Frequency-stabilized improvement of saturated absorption spectroscopy based on laser linewidth-control strategy.

Single-frequency fiber lasers (SFFLs), 1083 nm, have been extensively applied in 4He optical pumping magnetometers (OPMs) for magnetic field detection. However, the sensitivity and accuracy of OPMs are constrained by the frequency stability of SFFLs. Focusing on this concern, the frequency-stabilized performance of the 1083 nm SFFLs is successfully improved by externally tailoring the laser linewidth to match the spectral width of the error signal in saturated absorption spectroscopy. Thereinto, a high-intensity error signal of saturated absorption is generated as a large number of 4He atoms with a wide range of velocities interacting with the 1083 nm laser. Consequently, the root mean square value of the fluctuating frequency after locking is effectively decreased from 24.6 to 13.6 kHz, which achieves a performance improvement of 44.7%. Such a strategy can provide a technical underpinning for effectuating an absolute frequency stabilization with higher precision based on atomic and molecular absorption spectroscopy techniques.

Characterizing the distinct imaging phenotypes, clinical behavior, and genetic vulnerability of brain maturational subtypes in mood disorders.

BACKGROUND: Mood disorders are characterized by great heterogeneity in clinical manifestation. Uncovering such heterogeneity using neuroimaging-based individual biomarkers, clinical behaviors, and genetic risks, might contribute to elucidating the etiology of these diseases and support precision medicine. METHODS: We recruited 174 drug-naïve and drug-free patients with major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, as well as 404 healthy controls. T1 MRI imaging data, clinical symptoms, and neurocognitive assessments, and genetics were obtained and analyzed. We applied regional gray matter volumes (GMV) and quantile normative modeling to create maturation curves, and then calculated individual deviations to identify subtypes within the patients using hierarchical clustering. We compared the between-subtype differences in GMV deviations, clinical behaviors, cell-specific transcriptomic associations, and polygenic risk scores. We also validated the GMV deviations based subtyping analysis in a replication cohort. RESULTS: Two subtypes emerged: subtype 1, characterized by increased GMV deviations in the frontal cortex, cognitive impairment, a higher genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease, and transcriptionally associated with Alzheimer's disease pathways, oligodendrocytes, and endothelial cells; and subtype 2, displaying globally decreased GMV deviations, more severe depressive symptoms, increased genetic vulnerability to major depressive disorder and transcriptionally related to microglia and inhibitory neurons. The distinct patterns of GMV deviations in the frontal, cingulate, and primary motor cortices between subtypes were shown to be replicable. CONCLUSIONS: Our current results provide vital links between MRI-derived phenotypes, spatial transcriptome, genetic vulnerability, and clinical manifestation, and uncover the heterogeneity of mood disorders in biological and behavioral terms.

Prediction of the efficacy of group cognitive behavioral therapy using heart rate variability based smart wearable devices: a randomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Depression and anxiety are common and disabling mental health problems in children and young adults. Group cognitive behavioral therapy (GCBT) is considered that an efficient and effective treatment for these significant public health concerns, but not all participants respond equally well. The aim of this study was to examine the predictive ability of heart rate variability (HRV), based on sensor data from consumer-grade wearable devices to detect GCBT effectiveness in early intervention. METHODS: In a study of 33 college students with depression and anxiety, participants were randomly assigned to either GCBT group or a wait-list control (WLC) group. They wore smart wearable devices to measure their physiological activities and signals in daily life. The HRV parameters were calculated and compared between the groups. The study also assessed correlations between participants' symptoms, HRV, and GCBT outcomes. RESULTS: The study showed that participants in GCBT had significant improvement in depression and anxiety symptoms after four weeks. Higher HRV was associated with greater improvement in depressive and anxious symptoms following GCBT. Additionally, HRV played a noteworthy role in determining how effective GCBT was in improve anxiety(P = 0.002) and depression(P = 0.020), and its predictive power remained significant even when considering other factors. CONCLUSION: HRV may be a useful predictor of GCBT treatment efficacy. Identifying predictors of treatment response can help personalize treatment and improve outcomes for individuals with depression and anxiety. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial has been retrospectively registered on [22/06/2023] with the registration number [NCT05913349] in the ClinicalTrials.gov. Variations in heart rate variability (HRV) have been associated with depression and anxiety, but the relationship of baseline HRV to treatment outcome in depression and anxiety is unclear. This study predicted GCBT effectiveness using HRV measured by wearable devices. 33 students with depression and anxiety participated in a trial comparing GCBT and wait-list control. HRV parameters from wearables correlated with symptoms (PHQ, PSS) and GCBT effectiveness. Baseline HRV levels are strongly associated with GCBT treatment outcomes. HRV may serve as a useful predictor of efficacy of GCBT treatment,facilitating personalized treatment approaches for individuals with depression and anxiety.

Immobilization of Cd2+ in an aqueous environment using a two-step microbial-induced carbonate precipitation method.

Previous researches indicate that the potent toxicity of cadmium hinders the efficacy of the microbial-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) process for bioremediation of Cd2+ in aqueous environment. Increasing urea and calcium resource doses, introducing synergists, and utilizing urease-producing consortia can improve bio-immobilization performance of MICP. However, such measures may incur cost increases and/or secondary contamination. This study first verifies the substantial biotoxicity of Cd2+ for urease activity and then analyzes the practical limitation of traditional MICP using Bacillus pasteurii for bioremediation of Cd2+ in an aqueous environment containing 1-40 mM Cd2+ by a series tube tests and numerical simulation. Subsequently, a two-step MICP method, which separates urea hydrolysis and heavy metal precipitation, is introduced in this study to eliminate the inhibitory effect of heavy metal on urease activity. The concentrations of ammonium, Cd2+, and pH were monitored over time. The results indicate that the urease expression in B. pasteurii can be significantly inhibited by Cd2+ particularly at the concentration ranging from 10 to 40 mM, leading to pretty low efficacy of traditional MICP for bioremediation of Cd2+ (Cd2+ removal rate as low as 21.55-38.47% when the initial Cd2+ concentration = 40 mM). In contrast, when the two-step MICP method is applied, the Cd2+ can be almost completely immobilized, even though the concentration ratio of urea to Cd2+ is as low as 1.5:1.0, which is close to the theory minimum concentration ratio for the complete precipitation of carbonate to cadmium ions(1.0:1.0). Therefore, the cost-effective, environmentally sustainable, and straightforward two-step MICP method holds great potential for application in the bioremediation of Cd2+-contaminated solutions in high concentration.

Enhancing Photocatalytic CO2 Conversion through Oxygen-Vacancy-Mediated Topological Phase Transition.

Weak adsorption of gas reactants and strong binding of intermediates present a significant challenge for most transition metal oxides, particularly in the realm of CO2 photoreduction. Herein, we demonstrate that the adsorption can be fine-tuned by phase engineering of oxide catalysts. An oxygen vacancy mediated topological phase transition in Ni-Co oxide nanowires, supported on a hierarchical graphene aerogel (GA), is observed from a spinel phase to a rock-salt phase. Such in situ phase transition empowers the Ni-Co oxide catalyst with a strong internal electric field and the attainment of abundant oxygen vacancies. Among a series of catalysts, the in situ transformed spinel/rock-salt heterojunction supported on GA stands out for an exceptional photocatalytic CO2 reduction activity and selectivity, yielding an impressive CO production rate of 12.5 mmol g-1 h-1 and high selectivity of 96.5 %. This remarkable performance is a result of the robust interfacial coupling between two topological phases that optimizes the electronic structures through directional charge transfer across interfaces. The phase transition process induces more Co2+ in octahedral site, which can effectively enhance the Co-O covalency. This synergistic effect balances the surface activation of CO2 molecules and desorption of reaction intermediates, thereby lowering the energetic barrier of the rate-limiting step.

Atomic Level-Macroscopic Structure-Activity of Inhomogeneous Localized Aggregates Enabled Ultra-Low Temperature Hybrid Aqueous Batteries.

The utilization of hybrid aqueous electrolytes has significantly broadened the electrochemical and temperature ranges of aqueous batteries, such as aqueous zinc and lithium-ion batteries, but the design principles for extreme operating conditions remain poorly understood. Here, we systematically unveil the ternary interaction involving salt-water-organic co-solvents and its intricate impacts on both the atomic-level and macroscopic structural features of the hybrid electrolytes. This highlights a distinct category of micelle-like structure electrolytes featuring organic-enriched phases and nanosized aqueous electrolyte aggregates, enabled by appropriate low donor number co-solvents and amphiphilic anions. Remarkably, the electrolyte enables exceptional high solubility, accommodating up to 29.8 m zinc triflate within aqueous micelles. This configuration maintains an intra-micellar salt-in-water setup, allowing for a broad electrochemical window (up to 3.86 V), low viscosity, and state-of-the-art ultralow-temperature zinc ion conductivity (1.58 mS cm-1 at -80 °C). Building upon the unique nature of the inhomogeneous localized aggregates, this micelle-like electrolyte facilitates dendrite-free Zn plating/stripping, even at -80 °C. The assembled Zn||PANI battery showcases an impressive capacity of 71.8 mAh g-1 and an extended lifespan of over 3000 cycles at -80 °C. This study opens up a promising approach in electrolyte design that transcends conventional local atomic solvation structures, broadening the water-in-salt electrolyte concept.

Will a large complex system be productive?

While the relationship between food web complexity and stability has been well documented, how complexity affects productivity remains elusive. In this study, we combine food web theory and a data set of 149 aquatic food webs to investigate the effect of complexity (i.e. species richness, connectance, and average interaction strength) on ecosystem productivity. We find that more complex ecosystems tend to be more productive, although different facets of complexity have contrasting effects. A higher species richness and/or average interaction strength increases productivity, whereas a higher connectance often decreases it. These patterns hold not only between realized complexity and productivity, but also characterize responses of productivity to simulated declines of complexity. Our model also predicts a negative association between productivity and stability along gradients of complexity. Empirical analyses support our predictions on positive complexity-productivity relationships and negative productivity-stability relationships. Our study provides a step forward towards reconciling ecosystem complexity, productivity and stability.

MOCHI: a comprehensive cross-platform tool for amplicon-based microbiota analysis.

MOTIVATION: Microbiota analyses have important implications for health and science. These analyses make use of 16S/18S rRNA gene sequencing to identify taxa and predict species diversity. However, most available tools for analyzing microbiota data require adept programming skills and in-depth statistical knowledge for proper implementation. While long-read amplicon sequencing can lead to more accurate taxa predictions and is quickly becoming more common, practitioners have no easily accessible tools with which to perform their analyses. RESULTS: We present MOCHI, a GUI tool for microbiota amplicon sequencing analysis. MOCHI preprocesses sequences, assigns taxonomy, identifies different abundant species and predicts species diversity and function. It takes either taxonomic count table or FASTQ of partial 16S/18S rRNA or full-length 16S rRNA gene as input. It performs analyses in real time and visualizes data in both tabular and graphical formats. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: MOCHI can be installed to run locally or accessed as a web tool at https://mochi.life.nctu.edu.tw. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Increased RNA editing sites revealed as potential novel biomarkers for diagnosis in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Transcriptome-wide aberrant RNA editing has been shown to contribute to autoimmune diseases, but its extent and significance in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) are currently poorly understood. METHODS: We systematically characterized the global pattern and clinical relevance of RNA editing in pSS by performing large-scale RNA sequencing of minor salivary gland tissues obtained from 439 pSS patients and 130 non-pSS or healthy controls. FINDINGS: Compared with controls, pSS patients displayed increased global RNA-editing levels, which were significantly correlated and clinically relevant to various immune features in pSS. The elevated editing levels were likely explained by significantly increased expression of adenosine deaminase acting on RNA 1 (ADAR1) p150 in pSS, which was associated with disease features. In addition, genome-wide differential RNA editing (DRE) analysis between pSS and non-pSS showed that most (249/284) DRE sites were hyper-edited in pSS, especially the top 10 DRE sites dominated by hyper-edited sites and assigned to nine unique genes involved in the inflammatory response or immune system. Interestingly, among all DRE sites, six RNA editing sites were only detected in pSS and resided in three unique genes (NLRC5, IKZF3 and JAK3). Furthermore, these six specific DRE sites with significant clinical relevance in pSS showed a strong capacity to distinguish between pSS and non-pSS, reflecting powerful diagnostic efficacy and accuracy. CONCLUSION: These findings reveal the potential role of RNA editing in contributing to the risk of pSS and further highlight the important prognostic value and diagnostic potential of RNA editing in pSS.

Dysregulation of glutamine/glutamate metabolism in COVID-19 patients: A metabolism study in African population and mini meta-analysis.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains a serious global threat. The metabolic analysis had been successfully applied in the efforts to uncover the pathological mechanisms and biomarkers of disease severity. Here we performed a quasi-targeted metabolomic analysis on 56 COVID-19 patients from Sierra Leone in western Africa, revealing the metabolomic profiles and the association with disease severity, which was confirmed by the targeted metabolomic analysis of 19 pairs of COVID-19 patients. A meta-analysis was performed on published metabolic data of COVID-19 to verify our findings. Of the 596 identified metabolites, 58 showed significant differences between severe and nonsevere groups. The pathway enrichment of these differential metabolites revealed glutamine and glutamate metabolism as the most significant metabolic pathway (Impact = 0.5; -log10P = 1.959). Further targeted metabolic analysis revealed six metabolites with significant intergroup differences, with glutamine/glutamate ratio significantly associated with severe disease, negatively correlated with 10 clinical parameters and positively correlated with SPO2 (rs = 0.442, p = 0.005). Mini meta-analysis indicated elevated glutamate was related to increased risk of COVID-19 infection (pooled odd ratio [OR] = 2.02; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17-3.50) and severe COVID-19 (pooled OR = 2.28; 95% CI: 1.14-4.56). In contrast, elevated glutamine related to decreased risk of infection and severe COVID-19, the pooled OR were 0.30 (95% CI: 0.20-0.44), and 0.44 (95% CI: 0.19-0.98), respectively. Glutamine and glutamate metabolism are associated with COVID-19 severity in multiple populations, which might confer potential therapeutic target of COVID-19, especially for severe patients.

Neurodevelopmental trajectories, polygenic risk, and lipometabolism in vulnerability and resilience to schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia (SZ) arises from a complex interplay involving genetic and molecular factors. Early intervention of SZ hinges upon understanding its vulnerability and resiliency factors in study of SZ and genetic high risk for SZ (GHR). METHODS: Herein, using integrative and multimodal strategies, we first performed a longitudinal study of neural function as measured by amplitude of low frequency function (ALFF) in 21 SZ, 26 GHR, and 39 healthy controls to characterize neurodevelopmental trajectories of SZ and GHR. Then, we examined the relationship between polygenic risk score for SZ (SZ-PRS), lipid metabolism, and ALFF in 78 SZ, and 75 GHR in cross-sectional design to understand its genetic and molecular substrates. RESULTS: Across time, SZ and GHR diverge in ALFF alterations of the left medial orbital frontal cortex (MOF). At baseline, both SZ and GHR had increased left MOF ALFF compared to HC (P < 0.05). At follow-up, increased ALFF persisted in SZ, yet normalized in GHR. Further, membrane genes and lipid species for cell membranes predicted left MOF ALFF in SZ; whereas in GHR, fatty acids best predicted and were negatively correlated (r = -0.302, P < 0.05) with left MOF. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings implicate divergence in ALFF alteration in left MOF between SZ and GHR with disease progression, reflecting vulnerability and resiliency to SZ. They also indicate different influences of membrane genes and lipid metabolism on left MOF ALFF in SZ and GHR, which have important implications for understanding mechanisms underlying vulnerability and resiliency in SZ and contribute to translational efforts for early intervention.

Functional network characteristics in adolescent psychotic mood disorder: associations with symptom severity and treatment effects.

Adolescent psychotic mood disorder (MDP) is a specific phenotype that characterized by more severe symptoms and prognosis compared to nonpsychotic mood disorder (MDNP). But the underlying neural mechanisms remain unknown, and graph theory analysis can help to understand possible mechanisms of psychotic symptoms from the perspective of functional networks. A total of 177 adolescent patients with mood disorders were recruited, including 61 MDP and 116 MDNP. Functional networks were constructed, and topological properties were compared between the two groups at baseline and after treatment, and the association between properties changes and symptom improvement was explored. Compared to the MDNP group, the MDP group exhibited higher small-world properties (FDR q = 0.003) and normalized clustering coefficients (FDR q = 0.008) but demonstrated decreased nodal properties in the superior temporal gyrus (STG), Heschl's gyrus, and medial cingulate gyrus (all FDR q < 0.05). These properties were found to be correlated with the severity of psychotic symptoms. Topological properties also changed with improvement of psychotic symptoms after treatment, and changes in degree centrality of STG in the MDP was significantly positive correlated with improvement of psychotic symptoms (r = 0.377, P = 0.031). This study indicated that functional networks are more severely impaired in patients with psychotic symptoms. Topological properties, particularly those associated with the STG, hold promise as emerging metrics for assessing symptoms and treatment efficacy in patients with psychotic symptoms.

BRAF-activated WT1 contributes to cancer growth and regulates autophagy and apoptosis in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is one of most prevalent malignant endocrine neoplasms, and it is associated with a high frequency of BRAF gene mutations, which lead to lymphatic metastasis and distant metastasis that promote tumor progression. The molecular mechanism of PTC and the role of BRAF mutation in PTC progression and development need to be further elucidated. METHODS: In this study, a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis was performed to identify the differentially expressed genes and signaling pathways in thyroid cancer patients carrying mutant BRAF. Then, we confirmed the prognostic role of WT1 in thyroid cancer patients. Immunohistochemistry was performed to measure the expression profile of WT1 in PTC tissue. Lentivirus shWT1 was transfected into BRAFV600E (mutant) PTC cells to stably inhibit WT1 expression. CCK-8, EdU, immunofluorescence, colony formation, cell migration, cell wound healing, apoptosis and autophagy assays were performed to assess the biological functions of WT1 in BRAFV600E PTC cells. RNA sequencing, immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting were performed to explore the molecular mechanism of WT1 in BRAFV600E PTC cells. RESULTS: The results confirmed that "epithelial cell proliferation", "apoptosis" and "selective autophagy" were closely associated with this BRAF mutant in these thyroid cancer patients. Knocking down BRAF-activated WT1 effectively inhibited the proliferation and migration of BRAFV600E PTC cells. Silencing WT1 significantly inhibited autophagy and promoted the apoptosis of BRAFV600E PTC cells. Mechanistic investigations showed that silencing WT1 expression remarkably suppressed the AKT/mTOR and ERK/P65 signaling pathways in BRAFV600E PTC cells. CONCLUSION: All these results indicate that WT1 is a promising prognostic biomarker and facilitates PTC progression and development of cells carrying the BRAFV600E mutation.

1+1>2: Fiber Synergy in Aggregation-Induced Emission.

Mesoscopic aggregate is important to transfer or even amplify the molecular information in macroscopic materials. As an important branch of aggregate science, aggregation-induced emissive luminogens (AIEgens) often show slight or even no emission in solutions but exhibit bright emission when they aggregate, which open a new avenue for the practical applications. Due to the flexible and rotor structure of AIEgens, the aggregate structure of AIEgens is highly sensitive to the surrounding microenvironment, resulting in adjustable optical properties. Fibers integrated of a multiplicity of functional components are ideal carriers to control the aggregation processes, further assembly of fibers produces large-scale fabrics with amplified functions and practical values. In this Concept article, we focus on the latest advances on the synergy between "AIE+Fiber" for the boosted performance that beyond AIE, and their applications are presented and abstracted out to stimulate new ideas for developing "AIE+Fiber" systems.

A New Role for Conivaptan in Ulcerative Colitis in Mice: Inhibiting Differentiation of CD4+T Cells into Th1 Cells.

BACKGROUND: Conivaptan, a nonselective antagonist of vasopressin receptors V1a and V2, is the first drug of this class to be used for treating euvolemic and hypervolemic hyponatremia. Recently, increasing evidence supports the involvement of vasopressin in immune responses. AIMS: In this study, we investigated the effect of conivaptan on the modulation of CD4+ T cell homeostasis and the progression of experimental colitis. METHODS: The expression of the V1a receptor on CD4+ T cells was detected by immunofluorescence and western blot. The subset of isolated CD4+ T cells were examined after arginine vasopressin (AVP) incubation. CD4+ T cells were injected into DNBS-induced mice through the tail vein. The severity of colitis was evaluated according to weight, disease activity index (DAI), and morphological injury. Intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) signaling in CD4+ T cells was measured using the Fluo-3 AM loading method. T-bet and IFN-γ mRNAs in the colon were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). RESULTS: We found that CD4+ T cells expressed the V1a receptor. Activation of the V1a receptor significantly promoted the differentiation of CD4+ T cells into T helper 1 (Th1) cells. This process was blocked by conivaptan treatment. However, the activation of the V1a receptor did not evoke an increase in [Ca2+]i in CD4+ T cells. Notably, conivaptan markedly alleviated body weight loss, pathological damage, and expression of T-bet and IFN-γ in the colon of DNBS-treated mice. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, we report that conivaptan attenuated colitis by inhibiting the differentiation of CD4+ T cells into Th1 cells. Mechanistically, the anti-inflammatory role of conivaptan is independent of [Ca2+]i.

Asymmetric foraging lowers the trophic level and omnivory in natural food webs.

Food webs capture the trophic relationships and energy fluxes between species, which has fundamental impacts on ecosystem functioning and stability. Within a food web, the energy flux distribution between a predator and its prey species is shaped by food quantity-quality trade-offs and the contiguity of foraging. But the distribution of energy fluxes among prey species as well as its drivers and implications remain unclear. Here we used 157 aquatic food webs, which contain explicit energy flux information, to examine whether a predator's foraging is asymmetric and biased towards lower or higher trophic levels, and how these patterns may change with trophic level. We also evaluate how traditional topology-based approaches may over- or under-estimate a predator's trophic level and omnivory by ignoring the asymmetric foraging patterns. Our results demonstrated the prevalence of asymmetric foraging in natural aquatic food webs. Although predators prefer prey at higher trophic levels with potentially higher food quality, they obtain their energy mostly from lower trophic levels with a higher food quantity. Both tendencies, that is, stronger feeding preference for prey at higher trophic levels and stronger energetic reliance on prey at lower trophic levels are alleviated for predators at higher trophic levels. The asymmetric foraging lowers trophic levels and omnivory at both species and food web levels, compared to estimates from traditional topology-based approaches. Such overestimations by topology-based approaches are most pronounced for predators at lower trophic levels and communities with higher number of trophic species. Our study highlights the importance of energy flux information in understanding the foraging behaviour of predators as well as the structural complexity of natural food webs. The increasing availability of flux-based food web data will thus provide new opportunities to reconcile food web structure, functioning and stability.

Gonadotropin Therapy Once a Week for Spermatogenesis in Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism.

OBJECTIVE: Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) can be caused by congenital HH (CHH), pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS), and pituitary injury (acquired HH). Gonadotropin therapy, typically administered every other day or twice a week, is commonly used to promote spermatogenesis. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the efficacy of weekly gonadotropin therapy on spermatogenesis in patients with HH (n = 160). METHODS: The patients' diagnoses include Kallmann syndrome (KS) (n = 61), normosmic CHH (nCHH) (n = 34), PSIS (n = 48), and acquired HH (n = 17). The rate of successful spermatogenesis and median time to achieve spermatogenesis among these 4 subgroups were compared as well as between a weekly group (n = 95) and a twice-a-week group (n = 223) of CHH patients. RESULTS: Once-a-week gonadotropin therapy resulted in 74% (119/160) of HH patients achieving spermatogenesis with significantly increased testicular volume and total testosterone levels (P < .001). The median period of spermatogenesis was 13 (interquartile range[IQR] 11.4-14.6) months. Larger basal testicular volume (P = .0142) was an independent predictor for earlier sperm appearance. Six spontaneous pregnancies occurred. Compared with the twice-a-week regimen for spermatogenesis, the weekly injection group had a similar median time of sperm appearance (14 [IQR, 11.6-16.4] vs 15 [IQR, 13.5-16.5] months), success rate (78% [74/95] vs 64% [143/223]), sperm concentration (20.9 [IQR, 5.0-46.3] vs 11.7 [IQR, 2.1-24.4] million/mL), and progressive sperm motility (40.8 ± 27.3% vs 36.9% ± 20.2%). CONCLUSION: Weekly gonadotropin therapy is effective in inducing spermatogenesis, similar to that of twice-a-week therapy. A larger basal testicular size was a favorable indicator for earlier spermatogenesis.

Decreased white matter FA values in the left inferior frontal gyrus is a possible intermediate phenotype of schizophrenia: evidences from a novel group strategy.

Intermediate phenotype could be used to investigate genetic susceptibility. However, genetic and environmental heterogeneity may interfere with identification of intermediate phenotypes. In this study, we minimized these interferences by using a novel group strategy. A total of 22 drug-naive and first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients, along with 22 of their kin healthy siblings (HS), 22 non-kin healthy siblings (nHS) of other schizophrenia patients and 22 healthy controls (HC), were recruited. Brain imaging was acquired from the participants. Voxel-based analysis was used to investigate differences in white matter integrity derived from diffusion tensor imaging among the four groups. Two cognitive tests related to our findings were selected to confirm the related phenotypic changes. All of the FES, HS, and nHS groups showed decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) compared with the HC group (p < 0.05, FDR corrected). The scores of Hopkins Verbal learning Test-Revised and Animal Naming in FES patients were significantly lower than in participants belonging to the other three groups (p < 0.05). Significant correlation between Animal Naming scores and FA values in the left IFG was found in FES patients (r = 0.53, p = 0.01). Moreover, FES patients also showed decreased FA values in the left medial frontal gyrus, left inferior temporal gyrus, left parahippocampal gyrus, left posterior cingulate, and right middle temporal gyrus compared with HC (p < 0.05, FDR corrected). Decreased FA values in the left IFG is a possible intermediate phenotype of schizophrenia, and this finding supports the hypothesis that disrupted connectivity of white matter may be the key substrate of schizophrenia.

Frequency-specific alterations in the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

This study used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) method to investigate low-frequency spontaneous neural activity at the bands of slow-5 (0.01-0.027 Hz) and slow-4 (0.027-0.073 Hz) in 20 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 20 healthy controls. We determined that, at slow-5 band, patients with ALS showed increased fALFF in the right middle frontal gyrus and decreased fALFF in the left middle occipital gyrus. However, compared with healthy controls, patients with ALS exhibited higher fALFF in the right caudate nucleus, left superior frontal gyrus, and right anterior cingulate cortex and lower fALFF in the right inferior occipital gyrus and bilateral middle occipital gyrus at slow-4 band. Furthermore, the fALFF value in the left superior frontal gyrus at slow-4 band was negatively correlated with functional rating scale-revised score. Our results demonstrated that the fALFF changes in ALS were widespread and frequency dependent. These findings may provide a novel way to look into the pathophysiology mechanisms underlying ALS.

CAPER 3.0: A Scalable Cloud-Based System for Data-Intensive Analysis of Chromosome-Centric Human Proteome Project Data Sets.

The Chromosome-centric Human Proteome Project (C-HPP) aims to catalog genome-encoded proteins using a chromosome-by-chromosome strategy. As the C-HPP proceeds, the increasing requirement for data-intensive analysis of the MS/MS data poses a challenge to the proteomic community, especially small laboratories lacking computational infrastructure. To address this challenge, we have updated the previous CAPER browser into a higher version, CAPER 3.0, which is a scalable cloud-based system for data-intensive analysis of C-HPP data sets. CAPER 3.0 uses cloud computing technology to facilitate MS/MS-based peptide identification. In particular, it can use both public and private cloud, facilitating the analysis of C-HPP data sets. CAPER 3.0 provides a graphical user interface (GUI) to help users transfer data, configure jobs, track progress, and visualize the results comprehensively. These features enable users without programming expertise to easily conduct data-intensive analysis using CAPER 3.0. Here, we illustrate the usage of CAPER 3.0 with four specific mass spectral data-intensive problems: detecting novel peptides, identifying single amino acid variants (SAVs) derived from known missense mutations, identifying sample-specific SAVs, and identifying exon-skipping events. CAPER 3.0 is available at http://prodigy.bprc.ac.cn/caper3.