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Objective examination of relationships among visual, hearing, and olfactory function may yield mechanistic insights and inform our understanding of the burden of multiple-sensory impairments.This cross-sectional study capitalized on continuous measures of visual acuity (VA), contrast sensitivity, pure tone audiometry, Quick Speech-in-Noise (QuickSIN), and Sniffin' Sticks from a subset of ARIC participants at two community sites (EyeDOC Study, 2017-2019). Scales of all measures were aligned such that higher values indicated greater impairment. Intersensory bivariate associations were assessed graphically, and correlations assessed using Kendall's tau. Intersensory associations, independent of age, education, smoking, diabetes, and hypertension, were examined using linear regression. Analyses were stratified by community/race (Washington County/White vs Jackson/Black) and sex (men vs women) to explore community-sex heterogeneity.We included 834 participants (mean age, 79 years); 39% were from Jackson and 63% females. We found weak intersensory correlations (tau generally ≤0.15). In the demographics-adjusted regression models, results were heterogeneous across communities and sex. Worse near VA, contrast sensitivity, and olfaction were associated with worse QuickSIN and worse near VA was associated with worse olfaction in some but not all community/race-sex groups (e.g., Jackson/Black women, 0.1 logMAR worse near VA was associated with 0.27 units increase in QuickSIN [95% confidence interval, 0.10-0.45]). Associations were modestly attenuated by adjustment for the shared risk factors of smoking, diabetes, and hypertension.Visual dysfunction showed little or no association with hearing or olfaction impairments, suggesting a modest role for shared risk factors.Visually impaired individuals have only a modestly higher risk of other sensory impairment.

Two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (MoS

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. We aimed to identify potential genetic markers that could predict the prognosis of HNSCC. A total of 44 samples of GSE83519 from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets and 546 samples of HNSCC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were adopted. The differently expressed genes (DEGs) of the samples were screened by GEO2R. We integrated the expression information of DEGs with clinical data from GES42743 using the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). A total of 17 hub genes were selected by the module membership (|MM| > 0.8), and the gene significance (|GS| > 0.3) was selected from the turquoise module. GOLM1 and FAM49B genes were chosen based on single-gene analysis results. Survival analysis showed that the higher expression of GOLM1 and FAM49B genes was correlated with a worse prognosis of HNSCC patients. Immunohistochemistry and multiplex immunofluorescence techniques verified that GOLM1 and FAM49B genes were highly expressed in HNSCC cells, and high expressions of GOLM1 were associated with the pathological grades of HNSCC. In conclusion, our study illustrated a new insight that GOLM1 and FAM49B genes might be used as potential biomarkers to determine the development of HNSCC, while GOLM1 and FAM49B have the possibility to be prognostic indicators for HNSCC.

School climate and school identification are two distinct yet closely interrelated components of school environment; both are associated with adolescents’ multiple health behavioral changes. The 15-item Abbreviated version of the Dual School Climate and School Identification Measure–Student (SCASIM-St15) and its 5-factor model simultaneously and separately assess these two constructs. This study validated the Chinese version of SCASIM-St15 among 1108 students from junior middle schools, senior middle schools, and vocational high schools in Taizhou city, Zhejiang, China, via an anonymous, self-administered cross-sectional survey. Confirmatory factor analysis supports the 5-factor model of the original SCASIM-St15 with a satisfactory model fit. Its four factors (i.e., student–student relations, staff–student relations, academic emphasis, and shared values and approach) assess school climate; its fifth factor assesses school identification. The subscales of the SCASIM-St15 demonstrate good psychometric properties, including measurement invariance (across sex and school type), good internal consistency, an absence of floor effect, and good external validity with four external variables (depression, peer victimization, classmate support, and teacher–student relationship). However, some substantial ceiling effects were observed. The five subscales differ significantly across the school types but not between males and females. The validated SCASIM-St15 can be applied to simultaneously understand school climate/school identification among Chinese adolescents, which may greatly facilitate future related observational and intervention research.

Background and Study Aims: To investigate the clinicopathologic characteristics, surgical and imatinib management and long-term follow-up outcomes of the rectal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Patients and Methods: Consecutive patients with rectal GISTs admitted to our center (from January 2013 to June 2018) were chosen. Their history information was viewed, and the follow-up results were obtained by phone or medical records. Results: Forty-nine patients (32 males and 17 females) were identified, with a median age of 59 years, and 36 patients received surgery. Most (46 patients, 93.9%) of the tumor were located within 6 cm from the anal verge, 18 patients (36.7%) had very low or low risk, and 31 patients (63.3%) had intermediate or high risk. Four kinds of surgery approach were applied in our center: trans-abdominal (8 patients, 22.2%), trans-anal/trans-perineal (15 patients, 41.7%), trans-sacral (12 patients, 33.3%) and abdominoperineal (1 patient, 2.8%). The complication is low and the mortality related to surgery is 0%. After a median follow-up of 705 days (ranged from 48 days to 1677 days), 3 patients (8.33%) were found to have a recurrence. Conclusion: Trans-anal/trans-perineal and trans-sacral surgery were more commonly used in our study, and for now, the recurrence rate had no difference, but a longer time for follow-up is needed.

With the fast consumption of traditional fossil fuels and the urgent requirement for a low-carbon economy and sustainable development, supercapacitors are gaining more and more attention as a clean energy storage and conversion device. The research on electrode materials for supercapacitors has become a hot topic nowadays. An electrode material for a supercapacitor, comprising the ZIF-67 in-built carbon-based material, was prepared from a biomass pre-hydrolysate via a hydrothermal process. As a by-product of dissolving slurry, the pre-hydrolysate is rich in carbon, which is an excellent biomass resource. The utilization of pre-hydrolysate to prepare carbon energy materials could realize the high value utilization of pre-hydrolysate and the efficient energy conversion of biomass. Meanwhile, the cobalt-based MOF (such as ZIF-67), as a porous crystalline material, has the advantages of having a regular order, high specific surface area and controllable pore size, as well as good thermal and chemical stability. The addition of ZIF-67 modified the morphology and pore structure of the carbon, and the obtained samples showed outstanding electrochemical performance. One- and two-step synthetic processes generated specimens with a coral-like cross-linked structure and a new type of rough, hollow, dandelion-like structure, respectively, and the pore size was in the range of 2.0–5.0 nm, which is conducive to ion transport and charge transfer. In C2-ZIF-67, the hollow structures could effectively prevent the accumulation of the electrochemical active center, which could provide enough space for the shrinkage and expansion of particles to protect them from the interference of electrolytes and the formation of solid electrolyte interphase film layers. Additionally, the plush tentacle structure with low density and a large specific surface area could expose more active sites and a large electrolyte electrode contact area, and short electron and charge transport paths. Importantly, active, free electrons of small amounts of Co-MOF (1 wt%) could be stored and released through the redox reaction, further improving the electrical conductivity of Carbon-ZIF-67 materials in this work. Consequently, C2-ZIF-67 exhibited superior specific capacitance (400 F g−1, at 0.5 A g−1) and stability (90%, after 10,000 cycles).

Objectives To investigate the vaginal microbiome (VMB) of a large sample size of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients using 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) sequencing. Design A cross-sectional study Setting Ji Nan, China Sample A total of 1,446 subjects were recruited (PCOS, n=713, the controls, n=733). Methods Vaginal swabs were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Main outcome measures The microbiome diversity and composition of the PCOS group and control group were compared. In the PCOS prediction model, microbial interaction networks and functions prediction were investigated. Results The PCOS group had a higher alpha diversity in the VMB than controls (P

The rapid development of machine vision applications demands hardware that can sense and process visual information in a single monolithic unit to avoid redundant data transfer. Here, we design and demonstrate a monolithic vision enhancement chip with light-sensing, memory, digital-to-analog conversion, and processing functions by implementing a 619-pixel with 8582 transistors and physical dimensions of 10 mm by 10 mm based on a wafer-scale two-dimensional (2D) monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ). The light-sensing function with analog MoS 2 transistor circuits offers low noise and high photosensitivity. Furthermore, we adopt a MoS 2 analog processing circuit to dynamically adjust the photocurrent of individual imaging sensor, which yields a high dynamic light-sensing range greater than 90 decibels. The vision chip allows the applications for contrast enhancement and noise reduction of image processing. This large-scale monolithic chip based on 2D semiconductors shows multiple functions with light sensing, memory, and processing for artificial machine vision applications, exhibiting the potentials of 2D semiconductors for future electronics.

2D semiconductors, such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS

We employ ZnSe films and graphene to act as light-absorbing layer and channel, respectively. Low-flexibility yet high-absorbance ZnSe light-absorbing layer makes contribution to the absorbance and have no negative impact on the device flexibility, while high-flexibility graphene films determine the flexibility. As a result, the image sensors based on 4-inch flexible ZnSe/graphene hybrids with a high responsivity of $1.5\times 10^{{6}}$ A/W could work stably under the large strain up to 0.2%. This is one order of magnitude larger than that of pure ZnSe films-based devices. More importantly, they make a stable performance under the strain of 0.2% after 10,000 bending cycles or a bending duration of 1000 h.

Herein, cactus like nanorods with rich S defects and function groups MILN-based Co(z)-NiMoS are synthesized through a facile method. First, we prepare MIL-88B precursor to give a fairly dispersed frame structure, and then Con+ was doped into disulfides which are rich in sulfur bonds and the imidazole group was cleverly connected into graphitized carbon via self-etching of ZIF-67. The doping of Con+ and function groups makes the tiny changes in the lattice of sulfide which promotes the unsaturation degree of S bond and activated it gradually. The prepared semi frame sulfide with unique structure on the one hand ensures the hydrophilicity and multiple active specific surface area which lays superior functions in morphology. On the other hand, coupling metals that have strong valence change ability and functional groups by active S bond plays an important role in the process of electrocatalytic reaction. Amazingly, disintegration and self-reconstruction of MILN-based Co(z)-NiMoS are happened during oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) due to the activation of S bond, which provides a new perspective for the overall water splitting mechanism. The electrochemical results show that the MILN-based Co(z)-NiMoS electrocatalyst making it possible that the overpotential of HER, OER and overall water splitting (OWS) is 169 mV, 170 mV and 1.466 V, respectively, making it a promising electrode material for OWS applications.

The center plane inside a bending material has no strain, which is known as the neutral mechanical plane. Based on this concept, herein, we achieve ultra-flexible semiconductor film-based photodetectors at the neutral mechanical plane sandwiched by two polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layers. With this design, the as-fabricated encapsulated semiconductor film-based photodetectors are measured to work stably with the outside surface under a large strain up to 10%, which is two orders of magnitude larger than what the counterpart on the outside surface can bear. Actually, the encapsulated photodetectors are supposed to perform stably during the bending process no matter how large the strain of the outside surface is, as long as the substrate can be bent to the target bending curvature. Meanwhile, they show an ultra-stable performance with almost unvaried photoresponse properties after 10 000 bending cycles or a bending duration of 1000 h with the radius of curvature of 5 mm. Furthermore, they can work as long-term stable rollable photodetectors, which are rarely reported. It can be expected that this structure design will greatly push forward the research and application of flexible photodetectors, especially for those based on brittle photosensitive materials.

Developing earth-abundant and highly efficient electrocatalysts is critical for further development of a system. The metal (M) doping strategy and inorganic/organic composite are two common strategies to improve the performance of electrocatalysts for overall water splitting (OWS). In this paper, two strategies are subtly used to prepare Mo-Ni3S2 quantum dots (QDs) with rich sulfur defects through Mon+ doping Ni3S2 and introduction of trisodium citrate by a two-step hydrothermal reaction. Results show that high sulfur defects can be controllably prepared as the lattice mismatch and active sites can be efficiently increased via Mon+ doping. Moreover, the introduction of trisodium citrate with carboxyl functional groups not only enhances the degree of sulfur defects around the metal center, changes the morphology of sulfide to distribute the active centers evenly, but also endow the metal center with strong valence changing ability with organic characteristics. The in situ Raman study reveals that O–CO promotes the formation of the real active site M-OOH by the way of self-sacrifice during the OER process. Mo-Ni3S2 QDelectrocatalyst shows excellent performance in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), achieving a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at the overpotentials of 115 mV and 222 mV with very good chemical stability, superior than that of most of the reported materials. The OWS reaction can provide a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and 50 mA cm−2, which only needs 1.53 V and 1.74 V with excellent industrial application prospects.

Solar-driven evaporation is an emerging process to acquire freshwater from saline water or wastewater, in which photothermal materials play a crucial role. Significant effort has been devoted to promoting energy conversion efficiency by material and device design. In the current review, we discuss the major factors affecting evaporator efficiency and long-term performance, including selection of photothermal materials, promotion of evaporation efficiency, and solutions to the problem of scaling. Both the material components and structure will affect the absorption and reflection of the incident light, and the evaporation efficiency can be enhanced by reducing heat loss, enlarging surface area, and recycling latent heat. Scaling can be addressed by tailoring surface properties and structure.

Imaging algorithms for visualization of defects play a significant role in Lamb wave–based research of nondestructive testing and structural health monitoring. In classical algorithms, the position or distribution of defects is located by mapping the amplitude or phase information of signals from the time domain to every discrete spatial grid of the structure. It is time-consuming. In this study, the diversity, statistical, and fuzzy characteristics of the elliptic imaging algorithm are analyzed first; then, an intelligent defect location algorithm is proposed based on the evolutionary strategy and the K-means algorithm. The position of defects can be identified by observing the distribution of individuals. There are six parts in the proposed algorithm, including the data structure design, adaptive population screening, adaptive population reproduction, diversity maintenance mechanism, and cutoff criterion. Considering the statistical and fuzzy characteristics in the detection, several specific input parameters are defined in our algorithm, such as the distance-dependent screening threshold, path-dependent residual vector, and path-independent residual. To maintain the diversity of individuals in the analysis, we have made two adjustments to the evolutionary strategy: one is to optimize the population screening and reproduction steps with the K-means algorithm, and the other is to add a diversity maintenance method into the evolutionary strategy. The effectiveness of the proposed intelligent defect location algorithm is verified by numerical simulations and experiments. Numerical studies indicate that the proposed algorithm has a reliable performance in the detection of defects with different shapes and sizes. In the experimental research, we demonstrate that the efficiency of the proposed algorithm is about 200 times faster than the elliptic imaging algorithm. And the optimum parameter setting of the algorithm is investigated by analyzing the influence of parameter setting on the detection.

BACKGROUND: Non-motor symptoms (NMS) are common in Parkinson’s disease (PD), but their relationships to nigrostriatal degeneration remain largely unexplored. METHODS: We evaluated 18 NMS scores covering 5 major domains in relation to concurrent and future dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging in 344 PD patients from the Parkinson’s Progression and Markers Initiative (PPMI). We standardized NMS assessments into z-scores for side-by-side comparisons. Patients underwent sequential DaTSCAN imaging at enrollment and at months 12, 24, and 48. Specific binding ratios (SBR) were calculated using the occipital lobe reference region. We evaluated the association of striatal DAT binding at the four time points with each baseline NMS using mixed-effects regression models. RESULTS: Multiple baseline NMS were significantly associated with DAT binding at baseline and at follow-up scans. REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) symptoms showed the strongest association – mean striatal SBR declined with increasing RBD symptom z-score (average of time-point-specific slopes per unit change in z-score: β(AVG) = −0.083, SE=0.017; p

The size of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and loading amount of Ag NPs onto their substrate/carrier are two key factors for their efficient applications. Herein, we present a facile method for in situ synthesizing ultrafine and highly loaded Ag NPs on the surface of tannin-coated catechol-formaldehyde resin (TA-CFR) nanospheres. TA-CFR nanospheres act as green and highly efficient reducing agents for converting silver ions (Ag

Considering the low levels of empathy associated with substance-related addictions and the similarities between gambling disorder (GD) and substance-related addiction, understanding the relationship between empathy and GD may clarify the mechanism of addiction development. This scoping review aimed to evaluate the empirical evidence for the potential protective role of emotional and cognitive empathy against GD development via internalizing and/or externalizing pathways. We followed the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews and 11 articles met the inclusion criteria. Although most of the reviewed studies used correlational designs and non-gambling-specific samples, this review highlights (1) significant relationships between both types of empathy and the neural activity of gambling behaviors, and (2) reduced cognitive empathy (i.e., fantasy and perspective taking) and increased emotional empathy (i.e., personal distress) among problem gamblers than their gambling counterparts. Despite the lack of studies directly testing the protective role of empathy against GD, the existing studies (n = 8) nevertheless shed light on the potential protective effects of both types of empathy on GD development. This review identified research gaps, which can be addressed in future studies by discovering the underlying mechanisms (e.g., internalizing and externalizing pathways) of these relationships. Experimental or longitudinal studies in gamblers investigating how different types of empathy are associated with GD via these pathways are called for as their findings have implications for prevention and intervention designs for GD and other addictive disorders.

Few standard treatment options are available for patients with metastatic sarcomas. We did this trial to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and changes in the tumour microenvironment for durvalumab, an anti-PD-L1 drug, and tremelimumab, an anti-CTLA-4 drug, across multiple sarcoma subtypes.In this single-centre phase 2 trial, done at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX USA), patients aged 18 years or older with advanced or metastatic sarcoma with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1 who had received at least one previous line of systemic therapy were enrolled in disease subtype-specific groups (liposarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, angiosarcoma, undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, synovial sarcoma, osteosarcoma, alveolar soft-part sarcoma, chordoma, and other sarcomas). Patients received 1500 mg intravenous durvalumab and 75 mg intravenous tremelimumab for four cycles, followed by durvalumab alone every 4 weeks for up to 12 months. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival at 12 weeks in the intention-to-treat population (all patients who received at least one dose of treatment). Safety was also analysed in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02815995, and is completed.Between Aug 17, 2016, and April 9, 2018, 62 patients were enrolled, of whom 57 (92%) received treatment and were included in the intention-to-treat population. With a median follow-up of 37·2 months (IQR 1·8-10·1), progression-free survival at 12 weeks was 49% (95% CI 36-61). 21 grade 3-4 treatment-related adverse events were reported, the most common of which were increased lipase (four [7%] of 57 patients), colitis (three [5%] patients), and pneumonitis (three [5%] patients). Nine (16%) patients had a treatment related serious adverse event. One patient had grade 5 pneumonitis and colitis.The combination of durvalumab and tremelimumab is an active treatment regimen for advanced or metastatic sarcoma and merits evaluation in specific subsets in future trials.AstraZeneca.

We aimed to detect the clinicopathological features and immune microenvironment of double-hit/triple-hit lymphoma in the gastrointestinal tract (GI-DHL/THL) and identify the best diagnostic strategies. A total of 114 cases, including 15 GI-DHL/THL, 42 non-GI-DHL/THL and 57 control diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) cases, were comparatively analyzed for their clinicopathological characteristics, the expression of the immune-regulatory checkpoint PD-L1 and immune microenvironment. We applied univariate and multivariate analyses to determine predictors of DHL/THL. GI-DHL/THL patients showed a higher prevalence of previous infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) than those with GI-DLBCL. Morphologically, 87% of cases exhibited features of DLBCL. Regarding immunohistochemistry results, the MYC protein expression and the Ki-67 proliferation index were significantly higher in the GI-DHL/THL group than in the GI-DLBCL group. The main source of PD-L1 expression in DHL was tumor-associated macrophages, whereas some tumor cells were positive for PD-L1 in GI-DLBCL cases, as determined through multiplex immunofluorescence staining. The multivariable logistic analysis suggested that 5 variables, namely, age, Mum1, CD10, MYC, and HBV infection status, reflect the risk of DHL/THL. The GI-DHL/THL group show different clinicopathological features and immune microenvironments from DLBCL, which might suggest that different signaling pathways are involved. More work is needed to elucidate the pathogenic mechanism of GI-DHL/THL.

The high prevalence of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) among Asian youth indicates an urgent need to identify protective factors and examine their consistency across Asian cultures in order to facilitate cost-effective interventions. Based on the transactional theory of stress and coping, this study collected data of 1243 online gamers (45% males; 18–25 years) through an anonymous survey from universities in China and Japan and investigated whether three coping resources (i.e., mindfulness, coping flexibility, and social support) serve to protect Chinese and Japanese youth from the impact of psychological distress on IGD tendency. After adjusting for the measurement non-invariance across samples, we found that Japanese students reported higher levels of IGD tendency and psychological distress than Chinese students. The results of multiple-group SEM analyses showed that, after controlling for other predictors, mindfulness served as the strongest protective factor against IGD across samples. Moreover, the buffering effect of mindfulness on the association between psychological distress and IGD tendency of female (but not male) students was observed. Our findings highlighted the cross-cultural invariance of the impact of psychological distress and coping resources on IGD in Chinese and Japanese youth, which can be considered in future IGD prevention programs.

Food addiction is associated with both physical and mental health conditions, such as obesity and depression, and is considered a public health problem. Based on life history (LH) theory, this study aimed to test the association between unpredictable childhood environment and food addiction in adulthood and to examine LH strategies and attitudes toward self as psychological mediators of this association. A random sample of 1010 adults, aged from 18 to 88 years (44.8% male; M

Dream-enacting behavior is a characteristic feature of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, the most specific prodromal marker of synucleinopathies. Pesticide exposure may be associated with dream-enacting behaviors, but epidemiological evidence is limited.To examine high pesticide exposure events in relation to dream-enacting behaviors among farmers in the Agricultural Health Study.We conducted multivariable logistic regression analyses to examine high pesticide exposure events reported from 1993 to 1997 in relation to dream-enacting behaviors assessed from 2013 to 2015 among 11,248 farmers (age 47 ± 11 years).A history of dream-enacting behaviors was reported by 939 (8.3%) farmers. Compared with farmers who did not report any high pesticide exposure event, those who reported were more likely to endorse dream-enacting behaviors 2 decades later (odds ratio = 1.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.49-2.05). The association appeared stronger when there was a long delay in washing with soap and water after the event (2.63 [95% CI, 1.62-4.27] for waiting6 hours vs. 1.71 [95% CI, 1.36-2.15] for washing within 30 minutes) and when the exposure involved the respiratory or digestive tract (2.04 [95% CI, 1.62-2.57] vs. 1.58 [95% CI, 1.29-1.93] for dermal contact only). In the analyses of specific pesticides involved, we found positive associations with two organochlorine insecticides (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and lindane), four organophosphate insecticides (phorate, ethoprop, terbufos, and parathion), two herbicides (alachlor and paraquat), and fungicides as a group.This study provides the first epidemiological evidence that high pesticide exposures may be associated with a higher risk of dream-enacting behaviors. © 2022 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Background: Olfactory identification (OI) impairment appears early in the course of Alzheimer’s disease dementia (AD), prior to detectable cognitive impairment. However, the neuroanatomical correlates of impaired OI in cognitively normal older adults (CN) and persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are not fully understood. Objective: We examined the neuroanatomic correlates of OI impairment in older adults from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Neurocognitive Study (ARIC-NCS). Methods: Our sample included 1,600 older adults without dementia who completed clinical assessment and structural brain imaging from 2011 to 2013. We characterized OI impairment using the 12-item Sniffin’ Sticks odor identification test (score ≤6). We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and region of interest (ROI) analyses to examine the neuroanatomic correlates of impaired OI in CN and MCI, after adjusting for potential confounders. Analyses were also separately stratified by race and sex. Results: In CN, OI impairment was associated with smaller amygdala gray matter (GM) volume (p

Here, a Co-Metal Organic Framework/pre-hydrolysis (Co-MOF/pre-hydrolysis) solution carbon material is prepared by a mild and environmentally-friendly hydrothermal carbonization technique using a pulping pre-hydrolysis solution as the raw material and Co-MOF as the metal dopant. The stable hollow structure provide sufficient space for particle shrinkage and expansion, while the low density and large specific surface area of the long, hairy tentacle structure provide a greater contact area for ions, which shorten the transmission path of electrons and charges. The materials exhibit excellent specific capacitance (400 F/g, 0.5 A/g) and stability (90%, 10,000 cycles). The Change of different concentration ratios in the structures significantly affect the electrochemical performance. The specific surface area of the carbon materials prepared by ultra-filtration increased, but the specific surface area decrease as ultrafiltration concentration increase. The specific capacitance decrease from 336 F/g for C-ZIF-67-1/3 volume ultrafiltration to 258 F/g for C-ZIF-67-1/5 ultrafiltration. The results indicate that energy storage by the carbon materials relied on a synergistic effect between their microporous and mesoporous structures. The micropores provide storage space for the transmission of ions, while the mesopores provide ion transport channels. The separation of large and small molecules after ultrafiltration concentration limit the ion transmission and energy storage of the pores.

Background Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies, and has a high mortality rate. miR-495 acts as a suppressor in some cancers and HMGA2 (high mobility group AT-hook 2) is a facilitator for cell growth and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), but little is known about their effect in gastric cancer. This study aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of miR-495 in gastric cancer. Material/Methods miR-495 levels were quantitatively analyzed in gastric cancer tissue and GES-1, SGC-7901, BGC-823, and HGC-27 cell lines by qRT-PCR. Levels of miR-495 and HMGA2 were altered by cell transfection, after which cell migration and invasion were examined by Transwell and E-cadherin (CDH1); vimentin (VIM), and alpha smooth muscle actin (ACTA2) were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blotting. The interaction between miR-495 and HMGA2 was verified by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Results miR-495 was significantly downregulated in cancer tissue and cell lines (p

Here, a dual-modification strategy using KMnO4 (potassium permanganate) and AlCl3·6H2O (aluminum chloride, hexahydrate) as co-modifiers to improve the Cr(VI) removal capacity of K2CO3 activated biochar is introduced. As a result, the dual-modified biochar with KMnO4 and AlCl3·6H2O has the calculated adsorption energy of −0.52 eV and −1.64 eV for HCrO4−, and −0.21 eV and −2.01 eV for Cr2O72−. The Al2O3 (aluminum oxide) and MnO (manganese oxide) embedded on the surface of dual-modified biochar bring more Cr(VI) absorption sites comparing to single-modified biochar, resulting in a maximum Cr(VI) saturated adsorption capacity of 152.86 mg g−1. The excellent removal performance is due to the synthetic effect of electrostatic attraction, reduction reaction, complexation reaction, and physical adsorption. The experimental results also indicated that the spontaneous adsorption process agreed well with the pseudo-second order and Langmuir models. This dual-modification strategy is not limited to the treatment of Cr(VI) with biochar, and may also be incorporated with the treatment of other heavy metals in aqueous environment.

A simple and effective mixing carbonization-activation process was developed to prepare rice hull-derived porous Si–carbon materials. The morphologies and pore structures of the materials were controlled effectively without any loading or additions at various carbonization temperatures. The structures of the samples changed from large pores and thick walls after 800 ∘C carbonization to small pores and thin walls after 1000 ∘C carbonization. An additional alkali activation–carbonization process led to coral reef-like structures surrounded by squama in the sample that underwent 900 ∘C carbonization (Act-RH-900). This optimal material (Act-RH-900) had a large specific surface area (768 m2 g−1), relatively stable specific capacitance (150.8 F g−1), high energy density (31.9 Wh kg−1), and high-power density (309.2 w kg−1) at a current density of 0.5 A g−1 in 1 M KOH electrolyte, as well as a good rate performance and high stability (capacitance retention > 87.88% after 5000 cycles). The results indicated that Act-RH-900 is a promising candidate for capacitive applications. This work overcomes the restrictions imposed by the complex internal structure of biomass, implements a simple reaction environment, and broadens the potential applicability of biomass waste in the field of supercapacitors.

Individuals may experience positive changes or gain growths after struggling with traumas or challenging circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess potential levels of posttraumatic growth (PTG) of the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic and PTG's associations with perceptions of transformational leadership in local government and public trust. The data of a probability sample of 1011 community-dwelling adults (61.2% females; Mean age = 41.2 years, SD = 15.8) in Macao, China, were collected via a telephone poll survey. Multiple regression analyses were conducted and a bootstrapping approach was utilized to test the hypothesized moderating effects and mediating effects of trust in local government on the association between perceived transformational leadership and PTG, respectively. Results showed that about half of the respondents reported at least a medium level of PTG. Whereas perceived transformational leadership in the Macao local government was positively associated with four individual aspects of PTG (i.e., appreciation of life, new possibilities, personal strength, and relating to others) as well as the overall PTG, while controlling for the demographic variables, trust in the local government showed no moderating or mediating effects in these associations. Our findings suggest the value of governments’ transformational leadership in promoting people's PTG in the face of public crises such as COVID-19. More transformational leadership behaviors, such as attending to citizens’ personal needs and conveying an inspirational vision, in government are called for to bring about greater positive responses from individuals and ensure social vitality and resilience during this long-term public health battle.

Long cortical bone allows axial transmission of ultrasonic guided waves, which has been utilized for osteoporosis evaluation. Benefiting structural and molecular sensitivity, photoacoustic has been used for tissue composition characterization. However, photoacoustic guided waves (PAGWs) in long cortical bone as well as the influence of optical transmissivity on PAGWs have not been thoroughly investigated. In the study, the influence of optical transmissivity on the signal characteristics of PAGWs was experimentally studied with a 1064 nm pulsed laser ultrasonic system and a tunable laser system (wavelength range: 650-2600 nm). Results show that dispersion curves of PAGWs are not significantly affected by the optical transmissivity; while photoacoustic guided modes and signal spectrum are sensitive to the optical transmissivity in cortical bone. In experiments, the lasers with high transmissivity can emit pure A