Processing of Affective Pictures: A Study Based on Functional Connectivity Network in the Cerebral Cortex.

Emotion plays an important role in people's life. However, the existing researches do not give a unified conclusion on the brain function network under different emotional states. In this study, pictures from the international affective picture system (IAPS) of different valences were presented to subjects with a fixed frequency blinking frequency to induce stable state visual evoked potential (SSVEP). With the source location method, the cerebral cortex source signal was reconstructed based on EEG signals, and then the difference in SSVEP amplitudes in key brain areas under different emotional states and the difference in brain function network connections among different brain areas were analysed in cortical space. The results of the study show that positive and negative emotions evoked greater activation intensities in the prefrontal, temporal, and parietal lobes compared with those of neutral emotion. The network connections with a significant difference between emotional states mainly appear in the alpha and gamma bands, and the network connections with significant differences between positive emotion and negative emotion mainly exist in the right middle temporal gyrus and the superior frontal gyrus on both sides. In addition, the long-range connections play an important role in the process of emotional processing, especially the connections among frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and middle occipital gyrus. The results of this study provide a reliable scientific basis for revealing and elucidating the neural mechanism of emotion processing and the selection of brain regions and frequency bands in emotion recognition based on EEG signals.

De novo transcriptome analysis reveals insights into different mechanisms of growth and immunity in a Chinese soft-shelled turtle hybrid and the parental varieties.

The Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) is a highly important freshwater aquaculture species in China. The molecular mechanisms underlying changes in immunity and growth in hybrid vigor are not well understood. In the present study, the transcriptomes from significantly different P. sinensis strains (Qingxi black turtle, B and Japanese strain, J) and the resulting hybrid (Zajiao-1, F) were sequenced using an Illumina sequencing platform. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between Zajiao-1 and the Qingxi black turtle were enriched mainly in the HTLV-I infection and Hippo signaling pathways, while DEGs between the Zajiao-1 and Japanese strain were enriched mainly in tryptophan metabolism, caner-associated pathways, transcriptional dysregulation in cancer, amebiasis, Fcγ-mediated phagocytosis and the peroxisome pathway. Highly expressed genes involved in the regulation of disorders of the fatty acid biosynthesis, immune and cardiovascular systems in P. sinensis were found among the DEGs. Enrichment categories for gene ontology included cellular processes, metabolic pathways, and the actin cytoskeleton pathway. The reliability of the sequencing data was verified through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis of 20 immunity or growth-related genes. These findings offer new insights into heterosis of growth traits and resistance to stresses and potential strategies for selective breeding.

[Rapid screening and confirmation of non-target pigment in Chinese softshell turtle by liquid chromatography coupled to time of flight mass spectrometry].

A method of non-target pigment screening in Chinese softshell turtle has been established by using liquid chromatography coupled to time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF MS). After being purified by a simple acetonitrile extraction work, the non-target pigment in 20 Chinese softshell turtle samples was detected by liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection (LC-DAD). The S7 sample, which has a strong spectral response, was chosen to extract the mass spectrometry information of the non-target pigment on different gradient elution conditions. In order to get the characteristic molecular mass ion (564.397 73 Da and 564.395 61 Da) of the non-target pigment, qualitative spectral full scan with negative sample was used. The molecular formula generation data and the literature information prompted speculation that the non-target pigment was canthaxanthin with the formula of C40H52O2. By comparing the canthaxanthin standard material MS/MS information, the result was confirmed accurate. A strategy of LC-Q-TOF MS method for the qualitative analysis of unknown compounds is discussed, and the results indicated that the described method can be effectively applied to qualitative analysis for non-target pigment in Chinese softshell turtle.

PCR-RFLP identification of four Chinese soft-shelled turtle Pelodiscus sinensis strains using mitochondrial genes.

A PCR-RFLP method to confirm the identification of four Pelodiscus sinensis strains (Taihu Lake strain, Taiwan strain, Yellow River strain and Japanese strain) was developed and evaluated. In this study, we sequenced and analyzed the partial sequences of mitochondrial NADH4, COX I and NADH5-NADH6 genes of 60 individuals from the four P. sinensis strains. Bgl I, Hpa II and Cla I were selected for cutting NADH4, COX I and NADH5-NADH6 PCR products, respectively, and each strain has its unique restriction band patterns. The result showed that all the 140 samples tested can be correctly identified based on the combination of the three digested fragments pattern. This study provides an effective method to distinguish the four main strains of P. sinensis.