Establishing the measurement precision of the patient health questionnaire in an adolescent sample.

BACKGROUND: Technically sound measures are necessary for accurately identifying youth at risk for depression, but many studies rely on classical test theory metrics or adult samples to evaluate measures. This study examined the use of the PHQ-8, a common and freely available pediatric depression screener, in an adolescent sample using item response theory (IRT). METHODS: Secondary analyses were conducted on data from a study conducted in Midwestern middle schools in which 1224 youth completed the PHQ-8 as part of a battery of surveys. Polytomous IRT analyses (a Graded Response Model) were used to evaluate the PHQ-8. Items were examined for their ability to distinguish between respondents of different latent depression severity and for differential item functioning (DIF) across demographic categories. RESULTS: All PHQ-8 items had adequate discriminative abilities. Items measuring anhedonia and psychomotor disturbances performed relatively poorly, and items measuring somatic symptoms (appetite and sleep) were most informative when respondents endorsed extreme response options ("not at all" or "nearly every day"). No DIF was found across grade level or race, but several items were flagged for DIF by gender and student income level. LIMITATIONS: These results might not be generalizable to a broader youth population due to administration setting and the unique demographic characteristics of this sample (76.0 % African American). CONCLUSIONS: Tools such as the PHQ-8 are appropriate to quickly screen for depression in adolescents, but further scrutiny of adolescent response patterns is warranted. Future research should examine items measuring anhedonia and psychomotor and somatic disturbances in adolescents.

Single-item principal stress and coping measures: Concurrent and predictive validity and comparisons to teacher measures.

The present study analyzed concurrent and predictive validity of single-item scales for assessing principal stress and coping. We examined concurrent and prospective relations among stress and coping single-items with principal job satisfaction, overall health, perceptions of school safety, and principal leadership self-efficacy. We also compared principals and teachers on their stress and coping levels using the same single-item scales. Consistent with the literature on teacher stress and coping, the correlations of principal coping with different outcomes-job satisfaction, overall health, leadership efficacy, and safety perceptions-were stronger in comparison to the correlations between principal stress and those same outcomes. In regression models with both stress and coping, only principal coping predicted concurrent and future principal job satisfaction and overall health, as well as change in those outcomes. Coping also predicted concurrent but not future perceptions of school safety. Stress and coping did not consistently predict concurrent or future measures of leadership self-efficacy. Last, we found that principals reported even higher levels of stress than the well-documented high levels reported by teachers. We discuss areas for further research and potential use of these measures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

An identical-by-descent segment harbors a 12-bp insertion determining fruit softening during domestication and speciation in Pyrus.

BACKGROUND: Although the wild relatives of pear originated in southwest China, this fruit crop was independently domesticated and improved in Asia and Europe, and there are major phenotypic differences (e.g., maturity and fruit firmness) between Asian and European pears.  RESULTS: In this study, we examined the genomes of 113 diverse pear accessions using an identity-by-descent (IBD) approach to investigate how historical gene flow has shaped fruit firmness traits in Asian and European pears. We found a 3-Mbp IBD-enriched region (IBD-ER) that has undergone "convergent domestication" in both the Asian and European pear lineages, and a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of fruit firmness phenotypes strongly implicated the TRANSLOCON AT THE INNER CHLOROPLAST ENVELOPE55 (TIC55) locus within this 3-Mbp IBD-ER. Furthermore, we identified a tandem duplication that includes a 12-bp insertion located in the first exon of TIC55 that is uniquely present in Asian pears, and expression analysis showed that the pear TIC55 gene is highly expressed in Asian pear, while it is weakly or not expressed in European pear; this could contribute to the differences in fruit firmness between Asian and European pear fruits. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide insights into how pear fruit softening has been impacted during domestication, and we identified candidate genes associated with fruit softening that can contribute to the breeding and improvement of pear and other fruit crops.

Transient Chemiluminescence Assay for Real-Time Monitoring of the Processes of SO32--Based Advanced Oxidation Reactions.

The hydroxyl radical (·OH) is a strong oxidizing agent in situ generated in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and crucial for assessing the performances of AOPs toward organic contaminants' degradation. Herein, we developed a specific luminescent probe, APDI (N' N'-di(propylethylenediamine)-perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide), to selectively detect ·OH among diverse reactive oxygen species and other radicals. Based on the transient chemiluminescence (TCL) spectra, the in situ concentration profile of ·OH within 0.01 s interval time in classical Fenton reactions and four kinds of SO32--based AOPs was obtained, which provides insights into the high dynamic processes of the whole ·OH generation and consumption processes. Besides, compared with acidic conditions, reduced degradation efficiencies in Fe2+-SO32- and Fe2+-SO32--H2O2 systems were found under neutral conditions. The complete depletion of active free radicals due to SO2-̇ radicals generated from Fe2+ and SO32- should account most for decreased degradation efficiencies evidenced by a new SO2* TCL signal discovered in the TCL spectra. In addition, similar phenomena have also been found in other M(n-1)+-SO32--related AOPs. As SO32- and HSO3- often exist naturally in wastewater, more efforts are needed to improve the performance of Fe2+-H2O2 systems. This discovery has important significance for organic contaminant degradation in a natural environment.

K+ Ion-Doped Mixed Carbon Nitride: A Daylight-Driven Photocatalyst and Luminophore for Enhanced Chemiluminescence.

Photocatalytic production of reactive oxygen species from O2 at the interface of the photocatalyst is significant to convert luminous energy like daylight into chemical energy and could be momentous for a reactive oxygen species-based chemiluminescence system. Herein, we synthesized a novel K+ ion-doped tri-s-triazine/triazine mixed carbon nitride (MCN), in which K+ ions were intercalated into the layers in a bridging manner. After a mild daylight treatment for 30 min, the MCN suspension could produce long-lifetime reactive oxygen species and further directly produce intense and stable chemiluminescence emission in the presence of luminol. In particular, the chemiluminescence intensity was 780 times that of H2O2-luminol, and MCN could be recycled several times in the chemiluminescence system. The mechanism results revealed a large number of reactive oxygen species that were generated from O2 on the surface of MCN through a temperate photocatalytic process. In the theoretical calculation, the charge density of N interacting with K+ ions was significantly more negative than that at the corresponding position in graphitic carbon nitride, which was beneficial to the adsorption and activation of oxygen, and the narrower band gap suggested that the doping of K+ ions was conducive to the intramolecular charge transfer interaction. Then, the long-lifetime reactive oxygen species triggered the conversion of luminol into an excited-state intermediate, which further transferred energy to MCN, producing strong chemiluminescence emission. The K+ ion-doped MCN might conduct as an efficient photocatalyst for reactive oxygen species generation, recyclable catalysts, and luminophores in the photoinduced chemiluminescence system.

Using Optimal Transport to Improve Spherical Harmonic Quantification of Complex Biological Shapes.

The knowledge of the anatomical shape of both gross and microscopic structures is the key to understanding the effects of disease processes on cellular structure. Geometric morphometric methods, such as Procrustes superimposition, and Spherical Harmonics (SPHARM), have been used to capture the biological shape variation and group differences in morphology. Previous SPHARM-MAT techniques use the CALD algorithm to parameterize the mesh surface. It starts from initial mapping and performs local and global smoothing methods alternately to control the area and length distortions simultaneously. However, this parameterization may not be sufficient in complex morphological cases. To bridge this gap, we propose SPHARM-OT, an enhanced SPHARM surface modeling method using optimal transport (OT) for spherical parameterization. First, the genus 0 3D objects are conformally mapped onto a sphere. Then the optimal transport theory via spherical power diagram is introduced to minimize the area distortion. This new algorithm can effectively reduce the area distortion and lead to a better reconstruction result. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the method by applying it to the human sphenoidal paranasal sinuses.

Characterization of the potent odorants in Zanthoxylum armatum DC Prodr. pericarp oil by application of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry and odor activity value.

Zanthoxylum armatum DC Prodr. pericarp (ZAP) is an important spice because of its unique odor and taste. ZAP oil was obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. To characterize potent odorants in ZAP oil, volatiles were isolated by headspace solid-phase microextraction and solvent-assisted flavor evaporation. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry analyses identified a total of 32 odor-active compounds, and their flavor dilution (FD) factors, ranging from 2 to 4096, were measured by aroma extract dilution analysis. To further determine their contributions to the characteristic odor of ZAP oil, 24 odorants with FD factors ≥8 were quantitated, and their odor activity values (OAVs) were calculated. Sixteen compounds with OAVs ≥1 contributed to the characteristic aroma profile of ZAP oil. Linalool had the highest FD factor, concentration and OAV, and its chiral structure was identified as S-(+)-linalool.

Off/On Amino-Functionalized Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane-Perylene Diimides Based Hydrophilic Luminescent Polymer for Aqueous Fluoride Ion Detection.

Fluoride ion detection in water focuses much attention due to the serious healthy impact in human pathologies. For fluoride recognition, the chemical affinity between fluoride and silicon has been developed on the basis of the degradation mechanism. However, most fluorescent probes are the "turn off" type due to the aggregation of the degradational products. Herein, we first developed an "off-on" hydrophilic luminescent polymer composed of amino-functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (AE-POSS) and perylene diimides (PDIs) for fluoride ion in water. The AE-PDI polymer was "turned off" because of the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) between PDI and AE-POSS, and then after reaction with F-, the fluorescent emission could "turn on" obviously because the PET was blocked by the degradation of the cage. The PET from amino-POSS to PDI was proved by FL spectrum and energies of HOMO and LUMO orbitals. 29Si, 19F NMR, and 1H NMR titration, XRD, FTIR, size analysis, and ion chromatography were applied to demonstrate the degradation mechanism. These results indicated that the higher quantum yield could be obtained by introducing the amide group in the PDI and the products of AE-PDI polymer might exist in the form of complex compounds with partial condensation of organosiloxane. With high selectivity and sensitivity (detection limit of 16.2 ppb), this probe was successfully applied for F- detection in actual water samples.

Self-healable and pH-sensitive high-strength water-soluble chitosan/chemically cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol semi-IPN hydrogel.

A kind of novel unique semi-IPN was formed through facile radical cross-linking reaction between PVA-based macromonomer (PVAM) and acrylic acid (AA) in the presence of water-soluble chitosan (WSC). WSC, PVAM and AA were dissolved in distilled water, mixed homogeneously and initiated with potassium persulphate to perform the reaction. WSC was well distributed within the chemical network, which enabled the hydrogen bonding to be formed between part of amino groups on WSC chain and some carboxylic groups on PVA-based gel. As a result, the tensile strength of WSC/PVAM-AA semi-IPN is as high as 6.25 MPa when 30 wt% WSC was fed. Both the WSC content and water content affected the mechanical properties of the semi-IPN. Hydrogen bonding imparted another characteristic, i.e. self-healing ability, to the semi-IPN. The functional groups including amino and carboxyl groups not only acted as the contributors of hydrogen bonding, but also provided the semi-IPN the third trait, pH-sensitive swelling behavior. As a result, the facilely prepared semi-IPN exhibited triple functions.

Organosiloxane and Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes Compounds as Chemiluminescent Molecular Probes for Direct Monitoring Hydroxyl Radicals.

Despite the tremendous progress in the research of luminescent probes for reactive oxygen species (ROS), designing luminescent ROS probes with high sensitivity for the individual ROS is still retarded because of their high reactivity and the rapid and complex interconversion reactions among them. Herein, organosiloxane and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) compounds are designed as a novel class of luminescent molecular probes to produce extraordinary chemiluminescence (CL) based on the specific electrophilic attack of •OH. No CL signal can be obtained by the other ROS and strong oxidants. AEAP-POSS formed by hydrolytical condensation of 3-(2-aminoethylamino)propyl]trimethoxysilane (AEAPTMS) is constructed to covalently link a dye molecular, perylene diimide derivative (PDI), and an intramolecular chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET) system is obtained to realize the red shift of CL wavelength and enhanced CL intensity. This probe based on CRET is applied to monitor inherent •OH in ambient particular matter (PM2.5 and PM10). Density functional theory (DFT), ion chromatograph, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), particle size analysis, and fluorescence spectrum (FL) are applied to study the CL mechanism. These studies discover that electronically carbonyl CH3CO• is the CL emitter, and the silicon-oxygen skeleton in the organosiloxane and POSS compounds plays the key role in undergoing chemiluminescence (CL) reaction.

Characterization of typical potent odorants in raw and cooked Toona sinensis (A. Juss.) M. Roem. by instrumental-sensory analysis techniques.

Toona sinensis (A. Juss.) M. Roem. (TS) possesses a unique and pleasant flavor and is consumed as a popular seasonal vegetable in certain parts of eastern and southeastern Asia. The potent odorants in raw and cooked TS were identified by combined sensory and instrumental analysis techniques, including sensory descriptive aroma profiling and two complimentary volatile isolation methods combined with gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) techniques. Highly volatile odorants were determined by static headspace dilution analysis (SHDA)-GC-O, while those of intermediate- and semi-volatility were determined by solvent-assisted flavor evaporation-aroma extract dilution analysis (SAFE-AEDA). Among the numerous odorants identified by SHDA and SAFE-AEDA, (E,E)-bis-(1-propenyl) disulfide was found to be predominant in both raw and cooked TS. In agreement with results of sensory descriptive analysis, hexanal, (Z)-3-hexenal, (E)-2-hexenal and (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol contributed green, grassy and leafy aroma notes; while hydrogen sulfide, methyl thiirane, (E,E)-bis-(1-propenyl) disulfide and (E,Z)-bis-(1-propenyl) disulfide contributed pungent, sulfurous and alliaceous notes in TS.

Characterization of Potent Aroma Compounds in Preserved Egg Yolk by Gas Chromatography-Olfactometry, Quantitative Measurements, and Odor Activity Value.

To characterize potent odor-active compounds in preserved egg yolk (PEY), volatile compounds were isolated by headspace solid-phase microextraction and solvent-assisted flavor evaporation. Gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses identified a total of 53 odor-active compounds by comparing the odor characteristics, MS data, and retention indices with those of reference compounds. Twenty-seven odorants were detected in at least five isolates that were extracted and analyzed by the same method, and their flavor dilution (FD) factors, ranging from 1 to 2048, were measured by aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA). To further determine their contribution to the overall aroma profile of PEY, 22 odorants with FD factors ≥16 and GC-MS responses were quantitated, and their odor activity values (OAVs) were calculated. According to the OAV results, 19 odorants with OAVs ≥ 1 are the potent odorants that greatly contribute to the characteristic aroma of PEY. Nine compounds were identified for the first time: (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal, (E)-2-nonenal, 2-methylbutanal, dimethyl disulfide, trimethylamine, methional, dimethyl trisulfide, diisopropyl disulfide, and diethyl disulfide.

Characterization of the Potent Odorants Contributing to the Characteristic Aroma of Beijing Douzhi by Gas Chromatography-Olfactometry, Quantitative Analysis, and Odor Activity Value.

Beijing douzhi (BD) is a traditional snack in Beijing, China, and it has been listed as a part of Beijing's intangible cultural heritage. The potent odorants that contribute to the characteristic aroma of BD were investigated by analyzing the isolates from solvent-assisted flavor evaporation (SAFE) and simultaneous distillation-extraction. Using aroma extract dilution analysis based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-olfactometry, 31 aroma-active compounds with flavor dilution (FD) factors ranging from 1 to 2187 were identified by comparison of their odor characteristics, MS data, and retention indices with those of reference compounds. To further determine their contribution to the aroma of BD, the odorants isolated using SAFE with FD factors ≥9 were quantified, and their odor activity values (OAVs; ratio of concentration to the respective odor threshold in water) were calculated. Eleven compounds were found to have OAVs ≥ 1, which indicated they were the potent odorants that contributed substantially to the characteristic aroma of BD. Among the 11 odorants, (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal, eugenol, methional, p-cresol, 1-octen-3-one, and 3-methylbutanoic acid were not previously identified in BD.

[Changes of immune function and nutrition state in pelagic fishermen].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of long time cruising on fishermen' immune function and nutrition state. METHODS: Thirty-two fishermen's lymphocyte subsets, immunoglobulin, alexin, prealbumin, albumin, blood fat, hemoglobin serum iron, transferrin were tested before and after cruising. RESULTS: The expression of CD-19 was significantly higher after cruising (P < 0.001) while other cell immune functions were not significantly changed. After cruising, the immunoglobulin IgG, IgA, alexin C3, B, prealbumin, albumin, transferrin were higher than before cruising (P < 0.001). HDL-C was higher (P < 0.05); Apo-B, and serum iron were lower (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The cruising fishermen' immune function is changed significantly; the nutrition state is good, but the serum iron is insufficient and in subclinical state.