Overview of Meta-Analyses on Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

We conducted an overview of reviews to determine the effects of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs; Schreibman et al. (2015) J Autism Dev Disorders 45:2411-2428) on children with autism spectrum disorder under 8 years old. We conducted an electronic database search of Academic Search Premier, CINHAL, ERIC, Medline, and APA PsycINFO in October 2022 and August 2023 and utilized snowball methods to locate relevant reviews of NDBI. We included reviews meeting the following inclusion criteria: (1) review included a meta-analytic synthesis for at least one child outcome; (2) primary studies examined a NDBI; (3) primary studies included children with ASD with a mean pre-treatment age under eight years; (4) primary studies were conducted using a two-group comparison design; and (5) review was published in English. We extracted data on characteristics of the review, participant characteristics from the primary studies, intervention characteristics, and assessed the risk of bias of the included reviews. We conducted a narrative synthesis across outcomes reported in the included reviews. We included five reviews from six reports in this overview. Two reviews included studies that examined the Early Start Denver Model, two reviews included studies that examined the Pivotal Response Treatment, and one review included studies examining NDBIs collectively. We found positive effects of NDBIs on child's communication/language, cognition, and adaptive behavior. We found mixed effects for NDBIs on autism symptomatology and restricted and repetitive behaviors. Examination of moderator analyses reported in the included reviews suggested variables influencing the effects of NDBIs included proximity of outcome to intervention, boundedness of outcome to intervention, and study location. As shown in this overview, positive effects of NDBI for young children with ASD are supported by meta-analytic evidence. While the overall findings for NDBI across reviews are positive, the findings on specific outcomes and influential variables moderating the effects of NDBI are inconsistent. Additional evidence from randomized controlled trials and future meta-analyses are needed to strengthen our knowledge of the effects of NDBI for young children with ASD.Protocol Registration: PROSPERO CRD42022353045.

m6A methylation-mediated PGC-1α contributes to ferroptosis via regulating GSTK1 in arsenic-induced hepatic insulin resistance.

Arsenic exposure has been closely linked to hepatic insulin resistance (IR) and ferroptosis with the mechanism elusive. Peroxisome proliferator γ-activated receptor coactivator 1-α (PGC-1α) is essential for glucose metabolism as well as for the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, it was unclear whether there is a regulatory connection between PGC-1α and ferroptosis. Besides, the definitive mechanism of arsenic-induced hepatic IR progression remains to be determined. Here, we found that hepatic insulin sensitivity impaired by sodium arsenite (NaAsO2) could be reversed by inhibiting ferroptosis. Mechanistically, we found that PGC-1α suppression inhibited the protein expression of glutathione s-transferase kappa 1 (GSTK1) via nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1), thereby increasing ROS accumulation and promoting ferroptosis. Furthermore, we showed that NaAsO2 induced hepatic IR and ferroptosis via methyltransferase-like 14 (METTL14) and YTH domain-containing family protein 2 (YTHDF2)-mediated N6-methyladenosine (m6A) of PGC-1α mRNA. In conclusion, NaAsO2-mediated PGC-1α suppression was m6A methylation-dependent and induced ferroptosis via the PGC-1α/NRF1/GSTK1 pathway in hepatic IR. The data might provide insight into potential targets for diabetes prevention and treatment.

Efficient, Robust, and Flame-Retardant Electrothermal Coatings Based on a Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane-Functionalized Graphene/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Hybrid with a Dually Cross-Linking Structure.

Graphene electrothermal coatings have attracted considerable attention in recent years due to their important application prospects in a broad range of areas. So far, lots of strategies have been explored for producing them. However, these strategies usually involve a complicated process with sophisticated conditions, limiting their scalable applications. Herein, we demonstrate a facile strategy for preparing efficient, robust, and flame-retardant electrothermal coatings from liquid-phase exfoliated graphene, by combining with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanoparticles. This relies on the use of a hyperbranched polyethylene copolymer that simultaneously bears UV-reactive moieties and POSS terminal groups. As a stabilizer, the copolymer can effectively promote the exfoliation of both graphite and MWCNTs in common organic solvents under sonication, rendering the POSS-functionalized graphene and MWCNTs well dispersible in the solvent. From their dispersions, POSS-functionalized graphene/MWCNT hybrid electrothermal coatings have been successfully prepared simply by vacuum filtration and UV irradiation under mild conditions. It has been confirmed that a dually cross-linking structure can be formed in the hybrid system. This significantly improves the thermal resistance of resultant coatings, which remain exhibiting a stable work state even at a temperature high as 280 °C without the occurrence of flammation. Meanwhile, this also endows them with excellent electrothermal performance and service stability. At a relatively low voltage, 15 V, the steady temperature can reach 188.4 °C, with a response time < 30 s; after being alternately folded for 2700 cycles or scraped 200 times, the coating still maintains a stable state. In particular, the process involved is relatively simple with mild conditions. With these features, the coatings obtained herein may find their important applications in the area of wearable devices and household heating systems.

Efficient exfoliation of UV-curable, high-quality graphene from graphite in common low-boiling-point organic solvents with a designer hyperbranched polyethylene copolymer and their applications in electrothermal heaters.

The use of stabilizer with designer structures can effectively promote graphite exfoliation in common solvents to render functionalized graphene desirable for their various applications. Herein, a hyperbranched polyethylene copolymer, HBPE@Py@Acryl, simultaneously bearing multiple pyrene terminal groups and pendant acryloyl moieties has been successfully synthesized from ethylene with a Pd-diimine catalyst based on unique chain walking mechanism. The unique structural design of the HBPE@Py@Acryl makes it capable of effectively promote graphite exfoliation in a series of common, low-boiling-point organic solvents, e.g. CHCl3, to render stable graphene dispersions with concentrations effectively adjustable by changing feed concentrations of graphite and polymer or sonication time. Meanwhile, it can be irreversibly adsorbed on the exfoliated graphene surface based on the π-π interactions between them to concurrently render acryloyl-functionalized graphene free of structural defects, with majority (92.7%) of them having a thickness of 2-3 layers. This allows us to obtain graphene electrothermal films simply by filtration and UV irradiation, which exhibit outstanding stability in use. The action mechanism of the HBPE@Py@Acryl as stabilizer for promoting graphite exfoliation and the role of UV irradiation on improving the stability in use of resulting graphene films have been elucidated.

Improving the adsorption capacity for ovalbumin by functional modification of aminated mesoporous silica nanoparticles with tryptophan.

Tryptophan (Trp) modified aminated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (AMSNs), shortened to Trp-AMSNs, are prepared via covalent binding. The obtained Trp-AMSNs exhibit a uniform size of ca. 83 nm, a mesopore diameter of ca. 2.6 nm, along with a pore volume of 0.439 cm3 g-1. It is demonstrated that Trp-AMSNs selectively adsorb ovalbumin (Ova) from complex biological matrices. At pH 5.0, 1.0 mg of Trp-AMSNs produces an adsorption efficiency of 96% for 100 mg L-1 Ova in 1.0 mL of solution. An adsorption capacity of 1240.3 mg g-1 is derived for Ova, which is much improved with respect to that of the native AMSNs. The retained Ova could be readily recovered by a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution (0.5%, m/v), providing a recovery of 71.2%. Trp-AMSNs are further applied for the isolation of Ova from a protein mixture (with a molar ratio of ovalbumin/lysozyme of 1 : 10) and an egg-white sample. High-purity Ova is obtained, as demonstrated by SDS-PAGE assay results.