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The commercialization of perovskite solar cells is badly limited by stability, an issue determined mainly by perovskite. Herein, inspired by a natural creeper that can cover the walls through suckers, we adopt polyhexamethyleneguanidine hydrochloride as a molecular creeper on perovskite to inhibit its decomposition starting from the annealing process. The molecule possesses a long-line molecular structure where the guanidinium groups can serve as suckers that strongly anchor cations through multiple hydrogen bonds. These features make the molecular creeper can cover perovskite grains and inhibit perovskite decomposition by suppressing cations' escape. The resulting planar perovskite solar cells achieve an efficiency of 25.42% (certificated 25.36%). Moreover, the perovskite film and device exhibit enhanced stability even under harsh damp-heat conditions. The devices can maintain >96% of their initial efficiency after 1300 hours of operation under 1-sun illumination and 1000 hours of storage under 85% RH, respectively. The decomposition of perovskite materials during annealing could impact on their stability. Here, the authors adopt a molecular creeper to inhibit perovskite decomposition by suppressing the escape of cations, achieving certified efficiency of 25.36% for solar cells with operational stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: This study not only provide a theoretical basis for screening drought-resistant yellowhorn rootstocks but also lay the foundation for the research on the drought resistance mechanism of yellowhorn. Drought is a major limiting factor in the production and cultivation of yellowhorn, an important woody oil species in China. It is important to select excellent drought-resistant rootstocks, and the current reproduction of rootstocks of yellowhorn is mainly through seed propagation. In this study, we analyzed the phenotypes, physiology and anatomy of the F1 generation of five yellowhorn varieties ('Zhongshi 1', 'Zhongshi 4', 'Zhongshi 7', 'Zhongshi 9' and 'Yuanda') which are currently the main promoted varieties of yellowhorn. The changes in physiological traits were used to comprehensively rank drought resistance by the membership function method. The results showed that the drought resistance of different varieties was in the order 'Zhongshi 9' > 'Zhongshi 4' > 'Yuanda' > 'Zhongshi 7' > 'Zhongshi 1'. In addition, we investigated the molecular signature of two yellowhorn varieties exhibiting a large difference in levels of drought resistance using transcriptome data. A total of 119 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found between the 2 yellowhorn varieties under drought stress. Based on KEGG analysis, DEGs were mostly enriched in three pathways. According to the correlation analysis between weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and physiological traits, a total of four co-expression networks with high correlation were constructed, and some hub genes of yellowhorn in response to drought stress were found. We carried out a comprehensive evaluation of yellowhorn drought tolerance based on parental lines. It solves the current problems faced in the breeding of yellowhorn and lays the foundation for studying the molecular mechanism of drought resistance in yellowhorn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global workforce faces a common problem: women are underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines. Based on goal congruity theory, the present study examined Chinese college students' career interests. In Study 1, a total of 413 Science/Engineering and Medicine/Business majors chose between two jobs: one was masculine, and one was feminine; one afforded a life goal, and the other did not. The life goals were agentic (high salary), or communal (time to spend with family, helping others, and social connection). Results showed that men and Science/Engineering majors preferred masculine jobs more than feminine ones, whereas women and Medicine/Business majors preferred feminine jobs more than masculine ones. Among the four life goals, family-friendly jobs were valued the highest for Science/Engineering men. However, high-salary jobs were valued as high as family-friendly jobs for Science/Engineering women. Medicine/Business majors did not differentiate among the four life goals. To replicate the results regarding life goals, 84 Science/Engineering and Medicine/Business majors participated in Study 2, where they ranked four jobs that afforded a different goal. High-salary and family-friendly jobs were rated higher than the other two types of jobs for Science/Engineering and Medicine/Business majors. Our study showed the impact of different life goals on career preference. Theoretical and practical implications of the results were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil pollution with heavy metals has become a global issue that can be addressed via immobilization through the application of biochar. In the present study, we hypothesized that biochar derived from bamboo helps mitigate the toxicity of chromium (Cr) in wheat plants grown in soil contaminated with Cr at 0, 50, 100, and 200 mg kg−1. The biochar produced was brittle, porous, and alkaline with a surface area of 46.93 m2 g−1and pore size of 0.04 cm3 g−1. The elemental composition of biochar was carbon (C = 77.63%), oxygen (O = 18.32%), hydrogen (H = 2.81%), calcium (N = 1.07%), and sulfur (S = 0.17%) determined through energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed the occurrence of carboxylic or phenolic, aliphatic, amide, and aromatic groups. The results of the toxicity study revealed that the interaction of various concentrations of Cr and biochar was significant for shoot and root biomass because both the parameters were sensitive to Cr at higher concentrations. For instance, Cr concentration with 50, 100, and 200 mg kg−1 reduced shoot dry biomass by 30.54%, 45.45%, and 69.94%; root dry biomass by 26.40%, 43.39%, and 57.14%; carotenoid contents by 5.50%, 25.86%, and 24.92%; stomatal conductance by 23.46%, 35.60%, and 44.34%; photosynthetic rate by 12.11%, 25.59%, and 40.16%; LRWC by 7.01%, 15.12%, and 26.52%; intercellular concentration by 10.95%, 20.73%, and 35.335%. In addition, wheat growth parameters such as proline and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were increased in the presence of Cr in the range of 4.93 to 102.46% in roots, while 20 to 81.86% in shoots. Similarly, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) activities in roots were enhanced in the range of 7.26 to 84.81% and 34.63 to 93.74%, and 15.63 to 76.73% and 77.25 to 190.86% in shoots after the exposure of wheat plants to Cr at 50, 100, and 200 mg kg−1. On the other hand, catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activities in shoots were significantly reduced upon exposure to Cr at 100 and 200 mg kg−1 suggesting that it was beyond the capacity of these antioxidants to scavenge reactive species. It was noted that biochar application at 10% significantly (P < 0.05) reduced MDA, proline contents, SOD, CAT, POX, and H2O2 activities in roots and shoots alleviating Cr toxicity at lower levels of treatments. Therefore, the present study concluded that strict measures should be taken for the removal of Cr from wastewater before they are discharged and used for irrigation purposes because the toxic effects of Cr were not completely alleviated at higher levels of Cr in the presence of biochar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and prognosis of extracranial malignant rhabdoid tumors (eMRTs) in children. A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published in PUBMED, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) was conducted. The search was limited to studies published between Jan 1, 1990 to Dec 31, 2022, with the last search done on Jan 31, 2023. We identified 496 papers through the literature search, and 12 retrospective cohort studies with 398 patients were included. The pooled age at diagnosis for malignant rhabdoid tumor of the kidney (MRTK) was 10.009 months (95%CI (7.542–12.476)), while extracranial malignant rhabdoid tumor (EERT) was 25.917 months (95%CI (17.304–34.530)). Among the 398 patients with eMRTs, chemotherapy treatment rate (86.8% (95%CI (74.4–96.0%))) was more frequently than radiotherapy treatment (45.4% (95%CI (38.1–52.6%))). The rate of metastasis in all patients was 41.4% (95%CI (33.9–48.9%)), in which the lung metastasis was occupied 70.4% (95%CI (58.0–81.6%)). SMARCB1/INI1 mutation was up to 93.2% (95%CI (81.3–99.8%)). The rate of total surgical resection was 50.4% (95%CI (35.2–65.6%)), while pooled proportion of death in all patients was 68.7% (95%CI (56.9–79.5%)). Conclusion: EMRTs are highly malignant tumors associated with high mortality rates. The loss of SMARCB1/INI1 gene and the protein expression is observed in the vast majority of eMRTs patients. Patients that suffered MRTK are younger than patients with extrarenal EERT and are more prone to lung metastasis, but there is no significant difference in overall survival, possibly due to the higher rate of R0 resection of primary tumors in MRTK. Trial registration: The study was registered on PROSPERO with registration number CRD42023400985. What is Known: • Malignant rhabdoid tumor (MRT) is a rare and highly malignant tumor that may originate from embryonic stem cells. The incidence of MRT is exceptionally low, estimated at 0.00006%. • Malignant rhabdoid tumor of the kidney (MRTK) and extrarenal extra-cranial malignant rhabdoid tumor (EERT) tend to manifest between 11 to 18 months of age, with a 5-year survival rate of approximately 17%-36%. What is New: • There is no comprehensive meta-analysis or large-scale case series that reported to systematically introduce the eMRTs clinic outcome and prog-nosis based on largely pooled data. • This study performed a meta-analysis through an extensive literature search and clinical data analysis in order to mainly explore the clinical characteris-tics and prognosis of eMRTs, improving the understanding of eMRTs in children.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have demonstrated that exosomes (Exos) are involved in the regulation of macrophage polarization and osteoclast differentiation. However, the characteristics as well as roles of exosomes from human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs-Exos) in M1/M2 macrophage polarization and osteoclast differentiation remain unclear. Here, periodontal ligament cells were successfully extracted by method of improved Type-I collagen enzyme digestion. hPDLCs-Exos were extracted by ultracentrifugation. hPDLCs-Exos were identified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and western blotting (WB). Osteoclast differentiation was evaluated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), WB and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining. M1/M2 macrophage polarization were evaluated by RT-qPCR and WB. The results showed hPDLCs-Exos promoted osteoclast differentiation and M2 macrophage polarization, but inhibited M1 macrophage polarization. Moreover, M1 macrophages inhibited osteoclast differentiation, whereas M2 macrophages promoted osteoclast differentiation. It has shown that hPDLCs-Exos promoted osteoclast differentiation by inhibiting M1 and promoting M2 macrophage polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Primary lung mucinous adenocarcinomas (LMAs) could be subclassified as the pure-solid, part-solid, and pneumonic types according to the findings of high-resolution computed tomography. This study aimed to expound on the clinicopathologic, radiologic, and prognostic characteristics of LMAs based on radiologic classification within a large set of patients. Methods: From November 2009 to December 2016, this study enrolled 294 resected LMAs, which were divided into the pure-solid (n = 169), part-solid (n = 87), and pneumonic (n = 38) types. The clinicopathologic and radiologic characteristics of the tumors were evaluated, and patient prognosis was determined through follow-up evaluation. Survival outcomes were calculated by Kaplan-Meier curves and compared using log-rank tests. The prognostic impact of clinicopathologic variables, including radiologic presentations, were evaluated by establishing a Cox proportional hazards model. Results: The LMAs were infrequently associated with lymph node metastasis (5.4 %), lymphatic/vascular invasion (4.4 %), or visceral pleural invasion (5.1 %). During the median 71-month follow-up period, recurrence was observed in 62 patients and death in 44 patients. The patients with pneumonic-type LMAs had a poorer prognosis (5-year recurrence-free survival [RFS], 23.7 %; 5-year overall survival [OS], 44.7 %) than those with the pure-solid type (RFS, 83.2 %; OS, 100 %) or part-solid type (RFS, 93.7 %; OS, 100 %). Besides, lymph node metastasis, emphysema, and clinical T stage were independent predictors of RFS and OS. Conclusion: Solitary-type LMA patients had excellent prognoses, whereas the survival outcomes for pneumonic-type LMA patients were dismal. Furthermore, pneumonic-type LMA patients were prone to intrapulmonary metastasis by means of aerogenous dissemination rather than distant metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has played an important role in the prevention and treatment of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in China. The integration of Chinese and Western medicine is an important feature of Chinese COVID-19 prevention and treatment. According to a series of evidence-based studies, TCM can reduce the infection rate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in high-risk groups. For patients with mild and moderate forms of COVID-19, TCM can relieve the related signs and symptoms, shorten the period of nucleic-acid negative conversion, and reduce conversion rate to the severe form of the disease. For COVID-19 patients with severe and critical illnesses, TCM can improve inflammatory indicators and blood oxygen saturation, shorten the hospital stay, and reduce the mortality rate. During recovery, TCM can improve patients' symptoms, promote organ function recovery, boost the quality of patients' life, and reduce the nucleic-acid repositive conversion rate. A series of mechanism research studies revealed that capability of TCM to treat COVID-19 through antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects, immune regulation, and protection of organ function via a multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intestinal cancer is one of the most frequent and lethal types of cancer. Modeling intestinal cancer using organoids has emerged in the last decade. Human intestinal cancer organoids are physiologically relevant in vitro models, which provides an unprecedented opportunity for fundamental and applied research in colorectal cancer. "Human intestinal cancer organoids" is the first set of guidelines on human intestinal organoids in China, jointly drafted and agreed by the experts from the Chinese Society for Cell Biology and its branch society: the Chinese Society for Stem Cell Research. This standard specifies terms and definitions, technical requirements, test methods for human intestinal cancer organoids, which apply to the production and quality control during the process of manufacturing and testing of human intestinal cancer organoids. It was released by the Chinese Society for Cell Biology on 24 September 2022. We hope that the publication of this standard will guide institutional establishment, acceptance and execution of proper practocal protocols, and accelerate the international standardization of human intestinal cancer organoids for clinical development and therapeutic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organoids have attracted great interest for disease modelling, drug discovery and development, and tissue growth and homeostasis investigations. However, lack of standards for quality control has become a prominent obstacle to limit their translation into clinic and other applications. "Human intestinal organoids" is the first guideline on human intestinal organoids in China, jointly drafted and agreed by the experts from the Chinese Society for Cell Biology and its branch society: the Chinese Society for Stem Cell Research. This standard specifies terms and definitions, technical requirements, test methods, inspection rules for human intestinal organoids, which is applicable to quality control during the process of manufacturing and testing of human intestinal organoids. It was originally released by the Chinese Society for Cell Biology on 24 September 2022. We hope that the publication of this standard will guide institutional establishment, acceptance and execution of proper practical protocols and accelerate the international standardization of human intestinal organoids for applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite remarkable initial responses of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors in ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, cancers eventually develop resistance within one to two years. This study aimed to compare the properties of iruplinalkib (WX‑0593) with other ALK inhibitors and report the comprehensive characterization of iruplinalkib against the crizotinib resistance. The inhibitory effect of iruplinalkib on kinase activity was detected. A kinase screen was performed to evaluate the selectivity of iruplinalkib. The effect of iruplinalkib on related signal transduction pathways of ALK and c-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1) kinases was examined. The cellular and in vivo activities of ALK inhibitors were compared in engineered cancer-derived cell lines and in mice xenograft models, respectively. Human hepatocytes derived from three donors were used for evaluating hepatic enzyme inducing activity. HEK293 cell lines expressing transportors were used to invesigated the drug interaction potential mediated by several transporters. The results showed iruplinalkib potently inhibited the tyrosine autophosphorylation of wild-type ALK, ALKL1196M, ALKC1156Y and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)L858R/T790M. The inhibitory effects of iruplinalkib in patient-derived xenograft and cell line-derived xenograft models were observed. Moreover, iruplinalkib showed robust antitumor effects in BALB/c nude mice xenograft models with ALK-/ROS1-positive tumors implanted subcutaneously, and the tumor suppressive effects in crizotinib-resistant model was significantly better than that of brigatinib. Iruplinalkib did not induce CYP1A2, CYP2B6 and CYP3A4 at therapeutic concentration, and was also a strong inhibitor of MATE1 and MATE2K transporters, as well as P-gp and BCRP. In conclusion, iruplinalkib, a highly active and selective ALK/ROS1 inhibitor, exhibited strong antitumor effects in vitro and in crizotinib-resistant models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the routine use of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) to diagnose pneumothorax (PTX) in mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted including mechanically ventilated supine patients who received EIT examinations. The EIT-based tidal variation was divided into ventral and dorsal regions of interest (ROIs): upper right (UR, ROI1), upper left (UL, ROI2) lower right (LR, ROI3), and lower left (LL, ROI4), and the ventilation defect score (DS) was calculated in each quadrant. Furthermore, horizontal ventral ventilation index (HVVI) was defined as ROI1% / ROI2% in the two ventral quadrants if ROI1% > ROI2%, otherwise HVVI = ROI2% / ROI1%. Results: A total of 203 patients were included, 25 of them with confirmed PTX. In the PTX patients, preceding cardiac surgery was the most common cause of PTX. Compared with the patients without PTX, the PTX patients had a higher DS in the ventral quadrants [median and interquartile range (IQR): 1.00 (0.00, 2.00) vs. 0.00 (0.00, 0.00), P < 0.001] respectively, but similar in the dorsal quadrants [median and IQR: 1.00 (0.00, 1.00) vs. 0.00 (0.00, 1.00), P = 0.722]. Moreover, a higher HVVI was found in the PTX group [median and IQR: 2.51 (1.58, 3.52) vs. 1.36 (1.15, 1.77), P < 0.001]. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the HVVI to differentiate PTX from non-PTX was 0.88, with a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 90% when the cut-off value was 2.57. Conclusion: The ventilation defect in the ventral regions and a high HVVI on EIT were observed in mechanically ventilated patients with PTX, which should trigger further diagnostics to confirm it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposures during pregnancy could lead to adverse birth outcomes, including neurobehavioral development defects. However, limited studies explored the effects and potential epigenetic mechanisms of maternal PM2.5 exposure on offspring spatial memory defects. This study aims to explore the effects and underlying epigenetic mechanisms of maternal concentrated ambient PM2.5 exposure in male mice offspring with spatial memory defects. Pregnant female C57BL/6 mice were exposed daily to concentrated ambient PM2.5 (CAP) or filtered air (FA) throughout gestation, with the concentration of particulates (102.99 ± 78.74 μg/m3) and (2.78 ± 1.19 μg/m3), respectively. Adult male mice offspring were subsequently assessed for spatial learning and memory ability using Morris Water Maze tests and locomotor activities in open field tests. The hippocampus of the male mice offspring was harvested to test mRNA expression and DNA methylation. Results from the probe test of Morris Water Maze showed that the mice offspring in the CAP group had shorter swimming distance travelled in the target quadrant, shorter duration in the target quadrant, and less number of entries into the target quadrant (p < 0.05), suggesting spatial memory impairments. The acquisition trials of Morris Water Maze did not show a significant difference in learning ability between the groups. The mRNA level of interleukin 6 (IL-6) in the CAP group hippocampus (10.80 ± 7.03) increased significantly compared to the FA group (1.08 ± 0.43). Interestingly, the methylation levels of the CpG sites in the IL-6 promoter region declined significantly in the CAP group, (5.66 ± 0.83)% vs. (4.79 ± 0.48)%. Prenatal exposure to concentrated ambient PM2.5 induced long-lasting spatial memory defects in male mice offspring. The underlying biological mechanism might be mediated by an inflammatory reaction which is regulated by DNA methylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and heavy metal resistance genes (MRGs) in extracellular and intracellular DNA (eDNA and iDNA) has received considerable attention in recent years owing to the potential threat to human health and the ecosystem. As a result, we investigated six ARGs, three MRGs, and two mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in the municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWWTP) and its adjacent environments. Results revealed that the absolute abundances of eARGs and eMRGs were lower than iARGs and iMRGs in MWWTP. By contrast, eARGs and eMRGs were higher in river sediments. Among ARGs, aminoglycoside resistance genes (aadA) was the most abundant gene (3.13 × 102 to 2.31 × 106 copies/mL in iDNA; 1.27 × 103 to 7.23 × 105 copies/mL in eDNA) in MWWTP, while zntA gene (9.4 × 102 to 3.97 × 106 copies/mL in iDNA; 3.2 × 103 to 6 × 105 copies/mL in eDNA) was amongst the MRGs. Notably, intI1 was enriched and positively correlated with iDNA (tetA, sul1, blaCTX-M, ermB, and merA) and eDNA (blaCTX-M, ermB, and merA), demonstrating its function in the proliferation of resistance genes. This widespread distribution of ARGs, MRGs, and MGEs in MWWTP and its adjacent river sediments will help clarify the transmission routes within these environments and provide a theoretical basis for better monitoring and mitigation of such dissemination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study simulated catechol concentration of coal chemical wastewater to acclimate activated sludge. The degradation performance of catechol, the variation of organic toxicity and bacterial community structure in sludge during acclimation were investigated. The results showed that the ability of sludge to degrade COD and catechol was increased through the acclimation process. With the deepening of acclimation, the sludge organic toxicity was 54.3 ± 2.0%, 82.4 ± 3.0% and 91.6 ± 3.3% in blank group, mid-acclimation stage (catechol concentration was 50 mg/L) and end-acclimation stage (catechol concentration was 100 mg/L), respectively, and the organic matter with molecular weight of 5 K to 10 kDa was the main contributor to sludge toxicity. Moreover, metagenomic analysis revealed that the original bacterial expressed stress responses under the catechol toxicity inhibition at mid-acclimation stage. As the adjustment of enzyme system caused by the stress responses, the functional degradation enzymes gradually formed and the functional genes were enriched at end-acclimation stage, which were shown to be the emergence of dominant bacterial groups (Azoarcus, Thauera, Dechloromonas). The enzyme content and the abundance of dominant bacterial groups at end-acclimation stage increased by 20.6% and 45.0%, respectively, which enhanced the degradation performance of high concentration catechol and secondary metabolites of sludge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reproductive toxicity induced by benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) exposure has received great ecotoxicological concerns. However, huge gaps on the molecular mechanism still exist in bivalves. In this study, reproduction-related indicators were investigated in female scallops Chlamys farreri during life cycle of proliferative, growth, mature, and spawn stages, under gradient concentrations of B[a]P at 0, 0.04, 0.4, and 4 μg/L. Meanwhile, a multi-stage ovarian transcriptome analysis under 4 μg/L B[a]P exposure was also conducted to elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms. The results indicated that life-cycle exposure to 0.4 and 4 μg/L B[a]P significantly decreased GSI and sex steroid levels. Even 0.04 μg/L B[a]P could play the adverse role in DNA integrity at the mature and spawn stages. Ovarian histological sections showed that B[a]P inhibited the maturation and release of oocytes. Through the functional enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from transcriptome data, 18 genes involved in endocrine disruption effects, DNA damage and repair, and oogenesis were selected and further determined by qRT-PCR. The downregulation of genes involved in steroidogenic and estrogen signaling pathways indicated that B[a]P could cause endocrine disruption through both receptor-dependent and receptor-independent pathways. The variations of gene expressions involved in DNA single-strand break and repair implied the presence of toxic mechanisms similar with vertebrates. Additionally, the changes of gene expressions of cell cycle, apoptosis, and cell adhesion suggested that exposure to B[a]P possibly caused the reproductive toxicity effects by affecting oogenesis. Taken together, this study was a pioneer in combining genome-wide transcriptomic analysis with its corresponding reproductive indicators (GSI, sex steroid levels, DNA single-strand break, and histological sections) to explore the bivalves' toxic mechanisms under B[a]P exposure. Meanwhile, some genes involved in estrogen signaling pathway and DNA damage were firstly analyzed in bivalves, and the expression data might be useful in establishing new hypotheses and discovering new biomarkers for marine biomonitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) are a valuable animal model of essential hypertension. The increasing use of SHRs in neuroimaging has generated an urgent demand for a template set that provides a reference for advanced data analysis. Structural T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional MRI scans that were used to build the template set were obtained from 8 SHRs longitudinally scanned in vivo at 10, 24 and 52 weeks of age. These symmetric multi-contrast templates were constructed by iterative registration and averaging. The cortical atlas was derived from the Tohoku atlas, and the subcortical regions were manually delineated based on the templates. A set of SHR brain images named the Hebei Medical University rat brain template set (HRT) comprised 3D symmetric T2WI, raw T2-weighted signal with no added diffusion weighting (B0), fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD) and blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) templates; tissue probability maps (TPMs) of gray matter (GM), white matter (WM) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); and a whole-brain atlas with 163 labels. We quantitatively validated the template and characterized the longitudinal changes in brain morphology in different brain tissues as SHRs aged. To our knowledge, the HRT is the first MRI template set for SHRs. We believe that the HRT can serve as a beneficial tool for precise analysis of the SHR brain using structural and functional MRI, which can promote neuroimaging studies on essential hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydroquinone is one of the main pollutants in coal-gasification wastewater, which is biologically toxic and difficult to remove. The aerobic biodegradation rate, organic toxicity, and microbial community structure at different acclimation stages of degradation of hydroquinone by activated sludge were investigated. In each acclimation cycle, the removal of hydroquinone reached 100% after 5 days, indicating that high-concentration hydroquinone in the activated sludge could be completely biodegraded. When the microbial flora was inhibited by the influent hydroquinone, the enzyme system experienced stress conditions and led to the secretion of secondary metabolites, extracellular protein of 5–10 kDa mainly contributing to the sludge organic toxicity. Microbial diversity analysis showed that with the increase of the concentration of hydroquinone, β-Proteus bacteria such as Azoarcus and Dechloromonas gradually accumulated, which improved the removal of hydroquinone with aerobic activated sludge in the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system. As the inhibition degree exceeded the appropriate tolerance range of microorganisms, bacteria would secrete much more secondary metabolites, and the organic toxicity of sludge would reach a relatively high level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image registration is a challenging NP-hard problem within the computer vision field. The differential evolutionary algorithm is a simple and efficient method to find the best among all the possible common parts of images. To improve the efficiency and accuracy of the registration, a knowledge-fusion-based differential evolution algorithm is proposed, which combines segmentation, gradient descent method, and hybrid selection strategy to enhance the exploration ability in the early stage and the exploitation ability in the later stage. The proposed algorithms have been implemented and tested with CEC2013 benchmark and real image data. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is superior to the existing algorithms in terms of solution quality, convergence speed, and solution success rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms behind ADE of SARS-CoV-2 is critical for development of safe and effective therapies. Here, we report that two neutralizing mAbs, MW01 and MW05, could enhance the infection of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus on FcγRIIB-expressing B cells. X-ray crystal structure determination and S trimer-binding modeling showed that MW01 and MW05 could bind to RBDs in S trimer with both "up" and "down" states. While, the neutralizing mAb MW07, which has no ADE activity only binds to RBD in S trimer with "up" state. Monovalent MW01 and MW05 completely diminished the ADE activity compared with their bivalent counterparts. Moreover, both macropinocytosis and endocytosis are confirmed involving in ADE of SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviral infection. Blocking endosome transportation and lysosome acidification could inhibit the ADE activity mediated by MW05. Together, our results identified a novel ADE mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus in vitro, FcγRIIB-mediated uptake of SARS-CoV-2/mAb complex with bivalent interaction. By distinguishing between two types of neutralizing antibodies that either exhibit or lack antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) activity, FcγRIIB and bivalent binding are shown to be required for ADE in SARS-CoV-2 infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Localizing the source of ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion (EAS) is challenging. This study compared the diagnostic value of 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT in tumors with EAS. Methods: Thirty-six patients with a suspicion of EAS were enrolled to undergo both 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT within 4 weeks for comparison. Twenty-three underwent surgical resection or biopsy. Immunohistochemical staining for SSTR2 and Ki-67 was performed to correlate with 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake and 18F-FDG uptake, respectively. Results: EAS tumors were observed in 20/23 patients. Among the 20 patients with histologically proven EAS tumors, 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT correctly identified the tumor in 15 (75.0%), with an SUVmax ranging from 1.4 to 20.7 (6.7 ± 5.5). 18F-FDG PET/CT correctly identified the tumor in 12 (60.0%) patients, with an SUVmax ranging from 1.8 to 10.0 (4.0 ± 2.1). Moreover, 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT unmasked the sources of EAS in 6 patients with negative 18F-FDG uptake, and 18F-FDG PET/CT unmasked the sources in 3 patients with negative 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake, resulting in EAS tumors being identified in 18 (90%) patients by combining 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT. Conclusions: 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT are complementary in localizing and discriminating the source of EAS. 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT combined with 18F-FDG PET/CT had higher detection rate than each alone. Trial registration: 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in Neuroendocrine Tumors (NCT04041882) URL of registry: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04041882 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In visual statistical learning, one can extract the statistical regularities of target locations in an incidental manner. The current study examined the impact of salient perceptual cues on one type of visual statistical learning: probability cueing effects. In a visual search task, the target appeared more often in one quadrant (i.e., rich) than the other quadrants (i.e., sparse). Then, the screen was rotated by 90° and the targets appeared in the four quadrants with equal probabilities. In Experiment 1 without the addition of salient perceptual cues, adults showed significant probability cueing effects, but did not show a persistent attentional bias in the testing phase. In Experiments 2, 3, and 4, salient perceptual cues were added to the rich or the sparse quadrants. Adults showed significant probability cueing effects but no persistent attentional bias. In Experiment 5, younger children, older children, and adults showed significant probability cueing effects. All three groups also showed an attentional gradient phenomenon: reaction times were slower when the targets were in the sparse quadrant diagonal to, rather than adjacent to, the rich quadrant. Furthermore, both children groups showed a persistent egocentric attentional bias in the testing phase. These findings indicated that salient perceptual cues enhanced but did not reduce probability cueing effects, children and adults shared similar basic attentional mechanisms in probability cueing effects, and children and adults showed differences in the persistence of attentional bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In visual statistical learning (VSL), one can extract and exhibit memory for the statistical regularities of target locations in an incidental manner. The current study examined the development of VSL using the probability cueing paradigm with salient perceptual cues. We also investigated the elicited attention gradient phenomenon in VSL. In a visual search task, the target first appeared more often in one quadrant (i.e., rich) than the other quadrants (i.e., sparse). Then, the participants rotated the screen by 90° and the targets appeared in the four quadrants with equal probabilities. Each quadrant had a unique background color and was, hence, associated with salient perceptual cues. 1st–4th graders and adults participated. All participants showed probability cueing effects to a similar extent. We observed an attention gradient phenomenon, as all participants responded slower to the sparse quadrant that was distant from, rather than the ones that were adjacent to the rich quadrant. In the testing phase, all age groups showed persistent attentional biases based on both egocentric and allocentric perspectives. These findings showed that probability cueing effects may develop early, that perceptual cues can bias attention guidance during VSL for both children and adults, and that VSL can elicit a spaced-based attention gradient phenomenon for children and adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low temperature of sewage in north China results in low performance of biological treatment at municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWTPs), especially in biological nitrogen removal. A modified two-stage A/O process with an embedded biofilm was proposed to enhance nitrogen removal. The operation performance of a pilot test was compared with an A2/O and SBR process at existing MWTPs to investigate the resistance to low temperature. The microbial communities for the three processes were compared based on the metagenomics results of 16sDNA high-throughput sequencing from activated sludge. The modified A/O resulted in a higher average removal of COD (90.12%) than A2/O (85.23%) and SBR (83.03%), especially of small-molecule organic compounds (< 500 Da) and macromolecular refractory organics (> 5 k Da); the TN removal rate of A2/O, SBR and the modified A/O was also increased from 74.47%, 70.63% and 78.46%, respectively. High-throughput sequencing revealed increased microbial diversity and an abundance of denitrifying functional bacteria was observed in the modified A/O process at low temperatures. The abundance of nitrite oxidation bacteria (NOB) including Nitrosomonas and Nitrospira, the amount was 1.76% and 2.34% in modified A/O, respectively, whereas NOB only accounted for 1.82% in A2/O and 1.35% in SBR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris in sludge extract (SE) from municipal excess sludge diluted with BG11 medium was investigated to achieve sludge reduction and microalgae cultivation. A maximum biomass of 1.404 ± 0.101 g/L was achieved at 15 days in a mixture of 25% BG11 and 75% sludge extract under 10,000-lx light. In early culture periods, heterotrophy dominated the process in the group with a high proportion of sludge extract of excess sludge extract containing relatively high amounts of organic material, which led to enhanced citrate synthase enzyme activities and reduced rubisco enzyme activities. Moreover, increasing the light intensity did not significantly improve biomass production due to its inhibitory effects on respiration in the early culture stages. The response surface model showed that organic matter was the main factor influencing biomass production from 0 to 2 days. The influence of light intensity on biomass production became more noticeable only after depleting the organic matter in sludge extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study was to validate whether regional ventilation and perfusion data measured by electrical impedance tomography (EIT) with saline bolus could discriminate three broad acute respiratory failure (ARF) etiologies. Methods: Perfusion image was generated from EIT-based impedance–time curves caused by 10 ml 10% NaCl injection during a respiratory hold. Ventilation image was captured before the breath holding period under regular mechanical ventilation. DeadSpace%, Shunt% and VQMatch% were calculated based on lung perfusion and ventilation images. Ventilation and perfusion maps were divided into four cross-quadrants (lower left and right, upper left and right). Regional distribution defects of each quadrant were scored as 0 (distribution% ≥ 15%), 1 (15% > distribution% ≥ 10%) and 2 (distribution% < 10%). Data percentile distributions in the control group and clinical simplicity were taken into consideration when defining the scores. Overall defect scores (DefectV, DefectQ and DefectV+Q) were the sum of four cross-quadrants of the corresponding images. Results: A total of 108 ICU patients were prospectively included: 93 with ARF and 15 without as a control. PaO2/FiO2 was significantly correlated with VQMatch% (r = 0.324, P = 0.001). Three broad etiologies of ARF were identified based on clinical judgment: pulmonary embolism-related disease (PED, n = 14); diffuse lung involvement disease (DLD, n = 21) and focal lung involvement disease (FLD, n = 58). The PED group had a significantly higher DeadSpace% [40(24)% vs. 14(15)%, PED group vs. the rest of the subjects; median(interquartile range); P < 0.0001] and DefectQ score than the other groups [1(1) vs. 0(1), PED vs. the rest; P < 0.0001]. The DLD group had a significantly lower DefectV+Q score than the PED and FLD groups [0(1) vs. 2.5(2) vs. 3(3), DLD vs. PED vs. FLD; P < 0.0001]. The FLD group had a significantly higher DefectV score than the other groups [2(2) vs. 0(1), FLD vs. the rest; P < 0.0001]. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC) for using DeadSpace% to identify PED was 0.894 in all ARF patients. The AUC for using the DefectV+Q score to identify DLD was 0.893. The AUC for using the DefectV score to identify FLD was 0.832. Conclusions: Our study showed that it was feasible to characterize three broad etiologies of ARF with EIT-based regional ventilation and perfusion. Further study is required to validate clinical applicability of this method. Trial registration clinicaltrials, NCT04081142. Registered 9 September 2019—retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT04081142. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to further optimize the solvothermal method for preparing Ti-doped CuGaS2 (CGS2:Ti) film, we have developed a simpler and rapider process of chemical synthesis for 30 min followed by annealing for 30 min. XRD, FESEM, EDAX, XPS, Raman spectra, UV–Vis–NIR absorption spectra and photoelectricity properties have been characterized. As a result, by partially replacing Ga atoms with Ti in the CGS2 chalcopyrite crystal, a narrow partially filled intermediate band (IB) was introduced, and two additional absorption bands were directly observed at 1.61 eV and 0.84 eV spectrum. A photoelectrochemical study of CGS2:Ti confirmed the broad-spectrum solar response produced by the IB effect. The present method is facile, does not need sulfuration process and large energy consumption, avoids the use of toxic substances and vacuum equipment, and may be a promising method for intermediate-band solar cells (IBSC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a multifunctional cotton fabric with durable superhydrophobic, antibacterial, and UV resistance properties was prepared by in situ growth of zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 on cotton fabric surface, followed by polydimethylsiloxane modification. The as-obtained multifunctional cotton fabric not only showed superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 153.0° ± 2.7°, but also displayed good UV resistance with a UV protection factor value of 32. Furthermore, the as-obtained cotton fabric exhibited excellent antibacterial activities against S. aureus and E. coli. Besides, the as-prepared multifunctional cotton fabric had good resistance to mechanical abrasion. Consequently, this multifunctional fabric could be potentially applied to antibacterial and anti-ultraviolet field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most powerful antigen-presenting cells known to date and play an important role in initiating and amplifying both innate and adaptive immune responses. Extracellular acidosis is an important hallmark of a variety of inflammatory processes and solid tumors. However, few studies have focused on the effect of extracellular acidosis on DCs and their functions. Cellular mechanical properties reflect the relationship between cell structure and function, including cytoskeleton (especially F-actin organization), membrane negative charges, membrane fluidity, and osmotic fragility. The study investigated the effects of extracellular acidosis on the DCs functions from the perspective of cellular migration and mechanical properties. The results showed that migration ability, F-actin contents, and membrane negative charges of DCs were reduced by extracellular acidosis no matter whether LPS stimulated its maturation or not. And these functions could not return to normal after removing acidic microenvironment, which revealed that the function impairment induced by extracellular acidosis might be irreversible. In addition, the proliferation capacity of stimulated allogeneic T cells was impaired by extracellular acidosis. Our results suggest extracellular acidosis may play an immunosuppressive role in DCs-mediated immune process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new technique was proposed to reduce the thermal distortion by heat recycling during laser cladding. The powder/gas mixture flew through a heat exchange channel mounted under the sheet substrate, and it was then heated by heat exchange. The temperature, deformation, microstructure, and the microhardness were investigated under the natural cooling, water forced cooling, and powder/gas mixture cooling conditions. The thermal power absorbed by the powder/gas mixture is 0.4% of the laser power and is much less than that of water (~ 36%), but the recycled laser energy preheated the powder and increased the thickness of the cladding layer. The deformation under the powder/gas mixture cooling condition lies between the natural cooling and the water cooling conditions. The results indicated that the cooling medium significantly affected the thermal history of thin plate substrate laser cladding and the property of cladding layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The benefits of growth hormone (GH) therapy in Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) children are well established, but there is still considerable controversy regarding whether GH treatment can improve cognitive, motor, and behavioral development in PWS children. The objectives of this meta-analysis were to quantitatively evaluate the effects of GH on cognitive, motor function, and behavioral development in PWS children. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effects of GH on cognitive, motor, and behavioral development in PWS children were identified by searching the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases. Intervention effects were represented by Hedges'g and pooled to calculate effect sizes using a random-effects model. Results: Ten relevant studies comprising data from 302 participants were finally included. We observed no significant difference in cognitive performance between the GH treatment group and the control group (p = 0.197). GH treatment was shown to remarkably improve motor development in PWS children compared with the control treatment (p < 0.001), with moderate positive treatment effects (Hedges'g [95% CI] = 0.71 [0.38, 1.03]). There were no significant differences between the GH group and the control group based on objective assessments of behavioral development (p = 0.53). Conclusions: The meta-analysis suggested that GH treatment had a significantly positive effect on motor development, with moderate treatment effects in PWS children; however, there was no evidence of effects on cognitive or behavioral development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalytic depolymerization of lignin to produce bio-oil, liquid fuels, and aromatic chemicals in high yields is important for a biorefinery to remain competitive. In this study, undoped and Ni-doped catalysts for depolymerization of rice husk lignin (RHL) were developed and analyzed. The results showed that the catalysts had hydrotalcite-like structures with lamellar morphology. With suitable Ni-doping amount, the catalysts had high activity, thus better promoted the depolymerization of RHL. Among all catalysts, the Ni1/4MgAl catalyst could best promote the cleavage of the β-O-4 aryl ether bond in RHL molecule and thus could substantially increase the yields of bio-oil. The depolymerization catalyzed by this catalyst was also found to be temperature-, time-, and solvent-dependent. This study provides information that can be beneficial to the biorefinery industries and may help promote the valorization of lignin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of oil exploitation is often accompanied by the generation of the corrosive gases, metal particles and minerals, which results in very serious corrosion and wear of petroleum machinery and equipment, which can be greatly reduced by modification of the surface properties of the materials. According to the theory of molecular interaction, the friction effect of a rough surface is better than that of a smooth surface, while fabrication of surfaces with appropriate roughness may reduce the friction. We present the construction of a grooved texture on the surface of 35CrMo using a nano-pulse laser. We found that some micro-/nano-structures were created on the surface, and that a superhydrophobic surface with a water contact angle of 156° and a sliding angle of less than 10° was obtained. Groove textures of different depths produced by using various laser energy densities, the friction coefficient of the superhydrophobic samples was significantly reduced from 0.55 to 0.28 after laser surface texturing under water lubrication conditions. This shows the improvement of the tribological properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superhydrophobic cotton fabrics with improved ultraviolet resistance were prepared via in situ growing NH2-MIL-125(Ti)(Ti-MOF) nanoparticles on cotton fibers and subsequently coating with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) under room temperature. The synergetic effect of Ti-MOFs nanoparticles and PDMS was critical and essential for obtaining a superhydrophobic coating with anti-UV property. The surface microstructure, chemical composition, and superhydrophobic property of the as-prepared fabrics were characterized by K/S value, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and water contact angle (WCA) measurements. The as-prepared cotton fabrics not merely exhibited desirable superhydrophobic property with a water contact angle (WCA) of 154.7 ± 0.7° and a sliding angle of 3.6°, but also displayed the considerable UV resistance. The oil–water separation, stability of UV protection and superhydrophobicity were also investigated. The superhydrophobicity, anti-ultraviolet property, and K/S value of as-prepared PDMS/Ti-MOFs@cotton fabrics were stable after 300 cycles of abrasion and 5 cycles of washing. The facile synthesis technique provided a simple method for scalable construction of multifunctional fabrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: A clinical case presenting secondary amenorrhea accompanied by an adrenal adenoma and hyperprogesteronemia is described in this study. Methods: Selective catheterization and sampling of adrenal and ovarian veins were performed. Results: The source of hyperprogesteronemia was located in the right adrenal gland. A progesterone-producing tumor in the right adrenal gland was diagnosed and removed. Twenty-six days after tumor resection, menstruation occurred. Conclusions: Progesterone-producing tumors should be considered with the presence of an adrenal mass and hyperprogesteronemia. Combined adrenal and ovarian venous sampling may help to identify the source of progesterone secretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Long-acting growth hormone (GH) has been developed to address the noncompliance and decreased efficacy associated with daily GH injections. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of long-acting GH replacement therapy in children with short stature. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the efficacy and safety of long-acting GH therapy in children with short stature in comparison with daily GH injections were searched in Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. A random-effect model was used to pool data using mean difference and odds ratios (OR). (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42018111105). Results: Seven relevant studies were finally included. Meta-analysis found there was no significant difference between high-dose long-acting GH and daily GH in terms of height velocity (HV) (mean difference (MD) = −0.10, 95% CI, −0.79 to 0.60, P = 0.79). Moreover, no significant difference was observed in height standard deviation scores (Ht SDS) between high-dose long-acting GH and daily GH (MD = −0.07, 95% CI, −0.18 to 0.03, P = 0.17). Treatment with high-dose long-acting GH significantly increased IGF-1 SDS when compared with daily GH (MD = 0.31, 95% CI, 0.06–0.56, P = 0.02). In safety assessment, no significant difference was observed in the incidence of adverse events between high-dose long-acting GH and daily GH (OR 1.42, 95% CI, 0.65–3.11, P = 0.38). Conclusions: There is no evidence to support differences in the effects of long-acting GH compared with those of daily GH. More RCTs that focus on the safety of high-dose long-acting GH treatment, especially the detection of adverse events caused by elevated levels of serum IGF-1, are needed in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A durable antibacterial and superhydrophobic viscose textile has been developed via in situ growing silver nanoparticles (NPs) on tannic acid (TA)-coated viscose textiles and further hydrophobic treatment under mild reaction condition. The surface morphology and chemical composition of the modified textile have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The as-prepared viscose textile shows high static water contact angles (> 150°) and excellent antibacterial properties against E. coli and S. aureus. The durability of the superhydrophobic and antibacterial textiles is evaluated by repeated stringent washing-cycles. Due to a good adhesion of Ag NPs on TA-coated viscose textiles, the as-prepared textiles retain their excellent antibacterial property and superhydrophobicity after 50 washing cycles. The robustness of superhydrophobicity and antibacterial activity allows this method to be developed and exploited in biomedical application in the future.Graphical abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four experiments are reported in which 60 younger children (7-8 years old), 60 older children (10-11 years old), and 60 young adults (18-25 years old) performed a conjunctive visual search task (15 per group in each experiment). The number of distractors of each feature type was unbalanced across displays to evaluate participants' ability to restrict search to the smaller subset of features. The use of top-down attention processes to restrict search was encouraged by providing external aids for identifying and maintaining attention on the smaller set. In Experiment 1, no external assistance was provided. In Experiment 2, precues and instructions were provided to focus attention on that subset. In Experiment 3, trials in which the smaller subset was represented by the same feature were presented in alternating blocks to eliminate the need to switch attention between features from trial to trial. In Experiment 4, consecutive blocks of the same subset features were presented in the first or second half of the experiment, providing additional consistency. All groups benefited from external support of top-down attention, although the pattern of improvement varied across experiments. The younger children benefited most from precues and instruction, using the subset search strategy when instructed. Furthermore, younger children benefited from blocking trials only when blocks of the same features did not alternate. Older participants benefited from the blocking of trials in both Experiments 3 and 4, but not from precues and instructions. Hence, our results revealed both malleability and limits of children's top-down control of attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bem (1974) reconceptualized masculinity and femininity as independent and orthogonal constructs that both men and women possess to varying degrees. This perspective was used as a starting point to investigate whether the contributions of gender-typed characteristics can help to account for commonly observed gender differences in wayfinding (the ability to identify one's current location and successfully navigate to an unseen location in the environment) favoring men. We further divided gender-typed characteristics into cognitive and personality characteristics to assess their separate influence on wayfinding and explored whether gender-typed characteristics predicted self-reported use of masculine wayfinding strategies (i.e., orientation strategies) and self-reported wayfinding competence. Participants were 452 college women and men in a southern U.S. public university. They completed the Gender-Stereotypic Characteristics questionnaire (Diekman and Eagly 2000), a social comparison questionnaire (created by the authors), a wayfinding strategy questionnaire (Lawton 1994), and a wayfinding competence questionnaire (Hegarty et al. 2002). For both men and women, higher masculine cognitive characteristics significantly correlated with greater use of orientation wayfinding strategies typical of men. For men, both higher masculine and feminine cognitive characteristics predicted better overall wayfinding competence whereas for women, only higher masculine cognitive characteristics predicted better overall wayfinding competence. For both men and women, higher feminine personality characteristics predicted poorer wayfinding competence. These results demonstrated the importance of considering cognitive and personality characteristics of masculinity and femininity in explaining individual differences in wayfinding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selenium (Se) is vital for health because of its antioxidative and anti-inflammation functions. The aim of this study was to determine if dietary selenium could inhibit the rat lung injury induced by ambient fine particulate matter (PM). Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated in seven groups ( n = 8). The rats in PM exposure group were intratracheally instilled with 40 mg/kg of body weight (b.w.) of PM suspension. The rats in Se prevention groups were pretreated with 17.5, 35, or 70 μg/kg b.w. of Se for 4 weeks, respectively. Then, the rats were exposed to 40 mg/kg b.w. of PM in the fifth week. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected to count the neutrophil numbers and to analyze the cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1)) related to inflammation, the markers related to oxidative stress (total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and malondialdehyde (MDA)), and the indicators related to cell damage (lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), total protein (TP), alkaline phosphatase (AKP)). The lung lobe that has not undergone bronchoalveolar lavage was processed for light microscopic examination. The results showed that the proportions of neutrophils in the BALF and the pathologic scores of the lung in PM-exposed groups were higher than that in the control group ( P < 0.05). Se pretreatment caused a dose-dependent decrease in TNF-α, IL-1β, sICAM-1, LDH, TP, AKP, and MDA when compared with the PM-only exposure group. Meanwhile, the dose-dependent increase in T-AOC, T-SOD, and GSH-Px activities were observed in rats pretreated with Se. In conclusion, Se pretreatment may protect rat lungs against inflammation and oxidative stress induced by PM, which suggests that Se plays an important role as a kind of potential preventative agent to inhibit the PM-induced lung injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to rapidly determine 13 representative sulfonamide (SA) residues in pork by using a surface-modified hydrophilic polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSSA) electrospun nanofibrous membrane as the solid-phase extraction (SPE) pretreatment sorbent, followed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) analysis. The highly hydrophilic nature of PSSA nanofibrous membrane created by vacuum plasma treatment was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), water contact angle, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. In the pretreatment procedures, 13 SA standards, which were spiked in the fatty pork samples, were extracted, enriched, and purified by the SPE procedure based on the principle of ion exchange with the sulfonic groups on the PSSA chains. Under the optimized conditions, the calibration curves of 13 SA compounds showed good linearities with correlation coefficients ( r) of more than 0.99 in the range of 50.0-200 μg kg. The mean recoveries of 13 SAs at the spiked concentrations of 50, 100, and 200 μg kg were in the range of 70.3-92.5 % with average RSDs ( n = 6) of less than 15 % (except for sulfacetamide, 56.9-61.6 %). Compared with other pretreatment methods reported previously, less organic solvent (especially without degreasing the extract with n-hexane) was used in this time-saving SPE procedure, which avoids the possibility of emulsification and therefore enhances the recoveries. The developed and validated analysis method was sensitive, accurate, rapid, convenient, environmentally friendly, and was successfully applied for the detection of 13 SA residues in commercially available pork samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ovarian cancer is one of the most common human malignancies in women. MiR-214 and semaphorin 4D (sema 4D) were found to be abhorrently expressed and involved in the progress of several kinds of malignant cancers. This study is aimed to investigate the cellular role of miR-214 and demonstrate that miR-214 negatively regulated sema 4D in ovarian cancer cells. The data showed that miR-214 expression was consistently lower in ovarian cancer tissues and cells than those in the normal controls. Over-expression of miR-214 in ovarian cancer SKOV-3 cells inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis. It was suggested that miR-214 functioned as the tumor suppressor in ovarian cancer. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that miR-214 possibly regulated sema 4D by binding the sema 4D messenger RNA (mRNA) 3′-untranslated region (UTR). Sema 4D mRNA and protein levels were up-regulated in ovarian cancer tissues and SKOV-3 cells. Up-regulation of miR-214 in SKOV-3 cell line suppressed the sema 4D expression in both protein and nucleic acid levels. While, down-regulation of miR-214 in SKOV-3 cells would increase sema 4D protein and nucleic acid expression levels. The effects of miR-214 up- and down-regulation on luciferase activities of wild-type (WT) sema 4D 3′-UTR were completely removed upon introduction of mutation in 3′-UTR of WT sema 4D. Therefore, the data also demonstrated that sema 4D was the direct target of miR-214 and was negatively regulated by miR-214 in ovarian cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]