under solar radiation (including UV-B) showed decreased plant height and increased leaf angle, but we observed no significant differences in phenotypes between wild-type (WT) plants and glp1 grown under artificial light lacking UV-B. Fv/Fm, Y (II) and the expression of many genes, based on RNA-seq analysis, related to photosynthesis were also only reduced in glp1, but not in WT, after transfer from a growth cabinet illuminated with artificial white light lacking UV-B to growth under natural sunlight. The genes-associated with flavonoid metabolism as well as UV resistance locus 8 (OsUVR8), phytochrome interacting factor-like 15-like (OsPIF3), pyridoxal 5'-phosphate synthase subunit PDX1.2 (OsPDX1.2), deoxyribodipyrimidine photolyase (OsPHR), and deoxyribodipyrimidine photolyase family protein-like (OsPHRL) exhibited lower expression levels, while higher expression levels of mitogen-activated protein kinase 5-like (OsMPK3), mitogen-activated protein kinase 13-like (OsMPK13), and transcription factor MYB4-like (OsMYB4) were observed in glp1 than in WT after transfer from a growth cabinet illuminated with artificial white light to growth under natural sunlight. Therefore, mutations in OsGLP1 resulted in rice plants more sensitive to UV-B and reduced expression of some genes for UV-B protection, suggesting that OsGLP1 is involved in acclimation to UV-B radiation.

Reduction of phonetic mismatch negativity may depict illness course and predict functional outcomes in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia (SZ) is characterized by a series of cognitive impairments, including automatic processing impairment of basic auditory information, indexed by mismatch negativity (MMN). Existing studies mainly focus on MMN induced by deviant of single acoustic features, and relatively few studies have focused on complex acoustic stimuli, especially speech-induced MMN. Many cognitive impairments in SZ are related to speech function. Thus, the present study aimed to examine the reduction of phonetic MMN in SZ as a potential biomarker and its relationship with illness course and functional outcomes. Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were recorded from 32 SZ and 32 healthy controls (HC) in a double oddball paradigm, with /da/ as the standard stimulus and /ba/ and /du/ as the deviant stimuli. MMN was computed for vowel and consonant deviants separately. Clinical symptoms were assessed using the Positive and Negative Symptom Rating Scale (PANSS). Illness duration and illness relapse were acquired by combining clinical interviews and electronic medical records. Functional outcomes were assessed using the Global Assessment of Functioning scale (GAF). Compared with HC, SZ showed lower amplitudes of phonetic MMN, especially for vowel deviants. In addition, the MMN amplitude of the vowel deviant was significantly correlated with illness duration, illness relapse, and functional outcomes among patients with SZ. These findings indicate that the pre-attentive automatic phonetic processing of SZ was impaired for both consonants and vowels, while the vowel processing deficit may be the key speech processing deficit in SZ, which could depict the illness course and predict the functional outcomes.

Electrochemical preparation and properties of a Mg-Li-Y alloy via co-reduction of Mg(ii) and Y(iii) in chloride melts.

Mg-Li based alloys have been widely used in various fields. However, the widespread use of Mg-Li based alloys were restricted by their poor properties. The addition of rare earth element in Mg-Li can significantly improve the properties of alloys. In the present work, different electrochemical methods were used to investigate the electrochemical behavior of Y(iii) on the W electrode in LiCl-KCl melts and LiCl-KCl-MgCl2 melts. In LiCl-KCl melts, typical cyclic voltammetry was used to study the electrochemical mechanism and thermodynamic parameters for the reduction of Y(iii) to metallic Y. In LiCl-KCl-MgCl2 melts, the formation mechanism of Mg-Y intermetallic compounds was investigated, and the results showed that only one kind of Mg-Y intermetallic compound was formed under our experimental conditions. Mg-Li-Y alloys were prepared via galvanostatic electrolysis, and XRD and SEM equipped with EDS analysis were used to analyze the samples. Because of the restrictions of EDS analysis, ICP-AES was used to analyze the Li content in Mg-Li-Y alloys. The microhardness and Young's modulus of the Mg-Li-Y alloys were then evaluated.