关键词： Facial component segmentation   Facial expression recognition   Convolutional neural network   Deep learning  

摘要： Facial expressions are a significant part of non-verbal communication. Recognizing facial expressions of people with neurological disorders is essential because these people may have lost a significant amount of their verbal communication ability. Such an assessment requires time consuming examination involving medical personnel, which can be quite challenging and expensive. Automated facial expression recognition systems that are low-cost and non-invasive can help experts detect neurological disorders. In this study, an automated facial expression recognition system is developed using a novel deep learning approach. The architecture consists of four-stage networks. The first, second and third networks segment the facial components which are essential for facial expression recognition. Owing to the three networks, an iconize facial image is obtained. The fourth network classifies facial expressions using raw facial images and iconize facial images. This four-stage method combines holistic facial information with local part-based features to achieve more robust facial expression recognition. Preliminary experimental results achieved 94.44% accuracy for facial expression recognition on RaFD database. The proposed system produced 5% improvement than the facial expression recognition system by using raw images. This study presents a quantitative, objective and non-invasive facial expression recognition system to help in the monitoring and diagnosis of neurological disorders influencing facial expressions.

关键词： Pigs   Birth weight   Neurological development   Neurological examination   Human approach test   Emotion  

摘要： Low birth weight (LBW) piglets are an increasingly common occurrence on commercial pig farms, due to selection for sow fecundity. In humans, LBW is a known risk factor for impaired brain development, resulting in impaired neurological functioning and increased vulnerability to stressors. In pigs, the pre-weaning effects of LBW on neurological and emotional functioning are less well known. To assess neurological development, 60 LBW and 60 normal birth weight (NBW) piglets were subjected to a neurological examination at day one after birth. To assess fear responses, another 60 LBW-NBW pairs were compared in a human approach test (HAT) at three weeks of age. In the neurological exam, neonatal LBW piglets were found to be less likely to display a withdrawal reflex in response to a painful stimulus (P = 0.022) and showed impaired coordination during locomotion on a balance beam (P = 0.030). These findings suggest LBW piglets' increased neonatal mortality, often due to an impaired ability to compete over food or avoid crushing by the sow, could be influenced by a delayed neuromotor development. No effects of birth weight were found on behavioral responses in the HAT, such as latency to approach an unfamiliar human and rate of vocalizations. This suggests LBW and NBW piglets have similar levels of fear in this test. However, we also found indications that the fearfulness displayed by nursing piglets in the HAT is likely due to the temporary removal from the farrowing pen, instead of the presence of an unfamiliar human. Therefore, we can only conclude that LBW does not influence the behavioral response to this combination of stressors (i.e., social isolation from the sow and the piglets' litter mates, whilst being in a novel environment), as measured by the HAT. Future studies are required to assess whether fear responses to less salient on-farm stressors are affected by birth weight.

摘要： The guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in pediatric advanced life support suggest that midazolam is the preferred agent for sedation in patients with mild hypothermia, whereas children with cardiac arrest (CA) are at a crucial stage regarding their immature nervous system. Studies have shown that midazolam may have a detrimental effect on the developmental of the pediatric nervous system. Our previous study found that midazolam induced neuronal damage after CPR in young rats. It is speculated that: midazolam causes the potential injury of neurons by inhibiting mitochondrial autophagy expression and is an important factor for the poor prognosis in children after successful CPR. This project intends to adopt the modified asphyxiant CPR model in juvenile rats. Survival rate, neurological function and histopathological changes were evaluated to determine the protective effects of appropriate sedation depth on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in juvenile rats after CPR. Combined with cell biology and molecular biology related technologies, the mechanism by which the mitochondrial pinkl-parkin signaling pathway induces autophagy to inhibit neuronal apoptosis may be key factor in the protective effects of sedation depth on the brain. The aim of this study is to provide experimental evidence and elucidate the mechanisms of improvement of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury by sedation depth in children after successful CPR and to lay a theoretical and experimental basis for clinical treatment.

关键词： Organophosphate   Dialkylphosphate   DNA damage   Nerve conduction   Neurological symptom  

摘要： Garlic farmers used organophosphate pesticides to control insects, resulting in an increased risk for adverse health outcomes. Thus, we investigated exposure to organophosphate pesticides, DNA damage, nerve conduction, and neurological symptoms among 134 garlic farmers. They were interviewed, measured nerve conduction, and collected blood and urine for determining DNA damage and dialkylphosphate metabolites. Total dialkylphosphate levels of farmers who began cultivating garlic in October were significantly higher than those of non-farmers and the farmers who began cultivating in November and December. Farmers showed significantly longer comet tail lengths and tail moments than non-farmers. However, their mean compound motor and sensory nerve action potential amplitudes of the median, ulnar, and common peroneal nerves were within normal ranges. Measurement of DNA damage is useful as a biomarker of long-term and low-level exposure to organophosphate pesticides;however, electromyography might be not sufficiently sensitive to detect nerve conduction effects in farmers exposed to pesticides.

关键词： electronic nicotine delivery devices   addiction   cotinine   nicotine   noncigarette tobacco products  

摘要： Maternal smoking is currently a public health concern and has been associated with a number of complications in the offspring. E-cigarettes are gaining popularity as a "safer" alternative to tobacco cigarettes during pregnancy, however, there are a limited number of studies to suggest that it is actually "safe." Balb/C female mice were exposed to ambient air (n = 8;Sham), or tobacco cigarette smoke (n = 8;SE) before gestation, during gestation and lactation. A third group was exposed to cigarette smoke before gestation followed by e-cigarette aerosols during gestation and lactation (n = 8;Switch). Male offspring (12-week old, n = 10-14/group) underwent behavioral assessments to investigate short-termmemory, anxiety, and activity using the novel object recognition and elevated plus maze tests. Brains were collected at postnatal day (P)1, P20, and Week 13 for global DNA methylation, epigenetic gene expression, and neuronal cell counts. The offspring from mothers switching to e-cigarettes exhibited no change in exploration/activity but showed a decrease in global DNA methylation, Aurora Kinase (Aurk) A and AurkB gene expression and a reduction in neuronal cell numbers in the cornu ammonis 1 region of the dorsal hippocampus compared with the SE group. Continuous tobacco cigarette smoke exposure during pregnancy resulted in marked neurological deficits in the offspring. Switching to e-cigarettes during pregnancy reduced these neurological deficits compared with cigarette smoke exposure. However, neurological changes were still observed, so we therefore conclude that e-cigarette use during pregnancy is not advised.

关键词： Multiple sclerosis   Menstrual cycle   Premenstrual worsening   Disability  

摘要： Objectives: Premenstrual worsening has been often complained by patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, there is no quantitative study in the literature regarding premenstrual worsening and there are only a few studies for its reasons. In diseases such as MS, which there are limited evidence about the etiology and the triggers, detection of the variables in menstrual period, which is defined relatively easy, has a great potential to shed light to the disease. In the present study, we aimed to detect whether there was a deterioration in premenstrual period of patients with MS and to measure the observed deterioration and the relationships between demographics, physical and hormonal variables. Patients and methods: This study included 44 patients with MS, who were diagnosed according to McDonald criteria, and 14 healthy controls. For two consecutive cycles, cases were evaluated on the basis of neurological functions in the premenstrual and ovulation phases. In each examination, blood samples were obtained for detection of the levels of sex hormones (FSH, LH, E2, Progesterone). In the first and the fourth examinations, we applied Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC). Results: Patients with MS showed poor performance in all used measurements than the healthy controls. Premenstrual period was worse based on cognitive aspects than the ovulation period in both MS patients and healthy controls. This was more evident in patients with MS. Patients treated with immunomodulatory agents had better cognitive performance than those were not given these agents. Conclusion: In our study, the patients with MS were found to be worse in cognition, and physical performance when compared with the healthy group. In premenstrual period, cognitive functions, and physical performance deteriorated in patients with MS. Healthy people seemed to be deteriorated on cognition measured with Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test.

关键词： Clematichinenoside   middle cerebral artery occlusion reperfusion   Notch/NF-kappa B   neuronal survival   motor functional recovery  

摘要： Purpose: The present study was to observe the therapeutic efficiency of Clematichinenoside (AR) on cerebral ischemic injury in rats, especially on neurological and motor function recovery and to explore the underlying mechanism. Methods: Following middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) surgery, rats were treated orally with 32, 16, and 8 mg/kg AR respectively for 14 days during which cerebral injury was evaluated and proinflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor-a and interleukin-6 as well as neurotrophic factors brain-derived neurotrophic factor and Neurotrophin-3 levels were determined with ELISA kits. Immunohistochemical analysis on number of neurons and reactive astrocytes in the hippocampus was to demonstrate the effect of AR on neuronal survival. Motor, learning, and memory recovery were assessed by Morris water maze, passive avoidance experiment, and rotatory rod test. Neuroprotection and anti-inflammation-related Notch and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) signaling pathways were analyzed by PCR and Western blot techniques on mammalian achaete-scute homologs1, Notch-1, intracellular Notch receptor domain, Jagged-1, transcription factor hairy, enhancer of split1 (Hes1), as well as the nuclear import of NF-kappa B in hippocampus. Results: AR administration reduced cerebral injury in rats exposed to MCAO/R and after treatment of AR for 14 days, proinflammatory reaction was inhibited, with neuronal survival rate raised and motor function recovery facilitated. PCR and WB analysis of Notch/NF-kappa B signaling pathway revealed the inhibitory effect of AR on pathway related components. Conclusions: AR is beneficial to recovery of neurological and motor function in rats after cerebral ischemic injury via inhibiting Notch/NF-kappa B pathway.