Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Chronic Dizziness, and Sleep Duration.

BACKGROUND: Although it is recommended that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) be screened for using a validated self-report questionnaire in patients experiencing dizziness, there is still a lack of research on the relationship between high risk of OSA and chronic dizziness. OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to examine the relationship between the high risk of OSA and chronic dizziness and investigate how this relationship is affected by sleep duration. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used data from the 8th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2019-2021). Adults aged 40 years or older were included and divided into two groups using the STOP-Bang Questionnaire (SBQ): a high-risk group for OSA or not. Complex samples logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the odds ratios of chronic dizziness based on the national population estimates. RESULTS: Our findings showed that individuals in the high-risk group for OSA were significantly more likely to experience chronic dizziness. Specifically, among subgroups based on sleep duration, the high-risk group for OSA with a short sleep duration of ≤5 hours demonstrated the highest odds of chronic dizziness, showing a significantly 2.48-fold increased likelihood compared to the non-high risk for OSA with a sleep duration of 5-9 hours. DISCUSSION: The SBQ can be beneficial when other causes do not explain chronic dizziness, helping to rule in the possibility of OSA. Educating individuals suspected of having OSA or who have been diagnosed with OSA about the importance of adequate sleep duration may help reduce the risk of chronic dizziness.

Cortical gyrification differences between early- and late-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder: neurobiological evidence for neurodevelopmentally distinct subtypes.

BACKGROUND: Identifying more homogenous subtypes of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) using biological evidence is critical for understanding complexities of the disorder in this heterogeneous population. Age of onset serves as a useful subtyping scheme for distinguishing OCD into two subgroups that aligns with neurodevelopmental perspectives. The underlying neurobiological markers for these distinct neurodevelopmental differences can be identified by investigating gyrification changes to establish biological evidence-based homogeneous subtypes. METHODS: We compared whole-brain cortical gyrification in 84 patients with early-onset OCD, 84 patients with late-onset OCD, and 152 healthy controls (HCs) to identify potential markers for early neurodevelopmental deficits using the local gyrification index (lGI). Then, the relationships between lGI in clusters showing significant differences and performance in visuospatial memory and verbal fluency, which are considered trait-related neurocognitive impairments in OCD, were further examined in early-onset OCD patients. RESULTS: The early-onset OCD patients exhibited significantly greater gyrification than those with late-onset OCD patients and HCs in frontoparietal and cingulate regions, including the bilateral precentral, postcentral, precuneus, paracentral, posterior cingulate, superior frontal, and caudal anterior cingulate gyri. Moreover, impaired neurocognitive functions in early-onset OCD patients were correlated with increased gyrification. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide a neurobiological marker to distinguish the OCD population into more neurodevelopmentally homogeneous subtypes, which may contribute to the understanding of the neurodevelopmental underpinnings of an etiology in early-onset OCD consistent with the accumulated phenotypic evidence of greater neurodevelopmental deficits in early-onset OCD than in late-onset OCD.

Prediction of psychosis: model development and internal validation of a personalized risk calculator.

BACKGROUND: Over the past two decades, early detection and early intervention in psychosis have become essential goals of psychiatry. However, clinical impressions are insufficient for predicting psychosis outcomes in clinical high-risk (CHR) individuals; a more rigorous and objective model is needed. This study aims to develop and internally validate a model for predicting the transition to psychosis within 10 years. METHODS: Two hundred and eight help-seeking individuals who fulfilled the CHR criteria were enrolled from the prospective, naturalistic cohort program for CHR at the Seoul Youth Clinic (SYC). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO)-penalized Cox regression was used to develop a predictive model for a psychotic transition. We performed k-means clustering and survival analysis to stratify the risk of psychosis. RESULTS: The predictive model, which includes clinical and cognitive variables, identified the following six baseline variables as important predictors: 1-year percentage decrease in the Global Assessment of Functioning score, IQ, California Verbal Learning Test score, Strange Stories test score, and scores in two domains of the Social Functioning Scale. The predictive model showed a cross-validated Harrell's C-index of 0.78 and identified three subclusters with significantly different risk levels. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our predictive model showed a predictive ability and could facilitate a personalized therapeutic approach to different risks in high-risk individuals.

Life stress, sleep disturbance and depressive symptoms: The moderating role of prefrontal activation during emotion regulation.

OBJECTIVES: Evidence suggests that emotion regulation difficulty may play an important role in the association between life stress, sleep disturbance and depressive symptoms. We proposed two models depicting the possible moderating roles of prefrontal cortex activation during emotion regulation in the associations among these variables and tested them. We hypothesized that (1) the association between stress and sleep disturbance would differ across prefrontal cortex activation during emotion regulation (moderation model) and (2) the indirect effects of stress on depressive symptoms through sleep disturbance would depend on prefrontal cortex activation during emotion regulation (moderated mediation model). METHODS: Forty-eight healthy adults without sleep disorders based on nocturnal polysomnography participated in this study. They received functional magnetic resonance imaging scans while performing an emotion regulation task. They also completed questionnaires assessing life stress, sleep disturbance and depressive symptoms. The proposed models were tested using the PROCESS macro for SPSS. RESULTS: As hypothesized, there was a significant moderating effect of prefrontal cortex activation during emotion regulation on the association between life stress and sleep disturbance. Furthermore, right lateral prefrontal cortex activation had a moderating role in the indirect effect of life stress on depressive symptoms through sleep disturbance. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the important role of prefrontal cortex function during emotion regulation in the associations between stress, sleep disturbance and depressive symptoms. Increasing lateral prefrontal cortex recruitment when regulating the emotional response to negative life events may be critical for the prevention and intervention of depression as well as sleep problems.

Do People Prescribe Optimism, Overoptimism, or Neither?

Past work has suggested that people prescribe optimism-believing it is better to be optimistic, instead of accurate or pessimistic, about uncertain future events. Here, we identified and addressed an important ambiguity about whether those findings reflect an endorsement of biased beliefs-that is, whether people prescribe likelihood estimates that reflect overoptimism. In three studies, participants (N = 663 U.S. university students) read scenarios about protagonists facing uncertain events with a desired outcome. Results replicated prescriptions of optimism when we used the same solicitations as in past work. However, we found quite different prescriptions when using alternative solicitations that asked about potential bias in likelihood estimations and that did not involve vague terms such as "optimistic." Participants generally prescribed being optimistic, feeling optimistic, and even thinking optimistically about the events, but they did not prescribe overestimating the likelihood of those events.

Alexithymia and frontal-amygdala functional connectivity in North Korean refugees.

BACKGROUND: Refugees commonly experience difficulties with emotional processing, such as alexithymia, due to stressful or traumatic experiences. However, the functional connectivity of the amygdala, which is central to emotional processing, has yet to be assessed in refugees. Thus, the present study investigated the resting-state functional connectivity of the amygdala and its association with emotional processing in North Korean (NK) refugees. METHODS: This study included 45 NK refugees and 40 native South Koreans (SK). All participants were administered the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Clinician-administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), and differences between NK refugees and native SK in terms of resting-state functional connectivity of the amygdala were assessed. Additionally, the association between the strength of amygdala connectivity and the TAS score was examined. RESULTS: Resting-state connectivity values from the left amygdala to the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) were higher in NK refugees than in native SK. Additionally, the strength of connectivity between the left amygdala and right dlPFC was positively associated with TAS score after controlling for the number of traumatic experiences and BDI and CAPS scores. CONCLUSIONS: The present study found that NK refugees exhibited heightened frontal-amygdala connectivity, and that this connectivity was correlated with alexithymia. The present results suggest that increased frontal-amygdala connectivity in refugees may represent frontal down-regulation of the amygdala, which in turn may produce alexithymia.

Heat dissipative mechanical damping properties of EPDM rubber composites including hybrid fillers of aluminium nitride and boron nitride.

As highly integrated electronic devices and automotive parts are becoming used in high-power and load-bearing systems, thermal conductivity and mechanical damping properties have become critical factors. In this study, we applied two different fillers of aluminium nitride (AlN) and boron nitride (BN), having polygonal and platelet shapes, respectively, into ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) rubber to ensure improved thermo-mechanical properties of EPDM composites. These two different shapes are considered advantageous in providing effective pathways of phonon transfer as well as facilitating sliding movement of packed particles. When the volume ratio of AlN : BN was 1 : 1, the thermal conductivity of the hybrid-filler system (EPDM/AlN/BN) increased in comparison to that of the single-filler system (EPDM/AlN) of 3.03 to 4.76 W m-1 K-1. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and thermal distortion parameter (TDP) substantially decreased from 59.3 ppm °C-1 and 17.5 m K-1 of EPDM/AlN, to 39.7 ppm °C-1 and 8.4 m K-1 of EPDM/AlN/BN, representing reductions of 33 and 52%, respectively. Moreover, the damping coefficient of EPDM/AlN/BN was greatly increased to 0.5 of at 50 °C, compared to 0.03 of neat EPDM. These excellent performances likely stem from the effective packing of AlN/BN hybrid fillers, which could induce facile energy transfer and effective energy dissipation by the sliding movement of the adjacent hybrid fillers in the EPDM matrix.

The influence of number line estimation precision and numeracy on risky financial decision making.

This study examined whether different aspects of mathematical proficiency influence one's ability to make adaptive financial decisions. "Numeracy" refers to the ability to process numerical and probabilistic information and is commonly reported as an important factor which contributes to financial decision-making ability. The precision of mental number representation (MNR), measured with the number line estimation (NLE) task has been reported to be another critical factor. This study aimed to examine the contribution of these mathematical proficiencies while controlling for the influence of fluid intelligence, math anxiety and personality factors. In our decision-making task, participants chose between two options offering probabilistic monetary gain or loss. Sensitivity to expected value was measured as an index for the ability to discriminate between optimal versus suboptimal options. Partial correlation and hierarchical regression analyses revealed that NLE precision better explained EV sensitivity compared to numeracy, after controlling for all covariates. These results suggest that individuals with more precise MNR are capable of making more rational financial decisions. We also propose that the measurement of "numeracy," which is commonly used interchangeably with general mathematical proficiency, should include more diverse aspects of mathematical cognition including basic understanding of number magnitude.

Wnt pathway inhibition via the targeting of Frizzled receptors results in decreased growth and tumorigenicity of human tumors.

The Wnt/ß-catenin pathway, which signals through the Frizzled (Fzd) receptor family and several coreceptors, has long been implicated in cancer. Here we demonstrate a therapeutic approach to targeting the Wnt pathway with a monoclonal antibody, OMP-18R5. This antibody, initially identified by binding to Frizzled 7, interacts with five Fzd receptors through a conserved epitope within the extracellular domain and blocks canonical Wnt signaling induced by multiple Wnt family members. In xenograft studies with minimally passaged human tumors, this antibody inhibits the growth of a range of tumor types, reduces tumor-initiating cell frequency, and exhibits synergistic activity with standard-of-care chemotherapeutic agents.

Long-term haematopoietic reconstitution by Trp53-/-p16Ink4a-/-p19Arf-/- multipotent progenitors.

Haematopoiesis is maintained by a hierarchical system where haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) give rise to multipotent progenitors, which in turn differentiate into all types of mature blood cells. HSCs maintain themselves for the lifetime of the organism because of their ability to self-renew. However, multipotent progenitors lack the ability to self-renew, therefore their mitotic capacity and expansion potential are limited and they are destined to eventually stop proliferating after a finite number of cell divisions. The molecular mechanisms that limit the proliferation capacity of multipotent progenitors and other more mature progenitors are not fully understood. Here we show that bone marrow cells from mice deficient in three genes genetically downstream of Bmi1--p16Ink4a, p19Arf and Trp53 (triple mutant mice; p16Ink4a and p19Arf are alternative reading frames of the same gene (also called Cdkn2a) that encode different proteins)--have an approximately 10-fold increase in cells able to reconstitute the blood long term. This increase is associated with the acquisition of long-term reconstitution capacity by cells of the phenotype c-kit+Sca-1+Flt3+CD150-CD48-Lin-, which defines multipotent progenitors in wild-type mice. The pattern of triple mutant multipotent progenitor response to growth factors resembles that of wild-type multipotent progenitors but not wild-type HSCs. These results demonstrate that p16Ink4a/p19Arf and Trp53 have a central role in limiting the expansion potential of multipotent progenitors. These pathways are commonly repressed in cancer, suggesting a mechanism by which early progenitor cells could gain the ability to self-renew and become malignant with further oncogenic mutations.

Splanchnic oxygen saturation immediately after weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass can predict early postoperative outcomes in children undergoing congenital heart surgery.

This study compared the abilities of cerebral, renal, and splanchnic regional oxygen saturation (rSO2) immediately after weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) to predict early postoperative outcomes for children undergoing congenital heart surgery. The study enrolled 73 children (ages 0.1-72 months) undergoing corrective or palliative cardiac surgery requiring CPB. Laboratory and hemodynamic variables were analyzed at the time of successful weaning from CPB. Using near-infrared spectroscopy, cerebral, renal, and splanchnic rSO2 values were obtained simultaneously. Early postoperative outcome measures included the maximum vasoactive inotropic score (VIS(max)) during the first 36 postoperative hours, the duration of mechanical ventilation, and the postoperative hospital length of stay. In the univariate analysis, cerebral, renal, and splanchnic rSO2 values correlated significantly with early postoperative outcomes. However, splanchnic rSO2 was the only independent factor predicting VIS(max) (ß = -0.302, P = 0.021), duration of mechanical ventilation (ß = -0.390, P = 0.002), and postoperative hospital length of stay (ß = -0.340, P = 0.001) by multivariate analyses. Splanchnic rSO2 had a larger receiver operating characteristic area under the curve (AUC) for determining high VIS(max), prolonged mechanical ventilation, and longer postoperative hospital stay (AUC 0.775, 0.792, and 0.776, respectively) than cerebral (AUC 0.630, 0.638, and 0.632, respectively) and renal (AUC 0.703, 0.716, and 0.715, respectively) rSO2. After weaning from CPB, splanchnic rSO2 may be superior to rSO2 measured from brain and kidney in predicting an increased requirement for vasoactive inotropic support, a prolonged mechanical ventilation, and a longer postoperative hospital stay for children.

The effect of gut microbiota-derived carnosine on mucosal integrity and immunity in broiler chickens challenged with Eimeria maxima.

In the first study, an in vitro culture system was developed to investigate the effects of carnosine on macrophage proinflammatory cytokine response using an established chicken macrophage cell line (CMC), gut integrity using a chicken intestinal epithelial cell line (IEC), muscle differentiation in quail muscle cells (QMCs) and primary chicken embryonic muscle cells (PMCs), and direct anti-parasitic effect against Eimeria maxima sporozoites. Cells to be tested were seeded in 24-well plates and treated with carnosine at 4 different concentrations (0.1, 1.0, and 10.0 µg). After 18 h of incubation, cells were harvested to measure gene expression of proinflammatory cytokines in CMC, tight junction (TJ) proteins in IECs, and muscle cell growth markers in QMCs and PMCs. In vivo trials were conducted to investigate the effect of dietary carnosine on disease parameters in broiler chickens challenged with E. maxima. One hundred and twenty male broiler chickens (0-day-old) were allocated into 4 treatment groups: 1) basal diet without infection (NC), 2) basal diet with E. maxima infection (PC), 3) carnosine at 10.0 mg/kg feed with PC (HCS), and 4) carnosine at 1.0 mg/kg feed with PC (LCS). All groups except NC were orally infected with E. maxima on d 14. Jejunal samples were collected for lesion scoring and jejunum gut tissues were used for transcriptomic analysis of cytokines and TJ proteins. In vitro, carnosine treatment significantly decreased IL-1ß gene expression in CMC following LPS stimulation. In vivo feeding studies showed that dietary carnosine increased BW and ADG of chickens in E. maxima-infected groups and reduced the jejunal lesion score and fecal oocyst shedding in HCS group. Jejunal IL-1ß, IL-8, and IFN-γ expression were suppressed in the HCS group compared to PC. The expression levels of claudin-1 and occludin in IECs were also increased in HCS following carnosine treatment. In conclusion, these findings highlight the beneficial effects of dietary carnosine supplementation on intestinal immune responses and gut barrier function in broiler chickens exposed to E. maxima infection.

Immobilization of the Antarctic Bacillus sp. LX-1 α-Galactosidase on Eudragit L-100 for the Production of a Functional Feed Additive.

Partially purified α-galactosidase from Bacillus sp. LX-1 was non-covalently immobilized on a reversibly soluble-insoluble polymer, Eudragit L-100, and an immobilization efficiency of 0.93 was obtained. The optimum pH of the free and immobilized enzyme was 6.5 to 7.0 and 7.0, respectively, while there was no change in optimum temperature between the free and immobilized α-galactosidase. The immobilized α-galactosidase was reutilized six times without significant loss in activity. The immobilized enzyme showed good storage stability at 37°C, retaining about 50% of its initial activity even after 18 d at this temperature, while the free enzyme was completely inactivated. The immobilization of α-galactosidase from Bacillus sp. LX-1 on Eudragit L-100 may be a promising strategy for removal of α-galacto-oligosaccharides such as raffinose and stachyose from soybean meal and other legume in feed industry.

Oral administration of chicken NK-lysin or recombinant chicken IL-7 improves vaccine efficacy of Eimeria tenella elongation factor-1α (EF-1α) against coccidiosis in commercial broiler chickens.

The synergistic effects of orally-delivered chicken NK-lysin peptide 2 (cNK-2) or recombinant chicken IL-7 (rchIL-7) on vaccination with recombinant Eimeria elongation factor-1α (rEF-1α) against Eimeria maxima (E. maxima) infection was investigated in broiler chickens. Chickens were divided into six groups: control (CON, no Eimeria infection), non-immunized control (NC, PBS), Vaccination 1 (VAC 1, rEF-1α plus cNK-2), Vaccination 2 (VAC 2, rchIL-7 plus cNK-2), Vaccination 3 (VAC 3, rEF-1α/rchIL-7 plus cNK-2), and Vaccination 4 (VAC 4, rEF-1α/rchIL-7 plus cNK-2). All groups, except the CON and NC, were orally treated with cNK-2 for 5 days. The first immunization, except for the VAC 4 group, was performed intramuscularly on day 4, and the second immunization was given with the same concentration of components as the primary immunization one week later. The immunization of the VAC 4 group was carried out by an oral inoculation on the same days. On day 19, all chickens except the CON group, were orally challenged with E. maxima (1.0 × 104 oocysts/chicken). The in vivo vaccination results showed that the VAC 1 and VAC 3 groups produced high (p < 0.05) levels of serum antibody titers to rEF-1α, and the VAC 3 showed enhanced (p < 0.05) levels of serum IL-7. Furthermore, the VAC 3 group showed significantly (p < 0.01) greater body weight gains at 6- and 9-days post-E. maxima infection (dpi) with reduced oocyst shedding at 6 dpi. The average jejunal lesion score of the NC group was 2.5 whereas the VAC 1 group showed a significantly (p < 0.05) lower lesion scores at 6 dpi. E. maxima infection significantly (P < 0.05) up-regulated the expression levels of cytokines (IL-6, IL-10 and IFN-γ) in the jejunum at 4 dpi, but those expressions were down-regulated in VAC 1 or VAC 3 groups. Moreover, the gene expression levels of Jam 2 and Occludin, were significantly (P < 0.05) decreased following E. maxima infection in jejunum at 4 dpi (NC), but their expressions were increased in the VAC 3 group. Collectively, these results showed that the efficacy of rEF-1α vaccination was significantly enhanced when rEF-1α vaccine co-immunized with chIL-7 or cNK-2.

Effect of Dietary Organic Selenium on Growth Performance, Gut Health, and Coccidiosis Response in Broiler Chickens.

A total of 252 one-day-old Ross broilers were randomly allocated to one of six treatments in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement with respective Eimeria challenges (non-infection and infection) and three different selenium (Se) diets. Dietary treatments were as follows: (1) Se un-supplemented control (CON), (2) inorganic Se treatment (SS; 0.3 mg/kg as sodium selenite), and (3) organic Se treatment (SY; 0.3 mg/kg as selenized yeast). Six replicate cages were allocated per treatment. Chickens in the respective Eimeria infection groups were infected with an E. acervulina, E. tenella, and E. maxima oocyst mixture (15,000 oocysts/chicken) on day 16. Growth performance was measured on days 16, 22, and 24. On day 22, intestinal samples were collected from randomly selected chickens to evaluate gut lesion scores, antioxidant enzymes, and tight junction gene expression. Blood, breast, and liver samples were collected to analyze the Se concentrations on day 24. Dietary SY supplementation improved (p < 0.05) the growth performance of the chickens regardless of the Eimeria challenge. Moreover, independent of Eimeria infection, Se supplementation elevated (p < 0.05) the heme oxygenase 1 (HMOX-1) expression in jejunal mucosa at 6 days post-infection (dpi). Duodenal junctional adhesion molecule 2 (JAM-2) expression and jejunal occludin (OCLN) were elevated (p < 0.05) with dietary SY supplementation at 6 dpi. Among Se sources, broiler chickens fed with the SY diet showed higher (p < 0.05) Se concentrations in breast muscle and serum on 8 dpi. These results confirmed the beneficial effects of dietary Se and the efficiency of organic Se compared with inorganic Se for growth improvement and muscle Se enrichment in broiler chickens regardless of coccidiosis infection.

Bacillus subtilis Expressing Chicken NK-2 Peptide Enhances the Efficacy of EF-1α Vaccination in Eimeria maxima-Challenged Broiler Chickens.

This study was conducted to investigate the synergistic effects of orally delivered B. subtilis-cNK-2 on vaccination with rEF-1α against E. maxima infection in broiler chickens. Chickens were assigned into the following five groups: control (CON, no Eimeria infection), non-immunized control (NC, PBS), component 1 (COM1, rEF-1α only), component 2 (COM2, rEF-1α plus B. subtilis empty vector), and component 3 (COM3, rEF-1α plus B. subtilis-NK-2). The first immunization was administered intramuscularly on day 4, and the second immunization was given one week later with the same concentration of components as the primary immunization. The immunization of B. subtilis spores (COM2 and COM3) was performed by oral administration given for 5 consecutive days a week later than the second immunization. On day 19, all the chickens except the CON group were orally challenged with E. maxima oocysts (1.0 × 104/chicken). The results of the in vivo vaccination showed that all the chickens immunized with rEF-1α (COM1, COM2, and COM3) produced higher (p < 0.05) serum antibodies against EF-1α on 12 days post-E. maxima infection (dpi). The COM3 group showed a significantly (p < 0.05) higher average body weight gain (BWG) on 0-6, 6-9, and 0-12 dpi compared to those of the non-immunized chickens (NC). Immunization with rEF-1α alone (COM1) reduced the gut lesion score on 6 dpi and the fecal oocyst shedding on 9 dpi, whereas co-administration with B. subtilis spores (COM2 or COM3) led to further reduction in the lesion score. E. maxima infection increased the expression levels of IFN-γ and IL-17ß in the jejunum, but these expressions were downregulated in the rEF-1α immunized (COM1) group and in the groups immunized with rEF-1α and orally treated with B. subtilis spores (COM2 or COM3) at 4 dpi. A reduced gene expression of occludin in the jejunum of the E. maxima-infected chickens on 4 dpi was upregulated following the immunization with COM2. Collectively, rEF-1α vaccination induced significant protection against E. maxima infection in the broiler chickens, and the efficacy of rEF-1α vaccination was further enhanced by co-administration with orally delivered B. subtilis spores expressing cNK-2.

Aberrant cortico-thalamo-cerebellar network interactions and their association with impaired cognitive functioning in patients with schizophrenia.

Evidence indicating abnormal functional connectivity (FC) among the cortex, thalamus, and cerebellum in schizophrenia patients has increased. However, the role of the thalamus and cerebellum when integrated into intrinsic networks and how those integrated networks interact in schizophrenia patients are largely unknown. We generated an integrative network map by merging thalamic and cerebellar network maps, which were parcellated using a winner-take-all approach, onto a cortical network map. Using cognitive networks, the default mode network (DMN), the dorsal attention network (DAN), the salience network (SAL), and the central executive network (CEN) as regions of interest, the FC of 48 schizophrenia patients was compared with that of 57 healthy controls (HCs). The association between abnormal FC and cognitive impairment was also investigated in patients. FC was lower between the SAL-CEN, SAL-DMN, and DMN-CEN and within-CEN in schizophrenia patients than in HCs. Hypoconnectivity between the DMN-CEN was correlated with impaired cognition in schizophrenia patients. Our findings broadly suggest the plausible role of the thalamus and cerebellum in integrative intrinsic networks in patients, which may contribute to the disrupted triple network and cognitive dysmetria in schizophrenia.

People express more bias in their predictions than in their likelihood judgments.

The desirability bias refers to when people's expectations about an uncertain event are biased by outcome preferences. Prior work has provided limited evidence that the magnitude of this motivated bias depends on (is moderated by) how expectations are solicited-as discrete outcome predictions or as likelihood judgments expressed on more continuous scales. The present studies extended the generalizability and understanding of the moderating process. The authors proposed that solicitations of predictions and likelihood judgments have different connotations that ultimately affect how much bias is expressed; this varies from a prior account that attributed the moderation effect to response scale differences (dichotomous vs. continuous). Study 1 confirmed the connotation difference, with predictions being viewed as more affording of hunches. Studies 2-4 directly tested the moderation effect, and unlike prior work focusing on expectations for purely stochastic events, the present studies involved more naturalistic events for which likelihood information was not supplied or directly knowable. Before viewing scenes from a basketball game (Study 2) or an endurance race (Studies 3 and 4), participants were led to prefer one contestant over another. After viewing most of the closely fought contest, they made either a prediction or likelihood judgment about the outcome. Participants' tendency to forecast their preferred contestant to win was significantly stronger among those making predictions rather than likelihood judgments. In support of the proposed account, this effect persisted even when both types of solicitations offered only dichotomous response options. Broader implications for measuring and understanding people's expectations or forecasts are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Ensemble learning and personalized training for the improvement of unsupervised deep learning-based synthetic CT reconstruction.

BACKGROUND: The growing adoption of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided radiation therapy (RT) platforms and a focus on MRI-only RT workflows have brought the technical challenge of synthetic computed tomography (sCT) reconstruction to the forefront. Unpaired-data deep learning-based approaches to the problem offer the attractive characteristic of not requiring paired training data, but the gap between paired- and unpaired-data results can be limiting. PURPOSE: We present two distinct approaches aimed at improving unpaired-data sCT reconstruction results: a cascade ensemble that combines multiple models and a personalized training strategy originally designed for the paired-data setting. METHODS: Comparisons are made between the following models: (1) the paired-data fully convolutional DenseNet (FCDN), (2) the FCDN with the Intentional Deep Overfit Learning (IDOL) personalized training strategy, (3) the unpaired-data CycleGAN, (4) the CycleGAN with the IDOL training strategy, and (5) the CycleGAN as an intermediate model in a cascade ensemble approach. Evaluation of the various models over 25 total patients is carried out using a five-fold cross-validation scheme, with the patient-specific IDOL models being trained for the five patients of fold 3, chosen at random. RESULTS: In both the paired- and unpaired-data settings, adopting the IDOL training strategy led to improvements in the mean absolute error (MAE) between true CT images and sCT outputs within the body contour (mean improvement, paired- and unpaired-data approaches, respectively: 38%, 9%) and in regions of bone (52%, 5%), the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR; 15%, 7%), and the structural similarity index (SSIM; 6%, <1%). The ensemble approach offered additional benefits over the IDOL approach in all three metrics (mean improvement over unpaired-data approach in fold 3; MAE: 20%; bone MAE: 16%; PSNR: 10%; SSIM: 2%), and differences in body MAE between the ensemble approach and the paired-data approach are statistically insignificant. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated that both a cascade ensemble approach and a personalized training strategy designed initially for the paired-data setting offer significant improvements in image quality metrics for the unpaired-data sCT reconstruction task. Closing the gap between paired- and unpaired-data approaches is a step toward fully enabling these powerful and attractive unpaired-data frameworks.

Host-mediated beneficial effects of phytochemicals for prevention of avian coccidiosis.

Both in vitro and in vivo studies were conducted to evaluate the beneficial effects of green tea extract (GT), cinnamon oil (CO), and pomegranate extract (PO) on avian coccidiosis. In experiment (EXP) 1, an in vitro culture system was used to investigate the individual effects of GT, CO, and PO on the proinflammatory cytokine response and integrity of tight junction (TJ) in chicken intestinal epithelial cells (IEC), on the differentiation of quail muscle cells and primary chicken embryonic muscle cells, and anticoccidial and antibacterial activities against Eimeria tenella sporozoites and Clostridium perfringens bacteria, respectively. In EXP 2 and 3, in vivo trials were carried out to study the dose-dependent effect of blended phytochemicals (GT, CO, PO) on coccidiosis in broiler chickens infected with E. maxima. For EXP 2, one hundred male broiler chickens (0-day-old) were allocated into the following five treatment groups: Control group for non-infected chickens (NC), Basal diet group for E. maxima-infected chickens (PC), PC group supplemented with phytochemicals at 50 (Phy 50), 100 (Phy 100), and 200 (Phy 200) mg/kg feed diets for E. maxima-infected chickens. For EXP 3, one hundred twenty male broiler chickens (0-day-old) were allocated into the following six treatment groups: NC, PC, PC supplemented with phytochemicals at 10 (Phy 10), 20 (Phy 20), 30 (Phy 30), and 100 (Phy 100) mg/kg feed for E. maxima-infected chickens. Body weights (BW) were measured on days 0, 7, 14, 20, and 22, and jejunum samples were used to measure cytokine, TJ protein, and antioxidant enzyme responses at 8 days post-infection (dpi). Fecal samples for oocyst enumeration were collected from 6 to 8 dpi. In vitro, CO and PO reduced LPS-induced IL-1ß and IL-8 in IEC, respectively, and GT enhanced the gene expression of occludin in IEC. PO at 1.0 and 5.0 mg/mL exerted antimicrobial effect against E. tenella sporozoites and C. perfringens bacteria, respectively. In vivo, chickens fed a diet supplemented with phytochemicals showed enhanced BW, reduced oocyst shedding, and decreased proinflammatory cytokines following E. maxima challenge. In conclusion, the combination of GT, CO, and PO in the diet of broiler chickens infected with E. maxima induced enhanced host disease resistance including innate immunity and gut health, which contributed to improved growth and reduced disease responses. These findings provide scientific support for the development of a novel phytogenic feed additive formula that enhances the growth and intestinal health of broiler chickens infected with coccidiosis.