Identification and Analysis of the Mechanism of Stem Mechanical Strength Enhancement for Maize Inbred Lines QY1.

Enhancing stalk strength is a crucial strategy to reduce lodging. We identified a maize inbred line, QY1, with superior stalk mechanical strength. Comprehensive analyses of the microstructure, cell wall composition, and transcriptome of QY1 were performed to elucidate the underlying factors contributing to its increased strength.

Memory Reactivation during Sleep Does Not Act Holistically on Object Memory.

Memory reactivation during sleep is thought to facilitate memory consolidation. Most sleep reactivation research has examined how reactivation of specific facts, objects, and associations benefits their overall retention. However, our memories are not unitary, and not all features of a memory persist in tandem over time.

The Efficacy of Biological Control for the Suppression of the Pea Aphid (Acyrthosiphon Pisum): Does the Resistance of Alfalfa Cultivars Matter?

The pea aphid, Harris, is a major pest of alfalfa in northwestern China. However, the roles of different groups of natural enemies in combination with aphid-resistant cultivars in the suppression of the pea aphid have not been clarified under field conditions. In this study, we used experimental cages to better understand the top-down (natural enemies) and bottom-up (nine alfalfa cultivars) biological processes, as well as the individual roles of the two processes, in the control of the pea aphid.

Effects of post-response arousal on cognitive control: Adaptive or maladaptive?

This study investigated whether detection of a performance mistake is followed by adaptive or detrimental effects on subsequent attention and performance. Using a Stroop task with spatial cueing, along with simultaneous EEG and pupillary measurements, we examined evidence bearing on two alternative hypotheses: maladaptive arousal and adaptive control. Error detection, indexed by the error-related negativity ERP component, was followed by pupil dilation and suppression of EEG oscillations in the alpha band, two indices of arousal that were associated with one another on a trial-by-trial basis.

Find the silver lining or ignore the cloud? Cognitive reappraisal versus visual attention training.

This study contrasted the efficacy of two strategies for emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal (CR) and attentional control (AC), while using eye-tracking to examine gaze fixation patterns associated with each strategy. Participants (n = 98 undergraduates) viewed emotionally negative and neutral slides before and after one of three training conditions: CR training (verbal instructions to reframe interpretations of negative images), AC training (gaze-contingent feedback emphasizing fixation away from negative portions of images), or a no-training control condition. CR training led to the most beneficial consequences for self-reported emotion ratings; AC training improved emotion ratings more than the no-training control but not as much as CR.