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The movement mode of snakes is crawling, and the living environment of snakes with numerous branches and stones will cause plenty of wear for the snake scales. There are plenty of surface structures and morphology on snake scales to avoid severe wear. Among them, the research towards the keeled structure on snake scales is missing. Therefore, in this research, the wear resistance improvement of the keeled structure on the snake scales and the overlapped distribution of snake scales are investigated. The keeled and smooth snake scales were 3D printed and they were distributed on the substrate in the overlapped or paralleled ways. Besides these four samples with keeled/smooth scales and overlapped/paralleled distributed, there is also a reference sample with the same thickness. Based on the tribology test, the number of grooves of samples with the keeled structures is higher than that of samples with smooth surfaces, which indicates that the keeled structure dramatically enhances the wear resistance of snake scales, especially during the wear in the vertical direction. The experiment on surface morphology greatly compromised the result of the tribology test. In addition, the bottom portion of the keeled snake scales can be protected by the keeled structure. Besides, the overlapped distribution can protect the central region of snake scales and provide double-layer protection of the snake body. Overall, the keeled structure and the overlapped distribution play a significant part in the improvement of wear resistance of the snake skin. These findings can enhance the knowledge of the reptiles-mimic surface structure and facilitate the application of military uniforms under high-wear conditions., QC 20230627

Distinctive cortico-striatal circuits that serve motor and cognitive functions have been recently mapped based on resting state connectivity. It has been reported that age differences in cortico-striatal connectivity relate to cognitive declines in aging. Moreover, children in their early teens (i.e., youth) already show mature motor network patterns while their cognitive networks are still developing. In the current study, we examined age differences in the frontal-striatal "cognitive" and "motor" circuits in children and adolescence, young adults (YAs), and older adults (OAs). We predicted that the strength of the "cognitive" frontal-striatal circuits would follow an inverted "U" pattern across age; children and OAs would have weaker connectivity than YAs. However, we predicted that the "motor" circuits would show less variation in connectivity strength across the lifespan. We found that most areas in both the "cognitive" and "motor" circuits showed higher connectivity in YAs than children and OAs, suggesting general inverted "U"-shaped changes across the lifespan for both the cognitive and motor frontal-striatal networks.

The nanobiocatalyst (NBC) is an emerging innovation that synergistically integrates advanced nanotechnology with biotechnology and promises exciting advantages for improving enzyme activity, stability, capability and engineering performances in bioprocessing applications. NBCs are fabricated by immobilizing enzymes with functional nanomaterials as enzyme carriers or containers. In this paper, we review the recent developments of novel nanocarriers/nanocontainers with advanced hierarchical porous structures for retaining enzymes, such as nanofibres (NFs), mesoporous nanocarriers and nanocages. Strategies for immobilizing enzymes onto nanocarriers made from polymers, silicas, carbons and metals by physical adsorption, covalent binding, cross-linking or specific ligand spacers are discussed. The resulting NBCs are critically evaluated in terms of their bioprocessing performances. Excellent performances are demonstrated through enhanced NBC catalytic activity and stability due to conformational changes upon immobilization and localized nanoenvironments, and NBC reutilization by assembling magnetic nanoparticles into NBCs to defray the high operational costs associated with enzyme production and nanocarrier synthesis. We also highlight several challenges associated with the NBC-driven bioprocess applications, including the maturation of large-scale nanocarrier synthesis, design and development of bioreactors to accommodate NBCs, and long-term operations of NBCs. We suggest these challenges are to be addressed through joint collaboration of chemists, engineers and material scientists. Finally, we have demonstrated the great potential of NBCs in manufacturing bioprocesses in the near future through successful laboratory trials of NBCs in carbohydrate hydrolysis, biofuel production and biotransformation. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

The nanobiocatalyst (NBC) is an emerging innovation that synergistically integrates advanced nanotechnology with biotechnology and promises exciting advantages for improving enzyme activity, stability, capability and engineering performances in bioprocessing applications. NBCs are fabricated by immobilizing enzymes with functional nanomaterials as enzyme carriers or containers. In this paper, we review the recent developments of novel nanocarriers/nanocontainers with advanced hierarchical porous structures for retaining enzymes, such as nanofibres (NFs), mesoporous nanocarriers and nanocages. Strategies for immobilizing enzymes onto nanocarriers made from polymers, silicas, carbons and metals by physical adsorption, covalent binding, cross-linking or specific ligand spacers are discussed. The resulting NBCs are critically evaluated in terms of their bioprocessing performances. Excellent performances are demonstrated through enhanced NBC catalytic activity and stability due to conformational changes upon immobilization and localized nanoenvironments, and NBC reutilization by assembling magnetic nanoparticles into NBCs to defray the high operational costs associated with enzyme production and nanocarrier synthesis. We also highlight several challenges associated with the NBC-driven bioprocess applications, including the maturation of large-scale nanocarrier synthesis, design and development of bioreactors to accommodate NBCs, and long-term operations of NBCs. We suggest these challenges are to be addressed through joint collaboration of chemists, engineers and material scientists. Finally, we have demonstrated the great potential of NBCs in manufacturing bioprocesses in the near future through successful laboratory trials of NBCs in carbohydrate hydrolysis, biofuel production and biotransformation. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

A functionalized polystyrene nanofiber (PSNF) immobilized β-galactosidase assembly (PSNF-Gal) was synthesized as a nanobiocatalyst aiming to enhance the biocatalyst stability and functional ability. The PSNF fabricated by electrospinning was functionalized through a chemical oxidation method for enzyme binding. The bioengineering performance of the enzyme carriers was further evaluated for bioconversion of lactose to galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS). The modified PSNF-Gal demonstrated distinguished performances to preserve the same activity as the free β-galactosidase at the optimum pH of 7.0, and to enhance the enzyme stability of PSNF-Gal in an alkaline condition up to pH 10. The PSNF assembly demonstrated improved thermal stability from 37 to 60 °C. The nanobiocatalyst was able to retain 30 % of its initial activity after ninth operation cycles comparing to four cycles with the unmodified counterpart. In contrast with free β-galactosidase, the modified PSNF-Gal enhanced the GOS yield from 14 to 28 %. These findings show the chemically modified PSNF-based nanobiocatalyst may be pertinent for various enzyme-catalysed bioprocessing applications.

A functionalized polystyrene nanofiber (PSNF) immobilized β-galactosidase assembly (PSNF-Gal) was synthesized as a nanobiocatalyst aiming to enhance the biocatalyst stability and functional ability. The PSNF fabricated by electrospinning was functionalized through a chemical oxidation method for enzyme binding. The bioengineering performance of the enzyme carriers was further evaluated for bioconversion of lactose to galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS). The modified PSNF-Gal demonstrated distinguished performances to preserve the same activity as the free β-galactosidase at the optimum pH of 7.0, and to enhance the enzyme stability of PSNF-Gal in an alkaline condition up to pH 10. The PSNF assembly demonstrated improved thermal stability from 37 to 60 °C. The nanobiocatalyst was able to retain 30 % of its initial activity after ninth operation cycles comparing to four cycles with the unmodified counterpart. In contrast with free β-galactosidase, the modified PSNF-Gal enhanced the GOS yield from 14 to 28 %. These findings show the chemically modified PSNF-based nanobiocatalyst may be pertinent for various enzyme-catalysed bioprocessing applications.

The capability to generate drawing and writing movements of high spatial and temporal qualities is one of the most important developmental achievements during the early school years. Recently, Spencer et al., (2003) proposed that the cerebellum controls the 'explicit timing' underlying temporal consistency during discontinuous drawing, but not 'implicit timing' during continuous drawing. Alternatively, the cerebellum might be involved in the control of limb dynamics, which differ between continuous and discontinuous drawing (Bastian et al., 2000). In the current study, we examine the hypothesis that the developing cerebellum might play an important role in the development of temporal consistency in drawing skills in children. Specifically, we examined: 1) whether there were age-related differences between continuous and discontinuous circle drawing, 2) whether the children's performance in the circle drawing tasks was the same as their performance in the dynamically simpler line drawing tasks, and 3) whether children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) performed similarly to the children who were typically developing in these four types of movements. Thirty-two children who were typically developing between the ages of five and eleven years and ten children with DCD performed the continuous, discontinuous circle- and line-drawing tasks in random order. Participants were asked to move as consistently as possible for 20 seconds after synchronizing their movements with a metronome for 15 beats. Regression analysis in children who were typically developing showed that high temporal variability existed only in the discontinuous circling in the youngest children but not the older children. Children with DCD showed a similar pattern to their age- and gender-matched controls. However, individual comparison for each child with DCD and normal performance defined by children who were typically developing revealed that two of the ten children with DCD showed timing d