Search Results (1,166)

Electrocardiogram (ECG) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals are widely used noninvasive methods for assessing cardiovascular activity and provide complementary information about the cardiac cycle. ECG records cardiac electrical activity, whereas PPG records optically detected blood-volume changes in peripheral tissue. This paper describes a synchronized ECG-PPG dataset collected from 148 apparently healthy subjects under a controlled seated protocol at rest and during post-exercise recovery after two treadmill-running conditions. Signals were acquired using a custom card-type handheld finger-contact prototype that records single-lead ECG and dual-wavelength PPG at 660 nm and 940 nm concurrently. The dataset contains 444 condition-specific records, with each subject contributing one seated resting record, one seated recovery record after light treadmill running, and one seated recovery record after moderate treadmill running. Both raw ADC-count signals and preprocessed signals are provided, and the accompanying software and example code are publicly available. The dataset is intended for research on synchronized ECG-PPG signal analysis, waveform-quality assessment, controlled post-exercise recovery physiology, and exploratory PPG-to-ECG reconstruction under controlled conditions. It should not be interpreted as a free-living wearable dataset or as clinical diagnostic ECG ground truth without external validation. Full article

Background: Di19 (drought-induced 19)proteins belong to the C2H2-type zinc-finger family and play a crucial role in regulating plant growth, developmental processes, hormone signal transduction, and abiotic stress adaptation. However, research on the Di19 gene family in sweet potato and its diploid relatives remains relatively limited. Methods: At the whole-genome level, members of the Di19 gene family in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas, 2n = 6x = 90) and its two diploid relatives, Ipomoea trifida (2n = 2x = 30) and Ipomoea triloba (2n = 2x = 30) were systematically identified, and multi-dimensional bioinformatics analyses were carried out. Results: Seven Di19 genes were identified per species, with the family’s overall evolutionary characteristics conserved. Some IbDi19s showed species-specific structural variations, mainly manifested as an increase in the number of exons, loss or substitution of conserved motifs. The expression patterns of Di19s of two diploid relatives are highly conserved. IbDi19s are mainly expressed in leaves and roots. Most members respond significantly to JA treatment, but hardly respond to IAA. The expression of IbDi19-1 was significantly up-regulated by 336-fold and 68-fold under GA3 and cold treatments, respectively. Based on bioinformatics and expression data, a hypothesis was proposed that IbDi19-1 may be involved in the regulation of low-temperature response and gibberellin signaling pathways. Conclusions: This study provides candidate genes and a theoretical basis for evolutionary analysis, stress-resistant molecular breeding of the Di19 gene family in sweet potato and its two diploid relatives. Full article

The application of functional electrical stimulation (FES) to restore hand motor function remains challenging due to the difficulty of calibrating multi-channel stimulation to produce coordinated finger movements. This study proposes a compositional FES calibration framework to customize the stimulation of isolated finger actions and enable their combination into functional hand gestures. The proposed method was validated through a two-session experimental study involving thirteen participants. In the first session, subject-specific stimulation sites and parameters were identified for eight individual finger movements using a structured spatial grid defined over the forearm. The second session, conducted on a subset of five participants, evaluated the generation of seven hand gestures derived from combinations of the isolated movements. Results showed that ten of the thirteen participants achieved at least six movements, while three participants successfully elicited all targeted motions. Successfully elicited movements were generally well isolated, although thumb and ring/little finger extensions proved more difficult to isolate. The second session demonstrated that individually calibrated finger activations can be combined to produce coordinated multi-finger movement patterns, with average finger excursions matching the expected motions. Overall, these preliminary results support the use of compositional calibration strategies to achieve functional multi-finger control with multi-channel FES. Full article

Background/Objectives: Andersen–Tawil Syndrome (ATS) is an ultra-rare autosomal dominant condition secondary to deleterious variants in KCNJ2 or KCNJ5 in the majority of patients. It is variably characterized by a triad of Long QT Syndrome (LQTS)/ventricular arrhythmias with a prominent U-wave, episodic flaccid muscle weakness/paralysis and skeletal abnormalities. Other clinical features include distinctive facial dysmorphisms, dental anomalies, and mild learning difficulties. Limited data are available regarding the initial presenting sign or symptoms of ATS. Methods: In this study, we include data from 18 patients across eight families. In our cohort, the main clues that led probands to genetic testing were syncope (three families), which was associated with dysmorphic features in one case; LQTS (one family); asymptomatic premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) (three families); and a case incidentally identified during routine cardiac evaluations and due to short stature (one family). Results: Following thorough investigations, a prolonged QT interval was detected in five individuals and prominent U-waves were observed in the majority of the court. Distinctive facial features were consistently present (100%) and can be suggested as a clinical tool for accelerated diagnosis. Skeletal manifestations ranged from 37.5% to 93.7% including short stature, scoliosis and finger defects. Only two patients showed periodic paralysis (PP). Conclusions: Regarding the clinical management of ATS, we underline the importance of the multidisciplinary, personalized, and longitudinal approach, where arrhythmia may not be the leading sign but remains the most potentially critical prognostic factor. Full article

To address the issues of low efficiency, high labor intensity, and susceptibility to damage during the manual harvesting of Volvariella volvacea, a mechanized harvesting device was developed to accommodate the growth characteristics of Volvariella volvacea. Thin-film sensors were used to measure the harvesting force values under both the bending method and the rotating method, incorporating two-finger and three-finger operation modes. The results indicated that the maximum force for the bending method was 4.60 N, while that for the twisting method was 2.91 N (peak values, n = 20 per method). The twisting method required less effort and posed a lower risk of damage. A four-suction-cup flexible end-effector was designed using silicone rubber material and equipped with a rotary cylinder. ANSYS 2022 R1 finite element simulation verified that under an applied force of 8 N, the surface stress on the Volvariella volvacea was less than 1.1489 MPa, meeting low-damage requirements. A Volvariella volvacea harvesting test rig was constructed, and performance tests were conducted. The results showed that the overall harvesting success rate was 96.65%, the damage rate was 2.03%, and the average time per harvest by the end-effector was 5.9 s. This study provides a theoretical foundation and technical support for the mechanized and intelligent harvesting of Volvariella volvacea, and is significant for promoting the high-quality development of the Volvariella volvacea industry. Full article

Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has shown strong capability for multi-finger dexterous in-hand manipulation, where high-dimensional control and complex object interactions make policy learning challenging. However, many existing DRL approaches emphasize task completion and learning efficiency without explicitly accounting for manipulation risk, which can lead to overly aggressive behaviors and unstable object handling. This study proposes Risk-Prioritized Experience Replay (Risk-PER), a replay-sampling strategy that incorporates task-specific risk scores derived from prior transitions. The proposed method assigns each transition a risk score based on three binary indicators related to manipulation instability and then biases replay toward lower-risk experiences while still allowing the agent to learn from risk-related events. Risk-PER is integrated with Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) and evaluated in MuJoCo simulation on two Allegro Hand in-hand manipulation tasks involving a block and an egg. Across the evaluated settings, Risk-PER achieves higher success rates, lower manipulation risk, and more stable learning behavior than HER and reward–penalty-based risk-averse baselines. These results suggest that incorporating task-specific risk awareness into replay prioritization can improve both learning efficiency and manipulation stability in dexterous in-hand manipulation. Full article

The extraordinary genetic diversity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), driven by high mutation and recombination rates, poses significant challenges for diagnostics, therapy, and vaccine development. While variable regions enable immune escape, hyperconserved regions are critical for viral function and represent promising targets for novel therapeutic interventions. This study aimed to develop and validate a bioinformatic algorithm for quantitative assessment of sequence conservation and automated identification of functionally significant conserved regions across all major HIV-1 proteins. A total of 1119 full-length HIV-1 genome sequences representing major subtypes (A1, A2, A6, B, C, D, F1, F2, G, H, J, K) were analyzed. Normalized Shannon entropy (S-index) was calculated for each alignment column. Statistical thresholds for conserved regions were established using 95% confidence intervals derived from bootstrap resampling. Two complementary algorithms, clustering and local maxima detection, were applied to identify conserved regions, which were subsequently mapped to known functional domains based on literature data. Protein conservation varied markedly, with S_m values ranging from 0.784 (Vpu) to 0.920 (Pol). Gag, Pol, and Vpr demonstrated the highest overall conservation, while Env, Rev, Tat, and Vpu exhibited pronounced variability interspersed with conserved domains. In total, 25 conserved regions in Gag, 49 in Pol, 28 in Env, and 6–4 regions in accessory proteins (Vif, Vpr, Rev, Tat, Nef, Vpu) were identified. These regions corresponded to critical functional elements including enzyme catalytic centers, zinc fingers, receptor-binding sites, protein interaction interfaces, and membrane-anchoring domains. The developed computational framework enables statistically grounded identification of evolutionarily constrained regions across analyzed HIV-1 subtypes. The identified conserved regions represent candidate sites for further investigation and may inform downstream studies focused on antiviral target prioritization, immunogen design, and diagnostic assay development. However, their translational applicability requires additional analytical, structural, and experimental validation. Full article

Thin-slice high-resolution computed tomography (CT) has improved the detection of small pulmonary nodules, increasing the demand for minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic resection. While lobectomy with lymph node dissection remains the standard surgical approach for many patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer, accumulating evidence supports sublobar resection for selected small, peripheral, and ground-glass-dominant lesions when sufficient margins are achievable. In thoracoscopic and robotic surgery, localization of nodules ≤10 mm or lesions located >5 mm from the pleural surface can be challenging, and failure to identify the target may lead to conversion, larger resection than intended, or prolonged operative time. Several localization strategies have been developed, including CT-guided percutaneous wire/coil/dye marking, bronchoscopic dye mapping, and virtual-assisted lung mapping (VAL-MAP), robotic-assisted bronchoscopic dye or fiducial localization, radiofrequency identification microtag systems (Surgical Real-Time FInger Navigation and Detection) that provide real-time depth information, and single-stage intraoperative CT-guided marking and resection in hybrid operating rooms. This review synthesizes representative evidence and published outcome ranges, and compares workflows, marker-to-lesion precision metrics, complication profiles, operational burden, and cost structures. We emphasize the practical contrast between two-stage and single-stage workflows, the access-route differences between transthoracic and transbronchial techniques, and the need to report localization-to-incision “time at risk”. We also present an expert-consensus decision algorithm aimed at facilitating tailored selection of localization strategies for modern minimally invasive thoracic surgery. Full article

Flexible pressure sensors with a porous architecture are highly desirable for wearable health monitoring and intelligent human–machine interaction, owing to their excellent comfort and conformability to human motion. However, conventional porous sensors often suffer from poor signal accuracy and unstable output, which limit their capability for precision sensing. To address these challenges, we designed and fabricated a flexible pressure sensor with exceptional linearity by mimicking the unique surface structure of Iron Cross Begonia (Begonia masoniana) leaves. The sensor is constructed using a readily available melamine foam as the backbone: a porous sensing scaffold is first obtained via a simple dip-coating process, and a film featuring bioinspired protrusions is fabricated by repeated replica molding. Lamination of these two components yields a stacked sensor device. Characterization demonstrates that the sensor achieves a broad pressure detection range of up to 350 kPa, with a minimum resolvable pressure of 250 Pa, and exhibits an excellent linearity of 0.999 over its entire working range (0–350 kPa). Moreover, the sensor shows stable responses under varying loading frequencies, is capable of detecting low-frequency signals, and retains its performance without notable degradation even after 5000 repeated loading-unloading cycles. In practical applications, the sensor accurately monitors flexion and extension movements of the wrist, finger, neck, and knee, capturing human motion signals with high fidelity. Furthermore, it enables information encoding and transmission through finger gestures. The proposed bioinspired structural design strategy effectively enhances the overall performance of porous pressure sensors, offering a new paradigm for the development of flexible sensing devices with promising applications in wearable health monitoring, human motion detection, and human–machine interaction. Full article

Over the past decade, serious games and virtual reality have gained increasing relevance in upper-limb rehabilitation, yet desktop virtual reality solutions often suffer from reduced spatial correspondence and limited sensory feedback. This work presents the design and preliminary evaluation of a desktop virtual reality-based serious game that combines Leap Motion Controller hand tracking with a custom wireless vibrotactile wearable device to support upper-limb rehabilitation training. Three training scenarios were implemented to target pronation/supination, pinch grip, ulnar/radial deviation, and wrist, elbow, and finger flexion/extension. Usability (System Usability Scale, SUS), user experience (short AttrakDiff), and perceived workload (Raw NASA-TLX), together with functionality and perception questionnaires, were collected from healthy participants randomly assigned to two groups (Group 1: $n=13$, LMC only; Group 2: $n=9$, LMC plus wearable). Across all instruments, the configuration including the wearable device tended to obtain higher usability ratings, more desirable pragmatic and hedonic quality scores, and lower overall workload means than the LMC-only configuration, with moderate effect sizes but limited statistical power due to the small samples. Participants in the wearable condition also reported clearer feedback, a perceived improvement in movement precision, and a stronger perceived alignment between real and virtual actions. These findings suggest that the proposed system may serve as a promising user-centered prototype for desktop VR-based upper-limb rehabilitation and provide preliminary design evidence to support future clinical and kinematic validation studies with larger cohorts. Full article

Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), with the simplest lentiviral genome, is a key model for studying fundamental lentiviral biology. Infectious viral particles are produced only when the Gag protein selectively encapsidates full-length genomic RNA via the packaging signal (Psi), yet the structural and functional features of EIAV Psi remain poorly characterized. Using computational prediction and dimethyl sulfate probing, we identified four stem-loops (SLs) within a ~120 nt region in the 5′ leader of the genome, spanning from downstream of the primer binding site through 20 nt into the gag coding sequence. In vitro dimerization assays demonstrated that a palindromic sequence (5′-CUGGCCAG-3′) within SL3 acts as a critical determinant of RNA dimerization. Functional screening using both an EIAV pseudovirus packaging system and the infectious clone EIAVuk revealed that deletion or mutation of the stem-loops significantly impairs viral packaging and replication, with SL2 deletion or its stem disruption causing the most severe defects. RNA-seq analysis of RNAs bound by wild-type Gag versus a zinc-finger mutant (H391K/H410K) identified two candidate Gag-associated sites: the SL2 stem and the SL2-SL3 junction. Targeting these regions with phosphorothioate-modified antisense oligonucleotides potently inhibited pseudovirus production and the replication of infectious EIAVuk. Our findings defined the secondary structure and functional organization of the EIAV core packaging region and established the SL2 stem and SL2-SL3 junction as candidate packaging determinants and promising targets for RNA-based antiviral intervention. Full article

Accurate assessment of the A1 pulley is essential for the diagnosis and treatment of trigger finger, particularly in ultrasound-guided percutaneous release. Although high-resolution ultrasound is widely used to evaluate pulley morphology, the validity of sonographic measurements of A1 pulley length has not been clearly established against anatomical reference standard. This study evaluated the reliability and validity of ultrasound for measuring A1 pulley length and thickness in human cadavers and assessed the reproducibility of A2 pulley length. Twenty fingers from five fresh-frozen cadaveric hands were examined. Two blinded expert musculoskeletal sonographers independently performed ultrasound acquisition and measurements of A1 and A2 pulley length and A1 pulley thickness, while a third blinded observer obtained anatomical measurements after meticulous dissection using a digital caliper. Ultrasound systematically overestimated A1 pulley length compared with anatomical measurements and showed very poor reliability (ICC = 0.05) with wide limits of agreement. In contrast, A2 pulley length showed high interobserver reliability (ICC = 0.83) and relatively better agreement with anatomical values, whereas A1 pulley thickness showed moderate reproducibility (ICC = 0.61). Overall, A1 length measurements showed substantial variability and limited agreement, while A2 length and A1 thickness appeared more consistent within this experimental setting. These findings should be interpreted within the limitations of a cadaveric model. Full article

Thumb degree-of-freedom (DOF) allocation in anthropomorphic robot hands involves a trade-off between functional mobility and mechanical-control complexity. This study presents a controlled multi-metric framework for comparing recurring thumb DOF configurations under common palm geometry, non-thumb finger structure, reference frames, Denavit–Hartenberg kinematics, and sampling assumptions. Five literature-derived thumb configurations, namely 3-1-1, 2-2-1, 2-1-1, 2-0-1, and 1-1-1, were evaluated to determine which thumb DOFs should be preserved when kinematic complexity is reduced. The theoretical evaluation included Kapandji Opposition Test reachability, opposition alignment, workspace volume, workspace compactness, cylindrical grasp opportunity, and Jacobian-based dexterity. A targeted experimental validation of the 2-1-1 and 2-0-1 prototypes was then performed on a tendon-driven test bench. The results showed that qualitatively similar thumb configurations are quantitatively unequal: several designs achieved identical Kapandji scores but differed substantially in workspace, alignment, dexterity, and grasp feasibility. Overall, 3-1-1 achieved the strongest overall capability, while 2-2-1 emerged as the strongest reduced-complexity alternative and achieved the best mean dexterity. Retaining two active carpometacarpal DOFs preserved a large share of dexterous function, whereas metacarpophalangeal fixation maintained selected cylindrical grasps but narrowed the feasible task boundary. Full article

Background: Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most common type of lung cancer and a major cause of cancer death. Zinc finger proteins (ZNFs) have been implicated in LUAD progression, functioning either as oncogenes or tumor suppressors. Therefore, an in-depth investigation of ZNFs may contribute to the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for LUAD. Methods: Transcriptomic and clinical data were obtained from the TCGA and GEO databases. Prognosis-related ZNF genes were identified using univariate Cox, LASSO, and multivariate Cox regression analyses. An eight-gene ZNF-based prognostic signature was constructed and validated in two independent external cohorts (GSE50081 and GSE26939). A nomogram integrating independent prognostic factors was developed. Immune infiltration, somatic mutation profiles, and drug sensitivity were systematically analyzed. We further focused on FGD3, a key gene from the signature, examining its expression in LUAD cells and tissues, including lorlatinib-resistant models. Results: The prognostic signature comprising TRIM6, TRIM29, CTCFL, FGD3, GATA4, CASZ1, TRAF2, and ZNF322 effectively stratified patients into distinct risk groups with significantly different overall survival (p < 0.05). The risk score, together with T and N stage, served as independent prognostic predictors (n = 500, p < 0.05). High-risk patients exhibited an immune-desert phenotype, increased tumor mutational burden, and distinct drug sensitivity patterns. Notably, FGD3 expression was downregulated in LUAD tissues (n = 14, p < 0.0001) and lorlatinib-resistant cells, and its restoration suppressed resistant cell proliferation and partially reversed drug resistance. Conclusions: This study establishes a promising ZNF-based prognostic model for LUAD, providing a potential tool for risk stratification and individualized therapeutic decision-making. The identification of FGD3 as a potential mediator of drug resistance highlights its promise as a candidate biomarker and therapeutic target in LUAD. Full article

Anthocyanin biosynthesis in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is highly light-dependent, and insufficient light severely impairs fruit coloration, which restricts the development of the eggplant industry. SmMYB75 is a key positive regulator of anthocyanin biosynthesis, but its regulatory partners remain unclear. In this study, seven SmYABBY genes were identified from the eggplant genome, all containing conserved zinc finger and YABBY domains. Expression analysis showed that SmYABBY1 was predominantly expressed in fruit peel and significantly induced by light, with a peak at 4 h after light exposure. The yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays indicated that SmYABBY1 interacts with SmMYB75 and the light signaling regulator SmCOP1 in the nucleus. The heterologous overexpression of SmYABBY1 in Arabidopsis enhanced anthocyanin accumulation and upregulated the expression of anthocyanin structural genes. Transient co-expression in tobacco leaves further demonstrated that SmYABBY1 synergistically enhances SmMYB75-mediated anthocyanin biosynthesis. The yeast one-hybrid and Dual-LUC assays revealed that SmYABBY1 does not directly bind to the promoters of SmMYB75, SmDFR, and SmANS but indirectly promotes their transcriptional activity. Our results illustrate that SmYABBY1 acts as a transcriptional co-activator, interacting with SmMYB75 to promote anthocyanin accumulation, while SmCOP1 is involved in this regulatory process. This study provides a molecular basis for improving eggplant coloration under suboptimal light conditions. Full article