Transcutaneous auricular vagus stimulation (taVNS) improves human working memory performance under sleep deprivation stress.

Many human activities require high cognitive performance over long periods, while impairments induced by sleep deprivation influence various aspects of cognitive abilities, including working memory (WM), attention, and processing speed. Based on previous research, vagal nerve stimulation can modulate cognitive abilities, attention, and arousal. Two experiments were conducted to assess the efficacy of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) to relieve the deleterious effects of sleep deprivation. In the first experiment, 35 participants completed N-back tasks at 8:00 a.m. for two consecutive days in a within-subject study. Then, the participants received either taVNS or earlobe stimulation (active control) intervention in two sessions at random orders after 24 h of sustained wakefulness. Then, they completed the N-back tasks again. In the second experiment, 30 participants completed the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT), and 32 completed the N-back tasks at 8:00 a.m. on the first and second days. Then, they received either taVNS or earlobe stimulation at random orders and finished the N-back and PVT tasks immediately after one hour. In Experiment 1, taVNS could significantly improve the accuracy rate of participants in spatial 3-back tasks compared to active control, which was consistent with experiment 2. However, taVNS did not specifically enhance PVT performance. Therefore, taVNS could be a powerful intervention for acute sleep deprivation as it can improve performance on high cognitive load tasks and is easy to administer.

Per1 gene polymorphisms influence the relationship between brain white matter microstructure and depression risk.

Background: Circadian rhythm was involved in the pathogenesis of depression. The detection of circadian genes and white matter (WM) integrity achieved increasing focus for early prediction and diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD). This study aimed to explore the effects of PER1 gene polymorphisms (rs7221412), one of the key circadian genes, on the association between depressive level and WM microstructural integrity. Materials and methods: Diffusion tensor imaging scanning and depression assessment (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI) were performed in 77 healthy college students. Participants also underwent PER1 polymorphism detection and were divided into the AG group and AA group. The effects of PER1 genotypes on the association between the WM characteristics and BDI were analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics method. Results: Compared with homozygous form of PER1 gene (AA), more individuals with risk allele G of PER1 gene (AG) were in depression state with BDI cutoff of 14 (χ2 = 7.37, uncorrected p = 0.007). At the level of brain imaging, the WM integrity in corpus callosum, internal capsule, corona radiata and fornix was poorer in AG group compared with AA group. Furthermore, significant interaction effects of genotype × BDI on WM characteristics were observed in several emotion-related WM tracts. To be specific, the significant relationships between BDI and WM characteristics in corpus callosum, internal capsule, corona radiata, fornix, external capsule and sagittal stratum were only found in AG group, but not in AA group. Conclusion: Our findings suggested that the PER1 genotypes and emotion-related WM microstructure may provide more effective measures of depression risk at an early phase.

Assessing the Effect of Simultaneous Combining of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on the Improvement of Working Memory Performance in Healthy Individuals.

A previous study found that combining transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) could evoke significantly larger activation on a range of cortical and subcortical brain regions than the numerical summation of tDCS and taVNS effects. In this study, two within-subject experiments were employed to investigate its effects on working memory (WM). In experiment 1, the WM modulatory effects of tDCS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), taVNS, and simultaneous joint simulation of tDCS over the left DLPFC and taVNS (SJS-L) were compared among 60 healthy subjects. They received these three interventions between the baseline test and post-test in a random manner three times. In spatial 3-back task, there was a significant interaction between time and stimulations in the accuracy rate of matching trials (mACC, p=0.018). MACCs were significantly improved by SJS (p = 0.001) and taVNS (p = 0.045), but not by tDCS (p = 0.495). Moreover, 41 subjects in the SJS group showed improvement, which was significantly larger than that in the taVNS group (29 subjects) and tDCS group (26 subjects). To further investigate the generalization effects of SJS, 72 students were recruited in experiment 2. They received tDCS over the right DLPFC, taVNS, simultaneous joint simulation of tDCS over the right DLPFC and taVNS (SJS-R), and sham stimulation in a random manner four times. No significant results were found, but there was a tendency similar to experiment 1 in the spatial 3-back task. In conclusion, combining tDCS and taVNS might be a potential non-invasive neuromodulation technique which is worthy of study in future.

Clinical observation of ropivacaine compuled with sufentanil for painless childbirth.

This study aimed to explore the effect of ropivacaine combined with sufentanil on maternal lactation and infant, which were used by different anesthesia method for painless childbirth. 284 cases of voluntary acceptance of painless childbirth pregnant were involved in this study and divided into control group and observation group. Ropivacaine combined with sufentanil epidural anesthesia (CEA) was used in the control group, and ropivacaine combined with sufentanil epidural block (CSEA) anesthesia was used in the observation group. Meanwhile, maternal colostrum time, postpartum lactation and neonatal Apgar score were analyzed. The colostrum time of the observation group was significantly shorter than that in the control group and the lactation quantity of 24 h was significantly higher than that in the control group. There were significant differences between the control and the observation groups (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in neonatal Apgar score (p>0.05). Combined spinal epidural anesthesia of ropivacaine combined with sufentanil is more conducive to the early postpartum lactation compared with epidural anesthesia. And both of the two ways of anesthesia had no effect on the neonatal Apgar score.

Clinical application of combined anesthesia in cesarean section.

This study chose 60 cases of cesarean section for patients with epidural anesthesia (EA) combined spinal epidural anesthesia (CSEA) surgery for clinical application research. Compared with EA, the CSEA could work well in subarachnoid anesthesia and epidural anesthesia. Although it was with less dosage, it had a faster and better effect, good muscle relaxant condition. It not only improved the quality of the surgery, but also reduced the burden of the anesthesiologist.

Cloning and expression of Mycobacterium bovis secreted protein MPB83 in Escherichia coli.

The gene encoding MPB83 from Mycobacterium bovis Vallee111 chromosomal DNA was amplified by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, and the PCR product was approximately 600bp DNA segment. Using TA cloning technique, the PCR product was cloned into pGEM-T vector and the cloning plasmid pGEM-T-83 was constructed successfully. pGEM-T-83 and pET28a(+) were digested by BamHI and EcoRI double enzymes. The purified MPB83 gene was subcloned into the expression vector pET28a(+), and the prokaryotic expression vector pET28a-83 was constructed. Plasmid containing pET28a-83 was transformed into competence Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The bacterium was induced by isopropyl-Beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) and its lysates were loaded directly onto sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), approximately 26 kDa exogenous protein was observed on the SDS-PAGE. The protein was analyzed using Western-blotting. The results indicated that the protein was of antigenic activity of M.bovis. The results were expected to lay foundation for further studies on the subunit vaccine and DNA vaccine of MPB83 gene in their prevention against bovine tuberculosis.

[Cloning and expression of Mycobacterium bovis secreted protein MPB51 in Escherichia coli].

The gene encoding MPB51 was amplified from M. bovis Valleel11 chromosomal DNA using PCR technique, and the PCR product was approximately 800 bp DNA segment. Using T-A cloning technique, the PCR product was cloned into pGEM-T vector and cloning plasmid pGEM-T-51 was thus constructed successfully. pGEM-T-51 and pET28a( + ) were digested by BamH I and EcoR I double enzymes. The purified MPB51 gene was subcloned into the expression vector pET28a( + ), and the prokaryotic expression vector pET28a-51 was thus constructed. Plasmid containing pET28a-51 was transformed into competence E. coli BL21 (DE3). The bacterium was induced by IPTG and its lysates were loaded directly onto SDS-PAGE, approximately 30 kD exogenous protein was observed on the SDS-PAGE. The protein was analyzed using Western blot. The results indicate that the protein is antigenic activity of MB. The results are expected to lay foundation for further studies on the subunit vaccine and DNA vaccine of MPB51 gene in their prevention of bovine tuberculosis.