Surface Expansion Regionalization of the Hippocampus in Early Brain Development.

The hippocampal formation is implicated in a myriad of crucial functions, particularly centered around memory and emotion, with distinct subdivisions fulfilling specific roles. However, there is no consensus on the spatial organization of these subdivisions, given that the functional connectivity and gene expression-based parcellation along its longitudinal axis differs from the histology-based parcellation along its medial-lateral axis. The dynamic nonuniform surface expansion of the hippocampus during early development reflects the underlying changes of microstructure and functional connectivity, providing important clues on hippocampal subdivisions.

Revealing Fine-grained Genetically Informed Cortical Parcellation Maps of Neonates Based on Multi-view Spectral Clustering.

Genetic factors have been proven to be one of the major determinants in shaping the neonatal cerebral cortex. Previous research has demonstrated distinct genetic influences on the spatial patterns of cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) in neonates, leading to their unique genetically informed parcellation maps. However, these parcellation maps were derived at coarse scales and only reliant on single cortical properties, making them unable to comprehensively characterize the fine-grained genetically regulated patterns of the neonatal cerebral cortex.

Early life phthalate exposure impacts gray matter and white matter volume in infants and young children.

Objective: Prenatal phthalate exposure is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, yet data on impacts of early life exposure remains limited. We investigated phthalate and replacement plasticizer exposures from 2 weeks to 7 years of age in relation to brain anatomical attributes, using serial structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI).

Material And Methods: Children were enrolled after birth into the UNC Baby Connectome Project, a longitudinal neuroimaging study.

Development of Effective Connectome from Infancy to Adolescence.

Delineating the normative developmental profile of functional connectome is important for both standardized assessment of individual growth and early detection of diseases. However, functional connectome has been mostly studied using functional connectivity (FC), where undirected connectivity strengths are estimated from statistical correlation of resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) signals. To address this limitation, we applied regression dynamic causal modeling (rDCM) to delineate the developmental trajectories of effective connectivity (EC), the directed causal influence among neuronal populations, in whole-brain networks from infancy to adolescence (0-22 years old) based on high-quality rs-fMRI data from Baby Connectome Project (BCP) and Human Connectome Project Development (HCP-D).

Impact of aerosol-photolysis interaction on the ozone concentration in the upper boundary layer on Mountain Everest.

Previous research has revealed that, during the late afternoon, the ozone (O3) concentration tends to elevate at the northern perimeter of Mount Everest (5200 m above sea level). This increase is attributed to the natural gradient of rising O3 concentration with height, exacerbated by the corresponding downstream mountain winds. Our recent field observations corroborate this finding, showing a consistent increase in O3 concentrations by approximately 13.

A lifespan-generalizable skull-stripping model for magnetic resonance images that leverages prior knowledge from brain atlases.

In magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, an imaging-preprocessing step removes the skull and other non-brain tissue from the images. But methods for such a skull-stripping process often struggle with large data heterogeneity across medical sites and with dynamic changes in tissue contrast across lifespans. Here we report a skull-stripping model for magnetic resonance images that generalizes across lifespans by leveraging personalized priors from brain atlases.

Local Gradients of Functional Connectivity Enable Precise Fingerprinting of Infant Brains During Dynamic Development.

Brain functional connectivity patterns exhibit distinctive, individualized characteristics capable of distinguishing one individual from others, like fingerprint. Accurate and reliable depiction of individualized functional connectivity patterns during infancy is crucial for advancing our understanding of individual uniqueness and variability of the intrinsic functional architecture during dynamic early brain development, as well as its role in neurodevelopmental disorders. However, the highly dynamic and rapidly developing nature of the infant brain presents significant challenges in capturing robust and stable functional fingerprint, resulting in low accuracy in individual identification over ages during infancy using functional connectivity.

[Characteristics and Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds （VOCs） in Luohe City During Summer].

Luohe City is an important node city in the Central Plains Urban Agglomeration in China, where the atmospheric ozone （O） pollution situation has been serious in recent years. In order to provide a scientific basis for O pollution control, the online filed observation of O precursor volatile organic compounds （VOCs） was carried out in Luohe City in July 2022 to understand their variation characteristics and sources. The mean ratio of （TVOCs） during the observation period was （16.

Volatile organic compounds at a highland forest site in the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau: Source apportionment and reactivity contributions.

Atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are reactive species and the primary precursors of free radicals; thus, VOCs play important roles in tropospheric chemistry. Tibet field campaigns from April 4 to May 11, 2021 found high mixing ratios and reactivity contributions of oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs) at Lulang, a site with high vegetation cover and strong solar ultraviolet radiation on the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The 13 OVOCs detected accounted for 49% of the total VOCs (TVOCs, with a mean mixing ratio ±1σ of 11.

miMatch: a microbial metabolic background matching tool for mitigating host confounding in metagenomics research.

Metagenomic research faces a persistent challenge due to the low concordance across studies. While matching host confounders can mitigate the impact of individual differences, the influence of factors such as genetics, environment, and lifestyle habits on microbial profiles makes it exceptionally challenging to create fully matched cohorts. The microbial metabolic background, which modulates microbial composition, reflects a cumulative impact of host confounders, serving as an ideal baseline for microbial sample matching.

Factors affected the ovarian reserve after laparoscopic cystectomy for ovarian endometriomas.

Objective: To identify related factors that affect the ovarian reserve after laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy in patients with endometriomas.

Study Design: It was a retrospective cohort study performed in a tertiary-care university hospital. A total of 409 patients with endometriomas underwent laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy between June 2014 and November 2021.

The Growing Little Brain: Cerebellar Functional Development from Cradle to School.

Despite the cerebellum's crucial role in brain functions, its early development, particularly in relation to the cerebrum, remains poorly understood. Here, we examine cerebellocortical connectivity using over 1,000 high-quality resting-state functional MRI scans of children from birth to 60 months. By mapping cerebellar topography with fine temporal detail for the first time, we show the hierarchical and contralateral organization of cerebellocortical connectivity from birth.

Poly (β-amino esters)/Mobil Composition of Matter 41-mediated delivery of siIL-1β alleviates deep vein thrombosis in rat hind limbs.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a major cause of cardiovascular disease-related deaths worldwide and is considered a thrombotic inflammatory disorder. IL-1β, as a key promoter of venous thrombus inflammation, is a potential target for DVT treatment. Constructing a nanocarrier system for intracellular delivery of siIL-1β to silence IL-1β may be an effective strategy for alleviating DVT.

Metagenomic assessment of the bacterial breastfeeding microbiome in mature milk across lactation.

Introduction: Research has illustrated the presence of a diverse range of microbiota in human milk. The composition of the milk microbiome varies across different stages of lactation, emphasizing the need to consider the lactation stage when studying its composition. Additionally, the transfer of both milk and skin microbiota during breastfeeding is crucial for understanding their collective impact on infant health and development.

An end-to-end infant brain parcellation pipeline.

Objective: Accurate infant brain parcellation is crucial for understanding early brain development; however, it is challenging due to the inherent low tissue contrast, high noise, and severe partial volume effects in infant magnetic resonance images (MRIs). The aim of this study was to develop an end-to-end pipeline that enabled accurate parcellation of infant brain MRIs.

Methods: We proposed an end-to-end pipeline that employs a two-stage global-to-local approach for accurate parcellation of infant brain MRIs.

Modified ventriculoperitoneal shunt applied to temporary external ventricular drainage.

External ventricular drainage (EVD) is a common procedure in neurosurgical practice. Presently, the three methods used most often include direct EVD (dEVD), long-tunneled external ventricular drains (LTEVDs), and EVD via the Ommaya reservoir (EVDvOR). But they possess drawbacks such as limited duration of retention, vulnerability to iatrogenic secondary infections, and challenges in regulating drainage flow.

Urinary metabolite concentrations of phthalate and plasticizers in infancy and childhood in the UNC baby connectome project.

Introduction: Existing evidence suggests that exposure to phthalates is higher among younger age groups. However, limited knowledge exists on how phthalate exposure, as well as exposure to replacement plasticizers, di(isononyl) cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (DINCH) and di-2-ethylhexyl terephthalate (DEHTP), change from infancy through early childhood.

Methods: Urine samples were collected across the first 5 years of life from typically developing infants and young children enrolled between 2017 and 2020 in the longitudinal UNC Baby Connectome Project.

Functional Hierarchy of the Human Neocortex from Cradle to Grave.

Recent evidence indicates that the organization of the human neocortex is underpinned by smooth spatial gradients of functional connectivity (FC). These gradients provide crucial insight into the relationship between the brain's topographic organization and the texture of human cognition. However, no studies to date have charted how intrinsic FC gradient architecture develops across the entire human lifespan.

Longitudinally consistent registration and parcellation of cortical surfaces using semi-supervised learning.

Temporally consistent and accurate registration and parcellation of longitudinal cortical surfaces is of great importance in studying longitudinal morphological and functional changes of human brains. However, most existing methods are developed for registration or parcellation of a single cortical surface. When applying to longitudinal studies, these methods independently register/parcellate each surface from longitudinal scans, thus often generating longitudinally inconsistent and inaccurate results, especially in small or ambiguous cortical regions.

Identification and validation of microbial biomarkers from cross-cohort datasets using xMarkerFinder.

Microbial signatures have emerged as promising biomarkers for disease diagnostics and prognostics, yet their variability across different studies calls for a standardized approach to biomarker research. Therefore, we introduce xMarkerFinder, a four-stage computational framework for microbial biomarker identification with comprehensive validations from cross-cohort datasets, including differential signature identification, model construction, model validation and biomarker interpretation. xMarkerFinder enables the identification and validation of reproducible biomarkers for cross-cohort studies, along with the establishment of classification models and potential microbiome-induced mechanisms.

Optimizing a twin-chamber system for direct ozone production rate measurement.

High Ozone Production Rate (OPR) leads to O pollution episodes and adverse human health outcomes. OPR observation (Obs-OPR) and OPR modelling (Mod-OPR) have been obtained from observed and modelled peroxy radicals and nitrogen oxides. However, discrepancies between them remind of an imperfect understanding of O photochemistry.

Co-detection of azoxystrobin and thiabendazole fungicides in mold and mildew resistant wallboards and in children.

The study measured the levels of azoxystrobin (AZ) and thiabendazole (TBZ) in wallboards and metabolite levels of these fungicides in children. The paper covering of wallboard samples contained a higher concentration of AZ and TBZ than the gypsum core, and similar amounts (w/w) of these two fungicides were present in the samples. These data suggest that commercial products containing a 1:1 (w/w) amount of AZ and TBZ, such as Sporgard® WB or Azo Tech™, were applied to the wallboard paper.

Source-free unsupervised domain adaptation: A survey.

Unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) via deep learning has attracted appealing attention for tackling domain-shift problems caused by distribution discrepancy across different domains. Existing UDA approaches highly depend on the accessibility of source domain data, which is usually limited in practical scenarios due to privacy protection, data storage and transmission cost, and computation burden. To tackle this issue, many source-free unsupervised domain adaptation (SFUDA) methods have been proposed recently, which perform knowledge transfer from a pre-trained source model to the unlabeled target domain with source data inaccessible.