Working memory is an executive memory process that includes encoding, maintenance, and retrieval. These processes can be modulated by transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) with sinusoidal waves. However, little is known about the impact of the rate of current change on working memory. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of two types of tACS with different rates of current change on working memory performance and brain activity. We applied a randomized, single-blind design and divided 81 young participants who received triangular wave tACS, sinusoidal wave tACS, or sham stimulation into three groups. Participants performed n-back tasks, and electroencephalograms were recorded before, during, and after active or sham stimulation. Compared to the baseline, working memory performance (accuracy and response time) improved after stimulation under all stimulation conditions. According to drift-diffusion model analysis, triangular wave tACS significantly increased the efficiency of non-target information processing. In addition, compared with sham conditions, triangular wave tACS reduced alpha power oscillations in the occipital lobe throughout the encoding period, while sinusoidal wave tACS increased theta power in the central frontal region only during the later encoding period. The brain network connectivity results showed that triangular wave tACS improved the clustering coefficient, local efficiency, and node degree intensity in the early encoding stage, and these parameters were positively correlated with the non-target drift rate and decision starting point. Our findings on how tACS modulates working memory indicate that triangular wave tACS significantly enhances brain network connectivity during the early encoding stage, demonstrating an improvement in the efficiency of working memory processing. In contrast, sinusoidal wave tACS increased the theta power during the later encoding stage, suggesting its potential critical role in late-stage information processing. These findings provide valuable insights into the potential mechanisms by which tACS modulates working memory.
Humans ; Memory, Short-Term/physiology* ; Male ; Female ; Young Adult ; Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation/methods* ; Brain/physiology* ; Adult ; Electroencephalography ; Single-Blind Method

Objective To compare the existing evaluation methods of sample's representativeness and provide reference for selection of sample representativeness evaluation methods in clinical research.Methods Simulate the target population of lung cancer patients and select samples with different sample sizes and different degrees of deviation based on the distribution of traits of lung cancer patients in China and the actual situation of sample screening in domestic clinical studies.Calculate sample representativeness using the existing evaluation methods of sample's representativeness,and calculate estimation deviation(bias).By constructing the correlation model between the measured value of each method and bias,analyze the accuracy and stability of each method.Results The overall structural variance rate RV1、RV2、C-statistic based on propensity score、SGCR and K-S distance could well measure the degrees of deviation of different samples.Under different sample sizes,the R2 of RV2 and RV1 are greater than 0.90,and R2 of C-Statistic、SGCR and K-S distance were greater than 0.80.Conclusion The overall structural variance rate is more accurate and stable because the traits weight is taken into account.In particular,RV2 can better measure the representativeness of samples with different degrees of deviation and accurately reflect the estimation deviation.However,when it is difficult to obtain the feature importance information,the reliability of the representative measurement of SGCR as well as C-statistic and K-S distance used the propensity score-based method are acceptable.

Background and purpose:It is still a great challenge to clarify the signal molecules that mediate the communication between cancer-associated fibroblasts(CAFs)and tumor cells.These signal molecules are very important for cancer metastasis.The purpose of this study was to explore the communication mechanism of pleckstrin-2/miR-196a signal axis mediated by lung cancer cells in tumor microenvironment.Methods:Human lung adenocarcinoma cell line H1299 and human embryonic lung cell MRC-5 were selected as the research objects.H1299 cells were transfected with lentivirus(PLEK2)expressing PLEK2 and Vector control,and exosomes(Vector_exo,PLEK2_exo)were isolated after 24 h of transfection.MRC-5 cells were transfected with miR-196a mimetic or inhibitor.The expressions of PLEK2 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)-related proteins were analyzed by Western blot.The expression of miR-196a was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction(PCR),and the metastasis and invasion ability of cells were determined by transwell assay.Six female BALB/c-nu mice were randomly divided into Vector group and PLEK2 group,with 3 mice in each group.Mice in each group were injected with H1299 cells transfected with Vector or PLEK2 through the tail vein.After 4 weeks,lung tissue was taken out for H-E staining and immunohistochemical staining to analyze the expression of α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA).All animal experiments were approved by the ethics committee of First Hospital of Changsha City(Changsha Hospital,Xiangya School of Medicine,Central South University)(ethics number:EI-2021-103).Results:Compared with the Vector group,the number of pulmonary metastatic nodules and the expression of α-SMA in metastatic cancer in PLEK2 group increased significantly(P＜0.001).Compared with Vector group,the expression level of miR-196a in H1229 cells in PLEK2 group increased significantly(P＜0.05),and the expression level of miR-196a was significantly higher in PLEK2_exo than in Vector_exo(P＜0.05).Compared with Vector_exo group,the expression levels of miR-196a,α-SMA and fibroblast activation protein(FAP)in MRC-5 cells in PLEK2_exo group increased significantly(P＜0.05).Compared with the negative control(NC),the expression levels of α-SMA and FAP in MRC-5 cells transfected with miR-196a increased significantly(P＜0.05).On the contrary,by transfection with miR-196a inhibitors(si-miR-196a#1 and si-miR-196a#),the expression levels of α-SMA and FAP were significantly inhibited(P＜0.05).Compared with NC-CM group,the number of metastatic cells,invasive cells and the expression of vimentin in miR-196a-CM group increased significantly(P＜0.001),and the expression of E-cadherin decreased significantly(P＜0.001).In addition,compared with Vector_exo-CM group,PLEK2_exo-CM group had significant increase in number of metastatic and invasive cells and the expression of vimentin(P＜0.01),and significant decrease in the expression of E-cadherin(P＜0.001).Conclusion:Upregulation of PLEK2 can enhance the level of exosomes miR-196a derived from lung cancer cells,thereby promoting the activation of CAFs.The activated CAFs can further enhance the invasive ability of lung cancer cells.

OBJECTIVE To study the best extraction process of β-asarone from Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma by ethanol heating reflux method, and to explore the antioxidant activity of different segments. METHODS With β-asarone from Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma as the evaluation index to optimize the extraction method. On the basis of a single factor experiment, the effects of ethanol concentration, solid-liquid ratio and extraction time on the extraction amount of β-asarone from Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma were investigated by orthogonal design and response surface methodology. After the optimal extraction process was determined, the antioxidant activities of different segments were studied. RESULTS The optimum extraction process of β-asarone from Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma was as follows: ethanol concentration was 95%, solid-liquid ratio was 1∶20 g·mL–1 and extraction time was 2.5 h. Under these conditions, the extraction amount of β-asarone from Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma was 0.918 7 mg·g–1. The results of in vitro antioxidant activity showed that the order of antioxidant capacity was ethyl acetate>petroleum ether>ethanol>n-butanol. Among them, the ethyl acetate fraction had the strongest antioxidant activity, with good ability to scavenge DPPH and ABTS free radicals, and had certain reduction ability. CONCLUSION The optimized method is stable, reliable and simple, which can be used for extraction and antioxidant activity determination of β-asarone from Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma, and provides a basis for the further development of Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma.

Objective: To understand the current situation of college students emotional regulation and its correlation with perceived social support, so as to provide a reference for improving emotional regulation ability among college students. Methods: From September 15 to October 15, 2022, a total of 15 560 students from 27 colleges and universities in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanghai, Anhui, Hebei, Yunnan, Shanxi and Gansu were enrolled by stratified random sampling method. The Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) were used to investigate, and multiple stepwise regression was used to explore the relationship between perceived social support and emotion regulation of college students. Results: The scores of emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal and expression inhibition were 44(40, 50), 24(20, 28) and 20(19, 24) respectively. There were significant differences in the scores of emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal and expression inhibition by age, grade, household registration, only child status,cost of living, and sleep ( H/Z =77.72, 49.73, -5.10, -9.77, 7.68, 168.27 ; 204.55, 317.32, -5.96, -7.60, 131.20, 968.08; 82.18, 148.04, -2.30, -8.03, 64.82, 188.08, P <0.05). In addition, the multiple stepwise regression found that family support, friend support, and other support in perceived social support all had a positive impact on the emotional regulation state of college students ( β =0.137,0.207,0.090), and family support and friend support had a significant positive effect on expression inhibition( β =0.079,0.053) and cognitive reappraisal( β =0.153,0.296)( P <0.01). Conclusion The perceived social support can directly affect the emotional regulation of college students, and improving the emotional regulation ability has a positive significance to promote the mental health level among college students.

Objective To investigate the epidemiological characteristics and mutation spectrum of monogenic diseases in Chinese population through a large-scale,multicenter carrier screening.Methods This study was conducted among a total of 33 104 participants(16 610 females)from 12 clinical centers across China.Carrier status for 223 genes was analyzed using high-throughput sequencing and different PCR methods.Results The overall combined carrier frequency was 55.58%for 197 autosomal genes and 1.84%for 26 X-linked genes in these participants.Among the 16 669 families,874 at-risk couples(5.24%)were identified.Specifically,584 couples(3.50%)were at risk for autosomal genes,306(1.84%)for X-linked genes,and 16 for both autosomal and X-linked genes.The most frequently detected autosomal at-risk genes included GJB2(autosomal recessive deafness type 1A,393 couples),HBA1/HBA2(α-thalassemia,36 couples),PAH(phenylketonuria,14 couples),and SMN1(spinal muscular atrophy,14 couples).The most frequently detected X-linked at-risk genes were G6PD(G6PD deficiency,236 couples),DMD(Duchenne muscular dystrophy,23 couples),and FMR1(fragile X syndrome,17 couples).After excluding GJB2 c.109G>A,the detection rate of at-risk couples was 3.91%(651/16 669),which was lowered to 1.72%(287/16 669)after further excluding G6PD.The theoretical incidence rate of severe monogenic birth defects was approximately 4.35‰(72.5/16 669).Screening for a battery of the top 22 most frequent genes in the at-risk couples could detect over 95%of at-risk couples,while screening for the top 54 genes further increased the detection rate to over 99%.Conclusion This study reveals the carrier frequencies of 223 monogenic genetic disorders in the Chinese population and provides evidence for carrier screening strategy development and panel design tailored to the Chinese population.In carrier testing,genetic counseling for specific genes or gene variants can be challenging,and the couples need to be informed of these difficulties before testing and provided with options for not screening these genes or gene variants.

Objective To investigate the epidemiological characteristics and mutation spectrum of monogenic diseases in Chinese population through a large-scale,multicenter carrier screening.Methods This study was conducted among a total of 33 104 participants(16 610 females)from 12 clinical centers across China.Carrier status for 223 genes was analyzed using high-throughput sequencing and different PCR methods.Results The overall combined carrier frequency was 55.58%for 197 autosomal genes and 1.84%for 26 X-linked genes in these participants.Among the 16 669 families,874 at-risk couples(5.24%)were identified.Specifically,584 couples(3.50%)were at risk for autosomal genes,306(1.84%)for X-linked genes,and 16 for both autosomal and X-linked genes.The most frequently detected autosomal at-risk genes included GJB2(autosomal recessive deafness type 1A,393 couples),HBA1/HBA2(α-thalassemia,36 couples),PAH(phenylketonuria,14 couples),and SMN1(spinal muscular atrophy,14 couples).The most frequently detected X-linked at-risk genes were G6PD(G6PD deficiency,236 couples),DMD(Duchenne muscular dystrophy,23 couples),and FMR1(fragile X syndrome,17 couples).After excluding GJB2 c.109G>A,the detection rate of at-risk couples was 3.91%(651/16 669),which was lowered to 1.72%(287/16 669)after further excluding G6PD.The theoretical incidence rate of severe monogenic birth defects was approximately 4.35‰(72.5/16 669).Screening for a battery of the top 22 most frequent genes in the at-risk couples could detect over 95%of at-risk couples,while screening for the top 54 genes further increased the detection rate to over 99%.Conclusion This study reveals the carrier frequencies of 223 monogenic genetic disorders in the Chinese population and provides evidence for carrier screening strategy development and panel design tailored to the Chinese population.In carrier testing,genetic counseling for specific genes or gene variants can be challenging,and the couples need to be informed of these difficulties before testing and provided with options for not screening these genes or gene variants.

Objective To investigate the application value of quantitative relaxation parameters based on synthetic MRI technology in the differential diagnosis of parotid gland tumors.Methods Conventional MRI and synthetic MRI data of 59 patients with patho-logically confirmed parotid gland tumors were analyzed retrospectively.T1,T2,and proton density(PD)values of the tumor were extracted from T1,T2 and PD mapping.The differences in quantitative relaxation parameters of pleomorphic adenomas,Warthin tumors,and malignant tumors were further compared.Diagnostic performance of each quantitative relaxation parameter was assessed and com-pared via receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and DeLong test.Results T2 value was significantly higher in pleomorphic adenomas than that in malignant tumors(P<0.05).The T1,T2,and PD values of pleomorphic adenomas and malignant tumors were significantly higher than those of Warthin tumors(P<0.05).The area under the curve(AUC)of the T2 value in differentia-ting pleomorphic adenomas from malignant tumors was 0.794.The AUC for T1 value(0.939)in differentiating Warthin tumors from malignant tumors was significantly higher than that of T2(0.873,P=0.341)and PD(0.927,P=0.891)values,without sta-tistically significant difference.The AUC for T2 value(0.968)in differentiating pleomorphic adenomas from Warthin tumors was significantly higher than that of T1(0.931,P=0.360)and PD(0.876,P=0.120)values,without statistically significant difference.Conclusion Quantitative relaxation parameters based on synthetic MRI technology may contribute to differentiating pleomorphic adenomas,Warthin tumors,and malignant tumors of the parotid gland.

This article discusses the overview of virtual reality (VR) technology and chronic pain kinesiophobia, elucidating the principles by which VR technology reduces chronic pain kinesiophobia and its effectiveness in the treatment and rehabilitation training of patients with this condition. The advantages and limitations of VR technology are summarized, aiming to provide references for clinical practitioners to better apply VR technology in the treatment and rehabilitation management of chronic pain kinesiophobia. The goal is to improve patients' fear of movement, fear-avoidance beliefs, pain related to movement injuries, physical function, motivation for training, and patient satisfaction.

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with acute esophageal injuries in order to improve clinicians'diagnosis and treatment of such diseases.Methods The general data and treatment methods of 61 patients with acute esophageal injury from January 2013 to March 2023 were retrospectively analyzed.Results Majority of the patients with esophageal and cardia mucosal tear syndrome were male(72.2%),age(52.04±17.96)years,triggering factor was gastroscopy in 29 patients(53.7%),and vomiting of blood and black stools was the main clinical manifestation(63.0%),the average length of hospital stay was(6.39±3.53)d and 13(24.1%)patients had anaemic complications,blood transfusion was given to 8 patients(14.8%),39 patients(72.2%)were discharged after conservative treatment with transfusion,and only 15 patients(27.8%)required endoscopic hemostasis.1 case of esophageal hematoma combined with esophageal cardia mucosal tear syndrome was an elderly male patient with a history of hypertension,cerebral infarction,and long term use of oral aspirin,complicated by severe anemia,who was given desiprofloxacin to stop the hemostasis endoscopically,the total length of hospital stay was 22 d.4 patients with esophageal hematoma were young and middle-aged males,2 patients had a predisposing factor of poor diet prior to the onset of the disease,2 patients presented with vomiting of blood,1 with chest pain and 1 with a foreign body sensation in the throat,2 patients were discharged with endoscopic intervention,and the remaining 2 patients were discharged after conservative treatment.2 patients with spontaneous esophageal rupture were young and middle-aged males,clinical manifestations were chest tightness or retrosternal discomfort,and one patient had esophageal rupture with left-sided liquid pneumothorax,esophageal rupture repair+pleural adhesion branding+open thoracic hemostasis+intrathoracic foreign body removal was performed,and an esophageal stent was placed endoscopically after the operation,and the patient was discharged from the hospital after 52 d,in another case,the patient's esophageal fistula was small,and a three-lumen nutrient tube was placed under gastroscopic guidance,the patient's esophagus recovered well after 7 d,and the patient was discharged from the hospital.Conclusion Acute esophageal injury is a clinical emergency,among them,esophageal hematoma and spontaneous esophageal rupture are relatively rare.Prompt endoscopic clot removal is a viable option for patients with ruptured esophageal hematomas who have failed conservative treatment,and patients with spontaneous esophageal rupture who have surgically placed esophageal stents have good mucosal recovery.Clinicians need to be vigilant for patients with esophageal injuries that are associated with anemia,or even require blood transfusion,should make a clear diagnosis at an early stage,with timely endoscopic or surgical intervention to avoid progression of the disease.