This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri butio n-NonCo mmercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. AbstractThere is an urgent need to find novel potential therapeutic targets for the diagnosis and treatment of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) due to its highly invasive ability as a common urological malignant tumor. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been indicated as potentially critical mediators in various types of tumor progression. We

ARTICLE INfO ______________________________________________________________ ______________________Purpose: We investigated the characteristics and management of patients with intravenous misplacement of a nephrostomy tube.

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Introduction: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) may be effective for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD); however, the neural mechanism is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the potential neural mechanisms through which MBCT may reduce anxiety in patients with mild-to-moderate GAD.Methods: Eight weekly group MBCT sessions (2 h each) were conducted with 32 GAD patients. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used, along with clinical and mindfulness profiles. A regional homogeneity (ReHo) approach was applied, and resting-state functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) using the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) seed was examined.Results: MBCT reduced the anxiety and increased the mindfulness abilities of patients. After MBCT, patients had reduced ReHo in broad regions of the limbic system, along with increased DMN functional connectivity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and bilateral insula. Overlapping regions of reduced ReHo and increased DMN functional connectivity were observed in the mid-cingulate cortex (MCC) and bilateral insula. The increased PCC-ACC and PCC-insula functional connectivity following MBCT were related to anxiety improvements, suggesting a potential therapeutic mechanism for mindfulness-based therapies. Discussion: Group MBCT treatment appears to have effectively reduced anxiety symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate GAD. Activation and functional connectivity appeared significantly different across some limbic regions after MBCT treatment. The salience network showed reduced ReHo and increased connectivity to the PCC. The DMN functional connectivity of the MCC may indicate reduced anxiety and improved mindfulness in GAD patients. K E Y W O R D S functional MRI (fMRI), generalized anxiety disorder, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), waiting list

Mindfulness is described as the non-judgmental awareness of experiences in the present moment. The sustained practice of mindfulness may also have beneficial effects on an individual’s well-being. For instance, mindfulness meditation is an effective approach for improving emotion regulation. Specifically, the early stage of mindfulness meditation training enhances emotional monitoring systems related to attention regulation and executive function. Reduced activity in the default mode network (DMN) would probably be observed corresponding to the attenuated mind wandering. In the present study, we hypothesized that alterations in functional activity in the frontal-parietal cortex and DMN may be induced by short-term mindfulness meditation. In this study, before and after 8 weeks of weekly Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training, healthy participants were evaluated using a mindfulness questionnaire and an affect schedule, as well as via resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Sixteen right-handed non-meditators were enrolled. Another 16 demographically matched healthy adults without any meditation experience were recruited as controls. Pre- and post-MBSR assessments were compared. Increased regional homogeneity in the right superior parietal lobule and left postcentral gyrus (PoCG), as well as altered functional connectivity in PoCG-related networks, were observed post-MBSR. The mindfulness questionnaire scores also improved and negative affect was significantly decreased after MBSR. Together with reduced involvement of the posterior brain, our results suggest a tendency toward stronger involvement of the parietal cortex in mindfulness beginners. This study provides novel evidence regarding the optimization of emotional processing with short-term mindfulness meditation.

BackgroundEvidence shows that STON2 gene is associated with synaptic function and schizophrenia. This study aims to explore the relationship between two functional polymorphisms (Ser307Pro and Ala851Ser) of STON2 gene and the cortical surface area in first-episode treatment-naïve patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.Methodology/Principal FindingsMagnetic resonance imaging of the whole cortical surface area, which was computed by an automated surface-based technique (FreeSurfer), was obtained from 74 first-episode treatment-naïve patients with schizophrenia and 55 healthy controls. Multiple regression analysis was performed to investigate the effect of genotype subgroups on the cortical surface area. A significant genotype-by-diagnosis effect on the cortical surface area was observed. Pro-allele carriers of Ser307Pro polymorphism had larger right inferior temporal surface area than Ser/Ser carriers in the patients with schizophrenia; however, no significant difference was found in the same area in the healthy controls. The Ala851Ser polymorphism of STON2 gene was not significantly associated with the cortical surface area in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.Conclusions/SignificanceThe present study demonstrated that the functional variant of the STON2 gene could alter cortical surface area on the right inferior temporal and contribute to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

The metabolites such as NAA, Cho and MI in white matter of frontal lobes and hippocampus were not significantly altered in FES patients. The lower axonal integrity/number (NAA concentration) may be associated with more severe negative symptoms, and dysmetabolism in process of myelination in the white matter of frontal lobes associated with more severe positive symptoms.