This study investigated interactive exchange in lovers and the associated interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based hyperscanning. Three types of female-male dyads, lovers, friends, and strangers, performed a cooperation task during which brain activity was recorded in right frontoparietal regions. We measured better cooperative behavior in lover dyads compared with friend and stranger dyads. Lover dyads demonstrated increased IBS in right superior frontal cortex, which also covaried with their task performance. Granger causality analyses in lover dyads revealed stronger directional synchronization from females to males than from males to females, suggesting different roles for females and males during cooperation. Our study refines the theoretical explanation of romantic interaction between lovers. Hum Brain Mapp 38:831-841, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Comparison of Parkinson''s disease (PD) prevalence and incidence in various parts of the world is difficult because methods of case ascertainment, diagnostic criteria, classification, medical facilities, and age distribution of the populations vary broadly in different studies. We minimized these differences by adjusting available data to a single standard population. Using this we calculated age-adjusted rates for 27 regional populations and analyzed PD frequency from 45 communities. We conclude: (1) with the exception of China, Japan and Africa, which have the lowest prevalence ratios, the actual prevalence variation for PD is probably lower than previously reported in geographically diverse populations; (2) geographic variation is unlikely to be due exclusively to racial factors, and (3) environmental risk factors for PD might differ regionally.

A new type of polyoxometalate-based porous material was successfully synthesized. The new material is the first fully inorganic Keggin-type polyoxometalate-based microporous material with intrinsically ordered open micropores and is the third member of the small family of octahedral molecular sieves (OMSs). Twelve MoO6 or VO6 octahedra surround a central VO4 tetrahedron to form ε-Keggin polyoxometalate building blocks (ε-VMo9.4V2.6O40) that are linked by Bi(III) ions to form crystalline Mo-V-Bi oxide with a diamondoid topology. The presence of a tetrahedral shape of the ε-Keggin polyoxometalate building block results in arrangement of microporosity in a tetrahedral fashion which is new in OMSs. Owing to its microporosity, this Mo-V-Bi oxide shows zeolitic-like properties such as ion-exchange and molecule adsorption.

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