Scientific Research Institute of Biochemistry

Intelligence is increasingly recognized as a critical factor in successful behavioral and emotional regulation. Neuroimaging techniques coupled with machine learning algorithms have proven to be valuable tools for uncovering the neural foundations of individual cognitive abilities. Nevertheless, current EEG studies primarily focus on classification tasks to predict the intelligence category of subjects (e.g., high, medium, or low intelligence), rather than providing quantitative intelligence-level forecasts. Furthermore, the outcomes obtained are significantly impacted by the specific data processing pipeline chosen, which could potentially compromise result generalizability. In this study, we implemented a connectome-based predictive modeling approach on high-density resting-state EEG data from healthy participants to predict their nonverbal intelligence level. This method was applied to three independently collected data sets (n = 255) with different functional connectivity methods, parcellation atlases, threshold p values, and curve fitting orders used to ensure the reliability of the findings. Prediction accuracy, measured as correlation between predicted and observed values, varied significantly across pipeline configurations. The most consistent results across data sets were found in the alpha frequency band. Furthermore, we employed a computational lesioning approach to identify the valuable edges that made the most significant contribution to predicting intelligence. This analysis highlighted the crucial role of frontal and parietal regions in complex cognitive computations. Overall, these findings support and expand upon previous research, underscoring the close relationship between alpha rhythm characteristics and cognitive functions and emphasizing the critical consideration of method selection in result evaluation.

The study is devoted to the effect of sports addiction (SA) on the effectiveness of pulmonary gas exchange during the period of physical activity deprivation. Overall, 27 male athletes (middle-distance runners) aged 20 to 25 years during the period of physical deprivation (lasting 2 weeks) were examined. All athletes were tested using the following questionnaires: Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI), Formal Characteristics of Behavior-Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI), and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R). As a test load, the subjects performed a hypoxic test (breathing with a gas mixture with 10% O2 for 10 min) with the recording of cardio-respiratory and gas exchange indicators on the Oxycon Pro@ ergospirometry system (Erich Jaeger) in the initial state, at 10 min of exposure, and 5 min of recovery. SaO2 (%) was measured using the BCI Autocorr (United States) ear pulse oximeter. The results of the study did not show a relationship between temperament types and the level of SA, but found a relationship between the level of addiction and the “perseverance” scale of the FCB-TI questionnaire. It has been established that oxygen consumption during hypoxic exposure and recovery period in addictive athletes is higher than in non-addicts. The dependence of the efficiency of pulmonary gas exchange depending on the level of sports skill has been established. In high-class athletes, the level of addiction does not correlate with the fan costs for obtaining 1 L of O2 when performing hypoxic load, while in athletes of average sports qualification, the level of addiction directly correlates with the efficiency of pulmonary gas exchange. Thus, the factor of sports addiction affects the effectiveness of pulmonary gas exchange under conditions of hypoxia, mainly on low-skilled athletes.

Arterial hypertension leads to changes in the functioning of various body systems, including the immune one. TRP ion channels are increasingly attracting attention as targets for therapeutic correction of visceral functions. Gene expression of thermosensitive TRP ion channels (TRPM8, TRPA1, TRPV1, TRPV2, TRPV3, TRPV4) was analyzed via quantitative RT-PCR in the immunocompetent organ, spleen, of normotensive and hypertensive rats under normal conditions, as well as during cooling and peripheral cold-sensitive TRPM8 channel activation. The genes of these channels are expressed differentially in the spleen of both rat strains. Gene expression of cold-sensitive TRPM8 and TRPA1 channels is decreased in the spleen of hypertensive rats, which is consistent with our previous data on decreased TRPM8 gene expression in the hypothalamus of the same rat strain. Deep body cooling, as well as menthol-induced activation of peripheral (skin) TRPM8 channels, lead to an increase in the gene expression of TRPA1 and TRPV1 channels in the spleen of hypertensive rats, while unaffecting the expression of these genes in normotensive animals. Given that TRPA1 and TRPV1 channels are involved in inflammatory processes, this may suggest that cold exposure modifies inflammatory reactions in hypertensive animals. The obtained data expand knowledge about the representation of thermosensitive TRP channels in immunocompetent organs and may also indicate a change in the immune status of an organism in arterial hypertension.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of coronary artery disease (CAD) on the frequency and spatial characteristics of the electroencephalogram (EEG) in patients with preserved cognitive status and those with cognitive impairment. The study included 132 patients with stable coronary artery disease and 63 subjects in a group of apparently healthy elderly people. All patients underwent neuropsychological screening, and based on the results, they were divided into two groups: those without cognitive impairment (CI) who scored 27-30 points on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA) (n=37) and those with CI who scored 20-26 points on the MoCA scale (n=95). Patients and healthy subjects also underwent a high-resolution EEG. It was found that the differentiation between groups of CAD patients with and without CI and healthy elderly individuals occurs at the frequencies of theta1, theta2, and alpha2 rhythms, with local differences in the power of theta1 biopotentials and global differences in the theta2 and alpha2 ranges. The presented results demonstrate that patients with CAD and cognitive impairment exhibit specific features in the frequency and spatial characteristics of brain electrical activity compared to those of healthy elderly individuals.

An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119723970017

This study examined associations between self-reported mental health problems, body image, bullying victimisation and school safety in large adolescent samples in Japan and Russia, considering the effects of gender, culture and their interactions. In both Japan and Russia, girls reported a greater number of mental health problems, less bullying victimisation and much higher body dissatisfaction than boys did. Japanese adolescents rated themselves higher on total difficulties, reported less body dissatisfaction and bullying victimisation, and rated their school safety lower than that of Russian youths. Cross-cultural differences in total difficulties and body image were qualified by gender. Body dissatisfaction, bullying victimisation and school safety all independently contributed to adolescent mental health problems. The protective effect of school safety on total difficulties was larger for girls than for boys; the strength of the association between bullying victimisation and adolescent mental health problems differed across genders and cultures. The findings indicate a need for a cross-cultural approach and provide a strong basis for targeted interventions that seek to improve adolescent mental health.

The presence of the higher level of the alpha RXR is necessary because the VDR cannot bind on the DNA and this attributed to the VDR has short DNA binding hinge, when the alpha RXR has abnormality in its structure or it may inert this will be lead to the dimishimg the role of both calcitriol and VDR in decreasing the disease intensity and therby increase its comorbidities hyperproliferation among these group. The RXR are superfamily of the nuclear receptor consisted from three subclass include the alpha, beta and gamma members, the alpha RXR is only active members from the RXR family

Felicity Pinipay Rajesh Rokkam, Archana Bollavarapu, Gangaraju Rapaka and Raghava Rao Tamanam Ficus religiosa is one of the oldest trees portrayed in Atharvaveda, Arthasastra, Upanishads, Bhagavadgita, Buddhist literature, etc. The wide therapeutic usage of F. religiosa since ancient times is mentioned in Indian traditional medicine systems like Ayurveda, Unani, etc.