Laser-Evoked Vertex Potentials Predict Defensive Motor Actions

The vertex potential is the largest response that can be recorded in the electroencephalogram of an awake, healthy human. It is elicited by sudden and intense stimuli, and is composed by a negative–positive deflection. The stimulus properties that determine the vertex potential amplitude have been well characterized. Nonetheless, its functional significance remains elusive. The dominant interpretation is that it reflects neural activities related to the detection of salient stimuli. However, given that threatening stimuli elicit both vertex potentials and defensive movements, we hypothesized that the vertex potential is related to the execution of defensive actions. Here, we directly compared the salience and motoric interpretations by investigating the relationship between the amplitude of laser-evoked potentials (LEPs) and the response time of movements with different defensive values. First, we show that a larger LEP negative wave (N2 wave) predicts faster motor response times. Second, this prediction is significantly stronger when the motor response is defensive in nature. Third, the relation between the N2 wave and motor response time depends not only on the kinematic form of the movement, but also on whether that kinematic form serves as a functional defense of the body. Therefore, the N2 wave of the LEP encodes key defensive reactions to threats.

Efficacy of an opposite position aspiration on resolution of pneumothorax following CT-guided lung biopsy

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the efficacy of aspiration in an opposite position to deal with pneumothorax after CT-guided lung biopsy.

METHODS

A retrospective study was developed involving 210 patients with pneumothorax who had undergone CT-guided percutaneous core biopsies from January 2012 to March 2014 for various pulmonary lesions. Asymptomatic patients with minimal pneumothorax were treated conservatively. Simple manual aspiration was performed for symptomatic patients with minimal pneumothorax and for all patients with moderate to large pneumothorax. An opposite position aspiration was performed when simple manual aspiration failed. The efficacy of simple manual aspiration and the opposite position aspiration was observed.

RESULTS

Among 210 patients with pneumothorax, 128 (61.0%) asymptomatic patients with minimal pneumothorax were treated conservatively. The remaining 82 were treated with attempted simple manual aspiration. Out of these 82 patients, simple manual aspiration was successful in 58 (70.7%, 58/82) cases. The complete and partial regression rates were 17.2% (10/58) and 82.8% (48/58), respectively. In the other 24 patients (29.3%, 24/82), simple aspiration technique was ineffective. An opposite position (from prone to supine or vice versa) was applied, and a new biopsy puncture site was chosen for reaspiration. This procedure was successful in 22 patients but not in 2 patients who had to have a chest tube insertion. The complete and partial regression rates were 25.0% (6/24) and 66.7% (16/24), respectively. Applying the new method, the total effective rate of aspiration improved significantly from 70.7% (58/82) to 97.6% (80/82).

CONCLUSION

The opposite position aspiration can be safe, effective and minimally invasive treatment for CT-guided lung biopsy-induced pneumothorax thus reducing the use of chest tube significantly.

ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE

(1) Opposite position aspiration can elevate the success rate of aspiration significantly (from 70.7% to 97.6% in our study); (2) this procedure is a safe, effective and minimally invasive treatment for pneumothorax caused by biopsy; and (3) opposite position aspiration is a useful technique to reduce the use of chest tube, which has clinical significance.

IGFBP2 potentiates nuclear EGFR-STAT3 signaling

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) is a pleiotropic oncogenic protein that has both extracellular and intracellular functions. Despite a clear causal role in cancer development, the tumor-promoting mechanisms of IGFBP2 are poorly understood. The contributions of intracellular IGFBP2 to tumor development and progression are also unclear. Here we present evidence that both exogenous IGFBP2 treatment and cellular IGFBP2 overexpression lead to aberrant activation of EGFR, which subsequently activates STAT3 signaling. Furthermore, we demonstrate that IGFBP2 augments the nuclear accumulation of EGFR to potentiate STAT3 transactivation activities, via activation of the nuclear EGFR signaling pathway. Nuclear IGFBP2 directly influences the invasive and migratory capacities of human glioblastoma cells, providing a direct link between intracellular (and particularly nuclear) IGFBP2 and cancer hallmarks. These activities are also consistent with the strong association between IGFBP2 and STAT3-activated genes derived from the TCGA database for human glioma. A high level of all 3 proteins (IGFBP2, EGFR and STAT3) was strongly correlated with poorer survival in an independent patient dataset. These results identify a novel tumor-promoting function for IGFBP2 of activating EGFR/STAT3 signaling and facilitating EGFR accumulation in the nucleus, thereby deregulating EGFR signaling by 2 distinct mechanisms. As targeting EGFR in glioma has been relatively unsuccessful, this study suggests that IGFBP2 may be a novel therapeutic target.

Multiple linear regression to estimate time-frequency electrophysiological responses in single trials

Transient sensory, motor or cognitive event elicit not only phase-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) in the ongoing electroencephalogram (EEG), but also induce non-phase-locked modulations of ongoing EEG oscillations. These modulations can be detected when single-trial waveforms are analysed in the time-frequency domain, and consist in stimulus-induced decreases (event-related desynchronization, ERD) or increases (event-related synchronization, ERS) of synchrony in the activity of the underlying neuronal populations. ERD and ERS reflect changes in the parameters that control oscillations in neuronal networks and, depending on the frequency at which they occur, represent neuronal mechanisms involved in cortical activation, inhibition and binding. ERD and ERS are commonly estimated by averaging the time-frequency decomposition of single trials. However, their trial-to-trial variability that can reflect physiologically-important information is lost by across-trial averaging. Here, we aim to (1) develop novel approaches to explore single-trial parameters (including latency, frequency and magnitude) of ERP/ERD/ERS; (2) disclose the relationship between estimated single-trial parameters and other experimental factors (e.g., perceived intensity). We found that (1) stimulus-elicited ERP/ERD/ERS can be correctly separated using principal component analysis (PCA) decomposition with Varimax rotation on the single-trial time-frequency distributions; (2) time-frequency multiple linear regression with dispersion term (TF-MLR_d) enhances the signal-to-noise ratio of ERP/ERD/ERS in single trials, and provides an unbiased estimation of their latency, frequency, and magnitude at single-trial level; (3) these estimates can be meaningfully correlated with each other and with other experimental factors at single-trial level (e.g., perceived stimulus intensity and ERP magnitude). The methods described in this article allow exploring fully non-phase-locked stimulus-induced cortical oscillations, obtaining single-trial estimate of response latency, frequency, and magnitude. This permits within-subject statistical comparisons, correlation with pre-stimulus features, and integration of simultaneously-recorded EEG and fMRI.

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ERP/ERD/ERS are reliably isolated using PCA + Varimax rotation on single-trial TFDs.

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TF-MLR_d enhances the SNR of ERP/ERD/ERS in single trials.

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TF-MLR_d provides an unbiased estimation of single-trial parameters of ERP/ERD/ERS.

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Availability of single-trial estimates permits within-subject statistical comparison.

Cluster dynamics simulation of deuterium retention behaviors in irradiated beryllium

The long-term dynamics evolution behaviors of deuterium in beryllium under different irradiation conditions are investigated using the cluster dynamics model.

Effects of estradiol-drospirenone on menopausal symptoms, lipids and bone turnover in Chinese women

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effects of a hormone replacement preparation containing 1 mg estradiol plus 2 mg drospirenone on menopausal symptoms, blood lipids, and bone turnover markers in postmenopausal women.

METHODS

A prospective, self-controlled trial was conducted in 64 Chinese postmenopausal women aged 45-60 (mean 52.5 ± 3.37) years who were treated with estradiol-drospirenone for at least 6 months. The Kupperman index, blood lipid concentrations, bone mineral density, and bone turnover markers were measured before (baseline) and at 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment.

RESULTS

In comparison with baseline, the Kupperman index score was significantly improved at 1, 3, and 6 months after estradiol-drospirenone treatment (20.57 ± 6.52 vs. 16.37 ± 5.19, 13.34 ± 4.52, and 12.70 ± 4.42, respectively; all p < 0.01). After 6 months of treatment, concentrations of low density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and total cholesterol were significantly decreased, high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations were significantly increased (all p < 0.05), and bone mineral densities of the lumbar spine and hip were significantly improved (both p < 0.001 compared with baseline). At both 3 and 6 months after treatment, bone alkaline phosphatase concentrations were significantly decreased compared with baseline (61.14 ± 12.38 IU/l and 58.77 ± 11.35 IU/l, respectively, vs. 65.81 ± 14.75 IU/l; p < 0.05), as were tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase concentrations (5.99 ± 2.98 IU/l and 4.90 ± 2.90 IU/l, respectively, vs. 6.15 ± 3.02 IU/l; p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Estradiol-drospirenone effectively alleviates menopausal symptoms and also has beneficial effects on blood lipids and bone metabolism.