Narrow band quantitative and multivariate electroencephalogram analysis of peri-adolescent period

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The peri-adolescent period is a crucial developmental moment of transition from childhood to emergent adulthood. The present report analyses the differences in Power Spectrum (PS) of the Electroencephalogram (EEG) between late childhood (24 children between 8 and 13 years old) and young adulthood (24 young adults between 18 and 23 years old). RESULTS: The narrow band analysis of the Electroencephalogram was computed in the frequency range of 0--20 Hz. The analysis of mean and variance suggested that six frequency ranges presented a different rate of maturation at these ages, namely: low delta, delta-theta, low alpha, high alpha, low beta and high beta. For most of these bands the maturation seems to occur later in anterior sites than posterior sites. Correlational analysis showed a lower pattern of correlation between different frequencies in children than in young adults, suggesting a certain asynchrony in the maturation of different rhythms. The topographical analysis revealed similar topographies of the different rhythms in children and young adults. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) demonstrated the same internal structure for the Electroencephalogram of both age groups. Principal Component Analysis allowed to separate four subcomponents in the alpha range. All these subcomponents peaked at a lower frequency in children than in young adults. CONCLUSIONS: The present approaches complement and solve some of the incertitudes when the classical brain broad rhythm analysis is applied. Children have a higher absolute power than young adults for frequency ranges between 0-20 Hz, the correlation of Power Spectrum (PS) with age and the variance age comparison showed that there are six ranges of frequencies that can distinguish the level of EEG maturation in children and adults. The establishment of maturational order of different frequencies and its possible maturational interdependence would require a complete series including all the different ages.     

Nanocomposites of natural rubber and polyaniline-modified cellulose nanofibrils

Cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) were isolated from cotton microfibrils (CM) by acid hydrolysis and coated with polyaniline (PANI) by in situ polymerization of aniline onto CNF in the presence of hydrochloride acid and ammonium peroxydisulfate to produce CNF/PANI. Nanocomposites of natural rubber (NR) reinforced with CNF and CNF/PANI were obtained by casting/evaporation method. TG analyses showed that coating CNF with PANI resulted in a material with better thermal stability since PANI acted as a protective barrier against cellulose degradation. Nanocomposites and natural rubber showed the same thermal profiles to 200 °C, partly due to the relatively lower amount of CNF/PANI added as compared to conventional composites. On the other hand, mechanical properties of natural rubber were significantly improved with nanofibrils incorporation, i.e., Young’s modulus and tensile strength were higher for NR/CNF than NR/CNF/PANI nanocomposites. The electrical conductivity of natural rubber increased five orders of magnitude for NR with the addition of 10 mass% CNF/PANI. A partial PANI dedoping might be responsible for the low electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites.     

Martensitic fcc-to-hcp transformation observed in xenon at high pressure

Angle-resolved x-ray diffraction patterns of Xe to 127 GPa indicate that the fcc-to-hcp transition occurs martensitically between 3 and 70 GPa in diamond-anvil cells without an intermediate phase. These data also reveal that the transition occurs by the introduction of stacking disorder in the fcc lattice at low pressure, which grows into hcp domains with increasing pressure. The small energy difference between the hcp and the fcc structures may allow the two phases to coexist over a wide pressure range. Evidence of similar stacking disorder and incipient growth of an hcp phase are also observed in solid Kr.