The Dynamics of Resting-State EEG and Salivary Trace Elements in Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

The study of salivary microelements and their neurophysiological and behavioral correlates in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a pressing issue in modern psychiatry, which, however, lacks adequate research at this time. In this study, we tested the dynamics of behavioral parameters, resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG), and salivary iron, copper, manganese, magnesium, and zinc in 30 healthy volunteers and 30 individuals with OCD before and after an emotional antisaccade task. The eye-movement data served as a measure of behavioral performance. Our research revealed consistently higher manganese concentrations in the OCD group compared to healthy volunteers associated with a higher EEG ratio of amplitude transformation and symptom severity. The dynamics of salivary microelements and resting-state EEG, possibly influenced by cognitive and emotional load during the anticsaccade task, differed between groups. In healthy volunteers, there was a decrease in salivary iron level with an increase in high-frequency power spectral density of EEG. The OCD group showed a decrease in salivary copper with an increased Hjorth mobility of EEG.

High-Throughput Preparation of Uncontaminated Graphene-Oxide Aqueous Dispersions with Antioxidant Properties by Semi-Automated Diffusion Dialysis.

A semi-automated diffusion-dialysis purification procedure is proposed for the preparation of uncontaminated graphene oxide (GO) aqueous dispersions. The purification process is integrated with analytical-signal processing to control the purification degree online by several channels: oxidation-reduction potential, conductivity, and absorbance. This approach reduces the amounts of reagents for chemical treatment during dialysis. The total transition metal (Mn and Ti) content was reduced to a sub-ppb level (assessed by slurry nebulization in inductively coupled plasma optical atomic emission spectroscopy). Purified aqueous GO samples possess good stability for about a year with a zeta-potential of ca. -40 mV and a lateral size of ca. sub-µm. Purified GO samples showed increased antioxidant properties (up to five times compared to initial samples according to chemiluminometry by superoxide-radical (O2-) generated in situ from xanthine and xanthine oxidase with the lucigenin probe) and significantly decreased peroxidase-like activity (assessed by the H2O2-L-012 system).