Financial toxicity, family resilience and negative emotions among young and middle-aged breast cancer patients: A multicentre cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: To determine financial toxicity in young and middle-aged women with breast cancer and examine the associations between family resilience and negative emotions. METHODS: A multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted, 538 women with breast cancer were recruited from four hospitals. FT, family resilience, and negative emotions were collected using the Comprehensive Score for FT, the Chinese version of the Family Resilience Assessment in Breast Cancer Patients, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 item, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7. This study adhered to the STROBE guidelines. RESULTS: The valid response rate was 96.8 % (N = 521). Overall, the score for FT was 19.63 ± 10.13. FT was significantly correlated with family resilience (r = 0.30, p < 0.010) and depression (r = -0.11, p < 0.050). The hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis showed that career status, monthly income, religion, and family resilience were the main factors influencing FT in patients with breast cancer (R2 = 0.37; F = 6.83; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: FT was more prevalent among women from low-income career. Women with poor family resilience, no religious also suffer greater financial toxicity. It is necessary to pay more attention of the financial toxicity of female' low-income career, no religious belief and poor family resilience. Developing effective interventions based on family resilience might be helpful in promoting their well-being.

Large-scale array for radio astronomy on the farside (LARAF).

At the Royal Society meeting in 2023, we have mainly presented our lunar orbit array concept called DSL, and also briefly introduced a concept of a lunar surface array, LARAF. As the DSL concept had been presented before, in this article, we introduce the LARAF. We propose to build an array in the far side of the Moon, with a master station which handles the data collection and processing, and 20 stations with maximum baseline of 10 km. Each station consists of 12 membrane antenna units, and the stations are connected to the master station by power line and optical fibre. The array will make interferometric observation in the 0.1-50 MHz band during the lunar night, powered by regenerated fuel cells. The whole array can be carried to the lunar surface with a heavy rocket mission, and deployed with a rover in eight months. Such an array would be an important step in the long-term development of lunar-based ultralong wavelength radio astronomy. It has a sufficiently high sensitivity to observe many radio sources in the sky, though still short of the dark age fluctuations. We discuss the possible options in the power supply, data communication, deployment etc. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades (part 2)'.

Latent profiles of nurses' moral resilience and compassion fatigue.

BACKGROUND: Compassion fatigue is often associated with moral distress in the nursing practice among registered nurses. Moral resilience is an important ability to maintain, restore, or promote their physical and mental health in response to ethical dilemmas in nursing. Moral resilience can be utilized as a potential solution to aid registered nurses in effectively managing compassion fatigue. AIM: To identify latent profiles of moral resilience among registered nurses and to explore the relationships of these profiles with compassion fatigue. RESEARCH DESIGN: From August 2022 to December 2022, 569 nurses were recruited in two general hospitals, in China. A Rushton Moral Resilience Scale and the Chinese version of Compassion Fatigue-Short Scale were given to the participants. A latent profile analysis was conducted to explore moral resilience latent profiles. Predictors of profiles membership was evaluated using multinomial logistic regression analysis, and the compassion fatigue scores of each latent profile were compared using a one-way analysis of variance. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: We obtained ethical approval from the Institution Review Board of Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University (IRB No. E202293, approved 15/July/2022). RESULTS: A four-profile moral resilience model best fit the data. Different levels and shapes differentiated the four profiles: high moral resilience (28.7%), moderate moral resilience (52.3%), low responses and high efficacy (16.2%), and low moral resilience (2.8%). Nurses with bachelor's degrees were more likely to belong to the high moral resilience (OR = 0.118, p = .038) and moderate moral resilience (OR = 0.248, p = .045); Nurses who were divorced or separated (OR = 11.746, p = .025) and very dissatisfied with their work (OR = 0.001, p = .049) were more probably belonging to low moral resilience. Nurses who had received ethical training in the hospital were more likely involved in high moral resilience (OR = 5.129, p = .003) and low responses and high efficacy (OR = 5.129, p = .003). In each profile of moral resilience, compassion fatigue was experienced differently by the participants (F = 13.05, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Developing and implementing interventions tailored to each nurse's moral resilience profile would maximize interventions' effectiveness and reduce nurses' compassion fatigue.

Enhanced Luminescence of Dye-Decorated ZIF-8 Composite Films via Controllable D-A Interactions for White Light Emission.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) constructed by metal ions/clusters and organic linkers are used to encapsulate fluorescent guest species with aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effects to enhance fluorescence properties due to their porous structures and high specific surface areas. However, there would be a problem of matching between MOF pores and guest molecules' sizes. In this paper, amorphous ZIF-8 was modified by carboxyl functional groups (H3BTC-ZIF-8) via introducing the 1,2,4-benzenetricarbonic acid (H3BTC) ligand into the ZIF-8 sol system. Moreover, H3BTC-ZIF-8 was used for the loading of organic fluorescent dyes rhodamine 6G (R6G) and coumarin 151 (C151) to prepare R6G/C151/H3BTC-ZIF-8 composite films. A white-light-emitting composite film (R6G/C151/H3BTC-ZIF-8) with CIE coordinates of (0.323, 0.347) was successfully prepared by compounding fluorescent dyes (R6G and C151) with H3BTC-modified ZIF-8, whose photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) can reach 64.0%. It was higher than the PLQY of the composite films prepared by crystalline ZIF-8 (40.2%) or amorphous ZIF-8 without H3BTC (48.0%) compounded with the same concentrations of dyes. The fluorescence enhancement was probably attributed to an increased amount of active sites of H3BTC-modified ZIF-8 interacting with dyes C151 and R6G. This can form hydrogen bonds between H3BTC-ZIF-8 and C151, and weak electron donor-acceptor (D-A) interactions between H3BTC-ZIF-8 and R6G molecules, respectively, thus enhancing the interactions between dyes and ZIF-8 and reducing the ACQ effect existing between dye molecules. Therefore, this strategy could provide an important guidance to develop white-light-emissive materials.

Moral Sensitivity and Emotional Intelligence in Intensive Care Unit Nurses.

Moral sensitivity helps individuals resolve moral dilemmas as a precursor to moral decision-making. Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses are at high risk for encountering moral dilemmas and should have the moral sensitivity to recognize moral issues. The activities of ICU nurses in moral decision-making are guided by moral sensitivity but are also based on emotional intelligence (EI). EI, be recognized as an integral part of moral sensitivity with long-standing theoretical foundations. It is necessary to explicate the true role of EI in moral sensitivity through empirical research. To measure the level of moral sensitivity of ICU nurses and determine the relationship between moral sensitivity and EI. We recruited 467 ICU nurses of ten hospitals from March to June 2021 in Hunan Province, China for a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. The moral sensitivity and EI were measured using the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire-Revised Version into Chinese (MSQ-R-CV) and the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale-Version into Chinese (WLEIS-C). A self-report questionnaire covered sociodemographic characteristics. The average moral sensitivity score of ICU nurses was 39.41 ± 7.21. The average EI score was significantly positively correlated with the moral sensitivity score (p < 0.001). This study demonstrated that the moral sensitivities of ICU nurses were at medium levels. EI of ICU nurses can indeed affect their moral sensitivity, and the impact of each element of EI should be clarified for practical application.

A simple method for simultaneous determination of organophosphate esters and their diester metabolites in dairy products and human milk by using solid-phase extraction coupled to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) and their diester metabolites have been frequently found in various environmental matrices and regarded as emerging environmental pollutants, whereas data on their occurrence in foods and human matrices are still limited. In this study, a novel and simple procedure was developed to simultaneously determine 14 OPEs and 6 diester metabolites in dairy products and human milk. After enzymatic hydrolysis by ß-glucuronidase/arylsulfatase, a freeze-dried milk sample was extracted with acetonitrile and purified by solid-phase extraction. Subsequently, all target compounds were determined by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS. Linearity, limits of detection (LODs), recovery, precision, and matrix effects of the proposed methodology were validated, and the parameters of HPLC-ESI-MS/MS were optimized. LODs for OPEs and their diester metabolites were from 0.001 to 0.02 ng/mL, and limits of quantification (LOQs) were 0.01-0.3 ng/mL. Average recoveries at two spiked levels ranged between 67.3 and 121%, with relative standard deviation lower than 20.7%. A test for matrix effects showed that most analytes presented signal suppression, and isotopically labeled ISs were essential for compensating for the matrix effects. Finally, OPEs and their metabolites both showed high detecting frequencies in real samples, which indicated that these emerging pollutants were ubiquitous in foods and the human body, and the impact of the diester metabolites on population exposure must be included in exposure assessment.

Organophosphate esters and their diester metabolites in infant formulas and baby supplementary foods collected in Beijing, China: Occurrence and the implications for infant exposure.

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) have been extensively used as flame retardants and/or plasticizers and they found to be ubiquitous in various environmental matrices along with the gradual phase-out of brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Moreover, their main metabolites, organophosphate di-esters (di-OPEs), were also frequently detected. However, few studies focused on the occurrence of OPEs and di-OPEs in foods. In this study, fourteen OPEs and five di-OPEs were measured in infant formula and baby supplementary food (BSF) collected in Beijing, China. Most OPEs and di-OPEs presented high detection frequencies, which indicated their ubiquity in baby foods. The concentrations of ∑14OPEs in the 75 infant formula samples ranged from 0.79 to 159 ng/g, with a median of 23.2 ng/g, and in which triphenyl phosphate (TPhP) was the most abundant compound. The concentrations of ∑14OPEs in the 32 BSF samples were 4.42-115 ng/g (median: 19.5 ng/g), and tri(3-chloropropyl) phosphate (TCIPP) was predominant. Moreover, no significant difference was observed between OPE levels in infant formula and BSF. The median concentrations of Σ5di-OPEs in infant formula and BSF were 3.39 and 5.43 ng/g, respectively. However, no significantly correlation was observed between concentrations of di-OPEs and their parent compounds, which indicated they have different sources. The median estimated dietary intakes (EDIs) of the ∑14OPEs were from 165 to 383 ng/kg bodyweight (bw)/day for infants via infant formula feeding, and were from 429 to 470 ng/kg bw/day via BSF feeding. A comparison to corresponding reference dose (RfD) suggested that dietary intakes of OPEs to Beijing infants via formula/BSF consumption were still unable to cause significant health concerns. However, EDIs of OPEs for infants were found to be significantly higher than that for Chinese adults, and dietary intake might be the predominant OPE intake pathway for infants. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate OPEs and their metabolites in baby foods.

Occurrence and Dietary Intake of Organophosphate Esters via Animal-Origin Food Consumption in China: Results of a Chinese Total Diet Study.

Although diet is regarded as a major exposure source of organophosphate esters (OPEs), the dietary survey of OPEs in China has been limited. Based on the sixth Chinese Total Diet Study (TDS) conducted during 2016-2019 in 24 of 34 provinces in China, 14 OPEs were detected in 96 food composites from four animal-origin food categories. Twelve OPEs were detected in more than 80% of the samples and 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPP) presented the highest median concentration (1.63 ng/g wet weight (ww)). The most contaminated food composite was meat, with a median ∑14OPEs of 13.6 ng/g ww, followed by aquatic food (11.5 ng/g ww), egg (7.63 ng/g ww), and milk (3.51 ng/g ww). The contribution of the meat group was close to or even greater than 50% in the estimated dietary intake (EDI) of OPEs. The average (range) EDI of the ∑14OPEs via animal food consumption for a Chinese "standard man" was 34.4 (6.18-73.3) ng/kg bodyweight (bw)/day. The geographical distribution showed higher EDI in southern coastal provinces compared to the northern inland provinces. Nevertheless, the highest EDI of ∑14OPEs from animal food was still more than 10 times lower than the reference dose. This is the first national survey of OPEs in foods from China.

The role of prepotent response inhibition and interference control in depression.

INTRODUCTION: The ability to suppress inappropriate prepotent response and to overcome the interference of irrelevant information are two important components of inhibitory control. Little is known, however, about the relevant contributions in these two components of inhibitory control to depression. The aim of the present study was to assess the prepotent response inhibition and interference control simultaneously in a group of patients diagnosed with major depression disorder (MDD). METHODS: A clinical group of patients with MDD (n = 41) and a control group of healthy volunteers (n = 39) were recruited and assessed using the stop-signal task and the Flanker task respectively. RESULTS: The results showed longer stop-signal reaction time in patients with MDD in the stop-signal task. Regarding the interference control function, the analysis showed the response accuracy under the incongruent condition was significantly lower in patients with MDD than healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, patients with MDD showed impairments both in prepotent response inhibition and interference control. The present findings provide a better understanding of the mechanism of depression-related deficits in inhibition and have great implications for the development of cognitive training programmes to remediate cognitive dysfunction in depression.

Peering into the dark (ages) with low-frequency space interferometers: Using the 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen from the infant universe to probe fundamental (Astro)physics.

The Dark Ages and Cosmic Dawn are largely unexplored windows on the infant Universe (z ~ 200-10). Observations of the redshifted 21-cm line of neutral hydrogen can provide valuable new insight into fundamental physics and astrophysics during these eras that no other probe can provide, and drives the design of many future ground-based instruments such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA). We review progress in the field of high-redshift 21-cm Cosmology, in particular focussing on what questions can be addressed by probing the Dark Ages at z > 30. We conclude that only a space- or lunar-based radio telescope, shielded from the Earth's radio-frequency interference (RFI) signals and its ionosphere, enable the 21-cm signal from the Dark Ages to be detected. We suggest a generic mission design concept, CoDEX, that will enable this in the coming decades.

Calunduloside E inhibits HepG2 cell proliferation and migration via p38/JNK-HMGB1 signalling axis.

High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a highly conserved chromosome protein, is considered as a potential therapeutic target and novel biomarker because of its regulation in the proliferation and metastasis of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Calenduloside E (CE), a natural active product, has been reported to anti-cancer effect. However, the role and underlying molecular mechanism of CE in HCC is still unclear. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of CE on the proliferation and migration of HCC, and then explore the possible underlying molecular mechanism. HepG2 cells were treated with CE or transfected with HMGB1 shRNA plasmids, EdU and colony formation assays were used to detect cell proliferation ability. Wound healing and transwell assays were used to determine the role of CE in cell migration. The expression of Cyclins, PCNA, MMPs, HMGB1, N-cadherin, E-cadherin and phosphorylation of p38, ERK and JNK were all detected using Western blotting. Our results showed that CE inhibited HepG2 cells proliferation and migration in a dose dependent manner; reduced the expression levels of Cycins, PCNA, HMGB1, MMPs and N-cadherin; up-regulated E-cadherin expression; enhanced the phosphorylation of p38 and JNK signalling pathways. Blocking the activation of p38 and JNK obviously reversed CE-mediated inhibitory effects on HepG2 cell proliferation and migration; reversed CE-induced down-regulation of Cyclins, PCNA, MMPs, N-cadherin and HMGB1, as well as E-cadherin up-regulation. In conclusion, our study suggested that CE reduces the expression levels of Cyclins, MMPs and epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) through p38/JNK-HMGB1 signaling axis and then inhibits HepG2 cells proliferation and migration in HepG2 cells. This study provides a new perspective for the anti-tumour molecular mechanism of CE in HCC.

Rapid determination of 13 organophosphorus flame retardants in milk by using modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe technique, solid-phase extraction, and HPLC-MS/MS.

Organophosphorus flame retardants are a class of widely used plasticizers and flame retardants. In this study, an analytical methodology for the simultaneous determination of 13 organophosphorus flame retardants in milk was developed by using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in combination with a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe technique and solid-phase extraction. The experimental parameters of the sample purification procedure and high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry were optimized. The developed method was validated in terms of linearity, limits of detection, recovery, and precision. The method showed a linear response in the 1-100 ng/mL concentration range and the limits of detection ranged from 0.001 to 0.3 ng/mL. The mean recoveries for most organophosphorus flame retardants were in the ranges of 75.0-115.8% (spiked at 2.5 ng/mL) and 76.7-124.8% (spiked at 25 ng/mL), with relative standard deviations of <13.09%. The developed methodology was successfully applied to the analysis of nine human milk samples and nine commercial cow milk samples. Eleven organophosphorus flame retardants were detected in the human milk samples, with median concentrations that ranged from lower than the limit of detection to 1.47 ng/mL, and only nine organophosphorus flame retardants were detected in cow milk samples, with median levels of <0.32 ng/mL.

Organophosphorus flame retardants in breast milk from Beijing, China: Occurrence, nursing infant's exposure and risk assessment.

Organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) are widely used chemicals, whereas data on OPFRs in human being is limited. In this study, thirteen OPFRs were measured in 105 breast milk samples collected from Beijing mothers in 2018. The ∑13OPFRs ranged from

Deficits in maintenance and interference control of working memory in major depression: evidence from the visuospatial change detection task.

INTRODUCTION: Recent theories in cognitive psychology suggest that working memory (WM) processing involves a set of specific functions, in particular the WM functions of maintenance and interference control. Previous findings on WM impairments in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) had been inconsistent, partly because earlier studies did not take into account these two different functions of WM. METHOD: Forty-two participants with MDD and 39 controls completed the visuospatial change detection task. We estimated the WM function of maintenance, based on performance in trials using the targets only, and the WM function of interference control, based on performance in trials with distractor rectangles. RESULTS: Our results showed that participants with MDD had poorer WM function of maintenance and interference control than controls. However, the results of filtering efficiency did not show significant group difference, thus patients with MDD showed comparable impairments in WM function of maintanance as well as in WM function of interference control. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggested that patients with MDD appear to show generalised impairments on visuospatial WM function of maintenance and interference control. Future studies should use refined paradigms to assess the different functions of WM and their distinctive contributions to symptomatology of depression.

Discovering the sky at the longest wavelengths with a lunar orbit array.

Due to ionosphere absorption and the interference of natural and artificial radio emissions, astronomical observation from the ground becomes very difficult at the wavelengths of decametre or longer, which we shall refer to as the ultralong wavelengths. This unexplored part of the electromagnetic spectrum has the potential for great discoveries, notably in the study of cosmic dark ages and dawn, but also in heliophysics and space weather, planets and exoplanets, cosmic ray and neutrinos, pulsar and interstellar medium (ISM), extragalactic radio sources, and so on. The difficulty of the ionosphere can be overcome by space observation, and the Moon can shield the radio frequency interferences (RFIs) from the Earth. A lunar orbit array can be a practical first step to opening up the ultralong wave band. Compared with a lunar surface observatory on the far side, the lunar orbit array is simpler and more economical, as it does not need to make the risky and expensive landing, can be easily powered with solar energy, and the data can be transmitted back to the Earth when it is on the near-side part of the orbit. Here, I describe the discovering sky at the longest wavelength (DSL) project, which will consist of a mother satellite and 6-9 daughter satellites, flying on the same circular orbit around the Moon, and forming a linear interferometer array. The data are collected by the mother satellite which computes the interferometric cross-correlations (visibilities) and transmits the data back to the Earth. The whole array can be deployed on the lunar orbit with a single rocket launch. The project is under intensive study in China. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades'.

Research on Deterministic Figuring of Ultra-Precision Shaft Parts Based on Analysis and Control of Figuring Ability.

The application of ultra-precision shaft parts is widely used, such as the spindle core of the air bearing spindle in ultra-precision machine tools. The precision of the spindle core is extremely high, and it is very difficult to obtain directly by traditional Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine tools but is mostly obtained by manual grinding, whose machining efficiency is greatly limited. Based on the deterministic figuring theory, this paper focuses on the ultra-precision roundness, optimizing the filtering parameters of the measurement error data and studying the generation mechanism of the removal function morphology; the shape of the removal function is adjusted by combining the analysis of the figuring ability and positioning error. Finally, the optimized removal function is used on an experimental steel shaft, the average roundness convergence ratio is 72% higher than that of the original removal function, and the roundness reaches a 0.1 µm level. The result shows that a reasonable filtering of measured data and the removal function adjusted for the surface feature can improve the efficiency and precision of deterministic figuring on shaft parts.

Role of crustacean female sex hormone (CFSH) in sex differentiation in early juvenile mud crabs, Scylla paramamosain.

Recent studies have shown that crustacean female sex hormone (CFSH) is involved in the development of reproductive phenotype. In the present study, observation of sexually dimorphic traits revealed that gender could be distinguished from the third stage juveniles onwards in the mud crab, Scylla paramamosain. Sp-cfsh expression levels were analyzed in early juveniles. The results showed that, Sp-cfsh expression levels differed among individuals at post-molt of the first stage and second stage, and significantly different between the two sexes at post-molt of the third stage, which suggested that Sp-cfsh might participate in the sex differentiation in early juveniles. The expression of Sp-cfsh was examined during the molting cycle at the third stage juveniles, and the results showed that it was highest at the pre-molt stage. Based on the results, the expression of Sp-cfsh at pre-molt stage was further analyzed between the sexes from the third stage to the fifth stage, and it was found that the expression of Sp-cfsh was similar between two sexes at the third stage and the fourth stage; whereas at the fifth stage, when the gonopores occurred, the expression of Sp-cfsh significantly increased in females but decreased in males; suggesting that the expression of Sp-cfsh could influence the formation of gonopores. Finally, the role of Sp-cfsh in the reproductive phenotypes was confirmed through RNA interference knockdown. The combined results suggest that CFSH is involved in the regulation of sex differentiation of early juvenile in S. paramamosain.

Diminished Anticipatory and Consummatory Pleasure in Dysphoria: Evidence From an Experience Sampling Study.

Anhedonia, the experience of diminished pleasure, is a core feature of major depressive disorder and is often present long before the diagnosis of depression. Most previous studies have investigated anhedonia with self-report measures of trait anhedonia or with behavioral paradigms using laboratory stimuli, and the real-time characteristics of hedonic processing in subclinical depression remain under-investigated. We used the experience sampling method to evaluate momentary experience of hedonic feelings in the context of daily life. Dysphoric (n = 49) and non-dysphoric (n = 51) college students completed assessments of their current positive affect (PA), as well as state anticipatory and consummatory pleasure, 3 or 4 times a day every day for 2 weeks. The results showed that dysphoric individuals reported less state anticipatory and consummatory pleasure compared with non-dysphoric individuals. Moreover, significant time-lagged associations between anticipatory pleasure and follow-up consummatory pleasure were found in the whole sample, after adjustment for current PA. The current findings thus hold considerable promise in advancing our understanding of anhedonia as well as the important role of state anticipatory pleasure in relation to depression.

Research on High Precision and Deterministic Figuring for Shaft Parts Based on Abrasive Belt Polishing.

A deterministic figuring method for cylindrical surface based on abrasive belt polishing is proposed in this study in order to improve the geometric accuracy of metal shaft parts. The principal motion of material removal is performed through the axial oscillation of the abrasive belt, and the different material removal at different positions can be obtained through servo control of the machine tool spindle by removing high error spots on the cylindrical surface and finally deterministically corrects the roundness error. An abrasive belt-based deterministic figuring device was built, and the figuring experiments were performed on the surface of steel workpieces 100 mm in diameter and 130 mm in effective length. The roundness errors of the entire workpiece after twice figuring iterations decreased nearly from the initial 3 µm to 1 µm, which preliminary verified the feasibility of this method. This deterministic figuring method is expected to break the machining accuracy limit and improve the rotation precision of the precision shaft parts such as the aerostatic spindle.

A novel crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH) from the mud crab Scylla paramamosain regulating carbohydrate metabolism.

Crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH) plays a crucial role in regulating carbohydrate metabolism in crustaceans. In this study, a new cDNA encoding type I CHH peptide, termed Sp-CHH3, was isolated from the mud crab Scylla paramamosain and its potential functions were investigated. The full length cDNA of Sp-CHH3 was identified as encoding a 127-aa precursor composed of a 27-aa signal peptide, a 23-aa CHH precursor-related peptide and a 75-aa mature peptide with a typical motif of CHH. Phylogenic analysis suggested that, Sp-CHH3 is a previously unreported CHH from S. paramamosain. Tissue distribution analysis showed that Sp-CHH3 was mainly expressed in the eyestalk ganglia, thoracic ganglia, stomach and the ovary. A RNA interference experiments showed that after injection of Sp-CHH3-targeted dsRNA, both the level of Sp-CHH3 expression in the eyestalk ganglia and hemolymph glucose level decreased significantly. A further short-term starvation experiments demonstrated that, the level of Sp-CHH3 detected in the eyestalk ganglia was significantly up-regulated at the 12th h of starvation, it then fell back at the 24th h of starvation and subsequently remained relative stability between the 24th to 96th h of starvation. The hemolymph glucose level decreased significantly (P < .05) at each sampling time during the 96 h starvation duration when compared to that of 0 h (prior to starvation) and the overall trend was largely correlated with the level of Sp-CHH3 expression in the eyestalk ganglia. In summary, the results suggest that Sp-CHH3 plays a functional role in regulating carbohydrate metabolism in S. paramamosain.