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Brain lobar volumes are heritable but genetic studies are limited. We performed genome-wide association studies of frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal lobe volumes in 16,016 individuals, and replicated our findings in 8,789 individuals. We identified six genetic loci associated with specific lobar volumes independent of intracranial volume. Two loci, associated with occipital (6q22.32) and temporal lobe volume (12q14.3), were previously reported to associate with intracranial and hippocampal volume, respectively. We identified four loci previously unknown to affect brain volumes: 3q24 for parietal lobe volume, and 1q22, 4p16.3 and 14q23.1 for occipital lobe volume. The associated variants were located in regions enriched for histone modifications (DAAM1 and THBS3), or close to genes causing Mendelian brain-related diseases (ZIC4 and FGFRL1). No genetic overlap between lobar volumes and neurological or psychiatric diseases was observed. Our findings reveal part of the complex genetics underlying brain development and suggest a role for regulatory regions in determining brain volumes.

Using steel slag in architectural three-dimensional (3D) printing not only enhances its utilization efficiency but also significantly reduces cement consumption, thereby mitigating carbon emissions. This study evaluated the substitution of steel slag for cement in 3D printing and examined its impact on rheological properties, fluidity, green strength, and early hydration microstructure based on alkalinity level, particle-size distribution, and blending quantity. The relationship between the early properties of 3D-printed steel slag cementitious materials and their pore microstructures was investigated using low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tests. The results showed that high-alkalinity steel slag has superior rheological characteristics and generates a larger amount of gel water within the initial 30 min of hydration. Steel slag particles ranging from 5 to 20 μm had the most significant influence on enhancing the rheological properties of 3D-printed steel slag cementitious materials by facilitating the formation of a flocculated mesh structure during early hydration. Optimal rheological performance was achieved with a dosage level of 10% steel slag, effectively reducing porosity and improving compactness in the mortar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delignification of lignocellulose using basic ionic liquids (BILs) such as choline lysinate ([Ch][Lys]) is a promising method due to its high efficiency, mild conditions, and low toxicity. Typically, the following precipitation of lignin by adding acid media makes it challenging to recycle BILs. Herein, we explored a series of low-cost and recyclable alcohols as anti-solvents, including methanol (MeOH), ethanol (EtOH), iso-propanol (i-PrOH), and tert-butanol (t-BuOH), for recovering [Ch][Lys] and precipitating lignin without adding an acid from water-free [Ch][Lys] (case 1) and aqueous [Ch][Lys] (case 2). For case 1, lignin recovery followed the order of EtOH > i-PrOH > t-BuOH (MeOH was not able to recover lignin and [Ch][Lys]), which was negatively correlated with their pKa values, indicating the effect of the inhibited generation of a basic anion (e.g. EtO− from EtOH) from –NH2 in [Ch][Lys] on lignin precipitation. t-BuOH showed the highest lignin recovery of 99.7%, ensuring the high purity of the recovered [Ch][Lys] (recovery of 94.7%). Lignin deprotonation and depolymerization were detected. For case 2, t-BuOH also facilitated the recovery of lignin from an aqueous lignin–[Ch][Lys] system with a nearly quantitative lignin recovery, yet with lower [Ch][Lys] recovery of 81.7% and 64.0% at the [Ch][Lys] : water ratios (w/w) of 7 : 3 and 1 : 9, respectively. The lower recovery of [Ch][Lys] might be due to the poor dispersity of lignin solid in t-BuOH, and water also enhanced the deprotonation of lignin, thus making lignin precipitation more difficult. Based on the results, a deprotonation-based lignin dissolution mechanism has been proposed, which also helps to understand lignin dissolution and precipitation in a [Ch][Lys]-based system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified >175 loci associated with fasting cholesterol levels, including total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG). With differences in linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure and allele frequencies between ancestry groups, studies in additional large samples may detect new associations. We conducted staged GWAS meta-analyses in up to 69,414 East Asian individuals from 24 studies with participants from Japan, the Philippines, Korea, China, Singapore, and Taiwan. These meta-analyses identified (P

The improvement of photocatalytic activity of g‐C3N4 is expected for its advanced applications but remains a challenge due to the limitations of current strategies, such as single function, inefficiency, and uneconomical. Herein, a modified g‐C3N4 with improved interface properties is constructed through the modulation of the ionic microenvironment affected by ionic liquids (ILs) and exhibits a 2.3‐fold enhanced photodegradation efficiency and a 3.5‐fold enhanced reaction rate relative to pristine g‐C3N4. It has demonstrated excellent performance in photo‐therapy bacterial‐infected wounds. Theoretical calculation indicated that the precursor can be regulated by designing the specific ILs microenvironment to form "ILs‐Mel" clusters due to the diversity of interaction energy and electrostatic potential. The cluster results in uneven stress on the 2D plane, further inducing the reconstruction of the microstructure. The synergistic effect of cations and anions of ILs on regulating the interface properties of g‐C3N4 due to the change of skeleton structure during thermolysis of ILs. The microstructure, surface, and optical‐electrical properties can be adjusted by selecting different cations of ILs, and the custom‐made band structure and wettability can be obtained by selecting different anions. This work provides a facile strategy to modulate the interface properties of g‐C3N4 by building specific a microenvironment of precursor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In bimatrix games with symmetric triangular fuzzy payoffs, our work defines an (α, β)-risk aversion Nash equilibrium ((α, β)-RANE) and presents its sufficient and necessary condition. Our work also discusses the relationships between the (α, β)-RANE and a mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium (MSNE) in a bimatrix game with a risk-averse player 2 and certain payoffs. Finally, considering 2 × 2 bimatrix games with STFPs, we find the conditions where the increase in player 2's risk-aversion level hurts or benefits himself/herself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundCrohn's disease (CD) is an intractable inflammatory bowel disease of unknown cause. Recent genome-wide association studies of CD in Korean and Japanese populations suggested marginal sharing of susceptibility loci between Caucasian and Asian populations. As the 7 identified loci altogether explain 5.31% of the risk for CD, the objective of this study was to identify additional CD susceptibility loci in the Korean population.MethodsUsing the ImmunoChip custom single-nucleotide polymorphism array designed for dense genotyping of 186 loci identified through GWAS, we analyzed 722 individuals with CD and 461 controls for 96,048 SNP markers in the discovery stage, followed by validation in an additional 948 affected individuals and 977 controls.ResultsWe confirmed 6 previously reported loci in Caucasian: GPR35 at 2q37 (rs3749172; P = 5.30 × 10, odds ratio [OR] = 1.45), ZNF365 at 10q21 (rs224143; P = 2.20 × 10, OR = 1.38), ZMIZ1 at 10q22 (rs1250569; P = 3.05 × 10, OR = 1.30), NKX2-3 at 10q24 (rs4409764; P = 7.93 × 10, OR = 1.32), PTPN2 at 18p11 (rs514000; P = 9.00 × 10, OR = 1.33), and USP25 at 21q11 (rs2823256; P = 2.49 × 10, OR = 1.35), bringing the number of known CD loci (including 3 in the HLA) in Koreans to 15. The 6 additional loci increased the total genetic variance for CD risk from 5.31% to 7.27% in Koreans.ConclusionsAlthough the different genetic backgrounds of CD between Asian and Western countries has been well established for the major susceptibility genes, our findings of overlapping associations offer new insights into the genetic architecture of CD.

Aerosol pH is commonly used to characterize the acidity of aqueous aerosols and is of significant scientific interest due to its close relationship with atmospheric processes. Estimation of ambient aerosol pH usually relies on the thermodynamic modeling approach. In the existing chemical transport model and field observation studies, the temporal resolution of the input chemical and meteorological data into thermodynamic models varied substantially ranging from less than an hour to a year because of the inconsistency in the resolution of the original data and the aggregation of time-series data in some studies. Furthermore, the average value of aerosol pH has been represented by diverse metrics of central tendency in existing studies. This study attempts to evaluate the potential discrepancies in the calculated average aerosol pH arising from differences in both averaging metrics and temporal resolutions based on the ISORROPIA-II thermodynamic model and the example datasets prepared by the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model simulation. Overall, we find that the variation in the temporal resolutions of input data may lead to a change of up to more than two units in the average pH, and that the averaging metrics calculated based on the pH value of individual samples may be about two units higher than the averaging metrics calculated based on the activity of hydrogen ions. Accordingly, we recommend that the chosen averaging metrics and temporal resolutions should be stated clearly in future studies to ensure comparability of the average aerosol pH between models and/or observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vanadium based sodium superionic conductors (NASICON) have attracted unpreceded attention owing to their high structural stability and excellent Na+ ion diffusion. However, Na4VM(PO4)3 suffer from low‐rate capability and capacity decay at high voltage (≈4.0 V) due to low electronic conductivity and irreversible phase transition of V4+/V5+. Herein, a high entropy Na4VFe0.6Mn0.2Cr0.1(CoMgAl)0.1(PO4)3 (NVFP‐HE) NASICON material is designed, which allows the intrinsic effect of multi‐metal to achieve the excellent rate capability at high voltage, good ionic as well as electronic conductivity. This NVFP‐HE cathode not only delivers a high discharge capacity of 141.98 mAh g−1 at 1C, but also presents an exceptional capacity of 85.77 mAh g−1 at as high as 50C current rate. Additionally, NVFP‐HE can also retain 66.7% of initial capacity after 10 000 charge–discharge cycles at 50C. It is important to highlight that the high entropy mitigates the performance decay that arises from the irreversible phase change at 4 V. Interestingly, NVFP‐HE//HC full cell delivers 81 mAh g−1 at 0.2C. This high entropy effect and its proof of concept can allow to look for unique combinations and rationally designed advanced cathode materials for wide applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]