The impact of sufferers' wealth status on pain perceptions: Its development and relation to allocation of healthcare resources.

Wealth-based disparities in health care wherein the poor receive undertreatment in painful conditions are a prominent issue that requires immediate attention. Research with adults suggests that these disparities are partly rooted in stereotypes associating poor individuals with pain insensitivity. However, whether and how children consider a sufferer's wealth status in their pain perceptions remains unknown. The present work addressed this question by testing 4- to 9-year-olds from the US and China. In Study 1 (N = 108, 56 girls, 79% White), US participants saw rich and poor White children experiencing identical injuries and indicated who they thought felt more pain. Although 4- to 6-year-olds responded at chance, children aged seven and above attributed more pain to the poor than to the rich. Study 2 with a new sample of US children (N = 111, 56 girls, 69% White) extended this effect to judgments of White adults' pain. Pain judgments also informed children's prosocial behaviors, leading them to provide medical resources to the poor. Studies 3 (N = 118, 59 girls, 100% Asian) and 4 (N = 80, 40 girls, 100% Asian) found that, when evaluating White and Asian people's suffering, Chinese children began to attribute more pain to the poor than to the rich earlier than US children. Thus, unlike US adults, US children and Chinese children recognize the poor's pain from early on. These findings add to our knowledge of group-based beliefs about pain sensitivity and have broad implications on ways to promote equitable health care. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Four studies examined whether 4- to 9-year-old children's pain perceptions were influenced by sufferers' wealth status. US children attributed more pain to White individuals of low wealth status than those of high wealth status by age seven. Chinese children demonstrated an earlier tendency to attribute more pain to the poor (versus the rich) compared to US children. Children's wealth-based pain judgments underlied their tendency to provide healthcare resources to people of low wealth status.

My boss is younger, less educated, and shorter tenured: When and why status (in)congruence influences promotion system justification.

Supervisors are usually older, more educated, and longer tenured than their subordinates, a situation known as status congruence. However, subordinates are increasingly experiencing status incongruence, in which their supervisors lack these traditional status markers. We examine how status congruence versus incongruence interacts with subordinates' judgments of their supervisors' competence to influence subordinates' perceptions of the promotion system. Grounded in system justification theory, we predicted and found that when the supervisor was relatively less competent, status congruence led to perceptions of greater promotion system fairness (Study 1) and promotion system acceptance (Study 2), particularly under conditions known to heighten system justification motivation (a low sense of power in Study 1 and low system escapability in Study 2). Moreover, to triangulate on the role of system justification, we created an implicit measure of the construct and showed in two additional studies (3a and 3b) that participants engaged in more system justification under conditions in which our theoretical rationale suggested they would. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Soil conditions and the plant microbiome boost the accumulation of monoterpenes in the fruit of Citrus reticulata 'Chachi'.

BACKGROUND: The medicinal material quality of Citrus reticulata 'Chachi' differs depending on the bioactive components influenced by the planting area. Environmental factors, such as soil nutrients, the plant-associated microbiome and climatic conditions, play important roles in the accumulation of bioactive components in citrus. However, how these environmental factors mediate the production of bioactive components of medicinal plants remains understudied. RESULTS: Here, a multi-omics approach was used to clarify the role of environmental factors such as soil nutrients and the root-associated microbiome on the accumulation of monoterpenes in the peel of C. reticulata 'Chachi' procured from core (geo-authentic product region) and non-core (non-geo-authentic product region) geographical regions. The soil environment (high salinity, Mg, Mn and K) enhanced the monoterpene content by promoting the expression of salt stress-responsive genes and terpene backbone synthase in the host plants from the core region. The microbial effects on the monoterpene accumulation of citrus from the core region were further verified by synthetic community (SynCom) experiments. Rhizosphere microorganisms activated terpene synthesis and promoted monoterpene accumulation through interactions with the host immune system. Endophyte microorganisms derived from soil with the potential for terpene synthesis might enhance monoterpene accumulation in citrus by providing precursors of monoterpenes. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, this study demonstrated that both soil properties and the soil microbiome impacted monoterpene production in citrus peel, thus providing an essential basis for increasing fruit quality via reasonable fertilization and precision microbiota management. Video Abstract.

Transcriptome and Metabolome Analyses Provide Insights into the Flavonoid Accumulation in Peels of Citrus reticulata 'Chachi'.

The quality of Chinese medicinal materials depends on the content of bioactive components, which are affected by the environmental factors of different planting regions. In this research, integrated analysis of the transcriptome and metabolome of C. reticulata 'Chachi' was performed in two regions, and three orchards were included in the analysis. In total, only 192 compounds were found in fresh peels, and among 18 differentially accumulated flavonoid metabolites, 15 flavonoids were enriched in peels from the Xinhui planting region. In total, 1228 genes were up-regulated in peels from Xinhui, including the CHS and GST genes, which are involved in the salt stress response. Overall, based on the correlation analysis of flavonoid content and gene expression in peels of C. reticulata 'Chachi', we concluded that the authenticity of the GCRP from Xinhui may be closely related to the higher content of naringin and narirutin, and the increase in the content of these may be due to the highly saline environment of the Xinhui region.

Surface chemistry and bioactivity of colloidal particles from industrial kraft lignins.

The morphology control of lignin through particle size reduction to nanoscale seems to be a suitable conversion technology to overcome the intrinsic limitations of its native form to develop a wide range of biomaterials with high performance. Colloidal lignin particles (CLPs) in the range of 150-200 nm were synthesised from hardwood and softwood kraft lignins by the solvent shifting method. The initial molecular features of kraft lignins were evaluated in terms of purity, molecular weight distribution, and chemical functionalities. The impact of the lignin source and structure on the morphology, size distribution, and surface chemistry of CLPs was evaluated by particle size analyser, SEM, TEM and 1H NMR. The results evidenced the influence of the botanical origin on the morphology and surface chemistry of particles. Furthermore, the antioxidant properties and cytotoxicity of lignins and corresponding CLPs, towards lung fibroblast cells were compared. CLPs from hardwood kraft lignins exhibited higher antioxidant power against DPPH free radical and a higher cytotoxic effect (IC30 = 67-70 µg/mL) against lung fibroblast when compared to CLPs from softwood kraft lignin (IC30 = ~91 µg/mL). However, the cytotoxicity of these biomaterials was dose-dependent, suggesting their potential application as active ingredients in cosmetic and pharmaceutic products at low concentrations.

Enhanced lithium storage performances of novel layered nickel germanate anodes inspired by the spatial arrangement of lotus leaves.

The rapid capacity degradation of Ge-based materials hinders their practical application for next generation lithium ion batteries, which could be solved by synthesizing Ge-containing ternary oxides, with new structures and hybridizing with carbon nanomaterials. Herein, novel Ni3Ge2O5(OH)4 nanosheets were synthesized and distributed in situ on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets, with both flat-lying and vertically-grown spatial distributions to imitate the growth of lotus leaves. These two types of Ni3Ge2O5(OH)4 nanosheets enhance their efficient contact with RGO, and increase the mass loading of active materials. Furthermore, the interfacial bonds between RGO sheets and Ni3Ge2O5(OH)4 nanosheets are introduced to improve the diffusion rate of lithium ions. The RGO sheets act as a buffer matrix to sustain the volume change and prevent the nanosheets from aggregation. Consequently, the chemically bonded Ni3Ge2O5(OH)4/RGO hybrid delivers a high specific capacity of 863 mA h g-1 over 75 cycles, which is much higher than those for neat Ni3Ge2O5(OH)4 nanosheets or the hybrid without the interfacial bonding. This study provides a novel perspective for designing high-performance Ge-based anode materials for advanced lithium ion batteries.