Unpleasant emotion inhibits attentional focus toward a peripheral target in a visual search: an ERP study.

Previous studies have found that emotional states affect the extent of attention, and the effect has been explained by adaptive views. If the adaptive explanations are true, emotion should modulate attentional focus toward a peripheral stimulus. The present study investigated if emotion affects the focus of attention toward a peripheral target in a visual search paradigm with event-related brain potential (ERP) measurement.

Visual stimuli in the peripersonal space facilitate the spatial prediction of tactile events-A comparison between approach and nearness effects.

Previous studies reported that an object in one's peripersonal space (PPS) attracts attention and facilitates subsequent processing of stimuli. Recent studies showed that visual stimuli approaching the body facilitated the spatial prediction of subsequent tactile events, even if these stimuli were task-irrelevant. However, it is unclear whether the approach is important for facilitating this prediction or if the simple existence of stimuli within the PPS is what matters.

Real-time analysis of dynamic compartmentalized GSH redox shifts and HO availability in undifferentiated and differentiated cells.

Background: Glutathione (GSH) is the most abundant, small biothiol antioxidant. GSH redox state (E) supports developmental processes, yet with disrupted GSH E, poor developmental outcomes may occur. The role of subcellular, compartmentalized redox environments in the context of redox regulation of differentiation is not well understood.

A delay-specific neural indicator corresponds to delay-discounting behavior for both gain and loss.

Objectives: Delay-discounting, wherein the subjective value for delayed gain or loss decreases, has been attracting much attention from the social sciences as well as neuroscience and has been suggested asbeing related to reward processing in the brain. As reported, the feedback-related negativity (FRN), an electrophysiological measure of reward processing, increased by delayed-monetary gain and ΔFRN, which is the difference in FRNs for loss and gain at a certain time point, had no significant correlation with delay-discounting for gain. Thus, although a delay for gain could affect FRN, it is unclear whether FRN capturing such a delay effect has a direct relationship with delay-discounting in both gain and loss domains.

Cell-repellent polyampholyte for conformal coating on microstructures.

Repellent coatings are critical for the development of biomedical and analytical devices to prevent nonspecific protein and cell adhesion. In this study, prevelex (polyampholytes containing phosphate and amine units) was synthesized for the fine coating of microdevices for cell culture. The dip-coating of the prevelex on hydrophobic substrates altered their surfaces to be highly hydrophilic and electrically neutral.

The resolution stage, not the incongruity detection stage, is related to the subjective feeling of humor: An ERP study using Japanese nazokake puns.

This study examined the relationship between two cognitive stages of humor processing (i.e., detecting incongruity and resolving it) and the subjective feeling of humor, using event-related brain potentials (ERPs).

History of one's own performance modulates evaluative processing of another's action outcomes, but not vice versa.

In action monitoring, i.e., evaluating an outcome of our behavior, a reward prediction error signal is calculated as the difference between actual and predicted outcomes and is used to adjust future behavior.

Prediction of Second Language Proficiency Based on Electroencephalographic Signals Measured While Listening to Natural Speech.

This study had two goals: to clarify the relationship between electroencephalographic (EEG) features estimated while non-native speakers listened to a second language (L2) and their proficiency in L2 determined by a conventional paper test and to provide a predictive model for L2 proficiency based on EEG features. We measured EEG signals from 205 native Japanese speakers, who varied widely in English proficiency while they listened to natural speech in English. Following the EEG measurement, they completed a conventional English listening test for Japanese speakers.

Deviant consonance and dissonance capture attention differently only when task demand is high: An ERP study with three-stimulus oddball paradigm.

The current study investigated whether consonance (imperfect consonance: major third) and dissonance (minor second) would capture attention differently when they occurred as chords (combinations of two tones) that were deviant from their context. In addition, we also examined how task demand would modulate these chords' attentional capture. For this investigation, we used an auditory three-stimulus oddball paradigm in which these chords were presented as deviant stimuli (5% each) among frequent standard (80%) and infrequent target (10%) pure tones.

Identification of B.1.346 Lineage of SARS-CoV-2 in Japan: Genomic Evidence of Re-entry of Clade 20C.

SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequencing of samples from COVID-19 patients is useful for informing infection control. Datasets of these genomes assembled from multiple hospitals can give critical clues to regional or national trends in infection. Herein, we report a lineage summary based on data collected from hospitals located in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Stimulus valence influences the evaluative processing of action outcome.

The aim of the current study is to reveal the influence of prior associations between feedback stimuli and outcomes, in everyday life, on the early and late evaluative processing of outcomes. Participants were subjected to a simple gambling task while their electroencephalograms were recorded. Over two conditions, participants received congruent and incongruent feedback stimuli during the task.

Correction to: Congruency of intervening events and self-induced action influence prediction of final results.

The article Congruency of intervening events and self-induced action influence prediction of final results written by Tsukasa Kimura and Jun'ichi Katayama was originally published Online First without Open Access.

Congruency of intervening events and self-induced action influence prediction of final results.

Predicting self-induced stimuli is easier than predicting externally produced ones and the amplitude of event-related brain potentials (ERP) elicited by self-induced stimuli is smaller than that elicited by externally produced ones. Previous studies reported that these phenomena occurred strong when stimuli were presented immediately after self-induced action. To be able to adapt to changes, however, it is necessary to predict not only an event that follows a self-induced action but also a subsequent final result.

Oriented immobilization of rBC2LCN lectin for highly sensitive detection of human pluripotent stem cells using cell culture supernatants.

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are considered ideal cell sources for regenerative medicine, but their clinical and industrial applications are hindered by their tumorigenic potential. We previously identified an hPSC-specific lectin, rBC2LCN, that recognizes the podocalyxin glycoprotein secreted by undifferentiated hPSCs into the culture media. Using biotinylated rBC2LCN and a peroxidase-labeled R-10G antibody, we developed a sandwich assay for the detection of tumorigenic hPSCs.

Preservation of Memory Despite Unresected Contralateral Hippocampal Volume Loss After Resection of Hippocampal Sclerosis in Seizure-Free Patients.

Objective: To determine postoperative long-term changes of hippocampal volume (HV) correlating with cognitive functions in patients who underwent surgery for hippocampal sclerosis with postoperative freedom from seizures.

Methods: We studied 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging before and after surgery in 24 patients (mean ± SD age, 36.

Performance of Oncomine Fusion Transcript kit for formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded lung cancer specimens.

Gene fusions play an important role in the carcinogenesis of lung adenocarcinoma. The recent association of four oncogenic driver genes, ALK, ROS1, RET, and NTRK1, as lung tumor predictive biomarkers has increased the need for precision medicine. We used formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples of non-small cell lung cancer from 150 EGFR mutation-negative cases and 10 fusion status-known cases and compared the performance of the Oncomine Dx Fusion Transcript Test (ODxFT) with FISH break-apart for the detection of ALK, RET, and ROS1 fusion genes.

Electrochemical Sensors Containing Schiff Bases and their Transition Metal Complexes to Detect Analytes of Forensic, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Interest. A Review.

Schiff bases and their transition metal complexes are inexpensive and easy to synthesize. These compounds display several structural and electronic features that allow their application in numerous research fields. Over the last three decades, electroanalytical scientists of various areas have developed electrochemical sensors from many compounds.

Pathways of Progression From Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm to Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Based on Molecular Features.

Background & Aims: Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) are regarded as precursors of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAs), but little is known about the mechanism of progression. This makes it challenging to assess cancer risk in patients with IPMNs. We investigated associations of IPMNs with concurrent PDAs by genetic and histologic analyses.

Outcome evaluations in group decision-making using authority rule: An electrophysiological study.

The present study aimed to investigate whether coincidence of opinion affects the evaluative processing of outcomes in group decision-making under authority rule. For this purpose, we examined the effects of the opinion coincidence on feedback-related negativity (FRN), an event-related brain potential (ERP) reflecting the evaluative processing of outcomes. Six three-person groups performed a group decision-making task in which one member acting as a leader (leader blocks) made a group decision to choose one of two cards after he/she observed opinions of the other members acting as followers (follower blocks), and monetary gain or loss was contingent on the group decision.

Paroxysmal Sympathetic Hyperactivity after Surgery for Cerebral Hemorrhagic Arteriovenous Malformation: A Case Report.

Paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity is a condition involving a sudden increase in body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, sweating, and posturing followed by severe brain injury. Most of the reported preceding disorders involve head trauma, followed by anoxic brain injury, and stroke. Here, we report an extremely rare case of 17-year-old man diagnosed with hemorrhagic arteriovenous malformation, underwent emergent surgery, was on prolonged sedation due to postoperative complications, and subsequently developed paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity.

Allergic conversion of protective mucosal immunity against nasal bacteria in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis.

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) is characterized by eosinophilic inflammation and polyposis at the nose and paranasal sinus and a high concentration of IgE in nasal polyps (NPs). The causative antigen and pathogenesis of CRSwNP remain unknown.

Objective: We aimed to identify reactive allergens of IgE antibodies produced locally in NPs of patients with CRSwNP.

The Act of Answering Questions Elicited Differentiated Responses in a Concealed Information Test.

The concealed information test (CIT), a psychophysiological detection of deception test, compares physiological responses between crime-related and crime-unrelated items. In previous studies, whether the act of answering questions affected physiological responses was unclear. This study examined effects of both question-related and answer-related processes on physiological responses.

The approach of visual stimuli influences expectations about stimulus types for subsequent somatosensory stimuli.

It is known that perceiving a visual stimulus influences the processing of subsequent somatosensory stimuli. In particular, an emotion-laden visual stimulus influences the processing of types of subsequent somatosensory stimuli. Additionally, visual stimuli approaching the body facilitate spatial and temporal expectations about subsequent somatosensory stimuli even if the visual stimuli do not contain emotional information; however, it remains unclear whether the approach of non-emotional visual stimuli also influences such expectations.

Clonal evolution and antigen recognition of anti-nuclear antibodies in acute systemic lupus erythematosus.

The evolutional process of disease-associated autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remains to be established. Here we show intraclonal diversification and affinity maturation of anti-nuclear antibody (ANA)-producing B cells in SLE. We identified a panel of monoclonal ANAs recognizing nuclear antigens, such as double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) from acute SLE subjects.

Temporal attention is involved in the enhancement of attentional capture with task difficulty: an event-related brain potential study.

In a three-stimulus oddball task, the amplitude of P3a elicited by deviant stimuli increases with an increase in the difficulty of discriminating between standard and target stimuli (i.e. task-difficulty effect on P3a), indicating that attentional capture by deviant stimuli is enhanced with an increase in task difficulty.