Global brain analysis of minor hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease using EEG and MRI data

IntroductionVisual hallucination is a prevalent psychiatric disorder characterized by the occurrence of false visual perceptions due to misinterpretation in the brain. Individuals with Parkinson’s disease often experience both minor and complex visual hallucinations. The underlying mechanism of complex visual hallucinations in Parkinson’s patients is commonly attributed to dysfunction in the visual pathway and attention network. However, there is limited research on the mechanism of minor hallucinations.MethodsTo address this gap, we conducted an experiment involving 13 Parkinson’s patients with minor hallucinations, 13 Parkinson’s patients without hallucinations, and 13 healthy elderly individuals. We collected and analyzed EEG and MRI data. Furthermore, we utilized EEG data from abnormal brain regions to train a machine learning model to determine whether the abnormal EEG data were associated with minor hallucinations.ResultsOur findings revealed that Parkinson’s patients with minor hallucinations exhibited excessive activation of cortical excitability, an imbalanced interaction between the attention network and the default network, and disruption in the connection between these networks. These findings is similar to the mechanism observed in complex visual hallucinations. The visual reconstruction of one patient experiencing hallucinations yields results that differ from those observed in subjects without such symptoms.DiscussionThe visual reconstruction results demonstrated significant differences between Parkinson’s patients with hallucinations and healthy subjects. This suggests that visual reconstruction techniques may offer a means of evaluating hallucinations

ADAMTS16 activates latent TGF-β, accentuating fibrosis and dysfunction of the pressure-overloaded heart

AIMS: Cardiac fibrosis is a major cause of heart failure (HF), and mediated by the differentiation of cardiac fibroblasts into myofibroblasts. However, limited tools are available to block cardiac fibrosis. ADAMTS16 is a member of the ADAMTS superfamily of extracellular protease enzymes involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and remodelling. In this study, we aimed to establish ADAMTS16 as a key regulator of cardiac fibrosis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Western blot and qRT-PCR analyses demonstrated that ADAMTS16 was significantly up-regulated in mice with transverse aortic constriction (TAC) associated with left ventricular hypertrophy and HF, which was correlated with increased expression of Mmp2, Mmp9, Col1a1, and Col3a1. Overexpression of ADAMTS16 accelerated the AngII-induced activation of cardiac fibroblasts into myofibroblasts. Protein structural analysis and co-immunoprecipitation revealed that ADAMTS16 interacted with the latency-associated peptide (LAP)-transforming growth factor (TGF)-β via a RRFR motif. Overexpression of ADAMTS16 induced the activation of TGF-β in cardiac fibroblasts; however, the effects were blocked by a mutation of the RRFR motif to IIFI, knockdown of Adamts16 expression, or a TGF-β-neutralizing antibody (ΝAb). The RRFR tetrapeptide, but not control IIFI peptide, blocked the interaction between ADAMTS16 and LAP-TGF-β, and accelerated the activation of TGF-β in cardiac fibroblasts. In TAC mice, the RRFR tetrapeptide aggravated cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy by up-regulation of ECM proteins, activation of TGF-β, and increased SMAD2/SMAD3 signalling, however, the effects were blocked by TGF-β-NAb. CONCLUSION: ADAMTS16 promotes cardiac fibrosis, cardiac hypertrophy, and HF by facilitating cardiac fibroblasts activation via interacting with and activating LAP-TGF-β signalling. The RRFR motif of ADAMTS16 disrupts the interaction between ADAMTS16 and LAP-TGF-β, activates TGF-β, and aggravated cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy. This study identifies a novel regulator of TGF-β signalling and cardiac fibrosis, and provides a new target for the development of therapeutic treatment of cardiac fibrosis and HF

Towards a juggling 87Rb atomic dual fountain

This paper presents methods for achieving and optimizing a Juggling Atomic Dual Fountain (JADF) of alkali atom 87Rb with one magneto-optical trap (MOT) vacuum chamber. The height difference of this two atomic fountains is 30 cm, the temperature and atom number of each atomic cloud are 2.0±0.2 μK and 1.4(±0.05)×108, respectively. The dependence of the recaptured atom number on the height of the pre-launched atomic cloud is investigated. This JADF provides a low temperature, large atom number and common-mode noise elimination atomic source for developing a highly stable, compact atomic gravity gradiometer

Cholesterol removal improves performance of a model biomimetic system to co-deliver a photothermal agent and a STING agonist for cancer immunotherapy

Abstract Biological membranes often play important functional roles in biomimetic drug delivery systems. We discover that the circulation time and targeting capability of biological membrane coated nanovehicles can be significantly improved by reducing cholesterol level in the coating membrane. A proof-of-concept system using cholesterol-reduced and PD-1-overexpressed T cell membrane to deliver a photothermal agent and a STING agonist is thus fabricated. Comparing with normal membrane, this engineered membrane increases tumor accumulation by ~2-fold. In a melanoma model in male mice, tumors are eliminated with no recurrence in >80% mice after intravenous injection and laser irradiation; while in a colon cancer model in male mice, ~40% mice are cured without laser irradiation. Data suggest that the engineered membranes escape immune surveillance to avoid blood clearance while keeping functional surface molecules exposed. In summary, we develop a simple, effective, safe and widely-applicable biological membrane modification strategy. This “subtractive” strategy displays some advantages and is worth further development

Inundation depth controls leaf photosynthetic capacity by regulating leaf area and N content in an estuarine wetland

Background and AimsEstuarine wetlands are important carbon sinks, with plant photosynthesis being a vital component of this process. Changes in the inundation depth of wetlands could alter leaf photosynthesis and thus ecosystem carbon uptake capacity, ultimately determining the size of carbon sink. However, the relationship between inundation depth and photosynthetic capacity has yet to be determined, especially in estuarine wetlands with complex hydrological conditions. In addition, there is also conflicting evidence regarding the effect of inundation depth on photosynthetic capacity.MethodsTo better understand the mechanisms of photosynthetic capacity responding to inundation depth, we performed a field experiment with a gradient of inundation depths (0, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 cm) in estuarine wetland dominated by Phragmites australis in the Yellow River Delta, China.ResultsOur results showed that inundation depth significantly altered leaf morphological traits, elements and photosynthetic capacity. In particular, leaf photosynthetic capacity was obviously increased with increasing inundation depth. The increased leaf area enhanced light harvesting ability of leaves, and then increased Pn at different inundation depths. Besides, higher leaf N content promoted leaf photosynthetic capacity at different inundation depths.ConclusionOverall, the findings demonstrated that inundation depth significantly enhanced the photosynthetic capacity of P. australis, which was correlated with altered leaf functional traits in wetlands. Our results hold important implications for more accurately predicting the relationship between photosynthetic capacity and inundation depth in wetland ecosystems under climate change and more accurately estimating of the carbon sink capacity of wetland ecosystems in the future

Robust single-sideband-modulated Raman light generation for atom interferometry by FBG-based optical rectangular filtration

Low-phase-noise and pure-spectrum Raman light is vital for high-precision atom interferometry by two-photon Raman transition. A preferred and prevalent solution for Raman light generation is electro-optic phase modulation. However, phase modulation inherently brings in double sidebands, resulting in residual sideband effects of multiple laser pairs beside Raman light in atom interferometry. Based on a well-designed rectangular fiber Bragg grating and an electro-optic modulator, optical single-sideband modulation has been realized at 1560 nm with a stable suppression ratio better than -25 dB despite of intense temperature variations. After optical filtration and frequency doubling, a robust phase-coherent Raman light at 780 nm is generated with a stable SNR of better than -19 dB and facilitates measuring the local gravity successfully. This proposed all-fiber single-sideband-modulated Raman light source, characterized as robust, compact and low-priced, is practical and potential for field applications of portable atom interferometry.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure