The thalamus and its subnuclei—a gateway to obsessive-compulsive disorder

Larger thalamic volume has been found in children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and children with clinical-level symptoms within the general population. Particular thalamic subregions may drive these differences. The ENIGMA-OCD working group conducted mega- and meta-analyses to study thalamic subregional volume in OCD across the lifespan. Structural T-1-weighted brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans from 2649 OCD patients and 2774 healthy controls across 29 sites (50 datasets) were processed using the FreeSurfer built-in ThalamicNuclei pipeline to extract five thalamic subregions. Volume measures were harmonized for site effects using ComBat before running separate multiple linear regression models for children, adolescents, and adults to estimate volumetric group differences. All analyses were pre-registered (https://osf.io/73dvy) and adjusted for age, sex and intracranial volume. Unmedicated pediatric OCD patients (<12 years) had larger lateral (d = 0.46), pulvinar (d = 0.33), ventral (d = 0.35) and whole thalamus (d = 0.40) volumes at unadjusted p-values <0.05. Adolescent patients showed no volumetric differences. Adult OCD patients compared with controls had smaller volumes across all subregions (anterior, lateral, pulvinar, medial, and ventral) and smaller whole thalamic volume (d = -0.15 to -0.07) after multiple comparisons correction, mostly driven by medicated patients and associated with symptom severity. The anterior thalamus was also significantly smaller in patients after adjusting for thalamus size. Our results suggest that OCD-related thalamic volume differences are global and not driven by particular subregions and that the direction of effects are driven by both age and medication status

Control Method of the Dual-Winding Motor for Online High-Frequency Resistance Measurement in Fuel Cell Vehicle

The dual-winding motor drive has recently been proposed in the field of fuel cell vehicles due to its performance and high robust advantages. Efforts for this new topology have been made by many researchers. However, the high-frequency resistance measurement of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell based on dual-winding motor drive architecture, which is important for water management to optimize the lifespan of fuel cells, was not employed in earlier works. In this paper, a new control method of the dual-winding motor is proposed by introducing a dc input current control to realize high-frequency resistance measurement and normal drive control simultaneously, without using extra dc-dc converter. On the basis of the revealed energy exchange principles among electrical ports and mechanical port of the dual-winding motor, the load ripple caused by high-frequency current perturbation is optimized based on the q-axis current distribution between two winding sets. The decoupling control algorithm for the coupling effect within and across windings is also discussed to improve the dynamic response during high-frequency resistance measurement. Finally, simulation results verify the effectiveness and improvement of the proposed method. Fast Fourier transform results indicated that the total harmonic distortion of the dc input current was reduced from 22.53% to 4.47% of the fundamental, and the torque ripple was suppressed from about &plusmn;4.5 Nm to &plusmn;0.5 Nm at the given operation points

Estimation of the Manning’s n coefficient in multi-constituent tidal models by assimilating satellite observations with the adjoint data assimilation

The bottom friction is critical for the dissipation of the global tidal energy. The bottom friction coefficient is traditionally determined using the Manning’s n formulation in tidal models. The Manning’s n coefficient in the Manning’s n formulation is vital for the accurate simulation and prediction of the tide in coastal shallow waters, but it cannot be directly measured and contains large amounts of uncertainties. Based on a two-dimensional multi-constituent tidal model with the adjoint data assimilation, the estimation of the Manning’s n coefficient is investigated by assimilating satellite observations in the Bohai, Yellow and East China Seas with the simulation of four principal tidal constituents M2, S2, K1 and O1. In the twin experiments, the Manning’s n coefficient is assumed to be constant, and it is estimated by assimilating the synthetic observations at the spatial locations of the satellite tracks. Regardless the inclusion of artificial random observational errors associated with synthetic observations, the model performance is improved as evaluated by the independent synthetic observations. The prescribed ‘real’ Manning’s n coefficient is reasonably estimated, indicating that the adjoint data assimilation is an effective method to estimate the Manning’s n coefficient in multi-constituent tidal models. In the practical experiments, the errors between the independent observations at the tidal gauge stations and the corresponding simulated results of the four principal tidal constituents are substantially decreased under both scenarios of the constant and spatially-temporally varying Manning’s n coefficient estimated by assimilating the satellite observations with the adjoint data assimilation. In addition, the estimated spatial and temporal variation trend is robust and not affected by the model settings. The spatially-temporally varying Manning’s n coefficient is negatively correlated with the current speed and shows significant spatial variation in the shallow water areas. This study demonstrates that the Manning’s n coefficient can be reasonably estimated by the adjoint data assimilation, which allows significant improvement in accurate simulation of the ocean tide

Improve the Accuracy in Numerical Modeling of Suspended Sediment Concentrations in the Hangzhou Bay by Assimilating Remote Sensing Data Utilizing Combined Techniques of Adjoint Data Assimilation and the Penalty Function Method

Suspended sediment dynamics play an important role in controlling nearshore and estuarine geomorphology and the associated ecological environments. Modeling the transport of suspended sediment is a complicated and challenging research topic. The goal of this study is to improve the accuracy of modeling the suspended sediment concentrations (SSCs) with newly developed techniques. Based on a three-dimensional suspended cohesive sediment transport model, the transport of suspended sediment and SSCs are simulated by assimilating SSCs retrieved from the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) with the adjoint data assimilation in the Hangzhou Bay, a typical strong tidal estuary along the coast of the East China Sea. To improve the effect of the data assimilation, the penalty function method, in which the reasonable constraints of the estimated model parameters are added to the cost function as penalty terms, will be introduced for the first time into the adjoint data assimilation in the SSCs modeling. In twin experiments, the prescribed spatially varying settling velocity is estimated by assimilating the synthetic SSC observations, and the results show that the penalty function method can further improve the effect of data assimilation and parameter estimation, regardless of synthetic SSC observations being contaminated by random artificial errors. In practical experiments, the spatially varying settling velocity is firstly estimated by assimilating the actual GOCI-retrieved SSCs. The results demonstrate that the simulated results can be improved by the adjoint data assimilation, and the penalty function method can additionally reduce the mean absolute error (MAE) between the independent check observations and the corresponding simulated SSCs from 1.44 × 10−1 kg/m3 to 1.30 × 10−1 kg/m3. To pursue greater simulation accuracy, the spatially varying settling velocity, resuspension rate, critical shear stress and initial conditions are simultaneously estimated by assimilating the actual GOCI-retrieved SSCs to simulate the SSCs in the Hangzhou Bay. When the adjoint data assimilation and the penalty function method are simultaneously used, the MAE between the independent check observations and the corresponding simulated SSCs is just 9.90 × 10−2 kg/m3, which is substantially less than that when only the settling velocity is estimated. The MAE is also considerably less than that when the four model parameters are estimated to be without using the penalty function method. This study indicates that the adjoint data assimilation can effectively improve the SSC simulation accuracy, and the penalty function method can limit the variation range of the estimated model parameters to further improve the effect of data assimilation and parameter estimation

Control of Droplet Transition in Underwater Welding Using Pulsating Wire Feeding

Underwater wet welding technology is widely used. Because the stability of droplet transfer in underwater wet welding is poor, the feasibility of improving the droplet transfer mode has been discussed from various technical directions. In this work, the characteristics of pulsating wire feeding were studied in the pulsating wire feeding mode by investigating the effects of changing the pulsating frequency, the wire withdrawal speed, and the wire withdrawal quantity on the droplet transfer process and the welding quality. With the aim of improving weld forming and welding stability, the authors selected the coefficient of variation and the ratio of unstable droplet transfer as the indexes to evaluate the effect of droplet transfer control. The pulsating wire feeding process of underwater wet flux-cored wire was analyzed in depth, and the following conclusions were drawn: using the pulsating wire feeding mode and after comparing and analyzing the pulsed wire feeding process under the same frequency condition, the authors found that the forming and stability were better under the conditions of slower withdrawal speed and smaller withdrawal quantity. The short-circuit transition ratio decreased steadily with the increase of pulsating wire feeding frequency, the rejection transition ratio first rose and then decreased, and the splash ratio first decreased and then rose

Effects of spatial bottom friction parameterization scheme on the tidal dynamics in the macrotidal East China Seas

In this study, the effects of different bottom friction coefficient (BFC) parameterization schemes on the modelling of four principal tidal constituents (M2, S2, K1, O1 tides) in the macrotidal East China Seas were investigated by using a high-resolution model based on FVCOM (Finite Volume Community Ocean Model). The applied BFC schemes include: the empirical constant (EC-BFC), sediment-dependent form (SD-BFC), and spatial varying BFC obtained from adjoint data assimilation (SV-BFC). The comparisons between the simulated results and the observations from satellite altimeters and tidal gauge stations indicated that the SV-BFC scheme is superior to others. The locations of amphidromic points calculated with EC-BFC and SD-BFC were in the northwest of those from SV-BFC. The variations in tidal dynamics between different BFC schemes were closely related to the spatial distributions of BFCs, especially in high-valued BFC areas, e.g., the West Korea Bay, the South Yellow Sea, and the eastern coasts of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. The tidal energy flux transporting into Bohai and Yellow Seas increased under the SV-BFC scheme, while smaller tidal energy flux transporting from the Korea Strait was generated by SV-BFC as compared to those from EC-BFC and SD-BFC. The high-valued BFC areas in the SV-BFC scheme dissipated larger amounts of tidal energy, and the average values of Simpson-Hunter numbers were lower than those with the other two schemes. However, the values of Simpson-Hunter numbers increased in the West Korea Bay and Jianghua Bay with high-valued BFCs because of the decreasing current velocity under the headland-shaped topography

Sediment exchange between southern yellow sea and Yangtze river Estuary in response to storm events

The pattern of sediment exchange between the Yangtze River Estuary and the southern Yellow Sea constitutes a crucial yet contentious line of scientific inquiry. This conundrum hampers our comprehensive understanding to predict the future morphological evolution of the radial sand ridges and Jiangsu tidal flats. This study investigates various processes, including tides, wind and waves, to identify the dominant factor controlling sediment exchange between the southern Yellow Sea and the Yangtze River Estuary under storm conditions, using a validated numerical model. Our results show that tide is the dominant force controlling hydrodynamics and sediment transport between the two systems. Tidally induced residual currents and sediment fluxes exhibit a consistent northwesterly trajectory, from the Yangtze River Estuary to the southern Yellow Sea. Conversely, the contributions of wind and wave-induced currents under normal wind conditions (Beaufort Scale 3, 3.4 m s−1) adjust net sediment flux by less than 10 and 46–68%, respectively. In particular, the influence of wind and waves on sediment transport varies significantly with wind direction. While southerly or southeasterly winds amplify the tide-induced northwestward sediment transport, northerly or northeasterly winds curtail it. Under strong winter storm conditions, however, the perturbation caused by northerly winds and waves supersedes the influence of tides in controlling sediment transport, leading to a net residual current and sediment flux oriented southeastwards

MTOR Variation Related to Heat Resistance of Chinese Cattle

With the inexorable rise of global temperature, heat stress deserves more and more attention in livestock agriculture. Previous studies have shown that the mechanistic target of rapamycin (MTOR) (NC_037343.1:c.2062G&gt;C) gene contributes to the repair of DNA damage repair and is associated with the adaptation of camels in dry and hot environments. However, it is unknown whether this mutation is related to the heat tolerance of Chinese cattle. In this study, PCR and sequencing were used to type the mutation locus in 1030 individuals of 37 cattle breeds. The analysis results showed that the frequency of G allele of the locus gradually diminished from the northern group to the southern group of native Chinese cattle, whereas the frequency of the C allele showed an opposite pattern, displaying a significant geographical difference across native Chinese cattle breeds. Additionally, an analysis of the locus in Chinese indigenous cattle revealed that this SNP was significantly associated with mean annual temperature (T), relative humidity (RH) and temperature humidity index (THI) (p &lt; 0.01), suggesting that cattle with C allele was distributed in regions with higher T, RH and THI. In conclusion, this study proved that the mutation of MTOR gene in Chinese cattle could be associated with the heat tolerance

A missense mutation of the <i>WNK1</i> gene affects cold tolerance in Chinese domestic cattle

Inclement weather conditions, especially cold stress, have threatened the cattle industry. Cattle exposed to cold environments for a longer time suffer developmental delay, immunity decline, and eventually death. WNK1 is a member of With-no-lysine kinases (WNKs), widely expressed in animal organs and tissues. WNK1 and WNK4 are expressed in adipose tissue, and WNK4 promotes adipogenesis. WNK1 does not directly affect adipogenesis but has been shown to promote WNK4 expression in several tissues or organs. One missense mutation NC_037346.1:g.107692244, A > G, rs208265410 in the WNK1 gene was detected from the database of bovine genomic variation (BGVD). Here, we collected 328 individuals of 17 breeds representing four groups of Chinese cattle, northern group cattle, southern group cattle, central group cattle, and special group cattle (Tibetan cattle). We also collected the temperature and humidity data records from their relative locations. The frequencies of the G allele in Chinese breeds increased from northern China to southern China, and the frequencies of the A allele showed an opposite trend. Our results indicate that the WNK1 gene might be a candidate gene marker associated with cold tolerance.</p