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We used delayed sentence-picture verification tasks to investigate multilingual perceptual representations. In experiment 1, participants listened to sentences with implied shapes. After a 10-min interval, they judged whether pictures had been mentioned in the preceding sentences or not. Results in experiment 1 showed significant match effect in L1, but not in high proficient L2 or low proficient L3. In experiment 2, Participants listened to one language block, then immediately judged one picture block, totally three language-picture blocks. Results in experiment 2 were parallel to results in experiment 1. Our study supports the view of distributed conception: L2 and L3 are associated with less perceptual symbols than L1, indicating great impact of acquisition styles on perceptual representations. Our results show little impact of language proficiency levels on perceptual representations in delayed tasks.

Time perception has been known to depend on the temporal frequency of the stimulus. Previously, the effect of temporal frequency modulation was assumed to be monotonically lengthening or shortening. However, this study shows that temporal frequency affects time perception in a non-monotonic and modality-dependent manner. Four experiments investigated the time distortion effects induced by modulation of temporal frequency across auditory and visual modalities. Critically, the temporal frequency was parametrically manipulated across four levels (steady stimulus, 10-, 20-, and 30/40-Hz intermittent auditory/visual stimulus). Experiment 1, 2, and 3 consistently showed that a 10-Hz auditory stimulus was perceived as shorter than a steady auditory stimulus. Meanwhile, as the temporal frequency increased, the perceived duration of the intermittent auditory stimulus was lengthened. A 40-Hz auditory stimulus was perceived as longer than a 10- Hz auditory stimulus, but did not differ significantly from a steady one. Experiment 4 showed that, for the visual modality, a 10-Hz visual stimulus was perceived as longer than a steady stimulus, and the perceived duration was lengthened as temporal frequency increased. This study demonstrated that within the scope of the temporal frequencies examined in this study, there were differential distortion effects observed across sensory modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supercapacitors (SCs) are widely used in energy storage devices due to their superior power density and long cycle lifetime. However, the limited energy densities of SCs hinder their industrial application to a great extent. In this study, we present a new combination of metallic phosphide–carbon composites, synthesized by directly carbonizing (Ni1−xCox)5TiO7 nanowires via thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD) technology. The new method uses one-dimensional (1D) (Ni1−xCox)TiO7 nanowires as precursors and supporters for the in situ growth of intertwined porous CNF microspheres. These 1D nanowires undergo microstructure transformation, resulting in the formation of CoNiP nanoparticles, which act as excellent interconnected catalytic nanoparticles for the growth of porous 3D CNF microspheres. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of a unique 1D/3D structure, the agglomeration of nanoparticles can effectively be prevented. The resulting CNF microspheres exhibit an interconnected conductive matrix and provide a large specific surface area with abundant ion/charge transport channels. Consequently, at a scanning rate of 10 mV s−1, its specific capacitance in 1.0 M Na2SO4 + 0.05 M Fe(CN)63−/4− aqueous solution is as high as 311.7 mF cm−2. Furthermore, the CoNiP@CNFs composite film-based symmetrical SCs show an ultrahigh energy density of 20.08 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 7.20 kW kg−1, along with outstanding cycling stability, with 87.2% capacity retention after 10,000 cycles in soluble redox electrolytes. This work provides a new strategy for designing and applying high-performance binary transition metal phosphide/carbon composites for next-generation energy storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug-resistant bacteria and infectious diseases associated with biofilms pose a significant global health threat. The integration and advancement of nanotechnology in antibacterial research offer a promising avenue to combat bacterial resistance. Nanomaterials possess numerous advantages, such as customizable designs, adjustable shapes and sizes, and the ability to synergistically utilize multiple active components, allowing for precise targeting based on specific microenvironmental variations. They serve as a promising alternative to antibiotics with diverse medical applications. Here, we discuss the formation of bacterial resistance and antibacterial strategies, and focuses on utilizing the distinctive physicochemical properties of nanomaterials to achieve inherent antibacterial effects by investigating the mechanisms of bacterial resistance. Additionally, we discuss the advancements in developing intelligent nanoscale antibacterial agents that exhibit responsiveness to both endogenous and exogenous responsive stimuli. These nanomaterials hold potential for enhanced antibacterial efficacy by utilizing stimuli such as pH, temperature, light, or ultrasound. Finally, we provide a comprehensive outlook on the existing challenges and future clinical prospects, offering valuable insights for the development of safer and more effective antibacterial nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salinity is one of the main adverse environmental factors severely inhibiting rice growth and decreasing grain productivity. Developing rice varieties with salt tolerance (ST) is one of the most economical approaches to cope with salinity stress. In this study, the salt tolerance of 220 rice accessions from rice diversity panel l (RDP1), representing five subpopulations, were evaluated based on 16 ST indices at both seedling and reproductive stages under salt stress. An apparent inconsistency was found for ST between the two stages. Through a gene-based/tightly linked genome-wide association study with 201,332 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located within genes and their flanking regions were used, a total of 214 SNPs related to 251 genes, significantly associated with 16 ST-related indices, were detected at both stages. Eighty-two SNPs with low frequency favorable (LFF) alleles in the population were proposed to hold high breeding potential in improving rice ST. Fifty-four rice accessions collectively containing all these LFF alleles were identified as donors of these alleles. Through the integration of meta-quantitative trait locus (QTL) for ST and the response patterns of differential expression genes to salt stress, thirty-eight candidate genes were suggested to be involved in the regulation of rice ST. In total, the present study provides valuable information for further characterizing ST-related genes and for breeding ST varieties across whole developmental stages through marker-assisted selection (MAS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new composite of zeolite Beta and zeolite Y (denoted as Beta/Y) has been synthesized by overgrowing and/or epitaxially growing a layer of zeolite Beta on the pseudo-crystals of zeolite Y. The prepared sample was different from the mechanical mixture of these two phases, as shown by NH3-TPD and FE-SEM measurements. One type of remarkably strong acid site was observed for the H-type and the (Co, H)-type composite samples, whereas it is absent in the corresponding analogues of zeolite Beta, Y and their mechanical mixtures. This provides one type of new cationic site for Co2+ in the composites. With comparable contents of zeolite Beta and zeolite Y phases, (Co, H)-Beta/Y catalysts showed much higher catalytic activity than the physical mixture of (Co, H)-Y and (Co, H)-Beta and also the pure phases of these two materials for the reduction of NO by methane (CH4-SCR) in the presence of excess oxygen. This resulted from the formation of a large number of more stable NO y (with y =2, 3) species enhanced by the presence of such type of strong acid site, and hence one type of new Co2+ ion as well, and more highly dispersed Co x O y species, as revealed by NH3-TPD, NO-TPD, NO2-TPD, (NO+O2)-TPD and DR UV–vis spectroscopy. It was shown that the Co2+ cations in the ion-exchanged sites, strong Brösted acid sites and probably Co oxide-like species collaboratively contribute to the CH4-SCR of NO at high reaction temperature. In contrast, when the reaction was carried out below 700K, it seems that Co2+ cations play a major role. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The NO2, NO (O2) adsorption and temperature programmed desorption (TPD) were studied systematically to probe into the selective catalytic reduction of NO by methane (CH4–SCR) over CoH-ZSM-5 (SiO2/Al2O3 =25, Co/Al=0.132–0.312). Adsorption conditions significantly affect the adsorption of NO, NO2 and NO+O2. Adsorbed NO species are unstable and desorbed below the reactive temperature 523K. Increasing adsorption temperature results in the decrease of the adsorbed NO species amount. The amount of –NO y species formed from NO2 adsorption increases with the increase of NO2 concentration in the adsorption process, while decreases significantly with the increase of adsorption temperature. Though NO species are adsorbed weakly on CoH-ZSM-5, competitive adsorption between NO and –NO y species decreases the amount of adsorbed –NO y species. Similar desorption profiles of NO2 were obtained over CoH-ZSM-5 while they were contacted with NO2 or NO+O2 followed by TPD. If NO2 was essential to form adsorbed –NO y species, the amount of adsorbed –NO y species for NO+O2 adsorption should be the least among the adsorptions of NO2, NO+O2 and NO+NO2 because of the lowest NO2 concentration and highest NO concentration. In fact, the amount of adsorbed –NO y species is between the other two adsorption processes. These indicate that the formation of adsorbed –NO y species may not originate from NO2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• A fcc Mo 2 N thin film electrode with porous nano-column array had been prepared by magnetron sputtering. • Electrochemical properties of Mo 2 N as lithium ion battery anode are evaluated. • The porous nano-column array micro-structure enable the Mo 2 N thin film electrode having fast charge transfer. A face-centered cubic Mo 2 N film is successfully prepared on Cu foil by reactive DC magnetron sputtering. The thickness of Mo 2 N film is about 1.5 μm with porous and nano-column array. The Mo 2 N film can be directly used as anode electrode for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) without additional conductive agent and binder. Electrochemical tests including cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge circulation and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) show that the Mo 2 N film electrode exhibits high reversible capacity of 127 μAh/cm2 at a high current density of 1000 μA/cm2 and low charge transfer resistance due to the porous nano-column array. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Studies have shown that dyslipidemia may contribute to chronic tissue hypoxia. However, it remains unclear whether dyslipidemia affects chronic hypoxia in patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). Therefore, from a clinical practice perspective, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of dyslipidemia on chronic hypoxia in OSAHS patients., Method: In athis cross-sectional survey, 320 consecutive OSAHS patients were enrolled. By screening under different conditions, 211 patients were finally enrolled in the study. Patients were grouped according to apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), into a mild-to-moderate (AHI < 30) group and severe OSAHS group (AHI ≥ 30)., Results: Comparative analysis shows that 45% of mild-to-moderate OSAHS patients had severe hypoxemia. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses showed that AHI, triglycerides (TG), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) had independent effects on lowest oxygen saturation (LSpO 2 ), and that AHI and TG levels had independent effects on mean oxygen saturation (MSpO 2 ). The patients were stratified by AHI and further grouped by TG and HDL-C abnormalities in each subgroup. A difference analysis showed that LSpO 2 and MSpO 2 were significantly decreased in OSAHS patients with dyslipidemia (high TG and low HDL-C levels) in the AHI ≥ 30 subgroup ( P < 0.05). Finally, in order to further clarify the impact of the selected indicators of hypoxemia in OSAHS patients with different degrees of airway obstruction, subgroup analysis was conducted based on OSAHS severity. In the AHI < 30 subgroup, LSpO 2 was significantly decreased in patients with abnormal HDL-C., Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that abnormalities in TG and HDL-C, in addition to upper airway obstruction, are among the factors that aggravate chronic hypoxia in tissues from OSAHS patients., Competing Interests: None., (AJTR Copyright © 2022.)

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis (AS), but the mechanism is different from classical AS risk factors. Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) is involved in the pathophysiology of AS via multiple pathways, and its expression is closely related to hypoxia. The association of NAMPT with hypoxia and the risk of cardiovascular morbidity in the patients of OSAHS remains to be defined. Therefore, we carried out this study to investigate the association of NAMPT with hypoxia and the risk of early cardiovascular disease [based on the Framingham risk score (FRS)] in patients with OSAHS., Methods: A total of 82 patients diagnosed with OSAHS were enrolled in this cross-sectional survey design, along with 18 healthy controls who were age- and gender-matched. The general characteristic parameters including height and weight as well as biochemical parameters including blood glucose and lipid were collected from the subjects. The Framingham vascular risk score calculates the risk of developing vascular disease based on the above indicators. Polysomnography was performed in patients with OSAHS, and blood oxygen saturation and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) were collected, and patients were grouped by disease extent by AHI. The serum NAMPT level of the research subjects was detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Spearman correlation analysis and multiple linear regression to explore the independent correlations of hypoxia on serum NAMPT activity in OSAHS patients., Results: Serum NAMPT level in patients with OSAHS increased with the severity of the disease. Correlation analysis showed that NAMPT was significantly positively correlated with FRS in patients with OSAHS (r=0.829, P<0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis with FRS as the outcome measure showed that NAMPT activity and minimum blood oxygen saturation were independent associated with the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (β=0.03, P=0.000; β=-0.13, P=0.034). Univariate and multivariate regression analyses revealed that hypoxia was significantly associated with NAMPT levels in OSAHS patients, and the oxygen desaturation index (ODI) was independent associated with the expression of NAMPT activity (β=4.09, P=0.000)., Conclusions: In patients with OSAHS, hypoxia is independently associated with NAMPT. NAMPT increases the risk of cardiovascular morbidity in this population may be influenced by hypoxia.

Switch costs are defined as the phenomenon that bilinguals have worse performance in switch trials relative to non-switch trials. Bilinguals' naming language and switch predictability have been found to influence the magnitude of switch costs. However, how these two factors modulate switch costs in different phases (i.e., lemma activation and language selection) during language production remains unclear. Most previous studies using the language switching paradigm did not dissociate lemma activation from language selection, because the language cue was either presented simultaneously with or prior to a stimulus. Therefore, here we modified the language switching paradigm by presenting a digit stimulus prior to a visual cue. This allowed us to dissociate lemma activation from language selection, and thus we were able to investigate the mechanisms underlying the effects of naming language and switch predictability on switch costs during the two different phases in language production. Unbalanced Indonesian-Chinese bilinguals were required to name digits in either their L1 (Indonesian) or L2 (Chinese), and their reaction times and electrophysiological responses were recorded. The behavioral results showed the effects of switch predictability on switch costs, with responses in switch trials being slower than those in non-switch trials in the low switch predictability condition, while there was no significant difference in response times between switch trials and non-switch trials in the high switch predictability condition. The event-related potential results showed that neither naming language nor switch predictability affected switch costs during the lemma activation phase, but both did so during the language selection phase, particularly at the language task schema competition stage. The results imply that naming language and switch predictability affect switch costs mainly during the language task schema competition stage.

MicroRNA (miR)-19a, as an oncomiR, has been studied in several types of cancer; however, its role in the development and progression of multiple myeloma (MM) remains unclear. The present study used a bioinformatics approach to investigate the involvement of miR-19a in MM. miR-19a targets were predicted using target prediction programs, followed by screening for differentially expressed genes in MM. The function of these genes was then annotated using gene ontology term enrichment, signaling pathway enrichment and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis. In addition, natural language processing (NLP) was performed to identify genes associated with MM. A total of 715 putative targets of miR-19a were identified in the present study, of which 40 were experimentally validated. A total of 121 genes were identified to be differentially expressed in MM, including 80 upregulated genes and 41 downregulated genes. Among the differentially expressed genes, ras homolog family member B, clathrin heavy chain, prosaposin and protein phosphatase 6 regulatory subunit 2 were predicted target genes of miR-19a. The results of NLP revealed that 2 of the differentially expressed genes, Y-box binding protein 1 and TP53 regulated inhibitor of apoptosis 1, were reported to be associated with MM. In addition, 41 target genes of miR-19a were identified to be associated with the development and progression of MM. These results may aid in understanding the molecular mechanisms of miR-19a in the development and progression of MM. In addition, the results of the present study indicate that targets genes of miR-19a are potential candidate biomarkers for MM.

This study aimed to elucidate the antitumor activity of norcantharidin (NCTD) against human mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Cell proliferation and apoptosis were examined by MTS and flow cytometry. Caspase-3, -8, and -9 activities were detected with a colorimetric caspase protease assay. Apoptotic proteins-including PARP, cyclin D1, Bcl-2 family proteins, XIAP, and cIAP I-were studied by western blot. The phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY294002 was used to investigate the involvement of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. In vivo studies were performed using Z138 cell xenografts in nude mice. NCTD inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of Z138 and Mino cells, both in vitro and in vivo. PI3Kp110 α and p-Akt expressions were downregulated by NCTD treatment. NCTD downregulated NF- κ B activity by preventing NF- κ B phosphorylation and nuclear translocation. This effect was correlated with the suppression of NF- κ B-regulated gene products, such as cyclin D1, BAX, survivin, Bcl-2, XIAP, and cIAP. This phenomenon was blocked by the PI3K inhibitor LY294002. Our results demonstrated that NCTD can induce growth arrest and apoptosis in MCL cells and that the mechanism may involve the PI3K/Akt/NF- κ B signaling pathway. NCTD may have therapeutic and/or adjuvant therapeutic applications in the treatment of MCL.

Bacteria of Bacillus species sporulate upon starvation, and the resultant dormant spores germinate when the environment appears likely to allow the resumption of vegetative growth. Normally, the rates of germination of individual spores in populations are very heterogeneous, and the current work has investigated whether spore-to-spore communication enhances the synchronicity of germination. In order to do this work, time-lapse optical images of thousands of individual spores were captured during germination, and an image analysis algorithm was developed to do the following: (i) measure the positions and germination rates of many thousands of individual spores and (ii) compute pairwise correlations of their germination. This analysis showed that an individual spore's germination rate was dependent on its distance from other spores, especially at short distances. Thus, spores that were within a few micrometers exhibited an increased synchronicity in germination, suggesting that there is a mechanism for short-range communication between such spores during germination. However, two molecules known to be germinants that are released during germination, l-alanine and the 1:1 chelate of Ca²⁺ and dipicolinic acid, did not mediate spore-to-spore communication during germination.