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• Gyral peaks, the highest foci on gyri, is under the regulation of genetic factors. • Genetic influence on gyral peaks is heterogeneous across cortical regions. • Genetic influence on gyral peaks is relatively hemispheric symmetry. • Heritability estimates are linearly decreasing with the gyrification timeline. • Earlier formed cortical folds are under stronger genetic influences than later ones. • The pits and peaks coupled by their time of appearance are also positively correlated in respect of their heritability estimates. Genetic mechanisms have been hypothesized to be a major determinant in the formation of cortical folding. Although there is an increasing number of studies examining the heritability of cortical folding, most of them focus on sulcal pits rather than gyral peaks. Gyral peaks, which reflect the highest local foci on gyri and are consistent across individuals, remain unstudied in terms of heritability. To address this knowledge gap, we used high-resolution data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) to perform classical twin analysis and estimate the heritability of gyral peaks across various brain regions. Our results showed that the heritability of gyral peaks was heterogeneous across different cortical regions, but relatively symmetric between hemispheres. We also found that pits and peaks are different in a variety of anatomic and functional measures. Further, we explored the relationship between the levels of heritability and the formation of cortical folding by utilizing the evolutionary timeline of gyrification. Our findings indicate that the heritability estimates of both gyral peaks and sulcal pits decrease linearly with the evolution timeline of gyrification. This suggests that the cortical folds which formed earlier during gyrification are subject to stronger genetic influences than the later ones. Moreover, the pits and peaks coupled by their time of appearance are also positively correlated in respect of their heritability estimates. These results fill the knowledge gap regarding genetic influences on gyral peaks and significantly advance our understanding of how genetic factors shape the formation of cortical folding. The comparison between peaks and pits suggests that peaks are not a simple morphological mirror of pits but could help complete the understanding of folding patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to screen the synbiotics with good antibacterial effect against Salmonella Typhimurium and to investigate its antibacterial mechanism. Laboratory-isolated Lactobacillus paracasei VL8 were selected and combined with four prebiotics, fructooligosaccharide (FOS), inulin, galactooligosaccharide (GOS), and mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) for the comparison. Their growth, adhesion, tolerance and inhibition ability were evaluated by growth curve, non-specific adhesion test, simulated gastrointestinal fluid, and zone of inhibition method, respectively. The results showed that MOS had a better synbiotic effect with L. paracasei VL8, resulting in a significant increase in the growth of L. paracasei VL8, higher acid production, and a larger zone of inhibition of S. Typhimurium, reaching 16.75 mm. The time-kill curves showed that 20% (v/v) of metabolite in the medium could kill S. Typhimurium within 4h completely. Further, electron microscopic micrographs showed that the synbiotic metabolites caused damage to the cell membrane of S. Typhimurium, resulting in cytoplasmic efflux. The Findings indicated that the synbiotic combination between MOS and L. paracasei VL8 not only promoted the growth and acid production of the probiotic, but also exerted good inhibitory effects on S. Typhimurium by disrupting the cell membrane, which can be a potential natural antimicrobial agent for food applications. [Display omitted] • Mannan oligosaccharides- Lactobacillus paracasei VL8 combination are the most suitable synbiotics. • Mannan oligosaccharide enhances the antibacterial ability of Lactobacillus paracasei VL8. • Synbiotics cause membrane disruption and cytoplasmic leakage of S. Typhimurium. • Synbiotics completely kill S. Typhimurium within 4 h. • Synbiotics can be considered as preventive tools against S. Typhimurium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) are two highly toxic elements. In recent years, many newly synthesized chemical materials have been used widely for treatments of As- and Cd-contaminated effluents. However, most materials do not exhibit high efficiencies for simultaneous removal of As and Cd from water systems. Our study established a simple scheme for synthesizing a sepiolite (SEP)-modified nanoscale zero-valent iron (S-nZVI) for simultaneous removal of coexisting As and Cd from water and illuminated a possible underlying mechanism. Batch experiments showed that the maximum capacities for adsorption of As(III) and Cd(II) by S-nZVI were 230.29 mg/g and 11.37 mg/g, respectively, which represented better effects than those of other materials, as reported previously. Removal of Cd(II) depended on pH, but As(III) removal showed little dependence on pH. Coexisting ions such as phosphate (PO 4 3−) and the conjugate base of humic acid (HA) significantly inhibited simultaneous removal of As(III) and Cd(II). In the mixed As(III)–Cd(II) system, the presence of As(III)-pretreated S-nZVI significantly enhanced Cd(II) adsorption by a factor of four over that seen for aqueous solution without As(III). XRD and XPS results showed that CdFe 2 O 4 (Fe–O–Cd), Fe 2 As 2 O 14 or FeAsO 4 (Fe–O–As) were formed after As(III) and Cd(II) were captured by S-nZVI. However, a further zeta (ζ) potential analysis showed that the mechanism for As(III) and Cd(II) adsorption by S-nZVI is not just simple formation of the above chemicals, since the adsorbed As(III) increased the negative charge of S-nZVI; this suggested an electrostatic attraction between S-nZVI and Cd(II) and indicated that adsorbed As(III) created new sorption sites for Cd(II), which enhanced Cd(II) sorption via formation of ternary complexes (Fe–As–Cd). These results suggested that S-nZVI is a promising material for in situ remediation of heavy metal-contaminated groundwaters or paddy soils. • A newly sepiolite modified nZVI was synthesized for co removal of As(III) and Cd(II). • S-nZVI has high sorption efficiency of As(III) and Cd(II). • Pre-treatment with As(III) can significantly promote Cd(II) adsorption by S-nZVI. • The mechanism of As–Cd co-removal is suggested by forming a ternary complex Fe–As–Cd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between brain structure and function has been one of the centers of research in neuroimaging for decades. In recent years, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques have been widely available and popular in cognitive and clinical neurosciences for examining the brain's white matter (WM) micro-structures and gray matter (GM) functions, respectively. Given the intrinsic integration of WM/GM and the complementary information embedded in DTI/fMRI data, it is natural and well-justified to combine these two neuroimaging modalities together to investigate brain structure and function and their relationships simultaneously. In the past decade, there have been remarkable achievements of DTI/fMRI fusion methods and applications in neuroimaging and human brain mapping community. This survey paper aims to review recent advancements on methodologies and applications in incorporating multimodal DTI and fMRI data, and offer our perspectives on future research directions. We envision that effective fusion of DTI/fMRI techniques will play increasingly important roles in neuroimaging and brain sciences in the years to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical assembly of naturally occurring assemblies is accurate and responsible for performing various cellular functions. However, Nature's wisdom in navigating the assembly process to desired protein assemblies by the cooperation of multiple noncovalent interactions has been underexploited for protein superstructures constructions. Owing to the chemical diversity of noncovalent interactions, it should be possible to fabricate protein assemblies with novel properties in high efficiency through the cooperation of different noncovalent interaction. Both charged residues and aromatic residues are introduced on the exterior surface of ferritin centered at their symmetry axes, mixing of complementary variants forms ordered assemblies through the cooperation of two kinds of chemical-diverse noncovalent interactions. The assemblies were further characterized in terms of their assembly behavior, structure, size, assembly kinetics, properties and stabilities. We utilized both electrostatic and π-π stacking interactions between complementary nanocages to cooperatively trigger the self-assembly into predesigned interleaved hetero-superlattices which exhibit high electrolyte stability and thermal stability. The size of the hetero-superlattices can be well controlled with ranges from nanometers to micrometers in solution in response to external stimuli such as pH and salt concentration. The hetero-superlattice may have the potential applications in hybrid bio-templating, light-harvesting and compartmentalized encapsulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impaired fertility is the major side effect of chemotherapy for female cancer patients, accumulated evidence indicates this is associated with damage on oocyte quality, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Previously we reported that doxorubicin (DXR) exposure, one of the most widely used chemotherapy drugs, disrupted mouse oocyte meiotic maturation in vitro. In the current study, we identified that SIRT1 expression was remarkably reduced in DXR exposure oocytes. Next, we found that increasing SIRT1 expression by resveratrol partially alleviated the effects of DXR exposure on oocyte maturation, which was counteracted by SIRT1 inhibition. Furthermore, we revealed that increasing SIRT1 expression mitigated DXR induced oocyte damage through reducing ROS levels, increasing antioxidant enzyme MnSOD expression, and preventing spindle and chromosome disorganization, lowering the incidence of aneuploidy. Importantly, by performing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer assays, we demonstrated that increasing SIRT1 expression significantly improved the fertilization ability, developmental competence of oocytes and early embryos. In summary, our data uncover that SIRT1 reduction represents one mechanism that mediates the effects of DXR exposure on oocyte quality. [Display omitted] • SIRT1 is downregulated in chemotherapy drugs doxorubicin (DXR) exposure oocytes. • SIRT1 modulates MnSOD expression and ROS levels in DXR exposure oocytes. • SIRT1 regulates spindle assembly/ chromosome segregation in DXR-treated oocytes. • SIRT1 improves fertilization and developmental potential of DXR-treated oocytes. • SIRT1 could be a target for fertility preservation of female cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aberrant expression of sperm-associated antigen 5 (SPAG5) is implicated to play oncogenic roles in several types of cancers. However, the functions of SPAG5 in lung adenocarcinoma remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of SPAG5 in lung adenocarcinoma. We found that SPAG5 was upregulated in most of the lung adenocarcinoma cell lines as compared to normal lung epithelial cells. SPAG5 knockdown suppressed proliferation, colony forming, and migration of lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells in vitro and inhibited tumor growth in vivo. These suggest that upregulated SPAG5 promotes lung tumor progression. Importantly, treatment with MDM2 inhibitor, Nutlin-3a, restored p53 and p21 expression and suppressed SPAG5 expression in wild-type p53 lung adenocarcinoma cells, A549 and H460, but not in p53-null lung cancer cells, H1299. This suggests that the p53 signal pathway is essential for SPAG5 suppression. In addition, knocking-down p53 or p21 in A549 and H460 cells attenuated Nutlin-3a-induced repression of SPAG5, which further supports that the p53-p21 axis is required for SPAG5 repression. Thus, SPAG5 can serve as a prognostic marker, and therapeutic strategy targeting the p53-p21-SPAG5 axis may have important clinical implications. • SPAG5 is upregulated in lung adenocarcinoma. • SPAG5 knockdown suppresses proliferation, colony forming, and migration. • SPAG5 is regulated in a p53-and p21-dependent manner. • SPAG5 can be a prognostic marker and therapeutic target for lung adenocarcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Naturally-fermented mixed fruit products are popular in Asia for their abundant nutrition, potential antioxidant activity, and hypoglycemic activity. In this work, the changes in chemical composition (including pH, titratable acid, total and reducing sugar, total soluble solids, protein content, total phenols, and organic acids) and preliminary in vitro bioactivities (including ABTS radical scavenging activity, DPPH radical scavenging activity, α-amylase, and α-glucosidase inhibition) of naturally-fermented mixed fruit products during a 120-day fermentation period and their correlations were investigated. Results showed that a variety of organic acids changed dramatically, such that lactic acid content raised from 0 mg/mL at 0 day to 9.11 mg/mL at 60 days; and citric acid content raised from 3.38 mg/mL at 0 day to 6.52 mg/mL at 90 days. Correlation analysis indicated that total phenols, citric acid, lactic acid, and titratable acid were the key factors influencing the continuous increase of ABTS, DPPH radical scavenging, and α-amylase inhibition during fermentation. In general, natural fermentation provides a great increase in the nutritional potential and functional value of the fruit and the results of this study provide evidence for the scientific guide in the industrial production of fermented fruit. • Lactic acid and citric acid continued to rise in the first 60 days of fermentation. • Functional activity is enhanced by the presence of phenols and organic acids. • Natural fermentation increases the functional value of the fruits considerably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jialing River is the tributary of the Yangtze River with the largest drainage area. In recent years, the Jialing River has suffered a series of environmental problems, such as discharge of industrial effluent and sand mining activities, which have severely threatened the aquatic ecosystem of the river. In the present study, we employed risk assessment indexes, sequential extraction and the diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) technique to assess environmental risks and study the remobilization of cobalt (Co) in sediments. The potential ecological risk index and risk assessment code results demonstrated that Co may pose a low environmental and ecological risk to the local aquatic environment. However, BCR sequential extraction showed that the sum of the F1, F2 and F3 fractions of Co still accounted for over 50% of the Co in the study areas, indicating that sediments may be a source of Co release. The DGT results showed an increasing trend for DGT-labile Co in deep sediments (−8 cm to −12 cm), and the calculated flux values ranged from 0.08 to 15.54 ng cm2·day−1, indicating that Co tends to transfer across the sediment-water interface at all sampling sites. Correlation analysis showed that F1–Co, F2–Co and F3–Co are the fractions readily captured by DGT and can be used for predicting Co remobilization in sediment. Sand mining activities contribute substantially to the release of Co from the F1 and F3 fractions as a result of strong stirring of sediments and introduction of oxygen into the sediments. The reductive dissolution of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) hydroxides or oxides causes the release of Co and Fe/Mn in the sediment, which leads to Co release from the reducible fraction. The above work suggests that sand mining in the Jialing River should be reasonably regulated to prohibit illegal sand mining activities. • Cobalt may pose low environmental and ecological risk to the Jialing River. • Cobalt was released in the sediment and tended to transfer from sediment to water. • DGT-labile cobalt mainly originated from the F1, F2 and F3 fractions of sediment. • Sand mining contributes substantially to the remobilization of cobalt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tractography based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data has been used as a tool by a large number of recent studies to investigate structural connectome. Despite its great success in offering unique 3D neuroanatomy information, DTI is an indirect observation with limited resolution and accuracy and its reliability is still unclear. Thus, it is essential to answer this fundamental question: how reliable is DTI tractography in constructing large-scale connectome? To answer this question, we employed neuron tracing data of 1772 experiments on the mouse brain released by the Allen Mouse Brain Connectivity Atlas (AMCA) as the ground-truth to assess the performance of DTI tractography in inferring white matter fiber pathways and inter-regional connections. For the first time in the neuroimaging field, the performance of whole brain DTI tractography in constructing a large-scale connectome has been evaluated by comparison with tracing data. Our results suggested that only with the optimized tractography parameters and the appropriate scale of brain parcellation scheme, can DTI produce relatively reliable fiber pathways and a large-scale connectome. Meanwhile, a considerable amount of errors were also identified in optimized DTI tractography results, which we believe could be potentially alleviated by efforts in developing better DTI tractography approaches. In this scenario, our framework could serve as a reliable and quantitative test bed to identify errors in tractography results which will facilitate the development of such novel tractography algorithms and the selection of optimal parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Identification of regions of interest (ROIs) is a fundamental issue in brain network construction and analysis. Recent studies demonstrate that multimodal neuroimaging approaches and joint analysis strategies are crucial for accurate, reliable and individualized identification of brain ROIs. In this paper, we present a novel approach of visual analytics and its open-source software for ROI definition and brain network construction. By combining neuroscience knowledge and computational intelligence capabilities, visual analytics can generate accurate, reliable and individualized ROIs for brain networks via joint modeling of multimodal neuroimaging data and an intuitive and real-time visual analytics interface. Furthermore, it can be used as a functional ROI optimization and prediction solution when fMRI data is unavailable or inadequate. We have applied this approach to an operation span working memory fMRI/DTI dataset, a schizophrenia DTI/resting state fMRI (R-fMRI) dataset, and a mild cognitive impairment DTI/R-fMRI dataset, in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of visual analytics. Our experimental results are encouraging. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Fertilizers are important for agricultural production because they can effectively promote crop productivity. However, long-term fertilization can cause heavy metal accumulation in soils and crops. This study utilized sequential extraction, the diffusive gradient in the thin films (DGT) technique and risk assessment models to estimate the effects of the longest long-term fertilization (38 years) in China on cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) accumulation in soils. The treatments included no fertilization (CK); inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilization (NPK); manure fertilization (M); and NPK plus M cofertilization (NPKM). The results indicated that the soils treated with NPKM, M and NPK had significantly increased total and available concentrations of Cd and As after 38 years of long-term fertilization. Cd mainly originates from cattle manure, while As originates from phosphate fertilizer. Sequential extraction results indicated that the application of manure increased the acid/exchangeable fraction (F1) and organic matter-bound fraction (F3) of Cd and As. The risk assessment results showed that the environmental risks of both Cd and As increased during long-term fertilization, and Cd contamination in the soil was at a moderate-high level, while As remained at a relatively low level. According to the calculations of the maximum numbers of years of soil productivity and rice production, Cd was labile and accumulated in the soils, and As was more labile than Cd in terms of accumulating in rice, indicating that the true risk from As in rice is higher than that from Cd. Controlling the heavy metals in fertilizers, mitigating effective amendments, and identifying plant types that accumulate low amounts of contaminants may be good choices for cleaner crop production. [Display omitted] • 38 years long-term fertilization leaded to a significant increment of cadmium and arsenic in soils. • Manure and phosphate fertilizer were the sources for cadmium arsenic input. • Cadmium and arsenic posed a medium-strong and low environmental risk to the farmland respectively. • Cadmium tended to accumulate in soil and arsenic was labile to accumulate in rice seeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally accepted that the sand mining industry causes severe destruction in river basin environments. In this study, six sediment cores were collected, and sequential extraction was applied in conjunction with the diffusive gradients in the thin films (DGT) technique to explore the effect of sand mining on the remobilization of Cu and Zn in the sediments. The results showed that Cu and Zn were mainly bound in the residual fraction in the sediments. C DGT -Cu/Zn in the sediments presented obvious increasing trends at the bottom (−9 to −12 cm) at the four sites that experienced sand mining and a decreasing trend at the sites with no sand mining disturbance. Cu and Zn also tended to be transported from the sediments to the overlying water at the four sand mining sites. A correlation analysis found that F1 and F3 correlated well with C DGT -Cu/Zn, indicating that the water/exchangeable fraction and oxidized fraction were the main fractions that led to increases in DGT-labile Cu and Zn in the sediments. Further analysis found that the introduction of oxygen (O 2) was the main reason for the simultaneous release of sulfur (S), Cu and Zn in the sediments, as indicated by the "dark area" of AgI gel appearing at the same position as the "hot spot area" of Chelex gel. Two main sand mining effects on the release of Cu and Zn were hypothesized: (1) intense sand disturbance leads to the transfer of the water/exchangeable fraction (F1) to the DGT-labile fraction and (2) O 2 introduction promotes the reaction of stable sulfide (F3), thus transferring it to the DGT-labile fraction. The above results indicated that the sand mining industry should be paid much attention in the Jialing River, as it can obviously cause labile Cu and Zn release into the water. • Sand mining caused the release of labile Cu and Zn in sediments as measured by DGT probes. • The released Cu and Zn mainly originate from the water/acid exchangeable fraction and oxidized fraction, respectively. • Sediment disturbance and oxygen introduction into sediment are the two main reasons for Cu and Zn remobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]