Toxic Effects and Molecular Mechanism of Different Types of Silver Nanoparticles to the Aquatic Crustacean <i>Daphnia magna</i>

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been assessed to have a high exposure risk for humans and aquatic organisms. Toxicity varies considerably between different types of AgNPs. This study aimed to investigate the toxic effects of AgNPs with different particle sizes (40 and 110 nm) and different surface coatings (sodium citrate and polyvinylpyrrolidone, PVP) on <i>Daphnia magna</i> and their mechanisms of action. The results revealed that the citrate-coated AgNPs were more toxic than PVP-coated AgNPs and that the 40 nm AgNPs were more toxic than the 110 nm AgNPs. Transcriptome analysis further revealed that the toxic effects of AgNPs on <i>D. magna</i> were related to the mechanisms of ion binding and several metabolic pathways, such as the “RNA polymerase” pathway and the “protein digestion and absorption” pathway. Moreover, the principal component analysis (PAC) results found that surface coating was the major factor that determines the toxicities compared to particle size. These results could help us better understand the possible mechanism of AgNP toxicity in aquatic invertebrates at the transcriptome level and establish an important foundation for revealing the broad impacts of nanoparticles on aquatic environments

The interaction between the response type and memory load in the CDA analysis.

<p>Error bar shows one standard error of the mean.</p

The results of the WM capacity computation.

<p>The results of the WM capacity computation.</p

Additional file 1: of A meta-analysis of public microarray data identifies biological regulatory networks in Parkinson’s disease

Table S1. GO biological processes analysis of diferentially expressed genes in blood of Parkinson’s Disease. Table S2. GO biological processes analysis of diferentially expressed genes in substantia nigra of Parkinson’s Disease. Table S3. The PPI information for common DEGs in blood obtained from STRING online software. Table S4. The PPI information for common DEGs in substantia nigra obtained from STRING online software. Table S5. The mTF-miRNA-gene-gTF regulatory network of common PD-specific genes identified in blood datasets. Table S6. The mTF-miRNA-gene-gTF regulatory network of common PD-specific genes identified in brain substantia nigra. Table S7. The mTF-miRNA-gene-gTF regulatory network of common genes identified in blood datasets(other than PD-specific genes). Table S8. The mTF-miRNA-gene-gTF regulatory network of common genes identified in substantia nigra datasets(other than PD-specific genes). (XLS 1121 kb

Task performance in this study.

<p>Error bar shows one standard error of the mean. **: p < .01; *: p < .05.</p

Experimental procedure used in the current study.

<p>A) Eight shapes in the stimulus bank. B) The sequence of events in both low-load and high-load trial: in this low-load task, the participants should lie to the stimulus in the left hemifield; in this high-load task, the participants should be honest to the stimulus in the right hemifield.</p

The mean CDA (Contralateral minus Ipsilateral) results for the task conditions.

<p>Since the result patterns were similar across the analyzed five electrode pairs, so the figure showed the results on the Fz as the representative. The arrow shows the time when the test array presented, and the time window of average CDA amplitude is also marked.</p

Abacus Training Affects Math and Task Switching Abilities and Modulates Their Relationships in Chinese Children

<div><p>Our previous work demonstrated that abacus-based mental calculation (AMC), a traditional Chinese calculation method, could help children improve their math abilities (e.g. basic arithmetical ability) and executive function (e.g. working memory). This study further examined the effects of long-term AMC training on math ability in visual-spatial domain and the task switching component of executive function. More importantly, this study investigated whether AMC training modulated the relationship between math abilities and task switching. The participants were seventy 7-year-old children who were randomly assigned into AMC and control groups at primary school entry. Children in AMC group received 2-hour AMC training every week since primary school entry. On the contrary, children in the control group had never received any AMC training. Math and task switching abilities were measured one year and three years respectively after AMC training began. The results showed that AMC children performed better than their peers on math abilities in arithmetical and visual-spatial domains. In addition, AMC group responded faster than control group in the switching task, while no group difference was found in switch cost. Most interestingly, group difference was present in the relationships between math abilities and switch cost. These results implied the effect of AMC training on math abilities as well as its relationship with executive function.</p></div

Switch cost measured by mean RT and accuracy for the two groups across grades.

<p>The error bars represented one standard error of the mean.</p

Correlations among study variables.

<p>Correlations among study variables.</p