Psychological resilience is positively correlated with Habenula volume.

BACKGROUND: Psychological resilience is defined as the process and outcome of individuals' successful adaptation to challenging life experiences. The Habenula (Hb) is known to be involved in the stress response; however, the relationship between Hb volume and resilience in humans remains unclear. This study investigated the correlation among resilience, Hb volume, and depressive tendencies in adults. METHODS: Hb volumes were assessed using deep learning techniques applied to 110 healthy participants. Resilience and depression were evaluated using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and Beck Depression Inventory-II, respectively. We examined the relationship between Hb volume and resilience and assessed the mediating effects of resilience on the relationship between Hb volume and depressive tendencies. RESULTS: Correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between resilience and Hb volume (partial r = 0.176, p = 0.001), which was more pronounced in women (partial r = 0.353, p = 0.003). Hb volumes on the left and right sides exhibited significant lateralization (LI = 0.031, 95 % CI = [0.016, 0.046]). Despite Hb asymmetry, lateralization was not significantly associated with resilience. The mediation analysis shows significant indirect effect of resilience on the relationship between Hb volume and depressive tendencies (ß = -0.093, 95%CI = [-0.189, -0.019]). CONCLUSION: This study found that populations with lower resilience have smaller Hb volume. Previous research has shown that Hb volume decreased with the increasing severity of depression symptoms in patients. Our findings support this view and extend it to a population that has not been clinically diagnosed with depression. Additionally, we found that psychological resilience can be predicted by Hb volume and may serve as a mediating factor indirectly affecting depressive tendencies, even in healthy individuals. LIMITATIONS: Due to its cross-sectional design, this study was unable to analyze dynamic changes in Hb volume during the process of resilience adaptation.

Audiovisual integration and sensory dominance effects in older adults with subjective cognitive decline: Enhanced redundant effects and stronger fusion illusion susceptibility.

INTRODUCTION: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) refers to individuals' perceived decline in memory and/or other cognitive abilities relative to their previous level of performance. Sensory decline is one of the main manifestations of decline in older adults with SCD. The efficient integration of visual and auditory information, known as audiovisual integration, is a crucial perceptual process. This study aims to evaluate audiovisual integration in older adults with SCD. METHODS: We adopted the audiovisual detection task, the Colavita task, and the Sound-Induced Flash Illusion (SIFI) task to evaluate the audiovisual integration by examining both redundant and illusory effects. Older adults diagnosed with SCD (N = 50, mean age = 67.8 years) and a control group of non-SCD older adults (N = 51, mean age = 66.5 years) were recruited. All participants took part in the three aforementioned experiments. RESULTS: The outcomes showed that a redundant effect occurred in both SCD and non-SCD older adults, with SCD older adults gaining more benefits in audiovisual detection task. Moreover, an equivalent amount of the visual dominance effect was observed among both SCD and non-SCD older adults in Colavita task. In addition, older adults with SCD perceived an equal fission illusion but a bigger fusion illusion compared with non-SCD older adults in SIFI task. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, older adults with SCD exhibit increased audiovisual redundant effects and stronger fusion illusion susceptibility compared to non-SCD older adults. Besides, visual dominance was observed in both groups via the Colavita task, with no significant difference between non-SCD and SCD older adults. These findings implied that audiovisual integration might offer a potential way for the identification of SCD.

Design and Driving Performance Study of Soft Actuators for Hand Rehabilitation Training.

Purpose: To address the application requirements of soft actuators in rehabilitation training gloves, and in combination with ergonomic requirements, we designed a segmented soft actuator with bending and elongation modules. This actuator can achieve independent or coupled movements of the finger joints. Methods: A finite element model of the joint actuator was established to compare the driving performance of actuators with different structural forms. Numerical calculations were used to analyze the effects of structural size parameters on the bending characteristics and end output force of the actuator. The design was then refined based on these analyses. Results: The joint actuator designed in this study demonstrated a 71% increase in bending angle compared to the standard fast pneumatic network structure. Key factors affecting the driving performance include the thickness of the constraint layer, the inner wall thickness of the chamber, chamber height, chamber width, chamber spacing, chamber length, and the number of chambers. After improvements, the bending angle of the joint actuator increased by 60.6%, and the output force increased by 145.9%, indicating significant improvement. Conclusion: This study designed and improved a soft actuator for hand rehabilitation training, achieving independent and coupled joint movements. The bending angle, bending shape, and joint driving force of the soft actuator meet the requirements for finger rehabilitation training.

Cation-Triggered Growth of Nanowires for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which occurs in a variety of energy-related devices, necessitates optimization of the reaction pathways for efficient and scalable deployment. Nevertheless, fully harnessing the advanced structure of synthetic electrocatalysts remains a significant challenge due to the inevitable surface reconstruction process during OER. Here we present an efficient and flexible method to control the surface reconstruction process by engineering an electrolyte containing trace Co2+ cation. This controllable reconstruction process enhances fast charge transfer, facilitates electroactive species transport, and exposes the inner active site, significantly improving the OER kinetics. An impressive 60% increase in current density at an applied potential of 2.2 V (vs RHE) confirms its remarkable contribution to the performance. The identification of cation-triggered reconstruction for the formation of a well-defined surface provides a novel insight into understanding electrolyte engineering and offers a viable pathway to address activity and stable concerns in electrocatalysts.

fMRI signals in white matter rewire gray matter community organization.

Human brain gray matter (GM) has usually been clustered into multiple functional networks. The white matter (WM) fiber bundles are known to interconnect these networks simultaneously, engaging in numerous cognitive functions. However, the exact interconnections between GM and WM are still unclear, whether functional signals in WM rewires GM community organization remains to be explored. In this study, we divided brain functional connections into three types by using edge-centric method, including intra-GM, intra-WM and GM-WM connections, and calculated the edge community evaluation indexes for quantifying GM community engagement. The results showed that the involvement of WM significantly enhanced community entropy in the heteromodal system, while the sensory-attention system remained barely changed. In addition, delta community entropy showed a significant correlation with clinical cognitive scale. Our results suggested that WM rewired GM community organization, enhancing the community engagement of brain regions in the heteromodal system. This involvement was observed to be disrupted in disease groups. Our study revealed that considering the functional signals of GM and WM simultaneously could better understand the brain's functional organization.

Investigating the impact of schizophrenia traits on attention: the role of the theta band in a modified Posner cueing paradigm.

Joint attention is an indispensable tool for daily communication. Abnormalities in joint attention may be a key reason underlying social impairment in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. In this study, we aimed to explore the attentional orientation mechanism related to schizotypal traits in a social situation. Here, we employed a Posner cueing paradigm with social attentional cues. Subjects needed to detect the location of a target that is cued by gaze and head orientation. The power in the theta frequency band was used to examine the attentional process in the schizophrenia spectrum. There were four main findings. First, a significant association was found between schizotypal traits and attention orientation in response to invalid gaze cues. Second, individuals with schizotypal traits exhibited significant activation of neural oscillations and synchrony in the theta band, which correlated with their schizotypal tendencies. Third, neural oscillations and synchrony demonstrated a synergistic effect during social tasks, particularly when processing gaze cues. Finally, the relationship between schizotypal traits and attention orientation was mediated by neural oscillations and synchrony in the theta frequency band. These findings deepen our understanding of the impact of theta activity in schizotypal traits on joint attention and offer new insights for future intervention strategies.

Efficient and robust phase unwrapping method based on SFNet.

Phase unwrapping is a crucial step in obtaining the final physical information in the field of optical metrology. Although good at dealing with phase with discontinuity and noise, most deep learning-based spatial phase unwrapping methods suffer from the complex model and unsatisfactory performance, partially due to simple noise type for training datasets and limited interpretability. This paper proposes a highly efficient and robust spatial phase unwrapping method based on an improved SegFormer network, SFNet. The SFNet structure uses a hierarchical encoder without positional encoding and a decoder based on a lightweight fully connected multilayer perceptron. The proposed method utilizes the self-attention mechanism of the Transformer to better capture the global relationship of phase changes and reduce errors in the phase unwrapping process. It has a lower parameter count, speeding up the phase unwrapping. The network is trained on a simulated dataset containing various types of noise and phase discontinuity. This paper compares the proposed method with several state-of-the-art deep learning-based and traditional methods in terms of important evaluation indices, such as RMSE and PFS, highlighting its structural stability, robustness to noise, and generalization.

Antifungal effects of volatile organic compounds produced by Trichoderma hamatum against Neocosmospora solani.

Neocosmospora solani causes Fusarium wilt disease and root rot, which are serious problems worldwide. To determine the growth inhibition of Neocosmospora solani by Trichoderma hamatum volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the major chemical components of Trichoderma hamatum VOCs and the differences in their contents at different times were analysed, and the activity of these components was evaluated. The antifungal activity of Trichoderma hamatum was measured by a screening test, as Trichoderma hamatum exhibited strong antagonism against Neocosmospora solani in vitro. The double plate technique was used to verify the activity of Trichoderma hamatum VOCs, and the inhibition rate was 63.77%. Neocosmospora solani mycelia were uneven and expanded, the contents of the cells leaked, and the mycelia shrank and presented a diaphragm in the hyphae upon Trichoderma hamatum VOCs treatment. Trichoderma hamatum VOCs and their contents at different times were analysed by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. 6-Pentyl-2H-pyran-2-one clearly presented in greater amounts than the other components on day 3, 4, 5, and 6. VOCs from Trichoderma hamatum exhibited evident effects on the percentage of healthy fruit after day 3. Moreover, Trichoderma hamatum can improve the biological control of diseases caused by soilborne pathogens, and can be applied in biocontrol fields.

The Role of Occipitotemporal Network for Speed-Reading: An fMRI Study.

The activity of occipitotemporal regions involved in linguistic reading processes, such as the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT), is believed to exhibit strong interactions during higher-order language processing, specifically in the connectivity between the occipital gyrus and the temporal gyrus. In this study, we utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with psychophysiological interaction (PPI) and dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to investigate the functional and effective connectivity in the occipitotemporal network during speed reading. We conducted the experiment with native Japanese speakers who underwent and without speed-reading training and subsequently performed established reading tasks at different speeds (slow, medium, and fast) while undergoing 3-Tesla Siemens fMRI. Our activation analyses revealed significant changes in occipital and temporal regions as reading speed increased, indicating functional connectivity within the occipitotemporal network. DCM results further demonstrated more intricate effective connections and high involvement within the occipitotemporal pathway: (1) reading signals originated from the inferior occipital gyrus (iO), distributed to the vOT and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), and then gathered in the anterior superior temporal sulcus (aSTS); (2) reading speed loads had modulation effects on the pathways from the aSTS to vOT and from the iO to vOT. These findings highlight the complex connectivity and dynamic interactions within the occipitotemporal network during speed-reading processes.

Electrophysiological and behavioral responses of Tamarixia radiata (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) to volatiles of nymphal Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae).

Huanglongbing (HLB), a devastating citrus disease caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, is efficiently vectored by the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae). Tamarixia radiata (Waterston) plays a crucial role as an ectoparasitoid, preying on D. citri nymphs. By collecting and identifying headspace volatiles from fifth instar nymphs of D. citri using a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS), we obtained a collection of 9 volatile compounds. These compounds were subsequently chosen to investigate the electrophysiological and behavioral responses of female T. radiata. At a concentration of 10 µg/µl, 9 compounds were compared with cis-3-hexen-1-ol (control), resulting in trans-2-nonenal inducing the highest relative electroantennogram (EAG) value, followed by hexanal, heptanal, n-heptadecane, tetradecanal, n-tetradecane, n-pentadecane, 1-tetradecanol, and 1-dodecanol. The top 5 EAG responses of female T. radiata to these compounds were further investigated through EAG dose-response experiments. The results showed positive dose-responses as concentrations increased from 0.01 to 10 µg/µl. In Y-tube olfactometer bioassays, female T. radiata exhibited a preference for specific compounds. They were significantly attracted to tetradecanal at a concentration of 10 µg/µl and trans-2-nonenal at 0.01 µg/µl, while no significant attraction was observed toward hexanal, heptanal, or n-heptadecane. Our report is the first to demonstrate that volatiles produced by D. citri nymphs attract T. radiata, which suggests that this parasitoid may utilize nymph volatiles to locate its host.

A systematic review on percarbonate-based advanced oxidation processes in wastewater remediation: From theoretical understandings to practical applications.

Percarbonate encompasses sodium percarbonate (SPC) and composite in-situ generated peroxymonocarbonate (PMC). SPC emerges as a promising alternative to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hailed for its superior transportation safety, stability, cost-effectiveness, and eco-friendliness, thereby becoming a staple in advanced oxidation processes for mitigating water pollution. Yet, scholarly literature scarcely explores the deployment of percarbonate-AOPs in eradicating organic contaminants from aquatic systems. Consequently, this review endeavors to demystify the formation mechanisms and challenges associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) in percarbonate-AOPs, alongside highlighting directions for future inquiry and development. The genesis of ROS encompasses the in situ chemical oxidation of activated SPC (including iron-based activation, discharge plasma, ozone activation, photon activation, and metal-free materials activation) and composite in situ chemical oxidation via PMC (namely, H2O2/NaHCO3/Na2CO3, peroxymonosulfate/NaHCO3/Na2CO3 systems). Moreover, the ROS generated by percarbonate-AOPs, such as •OH, O2•-, CO3•-, HO2•-, 1O2, and HCO4-, can work individually or synergistically to disintegrate target pollutants. Concurrently, this review systematically addresses conceivable obstacles posing percarbonate-AOPs in real-world application from the angle of environmental conditions (pH, temperature, coexisting substances), and potential ecological toxicity. Considering the outlined challenges and advantages, we posit future research directions to amplify the applicability and efficacy of percarbonate-AOPs in tangible settings. It is anticipated that the insights provided in this review will catalyze the progression of percarbonate-AOPs in water purification endeavors and bridge the existing knowledge void.

Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of Bx Involved in Benzoxazinoids Biosynthesis Revealed the Roles of DIMBOA during Early Somatic Embryogenesis in Dimocarpus longan Lour.

Benzoxazinoids (BXs) are tryptophan-derived indole metabolites and play a role in various physiological processes, such as auxin metabolism. Auxin is essential in the process of somatic embryogenesis (SE) in plants. In this study, we used bioinformatics, transcriptome data, exogenous treatment experiments, and qPCR analysis to study the evolutionary pattern of Bx genes in green plants, the regulatory mechanism of DlBx genes during early SE, and the effect of 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazine-3-one (DIMBOA) on the early SE in Dimocarpus longan Lour. The results showed that 27 putative DlBxs were identified in the longan genome; the Bx genes evolved independently in monocots and dicots, and the main way of gene duplication for the DlBx was tandem duplication (TD) and the DlBx were strongly constrained by purification selection during evolution. The transcriptome data indicated varying expression levels of DlBx during longan early SE, and most DlBxs responded to light, temperature, drought stress, and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) treatment; qRT-PCR results showed DlBx1, DlBx6g and DlBx6h were responsive to auxin, and treatment with 0.1mg/L DIMBOA for 9 days significantly upregulated the expression levels of DlBx1, DlBx3g, DlBx6c, DlBx6f, DlB6h, DlBx7d, DlBx8, and DlBx9b. The correlation analysis showed a significantly negative correlation between the expression level of DlBx1 and the endogenous IAA contents; DIMBOA significantly promoted the early SE and significantly changed the endogenous IAA content, and the IAA content increased significantly at the 9th day and decreased significantly at the 13th day. Therefore, the results suggested that DIMBOA indirectly promote the early SE by changing the endogenous IAA content via affecting the expression level of DlBx1 and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content in longan.

Crystalline-dependent surface reconstruction at low applied potential region for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction.

Alkaline water electrolysis is apreferred technology for large-scale green hydrogen production. For most active transition metal-based catalysts during anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the atomic structure of the anodic catalysts' surface often undergoes reconstruction to optimize the reaction path and enhance their catalytic activity. The design and maintenance of highly active sites during this reconstruction process remain critical and challenging for most OER catalysts. In this study, we explored the effects of crystal structures in pre-catalysts on surface reconstruction at low applied potential. Through experimental observation and theoretical calculation, we found out that catalysts with specific crystal structures exhibit superior surface remodeling ability, which enables them to better adapt to the conditions of the oxygen evolution reaction and achieve efficient catalysis. The discharge process enables the formation of abundant phosphorus vacancies on the surface, which in turn affects the efficiency of the entire oxygen evolution reaction. The optimized crystal structure of the catalyst results in an increase as high as 58.5 mA/cm2 for Ni5P4, which is twice as high as that observed for Ni2P. These results provide essential theoretical foundations and technical guidance for designing more efficient catalysts for oxygen evolution reactions.

Boosting Photothermocatalytic Oxidation of Toluene Over Pt/N-TiO2: The Gear Effect of Light and Heat.

Photothermal catalysis is extremely promising for the removal of various indoor pollutants owing to its photothermal synergistic effect, while the low light utilization efficiency and unclear catalytic synergistic mechanism hinder its practical applications. Here, nitrogen atoms are introduced, and Pt nanoparticles are loaded on TiO2 to construct Pt/N-TiO2-H2, which exhibits 3.5-fold higher toluene conversion rate than the pure TiO2. Compared to both photocatalytic and thermocatalytic processes, Pt/N-TiO2-H2 exhibited remarkable performance and stability in the photothermocatalytic oxidation of toluene, achieving 98.4% conversion and 98.3% CO2 yield under a light intensity of 260 mW cm-2. Furthermore, Pt/N-TiO2-H2 demonstrated potential practical applicability in the photothermocatalytic elimination of various indoor volatile organic compounds. The synergistic effect occurs as thermocatalysis accelerates the accumulation of carboxylate species and the degradation of aldehyde species, while photocatalysis promotes the generation of aldehyde species and the consumption of carboxylate species. This ultimately enhances the photothermocatalytic process. The photothermal synergistic effect involves the specific conversion of intermediates through the interplay of light and heat, providing novel insights for the design of photothermocatalytic materials and the understanding of photothermal mechanisms.

Is P3 amplitude associated with greater gaze distraction effect in schizotypy?

A recently proposed "Hyperfocusing hypothesis" suggests that schizotypy is associated with a more narrow but more intense way of allocating attention. The current study aims to test a vital prediction of this hypothesis in a social context, that schizotypy may be related to greater difficulty overcoming the distracting effects of gaze. This could cause a longer time to respond to targets that are invalidly cued by gaze. The current study tested this prediction in a modified Posner cueing paradigm by using P3 as an indicator for attentional resources. Seventy-four young healthy individuals with different levels of schizotypy were included, they were asked to detect the location of a target that was cued validly or invalidly by the gaze and head orientation. The results revealed that (a) schizotypy is associated with hyperfocusing on gaze direction, leading to greater difficulty overcoming the distracting effect of gaze. The higher the trait-schizotypy score, the more time needed to respond to targets that were invalidly cued by gaze (b) schizotypy is associated with reduced P3 which is directed by social communicative stimuli. The higher the trait-schizotypy score, the smaller the amplitude of P3 (c) the relationship between schizotypal traits and response times of the gaze-invalid condition is fully intermediated by P3. The findings of the current study suggest the P3 component may be a crucial neural mechanism underlying joint attention deficits in schizophrenia.

Combining Spleen Diameter and the Baveno VI Criteria Assessed by 2-Dimensional Shear Wave Elastography to Rule Out High-Risk Varices.

ABSTRACT: Patients with compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) can safely spared screening esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) when they meet the Baveno VI criteria as assessed by transient elastography. Recently, the cutoff values of the Baveno VI criteria assessed by 2-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) were proposed. We aimed to validate it to rule out high-risk varices (HRVs) in cACLD patients; combine spleen diameter (SPD) with the Baveno VI criteria and assess whether it can spare more screening EGD. A total of 173 cACLD patients with successful liver stiffness (LS) measurements and EGD examinations were included. We analyzed the risk factors that predicted HRVs and compared the performances of different models for ruling out HRVs. The platelet count, LS, and SPD were independent predictors of HRVs. The AUCs of platelet count, LS, spleen stiffness and SPD for diagnosing HRVs were 0.797, 0.757, 0.834, and 0.804, respectively. The Baveno VI criteria assessed by 2D-SWE spared 25.4% of EGD screenings and missed 2.4% of the HRV patients. Combining SPD ≤11.1 cm with the Baveno VI criteria could spare more EGD screenings than just applying the Baveno VI criteria (45.1% vs 25.4%, P < 0.001), and missed 4.9% of the HRV patients. The Baveno VI criteria assessed by 2D-SWE could be safely applied in cACLD patients to rule out HRV patients. The combined model Baveno VI/SPD could safely and significantly increase the rate of spared EGD.

Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of DWARF53 Gene in Response to GA and SL Related to Plant Height in Banana.

Dwarfing is one of the common phenotypic variations in asexually reproduced progeny of banana, and dwarfed banana is not only windproof and anti-fallout but also effective in increasing acreage yield. As a key gene in the strigolactone signalling pathway, DWARF53 (D53) plays an important role in the regulation of the height of plants. In order to gain insight into the function of the banana D53 gene, this study conducted genome-wide identification of banana D53 gene based on the M. acuminata, M. balbisiana and M. itinerans genome database. Analysis of MaD53 gene expression under high temperature, low temperature and osmotic stress based on transcriptome data and RT-qPCR was used to analyse MaD53 gene expression in different tissues as well as in different concentrations of GA and SL treatments. In this study, we identified three MaD53, three MbD53 and two MiD53 genes in banana. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that D53 Musa are equally related to D53 Asparagales and Poales. Both high and low-temperature stresses substantially reduced the expression of the MaD53 gene, but osmotic stress treatments had less effect on the expression of the MaD53 gene. GR24 treatment did not significantly promote the height of the banana, but the expression of the MaD53 gene was significantly reduced in roots and leaves. GA treatment at 100 mg/L significantly promoted the expression of the MaD53 gene in roots, but the expression of this gene was significantly reduced in leaves. In this study, we concluded that MaD53 responds to GA and SL treatments, but "Yinniaijiao" dwarf banana may not be sensitive to GA and SL.

Inhibition of biofouling by in-situ grown zwitterionic hydrogel nanolayer on membrane surface in ultralow-pressurized ultrafiltration process.

Ultralow-pressurized ultrafiltration membrane process with low energy consumption is promising in surface water purification. However, membrane fouling and low selectivity are significant barriers for the wide application of this process. Herein, an ultrathin zwitterionic hydrogel nanolayer was in-situ grown on polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane surface through interfacially-initiated free radical polymerization. The hydrogel-modified membrane possessed improved biological fouling resistance during the dynamic filtration process (bovine serum albumin, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus), comparing with commercial polysulfone membrane. The enhanced biofouling resistance ability of zwitterionic hydrogel nanolayer was derived from the foulant repulsion of hydration shell and the bactericidal effect of quaternary ammonium, according to the results of foulant-membrane interaction energy analyses and antibacterial performances. In surface water treatment, the zwitterionic hydrogel layer inhibited biofouling and resulted in the formation of a loose and thin biofilm. In addition, the hydrogel-modified membrane possessed 22% improvement in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal and 134% increasement in stable water flux, compared to commercial polysulfone membrane. The in-situ grown zwitterionic hydrogel nanolayer on membrane surface offers a prospectively alternative for biofouling control in ultralow-pressurized membrane process.