Association between creativity and COMT genotype

Catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) influences dopamine concentration in the pre-frontal cortex (PFC). The G/A transition in the exon 4 of the COMT gene, which results in a valine (Val) to methionine (Met) amino acid substitution (Val158Met), can bring on different enzymatic activities. Much research has found that the Met/Met genotype associated with low enzymatic activity and may enhance cognitive function. Our research aimed to test the association between COMT genotype and creativity. We applied one-way ANOVA to detect the effect of the COMT genotypes to creative ability and creative potentials in 108 Chinese children with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. COMT genotypes were not related to creative ability and creative potential except imagination. Val/Val carriers are more likely to imagine than Met/Met carriers (F (2, 105) =4.082, p=.02). We also found that COMT Val158Met polymorphism had a significant main effect on intelligence (F (2, 102) = 3.47, p=0.035) and it could predict 4.7% of intelligence. Our results suggest that Met/Met genotype has a positive effect on intelligence but not on creative ability. However, we found no significant interaction between gender and COMT genotype to intelligence

Self-concept of gifted children aged 9 to 13 years old

Ninety-four gifted children and 200 nongifted children (aged 9 to 13 years old) were involved in the present study. Their self-concept was assessed by the Revised Song-Hattie Self-Concept Inventory (Zhou & He, 1996). Academic self-concepts pertaining to abilities, school achievements, and grade concepts and nonacademic self-concepts pertaining to family, peers, body, and self-confidence concepts, as well as self-concept in general, were considered in the present study. The findings indicated that the development of self-concept in gifted children was different from that of nongifted children.Specifically, the self-concept scores in general of nongifted children increased from 11 to 13 years old, while those of gifted children decreased for the same age period. Both academic and nonacademic self-concepts are discussed in the present study

Mechanical breakdown of bent silicon nanowires imaged by coherent x-ray diffraction

We have developed a method of coherent x-ray diffractive imaging to surmount its inability to image the structure of strongly strained crystals. We used calculated models from finite–element analysis to guide an iterative algorithm to fit experimental data from a series of increasingly bent wires cut into silicon-on-insulator films. Just before mechanical fracture, the wires were found to contain new phase structures, which are identified as dislocations associated with crossing the elastic limit

Bragg projection ptychography on niobium phase domains

Bragg projection ptychography (BPP) is a coherent x-ray diffraction imaging technique which combines the strengths of scanning microscopy with the phase contrast of x-ray ptychography. Here we apply it for high resolution imaging of the phase-shifted crystalline domains associated with epitaxial growth. The advantages of BPP are that the spatial extent of the sample is arbitrary, it is nondestructive, and it gives potentially diffraction limited spatial resolution. Here we demonstrate the application of BPP for revealing the domain structure caused by epitaxial misfit in a nanostructured metallic thin film. Experimental coherent diffraction data were collected from a niobium thin film, epitaxially grown on a sapphire substrate as the beam was scanned across the sample. The data were analyzed by BPP using a carefully selected combination of refinement procedures. The resulting image shows a close packed array of epitaxial domains, shifted with respect to each other due to misfit between the film and its substrate

The relationship between EEG band power, cognitive processing and intelligence in school-age children

To investigate the differences in event-related potential parameters related to children’s intelligence and cognitive ability, 24 individuals from an experimental class of intellectually gifted children and 23 intellectually average children as the control group from a regular class were selected in the present study and the main neural mechanism pertaining tohigh intelligence was investigated. The electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded and the relationship between different percentages of Delta, Theta, Alpha1, Alpha2, Beta1 and Beta2 and intelligence and cognitive ability were analyzed. The results suggested that Delta power activity in brighter individuals was more than that in normal individuals, and Alpha2 and Beta1 power activity in higher intelligence individuals were less than that in normalindividuals. In high ability group, Alpha1 was significantly correlated with visual search ability, and Theta band correlated with simple abstract matching significantly. While in the normal group, Delta band related significantly with short term memory abilities. Spectral EEG parameters could be regarded as neural bases for fast reaction and a good tool todiscriminate high intelligent children from the average.&nbsp

Neural mechanisms of 1-back working memory in intellectually gifted children

To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying intellectually gifted children, electroencephalograms (EEG) were recorded while 13 intellectually gifted children and 13 average children accomplished a 1-back working memory task. The results showed that intellectually gifted children elicited significantly shorter P3 latency than their intellectually average peers. These results support the neural efficiency theory that intellectually gifted individual can use their brain more efficiently

Light-Driven H2 Evolution and C═C or C═O Bond Hydrogenation by Shewanella oneidensis : A Versatile Strategy for Photocatalysis by Nonphotosynthetic Microorganisms

Photocatalytic chemical synthesis by coupling abiotic photosensitizers to purified enzymes provides an effective way to overcome the low conversion efficiencies of natural photosynthesis while exploiting the high catalytic rates and selectivity of enzymes as renewable, earth-abundant electrocatalysts. However, the selective synthesis of multiple products requires more versatile approaches and should avoid the time-consuming and costly processes of enzyme purification. Here we demonstrate a cell-based strategy supporting light-driven H2 evolution or the hydrogenation of C═C and C═O bonds in a nonphotosynthetic microorganism. Methylviologen shuttles photoenergized electrons from water-soluble photosensitizers to enzymes that catalyze H2 evolution and the reduction of fumarate, pyruvate, and CO2 in Shewanella oneidensis. The predominant reaction is selected by the experimental conditions, and the results allow rational development of cell-based strategies to harness nature’s intrinsic catalytic diversity for selective light-driven synthesis of a wide range of products

A new concept for the combination of optical interferometers and high-resolution spectrographs

The combination of high spatial and spectral resolution in optical astronomy enables new observational approaches to many open problems in stellar and circumstellar astrophysics. However, constructing a high-resolution spectrograph for an interferometer is a costly and time-intensive undertaking. Our aim is to show that, by coupling existing high-resolution spectrographs to existing interferometers, one could observe in the domain of high spectral and spatial resolution, and avoid the construction of a new complex and expensive instrument. We investigate in this article the different challenges which arise from combining an interferometer with a high-resolution spectrograph. The requirements for the different sub-systems are determined, with special attention given to the problems of fringe tracking and dispersion. A concept study for the combination of the VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer) with UVES (UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph) is carried out, and several other specific instrument pairings are discussed. We show that the proposed combination of an interferometer with a high-resolution spectrograph is indeed feasible with current technology, for a fraction of the cost of building a whole new spectrograph. The impact on the existing instruments and their ongoing programs would be minimal.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures, Experimental Astronomy; v2: accepted versio

Recent changes of water discharge and sediment load in the Yellow River basin, China

The Yellow River basin contributes approximately 6% of the sediment load from all river systems globally, and the annual runoff directly supports 12% of the Chinese population. As a result, describing and understanding recent variations of water discharge and sediment load under global change scenarios are of considerable importance. The present study considers the annual hydrologic series of the water discharge and sediment load of the Yellow River basin obtained from 15 gauging stations (10 mainstream, 5 tributaries). The Mann-Kendall test method was adopted to detect both gradual and abrupt change of hydrological series since the 1950s. With the exception of the area draining to the Upper Tangnaihai station, results indicate that both water discharge and sediment load have decreased significantly (p<0.05). The declining trend is greater with distance downstream, and drainage area has a significant positive effect on the rate of decline. It is suggested that the abrupt change of the water discharge from the late 1980s to the early 1990s arose from human extraction, and that the abrupt change in sediment load was linked to disturbance from reservoir construction.Geography, PhysicalGeosciences, MultidisciplinarySCI(E)43ARTICLE4541-5613

Structural analysis of MDM2 RING separates degradation from regulation of p53 transcription activity

MDM2–MDMX complexes bind the p53 tumor-suppressor protein, inhibiting p53's transcriptional activity and targeting p53 for proteasomal degradation. Inhibitors that disrupt binding between p53 and MDM2 efficiently activate a p53 response, but their use in the treatment of cancers that retain wild-type p53 may be limited by on-target toxicities due to p53 activation in normal tissue. Guided by a novel crystal structure of the MDM2–MDMX–E2(UbcH5B)–ubiquitin complex, we designed MDM2 mutants that prevent E2–ubiquitin binding without altering the RING-domain structure. These mutants lack MDM2's E3 activity but retain the ability to limit p53′s transcriptional activity and allow cell proliferation. Cells expressing these mutants respond more quickly to cellular stress than cells expressing wild-type MDM2, but basal p53 control is maintained. Targeting the MDM2 E3-ligase activity could therefore widen the therapeutic window of p53 activation in tumors