Neuronal cell populations in circumoral nerve ring of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus: Ultrastructure and transcriptional profile.

The echinoderm nervous system has been studied as a model for understanding the evolution of the chordate nervous system. Neuronal cells are essential groups that release a 'cocktail' of messenger molecules providing a spectrum of biological actions in the nervous system. Among echinoderms, most evidence on neuronal cell types has been obtained from starfish and sea urchin.

Synthesis of NiFe-layered double hydroxides using triethanolamine-complexed precursors as oxygen evolution reaction catalysts: effects of Fe valence.

The synthesis of highly efficient NiFe-layered double hydroxides (NiFe-LDHs) to catalyze the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is urgent and challenging. Herein, NiFe-FeCl- and NiFe-FeCl- samples (where FeCl and FeCl represent the Fe sources and represents the imposed reaction time: 6, 12, and 24 h) were prepared one-pot hydrothermal synthesis using Fe sources characterized by Fe(III) or Fe(II) valence states. In the presence of triethanolamine, when FeCl was used as the Fe source, pure NiFe-LDH was obtained, whose crystallinity increased with increasing hydrothermal treatment time.

Predicting longitudinal brain atrophy in Parkinson's disease using a Susceptible-Infected-Removed agent-based model.

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by accumulation of abnormal isoforms of alpha-synuclein. Alpha-synuclein is proposed to act as a prion in Parkinson's disease: In its misfolded pathologic state, it favors the misfolding of normal alpha-synuclein molecules, spreads trans-neuronally, and causes neuronal damage as it accumulates. This theory remains controversial.

A Putative Role of Vasopressin/Oxytocin-Type Neuropeptide in Osmoregulation and Feeding Inhibition of .

Vasopressin/oxytocin (VP/OT)-type neuropeptide is an ancient neurophysin-associated neuropeptide and has been intensively studied to be involved in multiple physiological processes in protostomian and deuterostome vertebrates. However, little is known about the functions of VP/OT-type neuropeptide in deuterostome invertebrates especially in echinoderms. Here, we firstly report VP/OT-type neuropeptide signaling in an important economic species, , which is widely cultured in Asia, with high nutritional and medicinal values.

Supervised Phenotype Discovery From Multimodal Brain Imaging.

Data-driven discovery of image-derived phenotypes (IDPs) from large-scale multimodal brain imaging data has enormous potential for neuroscientific and clinical research by linking IDPs to subjects' demographic, behavioural, clinical and cognitive measures (i.e., non-imaging derived phenotypes or nIDPs).

Nervous System Development and Neuropeptides Characterization in Embryo and Larva: Insights from a Non-Chordate Deuterostome, the Sea Cucumber .

Here, we described the complex nervous system at five early developmental stages (blastula, gastrula, auricularia, doliolaria and pentactula) of a holothurian species with highly economic value, . The results revealed that the nervous system of embryos and larvae is mainly distributed in the anterior apical region, ciliary bands or rings, and the feeding and attachment organs, and that serotonergic immunoreactivity was not observed until the embryo developed into the late gastrula; these are evolutionarily conserved features of echinoderm, hemichordate and protostome larvae. Furthermore, based on available transcriptome data, we reported the neuropeptide precursors profile at different embryonic and larval developmental stages.

Triethanolamine-assisted synthesis of NiFe layered double hydroxide ultrathin nanosheets for efficient oxygen evolution reaction.

Water electrolysis is a promising technique for producing high-quality hydrogen, the application of which is impeded by the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) process. In this study, ultrathin nickel-iron layered double hydroxide (NiFe LDH) nanosheets were successfully synthesized through a facile hydrothermal reaction with the assistance of triethanolamine (TEA). Morphological and structural characterizations revealed that the presence of TEA modified the morphology of NiFe LDH, facilitated the synthesis of high-purity NiFe LDH, improved the crystallinity of NiFe LDH and resulted in a slight decrease in specific surface area.

Molecular and functional characterization of the luqin-type neuropeptide signaling system in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus.

The functional characteristics of neuropeptides in marine invertebrates have attracted significant attention recently although functional studies of luqin-type neuropeptides are still very limited, especially in deuterostomes. The sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus, is a representative species of deuterostomian Holothurian invertebrates. The species has high nutritional and medicinal value in China.

Identifying microstructural changes in diffusion MRI; How to circumvent parameter degeneracy.

Biophysical models that attempt to infer real-world quantities from data usually have many free parameters. This over-parameterisation can result in degeneracies in model inversion and render parameter estimation ill-posed. However, in many applications, we are not interested in quantifying the parameters per se, but rather in identifying changes in parameters between experimental conditions (e.

Accurate predictions of individual differences in task-evoked brain activity from resting-state fMRI using a sparse ensemble learner.

Modelling and predicting individual differences in task-fMRI activity can have a wide range of applications from basic to clinical neuroscience. It has been shown that models based on resting-state activity can have high predictive accuracy. Here we propose several improvements to such models.

One-step chemical vapor deposition fabrication of Ni@NiO@graphite nanoparticles for the oxygen evolution reaction of water splitting.

NiO combined with conductive materials is a practicable way to improve its catalytic property for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) by enhancing its electrical conductivity. Herein, Ni@NiO@graphite nanoparticles less than 20 nm in average diameter were synthesized by a one-step chemical vapor deposition process. Due to the deliberately controlled lack of oxygen, Ni particles and carbon clusters decomposed from NiCp precursors were oxidized incompletely and formed Ni@NiO core-shell nanoparticles coated by a graphite layer.

Differentially targeted seeding reveals unique pathological alpha-synuclein propagation patterns.

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the intracellular accumulation of insoluble alpha-synuclein aggregates into Lewy bodies and neurites. Increasing evidence indicates that Parkinson's disease progression results from the spread of pathologic alpha-synuclein through neuronal networks. However, the exact mechanisms underlying the propagation of abnormal proteins in the brain are only partially understood.

Network topology of the marmoset connectome.

The brain is a complex network of interconnected and interacting neuronal populations. Global efforts to understand the emergence of behavior and the effect of perturbations depend on accurate reconstruction of white matter pathways, both in humans and in model organisms. An emerging animal model for next-generation applied neuroscience is the common marmoset ().

Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Signatures of Sea Cucumber during Environmental Induced Aestivation.

Organisms respond to severe environmental changes by entering into hypometabolic states, minimizing their metabolic rates, suspending development and reproduction, and surviving critical ecological changes. They come back to an active lifestyle once the environmental conditions are conducive. Marine invertebrates live in the aquatic environment and adapt to environmental changes in their whole life.

Review on nickel-based adsorption materials for Congo red.

Excessive synthetic dyestuffs in the aquatic environment pose various ecological and health issues that are detrimental to sustainable development. Adsorption is considered a feasible technique of eliminating dye pollutants from the water environment because of its advantages of high efficiency, low cost, easy operation, and absence of secondary pollution. Among the many dyes, Congo red (CR) is a widely used azo dye.

Local vulnerability and global connectivity jointly shape neurodegenerative disease propagation.

It is becoming increasingly clear that brain network organization shapes the course and expression of neurodegenerative diseases. Parkinson disease (PD) is marked by progressive spread of atrophy from the midbrain to subcortical structures and, eventually, to the cerebral cortex. Recent discoveries suggest that the neurodegenerative process involves the misfolding and prion-like propagation of endogenous α-synuclein via axonal projections.

Neuropeptide precursors and neuropeptides in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus: a genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic analysis.

The sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus is a foodstuff with very high economic value in China, Japan and other countries in south-east Asia. It is at the heart of a multibillion-dollar industry and to meet demand for this product, aquaculture methods and facilities have been established. However, there are challenges associated with optimization of reproduction, feeding and growth in non-natural environments.

3D hierarchical graphene oxide-NiFe LDH composite with enhanced adsorption affinity to Congo red, methyl orange and Cr(VI) ions.

Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical graphene oxide-NiFe layered double hydroxide (GO-NiFe LDH) composite with sandwich-like structure is fabricated using a facile one-pot hydrothermal reaction. Electron microscopy images demonstrate that the GO-NiFe LDH composite possesses a highly porous and well-ordered structure. Both sides of the GO are fully covered by the LDH nanosheets, resulting in the sandwich-like architecture.

Hierarchical flower-like nickel(II) oxide microspheres with high adsorption capacity of Congo red in water.

Monodispersed hierarchical flower-like nickel(II) oxide (NiO) microspheres were fabricated by a facile solvothermal reaction with the assistance of ethanolamine and a subsequent calcination process. The as-synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, zeta potential measurement and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Flower-like nickel(II) hydroxide microspheres with uniform diameters of approximate 6.

Efficient decomposition of formaldehyde at room temperature over Pt/honeycomb ceramics with ultra-low Pt content.

Pt/honeycomb ceramic (Pt/HC) catalysts with ultra-low Pt content (0.005-0.055 wt%) were for the first time prepared by an impregnation of honeycomb ceramics with Pt precursor and NaBH4-reduction combined method.

Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen-production performance of graphene-Zn(x)Cd(1-x)S composites by using an organic S source.

In response to the increasing concerns over energy and environmental sustainability, photocatalytic water-splitting technology has attracted broad attention for its application in directly converting solar energy to valuable hydrogen (H2) energy. In this study, high-efficiency visible-light-driven photocatalytic H2 production without the assistance of precious-metal cocatalysts was achieved on graphene-Zn(x)Cd(1-x)S composites with controlled compositions. The graphene-Zn(x)Cd(1-x)S composites were for the first time fabricated by a one-step hydrothermal method with thiourea as an organic S source.