Effects of age on the time course of syntactic priming in Chinese sentence production: an ERP study.

Using a syntactic priming task, we investigated the time course of syntactic encoding in Chinese sentence production and compared encoding patterns between younger and older adults. Participants alternately read sentence descriptions and overtly described pictures, while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. We manipulated the abstract prime structure (active or passive) as well as the lexical overlap of the prime and the target (verb overlap or no overlap). The syntactic choice results replicated classical abstract priming and lexical boost effects in both younger and older adults. However, when production latency was taken into account, the speed benefit from syntactic repetition differed between the two age groups. Meanwhile, preferred priming facilitated production in both age groups, whereas nonpreferred priming inhibited production in the older group. For electroencephalography, an earlier effect of syntactic repetition and a later effect of lexical overlap showed a two-stage pattern of syntactic encoding. Older adults also showed a more delayed and interactive encoding pattern than younger adults, indicating a greater reliance on lexical information. These results are illustrative of the two-stage competition and residual activation models.

Direct Retrieval of Orthographic Representations in Chinese Handwritten Production: Evidence from a Dynamic Causal Modeling Study.

This present study identified an optimal model representing the relationship between orthography and phonology in Chinese handwritten production using dynamic causal modeling, and further explored how this model was modulated by word frequency and syllable frequency. Each model contained five volumes of interest in the left hemisphere (inferior frontal gyrus [IFG], middle frontal gyrus [MFG], angular gyrus [AG], supramarginal gyrus, and superior frontal gyrus), with the IFG as the driven input area. Results showed the superiority of a model in which both the MFG and the AG connected with the IFG, supporting the orthography autonomy hypothesis. Word frequency modulated the AG → superior frontal gyrus connection (information flow from the orthographic lexicon to the orthographic buffer), and syllable frequency affected the IFG → MFG connection (information transmission from the semantic system to the phonological lexicon). This study thus provides new insights into the connectivity architecture of neural substrates involved in writing.

Nanobubble water promotes anaerobic digestion of high-solids cattle manure under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions.

The gradual increase in cattle farming has led to a huge production of cattle manure (CM), but the conventional treatment methods are less efficient. In this study, the treatment method of anaerobic digestion (AD) of high-solids CM by combining nanobubble water (NBW) with different gases was proposed to present a new idea for the reduction, harmlessness, and resourcefulness of CM. It was found that the performance of the digester with added NBW was better than the control. Among them, the cumulative methane yield T-Air: 227.09 mL g-1 VSadded and T-CO2: 226.12 mL g-1 VSadded increased by 17.72 % and 17.22 %, respectively, compared with the control T: 192.90 mL g-1 VSadded under thermophilic conditions. Under mesophilic conditions, M-Air: 162.39 mL g-1 VSadded increased by 9.68 % compared with control M: 148.05 mL g-1 VSadded. Microbial communities analyzed at the genus level revealed that the relative abundance of bacteria favorable to hydrolysis and acid-producing processes, such as Defluviitalea, Haloplasma, and Bacillus, increased to varying degrees. Moreover, the relative abundance of archaea favorable for methanogenesis, such as Methanoculleus, Methanobrevibacter, and Methanosarcina, also increased to varying degrees. Therefore, the addition of NBW promoted the hydrolysis of high-solids CM, enhanced the stability of the reaction, improved the methanogenic performance, and increased the RA of favorable genera, which ultimately led to a better performance of the AD of high-solids CM.

Ageing of grammatical advance planning in spoken sentence production: an eye movement study.

This study used an image-description paradigm with concurrent eye movement recordings to investigate differences of grammatical advance planning between young and older speakers in spoken sentence production. Participants were asked to produce sentences with simple or complex initial phrase structures (IPS) in Experiment 1 while producing individual words in Experiment 2. Young and older speakers showed comparable speaking latencies in sentence production task, whereas older speakers showed longer latencies than young speakers in word production task. Eye movement data showed that compared with young speakers, older speakers had higher fixation percentage on object 1, lower percentage of gaze shift from object 1 to 2, and lower fixation percentage on object 2 in simple IPS sentences, while they showed similar fixation percentage on object 1, similar percentage of gaze shift from object 1 to 2, and lower fixation percentage on object 2 in complex IPS sentences, indicating a decline of grammatical encoding scope presenting on eye movement patterns. Meanwhile, speech analysis showed that older speakers presented longer utterance duration, slower speech rate, and longer and more frequently occurred pauses in articulation, indicating a decline of speech articulation in older speakers. Thus, our study suggests that older speakers experience an ageing effect in the sentences with complex initial phrases due to limited cognitive resources.

Roles of Integrin in Cardiovascular Diseases: From Basic Research to Clinical Implications.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) pose a significant global health threat due to their complex pathogenesis and high incidence, imposing a substantial burden on global healthcare systems. Integrins, a group of heterodimers consisting of α and ß subunits that are located on the cell membrane, have emerged as key players in mediating the occurrence and progression of CVDs by regulating the physiological activities of endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, platelets, fibroblasts, cardiomyocytes, and various immune cells. The crucial role of integrins in the progression of CVDs has valuable implications for targeted therapies. In this context, the development and application of various integrin antibodies and antagonists have been explored for antiplatelet therapy and anti-inflammatory-mediated tissue damage. Additionally, the rise of nanomedicine has enhanced the specificity and bioavailability of precision therapy targeting integrins. Nevertheless, the complexity of the pathogenesis of CVDs presents tremendous challenges for monoclonal targeted treatment. This paper reviews the mechanisms of integrins in the development of atherosclerosis, cardiac fibrosis, hypertension, and arrhythmias, which may pave the way for future innovations in the diagnosis and treatment of CVDs.

Effect of the incident polarization on in-plane and out-of-plane spin splitting near the critical angle.

To reveal the effect of the incident polarization on the spin splitting of the photonic spin Hall effect (that is, the spatial and angular in-plane and out-of-plane spin splitting), we systematically study the phenomena and characteristics of these four spin splitting generated when the beam with arbitrary linear polarization is reflected from the non-absorbing medium interface and the absorbing medium interface. Several features of the relationship between the incident polarization and the four kinds of spin splitting are found. In addition, It is also found that the in-plane angular and spatial shifts are significantly enhanced near the critical angle, even reaching their theoretical upper limit. However, the out-of-plane shifts are not enhanced. The research in this paper will contribute to a deeper understanding of PSHE. These findings can also provide new ideas and methods for precision metrology, photonic manipulation, and photonic device fabrication.

The Interplay between Integrins and Immune Cells as a Regulator in Cancer Immunology.

Integrins are a group of heterodimers consisting of α and ß subunits that mediate a variety of physiological activities of immune cells, including cell migration, adhesion, proliferation, survival, and immunotolerance. Multiple types of integrins act differently on the same immune cells, while the same integrin may exert various effects on different immune cells. In the development of cancer, integrins are involved in the regulation of cancer cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis; conversely, integrins promote immune cell aggregation to mediate the elimination of tumors. The important roles of integrins in cancer progression have provided valuable clues for the diagnosis and targeted treatment of cancer. Furthermore, many integrin inhibitors have been investigated in clinical trials to explore effective regimens and reduce side effects. Due to the complexity of the mechanism of integrin-mediated cancer progression, challenges remain in the research and development of cancer immunotherapies (CITs). This review enumerates the effects of integrins on four types of immune cells and the potential mechanisms involved in the progression of cancer, which will provide ideas for more optimal CIT in the future.

The Inhibition Effect of Affordances in Action Picture Naming: An Event-related Potential Study.

How quickly are different kinds of conceptual knowledge activated in action picture naming? Using a masked priming paradigm, we manipulated the prime category type (artificial vs. natural), prime action type (precision, power, vs. neutral grip), and target action type (precision vs. power grip) in action picture naming, while electrophysiological signals were measured concurrently. Naming latencies showed an inhibition effect in the congruent action type condition compared with the neutral condition. ERP results showed that artificial and natural category primes induced smaller waveforms in precision or power action primes than neutral primes in the time window of 100-200 msec. Time-frequency results consistently presented a power desynchronization of the mu rhythm in the time window of 0-210 msec with precision action type artificial objects compared with neutral primes, which localized at the supplementary motor, precentral and postcentral areas in the left hemisphere. These findings suggest an inhibitory effect of affordances arising at conceptual preparation in action picture naming and provide evidence for embodied cognition.

Dissociation of Writing Processes: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study on the Neural Substrates for the Handwritten Production of Chinese Characters.

Writing is an important way to communicate in everyday life because it can convey information over time and space, but its neural substrates remain poorly known. Although the neural basis of written language production has been investigated in alphabetic scripts, it has rarely been examined in nonalphabetic languages such as Chinese. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging study explored the neural substrates of handwritten word production in Chinese and identified the brain regions sensitive to the psycholinguistic factors of word frequency and syllable frequency. To capture this, we contrasted neural activation in "writing" with "speaking plus drawing" and "watching plus drawing." Word frequency (high, low) and syllable frequency (high, low) of the picture names were manipulated. Contrasts between the tasks showed that writing Chinese characters was mainly associated with brain activation in the left frontal and parietal cortex, whereas orthographic processing and the motor procedures necessary for handwritten production were also related to activation in the right frontal and parietal cortex as well as right putamen/thalamus. These results demonstrate that writing Chinese characters requires activation in bilateral cortical regions and the right putamen/thalamus. Our results also revealed no brain activation associated with the main effects of word frequency and syllable frequency as well as their interaction, which implies that word frequency and syllable frequency may not affect the writing of Chinese characters on a neural level.

The dissociation between age of acquisition and word frequency effects in Chinese spoken picture naming.

This study aimed to examine the locus of age of acquisition (AoA) and word frequency (WF) effects in Chinese spoken picture naming, using a picture-word interference task. We conducted four experiments manipulating the properties of picture names (AoA in Experiments 1 and 2, while controlling WF; and WF in Experiments 3 and 4, while controlling AoA), and the relations between distractors and targets (semantic or phonological relatedness). Both Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated AoA effects in picture naming; pictures of early acquired concepts were named faster than those acquired later. There was an interaction between AoA and semantic relatedness, but not between AoA and phonological relatedness, suggesting localisation of AoA effects at the stage of lexical access in picture naming. Experiments 3 and 4 demonstrated WF effects: pictures of high-frequency concepts were named faster than those of low-frequency concepts. WF interacted with both phonological and semantic relatedness, suggesting localisation of WF effects at multiple levels of picture naming, including lexical access and phonological encoding. Our findings show that AoA and WF effects exist in Chinese spoken word production and may arise at related processes of lexical selection.

Functional organization of intrinsic and feedback presynaptic inputs in the primary visual cortex.

In the primary visual cortex (V1) of many mammalian species, neurons are spatially organized according to their preferred orientation into a highly ordered map. However, whether and how the various presynaptic inputs to V1 neurons are organized relative to the neuronal orientation map remain unclear. To address this issue, we constructed genetically encoded calcium indicators targeting axon boutons in two colors and used them to map the organization of axon boutons of V1 intrinsic and V2-V1 feedback projections in tree shrews. Both connections are spatially organized into maps according to the preferred orientations of axon boutons. Dual-color calcium imaging showed that V1 intrinsic inputs are precisely aligned to the orientation map of V1 cell bodies, while the V2-V1 feedback projections are aligned to the V1 map with less accuracy. Nonselective integration of intrinsic presynaptic inputs around the dendritic tree is sufficient to reproduce cell body orientation preference. These results indicate that a precisely aligned map of intrinsic inputs could reinforce the neuronal map in V1, a principle that may be prevalent for brain areas with function maps.

Glutamine Synthetase (GS): A Key Enzyme for Nitrogen Assimilation in The Macroalga Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis (Rhodophyta).

This study aimed to address the importance of glutamine synthetase II (GSII) during nitrogen assimilation in macroalga Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis. The cDNA full-length sequence of the three glGSII genes was revealed to have the 5' m7 G cap, 5'-untranslated region, open reading frame (ORF), 3'-untranslated region, and a 3' poly (A) tail. The three glGSIIs were classified into plastid glGS2 and cytosolic glGS1-1 and glGS1-2, having conserved GSII domains but different cDNA sequences. The complicated 5' end flanking region indicates complex function of glGS genes. glGS1 genes were significantly up-regulated under the different NH4+ : NO3- ratio (i.e., 40:10, 25:25, 10:40, and 0:50) except glGS2 which dramatically up-regulated under the low NH4+ : NO3- ratio (i.e., 10:40 and 0:50) during different cultivation times. These different expression patterns perhaps are due to the different biological roles of GS1 and GS2 in the gene family. Furthermore, hypothetical working model of nitrogen assimilation pathway exhibiting the role of glGS1 and glGS2 is proposed. Finally, glGS2 was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3), and the optimal conditions for culture (15°C, overnight), purification (500 mM imidazole washing), and activity (pH 7.4, 37°C) were established. This study lays a very important foundation for exploring the role of GS in nitrogen assimilation in algae and plants.

La2O3-modified MCM-41 for efficient phosphate removal synthesized using natural diatomite as precursor.

In this study, an ordered mesoporous silica modified with lanthanum oxide was synthesized using diatomite as silica source and applied for adsorption of phosphate from aqueous solution. By taking cost-effectiveness for practical application into consideration, the adsorbent with a theoretical La/SiO2 molar ratio of 0.2 (La0.2M41) possessed a promising performance. In the batch adsorption tests, the adsorbents with La2O3 loading possessed markedly enhanced adsorption capacities. Phosphate uptake by La0.2M41 was pH-dependent with the highest sorption capacities observed over a pH range of 3.0-6.0. Coexistent anions displayed an adverse effect on phosphate adsorption following the order of CO3 2-  > F-  > NO3 - > Cl- > SO4 2-. In the kinetic study, phosphate adsorption onto La0.2M41 followed the pseudo-second-order equation better than the pseudo-first-order, suggesting chemisorption. The Langmuir isothermal model well described the adsorption isotherm data, showing a maximum adsorption capacity for phosphate of up to 263.16 mg/g at 298 K. In a real treated wastewater effluent with phosphate concentration of 2.5 mg P/L, La0.2M41 efficiently reduced the phosphate concentration to 28 µg P/L.

Molecular cloning, expression, and biochemical characterization of a novel cold-active α-amylase from Bacillus sp. dsh19-1.

A novel gene (ANK58566) encoding a cold-active α-amylase was cloned from marine bacterium Bacillus sp. dsh19-1 (CCTCC AB 2015426), and the protein was expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene had a length of 1302 bp and encoded an α-amylase of 433 amino acids with an estimated molecular mass of 50.1 kDa. The recombinant α-amylase (AmyD-1) showed maximum activity at 20 °C and pH 6.0, and retained about 35.7% of activity at 4 °C. The AmyD-1 activity was stimulated by Ca2+ and Na+. However, the chelating agent, EDTA, inactivated the enzyme. Moreover, AmyD-1 displayed extreme salt tolerance, with the highest activity in the presence of 2.0 M NaCl and 60.5% of activity in 5.0 M NaCl. The Km, Vmax and kcat of AmyD-1 in 2.0 M NaCl were 2.8 mg ml-1, 21.8 mg ml-1 min-1 and 933.5 s-1, respectively, at 20 °C and pH 6.0 with soluble starch as substrate. MALDI-TOF MS (Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry) revealed that the end products of starch hydrolysis by AmyD-1 were glucose, maltose, maltotriose, maltotetraose, and malt oligosaccharides. Thus, AmyD-1 is one of the very few α-amylases that can tolerate low temperatures and high salt concentrations, which makes it to be a potential candidate for research in basic and applied microbiology.

Effect of using different proportions of inoculum during bioleaching on sludge dewaterability.

Bioleaching, the addition of bacteria to geological materials, has been applied to sludge to remove metals and improve upon sludge dewaterability. This paper investigates the effect of using different quantities of inoculum (bacteria) during bioleaching on sludge dewaterability. The analysis was based on bioleaching experiments conducted in a 20 L bio-reactor using different quantities of inoculum (20%, 10%, 5%, 2%, 0%). Changes in pH, oxidation reduction potential (ORP), capillary suction time (CST), specific resistance to filtration (SRF) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were determined to gauge sludge dewatering. Results indicate that sludge dewaterability during the 2%, 10%, and 20% inoculum experiments declined through time. Decreased dewaterability is attributed to increases in the quantity of proteins and polysaccharides in slime EPS. Dewaterability improved during the 5% inoculum experiment, and reached a maximum when pH was 2.3. During this latter experiment, CST and SRF were reduced by 74% and 62%, respectively, in comparison to control conditions, while total EPS content decreased by 71%. The decrease in total EPS was primarily due to a decrease in proteins associated with tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS). Thus, changes in the amount of proteins in TB-EPS and sludge pH played a crucial role in sludge dewaterability.

Hyaluronic acid enhances proliferation of human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells through activation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

This study investigated the pro-proliferative effect of hyaluronic acid (HA) on human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) and the underlying mechanisms. Treatment with HA increased cell population growth in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Analyses by flow cytometry and immunocytochemistry revealed that HA did not change the cytophenotypes of hAMSCs. Additionally, the osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic differentiation capabilities of these hAMSCs were retained after HA treatment. Moreover, HA increased the mRNA expressions of wnt1, wnt3a, wnt8a, cyclin D1, Ki-67, and ß-catenin as well as the protein level of ß-catenin and cyclin D1 in hAMSCs; and the nuclear localization of ß-catenin was also enhanced. Furthermore, the pro-proliferative effect of HA and up-regulated expression of Wnt/ß-catenin pathway-associated proteins - wnt3a, ß-catenin and cyclin D1 in hAMSCs were significantly inhibited upon pre-treatment with Wnt-C59, an inhibitor of the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway. These results suggest that HA may positively regulate hAMSCs proliferation through regulation of the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

Theoretical analysis of performance enhancement in GeSn/SiGeSn light-emitting diode enabled by Si3N4 liner stressor technique.

We comprehensively investigate the energy band diagrams, carrier distribution, spontaneous emission rate rsp, and the internal quantum efficiency ηIQE in the lattice-matched GeSn/SiGeSn double heterostructure light-emitting diode (LED) wrapped in a Si3N4 liner stressor. The large tensile strain introduced into the device by the expansion of the Si3N4 liner is characterized by numerical simulation. A lower Sn composition required for the indirect to direct bandgap transition and a higher ratio of the electron occupation probability in the Γ conduction valley are achieved in the tensile strained GeSn/SiGeSn LED in comparison with the relaxed device. Analytical calculation shows that the tensile strained LED wrapped in the Si3N4 liner stressor exhibits the improved rsp and ηIQE compared to the relaxed device. rsp and ηIQE also can be enhanced by increasing Sn composition, carrier injection density, and n-type doping concentration in the GeSn active layer.

Simulation investigation of tensile strained GeSn fin photodetector with Si(3)N(4) liner stressor for extension of absorption wavelength.

In this paper, we design a biaxial tensile strained GeSn photodetector with fin structure wrapped in Si(3)N(4) liner stressor. A large biaxial tensile strain is induced in GeSn fins by the expansion of Si(3)N(4) liner stressor. The distribution of tensile strain in GeSn fins was calculated by a finite element simulation. It is observed that magnitude of the strain increases with the reduction of fin thickness T(fin). Under the biaxial tensile strain, the direct band gap E(G,Γ) of GeSn fin photodetector is significantly reduced by lowering Γ conduction valley in energy and lifting of degeneracy of valence bands. As the 30 nm Si(3)N(4) liner stressor expanses by 1%, a E(G,Γ) reduction of ~0.14 eV is achieved in Ge(0.92)Sn(0.08) fins with a T(fin) of 100 nm. The cut-off wavelengths of strained Ge(0.96)Sn(0.04), Ge(0.92)Sn(0.08) and Ge(0.90)Sn(0.10) fin photodetectors with a T(fin) of 100 nm are extended to 2.4, 3.3, and 4 µm, respectively. GeSn fin photodetector integrated with Si(3)N(4) liner stressor provides an effective technique for extending the absorption edge of GeSn with Sn composition less than 10% to mid-infrared wavelength.

Theoretical investigation of tensile strained GeSn waveguide with Si3N4 liner stressor for mid-infrared detector and modulator applications.

We theoretically investigate a tensile strained GeSn waveguide integrated with Si3N4 liner stressor for the applications in mid-infrared (MIR) detector and modulator. A substantial tensile strain is induced in a 1 × 1 µm² GeSn waveguide by the expansion of 500 nm Si3N4 liner stressor and the contour plots of strain are simulated by the finite element simulation. Under the tensile strain, the direct bandgap E(G,Γ) of GeSn is significantly reduced by lowering the Γ conduction valley in energy and lifting of degeneracy of valence bands. Absorption coefficients of tensile strained GeSn waveguides with different Sn compositions are calculated. As the Si3N4 liner stressor expands by 1%, the cut-off wavelengths of tensile strained Ge(0.97)Sn(0.03), Ge(0.95)Sn(0.05), and Ge(0.90)Sn(0.10) waveguide photodetectors are extended to 2.32, 2.69, and 4.06 µm, respectively. Tensile strained Ge(0.90)Sn(0.10) waveguide electro-absorption modulator based on Franz-Keldysh (FK) effect is demonstrated in theory. External electric field dependence of cut-off wavelength and propagation loss of tensile strained Ge(0.90)Sn(0.10) waveguide is observed, due to the FK effect.

Priming with real motion biases visual cortical response to bistable apparent motion.

Apparent motion quartet is an ambiguous stimulus that elicits bistable perception, with the perceived motion alternating between two orthogonal paths. In human psychophysical experiments, the probability of perceiving motion in each path is greatly enhanced by a brief exposure to real motion along that path. To examine the neural mechanism underlying this priming effect, we used voltage-sensitive dye (VSD) imaging to measure the spatiotemporal activity in the primary visual cortex (V1) of awake mice. We found that a brief real motion stimulus transiently biased the cortical response to subsequent apparent motion toward the spatiotemporal pattern representing the real motion. Furthermore, intracellular recording from V1 neurons in anesthetized mice showed a similar increase in subthreshold depolarization in the neurons representing the path of real motion. Such short-term plasticity in early visual circuits may contribute to the priming effect in bistable visual perception.