Assembly of novel sequences for Chinese domestic pigs reveals new genes and regulatory variants providing new insights into their diversity.

There is an increasing understanding that a reference genome representing an individual cannot capture all the gene repertoire of a species. Here, we conduct a population-scale missing sequences detection of Chinese domestic pigs using whole-genome sequencing data from 534 individuals. We identify 132.41 Mb of sequences absent in the reference assembly, including eight novel genes. In particular, the breeds spread in Chinese high-altitude regions perform significantly different frequencies of new sequences in promoters than other breeds. Furthermore, we dissect the role of non-coding variants and identify a novel sequence inserted in the 3'UTR of the FMO3 gene, which may be associated with the intramuscular fat phenotype. This novel sequence could be a candidate marker for meat quality. Our study provides a comprehensive overview of the missing sequences in Chinese domestic pigs and indicates that this dataset is a valuable resource for understanding the diversity and biology of pigs.

Genomic evidence for human-mediated introgressive hybridization and selection in the developed breed.

BACKGROUND: The pig (Sus Scrofa) is one of the oldest domesticated livestock species that has undergone extensive improvement through modern breeding. European breeds have advantages in lean meat development and highly-productive body type, whereas Asian breeds possess extraordinary fat deposition and reproductive performance. Consequently, Eurasian breeds have been extensively used to develop modern commercial breeds for fast-growing and high prolificacy. However, limited by the sequencing technology, the genome architecture of some nascent developed breeds and the human-mediated impact on their genomes are still unknown. RESULTS: Through whole-genome analysis of 178 individuals from an Asian locally developed pig breed, Beijing Black pig, and its two ancestors from two different continents, we found the pervasive inconsistent gene trees and species trees across the genome of Beijing Black pig, which suggests its introgressive hybrid origin. Interestingly, we discovered that this developed breed has more genetic relationships with European pigs and an unexpected introgression from Asian pigs to this breed, which indicated that human-mediated introgression could form the porcine genome architecture in a completely different type compared to native introgression. We identified 554 genomic regions occupied 63.30 Mb with signals of introgression from the Asian ancestry to Beijing Black pig, and the genes in these regions enriched in pathways associated with meat quality, fertility, and disease-resistant. Additionally, a proportion of 7.77% of genomic regions were recognized as regions that have been under selection. Moreover, combined with the results of a genome-wide association study for meat quality traits in the 1537 Beijing Black pig population, two important candidate genes related to meat quality traits were identified. DNAJC6 is related to intramuscular fat content and fat deposition, and RUFY4 is related to meat pH and tenderness. CONCLUSIONS: Our research provides insight for analyzing the origins of nascent developed breeds and genome-wide selection remaining in the developed breeds mediated by humans during modern breeding.

Objective and perceived service accessibility and mental health in older adults.

OBJECTIVES: Service accessibility plays a pivotal role in older adults' mental health. However, accessibility measures used in previous studies are either objective or perceived. This study aimed to integrate both objective and perceived measures of service accessibility to explore the relationship between environmental cognition on service accessibility and mental health in older adults and the pathways. METHODS: We used both questionnaire data collected from 2,317 older adults in Hong Kong and geographical data to explore the direct and indirect effect of environmental cognition (i.e. positive, negative, and matching evaluation) relating to service accessibility on mental health and two pathways (i.e. physical activity and sense of belonging) based on a structural equation model. RESULTS: Physical activity mediated the positive relationship between non-negative perceptions toward access to convenience stores, leisure facilities, clinics, community centers, places of worship and mental health. Sense of community can significantly mediate the positive relationships between non-negative perceptions toward all 10 types of services and mental health. CONCLUSION: This study provides an empirical contribution to environmental cognition theory and person-environment fit theory; its findings have implications for urban planning policy.

The findings from this study provide significant evidence that environmental cognition distortion, especially negative perception, can be significantly associated with lower mental health through physical activity and a sense of community. This suggests that policies focused on changing environmental cognitions could be a promising public health strategy. Environmental cognition theory suggests that improving awareness of setting could help improve the precision of cognitive mapping of environmental reality. This can be very important where it is difficult to change the objective environment due to the deep-rooted and long-standing urban structure.

First-Principles Calculations on Narrow-Band Gap d10 Metal Oxides for Photocatalytic H2 Production: Role of Unusual In2+ Cations in Band Engineering.

The d10 metal oxides with low effective mass and high mobility of photoexcited electrons have received much attention in photocatalytic water splitting. However, there are still challenges in practical application due to insufficient visible light absorption. Here, an unusual phenomenon of the In2+ cation in PtIn6(GeO4)2O and PtIn6(Ga/InO4)2 with a narrow band gap is systematically investigated using density functional theory calculations. According to chemical bond analysis, the final band edge structure results from the interaction between the empty In-5p orbitals and the occupied antibonding state of the In 5s-O 2p orbitals as well as the further hybridization of adjacent In cations in PtIn6 octahedrons. The unique bonding characteristic of In2+ cations endows them with a narrow band gap and visible light response ability. Moreover, the occupied antibonding state could weaken the strength of the In-O covalent bond and strengthen the orbital hybridization of the In-In bond, causing the conduction band minimum to be located in the electroactive In6 cavity. This work reveals the origin of the narrow band gap of PtIn6(GeO4)2O and PtIn6(Ga/InO4)2 in view of bond theory and shows that they are promising semiconductors for the application of photocatalytic H2 generation.

Neighborhood built environments and cognition in later life.

Objectives: Maintaining good cognition is crucial in later life. However, most existing research has focused on individual factors impacting cognition, and few studies have investigated the association between neighborhood built environment and older adults' cognition. This study examined the association between neighborhood built environment and cognition among community-dwelling older adults and identified variations in this association between different age groups in the older population.Methods: Data were derived from a cross-sectional survey of 1873 people aged 65 years and above in Hong Kong. We merged individual data from the survey with neighborhood built environment data based on community auditing and geographical information system. After controlling for individual covariates, we used multivariable linear regression to examine the association between neighborhood built environment and cognition.Results: Residents aged 80 and younger in neighborhoods with a higher land-use mix and more public transport terminals exhibited better cognition. Only the number of community centers in a neighborhood was positively associated with cognition for people older than 80.Conclusion: The built environment creates diverse impacts on different age groups among older adults. Our findings provide useful information for urban planners and policymakers for planning community facilities and built environments that consider the needs of different age groups within the older population.

Functional Ability and Its Associated Factors Among Chinese People Aged 50 Years and Above from the Perspective of Healthy Aging: A 7-Year Longitudinal Study.

Although a new conceptualization of functional ability was proposed in the Decade of Healthy Aging, few studies attempted to understand functional ability among older adults from a holistic review. Based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study from 2011 to 2018, the study investigated the current situation of five domains of functional ability (ability to self-care, being mobile, building/maintaining relationships, contributing to society, learning, and growing), the overall functional ability score and their associated factors among older people. Compared to other functional ability domains, the ability to contribute to society and learn/grow has been largely underdeveloped. Rural respondents were 23% ~ 48% less likely to preserve the five functional ability domains than their urban peers. The findings in this study suggest that China should shift the paradigm to healthy aging by providing more opportunities for the aged to pursue their ability to contribute to society, and the ability to learn, grow and make decisions. Timely policies to maintain functional ability should target those with rural hukou, low education, and low income, especially those with poor cognition.

Associations between depressive symptom clusters and care utilization and costs among community-dwelling older adults.

OBJECTIVES: Whether and how symptom clusters are associated with care utilization remains understudied. This study aims to investigate the economic impact of symptom clusters. METHODS: We conducted cross-sectional analyses of data collected from 3255 older adults aged 60 years and over in Hong Kong using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the Client Service Receipt Inventory to measure depressive symptoms and service utilization to calculate 1-year care expenditure. Based on Research Domain Criteria framework, we categorized depressive symptoms into four clusters: Negative Valance Systems and Externalizing (NVSE; anhedonia and depression), Negative Valance Systems and Internalizing (guilt and self-harm), Arousal and Regulatory Systems (sleep, fatigue, and appetite), and Cognitive and Sensorimotor Systems (CSS; concentration and psychomotor). Two-part models were used with four symptom clusters to estimate economic impacts on care utilization. RESULTS: Core affective symptoms had the largest economic impact on non-psychiatric care expenditure; a one-point increase in NVSE was associated with USD$ 571 additional non-psychiatric care expenditure. The economic impacts of CSS on non-psychiatric care expenditure was attenuated when the severity level of NVSE was higher. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the importance of understanding economic impacts on care utilization based on symptom profiles with a particular emphasis on symptom combinations. Policymakers should optimize care allocation based on older adults' depressive symptom profiles rather than simply considering their depression sum-score or the severity defined by cut-off points.

The breakdown of protein hydrogen bonding networks facilitates biotransformation of protein wastewaters during anaerobic digestion methanogenesis: Focus on protein structure and conformation.

The low methanogenic efficiency of protein wastewater during anaerobic digestion can be attributed to the hydrolysis rate-limiting caused by the complex native structure of protein. In this study, the characterization of secondary structure alterations of protein molecules under acid-base stress was investigated and the effect of structure and conformation alterations on the methanogenic efficiency of protein wastewater biotransformation was analyzed. The optimal methane yields were obtained for protein wastewater pretreated with acid and base at pH = 3 and pH = 12, which was 29.4% and 35.7% higher than that of the control group (without pretreatment), reaching 142.6 ± 4.0 mL/g protein and 149.6 ± 16.1 mL/g protein, respectively. The time economy evaluation showed that 6 h pretreatment time was scientific and reasonable whether pH = 3 or pH = 12, since the methane gain effect reached 74.4% and 82.2% longing with the anaerobic digestion proceeded to 120 h, respectively. Endogenous fluorescence characteristics illustrated that the microenvironment of protein molecules has changed regardless of acid or alkali pretreatment. The circular dichroism (CD) analysis revealed that only the content of α-helix in the secondary structure of the protein at pH = 12 decreased by 46.3%, while the contents of ß-sheet, ß-turn and unordered structure were 29.5 ± 0.8%, 18.9 ± 0.6% and 32.2 ± 1.3%, respectively. The increase in the composition of the unordered structure demonstrated an irreversible damage to the hydrogen bonding network in the protein. FTIR spectroscopy further confirmed that the stretching vibrations of CO in amide I led to the destruction of the hydrogen bonding network and the unfolding of the protein structure. Thus, the above work provides new insights into the anaerobic digestion of protein wastewater for methanogenic processes from the perspective of protein structure and conformational changes.

Longitudinal associations between perception of future time and subjective well-being among middle-aged and older people in China: the moderating roles of individual health and socioeconomic status.

PURPOSE: This study examined the longitudinal association between perception of future time (PFT) and subjective well-being among middle- and old-aged people in China, and investigated the moderating roles of individual health resources and socioeconomic status (SES) in the association between PFT and subjective well-being. METHODS: Data for this study drew from a final sample of 10,644 respondents aged 45 years and above from four waves (2011-2018) of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Subjective well-being was measured by depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Multilevel linear modelling (MLM) was applied to analyse the main effects of PFT on depressive symptoms and life satisfaction over time and the moderating effects of individual health resources and SES. RESULTS: After controlling for the covariates, perceived future time as extended was associated with fewer depressive symptoms (ß = - 0.85, p < 0.001) and higher levels of life satisfaction (ß = 0.07, p < 0.001). Significant moderating effects of individual health resources (self-rated health, functional limitations and chronic diseases) and SES (urban-rural hukou) were found in associations between PFT and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Perceived future time as extended was associated with better subjective well-being. These associations differed in relation to different individual health resources and SES. This study extends understanding of Socioemotional Selectivity Theory and helps identify vulnerable people when they feel near to death.

'It was the deepest level of companionship': peer-to-peer experience of supporting community-dwelling older people with depression - a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: There is an ample body of literature examining the experiences and outcomes of peer support services for mental health recovery in western countries. However, formal peer support is only recently adapted and piloted to alleviate depression among older people, and little is known about how the peer-to-peer model might be lived out in the older Chinese population. This qualitative study investigated peer supporters' (PS) perspectives of their roles and experiences of rendering formal peer support to community-dwelling older adults at risk of or living with depression in Hong Kong. METHODS: The study adopted a qualitative design. Five semi-structured focus groups were conducted with 27 trained peer supporters between ages 54-74 (21 females and 6 males) who had provided peer-to-peer support to older adults at risk of or living with depression in the community for at least 12 months. Thematic analysis was employed to derive content and meanings from the focus group transcripts. RESULTS: Participants' mean age was 61.9 years; two-thirds of them were retired and the rest still engaged in part-time or full-time employment. Four themes were identified in relations to the roles and experiences in rendering the peer support services: (1) peerness in health and age-related lived experiences; (2) companionship, social and emotional ties beyond formal support; (3) meaningful roles to facilitate older people's functional ability; and (4) hopes and actions against the undesirable outcomes of aging. Being a PS might provide meaningful roles for persons in transition to or living in late adulthood, and enable community-dwelling older adults with depression to maintain functional ability. On the other hand, defining the concept of 'peer' beyond the shared experience of mental distress, ensuring a healthy boundary between the peers and the service users, maintaining a careful balance between time-limited formal support and stable social ties, and providing self-management training and on-going support appear crucial. CONCLUSIONS: This study of PS' perspectives and experiences offer insights into the age-specific dimension of the peer relationship. Despite the promising effects it might offer, careful implementation of peer support among older adults is warranted to safeguard against the ensuing loss of meaningful social ties and the potential emotional distress.

Depressive Symptoms and Coping Strategies in Community-Dwelling Older People Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Method Study.

This study aimed to examine depressive symptoms of community-dwelling older people amidst COVID-19 and explore how naturally occurring coping strategies were associated with depression. A mixed-method cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted with 375 older people aged 60 years and above between March and May 2020 in Hong Kong. Trained social workers interviewed participants and assessed depressive symptoms with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Attribute coding and thematic analysis were adopted for qualitative data analyses. Generalized linear models (GLM) were used to examine the effects of demographics, self-reported risk factors and coping strategies on PHQ-9 scores. Participants' average PHQ-9 score was 1.9 (SD = 2.9), suggesting a low risk for depression in general. Over half of the participants reported adaptive coping strategies, including learning new things, staying physically, mentally, and socially active, and having a positive mind-set. GLM results indicated that living with family members (other than spouse) and/or others, maladaptive coping, and self-reported risk factors were significantly associated with higher PHQ-9 scores, while adaptive coping was significantly associated with lower PHQ-9 scores. Our study contributed to the growing literature on older people's resilience and adaptive coping during the pandemic, and the results may have implications for mental health promotion and community care.

One Nanometer PtIr Nanowires as High-Efficiency Bifunctional Catalysts for Electrosynthesis of Ethanol into High Value-Added Multicarbon Compound Coupled with Hydrogen Production.

The electrosynthesis of high-value-added multicarbon compounds coupled with hydrogen production is an efficient way to achieve carbon neutrality; however, the lack of effective bifunctional catalysts in electrosynthesis largely hinders its development. Herein, we report the first example on the highly efficient electrosynthesis of high-value-added 1,1-diethoxyethane (DEE) at the anode and high-purity hydrogen at the cathode using 1 nm PtIr nanowires (NWs) as the bifunctional catalysts. We demonstrate that the cell using 1 nm PtIr nanowires as the bifunctional catalysts can achieve a reported lowest voltage of 0.61 V to reach the current density of 10 mA cm-2, much lower than those of the Pt NWs (0.85 V) and commercial Pt/C (0.86 V), and also can have the highest Faraday efficiencies of 85% for DEE production and 94.0% for hydrogen evolution in all the reported electrosynthesis catalysts. The in situ infrared spectroscopy study reveals that PtIr NWs can facilitate the activation of O-H and C-H bonds in ethanol, which is important for the formation of acetaldehyde intermediate, and finally DEE. In addition, the cell using PtIr NWs as bifunctional catalysts exhibits excellent stability by showing almost no obvious decrease in the Faraday efficiency of the DEE production.

Associations between Volunteering and Mental Health during COVID-19 among Chinese Older Adults.

Evidence about the association between volunteering and the mental health of older adults during COVID-19 remains underexplored. This study investigated (1) patterns of volunteering among older adults in Hong Kong during COVID-19; (2) associations between volunteering and mental health of older adults during COVID-19; and (3) associations between key psychological resources (e.g., self-efficacy and self-esteem) and volunteering among older adults during COVID-19. This study applied a cross-sectional design with data collected from 128 older adults in June 2020, who were trained as volunteers in a volunteer program that began before COVID-19. The study found that older adults continued to actively contribute to their communities by engaging in volunteering during COVID-19. The specific type of volunteering activities was linked to few depressive and anxiety symptoms. Older adults with increased self-esteem prior to COVID-19 were more likely to participate in volunteering activities related to COVID-19. Our study suggested that encouraging older adults to volunteer during the pandemic is a key pathway to maintain mental health. Social workers are encouraged to engage older adults in volunteerism regularly to offset the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms in times of crisis.

Benchmarking Three Ruthenium Phosphide Phases for Electrocatalysis of the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction: Experimental and Theoretical Insights.

The outstanding electrocatalytic activity of ruthenium (Ru) phosphides toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has received wide attention. However, the effect of the Ru phosphide phase on the HER performance remains unclear. Herein, a two-step method was developed to synthesize nanoparticles of three types of Ru phosphides, namely, Ru2 P, RuP, and RuP2 , with similar morphology, dimensions, loading density, and electrochemical surface area on graphene nanosheets by simply controlling the dosage of phytic acid as P source. Electrochemical tests revealed that Ru2 P/graphene shows the highest intrinsic HER activity, followed by RuP/graphene and RuP2 /graphene. Ru2 P/graphene affords a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at an overpotential of 18 mV in acid media. Theoretical calculations further showed that P-deficient Ru2 P has a lower free energy of hydrogen adsorption on the surface than other two, P-rich Ru phosphides (RuP, RuP2 ), which confirms the excellent intrinsic HER activity of Ru2 P and is consistent with experiment results. The work reveals for the first time a clear trend of HER activity among three Ru phosphide phases.

Metal organic framework MIL-53(Fe) as an efficient artificial oxidase for colorimetric detection of cellular biothiols.

Biothiols play critical roles in many biological processes and their aberrant is related to a variety of syndromes. A simple and reliable colorimetric method is developed in this work for biothiols detection based on an oxidase mimic, a metal organic framework (MOF) MIL-53(Fe), and a peroxidase substrate 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB). In this design, MIL-53(Fe) is utilized to catalyze the conversion of TMB to a blue colored 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine diimine, which can be read on a spectrophotometer at 652 nm. The oxidation-induced blue color generation can be efficiently inhibited by biothiols, thus a colorimetric analytical method is proposed for biothiols detection based on the above system. Under optimal conditions, a linear relationship in a range from 1 to 100 µM and a limit of detection (LOD) at 120 nM are achieved with Cys as a model target. The developed platform is further applied to evaluate cellular biothiols in normal (RWPE-1) and cancer (LNCap) cell lines, revealing that the overall biothiols level in LNCap is much higher than that in RWPE-1. This work renders a powerful tool for identifying cancer cells in a simple manner for biomedical diagnosis associated with biothiols.

Construction of a Polypyrrole-Based Multifunctional Nanocomposite for Dual-Modal Imaging and Enhanced Synergistic Phototherapy against Cancer Cells.

Design and construction of multifunctional theranostic nanoplatforms are still desired for cancer-effective treatment. Herein, a kind of polypyrrole (PPy)-based multifunctional nanocomposite was designed and successfully constructed for dual-model imaging and enhanced synergistic phototherapy against cancer cells. Through graphene oxide (GO) sheet coating, PPy nanoparticles (NPs) were effectively combined with polyethylene glycol chains, Au NPs, and IR820 molecules. The obtained PGPAI NPs showed promising ability for photoacoustic/computed tomography imaging. Under near-infrared light irradiation, the PPy core and IR820 molecule effectively generated heat and reactive oxygen species (ROS), respectively. Furthermore, the loaded Au NPs owning catalase-like activity produced oxygen by decomposing H2O2 (up-regulated in tumor region), enhancing the oxygen-dependent photodynamic therapy efficacy. The formed PGPAI NPs were also proved to own desirable photothermal conversion efficiency, photothermal stability, colloidal stability, cytocompatibility, and cellular internalization behaviors. Furthermore, cell assay demonstrated that PGPAI NPs displayed enhanced synergistic phototherapy efficacy against cancer cells. These developed multifunctional nanoplatforms are promising for effective cancer theranostic applications.

Enhanced Photoacoustic and Photothermal Effect of Functionalized Polypyrrole Nanoparticles for Near-Infrared Theranostic Treatment of Tumor.

Functionalized nanomaterials with near-infrared (NIR) responsive capacity are quite promising for theranostic treatment of tumors, but formation of NIR responsive nanomaterials with enhanced theranostic ability and excellent biocompatibility is still very challenging. Herein, PEGylated indocyanine green (ICG)-loaded polypyrrole nanoparticles (PPI NPs) were designed and successfully formed through selecting polydopamine as the linkage between each component, demonstrating enhanced NIR responsive theranostic ability against tumor. By combining in vitro cell study with in vivo assay, the formed PPI NPs were proven to be fantastically biocompatible while effectively internalization in HeLa cells and retention in HeLa tumor were demonstrated by in vitro flow cytometry/confocal measurement and in vivo photoacoustic imaging assay. With the guidance of photoacoustic imaging, successful photothermal ablation of tumor was achieved by treatment with PPI NPs plus laser, which was much more effective than the group treated with NPs free of ICG. The combined enhanced photoacoustic and photothermal effect is mainly ascribed to the functionalized polypyrrole nanoparticles, which could accumulate in the tumor site more effectively with a relatively longer retention time taking advantage of the nanomaterial-induced endothelial leakiness phenomenon. All these results demonstrating that this designed PPI NPs possessing enhanced NIR responsive property hold great promise for tumor NIR theranostic applications.

Nanostring-cluster hierarchical structured Bi2O3: synthesis, evolution and application in biosensing.

In the present study, a simple strategy was developed to fabricate a new Bi2O3 nanostring-cluster hierarchical structure. Precursor microrods composed of Bi(C2O4)OH were initially grown under hydrothermal conditions. After calcination in air, Bi(C2O4)OH microrods were carved into unique string-cluster structures by the gas produced during the decomposition process. To explain the formation mechanism, the effects of pyrolysis temperature and time on the morphology of the as-prepared samples were investigated and are discussed in detail. It was discovered that the nanostring-cluster-structured Bi2O3 consists of thin nanoplatelet arrays, which is advantageous for glucose enzyme immobilization and for designing biosensors. The resulting Bi2O3 structure showed an excellent capability in the modification of electrode surfaces in biosensors by enhancing the sensitivity, with good specificity and response time. Such qualities of a biosensor are ideal characteristics for glucose sensing performance and allow for further explorations of its application in other fields.

Facilitating Volunteer Engagement Among Older Adults in Social Services: A Case Study of an Innovative Timebank Program in a Chinese Society.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Exploring the roles of older adults as volunteers in social care settings has attracted wide attention to facilitate healthy aging and tackle care workforce constraints. However, there is little knowledge of the mechanism of engaging older adults as volunteers in the social care sector. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The study applies a case study to describe the features of an innovative timebank project, Good Hands, and explore the underlying mechanism of engaging older adults as volunteers in the social care sector. Three focus groups were conducted with 12 older adult volunteers and 6 advisory group members. Thematic analysis was applied to code and analyze the content of the focus group interviews. RESULTS: Three emergent themes were identified as critical components: strong cross-sector collaboration, meaningfulness in voluntary work comprising 4 subthemes (including capacity optimization, care capacity enhancement, cultivating belonging, and value recognition), and a coproducing environment. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Volunteer engagement of older adults in the provision of welfare for community-based care for frail peers is discussed, and practice implications are presented.