Relationship between cortical thickness and neuropsychological performance in normal older adults and those with mild cognitive impairment

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has been extensively investigated in recent decades to identify groups with a high risk of dementia and to establish effective prevention methods during this period. Neuropsychological performance and cortical thickness are two important biomarkers used to predict progression from MCI to dementia. This study compares the cortical thickness and neuropsychological performance in people with MCI and cognitively healthy older adults. We further focus on the relationship between cortical thickness and neuropsychological performance in these two groups. Forty-nine participants with MCI and 40 cognitively healthy older adults were recruited. Cortical thickness was analysed with semiautomatic software, Freesurfer. The analysis reveals that the cortical thickness in the left caudal anterior cingulate (p=0.041), lateral occipital (p=0.009) and right superior temporal (p=0.047) areas were significantly thinner in the MCI group after adjustment for age and education. Almost all neuropsychological test results (with the exception of forward digit span) were significantly correlated to cortical thickness in the MCI group after adjustment for age, gender and education. In contrast, only the score on the Category Verbal Fluency Test and the forward digit span were found to have significant inverse correlations to cortical thickness in the control group of cognitively healthy older adults. The study results suggest that cortical thinning in the temporal region reflects the global change in cognition in subjects with MCI and may be useful to predict progression of MCI to Alzheimer's disease. The different pattern in the correlation of cortical thickness to the neuropsychological performance of patients with MCI from the healthy control subjects may be explained by the hypothesis of MCI as a disconnection syndrome

Would transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) enhance the effects of working memory training in older adults with mild neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s disease: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

© 2015 Cheng et al. Background: There has been longstanding interesting in cognitive training for older adults with cognitive impairment. In this study, we will investigate the effects of working memory training, and explore augmentation strategies that could possibly consolidate the effects in older adults with mild neurocognitive disorder. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been demonstrated to affect the neuronal excitability and reported to enhance memory performance. As tDCS may also modulate cognitive function through changes in neuroplastic response, it would be adopted as an augmentation strategy for working memory training in the present study. Methods/Design: This is a 4-week intervention double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) of tDCS. Chinese older adults (aged 60 to 90 years) with mild neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer 's disease (DSM-5 criteria) would be randomized into a 4-week intervention of either tDCS-working memory (DCS-WM), tDCS-control cognitive training (DCS-CC), and sham tDCS-working memory (WM-CD) groups. The primary outcome would be working memory test - the n-back task performance and the Chinese version of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog). Secondary outcomes would be test performance of specific cognitive domains and mood. Intention-to-treat analysis would be carried out. Changes of efficacy indicators with time and intervention would be tested with mixed effect models. Discussion: This study adopts the theory of neuroplasticity to evaluate the potential cognitive benefits of non-invasive electrical brain stimulation, working memory training and dual stimulation in older adults at risk of cognitive decline. It would also examine the tolerability, program adherence and adverse effects of this novel intervention. Information would be helpful for further research of dementia prevention studies. Trial registration: ChiCTR-TRC- 14005036Date of registration: 31 July 2014.published_or_final_versio

Diasporic citizen journalism: Exploring the discussion on the 2022 blank paper protests in the Chinese twitter community

Departing from the conventional nation-state framework, this paper explores citizen journalism from a translocal and transnational perspective. Focusing on Chinese diasporic communities on Twitter, the study presents an explorative inquiry into the phenomenon of diasporic citizen journalism. Through an empirical case study of the 2022 Blank Paper Protests (BPP) in China, the research reveals the pivotal role the Chinese Twitter-sphere played as a vital platform for cross-border news production and sense-making during a critical event. The study also illuminates the diversity, networked dynamics, and internal conflicts within the Chinese digital diaspora concerning the BPP. Theoretically, this paper underscores the imperative need to expand the horizons of citizen journalism research, suggesting diasporic citizen journalism as a new avenue for future exploration. Methodologically, the study showcases the potential of state-of-the-art computational methods, including Large Language Models (LLMs), in advancing journalism research. The methodology employed in this study exemplifies the integration of LLMs to enhance automated topic and sentiment analysis

The Allen Telescope Array: The First Widefield, Panchromatic, Snapshot Radio Camera for Radio Astronomy and SETI

The first 42 elements of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA-42) are beginning to deliver data at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Northern California. Scientists and engineers are actively exploiting all of the flexibility designed into this innovative instrument for simultaneously conducting surveys of the astrophysical sky and conducting searches for distant technological civilizations. This paper summarizes the design elements of the ATA, the cost savings made possible by the use of COTS components, and the cost/performance trades that eventually enabled this first snapshot radio camera. The fundamental scientific program of this new telescope is varied and exciting; some of the first astronomical results will be discussed.Comment: Special Issue of Proceedings of the IEEE: "Advances in Radio Telescopes", Baars,J. Thompson,R., D'Addario, L., eds, 2009, in pres

A novel role for thrombopoietin in regulating osteoclast development in humans and mice

Emerging data suggest that megakaryocytes (MKs) play a significant role in skeletal homeostasis. Indeed, osteosclerosis observed in several MK-related disorders may be a result of increased numbers of MKs. In support of this idea, we have previously demonstrated that MKs increase osteoblast (OB) proliferation by a direct cell-cell contact mechanism and that MKs also inhibit osteoclast (OC) formation. As MKs and OCs are derived from the same hematopoietic precursor, in these osteoclastogenesis studies we examined the role of the main MK growth factor, thrombopoietin (TPO) on OC formation and bone resorption. Here we show that TPO directly increases OC formation and differentiation in vitro. Specifically, we demonstrate the TPO receptor (c-mpl or CD110) is expressed on cells of the OC lineage, c-mpl is required for TPO to enhance OC formation in vitro, and TPO activates the mitogen-activated protein kinases, Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription, and nuclear factor-kappaB signaling pathways, but does not activate the PI3K/AKT pathway. Further, we found TPO enhances OC resorption in CD14+CD110+ human OC progenitors derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and further separating OC progenitors based on CD110 expression enriches for mature OC development. The regulation of OCs by TPO highlights a novel therapeutic target for bone loss diseases and may be important to consider in the numerous hematologic disorders associated with alterations in TPO/c-mpl signaling as well as in patients suffering from bone disorders

Primary Beam and Dish Surface Characterization at the Allen Telescope Array by Radio Holography

The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is a cm-wave interferometer in California, comprising 42 antenna elements with 6-m diameter dishes. We characterize the antenna optical accuracy using two-antenna interferometry and radio holography. The distortion of each telescope relative to the average is small, with RMS differences of 1 percent of beam peak value. Holography provides images of dish illumination pattern, allowing characterization of as-built mirror surfaces. The ATA dishes can experience mm-scale distortions across -2 meter lengths due to mounting stresses or solar radiation. Experimental RMS errors are 0.7 mm at night and 3 mm under worst case solar illumination. For frequencies 4, 10, and 15 GHz, the nighttime values indicate sensitivity losses of 1, 10 and 20 percent, respectively. The ATA.s exceptional wide-bandwidth permits observations over a continuous range 0.5 to 11.2 GHz, and future retrofits may increase this range to 15 GHz. Beam patterns show a slowly varying focus frequency dependence. We probe the antenna optical gain and beam pattern stability as a function of focus and observation frequency, concluding that ATA can produce high fidelity images over a decade of simultaneous observation frequencies. In the day, the antenna sensitivity and pointing accuracy are affected. We find that at frequencies greater than 5 GHz, daytime observations greater than 5 GHz will suffer some sensitivity loss and it may be necessary to make antenna pointing corrections on a 1 to 2 hourly basis.Comment: 19 pages, 23 figures, 3 tables, Authors indicated by an double dagger ({\ddag}) are affiliated with the SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 95070. Authors indicated by a section break ({\S}) are affiliated with the Hat Creek Radio Observatory and/or the Radio Astronomy Laboratory, both affiliated with the University of California Berkeley, Berkeley C

The Allen Telescope Array Pi GHz Sky Survey I. Survey Description and Static Catalog Results for the Bootes Field

The Pi GHz Sky Survey (PiGSS) is a key project of the Allen Telescope Array. PiGSS is a 3.1 GHz survey of radio continuum emission in the extragalactic sky with an emphasis on synoptic observations that measure the static and time-variable properties of the sky. During the 2.5-year campaign, PiGSS will twice observe ~250,000 radio sources in the 10,000 deg^2 region of the sky with b > 30 deg to an rms sensitivity of ~1 mJy. Additionally, sub-regions of the sky will be observed multiple times to characterize variability on time scales of days to years. We present here observations of a 10 deg^2 region in the Bootes constellation overlapping the NOAO Deep Wide Field Survey field. The PiGSS image was constructed from 75 daily observations distributed over a 4-month period and has an rms flux density between 200 and 250 microJy. This represents a deeper image by a factor of 4 to 8 than we will achieve over the entire 10,000 deg^2. We provide flux densities, source sizes, and spectral indices for the 425 sources detected in the image. We identify ~100$ new flat spectrum radio sources; we project that when completed PiGSS will identify 10^4 flat spectrum sources. We identify one source that is a possible transient radio source. This survey provides new limits on faint radio transients and variables with characteristic durations of months.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; revision submitted with extraneous figure remove

Distribution logistics of online fashion retail business in China: A case study of VANCL

The rapid development of information technologies brings more convenience to people. Information technologies, especially the Internet, not only save time for consumers and companies but also provide them with more channels and opportunities for interaction and conducting transactions. One business revolution brought by Internet is online shopping – shopping and buying products in online stores or websites. Nowadays, online shopping has become a new consuming model for consumers both in China and around the world. This paper analyses online shopping for fashion in China and investigates the impact of online shopping on logistics industry using the case of “VANCL”

The Allen Telescope Array Twenty-centimeter Survey - A 690-Square-Degree, 12-Epoch Radio Dataset - I: Catalog and Long-Duration Transient Statistics

We present the Allen Telescope Array Twenty-centimeter Survey (ATATS), a multi-epoch (12 visits), 690 square degree radio image and catalog at 1.4GHz. The survey is designed to detect rare, very bright transients as well as to verify the capabilities of the ATA to form large mosaics. The combined image using data from all 12 ATATS epochs has RMS noise sigma = 3.94mJy / beam and dynamic range 180, with a circular beam of 150 arcsec FWHM. It contains 4408 sources to a limiting sensitivity of S = 20 mJy / beam. We compare the catalog generated from this 12-epoch combined image to the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS), a legacy survey at the same frequency, and find that we can measure source positions to better than ~20 arcsec. For sources above the ATATS completeness limit, the median flux density is 97% of the median value for matched NVSS sources, indicative of an accurate overall flux calibration. We examine the effects of source confusion due to the effects of differing resolution between ATATS and NVSS on our ability to compare flux densities. We detect no transients at flux densities greater than 40 mJy in comparison with NVSS, and place a 2-sigma upper limit on the transient rate for such sources of 0.004 per square degree. These results suggest that the > 1 Jy transients reported by Matsumura et al. (2009) may not be true transients, but rather variable sources at their flux density threshold.Comment: 41 pages, 19 figures, ApJ accepted; corrected minor typo in Table

The Allen Telescope Array Pi GHz Sky Survey I. Survey Description and Static Catalog Results for the Bootes Field

The Pi GHz Sky Survey (PiGSS) is a key project of the Allen Telescope Array. PiGSS is a 3.1 GHz survey of radio continuum emission in the extragalactic sky with an emphasis on synoptic observations that measure the static and time-variable properties of the sky. During the 2.5-year campaign, PiGSS will twice observe ~250,000 radio sources in the 10,000 deg^2 region of the sky with b > 30 deg to an rms sensitivity of ~1 mJy. Additionally, sub-regions of the sky will be observed multiple times to characterize variability on time scales of days to years. We present here observations of a 10 deg^2 region in the Bootes constellation overlapping the NOAO Deep Wide Field Survey field. The PiGSS image was constructed from 75 daily observations distributed over a 4-month period and has an rms flux density between 200 and 250 microJy. This represents a deeper image by a factor of 4 to 8 than we will achieve over the entire 10,000 deg^2. We provide flux densities, source sizes, and spectral indices for the 425 sources detected in the image. We identify ~100$ new flat spectrum radio sources; we project that when completed PiGSS will identify 10^4 flat spectrum sources. We identify one source that is a possible transient radio source. This survey provides new limits on faint radio transients and variables with characteristic durations of months.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; revision submitted with extraneous figure remove