Winning with Losses: The Surprising Success of Negative Strategies in Social Interaction Behavior.

In the vast network of social interactions and behaviors, it is common to find certain schemes that, on their own, might appear counterproductive to societal progress. When observed in isolation, these schemes often seem to hinder more than they help. However, due to society's complexity, the hidden potential of combining these seemingly detrimental schemes often goes unnoticed. Here, we investigate two such social behaviors, reputation and reciprocity, and their role in explaining Darwin's survival of the fittest, examining how these fundamental principles govern individual interactions and shape broader social dynamics. We outline the dynamics of these two social behaviors and underline the importance of combined strategies in enhancing group welfare and contributing to interdisciplinary research in social physics.

Application of hydrophobic catalyst in formaldehyde-ethylene condensation reaction.

Using hydrophobic aerogel (AGL) as the carrier, the catalyst supported p-toluene sulfonic acid (p-TSA) is synthesized, and the impact of the hydrophobicity of the catalyst on the formaldehyde-ethylene condensation reaction is investigated. Water contact angle, XRD, N2 adsorption/desorption, IR, and thermogravimetric analysis are used to characterize the catalyst. The outcomes demonstrate the ability of p-TSA to be loaded onto the carrier and the strong hydrophobicity of the catalyst when using AGL as the carrier. The elemental analysis results indicate that when AGL is employed as the carrier, the catalyst not only has more active sites than the SiO2-supported catalyst, but can also effectively limit the loss of active sites, reducing the loss rate from 25.82% to 15.03%. The findings demonstrate that 1,3-dioxane (1,3-DX) had a higher selectivity, rising from 16.2% to 33.3% when using AGL as the carrier. It is discovered that 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) can be directly synthesized with a selectivity of up to 80.5% by employing acetic acid as a solvent in place of water.

Sonication-Assisted Electrochemical Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles.

In this work, we propose a method for synthesizing silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) utilizing a sonication-assisted electrochemical approach with a common ultrasonic cleaner. Silver nitrate is employed as the precursor and polyvinylpyrrolidone functions as the ligand. The incorporation of sonication is identified as crucial for achieving several benefits such as enhanced mass transfer, improved dispersion of reactants, and the prevention of electrode fouling. Optimized sonication and electrochemical conditions synergistically contribute to a higher yield of well-dispersed Ag NPs, which are characterized by an average size of 10 nm. Furthermore, the electrode's suitability for the continuous synthesis of Ag NPs over an extended period is highlighted owing to effective electrode surface cleaning facilitated by sonication. This cleaning process proves to be essential in maintaining the electrochemical activity of the electrode, ensuring consistency in the synthesis process. The proposed sonication-assisted electrochemical synthesis method not only addresses challenges associated with electrode fouling but also significantly enhances the dispersity and yield of the resulting particles, making it valuable for scalability and practical applications in various fields, including sensors, catalysis, and nanotechnology.

Latent profile of personality traits for American older adults and its transition during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The impact of COVID-19 on older adults' personality development is essential for emergency management but under-researched. This study seeks to explore the personality profiles of older adults living in the United States and how these profiles transitioned during the pandemic. Methods: Longitudinal data were collected from 3,550 adults aged 60 and older who participated in both the 2016 and 2020 waves of the Health and Retirement Survey (61.18% female, mean age 65.85 in 2016). Personality traits were assessed using the Midlife Development Inventory. COVID-19-related experiences including pandemic concerns, restricted healthcare access, financial instability, work challenges, disrupted social connections, and mutual aid behaviors. Latent Profile Analysis and Transition Analysis were used for analysis. Results: Three distinct personality profiles were identified: Well-adjusted, Moderate-adjusted, and Poor-adjusted. About 42% of respondents experienced personality changes during the pandemic. Higher levels of COVID-19 concern were linked to an increased likelihood of transitioning to Poor-adjusted from Moderate (OR=1.06, p<0.05) or Well-adjusted (OR=1.05, p<0.01). Challenges such as healthcare delays and financial hardships hindered transitions from Poor- to Moderate-adjusted (Healthcare delay: OR=0.39, p<0.05; Financial hardships: OR=0.67, p<0.05) but increased the likelihood of Moderate-adjusted individuals transitioning to Poor-adjusted (Healthcare delay: OR=1.46, p<0.05; Financial hardships: OR=1.51, p<0.05). However, Poor-adjusted individuals who provided help to others were more likely to transition to Moderate-adjusted (OR=2.71, p<0.01). Conclusions: Personality transitions during crisis are significant among older adults. Future interventions should focus on addressing traumatic concerns, encouraging helping behaviors, and mitigating healthcare and financial challenges to support older adults' personality development during crisis.

Synthesis of Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds by Electrocyclization-Dehydrogenation of Diradicaloids.

Herein, we present a novel and efficient method for the synthesis of two new polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 1 and 2, through the electrocyclization-dehydrogenation of diradicaloids. The proposed oxidative electrocyclization via intermediate diradicaloids is monitored by electron paramagnetic resonance and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. Interestingly, 1 exhibits chirality because of its inherent helical skeleton, and 2 features long-wavelength absorption and near-infrared emission properties due to its extended π-conjugation.

Optimal Evolution Strategy for Continuous Strategy Games on Complex Networks via Reinforcement Learning.

This article presents an optimal evolution strategy for continuous strategy games on complex networks via reinforcement learning (RL). In the past, evolutionary game theory usually assumed that agents use the same selection intensity when interacting, ignoring the differences in their learning abilities and learning willingness. Individuals are reluctant to change their strategies too much. Therefore, we design an adaptive strategy updating framework with various selection intensities for continuous strategy games on complex networks based on imitation dynamics, allowing agents to achieve the optimal state and a higher cooperation level with the minimal strategy changes. The optimal updating strategy is acquired using a coupled Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation by minimizing the performance function. This function aims to maximize individual payoffs while minimizing strategy changes. Furthermore, a value iteration (VI) RL algorithm is proposed to approximate the HJB solutions and learn the optimal strategy updating rules. The RL algorithm employs actor and critic neural networks to approximate strategy changes and performance functions, along with the gradient descent weight update approach. Meanwhile, the stability and convergence of the proposed methods have been proved by the designed Lyapunov function. Simulations validate the convergence and effectiveness of the proposed methods in different games and complex networks.

A treatment-site-specific evaluation of commercial synthetic computed tomography solutions for proton therapy.

Background and purpose: Despite the superior dose conformity of proton therapy, the dose distribution is sensitive to daily anatomical changes, which can affect treatment accuracy. This study evaluated the dose recalculation accuracy of two synthetic computed tomography (sCT) generation algorithms in a commercial treatment planning system. Materials and methods: The evaluation was conducted for head-and-neck, thorax-and-abdomen, and pelvis sites treated with proton therapy. Thirty patients with two cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans each were selected. The sCT images were generated from CBCT scans using two algorithms, Corrected CBCT (corrCBCT) and Virtual CT (vCT). Dose recalculations were performed based on these images for comparison with "ground truth" deformed CTs. Results: The choice of algorithm influenced dose recalculation accuracy, particularly in high dose regions. For head-and-neck cases, the corrCBCT method showed closer agreement with the "ground truth", while for thorax-and-abdomen and pelvis cases, the vCT algorithm yielded better results (mean percentage dose discrepancy of 0.6 %, 1.3 % and 0.5 % for the three sites, respectively, in the high dose region). Head-and-neck and pelvis cases exhibited excellent agreement in high dose regions (2 %/2 mm gamma passing rate >98 %), while thorax-and-abdomen cases exhibited the largest differences, suggesting caution in sCT algorithm usage for this site. Significant systematic differences were observed in the clinical target volume and organ-at-risk doses in head-and-neck and pelvis cases, highlighting the importance of using the correct algorithm. Conclusions: This study provided treatment site-specific recommendations for sCT algorithm selection in proton therapy. The findings offered insights for proton beam centers implementing adaptive radiotherapy workflows.

Risk factors and prognostic factors associated with retinal detachment and visual outcomes in acute retinal necrosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the risk factors and prognostic factors that affect the long-term clinical outcomes of acute retinal necrosis (ARN). METHODS: A retrospective study of patients with ARN who underwent treatment and completed follow-up in our ophthalmology department from 2011 to 2021 was conducted. The incidence and risk factors of retinal detachment (RD) and prognostic factors affecting long-term clinical outcomes, such as late-onset RD and final vision loss (< 20/200), were analyzed. RESULTS: Totally 59 ARN patients (65 eyes) with an average follow-up of 48.9 months were enrolled. During the follow-up period, RD occurred in 34 eyes (52.3%). The risk factors for RD included quadrants of involved retinal necrosis (odds ratio [OR], 4.181; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.950-10.834) and initial intraocular viral load (OR, 1.721; 95% CI, 1.071-3.083). Early intravitreal antiviral treatment (OR, 1.204; 95% CI, 1.040-1.480) was independently associated with a decreased risk of late-onset RD. The factors independently associated with an increased risk of final vision loss were worse initial visual acuity (OR, 3.895; 95% CI, 1.551-13.662) and late-onset RD (OR, 8.043; 95% CI, 1.380-67.216). In addition, we utilized the fluctuating magnitude of viral load to quantify the extent of its reduction in comparison to its original value following the initial intravitreal antiviral injection (IAI). This ratio was strongly related to initial intraocular IL-8 concentration (Spearman correlation coefficient=-0.741, P = 0.000) and moderately related to the initial degree of aqueous flare (Spearman correlation coefficient=-0.508, P = 0.010). CONCLUSION: RD is a common and severe complication of ARN with multiple risk factors, such as initial retinitis involvement area and initial intraocular viral load. Active local antiviral therapy may reduce the risk of late-onset RD. The antiviral medication should be adjusted according to the inflammatory state. Therefore, timely detection of causative viruses and intensive systemic and local antiviral therapy is crucial for preserving visual function in ARN patients.

Parrondo's paradox reveals counterintuitive wins in biology and decision making in society.

Parrondo's paradox refers to the paradoxical phenomenon of combining two losing strategies in a certain manner to obtain a winning outcome. It has been applied to uncover unexpected outcomes across various disciplines, particularly at different spatiotemporal scales within ecosystems. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of recent developments in Parrondo's paradox within the interdisciplinary realm of the physics of life, focusing on its significant applications across biology and the broader life sciences. Specifically, we examine its relevance from genetic pathways and phenotypic regulation, to intercellular interaction within multicellular organisms, and finally to the competition between populations and species in ecosystems. This phenomenon, spanning multiple biological domains and scales, enhances our understanding of the unified characteristics of life and reveals that adaptability in a drastically changing environment, rather than the inherent excellence of a trait, underpins survival in the process of evolution. We conclude by summarizing our findings and discussing future research directions that hold promise for advancing the field.

Nanomedicines Targeting Ferroptosis to Treat Stress-Related Diseases.

Ferroptosis, a unique form of regulated cell death driven by iron-dependent lethal lipid peroxidation, is implicated in various stress-related diseases like neurodegeneration, vasculopathy, and metabolic disturbance. Stress-related diseases encompass widespread medical disorders that are influenced or exacerbated by stress. These stressors can manifest in various organ or tissue systems and have significant implications for human overall health. Understanding ferroptosis in these diseases offers insights for therapeutic strategies targeting relevant pathways. This review explores ferroptosis mechanisms, its role in pathophysiology, its connection to stress-related diseases, and the potential of ferroptosis-targeted nanomedicines in treating conditions. This monograph also delves into the engineering of ferroptosis-targeted nanomedicines for tackling stress-related diseases, including cancer, cardia-cerebrovascular, neurodegenerative, metabolic and inflammatory diseases. Anyhow, nanotherapy targeting ferroptosis holds promise by both promoting and suppressing ferroptosis for managing stress-related diseases.

Comparative morphology of the cruciate ligaments: A radiological study.

Background: The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) are important structures to maintain knee stability. The present study aimed to further enrich understandings of the morphology of the cruciate ligaments and explore the relationship between the diameter of ACL and PCL. Method: This study collected valid MRI samples of 50 male and 50 female normal right knee joints and measured the diameter of each point of the ACL and PCL through the 3D Slicer. Results: The diameter of the ACL in the sagittal MRI of the normal right knee joint was significantly different from the diameter of each point of the PCL. The average diameter of each point of the ACL was larger than the diameter of the corresponding point of the PCL. Males and females had statistical differences in their PCL origin point, PCL midpoint, ACL origin point, ACL midpoint, and ACL insertion point diameters under sagittal MRI examination. The average diameter of males was greater than the average diameter of females at the above corresponding sites. In sagittal MRI scans of the normal right knee joint, we observed that only the origin point of the PCL exhibited a moderate correlation with the midpoint and insertion point of the ACL in terms of their respective diameters. Conclusion: The correlation between diameters of normal ACL and PCL in knee joint MRI was moderate and may help clinicians determine appropriate graft for cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery quickly for severe cruciate ligament injuries.

Multivalent mRNA Vaccine Elicits Broad Protection against SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern.

SARS-CoV-2 new waves are primarily caused by changes to the spike protein (S), which can substantially decrease the efficacy of vaccines. Therefore, we tested several multivalent mRNA-LNP vaccines, targeting the full-length S proteins of different variants, and identified an optimal combination for protection against VOCs in BALB/c mice. The tested formulations included trivalent (WT + BA.5 + XBB.1.5), pentavalent (WT + BA.5 + XBB.1.5 + BQ.1.1 + CH.1.1), and octavalent (WT + BA.5 + XBB.1.5 + BQ.1.1 + CH.1.1 + Alpha + Delta + BA.2) vaccines. Among these multivalent vaccines, the pentavalent vaccine showed superior protection for almost all tested variants. Despite this, each multivalent vaccine elicited greater broad-spectrum neutralizing antibodies than the previously evaluated bivalent vaccine (WT + BA.5). Subsequently, we redesigned the multivalent vaccine to efficiently generate neutralizing antibodies against recent VOCs, including EG.5.1. Immunization with the redesigned pentavalent vaccine (WT + EG.5.1 + XBB.1.16 + Delta + BA.5) showed moderate levels of protection against recent Omicron VOCs. Results suggest that the neutralization activity of multivalent vaccines is better than those of the tested bivalent vaccines against WT + BA.5 and WT + EG.5.1. Moreover, the pentavalent vaccine we developed may be highly useful for neutralizing new Omicron VOCs.

Real-time coloration control of gallium-based strips through cold rolling.

Cold rolling has been used as a real-time surface oxidation control method to create colored strips on flexible substrates. By controlling the extrusion rate in real time, a variety of colored strips have been fabricated on Ga-based liquid metal (LM) strips. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis shows that the surfaces of the colored strips, which were obtained through extrusion rate control of LM-Al, consist primarily of metal oxide composites, including Ga2O3, Ga2O, Al2O3, SnO2, and In2O3. The colors of the strip surfaces are directly correlated with the oxide film thickness. Additionally, these cold-rolled colored thin strips demonstrate high conductivity and have significant potential for use as conductive flexible components with indicator functions in the flexible electronics realm.

exo-6b2-Methyl-Substituted Pentabenzocorannulene: Synthesis, Structural Analysis, and Properties.

exo-6b2-Methyl-substituted pentabenzocorannulene (exo-PBC-Me) was synthesized by the palladium-catalyzed cyclization of 1,2,3-triaryl-1H-cyclopenta[l]phenanthrene. Its bowl-shaped geometry with an sp3 carbon atom in the backbone and a methyl group located at the convex (exo) face was verified by X-ray crystallography. According to DFT calculations, the observed conformer is energetically more favorable than the endo one by 39.9 kcal/mol. Compared to the nitrogen-doped analogs with intact π-conjugated backbones (see the main text), exo-PBC-Me displayed a deeper bowl depth (avg. 1.93 Å), redshifted and broader absorption (250-620 nm) and emission (from 585 to more than 850 nm) bands and a smaller optical HOMO-LUMO gap (2.01 eV). exo-PBC-Me formed polar crystals where all bowl-in-bowl stacking with close π ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ π contacts is arranged unidirectionally, providing the potential for applications as organic semiconductors and pyroelectric materials. This unusual structural feature, molecular packing, and properties are most likely associated with the assistance of the methyl group and the sp3 carbon atom in the backbone.

The effect of pharmacist-led medication therapy management in the multidisciplinary care of acute kidney injury survivors.

BACKGROUND: The Acute Disease Quality Initiative advocates multidisciplinary care for the survivors of acute kidney injury (AKI). The bundled care strategy recognizes the role of pharmacists. However, their specific contributions in this context remain underexplored. METHODS: This retrospective study examined the efficacy of pharmacist-led post-AKI pharmaceutical care in outpatient settings at a single center. Adults with recent AKI during hospitalization, maintaining an estimated glomerular filtration rate <45 mL/min/1.73 m2 postdischarge, were enrolled in a multidisciplinary team care program from March 2022 to January 2023, with a 6-month follow-up period. Pharmacist-delivered care adhered to international multidisciplinary consensus guidelines. Efficacy was evaluated by analyzing medication-related recommendations, medication adherence, nephrotoxic drug utilization, and renoprotective medication usage before and after the intervention. RESULTS: A total of 40 patients were referred to the pharmacist-managed clinic. Of these, 33 patients (mean age, 63 ± 15 years; 60.6% male) attended the clinic. Nineteen patients completed follow-up visits. The pharmacist provided 14 medication-related recommendations to relevant physicians, with 10 of these recommendations (71.4%) being accepted. There was a significant decrease in the use of modifiable nephrotoxic drugs (p = 0.03). However, no significant improvements were noted in medication adherence or the utilization of renoprotective medications. CONCLUSION: Our study underscores the potential benefits of pharmacist-led post-AKI bundled care strategy in outpatient settings. We observed a significant reduction in the utilization of modifiable nephrotoxic drugs, indicating the effectiveness of pharmacist interventions in optimizing medication regimens to mitigate renal harm.

Genomic Insights into the Role of TOP Gene Family in Soft-Tissue Sarcomas: Implications for Prognosis and Therapy.

This study focuses on the role of topoisomerases (TOPs) in sarcomas (SARCs), highlighting TOPs' influence on sarcoma prognosis through mRNA expression, genetic mutations, immune infiltration, and DNA methylation analysis using transcriptase sequencing and other techniques. The findings indicate that TOP gene mutations correlate with increased inflammation, immune cell infiltration, DNA repair abnormalities, and mitochondrial fusion genes alterations, all of which negatively affect sarcoma prognosis. Abnormal TOP expression may independently affect sarcoma patients' survival. Cutting-edge genomic tools such as Oncomine, gene expression profiling interactive analysis (GEPIA), and cBio Cancer Genomics Portal (cBioPortal) are utilized to explore the TOP gene family (TOP1/1MT/2A/2B/3A/3B) in soft-tissue sarcomas (STSs). This in-depth analysis reveals a notable upregulation of TOP mRNA in STS patients arcoss various SARC subtypes, French Federation Nationale des Centres de Lutte Contre le Cancer classification (FNCLCC) grades, and specific molecular profiles correlating with poorer clinical outcomes. Furthermore, this investigation identifies distinct patterns of immune cell infiltration, genetic mutations, and somatic copy number variations linked to TOP genes that inversely affect patient survival rates. These findings underscore the diagnostic and therapeutic relevance of the TOP gene suite in STSs.

Sequence homology score-based deep fuzzy network for identifying therapeutic peptides.

The detection of therapeutic peptides is a topic of immense interest in the biomedical field. Conventional biochemical experiment-based detection techniques are tedious and time-consuming. Computational biology has become a useful tool for improving the detection efficiency of therapeutic peptides. Most computational methods do not consider the deviation caused by noise. To improve the generalization performance of therapeutic peptide prediction methods, this work presents a sequence homology score-based deep fuzzy echo-state network with maximizing mixture correntropy (SHS-DFESN-MMC) model. Our method is compared with the existing methods on eight types of therapeutic peptide datasets. The model parameters are determined by 10 fold cross-validation on their training sets and verified by independent test sets. Across the 8 datasets, the average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values of SHS-DFESN-MMC are the highest on both the training (0.926) and independent sets (0.923).

Genkwanin alleviates intervertebral disc degeneration via regulating ITGA2/PI3K/AKT pathway and inhibiting apoptosis and senescence.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a progressive degenerative disease influenced by various factors. Genkwanin, a known anti-inflammatory flavonoid, has not been explored for its potential in IVDD management. This study aims to investigate the effects and mechanisms of genkwanin on IVDD. In vitro, cell experiments revealed that genkwanin dose-dependently inhibited Interleukin-1ß-induced expression levels of inflammatory factors (Interleukin-6, inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2) and degradation metabolic protein (matrix metalloproteinase-13). Concurrently, genkwanin upregulated the expression of synthetic metabolism genes (type II collagen, aggrecan). Moreover, genkwanin effectively reduced the phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathways. Transcriptome sequencing analysis identified integrin α2 (ITGA2) as a potential target of genkwanin, and silencing ITGA2 reversed the activation of PI3K/AKT pathway induced by Interleukin-1ß. Furthermore, genkwanin alleviated Interleukin-1ß-induced senescence and apoptosis in nucleus pulposus cells. In vivo animal experiments demonstrated that genkwanin mitigated the progression of IVDD in the rat model through imaging and histological examinations. In conclusion, This study suggest that genkwanin inhibits inflammation in nucleus pulposus cells, promotes extracellular matrix remodeling, suppresses cellular senescence and apoptosis, through the ITGA2/PI3K/AKT, NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways. These findings indicate that genkwanin may be a promising therapeutic candidate for IVDD.

Chromosome-level genome assembly and characterization of the Calophaca sinica genome.

Calophaca sinica is a rare plant endemic to northern China which belongs to the Fabaceae family and possesses rich nutritional value. To support the preservation of the genetic resources of this plant, we have successfully generated a high-quality genome of C. sinica (1.06 Gb). Notably, transposable elements (TEs) constituted ~73% of the genome, with long terminal repeat retrotransposons (LTR-RTs) dominating this group of elements (~54% of the genome). The average intron length of the C. sinica genome was noticeably longer than what has been observed for closely related species. The expansion of LTR-RTs and elongated introns emerged had the largest influence on the enlarged genome size of C. sinica in comparison to other Fabaceae species. The proliferation of TEs could be explained by certain modes of gene duplication, namely, whole genome duplication (WGD) and dispersed duplication (DSD). Gene family expansion, which was found to enhance genes associated with metabolism, genetic maintenance, and environmental stress resistance, was a result of transposed duplicated genes (TRD) and WGD. The presented genomic analysis sheds light on the genetic architecture of C. sinica, as well as provides a starting point for future evolutionary biology, ecology, and functional genomics studies centred around C. sinica and closely related species.

Applications of Hydrogels in Osteoarthritis Treatment.

This review critically evaluates advancements in multifunctional hydrogels, particularly focusing on their applications in osteoarthritis (OA) therapy. As research evolves from traditional natural materials, there is a significant shift towards synthetic and composite hydrogels, known for their superior mechanical properties and enhanced biodegradability. This review spotlights novel applications such as injectable hydrogels, microneedle technology, and responsive hydrogels, which have revolutionized OA treatment through targeted and efficient therapeutic delivery. Moreover, it discusses innovative hydrogel materials, including protein-based and superlubricating hydrogels, for their potential to reduce joint friction and inflammation. The integration of bioactive compounds within hydrogels to augment therapeutic efficacy is also examined. Furthermore, the review anticipates continued technological advancements and a deeper understanding of hydrogel-based OA therapies. It emphasizes the potential of hydrogels to provide tailored, minimally invasive treatments, thus highlighting their critical role in advancing the dynamic field of biomaterial science for OA management.