BACKGROUND: Despite substantial progress in investigating its psychophysical complexity, tinnitus remains a scientific and clinical enigma. The present study, through an ecological and multidisciplinary approach, aims to identify associations between electroencephalographic (EEG) and psycho-audiological variables.
METHODS: EEG beta activity, often related to stress and anxiety, was acquired from 12 tinnitus patients (TIN group) and 7 controls (CONT group) during an audio cognitive task and at rest. We also investigated psychological (SCL-90-R; STAI-Y; BFI-10) and audiological (THI; TQ12-I; Hyperacusis) variables using non-parametric statistics to assess differences and relationships between and within groups.
RESULTS: In the TIN group, frontal beta activity positively correlated with hyperacusis, parietal activity, and trait anxiety; the latter is also associated with depression in CONT. Significant differences in paranoid ideation and openness were found between groups.
CONCLUSIONS: The connection between anxiety trait, beta activity in the fronto-parietal cortices and hyperacusis provides insights into brain functioning in tinnitus patients, offering quantitative descriptions for clinicians and new multidisciplinary treatment hypotheses.

The anticipation of oncoming threats is emotionally challenging and related to anxiety. The current study aimed to investigate the neural regulatory processes during the anticipatory preparations in stressful situations in relation to trait anxiety, especially in an uncertainty-related stressful situation. To this end, we measured within-subjects delta-beta amplitude-amplitude correlation (AAC) and phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) with electroencephalography using a well-defined stress-inducing paradigm in 28 high-trait-anxiety (HTA) and 29 low-trait-anxiety (LTA) college students. Specifically, a threat probability task was conducted, where participants anticipated the future stimuli under the uncertain (i.e., an average of 50% electric shocks), certain (i.e., 100% electric shocks) and no threat conditions, as well as a resting state task. Results showed a generally larger delta-beta AAC in the LTA group relative to the HTA group across conditions, supporting the hypothesis that delta-beta AAC reflects the efficiency of stress regulation and trait anxiety could compromise this adaptive regulatory activity. Furthermore, a larger delta-beta PAC was found under the uncertain threat condition relative to the no threat condition, indicating the sensitivity of delta-beta PAC in reflecting state anxiety. These findings indicate that while delta-beta AAC is more related to trait anxiety and could distinguish between high and low trait anxiety irrespective of conditions, delta-beta PAC is more related to state anxiety and is sensitive enough to detect the uncertainty-related anxious state.

UNASSIGNED: In a parallel-group, international, phase 3 study (ClinicalTrials.govNCT04762680), we evaluated prototype (D614) and Beta (B.1.351) variant recombinant spike protein booster vaccines with AS03-adjuvant (CoV2 preS dTM-AS03).
UNASSIGNED: Adults, previously primed with mRNA (BNT162b2, mRNA-1273), adenovirus-vectored (Ad26.CoV2.S, ChAdOx1nCoV-19) or protein (CoV2 preS dTM-AS03 [monovalent D614; MV(D614)]) vaccines were enrolled between 29 July 2021 and 22 February 2022. Participants were stratified by age (18-55 and ≥ 56 years) and received one of the following CoV2 preS dTM-AS03 booster formulations: MV(D614) (n = 1285), MV(B.1.351) (n = 707) or bivalent D614 + B.1.351 (BiV; n = 625). Unvaccinated adults who tested negative on a SARS-CoV-2 rapid diagnostic test (control group, n = 479) received two primary doses, 21 days apart, of MV(D614). Anti-D614G and anti-B.1.351 antibodies were evaluated using validated pseudovirus (lentivirus) neutralization (PsVN) assay 14 days post-booster (day [D]15) in 18-55-year-old BNT162b2-primed participants and compared with those pre-booster (D1) and on D36 in 18-55-year-old controls (primary immunogenicity endpoints). PsVN titers to Omicron BA.1, BA.2 and BA.4/5 subvariants were also evaluated. Safety was evaluated over a 12-month follow-up period. Planned interim analyses are presented up to 14 days post-last vaccination for immunogenicity and over a median duration of 5 months for safety.
UNASSIGNED: All three boosters elicited robust anti-D614G or -B.1.351 PsVN responses for mRNA, adenovirus-vectored and protein vaccine-primed groups. Among BNT162b2-primed adults (18-55 years), geometric means of the individual post-booster versus pre-booster titer ratio (95% confidence interval [CI]) were: for MV (D614), 23.37 (18.58-29.38) (anti-D614G); for MV(B.1.351), 35.41 (26.71-46.95) (anti-B.1.351); and for BiV, 14.39 (11.39-18.28) (anti-D614G) and 34.18 (25.84-45.22 (anti-B.1.351). GMT ratios (98.3% CI) versus post-primary vaccination GMTs in controls, were: for MV(D614) booster, 2.16 (1.69; 2.75) [anti-D614G]; for MV(B.1.351), 1.96 (1.54; 2.50) [anti-B.1.351]; and for BiV, 2.34 (1.84; 2.96) [anti-D614G] and 1.39 (1.09; 1.77) [anti-B.1.351]. All booster formulations elicited cross-neutralizing antibodies against Omicron BA.2 (across priming vaccine subgroups), Omicron BA.1 (BNT162b2-primed participants) and Omicron BA.4/5 (BNT162b2-primed participants and MV D614-primed participants). Similar patterns in antibody responses were observed for participants aged ≥56 years. Reactogenicity tended to be transient and mild-to-moderate severity in all booster groups. No safety concerns were identified.
UNASSIGNED: CoV2 preS dTM-AS03 boosters demonstrated acceptable safety and elicited robust neutralizing antibodies against multiple variants, regardless of priming vaccine.
UNASSIGNED: Sanofi and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

In the current article, the effect of Si/Al ratio on the NOx adsorption and storage capacity over Pd/Beta with 1 wt% Pd loading was investigated. The XRD, 27Al NMR and 29Si NMR measurements were used to determine the structure of Pd/Beta zeolites. XAFS, XPS, CO-DRIFT, TEM and H2-TPR were used to identify the Pd species. The results showed that the NOx adsorption and storage capacity on Pd/Beta zeolites gradually decreased with the increase of Si/Al ratio. Pd/Beta-Si (Si-rich, Si/Al~260) rarely has NOx adsorption and storage capacity, while Pd/Beta-Al (Al-rich, Si/Al~6) and Pd/Beta-C (Common, Si/Al~25) exhibit excellent NOx adsorption and storage capacity and suitable desorption temperature. Pd/Beta-C has slightly lower desorption temperature compared to Pd/Beta-Al. The NOx adsorption and storage capacity increased for Pd/Beta-Al and Pd/Beta-C by hydrothermal aging treatment, while the NOx adsorption and storage capacity on Pd/Beta-Si had no change.

It has been reported that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused more than 286 million cases and 5.4 million deaths to date. Several strategies have been implemented globally, such as social distancing and the development of the vaccines. Several severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants have appeared, such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron. With the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus and the rapidly changing mutants, the development of a broad-spectrum multivalent vaccine is considered to be the most effective way to defend against the constantly mutating virus. Here, we evaluated the immunogenicity of the multivalent COVID-19 inactivated vaccine. Mice were immunized by multivalent COVID-19 inactivated vaccine, and the neutralizing antibodies in serum were analyzed. The results show that HB02 + Delta + Omicron trivalent vaccine could provide broad spectrum protection against HB02, Beta, Delta, and Omicron virus. Additionally, the different multivalent COVID-19 inactivated vaccines could enhance cellular immunity. Together, our findings suggest that the multivalent COVID-19 inactivated vaccine can provide broad spectrum protection against HB02 and other virus variants in humoral and cellular immunity, providing new ideas for the development of a broad-spectrum COVID-19 vaccine.

In order to overcome the pandemic of COVID-19, messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccine has been extensively researched as a rapid and versatile strategy. Herein, we described the immunogenicity of mRNA-based vaccines for Beta and the most recent Omicron variants. The homologous mRNA-Beta and mRNA-Omicron and heterologous Ad5-nCoV plus mRNA vaccine exhibited high-level cross-reactive neutralization for Beta, original, Delta, and Omicron variants. It indicated that the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines have great potential in the clinical use against different SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Psoriasis is a chronic and hyperproliferative skin disease featured by hyperkeratosis with parakeratosis, Munro micro-abscess, elongation of rete pegs, granulosa thinning, and lymphocyte infiltration. We previously profiled gene expression and chromatin accessibility of psoriatic skins by transcriptome sequencing and ATAC-seq. However, integrating both of these datasets to unravel gene expression regulation is lacking. Here, we integrated transcriptome and ATAC-seq of the same psoriatic and normal skin tissues, trying to leverage the potential role of chromatin accessibility and their function in histopathology features.
By inducing binding and expression target analysis (BETA) algorithms, we explored the target prediction of transcription factors binding in 15 psoriatic and 19 control skins. BETA identified 408 upregulated genes (rank product < 0.01) and 133 downregulated genes linked with chromatin accessibility. We noticed that cumulative fraction of genes in upregulation group was statistically higher than background, while that of genes in downregulation group was not significant. KEGG pathway analysis showed that the upregulated 408 genes were enriched in TNF, NOD, and IL-17 signaling pathways. In addition, the motif module in BETA suggested the 57 upregulated genes are targeted by transcription factor AP-1, indicating that increased chromatin accessibility facilitated the binding of AP-1 to the target regions and further induced expression of relevant genes. Among these genes, SQLE, STRN, EIF4, and MYO1B expression was increased in patients with hyperkeratosis, parakeratosis, and acanthosis thickening.
In summary, with the advantage of BETA, we identified a series of genes that contribute to the disease pathogenesis, especially in modulating histopathology features, providing us with new clues in treating psoriasis.

The large particle sizes, inert frameworks, and small pore sizes of mesoporous silica nanoparticles greatly restrict their application in the acidic catalysis. The research reports a simple and versatile approach to synthesize walnut-like mesoporous silica nanospheres (WMSNs) with large tunable pores and small particle sizes by assembling with Beta seeds. The as-synthesized Beta-WMSNs composite materials possess ultrasmall particulate sizes (70 nm), large radial mesopores (≈30 nm), and excellent acidities (221.6 mmol g-1 ). Ni2 P active phase is supported on the surface of Beta-WMSNs composite materials, and it is found that the obtained composite spherical materials can reduce the Ni2 P particle sizes from 8.4 to 4.8 nm with the increasing amount of Beta seeds, which can provide high accessibilities of reactants to the active sites. Furthermore, the unique large pores and ultrasmall particle sizes of Beta-WMSNs samples facilitate the reduction of the diffusion resistance of reactants due to the short transporting length, thus the corresponding Ni2 P/Beta-WMSNs composite catalysts show the excellent hydrogenating activity compared to the pure Ni2 P/WMSNs catalyst.

Unilateral hearing loss constitutes a field of growing interest in the scientific community. In fact, this kind of patients represent a unique and physiological way to investigate how neuroplasticity overcame unilateral deafferentation by implementing particular strategies that produce apparently next- to- normal hearing behavioural performances. This explains why such patients have been underinvestigated for a long time. Thanks to the availability of techniques able to study the cerebral activity underlying the mentioned behavioural outcomes, the aim of the present research was to elucidate whether different electroencephalographic (EEG) patterns occurred in unilateral hearing loss (UHL) children in comparison to normal hearing (NH) controls during speech-in-noise listening. Given the intrinsic lateralized nature of such patients, due to the unilateral side of hearing impairment, the experimental question was to assess whether this would reflect a different EEG pattern while performing a word in noise recognition task varying the direction of the noise source. Results showed a correlation between the period of deafness and the cortical activity asymmetry toward the hearing ear side in the frontal, parietal and occipital areas in all the experimental conditions. Concerning alpha and beta activity in the frontal and central areas highlighted that in the NH group, the lateralization was always left-sided during the Quiet condition, while it was right-sided in noise conditions; this evidence was not, however, detected also in the UHL group. In addition, focusing on the theta and alpha activity in the frontal areas (Broca area) during noise conditions, while the activity was always left-lateralized in the NH group, it was ipsilateral to the direction of the background noise in the UHL group, and of a weaker extent than in NH controls. Furthermore, in noise conditions, only the UHL group showed a higher theta activity in the temporal areas ipsilateral to the side where the background noise was directed to. Finally, in the case of bilateral noise (background noise and word signal both coming from the same two sources), the theta and alpha activity in the frontal areas (Broca area) was left-lateralized in the case of the NH group and lateralized towards the side of the better hearing ear in the case of the UHL group. Taken together, this evidence supports the establishment of a particular EEG pattern occurrence in UHL children taking place in the frontal (Broca area), temporal and parietal lobes, probably physiologically established in order to deal with different sound and noise source directions.

Insomnia has been associated in cross-sectional studies with increased beta (15-35 Hz) electroencephalogram (EEG) power during nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, an index of cortical hyperarousal. However, it is unknown whether this cortical hyperarousal is present before individuals with insomnia develop the disorder. To fill this gap, we examined the association of childhood sleep high-frequency EEG activity with incident insomnia symptoms (i.e., absence of insomnia symptoms in childhood but presence in adolescence).
We studied a case-control subsample of 45 children (6-11 years) from the Penn State Child Cohort, a population-based random sample of 421 children, who were followed up after 8 years as adolescents (13-20 years). We examined low-beta (15-25 Hz) and high-beta (25-35 Hz) relative power at central EEG derivations during NREM sleep and, in secondary analyses, during sleep onset latency, sleep onset, and REM sleep. Incident insomnia symptoms were defined as the absence of parent-reported difficulty falling and/or staying asleep during childhood and a self-report of these insomnia symptoms during adolescence.
Childhood high-beta power during NREM sleep was significantly increased in children who developed insomnia symptoms in adolescence (n = 25) as compared to normal sleeping controls (n = 20; p = .03). Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models showed that increased childhood high-beta EEG power during NREM sleep was associated with a threefold increased odds (95% CI = 1.12-7.98) of incident insomnia symptoms in adolescence. No other significant relationships were observed for other sleep/wake states or EEG frequency bands.
Increased childhood high-frequency EEG power during NREM sleep is associated with incident insomnia symptoms in adolescence. This study indicates that cortical hyperarousal during sleep may be a premorbid neurophysiological sign of insomnia, which may mediate the increased risk of psychiatric disorders associated with insomnia.