The Maternal Microbiome Programs the m6A Epitranscriptome of the Mouse Fetal Brain and Intestine.

The microbiome exerts profound effects on fetal development and health, yet the mechanisms underlying remain elusive. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) plays important roles in developmental regulation. Although it has been shown that the microbiome affects the mRNA m6A modification of the host, it remains unclear whether the maternal microbiome affects m6A epitranscriptome of the fetus so as to impact fetal development. Here, we found that loss of the maternal microbiome altered the expression of m6A writers and erasers, as well as the m6A methylome of the mouse fetal brain and intestine on embryonic day 18. From the m6A profiles, we identified 2,655 and 2,252 m6A modifications regulated by the maternal microbiome in the fetal brain and intestine, respectively, and we demonstrated that these m6A-modified genes were enriched in the neuro/intestinal developmental pathways, such as the Wnt signaling pathway. Finally, we verified that antibiotic treatment mostly recapitulated changes in m6A, and we further showed that the loss of heterozygosity of Mettl3 rescued m6A levels and the expression changes of some developmental genes in the fetal intestine that resulted from antibiotic treatment. Collectively, our data revealed that the maternal microbiome programs the m6A epitranscriptome of the mouse fetal brain and intestine.

The Alteration of m6A Modification at the Transcriptome-Wide Level in Human Villi During Spontaneous Abortion in the First Trimester.

A growing number of studies have demonstrated that N6 methyladenine (m6A) acts as an important role in the pathogenesis of reproductive diseases. Therefore, it is essential to profile the genome-wide m6A modifications such as in spontaneous abortion. In this study, due to the trace of human villi during early pregnancy, we performed high-throughput sequencing in villous tissues from spontaneous abortion (SA group) and controls with induced abortion (normal group) in the first trimester. Based on meRIP-seq data, 18,568 m6A peaks were identified. These m6A peaks were mainly located in the coding region near the stop codon and were mainly characterized by AUGGAC and UGGACG motif. Compared with normal group, the SA group had 2,159 significantly upregulated m6A peaks and 281 downregulated m6A peaks. Biological function analyses revealed that differential m6A-modified genes were mainly involved in the Hippo and Wnt signaling pathways. Based on the conjoint analysis of meRIP-seq and RNA-seq data, we identified thirty-five genes with differentially methylated m6A peaks and synchronously differential expression. And these genes were mainly involved in the Wnt signaling pathway, phosphatase activity regulation, protein phosphatase inhibitor activity, and transcription inhibitor activity. This study is the first to profile the transcriptome-wide m6A methylome in spontaneous abortion during early pregnancy, which provide novel insights into the pathogenesis and treatment of spontaneous abortion in the first trimester.

EEG-based vibrotactile evoked brain-computer interfaces system: A systematic review.

Recently, a novel electroencephalogram-based brain-computer interface (EVE-BCI) using the vibrotactile stimulus shows great potential for an alternative to other typical motor imagery and visual-based ones. (i) Objective: in this review, crucial aspects of EVE-BCI are extracted from the literature to summarize its key factors, investigate the synthetic evidence of feasibility, and generate recommendations for further studies. (ii) Method: five major databases were searched for relevant publications. Multiple key concepts of EVE-BCI, including data collection, stimulation paradigm, vibrotactile control, EEG signal processing, and reported performance, were derived from each eligible article. We then analyzed these concepts to reach our objective. (iii) Results: (a) seventy-nine studies are eligible for inclusion; (b) EEG data are mostly collected among healthy people with an embodiment of EEG cap in EVE-BCI development; (c) P300 and Steady-State Somatosensory Evoked Potential are the two most popular paradigms; (d) only locations of vibration are heavily explored by previous researchers, while other vibrating factors draw little interest. (e) temporal features of EEG signal are usually extracted and used as the input to linear predictive models for EVE-BCI setup; (f) subject-dependent and offline evaluations remain popular assessments of EVE-BCI performance; (g) accuracies of EVE-BCI are significantly higher than chance levels among different populations. (iv) Significance: we summarize trends and gaps in the current EVE-BCI by identifying influential factors. A comprehensive overview of EVE-BCI can be quickly gained by reading this review. We also provide recommendations for the EVE-BCI design and formulate a checklist for a clear presentation of the research work. They are useful references for researchers to develop a more sophisticated and practical EVE-BCI in future studies.

Facial Contour Rejuvenation by Reduction Malarplasty Combined With Second-Stage Fat Grafting.

BACKGROUND: With aging, the facial contour shows a double-concave deformity. Conventional facial contouring procedure, including face lifting and fat grafting, cannot yield a smooth facial contour line. This study was the first to propose a combination of reduction malarplasty and 2nd-stage autologous fat grafting so as to achieve the aesthetic goals of facial contour rejuvenation. METHODS: The study group comprised patients seeking facial contour rejuvenation from January 2017 to May 2018 (28 patients: 28 females and 0 males) at the Department of Plastic Surgery, Tian Tan Pu Hua Hospital. All of the cases underwent bilateral malarplasty with 2nd-stage autologous facial fat grafting. Radiologic and photographic documentation was completed preoperatively. The mean follow-up period was 12 months. Patients' pre-op photographs and 3 months follow-up pictures were blindly assessed. RESULTS: Most of the patients were satisfied with their results after 1-time fat grafting. Eleven patients demanded re-injection after the 1st fat grafting in temporal area, and 6 patients demanded 3rd time fat grafting in temporal area. Eleven patients demanded re-injection insubmalar area, and 8 patients demanded 3rd time fat grafting in submalar area. Meanwhile, 9 of those patients underwent fat grafting in other sites other than temporal and submalar region. The amount of fat injected was also recorded in this study. The appearance of double-concave deformity was greatly improved in all cases. Complications included infection (3.6%), hematoma (7.1%), and malar prominence relapse (7.1%), and so on. CONCLUSION: Reduction malarplasty combined with several times of fat grafting could effectively overcome the malar prominence and soft tissue deflation. Complications were minimal after these procedures. Therefore, this technique is useful to restore the youthful facial contour in Asian patients with aging double-concave deformity.

[Spatial distribution and inter-annual variability of spawning grounds of Cynoglossus joyneri in the Yellow Sea coastal waters in summer]. / é»„æµ·è¿‘å²¸æµ·åŸŸçŸ­å»çº¢èˆŒé³Žå¤å­£äº§åµåœºçš„ç©ºé—´åˆ†å¸ƒåŠå ¶å¹´é™ å˜åŒ–.

With survey data from three voyages in the summer of 2014, 2016, and 2017, spatial distribution and inter-annual variability of spawning grounds of Cynoglossus joyneri in the coastal waters of Yellow Sea were examined based on Tweedie-generalized additive model (GAM). The results showed that the spawning grounds of C. joyneri mainly distributed in the Haizhou Bay ranging within 34°00'-35°18' N, 119°30'-121°30' E. The other one in Subei Shoal 32°18'-34°00' N, 120°18'-122°00' E. Fish eggs of C. joyneri were few in the southern waters of Shandong Peninsula 34°42'-36°48' N, 119°30'-122°00' E. The distribution of fish eggs was significantly related to the location (i.e., longitude and latitude), depth, and sea surface temperature, and did not relate to the sea surface salinity and surface chlorophyll a. The optimal range of depth, sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, and surface chlorophyll a were 15-26 m, 29-32 ℃, 22-25 and 0.10-3 mg·m-3, respectively. There was notable inter-annual variability in the spatial distribution of spawning grounds of C. joyneri and its influencing factors. Overall, the distribution of spawning grounds is relatively stable, but potentially move northward in the year with high sea surface temperature.

[Distribution and environmental characteristics of the spawning grounds of Scomberomorus niphonius in the coastal waters of Yellow Sea, China]. / é»„æµ·è¿‘å²¸æµ·åŸŸè“ç‚¹é©¬é²›äº§åµåœºåˆ†å¸ƒåŠå ¶çŽ¯å¢ƒç‰¹å¾.

Japanese Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus niphonius) is one of the main economic fish species in the Yellow Sea. To understand its spawning habitat and population dynamics in the early stage, we examined the distribution and environmental characteristics of spawning ground of Japanese Spanish mackerel using their egg survey data collecting in 2015 (late May) and 2017 (late May) in the coastal waters of Yellow Sea. The generalized additive model (GAM) with the Tweedie distribution was used to analyze the distribution and environmental characteristics of its spawning ground. The results showed that egg distribution was significantly related to the location (i.e., latitude and longitude), water depth, and sea surface temperature (SST), but not related to sea surface salinity (SSS). The optimal range of depth and SST were 15-30 m and 16-20 ℃, respectively. The mackerel spawning ground mainly distributed in the region Shidao fishing ground (area near 36°30' N,121°48' E) and Haizhou Bay (33°30'-36° N,119°30'-121°30' E). There were some clear inter-annual differences in the distribution of mackerel spawning ground, with the spawning ground tending to northward in the year with higher sea temperature. Therefore, it is necessary to manage and protect the above spawning ground (especially the Haizhou Bay), establishing the corresponding ecological protection and restoration strategy, to realize sustainable exploitation of mackerel fisheries resources in the Yellow Sea.

[Effects of environmental factors on catch distribution of stow net Pseudosciaena polyactis and Lophius litulon in southern Yellow Sea in spring].

Stow net fishery is one of the important fishing methods in southern Yellow Sea. Based on the 2006-2009 data from the stow net fishery resources survey in the southern Yellow Sea in spring, and by using the generalized linear model (GLM) and generalized additive model (GAM), this paper quantitatively analyzed the relationships between the catch distribution of Pseudosciaena polyactis and Lophius litulon and the environmental factors such as year, position, water depth, and sea surface temperature (SST). Compared with GLM model, GAM model could better explain the relationships between the spatiotemporal distribution of the catch per unit effort (CPUE) of P. polyactis and P. litulon and the environmental factors. There was a significant negative correlation between the CPUE of the two fish species. The P. polyactis' CPUE showed a decreasing trend from north to south along the latitude direction, being smaller especially around the Yangtze River estuary, and the L. litulon' s CPUE was also smaller near the Yangtze River estuary. The CPUE of the two species showed a significant correlation with the SST. The calculated optimal scale of the SST for L. polyactis and P. litulon was 9-11 degrees C and 9-14 degrees C, respectively.