Sustaining attention in visuomotor timing is associated with location-based binding.

Maintaining focus of attention over prolonged periods can be challenging, especially when the target stimulus is absent from the temporal sequence. Prior research has shown that a temporal attentional cue filling in the temporal blank can improve sustained attention: in a sustained visual attention task requiring synchronizing finger tapping with a temporally regular sequence composed of brief flash disks interleaved with blank periods, task performance was improved when a continuous fixation point that served as a temporal attentional cue was presented superimposed on the disk stimulus. To test the hypothesis that binding the temporal attentional cue with the target temporal sequence by spatial overlapping is crucial for enhancing sustained attention, the present study conducted a series of three experiments that deconstructed the bound connection between the cue and the sequence stimulus.

Isolation, identification, degradation mechanism and exploration of active enzymes in the ochratoxin A degrading strain Acinetobacter pittii AP19.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a polyketide mycotoxin that commonly contaminates agricultural products and causes significant economic losses. In this study, the efficient OTA-degrading strain AP19 was isolated from vineyard soil and was identified as Acinetobacter pittii. Compared with growth in nutrient broth supplemented with OTA (OTA-NB), strain AP19 grew faster in nutrient broth (NB), but the ability of the resulting cell lysates to remove OTA was weaker.

Mercury thermometer-inspired test strip for concentration cell-based potentiometric detection of salivary α-amylase.

In this work, we report on the mercury thermometer-inspired test strip for potentiometric detection of salivary α-amylase (sAA). The test strip contains a reaction chamber and two split channels, which are connected by a curved hydrophobic channel. The detection of sAA is based on sequential two-step reactions with preloaded reagents on the test strip.

Acupuncture for emotional symptoms in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) also often have emotional symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. The main drugs used for the treatment of FGIDs mainly target single gastrointestinal symptoms and are not effective in regulating emotional symptoms. Evidence has shown that acupuncture can relieve gastrointestinal symptoms in FGIDs patients, but there is no high-quality evidence to show that acupuncture can relieve psychological symptoms in these patients.

Sustained visual attention improves visuomotor timing.

Relative to audition, vision is considered much less trustworthy in sensorimotor timing such as synchronizing finger movements with a temporally regular sequence. Visuomotor timing requires maintaining attention over time, whereas the sustained visual attention may not be well held in conventional visuomotor timing task settings where flashing visual stimuli consisted of a briefly presented flash and a long blank period. In the present study, the potential attentional lapses in time due to the disappearance of the flash were carefully controlled in Experiment 1 by changing the color of the flash instead of its disappearance, or in Experiment 2 by adding an additional continuously presented fixation point serving as an external attentional cue when the flash disappeared.

Clinical study on acupuncture treatment of COVID-19: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: COVID-19 is an acute respiratory infectious disease, which makes people difficult to breathe; in addition, it is often accompanied by headache, olfaction, and taste disorders of the neurological manifestations. Acupuncture has been proved to have a therapeutic effect on various neurologic manifestations. This study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for the neurologic manifestations in COVID-19.

Effects of acupuncture for relieving preoperative anxiety in adolescents: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Preoperative anxiety is a frequent burden affecting adolescent patients before various surgical procedures. Acupuncture has shown promise for addressing symptoms of preoperative anxiety in adolescents. This study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture for preoperative anxiety in adolescents.

Acupuncture for headache in COVID-19: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory infectious disease which making people difficult to breathe and often accompanied with headache. Acupuncture have been proved the therapeutic effect on headache, but there has been no high-quality evidence on acupuncture for the headache in COVID-19. This study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for headache in COVID-19.

Catalase-integrated metal-organic framework with synergetic catalytic activity for colorimetric sensing.

As a platform for enzyme immobilization, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can protect enzyme activity from the interference of external adverse environment. Although these strategies have been proven to produce good results, little consideration has been given to the functional similarity of MOFs to the encapsulated enzyme. Here, catalase (CAT) was encapsulated in Fe-BTC with peroxidase-like activity to obtain a stable composite (CAT@Fe-BTC) with synergistic catalytic activity.

Fabrication of Pt doped TiO-ZnO@ZIF-8 core@shell photocatalyst with enhanced activity for phenol degradation.

Phenol's presence in aqueous solution due to the pollution from chemical and agricultural industries (e.g., coking tobacco leaves) causes severe environmental problems.

Correction: Zheng, L., et al. PBN11-8, a Cytotoxic Polypeptide Purified from Marine , Suppresses Invasion and Migration of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells by Targeting Focal Adhesion Kinase Pathways. 2018, , 1043.

The authors wish to make a change to the published paper [...

Effects of acupuncture for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a multisystem disease, which may develop gradually into nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, liver fibrosis, and cirrhosis. As a classical method of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture has been used to treat NAFLD in clinical practice. However, there is no systematic review and meta-analysis of acupuncture on NAFLD.

Microcapsule-embedded hydrogel patches for ultrasound responsive and enhanced transdermal delivery of diclofenac sodium.

Transdermal delivery of diclofenac sodium (DS) has drawn much attention for the advantages of avoiding first-pass metabolism, reduced systemic toxicity and better patient compliance, but the successful translation of reported transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDSs) is still limited by poor skin permeability and uncontrollable drug release. Herein, we designed and fabricated a novel ultrasound responsive TDDS by embedding DS-loaded polyester microcapsules into a hydrogel patch based on four-armed poly(ethylene glycol). The rational design endows the microcapsule-embedded hydrogel patch with good biocompatibility, excellent skin-adhesion properties and well-controlled ultrasound responsive release behavior.

DNA methylation in the medial prefrontal cortex regulates alcohol-related behavior in rats.

Alcohol abuse causes tissue and organ damage, and may participate neuropsychiatric diseases. Studies have shown that DNA methylation plays an important role in gene expression and behavioral changes induced by alcohol, however the causative neurobiological mechanisms have not been clarified. In this study, 32 healthy adult male SD rats were randomly divided into a drinking water control group (=16) and a chronic alcohol exposure group (=16).

Synergistic therapy of magnetism-responsive hydrogel for soft tissue injuries.

Soft tissue injury is very common and associated with pain, tissue swelling and even malformation if not treated on time. Treating methods include cryotherapy, electrical therapy, ultrasound therapy and anti-inflammatory drug, but none of them is completely satisfying. In this work, for a better therapeutic effect, drug therapy and pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy were combined.

PBN11-8, a Cytotoxic Polypeptide Purified from Marine , Suppresses Invasion and Migration of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells by Targeting Focal Adhesion Kinase Pathways.

The development of antitumor drugs has attracted cancer researchers and the identification of novel antitumor lead compounds is certainly of great interest. The fermentation broth of sp. N11-8, which was isolated from the Antarctic waters, showed cytotoxicity towards different cells.

Design and Synthesis of a Chitodisaccharide-Based Affinity Resin for Chitosanases Purification.

Chitooligosaccharides (CHOS) have gained increasing attention because of their important biological activities. Enhancing the efficiency of CHOS production essentially requires screening of novel chitosanase with unique characteristics. Therefore, a rapid and efficient one-step affinity purification procedure plays important roles in screening native chitosanases.

Cold-active extracellular lipase: Expression in Sf9 insect cells, purification, and catalysis.

Cold-active lipases are gaining special attention nowadays as they are increasingly used in various industries such as fine chemical synthesis, food processing, and washer detergent. In the present study, an extracellular lipase gene from () was cloned and expressed by baculovirus expression system. The recombinant lipase (LipY8p) was purified using chromatographic techniques, resulting in a purification factor of 25.

Concentration cell-based potentiometric analysis for point-of-care testing with minimum background.

One of the most critical problems of point-of-care testing is how to reduce the interference of background, especially under resource-limited conditions when sample pretreatment is not available. In this work we report a potentiometric method for point-of-care testing with minimum background. The method is based on the principles of a concentration cell which is a type of galvanic cells.

Cloning, Expression, and Biochemical Characterization of Two New Oligoalginate Lyases with Synergistic Degradation Capability.

Alginate, the most abundant carbohydrate presents in brown macroalgae, has recently gained increasing attention as an alternative biomass for the production of biofuel. Oligoalginate lyases catalyze the degradation of alginate oligomers into monomers, a prerequisite for bioethanol production. In this study, two new oligoalginate lyase genes, oalC6 and oalC17, were cloned from Cellulophaga sp.

Highly sensitive colorimetric aptasensor for ochratoxin A detection based on enzyme-encapsulated liposome.

A simple, low-cost, and sensitive liposome-based colorimetric aptasensor has been developed to detect ochratoxin A (OTA). Specifically, a dumbbell-shaped probe was designed, including magnetic beads (MBs), double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), and enzyme-encapsulated liposome. The dsDNA formed by the hybridization between OTA aptamer and its complementary probe.

Stimulus-response click chemistry based aptamer-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles for fluorescence detection of thrombin.

In most aptamer based stimulus response mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) systems, the aptamer is modified on the MSN via electrostatic interaction, however leakage might exist after a certain time in the system and hence the stability is not good. In this study, the pores of MSN were capped by aptamer through click chemistry reaction for the first time and the system was then employed to develop a fluorescence biosensor. Specifically, the aptamer of the target (thrombin in this study) was hybridized with its complementary DNA (which was initially modified with alkyne at the terminal) to form a double strand DNA (dsDNA) firstly, and then this dsDNA was modified on N modified MSN via Cu(I) catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition reaction.

Identification, cloning and expression analysis of an alpha-CGTase produced by stain Y112.

Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) is an enzyme able to convert starch and other substrates into cyclodextrins (CDs). A marine strain Y112 producing α-CGTase was identified as Bacillus agaradhaerens Y112 by physiological and biochemical characterization, and 16S rDNA analysis. The gene coding for α-CGTase was cloned, sequenced and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cells.

Patterned Photonic Nitrocellulose for Pseudopaper ELISA.

We report an enzyme-link immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on patterned pseudopaper that is made of photonic nitrocellulose for highly sensitive fluorescence bioanalysis. The pseudopaper is fabricated using self-assembled monodisperse SiO nanoparticles that are patterned on a polypropylene substrate as template. The self-assembled nanoparticles have a close-packed hexagonal (opal) structure, so the resulting nitrocellulose has a complementary (inverse opal) photonic structure.