NURECON: A Novel Online System for Determining Nutrition Requirements Based on Microbial Composition.

Dietary habits have been proven to have an impact on the microbial composition and health of the human gut. Over the past decade, researchers have discovered that gut microbiota can use nutrients to produce metabolites that have major implications for human physiology. However, there is no comprehensive system that specifically focuses on identifying nutrient deficiencies based on gut microbiota, making it difficult to interpret and compare gut microbiome data in the literature. This study proposes an analytical platform, NURECON, that can predict nutrient deficiency information in individuals by comparing their metagenomic information to a reference baseline. NURECON integrates a next-generation bacterial 16S rRNA analytical pipeline (QIIME2), metabolic pathway prediction tools (PICRUSt2 and KEGG), and a food compound database (FooDB) to enable the identification of missing nutrients and provide personalized dietary suggestions. Metagenomic information from total number of 287 healthy subjects was used to establish baseline microbial composition and metabolic profiles. The uploaded data is analyzed and compared to the baseline for nutrient deficiency assessment. Visualization results include gut microbial composition, related enzymes, pathways, and nutrient abundance. NURECON is a user-friendly online platform that provides nutritional advice to support dietitians' research or menu design.

Effects of adding Bacillus subtilis natto NTU-18 in paste feed on growth, intestinal morphology, gastrointestinal microbiota diversity, immunity, and disease resistance of Anguilla japonica glass eels.

Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica, holds significant importance in Taiwanese aquaculture. With the intensification of eel farming, the impact of Edwardsiella tarda has become increasingly severe. Consequently, the abusive use of antibiotics has risen. Bacillus subtilis natto NTU-18, a strain of Bacillus with a high survival rate in feed processing, plays a crucial role in promoting intestinal health through competitive rejection, enhancing immune responses against bacterial pathogens, and improving intestinal health by modulating gastrointestinal microbiota to produce beneficial metabolites of mice and grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella. This study investigated the effects of different proportions (control, 0.25 %, 0.5 %, 1 %, and 2 %) of B. subtilis natto NTU-18 added to paste feed on the growth performance, intestinal morphology, and microbiota, expression of immune-related genes, and resistance to E. tarda in Japanese glass eel. The results indicated that the growth performance of all groups with B. subtilis natto NTU-18 added was significantly higher than that of the control group and did not impact the villi morphology. The expression of immune-related genes in the kidney, specifically HSP70 and SOD, was significantly higher from 0.5 % and above than the control; however, no significant differences were observed in CAT, POD, and HSP90. In the liver, significant differences were found in HSP70 and IgM above 0.25 % compared to the control group, with no significant differences in SOD, CAT, POD, and HSP90 among all groups. Additionally, intestinal microbiota analysis revealed that the 2 % additional group had significantly lower diversity than other groups, with Cetobacterium as the dominant species. The challenge test observed that the survival rates of the 0.5 % and 1 % groups were significantly higher. This research suggests that adding 0.5 % and 1 % of B. subtilis natto NTU-18 to the diet is beneficial for Japanese glass eel's immunity, growth performance, and disease resistance.

Atmospheric CO2 in the megacity Hangzhou, China: Urban-suburban differences, sources and impact factors.

Limited observation sites and insufficient monitoring of atmospheric CO2 in urban areas restrict our comprehension of urban-suburban disparities. This research endeavored to shed light on the urban-suburban differences of atmospheric CO2 in levels, diurnal and seasonal variations as well as the potential sources and impact factors in the megacity of Hangzhou, China, where the economically most developed region in China is. The observations derived from the existing Hangzhou Atmospheric Composition Monitoring Center Station (HZ) and Lin'an Regional Atmospheric Background Station (LAN) and the newly established high-altitude Daming Mountain Atmospheric Observation Station (DMS), were utilized. From November 2020 to October 2021, the annual averages of HZ, LAN and DMS were 446.52 ± 17.01 ppm, 441.56 ± 15.42 ppm, and 422.02 ± 10.67 ppm. The difference in atmospheric CO2 mole fraction between HZ and LAN was lower compared to the urban-suburban differences observed in other major cities in China, such as Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing. Simultaneous CO2 enhancements were observed at HZ and LAN, when using DMS observations as background references. The seasonal variations of CO2 at LAN and DMS exhibited a high negative correlation with the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values, indicating the strong regulatory of vegetation canopy. The variations in boundary layer height had a larger influence on the low-altitude HZ and LAN stations than DMS. Compared to HZ and LAN, the atmospheric CO2 at DMS was influenced by emissions and transmissions over a wider range. The potential source area of DMS in autumn covered most areas of the urban agglomeration in eastern China. DMS measurements could provide a reliable representation of the background level of CO2 emissions in the Yangtze River Delta and a broader region. Conventional understanding of regional CO2 level in the Yangtze River Delta through LAN measurements may overestimate background concentration by approximately 10.92 ppm.

Synesthetic Correspondence: An Overview.

Intramodal and cross-modal perceptual grouping based on the spatial proximity and temporal closeness between multiple sensory stimuli, as an operational principle has built a coherent and meaningful representation of the multisensory event/object. To implement and investigate the cross-modal perceptual grouping, researchers have employed excellent paradigms of spatial/temporal ventriloquism and cross-modal dynamic capture and have revealed the conditional constraints as well as the functional facilitations among various correspondence of sensory properties, with featured behavioral evidence, computational framework as well as brain oscillation patterns. Typically, synesthetic correspondence as a special type of cross-modal correspondence can shape the efficiency and effect-size of cross-modal interaction. For example, factors such as pitch/loudness in the auditory dimension with size/brightness in the visual dimension could modulate the strength of the cross-modal temporal capture. The empirical behavioral findings, as well as psychophysical and neurophysiological evidence to address the cross-modal perceptual grouping and synesthetic correspondence, were summarized in this review. Finally, the potential applications (such as artificial synesthesia device) and how synesthetic correspondence interface with semantics (sensory linguistics), as well as the promising research questions in this field have been discussed.

Reward delays quitting in visual search.

Reward motivates goal-directed behaviors, leading to faster reaction time (RT) and lower error rate in searching for a target in the reward condition than in the no-reward condition in target-discrimination tasks. However, it is unclear how reward influences target detection in which participants are required to judge whether a predesignated target is present or absent. Here, we asked participants to complete a target-detection search task in which the color of the search array indicated the reward availability of the current trial. Correct and faster (than a baseline) responses would be rewarded if the search array had the reward-related color. In Experiments 1A and 1B, the target was presented in 50% of the trials. Experiment 1B had the same design as Experiment 1A, except that different baselines were set for the target-present and target-absent conditions. In Experiment 2, the proportion of target presence was manipulated to be high (80%), moderate (50%), or low (20%) in different blocks of stimuli. Results showed that, across all the experiments, participants responded faster and made fewer errors in the reward than in the no-reward condition when the target was present. However, this facilitatory effect was reversed when the target was absent, showcasing a reward-induced interference. The signal detection analysis suggested that reward biased the report criterion to the "yes" response. These findings demonstrate that the impact of reward on goal-directed behavior can be detrimental and reward prolongs the search process by rendering participants reluctant to say "no" in visual search termination.

[Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Greenhouse Fluxes from Urban Lawn].

As an important component of urban green spaces, greenhouse gas uptake or emissions from urban lawns cannot be ignored. However, studies of greenhouse gas fluxes from subtropical urban lawns are relatively sparse. The static chamber-gas chromatography method was applied to monitor the ground-air exchange fluxes of various greenhouse gases(CO2, CH4, N2O, and CO) in typical urban lawns of Hangzhou City. Our results showed that the average fluxes had significant seasonal cycles but ambiguous diurnal variations. The grassland and the soil(naked soil without vegetation coverage) acted as sources of atmospheric N2O, with the average fluxes of (0.66±0.17) and (0.58±0.20) µg·(m2·min)-1 for N2O, respectively; however, they were also sinks of CH4 and CO, with the average fluxes of (-0.21±0.078) and (-0.26±0.10) µg·(m2·min)-1 for CH4 and (-6.36±1.28) and (-6.55±1.69) µg·(m2·min)-1 for CO, respectively. The average CO2emission fluxes of urban grassland and soil were(5.28±0.75) and (4.83±0.91) mg·(m2·min)-1, respectively. The correlation analysis indicated that the CO2 and N2O fluxes of grassland and soil were negatively correlated with precipitation, whereas the CH4 and CO fluxes were positively correlated with it. There was no significant correlation between grassland CH4 fluxes and soil temperature, and N2O fluxes had a significant negative correlation with soil temperature; the other greenhouse gas fluxes showed a significant positive correlation with soil temperature. In addition, the seasonal variation in CO2 (R2=0.371 and 0.314) and N2O(R2=0.371 and 0.284) fluxes from both grassland and soil was affected by precipitation, whereas CO fluxes (R2=0.290 and 0.234) were mainly driven by soil temperature compared with the other greenhouse gases.

Plant-based polyphenol rich protein supplementation attenuated skeletal muscle loss and lowered the LDL level via gut microbiota remodeling in Taiwan's community-dwelling elderly.

Sarcopenia, characterized by muscle loss, negatively affects the elderly's physical activity and survival. Enhancing protein and polyphenol intake, possibly through the supplementation of fermented black soybean koji product (BSKP), may alleviate sarcopenia by addressing anabolic deficiencies and gut microbiota dysbiosis because of high contents of polyphenols and protein in BSKP. This study aimed to examine the effects of long-term supplementation with BSKP on mitigating sarcopenia in the elderly and the underlying mechanisms. BSKP was given to 46 participants over 65 years old with early sarcopenia daily for 10 weeks. The participants' physical condition, serum biochemistry, inflammatory cytokines, antioxidant activities, microbiota composition, and metabolites in feces were evaluated both before and after the intervention period. BSKP supplementation significantly increased the appendicular skeletal muscle mass index and decreased the low-density lipoprotein level. BSKP did not significantly alter the levels of inflammatory factors, but significantly increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes. BSKP changed the beta diversity of gut microbiota and enhanced the relative abundance of Ruminococcaceae_UCG_013, Lactobacillus_murinus, Algibacter, Bacillus, Gordonibacter, Porphyromonas, and Prevotella_6. Moreover, BSKP decreased the abundance of Akkermansia and increased the fecal levels of butyric acid. Positive correlations were observed between the relative abundance of BSKP-enriched bacteria and the levels of serum antioxidant enzymes and fecal short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and Gordonibacter correlated negatively with serum low-density lipoprotein. In summary, BSKP attenuated age-related sarcopenia by inducing antioxidant enzymes and SCFAs via gut microbiota regulation. Therefore, BSKP holds potential as a high-quality nutrient source for Taiwan's elderly, especially in conditions such as sarcopenia.

Estimation of the distribution patterns of heavy metal in soil from airborne hyperspectral imagery based on spectral absorption characteristics.

Though soil is widely known as one of the most valuable resources for the world, its quality is going to be lower because of unsustainable economic development and social progress. Therefore, it is important for us to monitor and evaluate the quality of soil, especially its heavy metal contents which is too scarce to identify in soil spectra easily but poisonous enough to affect human health in a long run. Most of the existing estimation methods have based the characteristic bands on statistical analysis to a large extent, which is hard to accurately explain the retrieval mechanism. In this paper, the absorption characteristics of heavy metal are studied based on the soil spectra, and the distribution pattern is mapped in a large-scale continuous space, for environmental monitoring and further decision support. Taking Yitong County, China as the study area. After spectra continuum removal, the heavy metal contents were estimated by 11 features including the absorption depth, absorption area, and band ratio around 2200 nm, which showed the best performance. For arsenic (As), the best model yields Rp2 value of 0.8474, and the RMSEP value is 36.1542 (mg/kg). It is concluded that As is adsorbed by organic matter, clay minerals, and iron/manganese oxides in soil, and the adsorption of As by first two components is greater than that of the last. For airborne spectra after continuum removal, combining the spectral absorption characteristic parameters and the highly correlated bands is more accurate than using the spectral absorption characteristic parameters or bands alone. AdaBoost is presented for the heavy metal estimation, and the fitting ability of the method is found to be stronger than that of the traditional classical methods, with the Rp2 values of 0.6242 and the RMSEP value of 43.6481 (mg/kg). In summary, these results will provide a prospective basis for the rapid estimation of soil heavy metals, the risk assessment of soil heavy metals and soil environmental monitoring in a large scale.

An Oral Microbial Biomarker for Early Detection of Recurrence of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Changes in the oral microbiome are associated with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Oral microbe-derived signatures have been utilized as markers of OSCC. However, the structure of the oral microbiome during OSCC recurrence and biomarkers for the prediction of OSCC recurrence remains unknown. To identify OSCC recurrence-associated microbial biomarkers for the prediction of OSCC recurrence, we performed 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing on 54 oral swab samples from OSCC patients. Differences in bacterial compositions were observed in patients with vs without recurrence. We found that Granulicatella, Peptostreptococcus, Campylobacter, Porphyromonas, Oribacterium, Actinomyces, Corynebacterium, Capnocytophaga, and Dialister were enriched in OSCC recurrence. Functional analysis of the oral microbiome showed altered functions associated with OSCC recurrence compared with nonrecurrence. A random forest prediction model was constructed with five microbial signatures including Leptotrichia trevisanii, Capnocytophaga sputigena, Capnocytophaga, Cardiobacterium, and Olsenella to discriminate OSCC recurrence from original OSCC (accuracy = 0.963). Moreover, we validated the prediction model in another independent cohort (46 OSCC patients), achieving an accuracy of 0.761. We compared the accuracy of the prediction of OSCC recurrence between the five microbial signatures and two clinicopathological parameters, including resection margin and lymph node counts. The results predicted by the model with five microbial signatures showed a higher accuracy than those based on the clinical outcomes from the two clinicopathological parameters. This study demonstrated the validity of using recurrence-related microbial biomarkers, a noninvasive and effective method for the prediction of OSCC recurrence. Our findings may contribute to the prognosis and treatment of OSCC recurrence.

The speed and temporal frequency of visual apparent motion modulate auditory duration perception.

In the present study, we investigated how the perception of auditory duration could be modulated by a task-irrelevant, concurrent visual apparent motion, induced by visual bars alternating between left and right sides. Moreover, we examined the influence of the speed and temporal frequency of visual apparent motion on the perception of auditory duration. In each trial, the standard visual stimuli (two vertical bars) were presented sequentially, except that visual apparent motion was included in the fourth stimulus. A tone was presented simultaneously with each visual stimulus, while the fourth tone was presented with varied duration. Participants judged whether the fourth tone lasted longer than the other four tones. In Experiment 1, the speed of visual apparent motion (Fast vs. Slow) was manipulated by changing the interval between two bars. The mean point of subjective equality (PSE) in the Slow apparent motion condition was larger than that in the Static condition. Moreover, participants tended to overestimate the duration only in the Static condition, i.e., time dilation effect, which disappeared under apparent motion conditions. In Experiment 2, in addition to speed, we controlled the temporal frequency of apparent motion by manipulating the number of bars, generating four conditions of visual apparent motion (Physical-fast, Perceived-fast, Perceived-slow, vs. Static). The mean PSE was significantly smaller in the Physical-fast condition than in the Static and Perceived-slow conditions. Moreover, we found a time compression effect in both the Perceived-slow and Static conditions but not in the Perceived-fast and Physical-fast conditions. These results suggest that the auditory duration could be modulated by the concurrent, contextual visual apparent motion, and both the speed and temporal frequency of the task-irrelevant visual apparent motion contribute to the bias in perceiving the auditory duration.

Pay Attention to the Ignorable Missing Data Mechanisms! An Exploration of Their Impact on the Efficiency of Regression Coefficients.

The use of modern missing data techniques has become more prevalent with their increasing accessibility in statistical software. These techniques focus on handling data that are missing at random (MAR). Although all MAR mechanisms are routinely treated as the same, they are not equal. The impact of missing data on the efficiency of parameter estimates can differ for different MAR variations, even when the amount of missing data is held constant; yet, in current practice, only the rate of missing data is reported. The impact of MAR on the loss of efficiency can instead be more directly measured by the fraction of missing information (FMI). In this article, we explore this impact using FMIs in regression models with one and two predictors. With the help of a Shiny application, we demonstrate that efficiency loss due to missing data can be highly complex and is not always intuitive. We recommend substantive researchers who work with missing data report estimates of FMIs in addition to the rate of missingness. We also encourage methodologists to examine FMIs when designing simulation studies with missing data, and to explore the behavior of efficiency loss under MAR using FMIs in more complex models.

Hypoxia-responsive circular RNA circAAGAB reduces breast cancer malignancy by activating p38 MAPK and sponging miR-378 h.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is a prevalent disease in women, with high prevalence worldwide. The hypoxic microenvironment of solid tumors develops during the progress of carcinogenesis and leads to greater malignancy and treatment resistance. Recently, accumulating evidence indicates that non-coding RNAs, such as circular RNAs (circRNAs), play a pivotal role in altering cellular functions. However, the underlying mechanisms of circRNAs in breast cancer are still unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of a tumor-suppressive circRNA, circAAGAB, in breast cancer by assuming down-regulation of circAAGAB under hypoxia and the properties of a tumor suppressor. METHODS: Firstly, circAAGAB was identified from expression profiling by next generation sequencing. Next, the stability of circAAGAB increased by interacting with the RNA binding protein FUS. Moreover, cellular and nuclear fractionation showed that most circAAGAB resided in the cytoplasm and that it up-regulated KIAA1522, NKX3-1, and JADE3 by sponging miR-378 h. Lastly, the functions of circAAGAB were explored by identifying its down-stream genes using Affymetrix microarrays and validated by in vitro assays. RESULTS: The results showed that circAAGAB reduced cell colony formation, cell migration, and signaling through p38 MAPK pathway, as well as increased radiosensitivity. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the oxygen-responsive circAAGAB acts as a tumor suppressor in breast cancer, and may contribute to the development of a more specific therapeutic regimen for breast cancer.

Low Obesity-Related Indices Are Associated with a Low Baseline Calcaneus Ultrasound T-Score, and a Rapid Decline in T-Score in a Large Taiwanese Population Follow-Up Study.

Osteoporosis results in reduced bone strength and an elevated risk of fractures. Both overweight and underweight have been associated with osteoporosis; however, few studies have examined associations between osteoporosis and indices related to obesity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the associations of obesity-related indices, including body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), body roundness index (BRI), body adiposity index (BAI), abdominal volume index (AVI), lipid accumulation product (LAP), and visceral adiposity index (VAI), with baseline and change in calcaneus ultrasound T-score between baseline and follow-up (ΔT-score). T-score was measured using ultrasound. A total of 26,983 subjects were enrolled (mean age 51.2 ± 10.4 years). Multivariable analysis showed significant associations between low BMI (per 1 kg/m2; ß, 0.065), WHR (per 1%; ß, 0.012), WHtR (per 1%; ß, 0.024), BRI (per 1; ß, 0.079), BAI (per 1; ß, 0.032), AVI (per 1; ß, 0.049), and LAP (per 1; ß, 0.005) with low baseline T-scores (all p < 0.001). Furthermore, there were significant associations between low BMI (per 1 kg/m2; ß, 0.005; p = 0.036), BAI (per 1; ß, 0.010; p < 0.001), and VAI (per 1; ß, 0.017; p = 0.002) with low ΔT-scores. A low baseline T-score was significantly associated with low values of LAP, AVI, BAI, BMI, BRI, WHR, and WHtR but not VAI. In addition, low BMI, BAI, and VAI were significantly associated with low ΔT-scores, representing a rapidly decreasing T-score. Consequently, avoiding being underweight may help prevent osteoporosis in the Taiwanese population.

Self-reference modulates the perception of visual apparent motion.

Visual apparent motion is a perceptual illusion where sequentially presented static stimuli containing no physically continuous motion are perceived as moving. In the current study, we examined whether and how self-reference, as a typical high-level information processing, could modulate perceptual categorization of the apparent motion in Ternus display, even when self-reference is task-irrelevant. Two frames were consecutively presented, with the first frame consisting of two identical stimuli (e.g., two rectangles) on the leftmost and the middle positions and the second frame consisting of two stimuli on the middle and the rightmost positions. Depending on the inter-stimulus interval (ISI) between the two frames, the display could be perceived as showing Element Motion (EM), with the peripheral stimulus moving from one side to the other while the middle stimulus remains stationary or flashes briefly at the middle position, or Group Motion (GM), with both stimuli appearing to move as a whole. Participants were tested in this configuration and then learned to associate different labels (Self, Friend, Stranger) with geometric shapes (Circle, Rectangle, Triangle). They were tested again in the new configuration. Results showed that after association (vs. before association), participants were more likely to perceive the Ternus display of self-associated shapes as GM, but this effect did not appear for friend-associated or stranger-associated shapes. Self-referential processing spatially "glues" the two stimuli in a frame with the concept of "Self," leading to a more dominant percept of GM.

Increasing audiovisual speech integration in autism through enhanced attention to mouth.

Autistic children (AC) show less audiovisual speech integration in the McGurk task, which correlates with their reduced mouth-looking time. The present study examined whether AC's less audiovisual speech integration in the McGurk task could be increased by increasing their mouth-looking time. We recruited 4- to 8-year-old AC and nonautistic children (NAC). In two experiments, we manipulated children's mouth-looking time, measured their audiovisual speech integration by employing the McGurk effect paradigm, and tracked their eye movements. In Experiment 1, we blurred the eyes in McGurk stimuli and compared children's performances in blurred-eyes and clear-eyes conditions. In Experiment 2, we cued children's attention to either the mouth or eyes of McGurk stimuli or asked them to view the McGurk stimuli freely. We found that both blurring the speaker's eyes and cuing to the speaker's mouth increased mouth-looking time and increased audiovisual speech integration in the McGurk task in AC. In addition, we found that blurring the speaker's eyes and cuing to the speaker's mouth also increased mouth-looking time in NAC, but neither blurring the speaker's eyes nor cuing to the speaker's mouth increased their audiovisual speech integration in the McGurk task. Our findings suggest that audiovisual speech integration in the McGurk task in AC could be increased by increasing their attention to the mouth. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of relations between face attention and audiovisual speech integration, and provide insights for the development of professional supports to increase audiovisual speech integration in AC. HIGHLIGHTS: The present study examined whether audiovisual speech integration in the McGurk task in AC could be increased by increasing their attention to the speaker's mouth. Blurring the speaker's eyes increased mouth-looking time and audiovisual speech integration in the McGurk task in AC. Cuing to the speaker's mouth also increased mouth-looking time and audiovisual speech integration in the McGurk task in AC. Audiovisual speech integration in the McGurk task in AC could be increased by increasing their attention to the speaker's mouth.

Intermodulation from Unisensory to Multisensory Perception: A Review.

Previous intermodulation (IM) studies have employed two (or more) temporal modulations of a stimulus, with different local elements of the stimulus being modulated by different frequencies. Brain activities of IM obtained mainly from electroencephalograms (EEG) have been analyzed in the frequency domain. As a powerful tool, IM, which can provide a direct and objective physiological measure of neural interaction, has emerged as a promising method to decipher neural interactions in visual perception, and reveal the underlying different perceptual processing levels. In this review, we summarize the recent applications of IM in visual perception, detail the protocols and types of IM, and extend its utility and potential applications to the multisensory domain. We propose that using IM could prevail in partially revealing the potential hierarchical processing of multisensory information and contribute to a deeper understanding of the underlying brain dynamics.

Odor-induced sound localization bias under unilateral intranasal trigeminal stimulation.

As a stereo odor cue, internostril odor influx could help us in many spatial tasks, including localization and navigation. Studies have also revealed that this benefit could be modulated by the asymmetric concentrations of both influxes (left nose vs right nose). The interaction between olfaction and vision, such as in object recognition and visual direction judgment, has been documented; however, little has been revealed about the impact of odor cues on sound localization. Here we adopted the ventriloquist paradigm in auditory-odor interactions and investigated sound localization with the concurrent unilateral odor influx. Specifically, we teased apart both the "nature" of the odors (pure olfactory stimulus vs. mixed olfactory/trigeminal stimulus) and the location of influx (left nose vs. right nose) and examined sound localization with the method of constant stimuli. Forty-one participants, who passed the Chinese Smell Identification Test, perceived sounds with different azimuths (0°, 5°, 10°, and 20° unilaterally deflected from the sagittal plane by head-related transfer function) and performed sound localization (leftward or rightward) tasks under concurrent, different unilateral odor influxes (10% v/v phenylethyl alcohol, PEA, as pure olfactory stimulus, 1% m/v menthol as mixed olfactory/trigeminal stimulus, and propylene glycol as the control). Meanwhile, they reported confidence levels of the judgments. Results suggested that unilateral PEA influx did not affect human sound localization judgments. However, unilateral menthol influx systematically biased the perceived sound localization, shifting toward the odor source. Our study provides evidence that unilateral odor influx could bias perceived sound localization only when the odor activates the trigeminal nerves.

Graphemic and Semantic Pathways of Number-Color Synesthesia: A Dissociation of Conceptual Synesthesia Mechanisms.

Number-color synesthesia is a condition in which synesthetes perceive numbers with concurrent experience of specific, corresponding colors. It has been proposed that synesthetic association exists primarily between representations of Arabic digit graphemes and colors, and a secondary, semantic connection between numerosity and colors is built via repeated co-activation. However, this distinction between the graphemic and semantic pathways of synesthetic number-color connection has not been empirically tested. The current study aims to dissociate graphemic and semantic aspects of color activations in number-color synesthesia by comparing their time courses. We adopted a synesthetic priming paradigm with varied stimuli onset asynchronies (SOAs). A number (2-6, prime) was presented in one of three notations: digit, dice, or non-canonical dot pattern, and a color patch (target) appeared with an SOA of 0, 100, 300, 400, or 800 ms. Participants reported the color as quickly as possible. Using the congruency effect (i.e., shorter reaction time when target color matched the synesthetic color of number prime) as an index of synesthetic color activation level, we revealed that the effect from the graphemic pathway is quick and relatively persistent, while the effect from the semantic pathway unfolds at a later stage and is more transient. The dissociation between the graphemic and semantic pathways of synesthesia implies further functional distinction within "conceptual synesthesia", which has been originally discussed as a unitary phenomenon. This distinction has been demonstrated by the differential time courses of synesthetic color activations, and suggested that a presumed, single type of synesthesia could involve multiple mechanisms.

Regulatory mechanisms and function of hypoxia-induced long noncoding RNA NDRG1-OT1 in breast cancer cells.

Hypoxia is a classic feature of the tumor microenvironment that has profound effects on cancer progression and is tightly associated with poor prognosis. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), a component of the noncoding genome, have been increasingly investigated due to their diverse roles in tumorigenesis. Previously, a hypoxia-induced lncRNA, NDRG1-OT1, was identified in MCF-7 breast cancer cells using next-generation sequencing. However, the regulatory mechanisms of NDRG1-OT1 remain elusive. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the regulatory mechanisms and functional roles of NDRG1-OT1 in breast cancer cells. Expression profiling of NDRG1-OT1 revealed that it was upregulated under hypoxia in different breast cancer cells. Overexpression and knockdown of HIF-1α up- and downregulated NDRG1-OT1, respectively. Luciferase reporter assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays validated that HIF-1α transcriptionally activated NDRG1-OT1 by binding to its promoter (-1773 to -1769 and -647 to -643 bp). Next, to investigate whether NDRG1-OT1 could function as a miRNA sponge, results of in silico analysis, expression profiling of predicted miRNAs, and RNA immunoprecipitation assays indicated that NDRG1-OT1 could act as a miRNA sponge of miR-875-3p. In vitro and in vivo functional assays showed that NDRG1-OT1 could promote tumor growth and migration. Lastly, a small peptide (66 a.a.) translated from NDRG1-OT1 was identified. In summary, our findings revealed novel regulatory mechanisms of NDRG1-OT1 by HIF-1α and upon miR-875-3p. Also, NDRG1-OT1 promoted the malignancy of breast cancer cells and encoded a small peptide.

Correcting bias in extreme groups design using a missing data approach.

Extreme groups design (EGD) refers to the use of a screening variable to inform further data collection, such that only participants with the lowest and highest scores are recruited in subsequent stages of the study. It is an effective way to improve the power of a study under a limited budget, but produces biased standardized estimates. We demonstrate that the bias in EGD results from its inherent missing at random mechanism, which can be corrected using modern missing data techniques such as full information maximum likelihood (FIML). Further, we provide a tutorial on computing correlations in EGD data with FIML using R. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).