Search

This study examined the psychological and social factors that affect the performance of preventive behaviors toward COVID-19, by testing a model based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Our model featured media exposure and social networking site (SNS) involvement, and we tested it in two highly contrasted cultures regarding COVID-19 attitudes: U.S. and Japan.

BackgroundThe SXFEL (Soft X-ray Free-Electron Laser facility) is the first X-ray coherent light source in China. To monitor the beam loss in its undulator beamline, a quartz fiber beam loss monitoring system based on the Cherenkov radiation principle was designed and installed. The quartz fiber is insensitive to high-energy gamma rays, making it suitable for a strong SXFEL radiation field environment.PurposeThis study aims to apply quartz fiber beam loss monitoring (BLM) system to the undulator beamline of SXFEL, and carry out position calibration experiment to measure the fiber attenuation coefficient, and performance of the system in the beam tuning period.MethodsFirst, two pure quartz composition fibers with 400 μm inner diameter of core and high concentration of hydroxide ions were employed. The beam loss signal was generated by falling YAG (Ce:Y3Al5O12, target film) of the beam profile monitor at a fixed position and adjusting the trigger time delay to make the position of the beam loss signal the same as that of the beam profile monitor for position calibration experiment. Second, to measure the fiber attenuation coefficient, the coefficient was fitted by bringing the peak value of the beam loss signal generated by the falling YAG at different positions of the SBP (Shanghai-XFEL Beamline Project) beamline and the corresponding fiber position into the signal attenuation formula.ResultsThe fiber BLM can accurately reflect the position of the beam loss with upstream position resolution of approximate 0.2 m in the experiment test, as well as in the period of beam tuning. The refractive index of quazrtz firber core is approximately 1.5, hence the relationship between the beam loss position and signal arrival to upstream PMT time interval is 0.12 m·ns-1. The measured fiber attenuation coefficient is around 74 dB·km-1, which is consistent with the calculation result and similar to the measurement result of SPring-8 Angstrom Compact Free Electron Laser (SACLA) using the same type of optical fiber.ConclusionsThe fiber beam loss monitoring system has a good position resolution and has the potential to meet the requirements of SXFEL beam tuning.

Oxidative stress and inflammation are crucial factors in the development of cardiovascular diseases. In previous research, the oxidative stress and inflammation models have frequently been explored independently. In the current study, we investigated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of tomato extract and its two main carotenoids (lutein and lycopene) with various concentrations using a rat cardiomyocyte model of co-existing oxidative stress and persistent chronic inflammation. It was discovered that the antioxidant effects of 0.5–5 μM lutein, 0.5–5 μM lycopene, and 50–200 μg/mL tomato extract increased in a dose-dependent manner. However, the pro-oxidation effects emerged by measuring the antioxidant-related indices, including the levels of ROS, SOD, and GPX in H9c2 cells as concentrations exceeded those mentioned above. The anti-inflammatory effects of lutein, lycopene, and tomato extract were simultaneously strengthened with higher concentrations, potentially due to the suppression of the NF-κB signaling pathway. Furthermore, high concentrations of lutein, lycopene, and tomato extract potentially regulated Nrf2/HO-1 and NF-κB signaling pathways dependent on TGF-1β and IL-10 to demonstrate high concentrations of pro-oxidation and anti-inflammation effects. Our findings indicate that the dose–effect regulatory mechanisms of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties among lutein, lycopene, and tomato extract will be advantageous in developing more effective therapeutic strategies to prevent cardiovascular diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidence shows that oxidative stress and inflammation contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease. It has been suggested that propolis possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of the main flavonoids of propolis (chrysin, pinocembrin, galangin, and pinobanksin) and propolis extract were researched. The results showed that the cellular ROS (Reactive oxygen species) levels, antioxidant enzymes, Nrf2 (Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2) nuclear translocation, and the expression of NQO1 (NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1) and HO-1 (heme oxygenase 1) were regulated by different concentrations of individual flavonoids and propolis extract, which showed good antioxidant and pro-oxidant effects. For example, ROS levels were decreased; SOD and CAT activities were increased; and the expression of HO-1 protein was increased by chrysin. The results demonstrated that NO (Nitric Oxide), NOS (Nitric Oxide Synthase), and the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway were inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by different concentrations of individual flavonoids and propolis extract. Moreover, the results revealed that the phytochemicals presented antioxidant effects at lower concentrations but pro-oxidant effects and stronger anti-inflammatory effects at higher concentrations. To maintain the balance of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, it is possible that phytochemicals activate the Nrf2 pathway and inhibited the NF-κB (Nuclear factor kappa B) pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the problem of red mud accumulation,sintered brick can be prepared by using red mud and fly ash as raw materials. The compressive strength of the red mud-fly ash sintered brick with different raw material ratio, different forming pressure under different sintering temperature and holding time were studied. The single factor experiment shows that the sintered brick with the highest compressive strength is obtained when the red mud content is 70%, the forming pressure is 19 MPa, the sintering temperature is 1050 11; and the heat preservation time is 2 h, its strength can reach 20.1 MPa.and the other properties of the brick accord with the national standard GB/T5101-2017 "Fired common bricks". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calcium sulfide (CaS) is transformed from the interaction between inherent pyrite and calcite in coal during activated carbon (AC) preparation by vapor activation, which could impact AC's textural and performance. For elucidating the contribution of in situ transformed CaS on the AC structure and SO 2 /NO removal, as-obtained AC-XCaS (X is the CaS content) were produced by Taixi coal and calcium sulfide (0–4 wt.%) through steam activation. The textural evolution and denitrification and/or desulfurization were also investigated. The results indicated that: (1) Calcium sulfide declined the burn-off linearly. The graphitization degree of ACs presents first enhancing and then decreasing trend with the CaS content increased. Calcium sulfide promotes the AC's micropore porosity development by catalyzing the corrosion of steam on the carbon surface. The specific surface area including total BET and micropore from 954 m2/g and 894 m2/g (AC) first raised to 1017 m2/g and 962 m2/g (AC-1CaS) and then decreased to 808 m2/g and 768 m2/g (AC-4CaS), respectively. Meanwhile, calcium sulfide improves the AC's amounts of C–O and C=O. (2) Calcium sulfide strengthens AC's removal ability of NO and SO 2 evidently. The maximum desulfurization capacity is up to 67.1 mg/g of AC-4CaS, which is higher by 50.8% than 44.5 mg/g of AC. Calcium sulfide enhances AC's surface chemical feature and finally favors the adsorption of SO 2 /O 2 /H 2 O. Meanwhile, calcium sulfide catalyzes the desulfurization reaction. The AC-3CaS's NO conversion is up to 22.7%, which is higher 39.3% than 16.3% of AC. Calcium sulfide favors oxygen dissociation to form intermediate C(O), which could strengthen the adsorption of NH 3 and NO. (3) During simultaneous removal of SO 2 and NO, calcium sulfide shows that anti-SO 2 poisoning ability is promising. The results of this research could complement the reference by utilizing coal with high-inorganic-iron/calcium/sulfur for high-performance AC preparations. [Display omitted] • Revealed the role of in situ transformed CaS on AC texture and performance. • Calcium sulfide mainly promotes the micropore development of AC. • Calcium sulfide favors the increment of C=O and C–O of AC. • Calcium sulfide improves AC's SO 2 or NO removal clearly due to its catalytic role. • CaS shows anti-SO 2 poisoning ability during SO 2 and NO simultaneous removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional M2C-MXenes, characterized by their lightweight nature, tunable surface structures, and strong affinity for hydrogen, hold significant promise for addressing various challenges in hydrogen energy utilization. This study focuses on investigating the hydrogen adsorption and desorption properties, as well as the stability of hydrogenated compounds in 19 pure M2C-MXenes nanosheets. The results indicate that hydrogen adsorption on M2C primarily occurs through weak physisorption, with Mn2C and Fe2C from the fourth period, and Ag2C and Cd2C from the fifth period exhibiting the lowest adsorption energies. In contrast, hydrogen atoms are adsorbed on M2C primarily through chemisorption, leading to the potential dissociation of H2 molecules into two hydrogen atoms. Among the M2C-MXenes, Ti2C, and Zr2C in the d4 and d5, respectively, demonstrate the most stable hydrogen atom binding. Hydrogen evolution is most facile on Cu2C and Ag2C surfaces. Two types of stacking configurations, face-centered cubic (fcc) and hexagonal close-packed (hcp), are observed for hydrogenated M2C surfaces (e.g., Co2C and Zr2C), showing excellent thermodynamic stability. This work elucidates the hydrogen utilization performance of pure M2C-MXenes nanosheets and guides future research aimed at achieving high hydrogen storage capacities through the functional tuning of MXenes., (© 2024 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.)

The Sense of Agency (SoA) refers to the individual's perception of control over actions and their subsequent impact on the external environment. SoA encompasses multiple dimensions, such as implicit/local and explicit/general, which can be quantitatively assessed through cognitive tasks and psychometric questionnaires, respectively. The explicit and general aspect of SoA is commonly evaluated using the Sense of Agency Scale (SoAS). This study's objective is to adapt and validate a Japanese version of the Tapal-SoAS. To achieve this, we distributed an online survey in three stages, gathering data from 8,237 Japanese participants aged between their 20s and 60s. Our analysis confirmed the bifactorial structure identified in the original study: the Sense of Positive Agency (SoPA) and the Sense of Negative Agency (SoNA). Metrics pertaining to test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity reached satisfactory thresholds. Furthermore, the two-factor models demonstrated suitable fit across various age cohorts. The Japanese version of the SoAS (J-SoAS) shows potential for cross-cultural comparisons of explicit and general SoA, particularly between Western and Eastern populations, and among distinct age groups, including young adults and the elderly., Competing Interests: WX and YI were employed by KDDI research, Inc. Although data collection was supported by KDDI Research, Inc., the research was conducted after WX and YI had left the company. RL is currently employed by the same research institute. The authors declare that this study received funding from KDDI Research, Inc. The funder had the following involvement in the study: data collection. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Xu, Legaspi, Ishikawa and Washida.)

Objective: Our aim was to evauate the application value of esesketamine and dexmedetomidine in preventing postoperative hyperalgesia in elderly patients who received thoracic anesthesia., Methods: A total of 94 elderly patients who underwent thoracic anesthesia in Sanmen People's Hospital from January 2021 to October 2022 were selected and divided into a dexmedetomidine group (n = 47) and an esketamine group (n = 47) by the random number table method. All patients were continuously received intravenous (IV) remifentanil. In the dexmedetomidine group, dexmedetomidine 0.7 μg/kg was administered IV, followed by 0.2 to 0.5 μg/kg/h to maintain anesthesia, while in the esketamine group, esketamine 0.5 mg/kg was given IV 20 min after induction of anesthesia was completed., Results: Visual analogue scale (VAS) scores in the esketamine group were lower than in the dexmedetomidine group at 1, 6, 12 and 24 h postoperatively (P < .05), and Ramsay sedation scores were not statistically different from those in the dexmedetomidine group (P > .05). At 3 d postoperatively, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores in the dexmedetomidine group were lower than 1 d preoperatively; at 5 d postoperatively, the negative mood and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores were significantly higher in both groups than 1 d preoperatively; at 14 d postoperatively, the PSQI scores were higher in both groups than 1 d preoperatively, and there was no statistical difference between the negative mood scores at 1 d before surgery (P > .05). At 5 d postoperatively in the esketamine group, the negative mood scores were lower than in the dexmedetomidine group at 5 d postoperatively and the PSQI scores at 5 and 14 d postoperatively were lower than in the dexmedetomidine group (P < .05)., Conclusion: Both esketamine and dexmedetomidine can be used to prevent postoperative delirium and nociceptive hypersensitivity after anesthesia in elderly patients with thoracic surgery. However, esketamine is superior to dexmedetomidine in analgesic effect, improvement of negative mood and sleep and stabilization of intraoperative hemodynamics, leading to better effect in preventing delirium and hyperalgesia after anesthesia.

The electrochemical conversion of carbon monoxide (CO) into value-added products is highly promising for carbon utilization and CO removal. Based on previous theoretical studies, we computationally explored the effect of strain engineering on electrocatalysis of the CO reduction reaction (CORR) by two-dimensional (2D) transition metal embedded polyphthalocyanines (MPPcs). By calculating the adsorption energy of CO and the free energies of key intermediates on the MPPcs under uniaxial and biaxial strains, it was revealed that only CrPPc under biaxial strain has the potential to exhibit significant enhancement of the catalytic performance. The free energy diagrams of the CORR catalyzed by CrPPc were plotted under specific biaxial strains, where both the optimal reaction pathway and rate-determining step are found to be evidently changed. What's more, the 5% compressive strain imposed on CrPPc results in an ultra-low limiting potential ( U L = -0.09 V) with high selectivity on CH 4 as the final product, indicating unexpected electro-catalytic activity. Our study clearly elucidates that moderate strain could greatly enhance the electrocatalytic performance of 2D materials in the CORR.

Objective: To investigate dosimetric deviations in scanning protons for Bragg-peak position shifts, which were caused by proton spiral tracks in an ideal uniform field of magnetic resonance (MRI) imaging-guided proton radiotherapy (MRI-IGPRT). Methods: The FLUKA Monte-Carlo (MC) code was used to simulate the spiral tracks of protons penetrating water with initial energies of 70-270 MeV under the influence of field strength of 0.0-3.0 Tesla in commercial MRI systems. Two indexes, lateral shift (marked as WD ) perpendicular to the field and a penetration-depth shift (marked as Δ DD ) along the beam path, were employed for the Bragg-peak position of spiral proton track analysis. A comparison was performed between MC and classical analytical model to check the simulation results. The shape of the 2D/3D dose distribution of proton spots at the depth of Bragg-Peak was also investigated. The ratio of Gaussian-fit value between longitudinal and transverse major axes was used to indicate the asymmetric index. The skewness of asymmetry was evaluated at various dose levels by the radius ratio of circumscribed and inscribed circles by fitting a semi-ellipse circle of 2D distribution. Results: The maximum of WD deflection is 2.82 cm while the maximum of shortening Δ DD is 0.44 cm for proton at 270 MeV/u under a magnetic field of 3.0 Tesla. The trend of WD and Δ DD from MC simulation was consistent with the analytical model, which means the reverse equation of the analytical model can be applied to determine the proper field strength of the magnet and the initial energy of the proton for the planned dose. The asymmetry of 2D/3D dose distribution under the influence of a magnetic field was increased with higher energy, and the skewness of asymmetry for one proton energy at various dose levels was also increased with a larger radius, i.e., a lower dose level. Conclusions: The trend of the spiral proton track under a uniform magnetic field was obtained in this study using either MC simulation or the analytical model, which can provide an optimized and planned dose of the proton beam in the clinical application of MRI-IGPRT., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Wang, Pan, Cheng, Wang and Xu.)

Primary intrapulmonary spindle cell thymomas (PISCT) are rare lesions that may be mistaken for a variety of benign and malignant epithelial or mesenchymal tumors. It is thought as one subtype of primary intrapulmonary thymomas (PIT). To the best of our knowledge, no bilateral multiple primary intrapulmonary spindle thymomas and treatment had been reported in literature. We fortunately diagnosed and managed this unique case, which might provide some experience for physicians who were interested in this disease.