The objective of the present study was to elucidate the neural underpinning of Chinese idiom comprehension with spatiotemporal patterns of ERP. Thirteen subjects were required to decide whether the last character of each viewed Chinese four-character idiom was correct or not. Fuzzy c-means algorithm based on shape similarity was applied to segmenting spatiotemporal patterns of ERP. Statistical parametric map of t-statistic (SPM(t)) was performed after realignment according to the referential frame provided by fuzzy clustering in order to overcome temporal mismatch. Within 540 ms post-stimulus onset, the spatiotemporal patterns of ERP under both conditions could be segmented into 7 stages optimally and both share the first four microstates with variant membership functions and durations. SPM(t) presented significant differences in multiple regions in 3 stages: (1) during 120-150 ms, the early right hemispheric negativities (ERHN) inboth frontal and temporoparietal areas were likely to reflect both initial syntactic processing and visual word-form mismatch; (2) during 320-380 ms (the N400 stage), negative deflections in left frontal, left anterior temporal, centrofrontal regions might coordinate and integrate both syntactic and semantic analysis in extensive right hemisphere; (3) during 480-540 ms (the P600 stage), positive deflections in left temporoparietal and occipital regions seemed to reflect the reanalysis and the integration of word meanings to obtain the over all meaning of idioms. Our study has implicated the brain mechanism of language comprehension common to alphabetic language as well as that specialized in logographic language.

Obesity, a chronic, low-grade inflammatory disease, is associated with alterations of multiple immune-cell components in the visceral adipose tissue (VAT), in which CD4(+) Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been suggested to be a critical regulator. This review focuses on the current understanding of VAT-resident Tregs (VAT Tregs) and their intriguing roles in modulating fat tissue inflammation and obesity-associated metabolic disorders. The potential mechanisms for the regulation of VAT Tregs in lean vs. obese individuals are also discussed. Accumulating evidence reveals that the modulation of VAT Tregs may offer a potential novel strategy for treating obesity-related metabolic disorders, such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

The treatment modality of CTCRT is considerable and effective for EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients even with local failure from front-line EGFR-TKI treatment.

To reassess the efficacy of varicocelectomy in the treatment of hypogonadism in subfertile males, we carried out a meta-analysis of clinical trials and retrospective studies that compared the pre-operative and postoperative serum testosterone. We searched Embase and PubMed (1980 to May 2016) for studies. Eight studies and 712 patients were included. The combined analysis of seven studies discovered that the mean serum testosterone of patients post-operation improved by 34.3 ng/dl (95% CI: 22.57-46.04, p < .00001, I² = 0.0%) compared with their pre-operative levels. In subgroup analysis, testosterone improvements in the hypogonadal treated subgroup were more significant (improved by 123 ng/dl, 95% CI: 114.61-131.35, p < .00001, I = 37%) than in the eugonadals, or the untreated controls. In an analysis of surgery versus untreated control (three studies included), results showed that mean testosterone among hypogonadals increased by 105.65 ng/dl (95% CI: 77.99-133.32), favouring varicocelectomy, as the differences were significant (p < .00001), However, there were insignificant differences in eugonadals (p = .36). In conclusion, varicocelectomy significantly improved testosterone in hypogonadal men with subfertility. Active surgical treatment of varicocele might have a benefit of maintaining healthy androgen levels in subfertile men.