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The diffusion of polymer chains in a crowded environment with large and small immobile, attractive nanoparticles (NPs) is studied using Langevin dynamics simulations. For orderly distributed NPs on the simple cubic lattice, our results show that the diffusion of polymer chains is dependent on the NP-NP distance or lattice distance d . At low d where NPs are placed closely, subdiffusion occurs at a sufficiently high polydispersity of NPs, PD. Both the apparent diffusion coefficient and subdiffusion exponent of polymer chains decrease with increasing PD, attributed to the adsorption of polymers on NP clusters formed by larger NPs. At large d , normal diffusion is always observed, and the diffusion coefficient increases with increasing PD. The reason is that, at high PD, the difference between single large NP adsorption and double large NP adsorption is reduced, which increases the exchange of a polymer between the two adsorption states. Finally, the impact of size polydispersity of NPs on the diffusion of polymer chains in a crowded environment with randomly distributed NPs is also investigated. The results show that the position disorder of NPs enhances the subdiffusion of the system.

The intermediate subdiffusion of diffusive particles in crowded systems is studied for two model systems: the continuous time random walk (CTRW) model and the obstruction-binding model. For the CTRW model with an arbitrarily given longest waiting time τ max , we find that the diffusive particle exhibits subdiffusion below τ max and recovers normal diffusion above τ max . For the obstruction-binding model with randomly distributed attractive obstacles, the diffusion of the diffusive particle is dependent on the binding energy and the density of obstacles. Interestingly, diffusion curves for different binding strengths can be overlapped by rescaling the simulation time, indicating that the diffusive particle in the obstruction-binding model can change from the intermediate subdiffusion to the normal diffusion at a long-term simulation scale. The results of the two model systems show that the diffusive particles only exhibit intermediate subdiffusion below the longest waiting time. Therefore, long timescale subdiffusion would only be observed in the CTRW model with an infinitely long waiting time and in the obstruction-binding model with an infinitely large binding strength., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Cannabidiol (CBD) has shown promise in treating psychiatric disorders, including cannabis use disorder - a major public health burden with no approved pharmacotherapies. However, the mechanisms through which CBD acts are poorly understood. One potential mechanism of CBD is increasing levels of anandamide, which has been implicated in psychiatric disorders including depression and cannabis use disorder. However, there is a lack of placebo-controlled human trials investigating this in psychiatric disorders. We therefore assessed whether CBD affects plasma anandamide levels compared to placebo, within a randomised clinical trial of CBD for the treatment of cannabis use disorder. Individuals meeting criteria for cannabis use disorder and attempting cannabis cessation were randomised to 28-day administration with placebo (n = 23), 400 mg CBD/day (n = 24) or 800 mg CBD/day (n = 23). We estimated the effects of each CBD dose compared to placebo on anandamide levels from baseline to day 28. Analyses were conducted both unadjusted and adjusted for cannabis use during the trial to account for effects of cannabis on the endocannabinoid system. We also investigated whether changes in plasma anandamide levels were associated with clinical outcomes relevant for cannabis use disorder (cannabis use, withdrawal, anxiety, depression). There was an effect of 800 mg CBD compared to placebo on anandamide levels from baseline to day 28 after adjusting for cannabis use. Pairwise comparisons indicated that anandamide levels unexpectedly reduced from baseline to day 28 in the placebo group (-0.048, 95% CI [-0.089, -0.007]), but did not change in the 800 mg CBD group (0.005, 95% CI [-0.036, 0.047]). There was no evidence for an effect of 400 mg CBD compared to placebo. Changes in anandamide levels were not associated with clinical outcomes. In conclusion, this study found preliminary evidence that 28-day treatment with CBD modulates anandamide levels in individuals with cannabis use disorder at doses of 800 mg/day but not 400 mg/day compared to placebo., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Objectives: To assess whether autistic and non-autistic adults differ in their cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD) use, their perceptions of cannabinoid products and their cannabinoid-related support-seeking behaviours., Design: Cross-sectional survey., Participants: Respondents to an online survey, who self-reported an autism-spectrum disorder diagnosis (autistic participants) or no issues relating to autism (controls). Exclusion criteria were: related/subclinical issues relating to autism, non-UK residence, under 16 years old. Propensity score matching was used to match autistic participants and controls on age, gender and ethnicity. The full-sample analysis included 269 participants and the propensity-matched sample analysis included 166 participants. Propensity-matched analysis was used for primary analysis and was considered robust if supported by triangulation with full-sample analysis., Results: Autistic participants were more likely to have used CBD in the past 12 months compared with controls (OR=3.52, 95% CI 1.57 to 7.87, p=0.002). They used CBD on more days in the past 12 months (M=34, SD=93) compared with controls (M=17, SD=69, p=0.002). Autistic participants reported trusting the news and doctors less as sources of cannabinoid-related information than controls (p=0.024 and p=0.003, respectively). Autistic participants endorsed the following barriers to cannabinoid-related support seeking more than controls: 'worrying they won't understand me' (OR=3.25, 95% CI 1.67 to 6.33, p<0.001), 'going somewhere unfamiliar' (OR=5.29, 95% CI 2.62 to 10.67, p<0.001) and 'being in a crowded or chaotic place' (OR=9.79, 95% CI 4.18 to 22.89, p<0.001)., Conclusion: Results indicate a higher prevalence and frequency of CBD use, but not cannabis use, among autistic individuals compared with controls. Findings also suggest appropriate methods to disseminate cannabinoid-related support to autistic individuals, and indicate differences in the potential barriers autistic and non-autistic individuals may face when seeking cannabinoid-related support., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Rationale: Approximately 20-40% of patients with cancer will experience brain metastasis (BM), which has a great impact on the quality of life and survival rates of patients. Whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) is an effective method for the treatment of BM. However, it cannot be ignored that WBRT might induce a series of neuropsychiatric side effects, including cognitive dysfunction (CD). Accumulating evidence shows that the gut microbiota and the gut-microbiota-brain axis may play a vital role in the pathogenesis of CD., Objective and Methods: We adopted WBRT to mimic CD after a hierarchical cluster analysis of the Morris water maze test (MWMT) results. In addition, we observed the effects of antibiotics and prebiotics on WBRT-induced CD. Variations were revealed via the 16S rRNA sequencing analysis at different levels., Results: The 16S rRNA sequencing analysis revealed an altered composition of gut microbiota between CD and non-CD phenotypes. Furthermore, we observed a decrease in the levels of Phylum-Bacteroidete, Class-Bacteroidia, and Order-Bacteroidales in the CD group and an increase in the Genus-Allobaculum level after WBRT. Pretreatment with antibiotics caused a significant decrease in the level of Phylum-TM7 01, whereas an increase in the levels of Class-Gammaproteobacteria, Order-Enterobacteriales, and Species-Escherichia coli. After pretreatment with probiotics, the levels of Phylum-Cyanobacteria, Class-4C0d-2, and Order-YS2 were decreased, while the levels of Family-Bacteroidaceae, Genus-Bacteroides, and Species-Parabacteroides distasonis were increased., Conclusions: WBRT-induced CD might be highly related to abnormal composition of gut microbiota. Strategies improving the composition of the gut microbiota may provide beneficial effects on CD in individuals exposed to WBRT.

The catalytic properties of the magic gold-platinum bimetallic clusters (Au 4 Pt 2 and Au 6 Pt) for the reduction of SO 2 by CO, without or with preadsorbing CO molecules, are firstly investigated using density functional theory calculations. We find that the catalytic activities improve effectively with the preadsorption of CO onto the catalysts and that the catalytic activities of Au 6 Pt(CO) n are better than those of Au 4 Pt 2 (CO) n as more CO molecules are adsorbed onto the catalysts. During the reaction process, the Au 4 Pt 2 (CO) n clusters always keep two-dimensional morphologies except for when n = 5 and the Au 6 Pt(CO) n clusters have three-dimensional geometries except for when n = 0. The most stable adsorption site for SO 2 molecules on the catalysts is the site of preadsorbing the next CO molecule on the corresponding catalysts. The largest activation energy (E) is related to the metal 5d (M-5d) band center and the charge transfer (C t ) as well as the bond length (R b ) between COS and the catalyst contribute to the desorption energy (E d ) of COS corporately. We propose that Au 6 Pt(CO) 6 is a cost-effective gold-platinum bimetallic catalyst for the reduction of SO 2 by CO.

The effects of oxygen-releasing compound (ORC) on the control of phosphorus (P) release as well as the spatial and temporal distribution of P fractions in sediment were studied through a bench-scale test. An ORC with an extended oxygen-releasing capacity was prepared. The results of the oxygen-releasing test showed that the ORC provided a prolonged period of oxygen release with a highly effective oxygen content of 60.6% when compared with powdery CaO2. In the bench-scale test, an ORC dose of 180 g·m(-2) provided a higher inhibition efficiency for P release within 50 days. With the application of the ORC, the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and redox potential (ORP) of the overlying water were notably improved, and the dissolved total phosphorus (DTP) was maintained below 0.689 mg·L(-1) compared to 2.906 mg·L(-1) without the ORC treatment. According to the P fractions distribution, the summation of all detectable P fractions in each sediment layer exhibited an enhanced accumulation tendency with the application of ORC. Higher phosphorus retention efficiencies were observed in the second and third layers of sediment from days 10 to 20 with the ORC. Phosphorus was trapped mainly in the form of iron bound P (Fe-P) and organically bound P (O-P) in sediment with the ORC, whereas the effects of the ORC on exchangeable P (EX-P), apatite-associated P (A-P) and detrital P (De-P) in the sediment sample were not significant. The microbial activities of the sediment samples demonstrated that both the dehydrogenase activity (DHA) and alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) in the upper sediment layer increased with the ORC treatment, which indicated that the mineralization of P was accelerated and the microbial biomass was increased. As the accumulation of P suppressed the release of P, the sediment exhibited an increased P retention efficiency with the application of the ORC.