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The P300 event-related potential (ERP) is associated with attention and memory operations of the brain. P300 is changed in many cognitive disorders such as dementia, Alzheimer, schizophrenia, and major depression disorder. Therefore, investigation on basis of this component can help to improve our understanding of pathophysiology of such disorders and fundamentals of memory and attention mechanism. In this study, electroencephalography (EEG) signals of 20 schizophrenic patients and 20 age-matched normal subjects are analyzed. The oddball paradigm has been used to record the P300, where two stimuli including target and standard are presented with different probabilities in a random order. Data analysis is carried out using conventional averaging techniques as well as P300 source localization with low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA). The results show that the P300 components stem from a wide cerebral cortex network and defining a small definite cortical zone as its generator is impossible. In normal group, cingulate gyrus, one of the essential components of working memory circuit that was reported by Papez, is found to be the most activated area and it can be in line with the hypothesis that at least a part of the P300 is elicited by working-memory circuit. In schizophrenic group, frontal lobe is the most activated area that was responsible for P300 sources. Our results show that the cingulate gyrus is not activated in comparison with normal group, which is in line with previous results that dysfunction of the anterior cingulate cortex plays a prominent role in the schizophrenia disorder.

The aim of this study was to examine mechanical and physical properties of starch/chitosan composite film exposed to low‐pressure air and argon plasma at 600 mTorr for different duration (4, 8 and 12 min) and evaluate the shelf life of the chicken breast fillet packaged with plasma‐treated films. The mechanical properties of the composite films were improved significantly.It is shown that argon plasma is more efficient in improving the tensile strength of the films and increased it from 10.59 to 22.09 Mpa after 12 min of process due to the formation of a stable cross‐linked network on the surface of the polymer, although film's stretchability, modified in air plasma, was significantly more. Solubility and hydrophilicity of the films were increased; however, no significant change in the water vapor transmission rate was observed. Oxygen permeability of films improved after both plasma treatment. Total viable count and oxidative (TBA) changes of fillets were analyzed during shelf life. The results showed that Cold plasma treatment could not prolong the shelf life of the fillets through plasma‐treated films.

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Background: Optic neuritis (ON) is an inflammatory demyelinating lesion in the optic nerve, which is strongly associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive technique for the evaluation of the retinal layers. Our aim was to examine OCT metrics including retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT), and total macular volume (TMV), in MS subtypes and their relationship with duration, first manifestation, and severity of disease. Material and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, patients with a definite diagnosis of MS underwent complete ophthalmic and neurologic examination. OCT parameters including TMV and RNFLT were compared between MS subtypes and different first manifestations of MS. Their relationships were also studied with the duration and severity of disease based on the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score. Results: A total of 240 eyes were examined in 120 enrolled MS patients. The differences in RNFLT were not analytically meaningful between the subtypes of MS, but the differences in TMV values were statistically significant between the subtypes of MS (P: 0.39 and P: 0.04, respectively). The differences between RNFLT and TMV of eyes with and without ON were statistically significant between these two groups (P<0.001 and P<0.001). There was also an inverse correlation between EDSS disability score and RNFLT and TMV values (P: 0.00, r: −0.33 and P: 0.034, r: −0.11, respectively) and a significant inverse correlation between the duration of MS and RNFLT (P: 0.00, r: −0.47). The differences in RNFLT and TMV values were analytically meaningful between the categories of first manifestations of MS (P: 0.000 and P: 0.027, respectively). Conclusion: RNFLT and TMV represent noninvasive parameters for assessment of neuroaxonal degeneration in the anterior visual pathway that correlate with the severity and duration of multiple sclerosis. The lowest RNFLT and TMV values were also seen in the perceptual category between the first manifestations of MS. Therefore, they may be useful in the evaluation of MS patients.

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