The processing of animacy in noun-classifier combinations in reading Korean: An ERP study.

A key issue in the area of language processing is the mechanism underlying the processing of animacy information during sentence comprehension. In this ERP study, we investigated the temporal dynamics of animacy processing in Korean noun-classifier combinations that do not involve verb-noun thematic processing. We manipulated semantic and animacy relationships between nouns and their following classifiers, and there were three conditions in our experiment: (a) correct, (b) semantic mismatch, or (c) animacy mismatch. The results showed that both noun-classifier mismatch conditions evoked a biphasic N400-P600 effect, but there was no P600 difference between the two mismatch conditions. However, further analyses indicated that the animacy mismatch condition evoked a less negative-going waveform than the semantic mismatch condition in the 400-500 ms time window. Our findings suggest that the brain processes animacy information differently from other semantic features in noun-classifier combinations in Korean, and additional animacy mismatch blocked further fine-grained semantic processing. The ERP evidence also suggests that the role of animacy in sentence comprehension varies according to language type and sentence structure. Whether animacy participates in the construction of verb-noun thematic relationships in sentences may be an important factor that influences the neural patterns of animacy processing in language comprehension.

Is aspirin necessary in the acute phase of Kawasaki disease?

AIM: To explore whether aspirin is necessary for treatment in the acute phase of Kawasaki disease (KD). METHODS: Nine hundred ten patients who fulfilled the criteria of KD and maintained follow-up for 2 years were included in this retrospective study. All patients initially received a single dose of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG, 2 g/kg) in the acute phase. Patients were classified into three groups according to the doses of aspirin. Group 1 included 152 cases treated with IVIG only in the acute phase. Group 2 included 672 cases treated with IVIG plus 3-5 mg/kg/day aspirin as the low-dose group, and group 3 included 86 cases treated with IVIG plus 30-50 mg/kg/day aspirin as the moderate-dose group. Changes in inflammatory indices and platelet count after treatment were compared by one-way analysis of variance or analysis of covariance to analyse the clinical effect of aspirin in acute KD. The relationship between aspirin use and coronary artery lesion complications was analysed by logistic regression. RESULTS: There was no significant difference among the three groups in terms of the anti-inflammation effect revealed by C-reactive protein level, white blood cell count, percentage of neutrophils in white blood cells, decreasing platelet count or prevention of the formation of coronary artery lesion. CONCLUSIONS: The role of aspirin in the treatment of the acute phase of KD should be questioned as a definite benefit has not been shown in our study. Further prospective studies incorporating large multicentre samples of patients are needed to confirm this finding.

Phylogenetic diversity of actinobacteria associated with soft coral Alcyonium gracllimum and stony coral Tubastraea coccinea in the East China Sea.

Actinobacteria are widely distributed in the marine environment. To date, few studies have been performed to explore the coral-associated Actinobacteria, and little is known about the diversity of coral-associated Actinobacteria. In this study, the actinobacterial diversity associated with one soft coral Alcyonium gracllimum and one stony coral Tubastraea coccinea collected from the East China Sea was investigated using both culture-independent and culture-dependent approaches. A total of 19 actinobacterial genera were detected in these two corals, among which nine genera (Corynebacterium, Dietzia, Gordonia, Kocuria, Microbacterium, Micrococcus, Mycobacterium, Streptomyces, and Candidatus Microthrix) were common, three genera (Cellulomonas, Dermatophilus, and Janibacter) were unique to the soft coral, and seven genera (Brevibacterium, Dermacoccus, Leucobacter, Micromonospora, Nocardioides, Rhodococcus, and Serinicoccus) were unique to the stony coral. This finding suggested that highly diverse Actinobacteria were associated with different types of corals. In particular, five actinobacterial genera (Cellulomonas, Dermacoccus, Gordonia, Serinicoccus, and Candidatus Microthrix) were recovered from corals for the first time, extending the known diversity of coral-associated Actinobacteria. This study shows that soft and stony corals host diverse Actinobacteria and can serve as a new source of marine actinomycetes.

On-line pre-column FRAP-based antioxidant reaction coupled with HPLC-DAD-TOF/MS for rapid screening of natural antioxidants from different parts of Polygonum viviparum.

Polygonum viviparum L. (PV) is a widely used resource plant with high medicinal, feeding and ecological values. Our studies show that PV has strong antioxidant activity. However, up to date, the antioxidant activity and components in other parts were not fully elucidated. In the present study, a new online pre-column ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP)-based antioxidant reaction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-TOF/MS) was developed for rapid and high-throughput screening of natural antioxidants from three different parts of PV including stems and leaves, fruits and rhizomes. In this procedure, it was assumed that the peak areas of compounds with potential antioxidant activity in HPLC chromatograms would be greatly diminished or vanish after incubating with the FRAP. The online incubation conditions including mixed ratios of sample and FRAP solution and reaction times were firstly optimized with six standards. Then, the repeatability of the screening system was evaluated by analysis of the samples of stems and leaves of PV. As a result, a total of 21 compounds mainly including flavonoids and phenolic acids were screened from the three parts of PV. In conclusion, the present study provided a simple and effective strategy to rapidly screen antioxidants in natural products.

[Rapid determination of aesculin and aesculetin in Fraxini Cortex by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet at equal absorption wavelength].

Fraxini Cortex is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine that has been used for thousands of years to treat dampness-heat diarrhea, dysentery, red or white vaginal discharge, painful swelling or redness of the eyes, and nebula. It contains various chemical components, including coumarins, iridoids, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. Coumarins are important active ingredients in Fraxini Cortex and have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumor, and antiviral activities. Aesculin and aesculetin are two major coumarin components of Fraxini Cortex that are widely used in its quality evaluation. Previous HPLC methods for determination of aesculin and aesculetin present several limitations, such as long analysis times and high solvent and reference compound consumption. In this study, a rapid, eco-friendly and cost saving HPLC method for the determination of aesculin and aesculetin in Fraxini Cortex was established by using the core-shell column and equal absorption wavelength (EAW). Different factors influencing the extraction process, such as the extraction solvent, temperature, and time, were assessed to obtain the optimal extraction conditions. The results showed that Fraxini Cortex samples could be well extracted by ultrasonic extraction for 5 min with a 25% ethanol aqueous solution. A core-shell column was used, and different mobile phases and flow rates were investigated to obtain the best rapid-HPLC separation conditions. The optimized HPLC conditions were as follows: a Poroshell 120 EC-C18 column (50 mm×4.6 mm, 2.7 µm), acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid aqueous solution (6∶94, v/v) as the eluent, a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min, and a column temperature of 25 ℃. The EAW of aesculin and aesculetin was a key factor in their determination using a single reference compound. EAW selection was performed in two steps. First, the UV spectra of two equimolar concentrations of the reference compounds (aesculin and aesculetin) were compared to determine the EAW of the two analytes. The EAW results were then verified by the HPLC analysis of the reference compound solutions. The final EAW of aesculin and aesculetin was 341 nm. The determination of aesculin and aesculetin using only one reference compound (i. e., aesculin) was achieved by HPLC-UV at this EAW. The newly developed HPLC method revealed a good linear relationship between the two target analytes (r=1.0000). The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) were 1.5 µmol/L and 3.0 µmol/L, respectively, and the average recoveries of aesculin and aesculetin were 99.0% and 97.5%. The stabilities of the sample solutions were examined, and the two analytes demonstrated good stability for 24 h. The contents of the target analytes in 10 batches of Fraxini Cortex were determined using the proposed EAW method and the classic external standard method (ESM), and comparable concentrations were obtained. The contents of aesculin and aesculetin in the 10 batches of Fraxini Cortex were 0.26%-2.80% and 0.11%-1.47%, respectively. A t-test was conducted to compare the results of the proposed EAW technique with those obtained via the method reported in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and no significant difference between the two assay methods was noted (P>0.05). Comparison of the newly established EAW method with those reported in the literature revealed that our method required only 10 min to complete and used as little as 0.5 mL of the solvent and only one standard. Therefore, the developed EAW method is a rapid, simple, eco-friendly, and cost-effective analytical method that is suitable for the determination of aesculin and aesculetin in Fraxini Cortex and its related products. The proposed technique is an improved method for determining aesculin and aesculetin and contributes to the enhancement of the quality evaluation of Fraxini Cortex.

A ReliefF-SVM-based method for marking dopamine-based disease characteristics: A study on SWEDD and Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) and scans without evidence of dopaminergic deficit (SWEDD) are two distinct neurological disorders that require different therapeutic approaches; therefore it's critical to classify the two disorders. The neuroimaging technology based on dMRI provided connectivity information and voxel features that can make it possible for researchers to analyze SWEDD and PD differences. In this work, a novel method of ReliefF-SVM-based dMRI analysis was presented to study the potential relations between PD and SWEDD. Some sensorimotor connections were found group-wise differences, and SVM was suggested to successfully classify PD and SWEDD. These results indicate that our method using connectivity information and voxel features may provide a new strategy for disease analysis with small sample data.

Distributed performance of white matter properties in chess players: A DWI study using automated fiber quantification.

The aim of this study is to verify whether anatomical changes occur in the brains of chess players. Besides, it is a potential attempt to evaluate diffusion properties along the tracts due to the diverse situations at anatomical level in different locations; moreover, conventional voxel-based analysis (VBA) has already been used to calculate the average values within the voxels in the investigated regions as analysis data. In this study, we used automated fiber quantification (AFQ) to automatically identify the major tracts that are related to functional domains of the human brain. AFQ can quantify pointwise white matter (WM) properties to detect specific local differences. We selected chess players with superior logical cognition abilities as the carrier to conduct our AFQ experiments. The diffusion properties of the 20 major tracts of professional chess players (n = 28) and matched controls (n = 29) were calculated using diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) data. We noted significant differences (p < 0.05) in the diffusion properties of some successive locations among 100 equidistant points in several tracts, especially in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus(SLF) and right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF). Professional chess players exhibited increase levels in the studied diffusion metrics with Pearson results paralleled the findings. Afterwards, considering the starting and terminating regions of SLF, IFOF, and thalamic radiation, the connectivity of gray matter (GM) where connections are active in the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and thalamus was assessed to help with the further experiment. The results confirmed the tendency in which anatomical alterations generated different performances along the tracts; furthermore, long-term cognitive activities, such as chess, may systematically influence the WM properties of early memory, attention, and visual pathways.

Influenza infection and Kawasaki disease.

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to investigate the possible link between influenza (Flu) infection and Kawasaki disease (KD). METHODS: We examined the medical records of 1,053 KD cases and 4,669 influenza infection cases hospitalized at our institute from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013. Cases of KD with concomitant influenza infection formed the KD + Flu group. Each KD + Flu case was matched with 2 KD cases and 2 influenza infection cases, and these cases were assigned to the KD group and Flu group, respectively. The differences in the principal clinical manifestations, course of disease, incomplete KD rate, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance rate, and echocardiographic detection results between the KD + Flu group and KD group were compared. The fever durations and laboratory test results of these three groups were compared. RESULTS: 1) The seasonal variations of the KD + Flu group, KD group and Flu group were similar. 2) The morbidity rate of incomplete KD was higher in the KD + Flu group compared with the KD group. 3) Patients in the KD + Flu group exhibited a longer time to KD diagnosis compared with patients in the KD group. 4) The KD + Flu group exhibited the longest fever duration among the three groups. 5) The CRP and ESR values in the KD + Flu group were higher those in the Flu or KD groups. CONCLUSIONS: Concomitant influenza infection affects the clinical manifestations of KD and can impact the laboratory test results and the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. However, it remains unclear whether influenza contributes to KD etiology.

Pezizomycotina dominates the fungal communities of South China Sea sponges Theonella swinhoei and Xestospongia testudinaria.

Compared with the knowledge of sponge-associated bacterial diversity and ecological roles, the fungal diversity and ecological roles of sponges remain largely unknown. In this study, the fungal diversity and protein synthesis potential in two South China Sea sponges Theonella swinhoei and Xestospongia testudinaria were investigated by rRNA vs. rRNA gene analysis. EF4/fung5 was chosen after a series of PCR tests to target fungal 18S rRNA and 18S rRNA gene. Altogether, 283 high-quality sequences were obtained, which resulted in 26 Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) that were assigned to Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Blastocladiomycota. At subphylum level, 77.3% of sponge-derived sequences were affiliated with Pezizomycotina. The fungal compositions of T. swinhoei and X. testudinaria were different from that of ambient seawater. The predominant OTU shared between two sponges was rare in seawater, whereas the most abundant OTUs in seawater were not found in sponges. Additionally, the major OTUs of sponge cDNA datasets were shared in two sponges. The fungal diversity illustrated by sponge cDNA datasets correlated well with that derived from sponge DNA datasets, indicating that the major members of sponge-associated fungi had protein synthesis potential. This study highlighted the diversity of Pezizomycotina in marine sponge-fungi symbioses and the necessity of investigating ecological roles of sponge-associated fungi.

Phylogenetically diverse ureC genes and their expression suggest the urea utilization by bacterial symbionts in marine sponge Xestospongia testudinaria.

Urea is one of the dominant organic nitrogenous compounds in the oligotrophic oceans. Compared to the knowledge of nitrogen transformation of nitrogen fixation, ammonia oxidization, nitrate and nitrite reduction mediated by sponge-associated microbes, our knowledge of urea utilization in sponges and the phylogenetic diversity of sponge-associated microbes with urea utilization potential is very limited. In this study, Marinobacter litoralis isolated from the marine sponge Xestospongia testudinaria and the slurry of X. testudinaria were found to have urease activity. Subsequently, phylogenetically diverse bacterial ureC genes were detected in the total genomic DNA and RNA of sponge X. testudinaria, i.e., 19 operative taxonomic units (OTUs) in genomic DNA library and 8 OTUs in cDNA library at 90% stringency. Particularly, 6 OTUs were common to both the genomic DNA library and the cDNA library, which suggested that some ureC genes were expressed in this sponge. BLAST and phylogenetic analysis showed that most of the ureC sequences were similar with the urease alpha subunit of members from Proteobacteria, which were the predominant component in sponge X. testudinaria, and the remaining ureC sequences were related to those from Magnetococcus, Cyanobacteria, and Actinobacteria. This study is the first assessment of the role of sponge bacterial symbionts in the regenerated utilization of urea by the detection of transcriptional activity of ureC gene, as well as the phylogenetic diversity of ureC gene of sponge bacterial symbionts. The results suggested the urea utilization by bacterial symbionts in marine sponge X. testudinaria, extending our understanding of nitrogen cycling mediated by sponge-associated microbiota.

Functionalized graphene oxide in enzyme engineering: a selective modulator for enzyme activity and thermostability.

The understanding of interactions between nanomaterials and biomolecules is of fundamental importance to the area of nanobiotechnology. Graphene and its derivative, graphene oxide (GO), are two-dimensional (2-D) nanomaterials with interesting physical and chemical properties and have been widely explored in various directions of biomedicine in recent years. However, how functionalized GO interacts with bioactive proteins such as enzymes and its potential in enzyme engineering have been rarely explored. In this study, we carefully investigated the interactions between serine proteases and GO functionalized with different amine-terminated polyethylene glycol (PEG). Three well-characterized serine proteases (trypsin, chymotrypsin, and proteinase K) with important biomedical and industrial applications were analyzed. It is found that these PEGylated GOs could selectively improve trypsin activity and thermostability (60-70% retained activity at 80 °C), while exhibiting barely any effect on chymotrypsin or proteinase K. Detailed investigation illustrates that the PEGylated GO-induced acceleration is substrate-dependent, affecting only phosphorylated protein substrates, and that at least up to 43-fold increase could be achieved depending on the substrate concentration. This unique phenomenon, interestingly, is found to be attributed to both the terminal amino groups on polymer coatings and the 2-D structure of GO. Moreover, an enzyme-based bioassay system is further demonstrated utilizing our GO-based enzyme modulator in a proof-of-concept experiment. To our best knowledge, this work is the first success of using functionalized GO as an efficient enzyme positive modulator with great selectivity, exhibiting a novel potential of GO, when appropriately functionalized, in enzyme engineering as well as enzyme-based biosensing and detection.

Influenza infection and Kawasaki disease

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to investigate the possible link between influenza (Flu) infection and Kawasaki disease (KD). METHODS: We examined the medical records of 1,053 KD cases and 4,669 influenza infection cases hospitalized at our institute from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013. Cases of KD with concomitant influenza infection formed the KD + Flu group. Each KD + Flu case was matched with 2 KD cases and 2 influenza infection cases, and these cases were assigned to the KD group and Flu group, respectively. The differences in the principal clinical manifestations, course of disease, incomplete KD rate, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance rate, and echocardiographic detection results between the KD + Flu group and KD group were compared. The fever durations and laboratory test results of these three groups were compared. RESULTS: 1) The seasonal variations of the KD + Flu group, KD group and Flu group were similar. 2) The morbidity rate of incomplete KD was higher in the KD + Flu group compared with the KD group. 3) Patients in the KD + Flu group exhibited a longer time to KD diagnosis compared with patients in the KD group. 4) The KD + Flu group exhibited the longest fever duration among the three groups. 5) The CRP and ESR values in the KD + Flu group were higher those in the Flu or KD groups. CONCLUSIONS: Concomitant influenza infection affects the clinical manifestations of KD and can impact the laboratory test results and the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. However, it remains unclear whether influenza contributes to KD etiology. .

[Effects of electroacupuncture on urinary bladder function after radical hysterectomy].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture on recovery of urinary bladder function after radical hysterectomy. METHODS: One hundred and ten cases were randomly divided into an electroacupuncture (EA) group and a control group, 55 cases in each group. In the control group, the urinary tube was placed and kept with routine method and the urinary bladder was rinsed, and from the eighth day the abdomen was radiated with TDP, 30 min each day, for 5 days. In the EA group, on the basis of treatment in the control group EA was given at Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Zusanli (ST 36), Waiguan (TE 5), Shuidao (ST 28), Guilai (ST 29), etc. from the eighth day to twelfth day after operation. The recovery time of urinary bladder function after radical hysterectomy, urine dynamic indexes and hospitalization days were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The cases of the bladder function recovery, retention of urine, urinary incontinence were 51(51/55), 4(4/55), 0 on the 14 th day after operation and 53(53/55), 2(2/55), 0 on the 28 th day in the EA group, and 27(27/55), 25(25/55), 3(3/55) on the 14 th day and 43(43/55), 11(11/55), 1(1/55) on the 28th day in the control group, respectively, with a very significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.01); the EA group in residual urine volume, bladder volume, mean urinary flowing rate was better than the control group on the 14 th day after operation (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05); the hospitalization days after operation was (21.1 +/- 3.3) days in the EA group and (25.5 +/- 3.5) days in the control group, the former being shorter than the later (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: EA can promote recovery of bladder function, shorten the keeping time of urinary tube after radical hysterectomy, which is benefit to decreasing incidence rate of urinary system infection and shortening hospitalization days.