Acute combined effects of concurrent physical activities on autonomic nervous activation during cognitive tasks

Backgrounds: The validity of heart rate variability (HRV) has been substantiated in mental workload assessments. However, cognitive tasks often coincide with physical exertion in practical mental work, but their synergic effects on HRV remains insufficiently established. The study aims were to investigate the combined effects of cognitive and physical load on autonomic nerve functions.Methods: Thirty-five healthy male subjects (aged 23.5 ± 3.3 years) were eligible and enrolled in the study. The subjects engaged in n-back cognitive tasks (1-back, 2-back, and 3-back) under three distinct physical conditions, involving isotonic contraction of the left upper limb with loads of 0 kg, 3 kg, and 5 kg. Electrocardiogram signals and cognitive task performance were recorded throughout the tasks, and post-task assessment of subjective experiences were conducted using the NASA-TLX scale.Results: The execution of n-back tasks resulted in enhanced perceptions of task-load feelings and increased reaction times among subjects, accompanied by a decline in the accuracy rate (p < 0.05). These effects were synchronously intensified by the imposition of physical load. Comparative analysis with a no-physical-load scenario revealed significant alterations in the HRV of the subjects during the cognitive task under moderate and high physical conditions. The main features were a decreased power of the high frequency component (p < 0.05) and an increased low frequency component (p < 0.05), signifying an elevation in sympathetic activity. This physiological response manifested similarly at both moderate and high physical levels. In addition, a discernible linear correlation was observed between HRV and task-load feelings, as well as task performance under the influence of physical load (p < 0.05).Conclusion: HRV can serve as a viable indicator for assessing mental workload in the context of physical activities, making it suitable for real-world mental work scenarios

Genome-Wide Analysis of the Zn(II)₂Cys₆ Zinc Cluster-Encoding Gene Family in <i>Tolypocladium</i> <i>guangdongense</i> and Its Light-Induced Expression

The Zn(II)2Cys6 zinc cluster gene family is a subclass of zinc-finger proteins, which are transcriptional regulators involved in a wide variety of biological processes in fungi. We performed genome-wide identification and characterization of Zn(II)2Cys6 zinc-cluster gene (C6 zinc gene) family in Tolypocladium guangdongense, Cordyceps militaris and Ophiocordyceps sinensis. Based on the structures of the C6 zinc domains, these proteins were observed to be evolutionarily conserved in ascomycete fungi. We focused on T. guangdongense, a medicinal fungus, and identified 139 C6 zinc genes which could be divided into three groups. Among them, 49.6% belonged to the fungal specific transcriptional factors, and 16% had a DUF3468 domain. Homologous and phylogenetic analysis indicated that 29 C6 zinc genes were possibly involved in the metabolic process, while five C6 zinc genes were supposed to be involved in asexual or sexual development. Gene expression analysis revealed that 54 C6 zinc genes were differentially expressed under light, including two genes that possibly influenced the development, and seven genes that possibly influenced the metabolic processes. This indicated that light may affect the development and metabolic processes, at least partially, through the regulation of C6 zinc genes in T. guangdongense. Our results provide comprehensive data for further analyzing the functions of the C6 zinc genes

Whole Genome Sequence of an Edible and Potential Medicinal Fungus, Cordyceps guangdongensis

Cordyceps guangdongensis is an edible fungus which was approved as a novel food by the Chinese Ministry of Public Health in 2013. It also has a broad prospect of application in pharmaceutical industries, with many medicinal activities. In this study, the whole genome of C. guangdongensis GD15, a single spore isolate from a wild strain, was sequenced and assembled with Illumina and PacBio sequencing technology. The generated genome is 29.05 Mb in size, comprising nine scaffolds with an average GC content of 57.01%. It is predicted to contain a total of 9150 protein-coding genes. Sequence identification and comparative analysis indicated that the assembled scaffolds contained two complete chromosomes and four single-end chromosomes, showing a high level assembly. Gene annotation revealed a diversity of transposons that could contribute to the genome size and evolution. Besides, approximately 15.57% and 12.01% genes involved in metabolic processes were annotated by KEGG and COG respectively. Genes belonging to CAZymes accounted for 3.15% of the total genes. In addition, 435 transcription factors, involved in various biological processes, were identified. Among the identified transcription factors, the fungal transcription regulatory proteins (18.39%) and fungal-specific transcription factors (19.77%) represented the two largest classes of transcription factors. This genomic resource provided a new insight into better understanding the relevance of phenotypic characters and genetic mechanisms in C. guangdongensis

Nutrient and Stoichiometric Characteristics of Aggregates in a Sloping Farmland Area under Different Tillage Practices

Sloping farmland is prevalent in hilly red soil areas of South China. Improper tillage patterns induce decreased soil organic matter, soil aggregate breakdown, and nutrient imbalance, thereby restricting crop production. However, the stoichiometric characteristics could reflect the nutrient availability which was mostly studied on bulk soil. The stoichiometric characteristics of soil aggregates with multiple functions in farmlands has rarely been studied. The study was to reveal the impact of tillage patterns on the size distribution, nutrient levels, and stoichiometric ratios of soil aggregates after 20 years&rsquo; cultivation. Soil samples of 0&ndash;20 cm and 20&ndash;40 cm from five tillage patterns, bare-land control (BL), longitudinal-ridge tillage (LR), conventional tillage + straw mulching (CS), cross-ridge tillage (CR), and longitudinal-ridge tillage + hedgerows (LH) were collected. The elemental content (C, N and P) and soil aggregate size distribution were determined, and the stoichiometric ratios were subsequently calculated. Through our analysis and study, it was found that the nutrient content of &gt;2 mm soil aggregates in all plots was the highest. In the hedgerow plots, &gt;2 mm water-stable soil aggregate content was increased. Therefore, LH plots have the highest content of organic matter and nutrients. After 20 years of cultivation, stoichiometric ratio of each plot showed different changes on soil aggregates at different levels. the C:N, C:P, and N:P ratios are lower than the national average of cultivated land. Among of them, the stoichiometric ratio in the LH plot is closer to the mean and showed better water-stable aggregate enhancement. Therefore, longitudinal-ridge tillage + hedgerows can be recommended as a cultivation measure. This study provides a reference for determining appropriate tillage measures, balancing nutrient ratios, and implementing rational fertilization

System Design of a Cheetah Robot Toward Ultra-high Speed

High-speed legged locomotion pushes the limits of the most challenging problems of design and development of the mechanism, also the control and the perception method. The cheetah is an existence proof of concept of what we imitate for high-speed running, and provides us lots of inspiration on design. In this paper, a new model of a cheetah-like robot is developed using anatomical analysis and design. Inspired by a biological neural mechanism, we propose a novel control method for controlling the muscles' flexion and extension, and simulations demonstrate good biological properties and leg's trajectory. Next, a cheetah robot prototype is designed and assembled with pneumatic muscles, a musculoskeletal structure, an antagonistic muscle arrangement and a J-type cushioning foot. Finally, experiments of the robot legs swing and kick ground tests demonstrate its natural manner and validate the design of the robot. In the future, we will test the bounding behaviour of a real legged system

Effect and correlation of Cordyceps guangdongensis ethanolic extract on obesity, dyslipidemia and gut microbiota dysbiosis in high-fat diet mice

Edible-medicinal fungi have shown many beneficial health effects. Cordyceps guangdongensis is a novel edible-medicinal fungus in China. In this study, we investigated the effects of ethanolic extract from C. guangdongensis fruiting bodies (CGE), and comprehensively dissected the effects of CGE on fat accumulation, dyslipidemia, gut microbial composition, and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Results showed that CGE markedly inhibited body weight gain, decreased fat accumulation in various tissues, and significantly improved glucose tolerance and hyperlipidemia. CGE notably restored high-fat diet induced microbial shift from Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes, and markedly increased the abundances of beneficial gut microbiota (such as Akkermansia muciniphila and Bifidobacterium animalis). Interestingly, CGE also significantly promoted butyric acid (BA) production. Pairwise correlation analysis found that A. muciniphila, B. animals and BA were negatively associated with several fat-related parameters and blood lipid indicators. Together, our results suggested that CGE represented a potential novel supplement to treat obesity and related complications

DataSheet1_Acute combined effects of concurrent physical activities on autonomic nervous activation during cognitive tasks.docx

Backgrounds: The validity of heart rate variability (HRV) has been substantiated in mental workload assessments. However, cognitive tasks often coincide with physical exertion in practical mental work, but their synergic effects on HRV remains insufficiently established. The study aims were to investigate the combined effects of cognitive and physical load on autonomic nerve functions.Methods: Thirty-five healthy male subjects (aged 23.5 ± 3.3 years) were eligible and enrolled in the study. The subjects engaged in n-back cognitive tasks (1-back, 2-back, and 3-back) under three distinct physical conditions, involving isotonic contraction of the left upper limb with loads of 0 kg, 3 kg, and 5 kg. Electrocardiogram signals and cognitive task performance were recorded throughout the tasks, and post-task assessment of subjective experiences were conducted using the NASA-TLX scale.Results: The execution of n-back tasks resulted in enhanced perceptions of task-load feelings and increased reaction times among subjects, accompanied by a decline in the accuracy rate (p Conclusion: HRV can serve as a viable indicator for assessing mental workload in the context of physical activities, making it suitable for real-world mental work scenarios.</p