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IntroductionThis study explored the effects of task-switching type and sex on the task-switching ability of methamphetamine abstainers, as well as the differences in brain mechanisms under drug cravings under drug cravings using near-infrared spectroscopy.MethodsCraving-inducing videos were used to arouse 20 methamphetamine abstainers (including 10 men), whose switching ability was then assessed using voluntary and cued task-switching exercises.ResultsDuring task-switching under methamphetamine cravings, the activation of the premotor cortex (PMC), supplementary motor area (SMA), frontal eye field (FEF), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in women was significantly stronger than in men, while the activation of FEF in men was significantly stronger than in women. Voluntary task-switching induced stronger FEF activation than cued task-switching. During the latter, women exhibited stronger activation in the anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC) than men.DiscussionBoth men and women showed brain lateralization during task-switching under methamphetamine cravings. Men tended to adopt proactive control and use a top-down dominant strategy to start a new task. Women, however, tend to use a bottom-up strategy focusing on inhibiting old tasks and emotional switching. Moreover, in cued task-switching, the result shows women paid more attention to emotional processing than did men, which suggests that different task-switching training programs should be developed according to sex.

ObjectivePain empathy’s preferential nature tends to trigger prejudice and intergroup conflicts. Given the current degree of proliferation of doctor–patient conflict news in China, this study aims to determine whether readers of doctor–patient news-initiated moral judgments prefer pain empathy for doctors or patients.Materials and methodsThis study utilized localized doctor–patient news with high or low moral performance (based on morality ratings of patients’ behaviors) as moral-judgment-eliciting materials, and painful pictures as pain empathy-eliciting materials. The event-related potential (ERP) technique was utilized to assess moral judgment’s effect on the cognitive empathy component and to investigate electroencephalogram signals’ accuracy in classifying four brain response patterns when facing doctor or patient is experiencing or not experiencing pain.ResultsUnder low moral text material, participants exhibited smaller mean wave amplitude of positive 300 (P3) and late positive potential (LPP) to painful pictures than non-painful pictures when facing patients; under high moral text material, participants exhibited larger mean wave amplitude of P3 and LPP to painful pictures than non-painful pictures when facing doctors. Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals’ classification accuracy was significant in 0–1,000 ms in both high and low moral judgments, but the classification accuracy was higher in low moral judgments in some cognitive empathy stages (0.51, 0.53–0.55, 0.66–0.79, and 0.88–1 s).ConclusionUnder low moral judgment, individuals pay less attention to the patient’s (perpetrator’s) pain; under high moral judgment, individuals empathize with the doctor (the person praised), showing that news-induced moral judgment can sway readers’ empathy for different social groups. In cognitive empathy, individuals’ brain representations are more discriminatory under low than high moral judgments when confronted with pain by doctors and patients, which provides insight into objectively recognizing group bias.

ObjectiveTo explore the utility of the scoring system for screening and early warning of cervical cancer based on big data analysis.MethodsA total of 420 women undergoing physical examination in Shenyang from January 2021 to January 2022 were screened by convenient sampling as the study subjects. All females accepted the human papilloma virus (HPV) tests and thin-prep cytology test (TCT), a Rating Questionnaire for Screening and Early Warning of Cervical Cancer was developed, and a warning threshold was derived according to the scores of the questionnaire and the goodness of fit for the results of HPV+TCT tests. The patients were graded according to the threshold, and corresponding intervention strategies for patients of different grades were developed.ResultsAmong the 420 people undergoing physical examination, 92 (21.90%) obtained scores ≥8 points, and 328 (78.10%) obtained scores < 8 points; in diagnosing cervical cancer, the Rating Questionnaire for Screening and Early Warning of Cervical Cancer had an AUC value of 0.848, specificity of 97.22%, and sensitivity of 86.46%; after scientific intervention, HPV test results showed a significant decrease in both high-risk positive cases and low-risk positive cases (p < 0.05), and TCT results showed that there was a significant difference in the number of patients with CIN I before and after intervention (p < 0.05).ConclusionThe scoring system for screening and early warning of cervical cancer based on big data analysis presents certain clinical value in the clinical screening of cervical cancer, which can further improve the screening coverage, is of great significance for the diagnosis and treatment of disease, and helps physician implement hierarchical diagnosis and treatment quickly and precisely.

Addressing the concern of heat accumulation in electronic devices, considerable research efforts have been dedicated to develop composites that are thermally conductive yet electrically insulative. Incorporating hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) as fillers shows promise in enhancing the thermal conductivity of polymer composites. However, notable challenges arise from difficulties in achieving well dispersion and establishing efficient three-dimensional thermal conductive networks. This work demonstrated an efficient photocurable direct ink writing (DIW) printing method to fabricate functional h-BN nanosheets (A-BNNS)/epoxy acrylate (EA) resin-based thermal conductive composites (A-BNNS/EA). Apple polyphenol-assisted ball milling was employed to fabricate functionalized BN nanosheets (A-BNNS). Subsequently, A-BNNS/EA inks were 3D printed using DIW to create thermally conductive composites, which were then UV-cured. The composite containing 55 wt% A-BNNS demonstrated an impressive thermal conductivity (TC) of 3.44 W/(m K). The utilization of 3D printing technology enables an onion-like dispersion of A-BNNS within the polymer matrix, effectively constructing three-dimensional thermal conductive networks. This contribution significantly enhances the overall thermal conductivity. Highlights • The functional BNNS (A-BNNS) was achieved by apple polyphenol-assisted ball milling. • The utilization of photocurable 3D printing technology for producing high thermal conductivity materials are efficient. • A-BNNS exhibited an onion-like distribution and effectively constructed a 3D thermal conductive network within the polymer matrix • The composites demonstrate excellent thermal conductivity and favorable heat dissipation property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An artificial microbial consortium was constructed by using four dominant strains isolated from tea fungus. Through comparison of single and mixed cultures, we determined the role of these strains in the fermentation of tea fungus and the formation of biofilm. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to analyze the major biochemical components in the fermentation process of tea fungus. After multiple passages, the stability of the microbial consortium was analyzed using a combination of isolation and metagenomic analysis. The results showed that among the four strains tested, Gluconacetobacter sp. J5 was the core strain producing cellulose and biofilm. The fermentation characteristics of the synthetic microbial consortium was comparable to natural fermentation in terms of cell growth, sugar utilization, pH, total acidity and tea polyphenol content. The microbial consortium was stable and all four strains were dominant in the microbial consortium after six passages. These results suggest that the functional strains isolated from tea fungus can be used to construct a stable artificial starter culture, which will lay the foundation for the standardized industrial production of tea fungus.