Vision matters for shape representation: Evidence from sculpturing and drawing in the blind

Shape is a property that could be perceived by vision and touch, and is classically considered to be supramodal. While there is mounting evidence for the shared cognitive and neural representation space between visual and tactile shape, previous research tended to rely on dissimilarity structures between objects and had not examined the detailed properties of shape representation in the absence of vision. To address this gap, we conducted three explicit object shape knowledge production experiments with congenitally blind and sighted participants, who were asked to produce verbal features, 3D clay models, and 2D drawings of familiar objects with varying levels of tactile exposure, including tools, large nonmanipulable objects, and animals. We found that the absence of visual experience (i.e., in the blind group) led to stronger differences in animals than in tools and large objects, suggesting that direct tactile experience of objects is essential for shape representation when vision is unavailable. For tools with rich tactile/manipulation experiences, the blind produced overall good shapes comparable to the sighted, yet also showed intriguing differences. The blind group had more variations and a systematic bias in the geometric property of tools (making them stubbier than the sighted), indicating that visual experience contributes to aligning internal representations and calibrating overall object configurations, at least for tools. Taken together, the object shape representation reflects the intricate orchestration of vision, touch and language.

Neural correlates of an illusionary sense of agency caused by virtual reality

Sense of agency (SoA) is the sensation that self-actions lead to ensuing perceptual consequences. The prospective mechanism emphasizes that SoA arises from motor prediction and its comparison with actual action outcomes, while the reconstructive mechanism stresses that SoA emerges from retrospective causal processing about the action outcomes. Consistent with the prospective mechanism, motor planning regions were identified by neuroimaging studies using the temporal binding (TB) effect, a behavioral measure often linked to implicit SoA. Yet, TB also occurs during passive observation of another's action, lending support to the reconstructive mechanism, but its neural correlates remain unexplored. Here, we employed virtual reality (VR) to modulate such observation-based SoA and examined it with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). After manipulating an avatar hand in VR, participants passively observed an avatar's "action" and showed a significant increase in TB. The binding effect was associated with the right angular gyrus and inferior parietal lobule, which are critical nodes for inferential and agency processing. These results suggest that the experience of controlling an avatar may potentiate inferential processing within the right inferior parietal cortex and give rise to the illusionary SoA without voluntary action.

Separable amygdala activation patterns in the evaluations of robots

Given the increasing presence of robots in everyday environments and the significant challenge posed by social interactions with robots, it is crucial to gain a deeper understanding into the social evaluations of robots. One potentially effective approach to comprehend the fundamental processes underlying controlled and automatic evaluations of robots is to probe brain response to different perception levels of robot-related stimuli. Here, we investigate controlled and automatic evaluations of robots based on brain responses during viewing of suprathreshold (duration: 200 ms) and subthreshold (duration: 17 ms) humanoid robot stimuli. Our behavioral analysis revealed that despite participants' self-reported positive attitudes, they held negative implicit attitudes toward humanoid robots. Neuroimaging analysis indicated that subthreshold presentation of humanoid robot stimuli elicited significant activation in the left amygdala, which was associated with negative implicit attitudes. Conversely, no significant left amygdala activation was observed during suprathreshold presentation. Following successful attenuation of negative attitudes, the left amygdala response to subthreshold presentation of humanoid robot stimuli decreased, and this decrease correlated positively with the reduction in negative attitudes. These findings provide evidence for separable patterns of amygdala activation between controlled and automatic processing of robots, suggesting that controlled evaluations may influence automatic evaluations of robots.

Neuroplastic changes in functional wiring in sensory cortices of the congenitally deaf: A network analysis

Congenital sensory deprivation induces significant changes in the structural and functional organisation of the brain. These are well-characterised by cross-modal plasticity, in which deprived cortical areas are recruited to process information from non-affected sensory modalities, as well as by other neuroplastic alterations within regions dedicated to the remaining senses. Here, we analysed visual and auditory networks of congenitally deaf and hearing individuals during different visual tasks to assess changes in network community structure and connectivity patterns due to congenital deafness. In the hearing group, the nodes are clearly divided into three communities (visual, auditory and subcortical), whereas in the deaf group a fourth community consisting mainly of bilateral superior temporal sulcus and temporo-insular regions is present. Perhaps more importantly, the right lateral geniculate body, as well as bilateral thalamus and pulvinar joined the auditory community of the deaf. Moreover, there is stronger connectivity between bilateral thalamic and pulvinar and auditory areas in the deaf group, when compared to the hearing group. No differences were found in the number of connections of these nodes to visual areas. Our findings reveal substantial neuroplastic changes occurring within the auditory and visual networks caused by deafness, emphasising the dynamic nature of the sensory systems in response to congenital deafness. Specifically, these results indicate that in the deaf but not the hearing group, subcortical thalamic nuclei are highly connected to auditory areas during processing of visual information, suggesting that these relay areas may be responsible for rerouting visual information to the auditory cortex under congenital deafness.

A social-semantic working-memory account for two canonical language areas

Language and social cognition are traditionally studied as separate cognitive domains, yet accumulative studies reveal overlapping neural correlates at the left ventral temporoparietal junction (vTPJ) and the left lateral anterior temporal lobe (lATL), which have been attributed to sentence processing and social concept activation. We propose a common cognitive component underlying both effects: social-semantic working memory. We confirmed two key predictions of our hypothesis using functional MRI. First, the left vTPJ and lATL showed sensitivity to sentences only when the sentences conveyed social meaning; second, these regions showed persistent social-semantic-selective activity after the linguistic stimuli disappeared. We additionally found that both regions were sensitive to the socialness of non-linguistic stimuli and were more tightly connected with the social-semantic-processing areas than with the sentence-processing areas. The converging evidence indicates the social-semantic working-memory function of the left vTPJ and lATL and challenges the general-semantic and/or syntactic accounts for the neural activity of these regions.

Functional connectome through the human life span

The functional connectome of the human brain represents the fundamental network architecture of functional interdependence in brain activity, but its normative growth trajectory across the life course remains unknown. Here, we aggregate the largest, quality-controlled multimodal neuroimaging dataset from 119 global sites, including 33,809 task-free fMRI and structural MRI scans from 32,328 individuals ranging in age from 32 postmenstrual weeks to 80 years. Lifespan growth charts of the connectome are quantified at the whole cortex, system, and regional levels using generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape. We report critical inflection points in the non-linear growth trajectories of the whole-brain functional connectome, particularly peaking in the fourth decade of life. Having established the first fine-grained, lifespan-spanning suite of system-level brain atlases, we generate person-specific parcellation maps and further show distinct maturation timelines for functional segregation within different subsystems. We identify a spatiotemporal gradient axis that governs the life-course growth of regional connectivity, transitioning from primary sensory cortices to higher-order association regions. Using the connectome-based normative model, we demonstrate substantial individual heterogeneities at the network level in patients with autism spectrum disorder and patients with major depressive disorder. Our findings shed light on the life-course evolution of the functional connectome and serve as a normative reference for quantifying individual variation in patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Neural substrate underlying the learning of a passage with unfamiliar vocabulary and syntax

Speech comprehension is a complex process involving multiple stages, such as decoding of phonetic units, recognizing words, and understanding sentences and passages. In this study, we identify cortical networks beyond basic phonetic processing using a novel passage learning paradigm. Participants learn to comprehend a story composed of syllables of their native language, but containing unfamiliar vocabulary and syntax. Three learning methods are employed, each resulting in some degree of learning within a 12-min learning session. Functional magnetic resonance imaging results reveal that, when listening to the same story, the classic temporal-frontal language network is significantly enhanced by learning. Critically, activation of the left anterior and posterior temporal lobe correlates with the learning outcome that is assessed behaviorally through, e.g. word recognition and passage comprehension tests. This study demonstrates that a brief learning session is sufficient to induce neural plasticity in the left temporal lobe, which underlies the transformation from phonetic units to the units of meaning, such as words and sentences.

Spoken language processing activates the primary visual cortex

Primary visual cortex (V1) is generally thought of as a low-level sensory area that primarily processes basic visual features. Although there is evidence for multisensory effects on its activity, these are typically found for the processing of simple sounds and their properties, for example spatially or temporally-congruent simple sounds. However, in congenitally blind individuals, V1 is involved in language processing, with no evidence of major changes in anatomical connectivity that could explain this seemingly drastic functional change. This is at odds with current accounts of neural plasticity, which emphasize the role of connectivity and conserved function in determining a neural tissue's role even after atypical early experiences. To reconcile what appears to be unprecedented functional reorganization with known accounts of plasticity limitations, we tested whether V1's multisensory roles include responses to spoken language in sighted individuals. Using fMRI, we found that V1 in normally sighted individuals was indeed activated by comprehensible spoken sentences as compared to an incomprehensible reversed speech control condition, and more strongly so in the left compared to the right hemisphere. Activation in V1 for language was also significant and comparable for abstract and concrete words, suggesting it was not driven by visual imagery. Last, this activation did not stem from increased attention to the auditory onset of words, nor was it correlated with attentional arousal ratings, making general attention accounts an unlikely explanation. Together these findings suggest that V1 responds to spoken language even in sighted individuals, reflecting the binding of multisensory high-level signals, potentially to predict visual input. This capability might be the basis for the strong V1 language activation observed in people born blind, re-affirming the notion that plasticity is guided by pre-existing connectivity and abilities in the typically developed brain.

Simple shape feature computation across modalities: convergence and divergence between the ventral and dorsal visual streams

Shape processing, whether by seeing or touching, is pivotal to object recognition and manipulation. Although the low-level signals are initially processed by different modality-specific neural circuits, multimodal responses to object shapes have been reported along both ventral and dorsal visual pathways. To understand this transitional process, we conducted visual and haptic shape perception fMRI experiments to test basic shape features (i.e. curvature and rectilinear) across the visual pathways. Using a combination of region-of-interest-based support vector machine decoding analysis and voxel selection method, we found that the top visual-discriminative voxels in the left occipital cortex (OC) could also classify haptic shape features, and the top haptic-discriminative voxels in the left posterior parietal cortex (PPC) could also classify visual shape features. Furthermore, these voxels could decode shape features in a cross-modal manner, suggesting shared neural computation across visual and haptic modalities. In the univariate analysis, the top haptic-discriminative voxels in the left PPC showed haptic rectilinear feature preference, whereas the top visual-discriminative voxels in the left OC showed no significant shape feature preference in either of the two modalities. Together, these results suggest that mid-level shape features are represented in a modality-independent manner in both the ventral and dorsal streams.

Early language exposure affects neural mechanisms of semantic representations

One signature of the human brain is its ability to derive knowledge from language inputs, in addition to nonlinguistic sensory channels such as vision and touch. How does human language experience modulate the mechanism in which semantic knowledge is stored in the human brain? We investigated this question using a unique human model with varying amounts and qualities of early language exposure: early deaf adults who were born to hearing parents and had reduced early exposure and delayed acquisition of any natural human language (speech or sign), with early deaf adults who acquired sign language from birth as the control group that matches on nonlinguistic sensory experiences. Neural responses in a semantic judgment task with 90 written words that were familiar to both groups were measured using fMRI. The deaf group with reduced early language exposure, compared with the deaf control group, showed reduced semantic sensitivity, in both multivariate pattern (semantic structure encoding) and univariate (abstractness effect) analyses, in the left dorsal anterior temporal lobe (dATL). These results provide positive, causal evidence that language experience drives the neural semantic representation in the dATL, highlighting the roles of language in forming human neural semantic structures beyond nonverbal sensory experiences.

[Characteristics of autonomic neuropathy in patients with vestibular migraine]

Objective: To investigate the characteristics of autonomic neuropathy in patients with vestibular migraine (VM) by sympathetic skin reflex (SSR) and R-R interval variation (RRIV). Methods: Seventy-three patients with interseizure VM and 36 healthy controls in the Department of Neurology affiliated to Shanghai Fourth People's Hospital of Tongji University from November 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021 were prospectively enrolled. SSR and RRIV were performed and relevant parameters were recorded, including SSR latency, SSR amplitude, RRIV during calm breathing (R%), RRIV during deep breathing (D%), RRIV difference between deep breathing and calm breathing (D%-R%), RRIV ratio between deep breathing and calm breathing (D%/R%), and the difference and correlation of various parameters between VM patients and healthy controls were analyzed. Results: Among the 73 patients with VM, there were 12 males and 61 females, and aged (46±13) years. While among 36 healthy controls, there were 6 males and 30 females, and aged (46±7) years. Among the 73 VM patients, abnormal SSR, abnormal RRIV, abnormal SSR and RRIV, and abnormal SSR or RRIV was detected in 38 cases (52%), 17 cases (23%), 11 cases (15%) and 44 cases (60%), respectively. Compared with healthy controls, the lower extremity SSR latency [(1 719±289) ms] in VM patients was longer than that in control group [(1 500±349) ms] (P=0.001), but the upper extremity SSR amplitude [1.6 (0.8, 3.0) mV] was lower than that in control group [2.6 (1.8, 4.2) mV] (P=0.006). SSR amplitude, R% and D% were negatively correlated with age in VM patients (r_s=-0.311, P=0.007; r_s=-0.237, P=0.043; r_s=-0.263, P=0.024, respectively). SSR of lower extremity in VM patients was longer than that of upper extremity [(1 719±289) ms vs (1 244±185) ms, P<0.001], but the amplitude of lower extremity was lower than that of upper extremity [0.8 (0.3, 1.7) mV vs 1.6 (0.8, 3.0) mV, P<0.001]. SSR latency of upper limb was positively correlated with SSR latency of lower limb (r=0.436, P<0.001), the amplitude of upper limb was positively correlated with amplitude of lower limb (r_s=0.456, P<0.001), and D% was positively correlated with R% (r_s=0.357, P=0.002). Conclusion: The autonomic neuropathy during VM interphase features with imbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, and the sympathetic nerve function is mainly impaired.

Different computational relations in language are captured by distinct brain systems

A critical way for humans to acquire information is through language, yet whether and how language experience drives specific neural semantic representations is still poorly understood. We considered statistical properties captured by 3 different computational principles of language (simple co-occurrence, network-(graph)-topological relations, and neural-network-vector-embedding relations) and tested the extent to which they can explain the neural patterns of semantic representations, measured by 2 functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments that shared common semantic processes. Distinct graph-topological word relations, and not simple co-occurrence or neural-network-vector-embedding relations, had unique explanatory power for the neural patterns in the anterior temporal lobe (capturing graph-common-neighbors), inferior frontal gyrus, and posterior middle/inferior temporal gyrus (capturing graph-shortest-path). These results were relatively specific to language: they were not explained by sensory-motor similarities and the same computational relations of visual objects (based on visual image database) showed effects in the visual cortex in the picture naming experiment. That is, different topological properties within language and the same topological computations (common-neighbors) for language and visual inputs are captured by different brain regions. These findings reveal the specific neural semantic representations along graph-topological properties of language, highlighting the information type-specific and statistical property-specific manner of semantic representations in the human brain.

Gravity matters for the neural representations of action semantics

The dynamic relationship between the neural representation of action word semantics and specific sensorimotor experience remains controversial. Here, we temporarily altered human subjects' sensorimotor experience in a 15-day head-down tilt bed rest setting, a ground-based analog of microgravity that disproportionally affects sensorimotor experiences of the lower limbs, and examined whether such effector-dependent activity deprivation specifically affected the neural processes of comprehending verbs of lower-limb actions (e.g. to kick) relative to upper-limb ones (e.g. to pinch). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we compared the multivoxel neural patterns for such action words prior to and after bed rest. We found an effector-specific (lower vs. upper limb) experience modulation in subcortical sensorimotor-related and anterior temporal regions. The neural action semantic representations in other effector-specific verb semantic regions (e.g. left lateral posterior temporal cortex) and motor execution regions were robust against such experience alterations. These effector-specific, sensorimotor-experience-sensitive and experience-independent patterns of verb neural representation highlight the multidimensional and dynamic nature of semantic neural representation, and the broad influence of microgravity (hence gravity) environment on cognition.

[Association between serum sex hormone-binding globulin and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis]

Objective: To investigate the association between serum sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 371 middle-aged and young obese patients who were hospitalized and underwent liver puncture in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from January 2016 to April 2021 were included. The population was divided into control group (n=43) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) group (n=328) based on the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease activity score. Subjects in NAFLD group were further divided into non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) (n=60), uncertain-NASH (n=172), and NASH (n=96). Serum SHBG was tested in patients with NAFLD who were divided into three subgroups according to tertiles. The liver pathological characteristics in different SHBG level subgroups were compared. The risk factors of NASH were analyzed by logistic regression. The prediction model of NASH noninvasive diagnosis was established by forward stepwise regression, and the diagnostic value of non-invasive model for NASH was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: The median age in patients were (32±10) years old with a body mass index of (39.16±6.58) kg/m², including 236 females (63.6%). Serum SHBG level [M (Q₁, Q₃)] in NAFLD group was significantly lower than that in control group [16.90 (11.43, 23.00) vs. (23.45 (15.40, 31.22) mmol/L, P<0.05], and progressively diminished in NAFL, uncertain-NASH and NASH subgroups [(22.24±10.47), (20.57±19.58), (15.80±8.74) mmol; P for trend<0.05]. Compared with the high-leveled SHBG subgroup, the steatosis score (2.09±0.80 vs. 1.51±0.72, P<0.01) and lobular inflammation score (1.10±0.68 vs. 0.85±0.68, P<0.05) were significantly higher in the low-leveled SHBG group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that lower serum SHBG level was an independent risk factor for NASH (OR=2.527, 95%CI: 1.296 to 4.928, P<0.05). The area under ROC curve of SHBG combined with aspartate aminotransferase in predicting NASH in NAFLD patients was 0.752 (95%CI: 0.696 to 0.809). Conclusion: Low serum SHBG level is associated with NASH.

[Effects of parity on nutrition and health status of Chinese women of childbearing age]

Objective: To analyze effects of parity on women's nutrition and health status. Methods: This study was based on the data bank of "Chinese Nutrition and Health Surveillance of Children and Adolescents Aged 0-17 years old and Lactating Mothers from 2016 to 2017". Using a multi-stage stratified random sampling method, 17 771 women at 0 to 24 months postpartum from 31 provinces in Mainland China were included in this study. Questionnaires were used to collect data on women's general demographic characteristics, parity, mode of delivery, pre-pregnancy weight, pre-delivery weight, diseases before and during pregnancy, postpartum hemorrhage. Current body height, body weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure were measured. Blood hemoglobin, blood glucose and blood lipids were detected. Pre-pregnancy BMI, gestational weight gain, postpartum weight retention, postpartum BMI, the rates of anemia, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia were calculated. Survey sample weights were calculated according to the sampling design and number of children under 2 years old from the sixth population census data of China. Effects of parity on the observational indicators after adjusting for confounding factors were analyzed by multivariate linear regression and multivariate logistic regression. Results: The age of 17 771 women was (29.5±5.0) years old, 12.2% (2 172) were over 35 but less than 40 years old, and 3.2% (563) were over 40 years old; the women with one parity, two parities, and three parities accounted for 47.3% (8 413), 48.5% (8 620) and 4.2% (738), respectively; urban women accounted for 49.9% (8 875), and rural women accounted for 50.1% (8 896). The results from multivariate linear regression showed that the pre-pregnancy BMI of women with two and three parities was 0.55 kg/m² and 0.76 kg/m² higher than women with one parity, respectively; the results of multivariate logistic regression showed that the OR(95%CI) of pre-pregnancy anemia was 1.45(1.04-2.02) for women with three parities compared with women with one parity, and the OR(95%CI) of anemia during pregnancy for women with two parities was 1.20(1.06-1.35) compared with women with one parity. Conclusion: Parity is associated with pre-pregnancy BMI and risk of anemia before and during pregnancy in women of reproductive age.

Tumor microenvironment and its clinicopathological and prognostic associations in surgically resected cutaneous angiosarcoma

PURPOSE

Cutaneous angiosarcoma (CAS) is a rare but typically aggressive malignant vascular neoplasm of the skin. Tumor microenvironment (TME) of CAS and its associations with baseline clinicopathological features and patient outcomes are very important, especially when considering the recent advances in understanding of the tumor biology.

METHODS/PATIENTS

We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients who underwent surgical resection for CAS at a tertiary Hospital. The pretreated specimens were evaluated by immunohistochemistry for programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1), densities of tumor infiltrative lymphocytes (TILs) (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD45RO+, FoxP3+), as well as c-MYC and Ki-67 expressions. Overall survival (OS) was estimated by Kaplan-Meier method and compared with Log-rank test.

RESULTS

A total of 21 CAS patients were identified. Median age was 67 (ranges: 20-81) years, 14 (66.7%) were male, and over 50% had lesions of scalp. Histopathological examination showed a predominantly spindle cell type (57.1%). All patients underwent surgery, 16 (76.2%) were treated further. PD-L1 was positively stained (> 1%) in tumor cells (42.9%) and TILs (23.8%). PD-1 expression (> 1%) was identified in TILs of 11 (52.4%) cases. PD-1/PD-L1 expressions were significantly associated with the higher densities of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD45RO+, and Foxp3+ TILs, but not with patient characteristics or c-MYC or Ki-67 expression. Median OS was 18.5 months (95% CI 6.0-35.9), although no prognostic significance was observed with respect to any clinicopathological features.

CONCLUSION

We characterized TME and its clinical and prognostic association in CAS. PD-1/PD-L1 expressions were significantly associated with TILs subtypes but not with OS.

Brain intrinsic connection patterns underlying tool processing in human adults are present in neonates and not in macaques

Tool understanding and use are supported by a dedicated left-lateralized, intrinsically connected network in the human adult brain. To examine this network’s phylogenetic and ontogenetic origins, we compared resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) among regions subserving tool processing in human adults to rsFC among homologous regions in human neonates and macaque monkeys (adolescent and mature). These homologous regions formed an intrinsic network in human neonates, but not in macaques. Network topological patterns were highly similar between human adults and neonates, and significantly less so between humans and macaques. The premotor-parietal rsFC had most significant contribution to the formation of the neonatal tool network. These results suggest that an intrinsic brain network potentially supporting tool processing exists in the human brain prior to individual tool use experiences, and that the premotor-parietal functional connection in particular offers a brain basis for complex tool behaviors specific to humans.

Longitudinal investigations of anatomical and morphological development of the gastrointestinal tract in goats from colostrum to postweaning

The digestive tract development in goat kids around weaning is vital to the establishment of digestion and absorption function, growth, and health of adults. The objective was to explore the effects of age and solid feed on the anatomical and morphological development of the gastrointestinal tract of Laiwu Black goat kids. Forty-eight female Laiwu Black goats at 8 ages (1, 7, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, and 84 d; 6 goats per group) were selected and killed for anatomical and morphological analysis. The goats experienced the following 4 diet phases: maternal colostrum (MC; d 1, d 7), maternal milk (MM; d 14, d 28), maternal milk plus solid diet (MMSD; d 42, d 56) and only solid diet (OSD; d 70, d 84). The body and carcass weights were not significantly changed during MC and MM phases but changed during the MMSD phase. The absolute growth of body and carcass weights were higher in the MMSD phase than in MM phase. In addition, the dressing percentage was the highest in the MMSD phase. The body size indices evolved progressively and increased over time. The percentage of internal and external organs to body weight decreased over time, whereas the percentage to complex stomach percentage increased. The rumen and omasum weight experienced synchronous absolute growth over time, especially in the OSD phase. In contrast, the absolute growth of the reticulum and abomasum was the highest in MMSD and MC phases, respectively. After weaning, the goats showed the highest papillae height, lamina propria, muscle layer thickness, and epithelial thickness. The OSD phase showed the highest colonic mucosa thickness, ileal villus height, and ileal muscle layer thickness. The crypt depth was higher in the MMSD phase than in the MM phase. Moreover, the crypt depth and muscle layer thickness of jejunum increased over time. Furthermore, duodenal crypt depth, muscle layer thickness, and epithelial thickness increased in the OSD phase compared with other stages. In conclusion, the histological investigation supports the improvement of the morphological development of the digestive tract and the growth performance in the solid feed phase. It is recommended to add solid food as early as 4 wk old.

Social and emotion dimensional organizations in the abstract semantic space: the neuropsychological evidence

An essential aspect of human cognition is supported by a rich reservoir of abstract concepts without tangible external referents (e.g., “honor”, “relationship”, “direction”). While decades of research showed that the neural organization of conceptual knowledge referring to concrete words respects domains of evolutionary salience and sensorimotor attributes, the organization principles of abstract word meanings are poorly understood. Here, we provide neuropsychological evidence for a domain (sociality) and attribute (emotion) structure in abstract word processing. Testing 34 brain-damaged patients on a word-semantic judgment task, we observed double dissociations between social and nonsocial words and a single dissociation of sparing of emotional (relative to non-emotional) words. The lesion profiles of patients with specific dissociations suggest potential neural correlates positively or negatively associated with each dimension. These results unravel a general domain-attribute architecture of word meanings and highlight the roles of the social domain and the emotional attribute in the non-object semantic space.

Common and unique structural plasticity after left and right hemisphere stroke

Strokes to the left and right hemisphere lead to distinctive behavioral profiles. Are left and right hemisphere strokes (LHS and RHS) associated with distinct or common poststroke neuroplasticity patterns? Understanding this issue would reveal hemispheric neuroplasticity mechanisms in response to brain damage. To this end, we investigated poststroke structural changes (2 weeks to 3 months post-onset) using longitudinal MRI data from 69 LHS and 55 RHS patients and 31 demographic-matched healthy control participants. Both LHS and RHS groups showed statistically common plasticity independent of the lesioned hemisphere, including 1) gray matter (GM) expansion in the ipsilesional and contralesional precuneus, and contralesional superior frontal gyrus; 2) GM shrinkage in the ipsilesional medial orbital frontal gyrus and middle cingulate cortex. On the other hand, only RHS patients had significant GM expansion in the ipsilesional medial superior and orbital frontal cortex. Importantly, these common and unique GM changes post-stroke largely overlapped with highly-connected cortical hub regions in healthy individuals. Moreover, they correlated with behavioral recovery, indicating that post-stroke GM volumetric changes in cortical hubs reflect compensatory rather than maladaptive mechanisms. These results highlight the importance of structural neuroplasticity in hub regions of the cortex, along with the hemispheric specificity, for stroke recovery.

Idiosyncratic Tower of Babel: Individual Differences in Word-Meaning Representation Increase as Word Abstractness Increases

Humans primarily rely on language to communicate, on the basis of a shared understanding of the basic building blocks of communication: words. Do we mean the same things when we use the same words? Although cognitive neural research on semantics has revealed the common principles of word-meaning representation, the factors underlying the potential individual variations in word meanings are unknown. Here, we empirically characterized the intersubject consistency of 90 words across 20 adult subjects (10 female) using both behavioral measures (rating-based semantic-relationship patterns) and neuroimaging measures (word-evoked brain activity patterns). Across both the behavioral and neuroimaging experiments, we showed that the magnitude of individual disagreements on word meanings could be modeled on the basis of how much language or sensory experience is associated with a word and that this variation increases with word abstractness. Uncovering the cognitive and neural origins of word-meaning disagreements across individuals has implications for potential mechanisms to modulate such disagreements.

Low dietary phosphorus impairs keel bone health and quality in laying hens

1. Phosphorus (P) is a necessary nutrient for egg production and bone quality in poultry diets. To investigate the effects of low dietary available P (avP) on keel bone, 180 laying hens were fed either a control (C, 0.3% avP) or low phosphorus (LP, 0.15% avP) diet from 20-36 weeks of age (WOA). Each diet was replicated in six cages with 15 birds per cage. Keel samples were collected at 24, 28, 32, and 36 WOA to measure indicators.2. The incidence of keel bone damage in the LP group was higher than C group and increased with age throughout the experiment period. Keel bone length from laying hens in the LP group was shorter than C group (P < 0.05) at 32 and 36 WOA.3. The mRNA expression of receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) and ratio of RANKL to osteoprotegerin (OPG) were upregulated (P < 0.05), and that of sclerostin and OPG was downregulated (P < 0.05) in the LP group in comparison to hens in the C group. Meanwhile, mRNA expression of the integrin-binding sialoprotein was increased at 24 and 28 WOA (P < 0.05), and decreased at 32 and 38 WOA (P < 0.05) in the LP group.4. Laying hens in LP group had increased trabecular separation and bone surface fraction (P < 0.05), decreased bone volume, bone volume fraction, trabecular number and thickness, and bone mineral density (P < 0.05) at 32 WOA. The LP-fed hens had increased K, Ti, Mn, Fe, Zn, Se, Sr and Pb bone concentrations (P < 0.05), and decreased P and TI bone concentrations (P < 0.05) at 36 WOA.5. Feeding hens a P-deficient diet with 0.15% avP and 3.37% Ca during the laying period impaired keel bone quality, which could be related to the osteoporosis.

Domain-specific functional coupling between dorsal and ventral systems during action perception

Visual perception of actions and objects has been shown to activate different cortical systems: action perception system spanning more dorsally, across parietal, frontal, and dorsal temporal regions; object perception relying more strongly the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOTC). Compared to the well-established object-domain structure (e.g., faces vs. artifacts) in VOTC, it is less known whether the action perception system is constrained by similar domain principle and whether it communicates with the ventral object recognition system in a domain-specific manner. In a fMRI long-block experiment designed to evaluate both regional activity and task-based functional connectivity (FC) patterns, participants viewed animated videos of a human performing two domains of actions to the same set of meaningless shapes without object-domain information: social-communicative-actions (e.g., waving) and manipulation-actions (e.g., folding). We observed action-domain-specific activations, with the superior temporal sulcus and the right precentral region responding more strongly during social-communicative-action perception; the supramarginal gyrus, inferior and superior parietal lobe, and precentral gyrus during manipulation-action perception. The two domains of action perception systems communicated with VOTC in domain-specific manners: FC between the social-communicative-action system and the bilateral fusiform face area was enhanced during social-communicative-action perception; FC between the manipulation-action system and the left tool-preferring lateral occipitoptemporal cortex was enhanced during manipulation-action perception. There was a significant correlation between the FC-with-action-system and the local activity strength across VOTC voxels. Our findings highlight social- and manipulation-domains of human interaction as an overarching principle of both object and action perception systems, with domain-based functional communication across systems.

Immunocyte density in parathyroid carcinoma is correlated with disease relapse

PURPOSE

Parathyroid carcinoma (PC) is an endocrine malignancy with a poor prognosis. The tumour immune microenvironment is a critical factor influencing the outcomes of multiple cancer types. However, knowledge of the immune microenvironment in PC remains limited.

METHODS

The intratumoural density of immunocytes and the Ki-67 index were evaluated immunohistochemically in 51 PC patient samples and were compared with clinicopathological features and parafibromin staining results. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards analysis were used to estimate the effects of these variables on clinical outcomes.

RESULTS

Intratumoural immunocyte density was not correlated with age, gender, urolithiasis, or palpation of a neck mass. The Ki-67 index was correlated with the intratumoural density of CD3⁺ cells (P = 0.022) and CD8⁺ cells (P = 0.021) and serum calcium levels (P = 0.022). In the intratumoural area of primary foci, Kaplan-Meier method showed that the risk factors associated with recurrence/metastasis were a low density of CD3⁺ (P = 0.017), CD8⁺ (P = 0.019) and CD45⁺ cells (P = 0.047), a high density of CD163⁺ cells (P = 0.003) and a high Ki-67 index (P = 0.004). Cox regression multivariate analysis revealed that CD163⁺ cell density (hazard ratio (HR) 16.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.99-131.66; P = 0.009) and CD8⁺ cell density (HR 0.13, 95% CI 0.02-0.76, P = 0.024) were independent factors associated with PC relapse.

CONCLUSION

The immune microenvironment is an important factor influencing the relapse of PC. The intratumoural density of CD3⁺, CD8⁺, CD45⁺, and CD163⁺ immunocytes was correlated with disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with PC. Immunotherapy based on T lymphocytes or tumour-associated macrophages may be a promising treatment strategy.

Gender and age differences in the association between sleep characteristics and fasting glucose levels in Chinese adults

AIM

The present study examined the associations between night-time sleep duration, midday napping duration and bedtime, and fasting glucose levels, and whether or not such associations are dependent on gender and age.

METHODS

This study was a cross-sectional analysis of 172,901 adults aged≥40 years living in mainland China. Sleep duration was obtained by self-reports of bedtime at night, waking-up time the next morning and average napping duration at midday. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG)≥7.0mmol/L was defined as hyperglycaemia. Independent associations between night-time sleep duration, midday naptime duration and bedtime with hyperglycaemia were evaluated using regression models.

RESULTS

Compared with night-time sleep durations of 6-7.9h, both short (<6h) and long (≥8h) night-time sleep durations were significantly associated with an increased risk of hyperglycaemia in women [odds ratio (OR): 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01-1.29 and OR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.08-1.21, respectively], and revealed a U-shaped distribution of risk in women and no significant association in men. Long midday nap durations (≥1h) were significantly but weakly associated with hyperglycaemia (OR: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.01-1.09) compared with no napping without interactions from gender or age, whereas the association between bedtime and fasting glucose levels did vary according to gender and age.

CONCLUSION

Night-time sleep duration, midday napping duration and bedtime were all independently associated with the risk of hyperglycaemia, and some of the associations between these sleep characteristics and hyperglycaemia were gender- and age-dependent.

Two Forms of Knowledge Representations in the Human Brain

Sensory experience shapes what and how knowledge is stored in the brain-our knowledge about the color of roses depends in part on the activity of color-responsive neurons based on experiences of seeing roses. We compared the brain basis of color knowledge in congenitally (or early) blind individuals, whose color knowledge can only be obtained through language descriptions and/or cognitive inference, to that of sighted individuals whose color-knowledge benefits from both sensory experience and language. We found that some regions support color knowledge only in the sighted, whereas a region in the left dorsal anterior temporal lobe supports object-color knowledge in both the blind and sighted groups, indicating the existence of a sensory-independent knowledge coding system in both groups. Thus, there are (at least) two forms of object knowledge representations in the human brain: sensory-derived and language- and cognition-derived knowledge, supported by different brain systems.

A new adaptation for in vitro co-culture of single porcine parthenogenetic embryos using feeder cells

Feeder cells can promote cell proliferation and help overcome the developmental arrest of early embryos by producing growth factors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of feeder cells on the development of all single porcine parthenogenetic embryos in vitro. Firstly, we showed that the cleavage and blastocyst formation rate of all single procine parthenogenetic embryos co-cultured with feeder cells increased in contrast to those cultured without feeder cells (p⟨0.05). However, no statistically significant differences were observed between the blastocyst formation rate in the embryos co-cultured with 3 different kinds feeder cells namely oviduct epithelial feeder cells, granulose feeder cells and porcine fetal fibroblast feeder cells (p>0.05). Secondly, highly significant differences were observed between the cleavage and blastocyst formation rate (p⟨0.05) when the embryos were co-cultured with oviduct epithelial feeder cells in different volume drops ranging from 3 to 20 μL and the cleavage rate were the highest when cultured in 5 μL drops. Thirdly, the tempospacial pattern of the development of single embryos co-cultured with oviduct epithelial feeder cells was consistent with that of traditional multi-embryo culture, indicating that the co-culturing does not affect the developmental competence of the porcine parthenogenetic embryos. Finally, highly significant differences were observed between the cleavage and blastocyst formation rate with and without zona pellucida in vitro (p⟨0.05). In this study, a new adaption of in vitro co-culture of single porcine parthenogenetic embryos using feeder cells has been successfully established and this will facilitate further investigations to discover the mechanistic mode of developmental arrest of porcine embryos.

Interactive effects of dietary vitamin K3 and Bacillus subtilis PB6 on the growth performance and tibia quality of broiler chickens with sex separate rearing

Both vitamin K and probiotics can promote the bone health of poultry and mammals. The present study was conducted to investigate the interactive effects between vitamin K3 (VK3) and Bacillus subtilis PB6 on the growth performance and tibia quality of broiler chickens with sex separate rearing. In a 3 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, 720 one-day-old broiler chicks (Arbor Acres) were assigned to 12 groups with three levels of dietary VK3 (0, 0.5 and 4.0 mg/kg), with or without probiotic supplementation (500 g/t) and with sex separation (male and female). Each group included 3 replicates with 20 birds per replicate. During day 1 to 21, 0.5 and 4.0 mg/kg of VK3 increased average daily gain (ADG) of all birds and average daily feed intake of male birds (P < 0.05). During day 22 to 42, probiotic supplementation increased the ADG of birds (P < 0.05). Probiotic addition increased the weight, length, diameter and strength of tibia in all birds, and 0.5 and 4.0 mg/kg of VK3 increased the tibial breaking strength of male birds at day 21 (P < 0.05). Vitamin K3 and probiotic synergistically increased tibial breaking strength at day 42 and ash content at day 21 (P < 0.05). Three factors exhibited interactive effects on the chemical composition of tibia at day 42, and female birds fed 4 mg/kg of VK3 and probiotic had the highest contents of ash, calcium and phosphorus (P < 0.05). Bacillus subtilis PB6 increased the serum phosphorus level of male birds at day 21 and serum calcium level of female ones at day 42 (P < 0.05). At day 21, in the probiotic-supplemented birds, serum osteocalcin (OCN) and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) were increased by 0 and 4.0 mg/kg of VK3, respectively (P < 0.05). Probiotic increased serum OCN and cooperated with VK3 to increase the serum BALP at day 42 (P < 0.05). Vitamin K3 and probiotic synergistically down-regulated the mRNA expression of Runt-related transcription factor 2 and OCN at day 21 (P < 0.05). Vitamin K3 down-regulated the alkaline phosphatase (liver/bone/kidney) expression in male birds at day 21 and 42, but probiotic up-regulated the expression of these genes at day 42 (P < 0.05). In conclusion, VK3 and B. subtilis PB6 promoted the growth performance of broilers during starter and grower phases, respectively. They synergistically improved the physical and chemical traits of tibias, especially in grower phase, by modulating calcium and phosphorus metabolism as well as osteogenic gene expression.

[Prevalence and influencing factors of carotid plaque in population at high-risk for cardiovascular disease in Jiangsu province]

Objective: To understand the prevalence of carotid plaque (CP) in population at high-risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Jiangsu province and identify related influencing factors. Methods: Based on the China Patient-centered Evaluative Assessment of Cardiac Events Million Persons Project from 2015 to 2016, a total of 11 392 persons at high-risk for CVD were selected from six project areas in Jiangsu province for the questionnaire survey, physical measurement, laboratory test and bilateral ultrasound examination of carotid arteries. The prevalence of CP and influencing factors of abnormal carotid arteries, CP and plaque burden (CP≥2) were analyzed. Results: Among the persons surveyed, 4 821 (42.3%) were males. The age of the persons surveyed was (59.4±8.9) years. There were 5 971 abnormal carotid arteries cases (52.4%), including 1 782 carotid intima-media thickness thickening cases (15.6%), 3 811 CP cases (33.5%) and 378 carotid stenosis cases (3.3%). Older age (OR=2.253, 95%CI: 2.127-2.386), urban residence (OR=2.622, 95%CI: 2.375-2.895), hypertension (OR=1.439, 95%CI: 1.195-1.732), smoking (OR=1.441, 95%CI: 1.259- 1.650), pulse pressure difference (OR=1.270, 95%CI: 1.198-1.347), fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (OR=1.109, 95%CI: 1.059-1.161) and LDL-C/HDL-C (OR=1.225, 95%CI: 1.164-1.288) were possible risk factors of CP in population at high risk for CVD. Being women (OR=0.558, 95%CI: 0.494-0.630), high BMI (OR=0.948, 95%CI: 0.904-0.994), higher levels of education (OR=0.708, 95%CI: 0.531-0.945), and higher annual household income (OR=0.773, 95%CI: 0.669-0.894) were the possible protective factors. Conclusions: Over half of the population at high-risk for CVD in Jiangsu showed abnormal carotid arteries. High blood pressure, high blood glucose, high blood lipids and smoking were the main factors that could be changed.

[investigation on the triggers and the effect of healthy education on recurrence of vestibular migraine]

Objective:The aim of this study is to investigate the predisposing factors and the effect of healthy education on recurrence of vestibular migraine (VM), so as to provide a scientific basis for increasing the knowledge rate and reducing the recurrence rate of VM patients. Method: Questionnaires, memory diary, regular follow-up, etc. were used to understand the possible predisposing factors of VM patients. Self-assessment depression scale (SDS) and self-assessment anxiety scale (SAS) were used to evaluate patients' mental and psychological status, and visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the severity of vertigo. Health education was conducted for VM patients through face-to-face consultation, material distribution, modern multimedia and other methods. The knowledge rate, anxiety and fear psychological state, recurrence frequency of vertigo, duration and severity of vertigo were compared before and after the healthy education. Result:Of 103 cases of the object of study, 100 patients (97.1%) with different degree of sleep disorders, 96 cases (93.2%) had a clear family history with vertigo or dizziness headache, 90 cases (87.4%) had history of motion sickness, 90 cases (87.4%) had confined space history of intolerance, 82 cases (79.6%), recurrent cause psychological anxiety, fear, 80 cases (77.7%), lack of exercise, 79 cases (76.7%) under pressure from life or work, 53 (51.5%) had food preference, 8 cases (7.8%) think much rain attacks more frequent when humid climate,seven (6.8%) reported more episodes during the spring or spring/summer exchanges.After health education, patients were followed up for 6 months to 2 years with a median of 15 months, and their knowledge rate of VM was increased from 12.6% (13 cases) to 98% (101 cases).The psychological ratio of anxiety and fear decreased from 79.6% (82 cases) to 7.8% (8 cases).The SAS score decreased from 47.9±4.4 to 45.5±4.2, and the SDS score decreased from 39.7±3.6 to 38.2±3.8.The unhealthy lifestyle and eating habits （lack of exercise, stress, and eating preferences at least 1 item）decreased from 89.4% (92 cases) to 32.1% (33 cases).The recurrence rate of 83.5% (86 cases) of the patients was reduced by 1 time or more, and the rate of no recurrence increased from 1% (1 case) to 15.5% (16 cases) within half a year.The duration of the attack was reduced by 20% or more in 48.5%(50 cases),The mean duration of the attack declined from (17.4±1.4) hours before healthy education to (10.5±0.9) hours after healthy education.The VAS score of 86.4%(89 cases) with recurrence severity decreased by 2 points or more. The average VAS score before and after education was (6.6±0.1) points and (4.5±0.1) points respectively.The above differences were statistically significant (P<0.01) compared with those before and after education.Conclusion: Sleep disorder, airtight space intolerance, excessive stress, lack of exercise, and dietary preference may be related factors to trigger VM attacks. Healthy education can significantly improve the awareness of VMs, and promote patients to change their lifestyle and eating habits. It can significantly improve patients' anxiety and fear psychological state, reduce the frequency of attack, shorten the duration of attack, and reduce the severity of selfassessment, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Close yet independent: Dissociation of social from valence and abstract semantic dimensions in the left anterior temporal lobe

The anterior temporal lobe (ATL) is engaged in various types of semantic dimensions. One consistently reported dimension is social information, with abstract words describing social behaviors inducing stronger activations in the ATL than nonsocial words. One potential factor that has been systematically confounded in this finding is emotional valence, given that abstract social words tend to be associated with emotional feelings. We investigated which factors drove the ATL sensitivity using a 2 (social/nonsocial) × 2 (valenced/neutral) factorial design in an fMRI study with relatively high spatial resolutions. We found that sociality and valence were processed in different ATL regions without significant interactions: The social effect was found in the left anterior superior temporal sulcus (aSTS), whereas the valence effect activated small clusters in the bilateral temporal poles (TP). In the left ATL, the social- and valence-related clusters were distinct from another superior ATL area that exhibited a general "abstractness" effect with little modulation of sociality or valence. These subregions exhibited distinct whole-brain functional connectivity patterns during the resting state, with the social cluster functionally connected to the default mode network, the valence cluster connected to the adjacent temporal regions and amygdala, and the abstractness cluster connected to a distributed network including a set of language-related regions. These results of activation profiles and connectivity patterns together indicate that the way in which the left ATL supports semantic processing is highly fine-grained, with the neural substrate for social semantic effects dissociated from those for emotional valence and abstractness.

Association between type 1 and type 2 diabetes and risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: A meta-analysis of cohort studies

AIM

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is thought to be associated with an increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), although the evidence so far remains inconsistent. Thus, our study aimed to further assess this association.

METHODS

Electronic searches were performed of the PubMed, Web of Science and Embase databases up to 11 March 2019. A random-effects model was used to calculate summary relative risks (RRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS

A total of 20 articles including data from 35 cohort studies matched our inclusion criteria, and 31 RRs were calculated for type 2 DM; the summary RR was 1.20 (95% CI: 1.12-1.30, I² = 84.7%). Also, four RRs were calculated for type 1 DM, and the result was significant (RR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.15-2.08, I² = 0.0%). The results of subgroup analyses demonstrated that the association between DM and NHL was much more substantial in an Asian population, while sensitivity analyses suggested the robustness of a positive association between DM and NHL risk. In addition, the RR of NHL correlated negatively with duration of DM, with the highest risk found in patients within 1-2 years of DM diagnosis.

CONCLUSION

Our study findings suggest a moderate increase in risk of NHL in type 1 and 2 DM patients. Future studies should investigate the effects of duration of DM and antidiabetes interventions on NHL risk.

Model-informed drug development approach supporting approval of the 4-week (Q4W) dosing schedule for nivolumab (Opdivo) across multiple indications: a regulatory perspective

BACKGROUND

A nivolumab dosage regimen of 480 mg intravenously (i.v.) every 4 weeks (Q4W) was approved by FDA for the majority of the approved indications for nivolumab.

METHODS

The proposed new dosage regimen was supported by pharmacokinetic modeling and simulation, dose/exposure-response relationships for efficacy and safety in the indicated patient populations, and the clinical safety data with the 480 mg Q4W dosage regimen. Pharmacokinetic exposures achieved with 480 mg Q4W were predicted for 4166 patients in 21 clinical studies with various types of solid and hematological tumors. Exposure-response analyses were conducted to predict 480 mg Q4W safety and efficacy across all FDA-approved indications for nivolumab.

RESULTS

For the overall population, the geometric mean exposure achieved with 480 mg i.v. Q4W was 5.2% higher for steady state Cavg and 15.6% lower for Ctrough than those with 3 mg/kg i.v. Q2W, the approved dosage regimen. The simulated concentration-time course achieved with 480 mg Q4W regimen was below the median concentration achieved with 10 mg/kg i.v. Q2W that was also studied in clinical trials. The predicted probability of adverse events was similar between 480 mg Q4W and that observed with the 3 mg/kg Q2W regimen. Efficacy results were found to be similar between Q2W and Q3W dosage regimens in patients with renal cell carcinoma. The predicted efficacy for each indication suggested that the efficacy with 480 mg Q4W is unlikely to be compromised compared with that observed with 3 mg/kg Q2W.

CONCLUSIONS

The model-informed analyses of predicted exposure, efficacy and safety based on data from extensive clinical experience with nivolumab suggest that the benefit-risk profile of 480 mg Q4W regimen is comparable to the approved 3 mg/kg Q2W regimen, thus providing the regulatory basis for the approval of 480 mg Q4W regimen in the absence of clinical efficacy data with this new dosage regimen.