Psychological burden of hearing-impaired children and their parents through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: Childhood hearing impairment has potential repercussions on the mental well-being of both children and their parents. As a vulnerable population in accessing health care services, they may face specific challenges, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the association between childhood hearing impairment and the mental health of children and their parents, and to assess health care utilization of hearing-impaired children and its impact on mental outcomes for both during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) database, we analyzed data for 15,989 children aged 5-17 and their corresponding parents. The correlations between childhood hearing impairment and mental outcomes were examined using logistic regression models. The 2020 (quarter 3 and quarter 4)-2021 NHIS data was singled out and re-analyzed, focusing on the utilization of medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: After accounting for covariates, hearing-impaired children exhibited a higher frequency of anxiety (OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.79-3.02) or depression (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.59-2.88). Parents of hearing-impaired children had significantly higher odds of a higher frequency of anxiety (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.20-2.01) or depression (OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.30-2.29). Interaction effect of hearing impairment with survey year on parents' mental health outcomes was observed (p for interaction <0.1). Children with hearing loss had higher odds of reporting delayed medical care (OR 2.00, 95% CI 1.11-3.59) or canceled medical care (OR 1.96, 95% CI 0.98-3.96, p = 0.059) due to the pandemic. Delayed medical care (OR 12.41, 95% CI 2.78-55.46) or canceled medical care (OR 6.26, 95% CI 1.28-30.75) due to the COVID-19 pandemic significantly contributed to the increase of anxiety frequency in hearing-impaired children. Conclusion: Childhood hearing impairment exhibits a substantial impact on children's and parental mental health, which is further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Families of hearing-impaired children appear to be in a vulnerable position during public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which can further exacerbate their mental outcomes.

Succulent-Inspired Implicit Structural Change for Smart "ON/OFF" Switchable and Flexible EMI Shielding Coating.

Modern miniaturized intelligent electronics call for smart switchable and flexible electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding material for highly precise applications. However, most switchable EMI shielding materials are based on an explicit structural change. Herein, we report a succulent-inspired smart switchable MXene (WR-MXene) coating film realized by inner implicit structural change, which benefits from the insertion of our reversible large-cavity yolk-shell biomicrospheres. The novel switchable yolk-shell biomicrospheres contain a soft N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) hydrogel core, an "ON/OFF" switchable cavity (over 30% volume fraction), and a porous polydopamine (p-PDA) shell. The yolk-shell biomicrospheres can be obtained by a facile two-step polymerization and a simple drying-dehydration treatment. Because of the "ON/OFF" switchable void space brought by the smart biomicrospheres and conductive framework of MXene, an optimized ultralight and flexible WR-MXene coating film (vWR-coating film) showed both large switchable change (over 60 dB) and extraordinary EMI shielding effectiveness, reaching 95 and over 50 dB in the whole X band (8.2-12.4 GHz). These novel reversible yolk-shell biomicrospheres and the succulent-inspired switchable coating films are promising for smart flexible wearable devices and many advanced multifunctional systems needing dynamic real-time response.

Ball-milled zero-valent iron with formic acid for effectively removing Cu(II)-EDTA accomplished by EDTA ligands oxidative degradation and Cu(II) removal.

Heavy metal complexes in industrial wastewater are challenging to be removed by conventional methods arising from their stable chelating structure. In this study, zero-valent iron (ZVI) was ball-milled with tiny formic acid (FA), and the as-prepared sample (FA-ZVIbm) was attempted to eliminate a model heavy metal complex of Cu(II)-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (Cu(II)-EDTA). The addition of FA to ball-milling could dramatically enhance the performance of ball-milled ZVI (ZVIbm) towards Cu(II)-EDTA removal and increase the removal rate constant by 80 times. This conspicuous improvement of Cu(II)-EDTA elimination was attributed to the ferrous formate (Fe(HCOO)2) shell formed on the surface of FA-ZVIbm. Results revealed that the Fe(HCOO)2 shell facilitated the activation of O2 to reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the leaching of Fe3+. Cu(II)-EDTA was decomplexed through both oxidative destruction and Fe3+ replacement, and the released Cu2+ was reduced by FA-ZVIbm and immobilized synchronously. Meanwhile, the ligands underwent oxidative degradation by ROS, thus avoiding the re-chelation ecological risk. Impressively, FA-ZVIbm could achieve cyclic treatment of actual copper complex wastewater and possessed promising advantage in treatment cost. This study would offer a promising approach for eliminating Cu(II)-EDTA through EDTA ligands degradation and synchronous Cu(II) removal, moreover to shed light on the decomplexation mechanism.

High-Durable, Radiative-Cooling, and Heat-Insulating Flexible Films Enabled by a Bioinspired Dictyophora-Like Structure.

Radiative cooling, achieved by selectively emitting thermal radiation to outer space, holds great promise for addressing global energy challenges and mitigating the effects of climate change. However, most radiative cooling materials face limitations in effectively cooling in high-heat environments, and their performance deteriorates significantly with prolonged outdoor use. These shortcomings restrict their widespread application in various settings. To address this, we draw inspiration from the unique biostructure of dictyophora and propose a novel hollow@porous radiative cooling film by integrating hollow microparticles and porous polymer. The fabricated hollow@porous flexible film exhibits high sunlight reflection (93.7%), strong infrared emissivity (89.1%), as well as ultralow thermal conductivity (17.56 mW/m k). The daytime cooling performance of the prepared cooler is experimentally demonstrated with a marked temperature decrease to 17.4 °C under a peak solar intensity of 980 W/m2. Furthermore, the unique hollow@porous structure also strengthens the film's long-term durability by incorporating weather resistance and self-cleaning properties, which ensures stable and efficient radiative cooling performance even in harsh climatic conditions. This advancement in radiative cooling materials opens up new possibilities for thermal management, energy conservation, and cooling of solar panels, engine components, electronic equipment, new energy batteries, etc.

Antagonism between abscisic acid and gibberellin regulates starch synthesis and corm development in Gladiolus hybridus.

Understanding corm development in flower bulbs is of importance for securing the quality of cut flowers and propagation of commercial stocks. Gladiolus is one of the most popular bulb plants worldwide. Its corm development is characterized by starch accumulation. Previous research has shown that phytohormones (especially gibberellin (GA)) are involved in tuber development. However, the relationship between abscisic acid (ABA)/GA and starch during corm development remains unclear. To gain deeper insights into the biological process of corm development, we performed a detailed anatomical characterization of different stages of corm development and analyzed phytohormone levels. Our study showed that corm development is linked to hormones (ABA and GA) and carbohydrates (sucrose and starch). Exogenous hormone treatment and silencing of endogenous hormone biosynthesis genes indicated that ABA positively regulates corm development, while GA acts as an antagonist of ABA function. A sucrose synthase gene (GhSUS2) was shown to be involved in the antagonism between ABA and GA. GhSUS2 was upregulated by ABA and downregulated by GA. The increase in the transcript level of GhSUS2 coincided with the development of corm/cormels. Silencing of GhSUS2 repressed corm development and starch accumulation. In conclusion, we propose that GhSUS2, an essential enzyme in sucrose degradation, is differentially regulated by ABA and GA and controls corm development in Gladiolus.

Erratum: Antitumor activity of gambogic acid on NCI-H1993 xenografts via MET signaling pathway downregulation.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3892/ol.2015.3719.].

Transcriptional profiling reveals that a MYB transcription factor MsMYB4 contributes to the salinity stress response of alfalfa.

MYB transcription factors are important regulators of the plant response to abiotic stress. Their participation in the salinity stress of the key forage legume species alfalfa (Medicago sativa) was investigated here by comparing the transcriptomes of the two cultivars Dryland (DL) and Sundory (SD), which differed with respect to their ability to tolerate salinity stress. When challenged by the stress, DL plants were better able than SD ones to scavenge reactive oxygen species. A large number of genes encoding transcription regulators, signal transducers and proteins involved in both primary and secondary metabolism were differentially transcribed in the two cultivars, especially when plants were subjected to salinity stress. The set of induced genes included 17 MYB family of transcription factors, all of which were subsequently isolated. The effect of constitutively expressing these genes on the salinity tolerance expressed by Arabidopsis thaliana was investigated. The introduction of MsMYB4 significantly increased the plants' salinity tolerance in an abscisic acid-dependent manner. A sub-cellular localization experiment and a transactivation assay indicated that MsMYB4 was deposited in the nucleus and was able to activate transcription in yeast. Based on this information, we propose that the MsMYB4 products is likely directly involved in alfalfa's response to salinity stress.

Antitumor activity of gambogic acid on NCI-H1993 xenografts via MET signaling pathway downregulation.

The present study aimed to investigate the anti-tumor mechanisms of gambogic acid (GA) on NCI-H1993 xenografts in vivo. Non-small cell lung carcinoma NCI-H1993 cells, which harbor a MET gene amplification, were subcutaneously injected into athymic nude mice. The mice were randomly assigned to treatment with 10, 20 or 30 mg/kg GA for 3 weeks. At the end of the efficacy study, all the mice were sacrificed and the tumor tissues were subjected to western blot analysis and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. GA inhibited NCI-H1993 xenograft tumor growth in a dose-dependent manner. Western blot analysis demonstrated that expression of phosphorylated (p)-MET and its downstream signaling molecules p-AKT and p-ERK1/2 were significantly inhibited by GA. IHC analysis of Ki-67 expression demonstrated that GA treatment resulted in dose-dependent inhibition of tumor cell proliferation. GA exerted antitumor effects on NCI-H1993 xenografts in vivo by direct regulation of the MET signaling pathway. Theses antitumor effects were primarily a result of its anti-proliferation function.