Function Of Different Regions Research Articles

LSL-SS-Net: level set loss-guided semantic segmentation networks for landslide extraction

ABSTRACT A landslide inventory is essential for numerous applications, including disaster prevention and mitigation. The emergence of advanced satellite technologies and the proliferation of extensive satellite imagery have greatly enhanced the role of deep learning-based semantic segmentation networks in the development of comprehensive landslide inventories. In deep learning, especially in semantic segmentation tasks, the loss function is crucial to guide the training of neural networks. However, typical loss functions have several challenges and shortcomings, including difficulty in handling objects of different scales and neglecting spatial correlation. These drawbacks hinder semantic segmentation networks from solely concentrating on accurately predicting landslide categories with rich semantic information. The spatial details (e.g. small landslides and precise landslide boundary information) in the segmentation results may be lost, reducing the accuracy of landslide extraction. Most studies only focus on training and detection in the local region. Consequently, detecting new unexplored region and detrimental to emergency response is challenging. This study presents a level set loss-guided semantic segmentation network, which can be integrated with different semantic segmentation networks, to address these issues. Three out of five study areas (e.g. Bijie, Jiuzhaigou, and Taitung) are used for model training and accuracy evaluation, while the rest, which are newly unexplored regions (e.g. Hokkaido and Haiti), are used to test the transferability of the proposed loss function in different regions. The study results validate the effectiveness of the designed level set loss in various semantic segmentation networks and in different study areas for landslide extraction.

Gut microbiota causally impacts adrenal function: a two-sample mendelian randomization study

Some studies have reported that the gut microbiota can influence adrenal-related hormone levels. However, the causal effects of the gut microbiota on adrenal function remain unknown. Therefore, we employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to systematically investigate the impact of gut microbiota on the function of different regions of the adrenal gland. The summary statistics for gut microbiota and adrenal-related hormones used in the two-sample MR analysis were derived from publicly available genome-wide association studies (GWAS). In the MR analysis, inverse variance weighting (IVW) was used as the primary method, with MR-Egger, weighted median, and cML-MA serving as supplementary methods for causal inference. Sensitivity analyses such as the MR-Egger intercept test, Cochran’s Q test, and leave-one-out analysis were used to assess pleiotropy and heterogeneity. We identified 27 causal relationships between 23 gut microbiota and adrenal function using the IVW method. Among these, Sellimonas enhanced the function of the adrenal cortex reticularis zone (beta = 0.008, 95% CI: 0.002–0.013, P = 0.0057). The cML-MA method supported our estimate (beta = 0.009, 95% CI: 0.004–0.013, P = 2 × 10− 4). Parasutterella, Sutterella, and Anaerofilum affect the functioning of different regions of the adrenal gland. Notably, pleiotropy was not observed. Our findings revealed that the gut microbiota is causally associated with adrenal function. This enhances our understanding of the gut-microbiota-brain axis and provides assistance in the early diagnosis and treatment of adrenal-related diseases in clinical practice.

Recent advances in measuring the effects of diet on gastrointestinal physiology: Probing the "leaky gut" and application of real-time ultrasound.

There is a large pool of ideas in both mainstream and non-mainstream medicine on how diet can be manipulated in order to treat or prevent illnesses. Despite this, our understanding of how specific changes in diet influence the structure and function of the gastrointestinal tract is limited. This review aims to describe two areas that might provide key information on the integrity and function of the gastrointestinal tract. First, demystifying the "leaky gut syndrome" requires rational application and interpretation of tests of intestinal barrier function. Multiple ways of measuring barrier function have been described, but the inherent difficulties in translation from animal studies to humans have created misinterpretations and misconceptions. The intrinsic nature of intestinal barrier function is dynamic. This is seldom considered in studies of intestinal barrier assessment. To adequately understand the effects of dietary interventions on intestinal barrier function, background barrier function in different regions of the gut and the dynamic responses to stressors (such as psychological stress) should be assessed as a minimum. Second, intestinal ultrasound, which is now established in the assessment and monitoring of inflammatory bowel disease, has hitherto been poorly evaluated in assessing real-time intestinal function and novel aspects of structure in patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction. In conclusion, a more complete functional and structural profile that these investigations enable should permit a greater understanding of the effects of dietary manipulation on the gastrointestinal tract and provide clinically relevant information that, amongst other advantages, might permit opportunities for personalized health care delivery.

SpaNCMG: improving spatial domains identification of spatial transcriptomics using neighborhood-complementary mixed-view graph convolutional network.

The advancement of spatial transcriptomics (ST) technology contributes to a more profound comprehension of the spatial properties of gene expression within tissues. However, due to challenges of high dimensionality, pronounced noise and dynamic limitations in ST data, the integration of gene expression and spatial information to accurately identify spatial domains remains challenging. This paper proposes a SpaNCMG algorithm for the purpose of achieving precise spatial domain description and localization based on a neighborhood-complementary mixed-view graph convolutional network. The algorithm enables better adaptation to ST data at different resolutions by integrating the local information from KNN and the global structure from r-radius into a complementary neighborhood graph. It also introduces an attention mechanism to achieve adaptive fusion of different reconstructed expressions, and utilizes KPCA method for dimensionality reduction. The application of SpaNCMG on five datasets from four sequencing platforms demonstrates superior performance to eight existing advanced methods. Specifically, the algorithm achieved highest ARI accuracies of 0.63 and 0.52 on the datasets of the human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and mouse somatosensory cortex, respectively. It accurately identified the spatial locations of marker genes in the mouse olfactory bulb tissue and inferred the biological functions of different regions. When handling larger datasets such as mouse embryos, the SpaNCMG not only identified the main tissue structures but also explored unlabeled domains. Overall, the good generalization ability and scalability of SpaNCMG make it an outstanding tool for understanding tissue structure and disease mechanisms. Our codes are available at https://github.com/ZhihaoSi/SpaNCMG.

A radio-anatomical study of median arcuate ligament syndrome: unveiling the morphology and morphometry of median arcuate ligament, celiac trunk, and superior mesenteric artery.

In the context of medical literature, a significant lacuna exists in understanding median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS). While clinical aspects are well documented, literature lacks a robust exploration of the anatomical relationship between the celiac trunk and the median arcuate ligament (MAL). Morphometric parameters, including the vertebral level of MAL origin, MAL thickness, celiac trunk (CeT) origin level, diameter, and distances between CeT/Superior Mesenteric Artery (SMA) and the MAL center were observed on 250 CT angiograms. Cadavers (n = 11) were dissected to examine the same parameters and histo-morphological examination of MAL tissue was done. Radiological findings established average MAL thickness of 7.79 ± 2.58mm. The celiac trunk typically originated at T12. The average distance between the celiac trunk and the MAL center was 1.32 ± 2.04mm. The angle of the celiac trunk to the abdominal aorta was primarily obtuse. The average celiac trunk diameter was 5.53 ± 1.33mm. Histological examinations revealed a diverse MAL composition, indicating variable mechanical properties. This study provides comprehensive morphometric data on the anatomical relationship between the MAL and the celiac trunk. In contrast to available literature which says the average MAL thickness of > 4mm is an indicator of increased thickness, we observed much higher average thickness in the studied population. The findings contribute to a better understanding of normal anatomical variations which can serve as reference values for accurate radiological diagnosis of MALS. The histological examination revealed the heterogeneous nature of the MAL tissue composition, suggesting variable mechanical properties and functions in different regions.

The Laurent expansion and residue theorem of weighted monogenic functions

ABSTRACT Firstly, the definition of p order homogeneous weighted right monogenic polynomials is given, and the hypercomplex variables are introduced in order to construct a basis of all homogeneous weighted right monogenic polynomials of degree p, then the second Taylor expansion of the weighted right monogenic functions is obtained. Secondly, the weighted left monogenic functions are constructed from continuous functions in different regions, and corresponding Taylor expansions are given. Finally, on the basis of the previous conclusions, the Laurent expansion and residue theorem of the weighted left monogenic functions are proved.

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals distinct chondrocyte states in femoral cartilage under weight-bearing load in Rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune joint disease, the pathogenesis of which is still unclear. Cartilage damage is one of the main manifestations of the disease. Chondrocytes are the main functional component of articular cartilage, which is relevant to disease progression. Mechanical loading affects the structure and function of articular cartilage and chondrocytes, but the effect of weight bearing on chondrocytes in rheumatoid arthritis is still unclear. In this paper, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) was performed on collected cartilage from the weight-bearing region (Fb group) and non-weight-bearing region (Fnb group) of the femur, and the differences between the Fb and Fnb groups were analyzed by cell type annotation, pseudotime analysis, enrichment analysis, cell interactions, single-cell regulatory network inference and clustering (SCENIC) for each cell type. A total of 87,542 cells were analyzed and divided into 9 clusters. Six chondrocyte subpopulations were finally identified by cellular annotation, and two new chondrocyte subtypes were annotated as immune-associated chondrocytes. The presence of each chondrocyte subpopulation and its distribution were verified using immunohistochemical staining (IHC). In this study, the atlas of femoral cartilage in knee rheumatoid arthritis and 2 new immune-related chondrocytes were validated using scRNA-seq and IHC, and chondrocytes in the weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing regions of the femur were compared. There might be a process of macrophage polarization transition in MCs in response to mechanical loading, as in macrophages. Two new immune-associated chondrocytes were identified. MCs have contrasting functions in different regions, which might provide insight into the role of immune and mechanical loading on chondrocytes in the development of knee rheumatoid osteoarthritis.

Association between long-term exposure to ambient particulate matter and pulmonary function among men and women in typical areas of South and North China.

Studies comparing the effects of different sizes and concentrations of ambient particulate matter (PM) on pulmonary function in different regions and sexes remain sparse. To investigate the associations of different sizes and levels of long-term ambient PM exposure with pulmonary function among people of different sexes in typical areas of South and North China. In 2021, a total of 1,592 participants aged 20-73 years were recruited to participate in the pulmonary function test from the baseline survey of the Diverse Life-Course Cohort (DLCC) in typical areas of Guangdong Province and Hebei Province. The three-year (2018-2020) average ambient PM concentrations were assessed from the ChinaHighPM1 dataset, ChinaHighPM2.5 dataset and ChinaHighPM10 dataset. Mean differences in pulmonary function were used in multilevel models for different regions and sexes. We discovered significant associations of ambient PM exposure with reduced forced vital capacity (FVC) and increased forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity ratio (FEV1/FVC) among men and lower levels of FEV1 and FVC among women, such that a 5-μg/m3 concentration increase in PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 was associated with decreases in FVC of 122.1 ml (95% confidence interval (CI): 30.8, 213.4), 54.6 ml (95% CI: 15.8, 93.3) and 42.9 ml (95% CI: 12.7, 73.1) and increases in FEV1/FVC of 2.2% (95% CI: 0.6, 3.9), 1.1% (95% CI: 0.4, 1.9) and 0.9% (95% CI: 0.3, 1.5) among men and decreases in FEV1 of 51.1 ml (95% CI: 9.7, 92.4), 21.6 ml (95% CI: 4.3, 38.9) and 16.7 ml (95% CI: 3.3, 30.1) and in FVC of 77.8 ml (95% CI: 10.0, 145.6), 38.7 ml (95% CI: 9.0, 68.5) and 31.1 ml (95% CI: 8.1, 54.1) among women in Hebei Province. There was no association between ambient PM and pulmonary function in Guangdong Province. Long-term exposure to different sizes and concentrations of ambient PM were associated with FEV1 and FVC among men and women differently. The impact of ambient PM on FVC should be of greater concerned.

How building and street morphology affect CO2 emissions: Evidence from a spatially varying relationship analysis in Beijing

Urban morphology plays a critical role in the reduction of CO2 emissions. Despite the growing interest in the relationship between urban form and CO2 emissions in urban sustainable development, few quantitative estimates have been made of the effects of urban morphology considering the combination of three-dimensional (3D) buildings and streets at the neighbourhood scale on CO2 emissions. To explore these effects, this study first proposes a methodological system for computing urban morphology indicators including 3D buildings, streets and their relationships. These morphological indicators quantitatively measure the extension, shape complexity, spatial compactness and irregularity of buildings and streets. Then, the urban morphology indicators and CO2 emissions are calculated for each traffic analysis zone (TAZ) to obtain their characteristics of spatial distribution, using Beijing as the study area. Ultimately, the non-stationary effects of morphological indicators on CO2 are quantified by Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR). The results demonstrate that each morphological factor performs a distinguishable function in different regions. The adjacency ratio, meshedness and width have strongly positive effects on CO2 emissions in the northern part of Beijing within the 6th ring road, while the covered area ratio and the linearity play a crucial negative role, implying that the complexity and sparse layout of buildings and streets are the main drivers to increase CO2 emissions. In the southern part, the length, width STD and height STD pose an apparently positive impact on CO2 emissions, while the openness poses a significant adverse effect, implying that the irregularity and fragment of buildings along streets are the primary reasons for CO2 emissions augmentation. In the densely populated area, the number, floor area ratio, and neighbour distance all exserts a robust positive effect on CO2 emissions. Interestingly, the floor area ratio poses negative effects within the 5th and 6th ring roads, which is a dense industry zone, implying the expansion of buildings can reduce industrial proportion to mitigate CO2 emissions. This study provides insights into CO2 emissions related to micro-scale morphological characteristics and suggests achievable plans for low-carbon physical urban spaces in a spatially varying manner.

Essential oil from Sabina chinensis leaves: A promising green control agent against Fusarium sp.

Sabina chinensis is a woody plant with important ecological functions in different regions of China, but its essential oils (EO) against plant pathogenic fungi remain largely undetermined. The purpose of our study was to assess the chemical composition and antifungal activity of S. chinensis EO based on optimization of the extraction process. In this study, an actionable and effective model with the experimental results and identified optimum conditions (crushing degree of 20 mesh, liquid-solid ratio of 10.1:1, immersion time of 9.1h) was established successfully to achieve an extraction yield of 0.54%, which was basically consistent with the theoretical value. A total of 26 compounds were identified using headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and showed that the major constituent was β-phellandrene (26.64-39.26%), followed by terpinen-4-ol (6.53-11.89%), bornyl acetate (6.13-10.53%), etc. For Petri plate assays, our experiments found for the first time that S. chinensis EO revealed high and long-term antifungal activity against the tested strains, including Fusarium oxysporum and Fusarium incarnatum, at EC50 values of 1.42 and 1.15 µL/mL, which especially reached approximately 76% and 90% growth inhibition at a dose of 0.2 µL/mL, respectively. Furthermore, the antifungal activity of EO from different harvest periods showed remarkable variation. The orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) method revealed 11 metabolites with chemical marker components, and 5 of its potential antifungal activities, terpinen-4-ol, α-terpineol, α-elemol, γ-eudesmol, and bornyl acetate, were strongly correlated with the mycelial inhibition rate. In total, this study explored the antifungal activity of EO against root rot fungus as a potential fungicide and provided valuable information into developing potential products from natural agents.

Distinct characteristics of microglia from neurogenic and non-neurogenic regions of the human brain in patients with Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

The study of microglia isolated from adult human brain tissue provides unique insight into the physiology of these brain immune cells and their role in adult human brain disorders. Reports of microglia in post-mortem adult human brain tissue show regional differences in microglial populations, however, these differences have not been fully explored in living microglia. In this study biopsy tissue was obtained from epileptic patients undergoing surgery and consisted of both cortical areas and neurogenic ventricular and hippocampal (Hp) areas. Microglia were concurrently isolated from both regions and compared by immunochemistry. Our initial observation was that a greater number of microglia resulted from isolation and culture of ventricular/Hp tissue than cortical tissue. This was found to be due to a greater proliferative capacity of microglia from ventricular/Hp regions compared to the cortex. Additionally, ventricular/Hp microglia had a greater proliferative response to the microglial mitogen Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor (M-CSF). This enhanced response was found to be associated with higher M-CSF receptor expression and higher expression of proteins involved in M-CSF signalling DAP12 and C/EBPβ. Microglia from the ventricular/Hp region also displayed higher expression of the receptor for Insulin-like Growth Factor-1, a molecule with some functional similarity to M-CSF. Compared to microglia isolated from the cortex, ventricular/Hp microglia showed increased HLA-DP, DQ, DR antigen presentation protein expression and a rounded morphology. These findings show that microglia from adult human brain neurogenic regions are more proliferative than cortical microglia and have a distinct protein expression profile. The data present a case for differential microglial phenotype and function in different regions of the adult human brain and suggest that microglia in adult neurogenic regions are "primed" to an activated state by their unique tissue environment.

An Assessment of Ecological Protection Importance Based on Ecosystems Services and Vulnerabilities in Tibet, China

Tibet has a unique ecosystem and unique species resources and is an important ecological protection area in China and surrounding countries. Ecological protection in Tibet needs to be strengthened and targeted regionally. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the importance of ecological protection and its spatial difference for policy formulation. In this study, the importance of biodiversity conservation, water retention, soil retention, and sand prevention, as well as the vulnerability of soil erosion and land desertification, was assessed, and the importance of ecological protection was classified. The extremely important ecological protection areas covered an area of 615,000 km2, mainly located in the Northern Tibet Plateau, the southern foot of the Himalayas, the Hengduan Mountains, and the Gangdise-Nyainqentanglha Mountains. The relationship between land-use type, elevation, and ecological protection importance was studied. The results showed that the most important ecological protection area consisted of forest and grassland in low-altitude areas or uninhabited areas 5000 m above sea level. The spatial characteristics of dominant ecological functions in different regions were identified by comparing the importance of different factors. The study found that there are significant differences in the dominant factors of important ecological protection areas in Southeast Tibet, Northern Tibetan Plateau, and Central Tibet. The results provide an effective reference for ecological function zoning and ecological protection policy formulation in Tibet, as a scientific basis for promoting ecological protection and restoration in Tibet.

Land Management and Rural Development in Northwest China

In order to break away from the overreliance on a single industry and the simple supply of agricultural products, rural multifunctional research has gradually received public attention. To a certain extent, multifunctional classification governance paths can enhance rural competitiveness and land use efficiency and alleviate the problems of local poverty and unbalanced development in rural regions. Based on the theory of rural multifunctionality, this paper reveals the spatial characteristics and coordination of rural multifunctionality at the township scale, analyzes the barrier functions of different regions, and clarifies the direction of rural development using the rural assessment method, the trade-off synergy model, and the dysfunctional diagnostic model, taking Yongchang County in the western corridor of China as an example. On this basis, we further discuss the path selection of rural governance in northwest China. The results show that: (1) The spatial distribution of rural functions has pronounced heterogeneity, with better life security functions and ecological background functions, and similar spatial patterns; economic development functions are on the low side, showing the divergent characteristics of enhancement from the township center to the surrounding area. The functions of agricultural production are low, and the spatial distribution is similar to that for the living guarantee function. (2) The living guarantee function has a strong trade-off effect on the ecological background function, and the living guarantee and ecological background functions have a synergistic effect on the agricultural development function. (3) We classified types of villages according to the intensity index of village function trade-offs and clarified the functional development characteristics of each administrative village. The incompatibility of village functions caused by different demands is the root hinderance to the development of villages.

Symmetric Diffeomorphic Image Registration with Multi-Label Segmentation Masks

Image registration aims to align two images through a spatial transformation. It plays a significant role in brain imaging analysis. In this research, we propose a symmetric diffeomorphic image registration model based on multi-label segmentation masks to solve the problems in brain MRI registration. We first introduce the similarity metric of the multi-label masks to the energy function, which improves the alignment of the brain region boundaries and the robustness to the noise. Next, we establish the model on the diffeomorphism group through the relaxation method and the inverse consistent constraint. The algorithm is designed through the local linearization and least-squares method. We then give spatially adaptive parameters to coordinate the descent of the energy function in different regions. The results show that our approach, compared with the mainstream methods, has better accuracy and noise resistance, and the transformations are more smooth and more reasonable.

Precipitation balances deterministic and stochastic processes of bacterial community assembly in grassland soils

Microbial biodiversity is crucial for maintaining ecosystem functions. As climate change progresses at both global and regional scales, there is a need to understand microbial community assembly processes and diversity to predict changes in soil function in different regions. However, our knowledge of the mechanisms that shape bacterial β diversity at multiple spatial scales with complex environmental gradients is very limited. To investigate the mechanisms driving bacterial β diversity at regional (across transects) and local (within transect) scales, soil samples were collected from 30 grassland ecosystems in three east-west transects in northern China. The regional species pools influenced β diversity by mediating rare taxa migration across the three transects. After correcting for regional differences in species, the importance of local community assembly processes in controlling bacterial diversity was independent of spatial scales. Homogeneous selection (HoS, 39%–60%) and dispersal limitation (DL, 31%–54%) proved to be the most important community assembly processes for soil bacteria. Two dominant bacterial taxa accounting for 65% of the total abundance were identified, mainly including Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria, with 63% and 64% contributions for the HoS and DL, respectively. Mean annual precipitation (MAP) mediated the relative importance of deterministic and stochastic assembly in bacterial communities. Consistently across all spatial scales, the relative importance of DL increased with aridity, and the contribution of HoS decreased. Importantly, the relative abundance of the two dominant bacterial taxa controlled by the HoS and DL varied with MAP. Collectively, our results provide clear evidence that water availability mediates the community assembly process of soil bacteria. This conclusion is of utmost importance for predicting the dynamics of soil microbial diversity and nutrient cycling in natural ecosystems in drylands.

Distributions of zeros and poles of -point Padé approximants to complex-symmetric functions defined at complex points

UDC 517.5 The knowledge of the location of zeros and poles Padé and -point Padé approximations to a given function provides much valuable information about the function being studied.In general PAs reproduce the exact zeros and poles of considered function, but, unfortunately, some spurious zeros and poles appear randomly.Then, it is clear that the control of the position of poles and zeros becomes essential for applications of Padé approximation method.The numerical examples included in the paper show how necessary for the convergence of PA is the knowledge of the position of their zeros and poles.We relate our research of localization of poles and zeros of PA and NPA in the case of Stieltjes functions because we are interested in the efficiency of numerical application of these approximations. These functions belong to the class of complex-symmetric functions.The PA and NPA to the Stieltjes functions in different regions of the complex plane is also analyzed. It is expected that the appropriate selection of the complex point for the definition of approximant can improve it with respect to the traditional choice of All considered cases are graphically illustrated.Some unique numerical results presented in the paper, which are sufficiently regular should motivate the reader to reflect on them.

Clear optically matched panoramic access channel technique (COMPACT) for large-volume deep brain imaging.

To understand neural circuit mechanisms underlying behavior, it is crucial to observe the dynamics of neuronal structure and function in different regions of the brain. Since current noninvasive imaging technologies allow cellular-resolution imaging of neurons only within ~1 mm below the cortical surface, the majority of mouse brain tissue remains inaccessible. While miniature optical imaging probes allow access to deep brain regions, cellular-resolution imaging is typically restricted to a small tissue volume. To increase the tissue access volume, we developed a clear optically matched panoramic access channel technique (COMPACT). With probe dimensions comparable to those of common gradient-index lenses, COMPACT enables a two to three orders of magnitude greater tissue access volume. We demonstrated the capabilities of COMPACT by multiregional calcium imaging in mice during sleep. We believe that large-volume in vivo imaging with COMPACT will be valuable to a variety of deep tissue imaging applications.

Critical edge behavior in the singularly perturbed Pollaczek–Jacobi type unitary ensemble

We investigate the orthogonal polynomials associated with a singularly perturbed Pollaczek–Jacobi type weight [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. Based on our observation, we find that this weight includes the symmetric constraint [Formula: see text]. Our main results obtained here include two aspects: (1) Strong asymptotics: we deduce strong asymptotics of monic orthogonal polynomials with respect to the above weight function in different regions in the complex plane when the polynomial degree [Formula: see text] goes to infinity. Because of the effect of [Formula: see text] for varying [Formula: see text], the asymptotic behavior in a neighborhood of point [Formula: see text] is described in terms of the Airy function as [Formula: see text], but the Bessel function as [Formula: see text]. Due to symmetry, the similar local asymptotic behavior near the singular point [Formula: see text] can be derived. (2) Limiting eigenvalue correlation kernels: We calculate the limit of the eigenvalue correlation kernel of the corresponding unitary random matrix ensemble in the bulk of the spectrum described by the sine kernel, and at both sides of hard edge, expressed as a Painlevé III kernel. Our analysis is based on the Deift–Zhou nonlinear steepest descent method for Riemann–Hilbert problems.

The Effects of rs405509 on APOEε4 Non-carriers in Non-demented Aging.

BackgroundThere is evidence that the T allele of rs405509 located in the apolipoprotein E (APOE) promotor region is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the effect of the T/T allele on brain function in non-demented aging is still unclear.MethodsWe analyzed the effects of the rs405509 T/T allele on cognitive performances using multiple neuropsychological tests and local brain function using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI).ResultsSignificant differences were found between T/T carriers and G allele carriers on general cognitive status, memory, and attention (p < 0.05). Rs-fMRI analyses demonstrated decreased amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) in the right middle frontal gyrus, decreased percent amplitude of fluctuation (PerAF) in the right middle frontal gyrus, increased regional homogeneity (ReHo) in the right cerebellar tonsil and decreased ReHo in the right putamen, and decreased degree centrality (DC) in the left middle frontal gyrus (p < 0.05, corrected). Furthermore, significant correlations were found between cognitive performance and these neuroimaging changes (p < 0.05).ConclusionThese findings suggest that T/T allele may serve as an independent risk factor that can influence brain function in different regions in non-demented aging.

Relationship of motor mechanisms to gastroparesis symptoms: toward individualized treatment.

Following a classical paper by Dr. Keith A. Kelly published in this journal, and over the past 40 years, there has been increased understanding of the functions of different regions of the stomach, specifically the fundus, antrum, and pylorus. Several of the important physiological principles were based on in vivo animal studies that led to the appreciation of regional function and control mechanisms. These include the roles of the extrinsic parasympathetic vagal innervation, the gastric enteric nervous system and electrical syncytium consisting of pacemaker cells and smooth muscle cells, and duodenogastric reflexes providing feedback regulation following the arrival of food and hydrogen ions stimulating the release of hormones and vagal afferent mechanisms that inhibit gastric motility and stimulate pyloric contractility. Further insights on the role of regional motor functions in gastric emptying were obtained from observations in patients following diverse gastric surgeries or bariatric procedures, including fundoplication, Billroth I and sleeve gastrectomy, and sleeve gastroplasty. Antropyloroduodenal manometry and measurements of pyloric diameter and distensibility index provided important assessments of the role of antral hypomotility and pylorospasm, and these constitute specific targets for individualized treatment of patients with gastroparesis. Moreover, in patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms suggestive of gastroparesis, the availability of measurements of gastric accommodation and pharmacological agents to reduce gastric sensitivity or enhance gastric accommodation provide additional specific targets for individualized treatment. It is anticipated that, in the future, such physiological measurements will be applied in patients to optimize choice of therapy, possibly including identifying the best candidate for pyloric interventions.