Novel Cognitive Functions Arise at the Convergence of Macroscale Gradients

Functions in higher-order brain regions are the source of extensive debate. Although past trends have been to describe the brain—especially posterior cortical areas—in terms of a set of functional modules, a new emerging paradigm focuses on the integration of proximal functions. In this review, we synthesize emerging evidence that a variety of novel functions in the higher-order brain regions are due to convergence: convergence of macroscale gradients brings feature-rich representations into close proximity, presenting an opportunity for novel functions to arise. Using the TPJ as an example, we demonstrate that convergence is enabled via three properties of the brain: (1) hierarchical organization, (2) abstraction, and (3) equidistance. As gradients travel from primary sensory cortices to higher-order brain regions, information becomes abstracted and hierarchical, and eventually, gradients meet at a point maximally and equally distant from their sensory origins. This convergence, which produces multifaceted combinations, such as mentalizing another person's thought or projecting into a future space, parallels evolutionary and developmental characteristics in such regions, resulting in new cognitive and affective faculties.

Deviated and early unsustainable stunted development of gut microbiota in children with autism spectrum disorder

ObjectiveRecent studies have provided insights into the gut microbiota in autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, these studies were restricted owing to limited sampling at the unitary stage of childhood. Herein, we aimed to reveal developmental characteristics of gut microbiota in a large cohort of subjects with ASD combined with interindividual factors impacting gut microbiota.DesignA large cohort of 773 subjects with ASD (aged 16 months to 19 years), 429 neurotypical (NT) development subjects (aged 11 months to 15 years) were emolyed to determine the dynamics change of gut microbiota across different ages using 16S rRNA sequencing.ResultIn subjects with ASD, we observed a distinct but progressive deviation in the development of gut microbiota characterised by persistently decreased alpha diversity, early unsustainable immature microbiota, altered aboudance of 20 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), decreased taxon detection rate and 325 deregulated microbial metabolic functions with age-dependent patterns. We further revealed microbial relationships that have changed extensively in ASD before 3 years of age, which were associated with the severity of behaviour, sleep and GI symptoms in the ASD group. This analysis demonstrated that a signature of the combination of 2 OTUs, Veillonella and Enterobacteriaceae, and 17 microbial metabolic functions efficiently discriminated ASD from NT subjects in both the discovery (area under the curve (AUC)=0.86), and validation 1 (AUC=0.78), 2 (AUC=0.82) and 3 (AUC=0.67) sets.ConclusionOur large cohort combined with clinical symptom analysis highlights the key regulator of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of ASD and emphasises the importance of monitoring and targeting the gut microbiome in future clinical applications of ASD.

Programmed Degradation of Pericarp Cells in Wheat Grains Depends on Autophagy

Wheat is one of the most important food crops in the world, with development of the grains directly determining yield and quality. Understanding grain development and the underlying regulatory mechanisms is therefore essential in improving the yield and quality of wheat. In this study, the developmental characteristics of the pericarp was examined in developing wheat grains of the new variety Jimai 70. As a result, pericarp thickness was found to be thinnest in grains at the top of the spike, followed by those in the middle and thickest at the bottom. Moreover, this difference corresponded to the number of cell layers in the pericarp, which decreased as a result of programmed cell death (PCD). A number of autophagy-related genes (ATGs) are involved in the process of PCD in the pericarp, and in this study, an increase in ATG8-PE expression was observed followed by the appearance of autophagy structures. Meanwhile, following interference of the key autophagy gene ATG8, PCD was inhibited and the thickness of the pericarp increased, resulting in small premature grains. These findings suggest that autophagy and PCD coexist in the pericarp during early development of wheat grains, with both processes increasing from the bottom to the top of the spike. Moreover, PCD was also found to rely on ATG8-mediated autophagy. The results of this study therefore provide a theoretical basis for in-depth studies of the regulatory mechanisms of wheat grain development.

A Novel Parasitoid of Marine Dinoflagellates, Pararosarium dinoexitiosum gen. et sp. nov. (Perkinsozoa, Alveolata), Showing Characteristic Beaded Sporocytes

The phylum Perkinsozoa is known as an exclusively parasitic group within alveolates and is widely distributed in various aquatic environments from marine to freshwater environments. Nonetheless, their morphology, life cycle, the identity of the host, and physiological characteristics remain still poorly understood. During intensive sampling along the west coast of Korea in October and November 2017, a new parasitoid, which shares several characteristics with the extant families Perkinsidae and Parviluciferaceae, was discovered and three strains of the new parasitoid were successfully established in cultures. Cross-infection experiments showed that among the examined planktonic groups, only dinoflagellates were susceptible to the new parasitoid, with infections observed in species belonging to eight genera. Even though the new parasitoid shared many morphological and developmental characteristics with other Perkinsozoan parasites, it differed from them by its densely packed trophocyte structure without a large vacuole or hyaline material during the growth stage. These characteristics are common among Parviluciferaceae members. Furthermore, through palintomic extracellular sporogenesis, it produced characteristic interconnected sporocytes resembling a string of beads. Phylogenetic analyses based on the small subunit and large subunit ribosomal DNA sequences revealed that the new parasitoid was distantly related to the family Parviluciferaceae and was more closely related to the families Perkinsidae and Xcellidae. Morphological, ultrastructural, and molecular data on the new parasitoid raised the need to erect a new family, i.e., Pararosariidae, within the phylum Perkinsozoa with Pararosarium dinoexitiosum gen. et sp. nov. as the type species. The isolation and establishment in culture of the new parasitoid outside the family Parviluciferaceae in the present study would contribute to the better understanding of the diversity of Perkinsozoan parasites and provide useful material for comparisons to other parasite species in the further study.

Factors influencing positive subjective health awareness in multicultural adolescents in South Korea: Data from the multicultural adolescents panel study

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the factors influencing positive subjective health awareness of middle school-age multicultural adolescents in Korea.Methods: This study used data from the fourth to sixth waves of the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute. In this study, a panel logit model analysis was performed using the Eviews 8.0 program (p<.050).Results: Socioeconomic status (r=.02, t=2.13, p=.033), body satisfaction (r=.71, t=1.97, p=.048), and depression (r=-.74, t=2.35, p=.018) influenced positive subjective health awareness in multicultural adolescents. When multicultural characteristics were entered into a statistical model with environmental and personal characteristics, multicultural characteristics did not have a significant influence on positive subjective health awareness.Conclusion: Environmental, personal, and multicultural characteristics were related to positive subjective health awareness in multicultural adolescents; thus, an integrated approach considering those variables is recommended. Nursing interventions and educational programs are needed to improve the psychological status of multicultural adolescents and reduce prejudice about them. In addition, nurses need to be sensitive to multicultural characteristics and the developmental characteristics of multicultural adolescents.

Developmental characteristics of sporogenous hyphae: a new observation between Brassica juncea var. tumida and Albugo candida

Brassica juncea var. tumida (tumorous stem mustard) is widely cultivated as a feature vegetable in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, and is used as a raw material for pickles in China. White blister rust, caused by Albugo candida, has severe negative effects on tumorous stem mustard, resulting in significant economic losses. In this study, hypha colonization and extension, haustorial formation, and the development process of sporogenous hyphae and sporangia in A. candida-infected tissues were studied using light and transmission electron microscopy. Additionally, the complex and unique sporogenous hypha developmental process was revealed. During A. candida infection, cytological and ultrastructural characteristics were similar to those of cruciferous plants. During sporogenous hyphae development, an initially cylindrical sporogenous hypha with a thin inner wall at the apex developed from a cell with a thick inner wall. At the apical end of the sporogenous hypha, an electron-dense complex gathered, causing the disintegration of the inner and outer walls and the formation of new inner and outer walls. With the formation of a clavate sporogenous hypha, a deep constriction of the cell wall occurred at its subapex, in which a septum was produced and a primary sporangium was separated from the sporogenous hypha. Both layers of the sporogenous hypha wall took part in the formation of the sporangial wall but were not related the formation of the sporangial outer wall in a septum, providing direct evidence of the holoblastic formation of sporangia. Furthermore, ultrastructural observation demonstrated that the development of the primary sporangial walls within a septum occurred later than that of their lateral walls, including the degradation of constricted outer walls around the septum, formation of the inner wall and subsequent outer walls of a sporangium in the upper septum layers, confirming the earlier observation. Therefore, this study provided the model of sporogenous hyphae development and sporangial formation in chain.

A New Approach of 3D Lightning Location Based on Pearson Correlation Combined with Empirical Mode Decomposition

To improve the accuracy of pulse matching and the mapping quality of lightning discharges, the Pearson correlation method combined with empirical mode decomposition (EMD) is introduced for discharge electric field pulse matching. This paper uses the new method to locate the lightning channels of an intra-cloud (IC) lightning flash and a cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flash and analyzes the location results for the two lightning flashes. The results show that this method has a good performance in lightning location. Compared with the pulse-peak feature matching method, the positioning results of the new method are significantly improved, which is mainly due to the much larger number of positioning points (matched pulses). The number of located radiation sources has increased by nearly a factor of seven, which can significantly improve the continuity of the lightning channel and clearly distinguish the developmental characteristics. In the CG flash, there were three negative recoil streamers in the positive leader channel. After the three negative recoil streamers were finished, taking approximately 1 ms, 12 ms, and 2 ms, respectively, the negative leader channel underwent a K-process. The three negative recoil streamers are not connected to the K-processes in the negative leader channel. We think that the three negative recoil streamers may have triggered the three K-processes, respectively.

From groundlessness—to freedom: The theme of ‘awakening’ in the thought of Lev Shestov

The philosopher Lev Shestov aimed to establish a new free way of thinking, which manifested itself as a struggle against the delusion that we have a rational grasp of the necessary truths on matters that are of the greatest importance to us, such as the questions of life and death. Philosophy, as the Russian philosopher understood it, is not pure thinking, but ‘some kind of inner doing, inner regeneration, or second birth’ (Shestov in Lektsii po Istorii Grecheskoi Filosofii [Lectures on the history of Greek philosophy], YMCA-PRESS, Moscow, 2001, p. 53). Having adopted the notion of the ‘regeneration of one’s convictions’ from Dostoevsky’s vocabulary in his earlier works, Shestov developed the idea of ‘awakening’ further in his mature thought, in which the motif of ‘awakening’ comprised one of the main ideas of his philosophy: the fight for the individual’s right to freedom and to creative transformation at a time when she is in despair or on the brink of death. In this article, I analyse Shestov’s idea of ‘awakening’ as one of the key tropes and developmental characteristics of his philosophical vision. In particular, I argue that, having stemmed from Shestov’s earlier interpretations of Dostoevsky, Shakespeare and Plotinus, in his later writings, the notion of ‘awakening’—the possibility of a fundamental, inner transformation of one’s worldview (probuzhdenie, pererozhdenie)—marked the beginning of a new salvific mode in his writing.

Enhancing the application of therapeutic group therapy (TKT) for school-age children in Delima, Pekanbaru

Children are highly prone to certain psychological challenges, particularly at elementary level. These problems are predominantly influenced by environmental and academic conditions. Therefore, this research aims to stimulate the growth and development of school-age children from various perspectives. This activity was conducted at Al-Qur'an Education Park, Baitul Arsy Mosque, Hamlet 008, Delima village, Tampan sub-district, Pekanbaru, between September-December 2020. Additionally, the class II-VI students were selected as the participants during the seven TKT sessions. The research implementation incorporated description, modeling, role-playing, feedback and transfer techniques. Session 1 comprised of a comprehensive analysis on the growth and developmental characteristics of the school-age children. Meanwhile, sessions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 involved the stimulations of motor, cognitive and language, emotional and personality, moral and spiritual as well as the psycho-social perspectives. However, session 7 encompassed the overall stimulation from 1-6. The students are more knowledgeable about self-responsibility and psychological changes. This phenomenon tends to boost confidence as well as the ability to establish friendships and improve academic learning.