Impact of volcanism on the formation and hydrocarbon generation of organic-rich shale in the Jiyang Depression, Bohai Bay Basin, China

Globally,most organic-rich shales are deposited with volcanic ash layers.Volcanic ash,a source for many sedimentary basins,can affect the sedimentary water environment,alter the primary productivity,and preserve the organic matter(OM)through physical,chemical,and biological reactions.With an increasing number of breakthroughs in shale oil exploration in the Bohai Bay Basin in recent years,less attention has been paid to the crucial role of volcanic impact especially its influence on the OM enrichment and hydrocarbon formation.Here,we studied the petrology,mineralogy,and geochemical characteristics of the organic-rich shale in the upper submember of the fourth member(Es_(4)^(1))and the lower submember of the third member(Es_(3)^(3))of the Shahejie Formation,aiming to better understand the volcanic impact on organic-rich shale formation.Our results show that total organic carbon is higher in the upper shale intervals rich in volcanic ash with enriched light rare earth elements and moderate Eu anomalies.This indicates that volcanism promoted OM formation before or after the eruption.The positive correlation between Eu/Eu*and Post-Archean Australian Shale indicates hydrothermal activity before the volcanic eruption.The plane graph of the hydrocarbon-generating intensity(S1+S2)suggests that the heat released by volcanism promoted hydrocarbon generation.Meanwhile,the nutrients carried by volcanic ash promoted biological blooms during Es_(4)^(1 )and Es_(3)^(3) deposition,yielding a high primary productivity.Biological blooms consume large amounts of oxygen and form anoxic environments conducive to the burial and preservation of OM.Therefore,this study helps to further understand the organic-inorganic interactions caused by typical geological events and provides a guide for the next step of shale oil exploration and development in other lacustrine basins in China.

A review of functional MRI application for brain research of Chinese language processing

As one of the most widely used languages in the world,Chinese language is distinct from most western languages in many properties,thus providing a unique opportunity for understanding the brain basis of human language and cognition.In recent years,non-invasive neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)blaze a new trail to comprehensively study specific neural correlates of Chinese language processing and Chinese speakers.We reviewed the application of functional MRI(fMRI)in such studies and some essential findings on brain systems in processing Chinese.Specifically,for example,the application of task fMRI and resting-state fMRI in observing the process of reading and writing the logographic characters and producing or listening to the tonal speech.Elementary cognitive neuroscience and several potential research directions around brain and Chinese language were discussed,which may be informative for future research.

工作记忆中整合物体和位置信息时的前额叶激活

目的利用功能磁共振成像(fMRI)技术研究了情节缓存中信息整合过程的脑机制。方法8名正常被试在MR扫描中执行工作记忆任务,“组合”(bound)条件下物体出现在外周某个位置,“未组合”(unbound)条件下,同时呈现一个位于中心的物体和一个在外周某个位置的十字,让被试将物体想象到十字所在位置,要求被试判断再次出现的物体是否在曾经见过的位置(“组合”条件)或曾经想象过的位置(“未组合”条件)。结果“未组合”条件相对于知觉“组合”条件,在双侧额中回/额下回、顶叶和小脑等区域出现了显著激活;“组合”条件相对于"未组合”条件没有任何激活。结论本研究表明前额叶皮层在没有知觉表征情况下建立新的整合表征中具有重要作用。现有研究已证明前额叶皮层在建构和保持整合信息中的作用,本文进一步的研究提示它可能是情节缓存中信息整合的神经基础。

Development of functional connectome gradients during childhood and adolescence

Connectome mapping studies have documented a principal primary-to-transmodal gradient in the adult brain network,capturing a functional spectrum that ranges from perception and action to abstract cognition.However,how this gradient pattern develops and whether its development is linked to cognitive growth,topological reorganization,and gene expression profiles remain largely unknown.Using longitudinal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 305 children(aged 6-14 years),we describe substantial changes in the primary-to-transmodal gradient between childhood and adolescence,including emergence as the principal gradient,expansion of global topography,and focal tuning in primary and default-mode regions.These gradient changes are mediated by developmental changes in network integration and segregation,and are associated with abstract processing functions such as working memory and expression levels of calcium ion regulated exocytosis and synaptic transmission-related genes.Our findings have implications for understanding connectome maturation principles in normal development and developmental disorders.

Mapping Domain- and Age-Specific Functional Brain Activity for Children’s Cognitive and Affective Development

The human brain undergoes rapid development during childhood,with significant improvement in a wide spectrum of cognitive and affective functions.Mapping domain-and age-specific brain activity patterns has important implications for characterizing the development of children’s cognitive and affective functions.The current mainstay of brain templates is primarily derived from structural magnetic resonance imaging(MRI),and thus is not ideal for mapping children’s cognitive and affective brain development.By integrating task-dependent functional MRI data from a large sample of 250 children(aged 7 to 12)across multiple domains and the latest easy-to-use and transparent preprocessing workflow,we here created a set of age-specific brain functional activity maps across four domains:attention,executive function,emotion,and risky decision-making.Moreover,we developed a toolbox named Developmental Brain Functional Activity maps across multiple domains that enables researchers to visualize and download domain-and age-specific brain activity maps for various needs.This toolbox and maps have been released on the Neuroimaging Informatics Tools and Resources Clearinghouse website(http://www.nitrc.org/projects/dbfa).Our study provides domain-and age-specific brain activity maps for future developmental neuroimaging studies in both healthy and clinical populations.

The SACT Template:A Human Brain Diffusion Tensor Template for School-age Children

School-age children are in a specific development stage corresponding to juvenility,when the white matter of the brain experiences ongoing maturation.Dffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging(DWI),especially diffusion tensor imaging(DTI),is extensively used to characterize the maturation by assessing white matter properties in vivo.In the analysis of DWI data,spatial normalization is crucial for conducting inter-subject analyses or linking the individual space with the reference space.Using tensor-based registration with an appropriate diffusion tensor template presents high accuracy regarding spatial normalization.However,there is a lack of a standardized diffusion tensor template dedicated to school-age children with ongoing brain development.Here,we established the school-age children diffusion tensor(SACT)template by optimizing tensor reorientation on high-quality DTI data from a large sample of cognitively normal participants aged 6-12 years.With an age-balanced design,the SACT template represented the entire age range well by showing high similarity to the age-specific templates.Compared with the tensor template of adults,the SACT template revealed significantly higher spatial normalization accuracy and inter-subject coherence upon evaluation of subjects in two different datasets of schoolage children.A practical application regarding the age associations with the normalized DTI-derived data was conducted to further compare the SACT template and the adult template.Although similar spatial patterns were found,the SACT template showed significant effects on the distributions of the statistical results,which may be related to the performance of spatial normalization.Looking forward,the SACT template could contribute to future studies of white matter development in both healthy and clinical populations.The SACT template is publicly available now(tp://igshare com/aricles/dataseu'SACT_.template/14071283).

New avenues for functional neuroimaging:ultra-high field MRI and OPM-MEG

Functional brain imaging technology has developed rapidly in recent years.On the one hand,high-field 7-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)has excelled the limited spatial resolution of 3-Tesla MRI,allowing us to enter a new world of mesoscopic imaging from the macroscopic imaging of human brain functions.On the other hand,novel optical pumping magnetometer-magnetoencephalography(OPM-MEG)has broken down the technical barriers of traditional superconducting MEG,which brings imaging of neuronal electromagnetic signals from cortical imaging to whole-brain imaging.This article aims to present a brief introduction regarding the development of conventional MRI and MEG technology,and,more importantly,to delineate that high-field MRI and OPM-MEG complement each other and together will lead us into a new era of functional brain imaging.