The impact of cue and preparation prompts on attention guidance in goal-directed tasks.

Introduction: In goal-directed tasks, visual prompts before the appearance of goals can make people ready in advance, which helps them to complete the movement better, and the presentation type of the visual prompt is very important. In previous studies, it has not been clear how different types of visual prompts guide attention in goal-directed tasks. Methods: According to the characteristics of goal-directed tasks, our research designed three different prompts: the cue prompt (featuring static arrow), the preparation prompt (involving dynamic countdown), and the combination prompt of cue and preparation information (simultaneously incorporating arrow and countdown). We used event-related potential components (CNV and P300) and graph theory indicators (clustering coefficient and characteristic path length) under the brain function connection to analyze the attention state of the brain. Results: The results showed that the combination prompts better guided the participants' sustained attention during the prompt stage, making them well prepared for the movement. Thus, after the target appeared, the participants had better executive control and achieved a faster response to the target. However, under the combination prompt, the participants consumed more attention resources during the prompt stage. Discussion: We believe that for the participants with impaired cognitive function, cue prompts or preparation prompts can be considered, which also play a role in guiding the participants' attention and helping them make motor preparations when less attention resources are consumed. This study provides a neurophysiological and behavioral foundation for the design of visual prompts in goal-directed tasks.

Concatemer Assisted Stoichiometry Analysis (CASA): targeted mass spectrometry for protein quantification.

Large multi-protein machines are central to multiple biological processes. However, stoichiometric determination of protein complex subunits in their native states presents a significant challenge. This study addresses the limitations of current tools in accuracy and precision by introducing concatemer-assisted stoichiometry analysis (CASA). CASA leverages stable isotope-labeled concatemers and liquid chromatography parallel reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (LC-PRM-MS) to achieve robust quantification of proteins with sub-femtomole sensitivity. As a proof-of-concept, CASA was applied to study budding yeast kinetochores. Stoichiometries were determined for ex vivo reconstituted kinetochore components, including the canonical H3 nucleosomes, centromeric (Cse4CENP-A) nucleosomes, centromere proximal factors (Cbf1 and CBF3 complex), inner kinetochore proteins (Mif2CENP-C, Ctf19CCAN complex), and outer kinetochore proteins (KMN network). Absolute quantification by CASA revealed Cse4CENP-A as a cell-cycle controlled limiting factor for kinetochore assembly. These findings demonstrate that CASA is applicable for stoichiometry analysis of multi-protein assemblies.

The Crystallization Regulation Effect of the Phenyl Ring of Passivators for Blue Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes.

Although metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have demonstrated remarkable external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) in red and green light-emitting diodes (LEDs), the blue ones confront efficiency and stability problems due to the high defect density in the perovskite films. Large amounts of defect passivation strategies are successfully developed to improve the device performance. Nevertheless, the influence of the molecular configuration of the passivators on the perovskite crystallization process has not been comprehensively investigated so far. Here, we investigate the effect of the phenyl ring on the perovskite crystallization dynamics and the passivation effect. The additive with a phenyl ring performs the π-π stacking ability with phenethylammonium (PEA+) molecules, resulting in a deteriorated crystallinity and a weakened passivation ability. Conversely, the additive without the phenyl ring is helpful to promote the participation of PEA+ molecules in the crystalline process, leading to a higher crystallinity and a stronger passivation effect. As a result, the EQE of the blue perovskite LED has increased from 4.72 to 11.06% by using the phenyl ring-free additive. Therefore, it is advisible to develop the conjugated nonplanar additives in the PEA+-assisted quasi-two-dimensional perovskites. This finding may enlighten the rational design of defect passivators for highly efficient perovskite LEDs.

A eukaryotic-like ubiquitination system in bacterial antiviral defence.

Ubiquitination pathways have crucial roles in protein homeostasis, signalling and innate immunity1-3. In these pathways, an enzymatic cascade of E1, E2 and E3 proteins conjugates ubiquitin or a ubiquitin-like protein (Ubl) to target-protein lysine residues4. Bacteria encode ancient relatives of E1 and Ubl proteins involved in sulfur metabolism5,6, but these proteins do not mediate Ubl-target conjugation, leaving open the question of whether bacteria can perform ubiquitination-like protein conjugation. Here we demonstrate that a bacterial operon associated with phage defence islands encodes a complete ubiquitination pathway. Two structures of a bacterial E1-E2-Ubl complex reveal striking architectural parallels with canonical eukaryotic ubiquitination machinery. The bacterial E1 possesses an amino-terminal inactive adenylation domain and a carboxy-terminal active adenylation domain with a mobile α-helical insertion containing the catalytic cysteine (CYS domain). One structure reveals a pre-reaction state with the bacterial Ubl C terminus positioned for adenylation, and a second structure mimics an E1-to-E2 transthioesterification state with the E1 CYS domain adjacent to the bound E2. We show that a deubiquitinase in the same pathway preprocesses the bacterial Ubl, exposing its C-terminal glycine for adenylation. Finally, we show that the bacterial E1 and E2 collaborate to conjugate Ubl to target-protein lysine residues. Together, these data reveal that bacteria possess bona fide ubiquitination systems with strong mechanistic and architectural parallels to canonical eukaryotic ubiquitination pathways, suggesting that these pathways arose first in bacteria.

A novel thermo-responsive phospholipase A1 with high selectivity and efficiency in enzymatic oil degumming.

The limited availability of phospholipase A1 (PLA1) has posed significant challenges in enzymatic degumming. In this study, a novel PLA1 (UM2) was introduced to address this limitation, which had a unique thermo-responsive ability to switch phospholipase and lipase activities in response to temperature variations. Remarkably, UM2 displayed an unprecedented selectivity under optimized conditions, preferentially hydrolyzing phospholipids over triacylglycerols-a specificity superior to that of commercial PLA1. Moreover, UM2 demonstrated high efficiency in hydrolyzing phospholipids with a predilection for phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). A practical application of UM2 on crude flaxseed oil led to a dramatic reduction in phosphorus content, plummeting from an initial 384.06 mg/kg to 4.38 mg/kg. Broadening its industrial applicability, UM2 effectively performed enzymatic degumming for other distinct crude vegetable oils with a unique phospholipid composition. Collectively, these results highlighted the promising application of UM2 in the field of oil degumming.

Correlated and Multi-frequency Diffusion Modeling for Highly Under-sampled MRI Reconstruction.

Given the obstacle in accentuating the reconstruction accuracy for diagnostically significant tissues, most existing MRI reconstruction methods perform targeted reconstruction of the entire MR image without considering fine details, especially when dealing with highly under-sampled images. Therefore, a considerable volume of efforts has been directed towards surmounting this challenge, as evidenced by the emergence of numerous methods dedicated to preserving high-frequency content as well as fine textural details in the reconstructed image. In this case, exploring the merits associated with each method of mining high-frequency information and formulating a reasonable principle to maximize the joint utilization of these approaches will be a more effective solution to achieve accurate reconstruction. Specifically, this work constructs an innovative principle named Correlated and Multi-frequency Diffusion Model (CM-DM) for highly under-sampled MRI reconstruction. In essence, the rationale underlying the establishment of such principle lies not in assembling arbitrary models, but in pursuing the effective combinations and replacement of components. It also means that the novel principle focuses on forming a correlated and multi-frequency prior through different high-frequency operators in the diffusion process. Moreover, multi-frequency prior further constraints the noise term closer to the target distribution in the frequency domain, thereby making the diffusion process converge faster. Experimental results verify that the proposed method achieved superior reconstruction accuracy, with a notable enhancement of approximately 2dB in PSNR compared to state-of-the-art methods.

A study on EEG differences between active counting and focused breathing tasks for more sensitive detection of consciousness.

Introduction: In studies on consciousness detection for patients with disorders of consciousness, difference comparison of EEG responses based on active and passive task modes is difficult to sensitively detect patients' consciousness, while a single potential analysis of EEG responses cannot comprehensively and accurately determine patients' consciousness status. Therefore, in this paper, we designed a new consciousness detection paradigm based on a multi-stage cognitive task that could induce a series of event-related potentials and ERD/ERS phenomena reflecting different consciousness contents. A simple and direct task of paying attention to breathing was designed, and a comprehensive evaluation of consciousness level was conducted using multi-feature joint analysis. Methods: We recorded the EEG responses of 20 healthy subjects in three modes and reported the consciousness-related mean event-related potential amplitude, ERD/ERS phenomena, and the classification accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the EEG responses under different conditions. Results: The results showed that the EEG responses of the subjects under different conditions were significantly different in the time domain and time-frequency domain. Compared with the passive mode, the amplitudes of the event-related potentials in the breathing mode were further reduced, and the theta-ERS and alpha-ERD phenomena in the frontal region were further weakened. The breathing mode showed greater distinguishability from the active mode in machine learning-based classification. Discussion: By analyzing multiple features of EEG responses in different modes and stimuli, it is expected to achieve more sensitive and accurate consciousness detection. This study can provide a new idea for the design of consciousness detection methods.

Perceived Determinants of Health-Related Behaviors Among Patients with Coronary Heart Disease After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study.

Purpose: Studies had reported some influencing factors of health behavior among patients with coronary heart disease(CHD) after percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI). However, considering that human perceptions are complex, unrestricted and dynamically changing. A longitudinal qualitative study was conducted to explore the determinants of health-related behaviors of patients after PCI and dynamic changes of these determinants at the 1st, 3rd, and 6th months. Patients and Methods: Using purposive sampling, 18 patients undergoing PCI were interviewed. The conventional content analysis method was used to identify categories and subcategories. Semi-structured, face-to-face or telephone in-depth interviews were conducted at the cardiology unit of a tertiary referral hospital in Yunnan Province, China from March 2022 to January 2023. Results: Seven categories with some subcategories were constructed from the data, categorized into three domains. Firstly, individual factors include (i) Personal coping with healthy lifestyle requirements (tried but failed; I can do it), (ii) individual perception and feeling toward disease (knowing about the disease; belief of cure; fears of relapse), and (iii) personal benefits (improved health; meaning of life). Secondly, social factors include (i) social facilitators (family resources; healthcare support), (ii) social barriers (inconvenient medical care service; conflicting information). Finally, cultural factors include (i) way of living (dietary habits; key roles of yan (cigarette) and jiu (alcohol) in Chinese society), (ii) way of thinking (fatalism and Confucian familism). Conclusion: The determinants of health-related behaviors of patients after PCI are multifaceted and dynamic. Different interventions should be formulated to promote patients' adherence to health behaviors. Moreover, priority should be given to the impact of traditional Chinese philosophy on the health behaviors of patients after PCI, and the health promotion program for these patients should be culturally sensitive. In addition, future research should further explore the determinants of health behaviors among diverse ethnic minorities after PCI, which has not been fully inquired in this study.

Phosphate-binding pocket on cyclin B governs CDK substrate phosphorylation and mitotic timing.

Cell cycle progression is governed by complexes of the cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and their regulatory subunits cyclin and Cks1. CDKs phosphorylate hundreds of substrates, often at multiple sites. Multisite phosphorylation depends on Cks1, which binds initial priming phosphorylation sites to promote secondary phosphorylation at other sites. Here, we describe a similar role for a recently discovered phosphate-binding pocket (PP) on B-type cyclins. Mutation of the PP in Clb2, the major mitotic cyclin of budding yeast, alters bud morphology and delays the onset of anaphase. Using phosphoproteomics in vivo and kinase reactions in vitro, we find that mutation of the PP reduces phosphorylation of several CDK substrates, including the Bud6 subunit of the polarisome and the Cdc16 and Cdc27 subunits of the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome. We conclude that the cyclin PP, like Cks1, controls the timing of multisite phosphorylation on CDK substrates, thereby helping to establish the robust timing of cell-cycle events.

Effects of rhythmic visual cues on cortical activation and functional connectivity features during stepping: an fNIRS study.

Introduction: Rhythmic visual cues (RVCs) may influence gait initiation by modulating cognition resources. However, it is unknown how RVCs modulate cognitive resources allocation during gait movements. This study focused on investigating the effects of RVCs on cortical hemodynamic response features during stepping to evaluate the changes of cognitive resources. Methods: We recorded cerebral hemoglobin concentration changes of 14 channels in 17 healthy subjects using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during stepping tasks under exposure to RVCs and non-rhythmic visual cues (NRVCs). We reported mean oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) concentration changes, ß-values, and functional connectivity (FC) between channels. Results: The results showed that, the RVC conditions revealed lower HbO responses compared to the NRVC conditions during the preparation and early stepping. Correspondingly, the ß-values reflected that RVCs elicited lower hemodynamic responses than NRVCs, and there was a decreasing trend in stimulus-evoked cortical activation as the task progressed. However, the FC between channels were stronger under RVCs than under NRVCs during the stepping progress, and there were more significant differences in FC during the early stepping. Discussion: In conclusion, there were lower cognitive demand and stronger FC under RVC conditions than NRVC conditions, which indicated higher efficiency of cognitive resources allocation during stepping tasks. This study may provide a new insight for further understanding the mechanism on how RVCs alleviate freezing of gait.

Short Step Length Estimation for Parkinson's Disease Patients by Using Fusion Data From Camera-IMU in Smart Glasses.

Shortened step length is a prominent motor abnormality in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Current methods for estimating short step length have the limitation of relying on laboratory scenarios, wearing multiple sensors, and inaccurate estimation results from a single sensor. In this paper, we proposed a novel method for estimating short step length for PD patients by fusing data from camera and inertial measurement units in smart glasses. A simultaneous localization and mapping technique and acceleration thresholding-based step detection technique were combined to realize the step length estimation. Two sets of experiments were conducted to demonstrate the performance of our method. In the first set of experiments with 12 healthy subjects, the proposed method demonstrated an average error of 8.44% across all experiments including six fixed step lengths below 30 cm. The second set of straightly walking experiments were implemented with 12 PD patients, the proposed method exhibited an average error of 4.27% compared to a standard gait evaluation technique in total walking distance. Notably, among the results of step lengths below 40 cm, our method agreed with the standard technique (R 2=0.8659). This study offers a promising approach for estimating short step length for PD patients during smart glasses-based gait training.

A qualitative study on patients' and health care professionals' perspectives regarding care delivered during CIED operation.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) has proven to be an invaluable tool in the practice of cardiology. Patients who have undergone CIED surgery with local anesthesia may result in fear, insecurity and suffering. Some studies have put efforts on ways to improve intraoperative experience of patients with local anesthesia, but researches concerning experiences of CIED patients during surgery is in its infancy. METHODS: Based on semi-structured and in-depth interviews, a qualitative design was conducted in a tertiary general hospital in China from May 2022 to July 2023.Purposeful sampling of 17 patients received CIED surgery and 20 medical staff were interviewed. Thematic analysis with an inductive approach was used to identify dominant themes. RESULTS: Four themes emerged from the data: (1) Safety and success is priority; (2) Humanistic Caring is a must yet be lacking; (3) Paradox of surgery information given; (4) Ways to improve surgery experiences in the operation. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative care is significant for CIED surgery. To improve care experience during surgery, healthcare professionals should pay attention to patients' safety and the factors that affecting humanistic caring in clinical practice. In addition, information support should consider information-seeking styles and personal needs. Besides, the four approaches presented in this study are effective to improve the intraoperative care experience.

Formulation and application of the "hospital-to-home + online-to-offline" treatment scheme in caring for and supporting vulnerable patients with chronic heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Chronic heart failure (CHF) is the terminal stage of cardiovascular disease. OBJECTIVE: In this study, the "hospital-to-home + online-to-offline" (H2H + O2O) care scheme was implemented for patients with CHF during vulnerable periods, and its effect was evaluated. METHODS: Patients with CHF in the cardiovascular department of a Class III/Grade A hospital in Jiangxi Province from January to December 2020 were selected using a convenience sampling method and randomly divided into a control and intervention group (n= 100 each). The patients in the control group received routine in-hospital treatment and out-of-hospital follow-up, while in the intervention group, a multi-disciplinary cooperation team with CHF specialist nurses evaluated and stratified the patients before discharge and formulated individualized prescriptions and care plans. Based on the "Health & Happiness" chronic disease follow-up application designed for this study, the specialist nurses provided patients with one-to-one guidance. After three months, the cardiac function, heart failure knowledge, self-care behavior, and re-hospitalization rate of the patients were compared between the two groups. Cardiac function was evaluated by the serum B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and a six-minute walking test (6MWT). Heart failure knowledge and self-care behavior was assessed using specific questionaries. RESULTS: The level of cardiac function in the intervention group was significantly higher than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P< 0.001). The mastery of heart failure knowledge and self-care behavior in the intervention group were significantly higher than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P< 0.05). The re-hospitalization rate due to CHF in the intervention group was 21.0%, which was lower than that in the control group (35.0%), and the difference was statistically significant (P< 0.05). CONCLUSION: The H2H + O2O care scheme can be used for the transition of vulnerable patients with CHF from the hospital to family care to improve the patients' level of cardiac function, elevate their knowledge level and self-care abilities, and improve their overall health outcomes.

Recognition of centromere-specific histone Cse4 by the inner kinetochore Okp1-Ame1 complex.

Successful mitosis depends on the timely establishment of correct chromosomal attachments to microtubules. The kinetochore, a modular multiprotein complex, mediates this connection by recognizing specialized chromatin containing a histone H3 variant called Cse4 in budding yeast and CENP-A in vertebrates. Structural features of the kinetochore that enable discrimination between Cse4/CENP-A and H3 have been identified in several species. How and when these contribute to centromere recognition and how they relate to the overall structure of the inner kinetochore are unsettled questions. More generally, this molecular recognition ensures that only one kinetochore is built on each chromatid and that this happens at the right place on the chromatin fiber. We have determined the crystal structure of a Cse4 peptide bound to the essential inner kinetochore Okp1-Ame1 heterodimer from budding yeast. The structure and related experiments show in detail an essential point of Cse4 contact and provide information about the arrangement of the inner kinetochore.

Bacterial antiviral defense pathways encode eukaryotic-like ubiquitination systems.

Ubiquitination and related pathways play crucial roles in protein homeostasis, signaling, and innate immunity1-3. In these pathways, an enzymatic cascade of E1, E2, and E3 proteins conjugates ubiquitin or a ubiquitin-like protein (Ubl) to target-protein lysine residues4. Bacteria encode ancient relatives of E1 and Ubl proteins involved in sulfur metabolism5,6 but these proteins do not mediate Ubl-target conjugation, leaving open the question of whether bacteria can perform ubiquitination-like protein conjugation. Here, we demonstrate that a bacterial antiviral immune system encodes a complete ubiquitination pathway. Two structures of a bacterial E1:E2:Ubl complex reveal striking architectural parallels with canonical eukaryotic ubiquitination machinery. The bacterial E1 encodes an N-terminal inactive adenylation domain (IAD) and a C-terminal active adenylation domain (AAD) with a mobile α-helical insertion containing the catalytic cysteine (CYS domain). One structure reveals a pre-reaction state with the bacterial Ubl C-terminus positioned for adenylation, and the E1 CYS domain poised nearby for thioester formation. A second structure mimics an E1-to-E2 transthioesterification state, with the E1 CYS domain rotated outward and its catalytic cysteine adjacent to the bound E2. We show that a deubiquitinase (DUB) in the same pathway pre-processes the bacterial Ubl, exposing its C-terminal glycine for adenylation. Finally, we show that the bacterial E1 and E2 collaborate to conjugate Ubl to target-protein lysine residues. Together, these data reveal that bacteria possess bona fide ubiquitination systems with strong mechanistic and architectural parallels to canonical eukaryotic ubiquitination pathways, suggesting that these pathways arose first in bacteria.

Using different matrix factorization approaches to identify muscle synergy in stroke survivors.

Over the past several decades, many scholars have investigated muscle synergy as a promising tool for evaluating motor function. However, it is challenging to obtain favorable robustness using the general muscle synergy identification algorithms, namely non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), independent component analysis (ICA), and factor analysis (FA). Some scholars have proposed improved muscle synergy identification algorithms to overcome the shortcomings of these approaches, such as singular value decomposition NMF (SVD-NMF), sparse NMF (S-NMF), and multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS). However, performance comparisons of these algorithms are seldom conducted. In this study, experimental electromyography (EMG) data collected from healthy individuals and stroke survivors were applied to assess the repeatability and intra-subject consistency of NMF, SVD-NMF, S-NMF, ICA, FA, and MCR-ALS. MCR-ALS presented higher repeatability and intra-subject consistencies than the other algorithms. More synergies and lower intra-subject consistencies were observed in stroke survivors than in healthy individuals. Thus, MCR-ALS is considered a favorable muscle synergy identification algorithm for patients with neural system disorders.

Multi-phase FZA lensless imaging via diffusion model.

Lensless imaging shifts the burden of imaging from bulky and expensive hardware to computing, which enables new architectures for portable cameras. However, the twin image effect caused by the missing phase information in the light wave is a key factor limiting the quality of lensless imaging. Conventional single-phase encoding methods and independent reconstruction of separate channels pose challenges in removing twin images and preserving the color fidelity of the reconstructed image. In order to achieve high-quality lensless imaging, the multiphase lensless imaging via diffusion model (MLDM) is proposed. A multi-phase FZA encoder integrated on a single mask plate is used to expand the data channel of a single-shot image. The information association between the color image pixel channel and the encoded phase channel is established by extracting prior information of the data distribution based on multi-channel encoding. Finally, the reconstruction quality is improved through the use of the iterative reconstruction method. The results show that the proposed MLDM method effectively removes the influence of twin images and produces high-quality reconstructed images compared with traditional methods, and the results reconstructed using MLDM have higher structural similarity and peak signal-to-noise ratio.

Allocation of cognitive resources in cognitive processing of rhythmic visual stimuli before gait-related motor initiation.

Rhythmic visual cues can affect the allocation of cognitive resources during gait initiation (GI) and motor preparation. However, it is unclear how the input of rhythmic visual information modulates the allocation of cognitive resources and affects GI. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of rhythmic visual cues on the dynamic allocation of cognitive resources by recording electroencephalographic (EEG) activity during exposure to visual stimuli. This study assessed event-related potentials (ERPs), event-related synchronization/desynchronization (ERS/ERD), and EEG microstates at 32 electrodes during presentation of non-rhythmic and rhythmic visual stimuli in 20 healthy participants. The ERP results showed that the amplitude of the C1 component was positive under exposure to rhythmic visual stimuli, while the amplitude of the N1 component was higher under exposure to rhythmic visual stimuli compared to their non-rhythmic counterparts. Within the first 200 ms of the onset of rhythmic visual stimuli, ERS in the theta band was highly pronounced in all brain regions analyzed. The results of microstate analysis showed that rhythmic visual stimuli were associated with an increase in cognitive processing over time, while non-rhythmic visual stimuli were associated with a decrease. Overall, these findings indicated that, under exposure to rhythmic visual stimuli, consumption of cognitive resources is lower during the first 200 ms of visual cognitive processing, but the consumption of cognitive resources gradually increases over time. After approximately 300 ms, cognitive processing of rhythmic visual stimuli consumes more cognitive resources than processing of stimuli in the non-rhythmic condition. This indicates that the former is more conducive to the completion of gait-related motor preparation activities, based on processing of rhythmic visual information during the later stages. This finding indicates that the dynamic allocation of cognitive resources is the key to improving gait-related movement based on rhythmic visual cues.