Age-Related Characteristics of Resting-State Electroencephalographic Signals and the Corresponding Analytic Approaches: A Review.

The study of the effects of aging on neural activity in the human brain has attracted considerable attention in neurophysiological, neuropsychiatric, and neurocognitive research, as it is directly linked to an understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the disruption of the brain structures and functions that lead to age-related pathological disorders. Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals recorded during resting-state conditions have been widely used because of the significant advantage of non-invasive signal acquisition with higher temporal resolution. These advantages include the capability of a variety of linear and nonlinear signal analyses and state-of-the-art machine-learning and deep-learning techniques. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) can not only reveal the neural mechanisms underlying aging but also enable the assessment of brain age reliably by means of the age-related characteristics of EEG signals. This paper reviews the literature on the age-related features, available analytic methods, large-scale resting-state EEG databases, interpretations of the resulting findings, and recent advances in age-related AI models.

Short-Term Efficacy of Pulsed Radiofrequency Thermal Stimulation on Acupoints for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Preliminary Study of a Randomized, Single-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the pain-relief efficacy of thermal stimulation induced by a pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) thermal stimulation applied to acupoints (APs) in patients with low back pain (LBP). The study was designed as a randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. Methods. Fifty-six LBP patients whose minimum pain intensity score on a visual analogue scale (VAS, 0-100 mm) was more than 30 mm were randomly allocated to either the placebo-controlled or the treatment group at a 1:1 ratio. The treatment and placebo-controlled groups received PRF thermal stimulation plus cupping therapy and cupping therapy only, respectively. Each patient was scheduled to receive a total of three treatment sessions over one week with allowing a window up to 4 days. Six of the 13 predefined APs were selected differently for each session depending on the change in patient's symptoms and intensity of pain. The primary outcome was the mean difference between the placebo-controlled and treatment group of VAS changes from the baseline to the end of the follow-up period. RESULTS: The patients' reported VAS scores from baseline to the end of follow-up (average: 9.8 days) were significantly decreased by 8.036 points (two-sided 95% CI, -11.841 to -4.231) and 13.393 points (two-sided 95% CI: 17.198 to -9.588) in the treatment and the placebo-controlled groups, respectively. However, the change in VAS scores between the treatment group and the placebo-controlled group was not significantly different (2.015 mm, two-sided 95% CI: -5.288 to 9.317). CONCLUSION: The trial results indicated that treatment with either PRF thermal stimulation with cupping therapy or cupping therapy alone effectively relieved LBP. The efficacy of PRF thermal stimulation combined with cupping therapy was not superior to that of cupping therapy alone. Trial registration number: Clinical Research Information Service (KCT0002137). The trial was registered retrospectively on 10 November, 2016.

Development of an ultrasound-imaging procedure and acquisition of ultrasound images of acupuncture points for safety and accuracy of needle insertion.

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture is a relatively safe, commonly used "alternative" medical treatment for various symptoms. However, adverse effects can occur, including trauma, pneumothorax, and central-nervous-system injury. Our objective was to develop a reliable and practical procedure for ultrasound imaging of acupuncture points to improve safety during needling, and to acquire ultrasound images of several (44) acupuncture points, especially those in high-risk areas, according to an in-house standard operating procedure. METHODS: We created the standard operating procedure for ultrasound imaging for acupuncture, and collected ultrasound images of acupuncture points in clinical trials. RESULTS: Ultrasound images for 44 acupuncture points considered as high-risk points were collected from 85 healthy people who were classified by body-mass index, and high-quality, clear representative images of all 44 points were obtained. CONCLUSION: These baseline images could be helpful for understanding the anatomy under the skin at acupuncture points, which would allow for an enhanced safety and more accurate needling.

Treatment of obesity with the resveratrol-enriched rice DJ-526.

Obesity is the most prevalent disease in the world which poses a serious risk for various chronic diseases. However, currently there are not any therapeutic agents that reduce body weight without causing serious side effects. In order to prevent and/or treat obesity and related diseases through a nutraceutical approach, we created a resveratrol-enriched transgenic rice accumulating 1.4 µg/g of resveratrol in its grain, DJ-526. Feeding of mice with the resveratrol-enriched rice DJ-526 showed excellent anti-obesity effect with reduction of body weights and abdominal fat volumes compared to the control by 20.0% and 31.3%, respectively. Also, the consumption of the resveratrol-enriched rice DJ526 significantly improved the blood lipid profiles and glucose levels in the animal experiments. Our resveratrol-enriched rice DJ-526 rice could provide both safe and convenient way for people with obesity and related diseases without major change of lifestyle or unwanted side effects from medication.

Creation of resveratrol-enriched rice for the treatment of metabolic syndrome and related diseases.

Resveratrol has been clinically shown to possess a number of human health benefits. As a result, many attempts have been made to engineer resveratrol production in major cereal grains but have been largely unsuccessful. In this study, we report the creation of a transgenic rice plant that accumulates 1.9 µg resveratrol/g in its grain, surpassing the previously reported anti-metabolic syndrome activity of resveratrol through a synergistic interaction between the transgenic resveratrol and the endogenous properties of the rice. Consumption of our transgenic resveratrol-enriched rice significantly improved all aspects of metabolic syndrome and related diseases in animals fed a high-fat diet. Compared with the control animals, the resveratrol-enriched rice reduced body weight, blood glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol by 24.7%, 22%, 37.4%, 27%, and 59.6%, respectively. The resveratrol-enriched rice from our study may thus provide a safe and convenient means of preventing metabolic syndrome and related diseases without major lifestyle changes or the need for daily medications. These results also suggest that future transgenic plants could be improved if the synergistic interactions of the transgene with endogenous traits of the plant are considered in the experimental design.

L-Ribose from L-arabinose by epimerization and its purification by 3-zone simulated moving bed chromatography.

L-Ribose has recently received attention as the starting material for nucleoside drugs. As it is not found in nature, it is being produced by enzymatic or epimerization reaction. We investigated an epimerization reaction by molybdenium oxide and examined the effects of temperature, solvent, and molybdenum oxide amount on epimerization. L-Ribose has a yield of 22% under the conditions of 100 kg/m3 L-arabinose, 20% methanol, 5 kg/m3 MoO3, and 90 degrees C. In addition, simulated moving bed (SMB) that was equipped with three NH2-HPLC columns was used to separate L-arabinose and L-ribose resulting from L-arabinose epimerization. A 3-zone SMB process was developed to eliminate the high pressure problem in the conventional 4-zone SMB. Aspen simulation was performed to determine the operating variables such as switching time, raffinate, and extract flow rates. Experimental purities of extract and raffinate were compared with the theoretical ones and they are found to be fairly well correlated.

Variations in non-invasive radial artery pulse waveform at different measuring positions.

Noninvasive radial artery pulse wave has been widely not only for the pulse wave analysis (PWA) itself but also for assessment of arterial stiffness with estimated aortic pulse wave from peripheral pulse wave. In this study, we tested the differences between the extracted parameters, including AIx, from radial artery pulse waves measured at three different positions preliminarily. A 30 years old female involved in this experiment and this subject has no evidence about cardiovascular diseases. Radial pulse waves were recorded at three different positions on left lower arm ten times for each position. These positions are widely used in pulse diagnosis of traditional medicine.As results of repeated measures ANOVA analysis, 9 parameters were found which had significantly differences in between measuring positions (P<0.05). These parameters wereP_AIx, PP_Amp, A_T1, A_Tr, AIx, AIx_@HR75, ESP, MP_Sysand MP_Dia. And, by Spearman correlation test at P2, it was observed that P_AIx (r =0.894), PP_Amp (r=-0.765),AIx_@HR75 (r=0.929), ESP (r=0.893) and MP_Dia (r=0.792)were highly correlated with AIx. Elaborately, the correlation coefficients between each parameter were high in similar degrees (r>0.70).Further studies on what make differences in these parameters between measuring positions are need. And, ultimately, we need to determine the best measuring process, including measuring position, hold-down pressure, signal quality validation and so on,so to achieve the optimal waveform which represents subject's health condition for both western medicine and traditional medicine.