The complete mitogenome of Plator insolens (Araneae: Trochanteriidae) with phylogenetic implication.

Plator insolens Simon, 1880 belongs to the family Trochanteriidae and is distributed in China. Herein, we report the complete mitochondrial genome of P. insolens reconstructed from Illumina sequencing data, which is the first published mitochondrial genome for the family. The mitogenome is 14,519 bp in length and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and two ribosomal RNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis indicates that P. insolens is clustered within the RTA clade of the infraorder Araneomorphae. This study provides useful genetic information for future studies on the taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution of trochanteriid species.

Comprehensive Profiling of Tubby-Like Proteins in Soybean and Roles of the GmTLP8 Gene in Abiotic Stress Responses.

Tubby-like proteins (TLPs) are transcription factors that are widely present in eukaryotes and generally participate in growth and developmental processes. Using genome databases, a total of 22 putative TLP genes were identified in the soybean genome, and unevenly distributed across 13 chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the predicted GmTLP proteins were divided into five groups (I-V). Gene structure, protein motifs, and conserved domains were analyzed to identify differences and common features among the GmTLPs. A three-dimensional protein model was built to show the typical structure of TLPs. Analysis of publicly available gene expression data showed that GmTLP genes were differentially expressed in response to abiotic stresses. Based on those data, GmTLP8 was selected to further explore the role of TLPs in soybean drought and salt stress responses. GmTLP8 overexpressors had improved tolerance to drought and salt stresses, whereas the opposite was true of GmTLP8-RNAi lines. 3,3-diaminobenzidine and nitro blue tetrazolium staining and physiological indexes also showed that overexpression of GmTLP8 enhanced the tolerance of soybean to drought and salt stresses; in addition, downstream stress-responsive genes were upregulated in response to drought and salt stresses. This study provides new insights into the function of GmTLPs in response to abiotic stresses.

Two new species of the pseudoscorpion subfamily Lamprochernetinae Beier, 1932 from Guizhou, China (Pseudoscorpiones: Chernetidae).

Two new species of the pseudoscorpion subfamily Lamprochernetinae Beier, 1932 are described from Guizhou Province, China, Nudochernes pseudotroglobius sp. nov. and Megachernes biyunensis sp. nov., with detailed diagnoses, descriptions and illustrations.

Enhanced wastewater treatment with high o-aminophenol concentration by two-stage MABR and its biodegradation mechanism.

A two-stage bench-scale membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) was developed to treat wastewater containing high o-aminophenol (OAP) content. Long-term process showed that MABR-1 can achieve the removal rates of 17.6 g OAP/m2 d and 29.4 g COD/m2 d. MABR-2 can effectively perform more than 90% TN removal with the addition of external glucose. Pseudomonas and Nitrosomonas were the key functional genera in MABR-1 and MABR-2, respectively. Functional genes related to OAP degradation, including amnA,B,D, dmpC,H, mhpD,E,F, and bphH,I,J, were detected, and the involved enzymes were predicted. The OAP-degrading species and functional contribution analysis indicated that OAP can be metabolized by a single Pseudomonas or by the synergistic effects of bacteria, mainly including Cupriavidus, Thauera, unclassified Sphingomonadaceae, Lysobacter, and Azotobacter or by the cooperation of all the bacteria above. These diversified patterns guaranteed the high efficiency for OAP removal in MABR when treating wastewater with high OAP concentration.

Spider-Web-Inspired Stretchable Graphene Woven Fabric for Highly Sensitive, Transparent, Wearable Strain Sensors.

Advanced wearable strain sensors with high sensitivity and stretchability are an essential component of flexible and soft electronic devices. Conventional metal- and semiconductor-based strain sensors are rigid, fragile, and opaque, restricting their applications in wearable electronics. Graphene-based percolative structures possess high flexibility and transparency but lack high sensitivity and stretchability. Inspired by the highly flexible spider web architecture, we propose semitransparent, ultrasensitive, and wearable strain sensors made from an elastomer-filled graphene woven fabric (E-GWF) for monitoring human physiological signals. The highly flexible elastomer microskeleton and the hierarchical structure of a graphene tube offer the strain sensor with both excellent sensing and switching capabilities. Two different types of E-GWF sensors, including freestanding E-GWF and E-GWF/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites, are developed. When their structure is controlled and optimized, the E-GWF strain sensors simultaneously exhibit extraordinary characteristics, such as a high gauge factor (70 at 10% strain, which ascends to 282 at 20%) in respect to other semitransparent or transparent strain sensors, a broad sensing range up to 30%, and excellent linearity. The E-GWF/PDMS composite sensor shows a unique reversible switching behavior at a high strain level of 30-50%, making it a suitable material for fast and reversible strain switching required in many early warning systems. With a view to real-world applications of these sensors and switches, we demonstrate human motion detection and switch controls of light-emitting-diode lamps and liquid-crystal-display circuits. Their unique structure and capabilities can find a wide range of practical applications, such as health monitoring, medical diagnosis, early warning systems for structural failure, and wearable displays.

Sliced graphene foam films for dual-functional wearable strain sensors and switches.

The demand for wearable sensors is growing in many emerging fields, such as health monitoring, human-machine interfaces, robotics and personalized medicine. Here, we report the integration of skin-mountable, flexible, stretchable, dual-functional sensors and switches together with silicon-based electronics to create a novel healthcare system. We employ a facile approach to design highly stretchable graphene foam (GF)/PDMS composite films with tunable sensitivities and switching capabilities by simply controlling the thickness of GF. The GF/PDMS composite films deliver a high gauge factor of 24 at a 10% strain, tunable stretchability up to 70% and an excellent on/off switching ratio on the order of 1000. The highly reversible switching capability of the composite films is realized by identifying abnormal resistance changes at strains beyond a threshold value. To bridge the gap between signal transmission, wireless communication and post-processing in wearable devices, the sensors are combined with electronics, allowing data transmission to a smartphone using a custom-developed application consisting of a user-friendly interface. The novel approaches reported here offer a wide range of practical applications, including medical diagnosis, health monitoring and patient healthcare.

Quadratic convergence of monotone iterates for semilinear elliptic obstacle problems.

In this paper, we consider the numerical solution for the discretization of semilinear elliptic complementarity problems. A monotone algorithm is established based on the upper and lower solutions of the problem. It is proved that iterates, generated by the algorithm, are a pair of upper and lower solution iterates and converge monotonically from above and below, respectively, to the solution of the problem. Moreover, we investigate the convergence rate for the monotone algorithm and prove quadratic convergence of the algorithm. The monotone and quadratic convergence results are also extended to the discrete problems of the two-sided obstacle problems with a semilinear elliptic operator. We also present some simple numerical experiments.

EEG-fMRI study on the interictal and ictal generalized spike-wave discharges in patients with childhood absence epilepsy.

BACKGROUND: Absence epilepsy is characterized clinically by the impairment of consciousness and 3 Hz generalized spike-wave discharges (GSWDs) on EEG. Clinical absence can be observed with ictal GSWDs, but interictal GSWD bursts are usually clinically silent. Simultaneous EEG and blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (EEG-fMRI) has been successfully used to link the changes in regional neuronal activity to the occurrence of GSWDs. METHODS: We used EEG-fMRI to investigate and compare the BOLD signal changes during interictal and ictal GSWDs in patients with childhood absence epilepsy (CAE). RESULTS: Fifteen drug-naïve children with newly diagnosed CAE were studied using continuous EEG-fMRI. BOLD signal changes associated with interictal (nine sessions with six patients) and ictal (eight sessions with six patients) GSWDs were analyzed at the individual and group levels. GSWDs were associated with widespread and symmetrical deactivation in the cortex and caudate nucleus with a frontal maximum, and predominant activation in the thalamus bilaterally during ictal GSWDs and in the cortex during interictal GSWDs. The BOLD response was characterized by a higher statistical significance and a more widespread extent at the time of the ictal GSWDs as compared to the time of interictal GSWDs. CONCLUSIONS: Both interictal and ictal GSWDs in patients with CAE are associated with BOLD signal changes in the basal ganglia-thalamocortical loop. Ictal GSWDs showing predominant thalamic activation and widespread cortical deactivation might cause a complete suspension of the normal brain's default state and manifest clinically as abrupt loss of consciousness (absence seizures).

Quantitative and trajectory analysis of movement trajectories in supplementary motor area seizures of frontal lobe epilepsy.

The objectives of this study were to quantitatively analyze the movement trajectories of four types of supplementary motor area (SMA) seizures (hyperkinetic, tonic posturing, fencing posture, tonic head turning), and to compare the movement trajectories of SMA seizures with those of temporal lobe seizures and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. Ten video/EEG recordings of each type of seizure were obtained. Imaging data collected by video/EEG monitoring were transformed into a digital matrix with image processing software and then transformed into a movement trajectory curve with MATLAB 6.5 software. From these movement trajectories, amplitude, frequency, proximal/distal limb amplitude ratios, and shoulder/abdominal amplitude ratios measurements were calculated. One-way ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences in average amplitude, as well as proximal/distal limb amplitude ratios, in SMA seizures when compared with those of temporal lobe seizures and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. This study proved the feasibility of quantitative analysis of SMA seizures and suggests it should be further evaluated for its capability to distinguish different seizure semiologies for the diagnosis of epilepsy.

Motor trajectories in automatisms and their quantitative analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To quantitatively analyze trajectory of movement in automatisms with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE). METHODS: Twenty markers were attached to chosen body parts of patients, and 10 videos of seizures were recorded. The obtained videos were converted into digital matrices. Motor trajectories were established, the amplitude, frequency, limb distal-proximal amplitude ratio, and shoulder-abdominal amplitude ratio were calculated, analyzed and compared between two types of epilepsy. RESULTS: The average of transient limb distal-proximal ratios in automatism patients with TLE was >3, which suggested that distal limb movements during TLE were predominant. However, the transient limb distal-proximal ratio in patients with FLE was <3, which indicated the predominance of proximal movements. The differences of motor trajectories between these two types of epilepsy were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The quantification system may pave a new way for semiology study of epilepsy and is important in differential diagnosis of different types of epilepsy.

[Study on interictal epileptiform discharges in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy patient with EEG-fMRI].

Using simultaneous EEG-correlated functional MRI (EEG-fMRI), we studied the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signals in a juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) patient with interictal epileptiform discharges. Extensive and symmetric activation and deactivation areas were assessed in bilateral hemispheric regions respectively, and these signals decreased gradually from the parieto-occipital region to the frontal region. Activations were found in cuneus, insulae, mesial midfrontal region, midline and bilateral cerebellum and thalamus, while the deactivities were in the bilateral anterior frontal region and parietal region as well as the posterior cingulate gyri. These findings suggest that the synchronized neuronal activities represented by spike and wave complex in EEG be reflected in the activation of BLOD signals in thalamocortical regions. However, those regions of deactivation reflect the suspension of the default state of brain function resulting indirectly from this discharge. There is good correspondence between neuronal activity (EEG) and fMRI. The combination of EEG and fMRI is a powerful tool in studying brain function.