Maternal face processing in Mosuo preschool children

Instinctively responding to maternal face is an evolutionary function of enhancing survival and development. However, because of the confounding nature of familiarity, little is known concerning the neural mechanism involved in maternal face recognition. We had a rare opportunity to examine Mosuo preschool children who were raised in a matrilineal society in which mothers and aunts represent equally familiar faces to the children. The participants were exposed to photographs of their mother's face, aunt's face, and an unfamiliar female's faces during electroencephalography (EEG) recording. The EEG results showed that the mother's face elicited a more negative N1 component, a larger left N170 component, and a larger P300 component; both the mother's and aunt's faces elicited a larger right N170 component. These results suggest that the emotional attachment between mother and child has neural ramifications across three successive face processing stages that are distinguished from the neural effects of facial familiarity. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Nanoplanktonic diatom rapidly alters sinking velocity via regulating lipid content and composition in response to changing nutrient concentrations

Diatom sinking plays a crucial role in the global carbon cycle, accounting for approximately 40% of marine particulate organic carbon export. While oceanic models typically represent diatoms as microphytoplankton (> 20 μm), it is important to recognize that many diatoms fall into the categories of nanophytoplankton (2-20 μm) and picophytoplankton (< 2 μm). These smaller diatoms have also been found to significantly contribute to carbon export. However, our understanding of their sinking behavior and buoyancy regulation mechanisms remains limited. In this study, we investigate the sinking behavior of a nanoplanktonic diatom, Phaeodactylum tricornutum (P. tricornutum), which exhibits rapid changes in sinking behavior in response to varying nutrient concentrations. Our results demonstrate that a higher sinking rate is observed under phosphate limitation and depletion. Notably, in phosphate depletion, the sinking rate of P. tricornutum was 0.79 ± 0.03 m d-1, nearly three times that of the previously reported sinking rates for Skeletonema costatum, Ditylum brightwellii, and Chaetoceros gracile. Furthermore, during the first 6 h of phosphate spike, the sinking rate of P. tricornutum remained consistently high. After 12 h of phosphate spike, the sinking rate decreased to match that of the phosphate repletion phase, only to increase again over the next 12 hours due to phosphate depletion. This rapid sinking behavior contributes to carbon export and potentially allows diatoms to exploit nutrient-rich patches when encountering increased nutrient concentrations. We also observed a significant positive correlation (P< 0.001) between sinking rate and lipid content (R = 0.91) during the phosphate depletion and spike experiment. It appears that P. tricornutum regulates its sinking rate by increasing intracellular lipid content, particularly digalactosyldiacylglycerol, hexosyl ceramide, monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, and triglycerides. Additionally, P. tricornutum replaces phospholipids with more dense membrane sulfolipids, such as sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol under phosphate shortage. These findings shed light on the intricate relationship between nutrient availability, sinking behavior, and lipid composition in diatoms, providing insights into their adaptive strategies for carbon export and nutrient utilization

The use of Panax notoginseng saponins injections after intravenous thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundAs a bioactive metabolite preparation widely used in acute ischemic stroke (AIS), the efficacy and safety of Panax notoginseng saponins injections (PNSI) in patients with AIS after intravenous thrombolysis remain to be evaluated.MethodsThis study included randomized controlled trials published before 26 April 2024 in 8 databases. AIS patients who received intravenous thrombolysis were included. The control group receiving conventional treatment and the treatment group receiving additional PNSI. Primary outcomes were selected as mortality, disability, and adverse events. Secondary outcomes were selected as all-cause mortality, improvement of neurological deficit, quality of life, and cerebral injury indicators. The revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used to assess risk of bias. Risk ratio (RR) and mean differences (MD) were calculated for binary variables and continuous variables, respectively, based on a 95% confidence interval (CI).ResultsA total of 20 trials involving 1,856 participants were included. None of them reported mortality or disability. There was no significant difference in the adverse events [RR: 1.04; 95% CI: 0.60 to 1.81] and hemorrhagic transformation [RR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.36 to 2.70] between the two groups. Compared to the control group, the treatment group had a better effect in neurological improvement assessed by National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale [MD: −2.91; 95% CI: −4.76 to −1.06], a better effect in activities of daily living changes in Barthel Index [MD: 9.37; 95% CI: 1.86 to 16.88], and a lower serum neuron-specific enolase level [MD: −2.08; 95% CI: −2.67 to −1.49].ConclusionFor AIS patients undergoing intravenous thrombolysis, the use of PNSI improved neurological deficits and enhanced activity of daily living in the short term without increasing the occurrence rate of adverse events. However, due to the moderate to very low certainty of evidence, it is advisable to conduct high-quality clinical trials to validate the findings of this study.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=466851, Identifier CRD4202346685

Asymmetric correlation between experienced parental attachment and event-related potentials evoked in response to parental faces.

This study aims to explore the modulation effects of attachment relationships with parents on the neural correlates that are associated with parental faces. The event-related potentials elicited in 31 college students while viewing facial stimuli of their parents in two single oddball paradigms (father vs. unfamiliar male and mother vs. unfamiliar female) were measured. We found that enhanced P3a and P3b and attenuated N2b were elicited by parental faces; however, the N170 component failed to discriminate parental faces from unfamiliar faces. An experienced attachment relationship with the father was positively correlated to the P3a response associated with the father's face, whereas no correlation was found in the case of mothers. Further exploration in dipole source localization showed that, within the time window of the P300, distinctive brain regions were involved in the processing of parental faces; the father's face was located in the medial frontal gyrus, which might be involved in self effect, and the anterior cingulate gyrus was activated in response to the mother's face. This research is the first to demonstrate that neural mechanisms involved with parents can be modulated differentially by the qualities of the attachments to the parents. In addition, parental faces share a highly similar temporal pattern, but the origins of these neural responses are distinct, which could merit further investigation

Response characteristics of hull girder under the combined action of wave and underwater explosion bubble pulsation load

ObjectivesDuring the mission, the ship may be simultaneously subjected to the combined wave load and underwater explosion bubble pulsation load, resulting in the "superposition effect" of hull response and the loss of total strength of the ship. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the dynamic response law of hull girder under the combined action of above-mentioned loads. MethodsFirst, a simplified hull girder model is established by theoretical analysis, and the bubble pulsation load of underwater explosion and wave load are solved. Then, based on the Hamilton Principle, the differential equations of motion of hull girder at both free ends subjected to the two loads are derived separately and jointly. Finally, based on the solution of the motion differential equation, the hull girder's free vibration response and the simplified model's motion response under the three working conditions of external load combination are analyzed. ResultsThe results show that under the combined action of the two loads, the motion response of the hull girder is 15% larger than the linear superposition of the motion response of the two loads alone. ConclusionsThe research done can provide a reference for developing an algorithm to analyze the motion response of ship structures under combined loads

Image_1_WHITE PANICLE3, a Novel Nucleus-Encoded Mitochondrial Protein, Is Essential for Proper Development and Maintenance of Chloroplasts and Mitochondria in Rice.TIF

<p>Mitochondria and chloroplasts are interacting organelles that play important roles in plant development. In addition to a small number proteins encoded by their own genomes, the majority of mitochondrial and chloroplast proteins are encoded in the cell nucleus and imported into the organelle. As a consequence, coordination between mitochondria, chloroplasts, and the nucleus is of crucial importance to plant cells. Variegated mutants are chloroplast-defective mutants and are considered to be ideal models for studying the intercommunication between these organelles. Here, we report the isolation of WHITE PANICLE3 (WP3), a nuclear gene involved in variegation, from a naturally occurring white panicle rice mutant. Disrupted expression of WP3 in the mutant leads to severe developmental defects in both chloroplasts and mitochondria, and consequently causes the appearance of white-striped leaves and white panicles in the mutant plants. Further investigation showed that WP3 encodes a protein most likely targeted to mitochondria and is specifically expressed in rice panicles. Interestingly, we demonstrate that the recessive white-panicle phenotype in the wp3 mutant is inherited in a typical Mendelian manner, while the white-striped leaf phenotype in wp3 is maternally inherited. Our data collectively suggest that the nucleus-encoded mitochondrial protein, WP3, plays an essential role in the regulation of chloroplast development in rice panicles by maintaining functional mitochondria. Therefore, the wp3 mutant is an excellent model in which to explore the communication between the nucleus, mitochondria, and chloroplasts in plant cells.</p

The correlations between the paternal attachment scores and P3a amplitudes evoked by a father’s face.

<p>The figure shows that the P3a amplitude was positively correlated to the total attachment score (<i>r</i> = .71, <i>p</i> < .001, Figure 4a), the trust dimension (<i>r</i> = .68, <i>p</i> < .001, Figure 4b) and the communication dimension (<i>r</i> = .60, <i>p</i> < .001, Figure 4c) and negatively correlated with the alienation dimension (<i>r</i> = -.50, <i>p</i> < .005, Figure 4d).</p

Dipole source localization images of parental faces versus unfamiliar faces for P300 latency.

<p>The main different brain regions in response to the father’s and mother’s faces were the right medial frontal gyrus (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0068795#pone-0068795-g006" target="_blank">Figure 6a)</a> and the left anterior cingulate gyrus (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0068795#pone-0068795-g006" target="_blank">Figure 6b)</a>; blue spots signify the different regions. Activation of the both of the parental faces was also located in the regions of the cerebellar tonsil (red spot) and the precuneus (green spot).</p

Grand average ERPs evoked by different face types.

<p>The light gray shaded areas indicate (a) a 250-550 ms time window for the P3a component at the frontal electrode, (b) a 250-650 ms time window for the P3b component at the parietal electrode, (c) and (d) a 130-180 ms time window for the N170 detection and a 200-300 ms time window for the N2b at the bilateral occipito-temporal areas.</p

Recording procedure and an example of the facial stimuli.

<p>In each trial, the participants were asked to respond as soon as their parents’ faces were presented and to ignore male/female strangers’ faces. All of the participants were asked to finish two single oddball tasks, and the task order was balanced across the participants. The parents whose photographs are presented here have given written informed consent, as outlined in the PLOS consent form, permitting us to publish, reuse and reprint their photographs.</p