Volatile Compounds and Total Phenolic Content of Perilla frutescens at Microgreens and Mature Stages

Microgreens are considered products of high biological value because they contain natural and beneficial metabolites and antioxidants in high amounts; also, consumers appreciate them very much for their aromas. In this work, we focused our attention on the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from whole fresh leaves of two Chinese basil varieties (Perilla frutescens var. frutescens and var. crispa) at the microgreens stage; to show that the emission is microgreens specific we tested whether this capacity remains during subsequent growth of the plants. We found differences between the VOCs produced by the leaves of the two varieties at the microgreens stage and significantly reduced emission after development (additional four weeks of growth) particularly for the green variety (var. frutescens). The main volatiles emitted by whole leaves were D-Limonene for the red variety (crispa) and 2-Hexanoylfuran for the green one. In addition, the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant power increase in adult leaves. These results clearly indicate that the particular smell of microgreens Perilla leaves depends on the specific variety and is not related to the amount of total phenols or antioxidant capacity of the leaves.

Analysis of Clinical Characteristics, Background, and Paroxysmal Activity in EEG of Patients with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy

Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) appears in adolescence with myoclonic, absence, and generalized tonic clonic (GTC) seizures with paroxysmal activity of polyspike and slow wave (PSW), or spike and wave (SW) complexes in EEG. Our aim was to analyze the clinical characteristics, background EEG activity, and paroxysmal events in 41 patients with JME. Background EEG activity was analyzed with visual, quantitative (QEEG), and neurometric parameters. Our JME patients started with absence seizures at 11.4 ± 1.5 years old, myoclonic seizures at 13.6 ± 2.5 years, and GTC seizures at 15.1 ± 0.8 years. The seizures presented in awakening at 7:39 h with sleep deprivation, alcoholic beverage intake, and stress as the most frequent precipitant factors. Paroxysmal activity was of PSW and fast SW complexes with 40.5 ± 62.6 events/hour and a duration of 1.7 s. Right asymmetric paroxysmal activity was present in 68.3% of patients. Background EEG activity was abnormal in 31.7% of patients with visual analysis. With QEEG beta AP (absolute power) increase and AP delta decrease were the most frequent abnormalities found. Spectral analysis showed that 48.7% of patients had normal results, and 26.83% and 24.4% had higher and lower frequencies than 10.156 Hz, respectively. We concluded that, with visual analysis, background EEG activity was abnormal in a few patients and the abnormalities increased when QEEG was used.

Time course of EEG power during creative problem-solving with insight or remote thinking

Problem-solving often requires creativity and is critical in everyday life. However, the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying creative problem-solving remain poorly understood. Two mechanisms have been highlighted: forming new connections from and between the problem elements and insight solving (with a sudden realization of a solution). We examined EEG activity during an adapted version of a classical insight problem task, the Remote Associates Test, that requires finding a word connecting three words. It allowed us to explore remoteness in semantic connections (by varying the remoteness of the solution word across trials) and insight solving (identified as a "Eureka" moment reported by the participants). Semantic remoteness was associated with a power increase in alpha band (8-12Hz) in a left parieto-temporal cluster, beta band (13-30Hz) in a right fronto-temporal cluster in the early phase of the task, and theta band (3-7Hz) in frontal cluster before the participants responded. Insight solving was associated with power increase preceding the response in alpha and gamma band (31-60Hz) in left temporal clusters and theta band in a frontal cluster. Source reconstructions show the brain regions associated with these clusters. Overall, our findings shed new light on the dynamic of some of the mechanisms involved in creative problem-solving.

Simultaneous Enhancement of Contrast and Power of Femtosecond Laser Pulses by Nonlinear Interferometer

We showed that the nonlinear Mach–Zehnder interferometer may be used not only for enhancing temporal contrast, as proposed earlier, but also for increasing pulse power due to efficient pulse compression. The interferometer introduces into the output pulse a nonlinear phase equal to π/2. This allows increasing laser power by a factor of 1.5 only by means of a chirped mirror. Use of an additional nonlinear plate leads to a multi-fold power increase retaining the contrast enhancement.

The Effect of Squat Training and Leg Length in Increasing the Leg Power of Volleyball Extracurricular Participants

The study purpose. This study aims to see: (1) The difference in the effect of barbell squat and resistance band squat exercises on the increase in leg power. (2) The difference in influence between players who have high leg height and low leg length on the increase in leg power. (3) The interaction of barbell squat and resistance band squat exercises with leg length (high and low) to increase the power of volleyball extracurricular participants. Materials and Methods. This is an experimental research using a 2 × 2 factorial design. The population in this study were 38 volleyball extracurricular participants at SMA Negeri 1 Sedayu. The sample in this study may be 20 people. Instruments used for measuring: a tape measure for the length of the legs and a vertical jump for the power of the legs. The data analysis technique used was two-way ANOVA. Results. The result showed that (1) There was a significant effect between barbell squat and resistance band squat exercises on the increase in the power of volleyball extracurricular participants, with an F value of 65.789 and a significance value of p = 0.000 (<0.05). The squat group has a higher resistance band (good) compared to the barbell squat group with an average difference of 2.5. (2) There was a significant difference in the effect of players who have high leg height and low leg length on the increase in leg power of volleyball extracurricular participants, it is proven that the F value is 38.000 and the significance value is p = 0.000 (<0.05). Players who have high leg length are higher (good) compared to players who have low leg length with an average difference of 1.90. (3) There was a significant interaction between barbell squat and resistance band squat and leg length (high and low) on the leg power increase of volleyball extracurricular members, with an F value of 88.256 and a significance of p = 0.000 (<0.05). Conclusions. There was a significant difference in the effect of barbell squats and resistance band squats on increasing leg power, there was a significant difference in the effect between players who have high leg length and low leg length on the increase in leg power, and There is a significant interaction between barbell squats and squat resistance bands and leg length (high and low) on the increase in leg power of volleyball extracurricular participants.

Studies and Research on Obtaining Multifunctional Thin Films by Magnetron-Assisted PVD Process

The paper aims to obtain thin films of nickel and zinc through the magnetron-assisted spraying process and their characterization from a structural point of view, of electrical, optical properties and corrosion resistance. It was found that as the intensity and discharge power increase, changes occur in the structure and properties of the deposited films.

Strong gamma frequency oscillations in the adolescent prefrontal cortex

Working memory ability continues to mature into adulthood in both humans and non-human primates. At the single neuron level, adolescent development is characterized by increased prefrontal firing rate in the delay period, but less is known about how coordinated activity between neurons is altered. Local field potentials (LFP) provide a window into the computation carried out by the local network. To address the effects of adolescent development on LFP activity, three male rhesus monkeys were trained to perform an oculomotor delayed response task and tested at both the adolescent and adult stage. Simultaneous single-unit and LFP signals were recorded from areas 8a and 46 of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). In both the cue and delay period, power relative to baseline increased in the gamma frequency range (32 - 128 Hz). In the adult stage, high-firing neurons were also more likely to reside at sites with strong gamma power increase from baseline. For both stages, the gamma power increase in the delay was selective for sites with neuron encoding stimulus information in their spiking. Gamma power and neuronal firing did not show stronger temporal correlations. Our results establish gamma power decrease to be a feature of prefrontal cortical maturation.Significance StatementGamma-frequency oscillations in extracellular field recordings (such as LFP or EEG) are a marker of normal interactions between excitatory and inhibitory neurons in neural circuits. Abnormally low gamma power during working memory is seen in conditions such as schizophrenia. We sought to examine whether the immature prefrontal cortex similarly exhibits lower power in the gamma frequency range during working memory, in a non-human primate model of adolescence. Contrary to this expectation, the adolescent PFC exhibited stronger gamma power during the maintenance of working memory. Our findings reveal an unknown developmental maturation trajectory of gamma band oscillations and raise the possibility that schizophrenia represent an excessive state of prefrontal maturation.

Power Maximization and Turbulence Intensity Management through Axial Induction-Based Optimization and Efficient Static Turbine Deployment

Layout optimization is capable of increasing turbine density and reducing wake effects in wind plants. However, such optimized layouts do not guarantee fixed T-2-T distances in any direction and would be disadvantageous if reduction in computational costs due to turbine set-point updates is also a priority. Regular turbine layouts are considered basic because turbine coordinates can be determined intuitively without the application of any optimization algorithms. However, such layouts can be used to intentionally create directions of large T-2-T distances, hence, achieve the gains of standard/non-optimized operations in these directions, while also having close T-2-T distances in other directions from which the gains of optimized operations can be enjoyed. In this study, a regular hexagonal turbine layout is used to deploy turbines within a fixed area dimension, and a turbulence intensity-constrained axial induction-based plant-wide optimization is carried out using particle swarm, artificial bee colony, and differential evolution optimization techniques. Optimized plant power for three close turbine deployments (4D, 5D, and 6D) are compared to a non-optimized 7D deployment using three mean wind inflows. Results suggest that a plant power increase of up to 37% is possible with a 4D deployment, with this increment decreasing as deployment distance increases and as mean wind inflow increases.