Analysis and comparison of retinal vascular parameters under different glucose metabolic status based on deep learning.

AIM: To develop a deep learning-based model for automatic retinal vascular segmentation, analyzing and comparing parameters under diverse glucose metabolic status (normal, prediabetes, diabetes) and to assess the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in image segmentation and retinal vascular parameters for predicting prediabetes and diabetes. METHODS: Retinal fundus photos from 200 normal individuals, 200 prediabetic patients, and 200 diabetic patients (600 eyes in total) were used. The U-Net network served as the foundational architecture for retinal artery-vein segmentation. An automatic segmentation and evaluation system for retinal vascular parameters was trained, encompassing 26 parameters. RESULTS: Significant differences were found in retinal vascular parameters across normal, prediabetes, and diabetes groups, including artery diameter (P=0.008), fractal dimension (P=0.000), vein curvature (P=0.003), C-zone artery branching vessel count (P=0.049), C-zone vein branching vessel count (P=0.041), artery branching angle (P=0.005), vein branching angle (P=0.001), artery angle asymmetry degree (P=0.003), vessel length density (P=0.000), and vessel area density (P=0.000), totaling 10 parameters. CONCLUSION: The deep learning-based model facilitates retinal vascular parameter identification and quantification, revealing significant differences. These parameters exhibit potential as biomarkers for prediabetes and diabetes.

From fractional quantum anomalous Hall smectics to polar smectic metals: nontrivial interplay between electronic liquid crystal order and topological order in correlated topological flat bands.

Symmetry-breaking orders can not only compete with each other, but also be intertwined, and the intertwined topological and symmetry-breaking orders make the situation more intriguing. This work examines the archetypal correlated flat band model on a checkerboard lattice at fillingν=2/3and we find that the unique interplay between smectic charge order and topological order gives rise to two novel quantum states. As the interaction strength increases, the system first transitions from a Fermi liquid (FL) into FQAH smectic (FQAHS) state, where the topological order coexists cooperatively with smectic charge order with enlarged ground-state degeneracy and interestingly, the Hall conductivity isσxy=ν=2/3, different from the band-folding or doping scenarios. Further increasing the interaction strength, the system undergoes another quantum phase transition and evolves into a polar smectic metal (PSM) state. This emergent PSM is an anisotropic non-Fermi liquid, whose interstripe tunneling is irrelevant while it is metallic inside each stripe. Different from the FQAHS and conventional smectic orders, this PSM spontaneously breaks the two-fold rotational symmetry, resulting in a nonzero electric dipole moment and ferroelectric order. In addition to the exotic ground states, large-scale numerical simulations are also used to study low-energy excitations and thermodynamic characteristics. We find that the onset temperature of the incompressible FQAHS state, which also coincides with the onset of non-polar smectic order, is dictated by the magneto-roton modes. Above this onset temperature, the PSM state exists at an intermediate-temperature regime. Although theT = 0 quantum phase transition between PSM and FQAHS is first order, the thermal FQAHS-PSM transition could be continuous. We expect the features of the exotic states and thermal phase transitions could be accessed in future experiments.

Attachment security, environmental adversity, and fast life history behavioral profiles in human adolescents.

One species-general life history (LH) principle posits that challenging childhood environments are coupled with a fast or faster LH strategy and associated behaviors, while secure and stable childhood environments foster behaviors conducive to a slow or slower LH strategy. This coupling between environments and LH strategies is based on the assumption that individuals' internal traits and states are independent of their external surroundings. In reality, individuals respond to external environmental conditions in alignment with their intrinsic vitality, encompassing both physical and mental states. The present study investigated attachment as an internal mental state, examining its role in mediating and moderating the association between external environmental adversity and fast LH strategies. A sample of 1169 adolescents (51% girls) from 9 countries was tracked over 10 years, starting from age 8. The results confirm both mediation and moderation and, for moderation, secure attachment nullified and insecure attachment maintained the environment-LH coupling. These findings suggest that attachment could act as an internal regulator, disrupting the contingent coupling between environmental adversity and a faster pace of life, consequently decelerating human LH.

Phases of (2+1)D SO(5) Nonlinear Sigma Model with a Topological Term on a Sphere: Multicritical Point and Disorder Phase.

Novel critical phenomena beyond the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm have been long sought after. Among many candidate scenarios, the deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP) constitutes the most fascinating one, and its lattice model realization has been debated over the past two decades. Here we apply the spherical Landau level regularization upon the exact (2+1)D SO(5) nonlinear sigma model with a topological term to study the potential DQCP therein. We perform a density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) simulation with SU(2)_{spin}×U(1)_{charge}×U(1)_{angular-momentum} symmetries explicitly implemented. Using crossing point analysis for the critical properties of the DMRG data, accompanied by quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we accurately obtain the comprehensive phase diagram of the model and find various novel quantum phases, including Néel, ferromagnet (FM), valence bond solid (VBS), valley polarized (VP) states and a gapless quantum disordered phase occupying an extended area of the phase diagram. The VBS-disorder and Néel-disorder transitions are continuous with non-Wilson-Fisher exponents. Our results show the VBS and Néel states are separated by either a weakly first-order transition or the disordered region with a multicritical point in between, thus opening up more interesting questions on the two-decade long debate on the nature of the DQCP.

Ultrahigh Energy Storage Performance of BiFeO3-BaTiO3 Flexible Film Capacitor with High-Temperature Stability via Defect Design.

Nanoengineering polar oxide films have attracted great attention in energy storage due to their high energy density. However, most of them are deposited on thick and rigid substrates, which is not conducive to the integration of capacitors and applications in flexible electronics. Here, an alternative strategy using van der Waals epitaxial oxide dielectrics on ultra-thin flexible mica substrates is developed and increased the disorder within the system through high laser flux. The introduction of defects can efficiently weaken or destroy the long-range ferroelectric ordering, ultimately leading to the emergence of a large numbers of weak-coupling regions. Such polarization configuration ensures fast polarization response and significantly improves energy storage characteristics. A flexible BiFeO3-BaTiO3 (BF-BT) capacitor exhibits a total energy density of 43.5 J cm-3 and an efficiency of 66.7% and maintains good energy storage performance over a wide temperature range (20-200 °C) and under large bending deformation (bending radii ≈ 2 mm). This study provides a feasible approach to improve the energy storage characteristics of dielectric oxide films and paves the way for their practical application in high-energy density capacitors.

Thermodynamic Response and Neutral Excitations in Integer and Fractional Quantum Anomalous Hall States Emerging from Correlated Flat Bands.

Integer and fractional Chern insulators have been extensively explored in correlated flat band models. Recently, the prediction and experimental observation of fractional quantum anomalous Hall (FQAH) states with spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking have garnered attention. While the thermodynamics of integer quantum anomalous Hall (IQAH) states have been systematically studied, our theoretical knowledge on thermodynamic properties of FQAH states has been severely limited. Here, we delve into the general thermodynamic response and collective excitations of both IQAH and FQAH states within the paradigmatic flat Chern-band model with remote band considered. Our key findings include (i) in both ν=1 IQAH and ν=1/3 FQAH states, even without spin fluctuations, the charge-neutral collective excitations would lower the onset temperature of these topological states, to a value significantly smaller than the charge gap, due to band mixing and multiparticle scattering; (ii) by employing large-scale thermodynamic simulations in FQAH states in the presence of strong interband mixing between C=±1 bands, we find that the lowest collective excitations manifest as the zero-momentum excitons in the IQAH state, whereas in the FQAH state, they take the form of magnetorotons with finite momentum; (iii) the unique charge oscillations in FQAH states are exhibited with distinct experimental signatures, which we propose to detect in future experiments.

2D Janus Polarization Functioned by Mechanical Force.

2D polarization materials have emerged as promising candidates for meeting the demands of device miniaturization, attributed to their unique electronic configurations and transport characteristics. Although the existing inherent and sliding mechanisms are increasingly investigated in recent years, strategies for inducing 2D polarization with innovative mechanisms remain rare. This study introduces a novel 2D Janus state by modulating the puckered structure. Combining scanning probe microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and density functional theory calculations, this work realizes force-triggered out-of-plane and in-plane dipoles with distorted smaller warping in GeSe. The Janus state is preserved after removing the external mechanical perturbation, which could be switched by modulating the sliding direction. This work offers a versatile method to break the space inversion symmetry in a 2D system to trigger polarization in the atomic scale, which may open an innovative insight into configuring novel 2D polarization materials.

Spatial evolution of the proton-coupled Mott transition in correlated oxides for neuromorphic computing.

The proton-electron coupling effect induces rich spectrums of electronic states in correlated oxides, opening tempting opportunities for exploring novel devices with multifunctions. Here, via modest Pt-aided hydrogen spillover at room temperature, amounts of protons are introduced into SmNiO3-based devices. In situ structural characterizations together with first-principles calculation reveal that the local Mott transition is reversibly driven by migration and redistribution of the predoped protons. The accompanying giant resistance change results in excellent memristive behaviors under ultralow electric fields. Hierarchical tree-like memory states, an instinct displayed in bio-synapses, are further realized in the devices by spatially varying the proton concentration with electric pulses, showing great promise in artificial neural networks for solving intricate problems. Our research demonstrates the direct and effective control of proton evolution using extremely low electric field, offering an alternative pathway for modifying the functionalities of correlated oxides and constructing low-power consumption intelligent devices and neural network circuits.

DNMT1-mediated epigenetic suppression of FBXO32 expression promoting cyclin dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) survival and esophageal cancer cell growth.

Esophageal cancer (EC) is a common and serious form of cancer, and while DNA methyltransferase-1 (DNMT1) promotes DNA methylation and carcinogenesis, the role of F-box protein 32 (FBXO32) in EC and its regulation by DNMT1-mediated methylation is still unclear. FBXO32 expression was examined in EC cells with high DNMT1 expression using GSE163735 dataset. RT-qPCR assessed FBXO32 expression in normal and EC cells, and impact of higher FBXO32 expression on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion was evaluated, along with EMT-related proteins. The xenograft model established by injecting EC cells transfected with FBXO32 was used to evaluate tumor growth, apoptosis, and tumor cells proliferation and metastasis. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay was employed to study the interaction between DNMT1 and FBXO32. HitPredict, co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP), and Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) pulldown assay analyzed the interaction between FBXO32 and cyclin dependent kinase 9 (CDK9). Finally, the ubiquitination assay identified CDK9 ubiquitination, and its half-life was measured using cycloheximide and confirmed through western blotting. DNMT1 negatively correlated with FBXO32 expression in esophageal cells. High FBXO32 expression was associated with better overall survival in patients. Knockdown of DNMT1 in EC cells increased FBXO32 expression and suppressed malignant phenotypes. FBXO32 repressed EC tumor growth and metastasis in mice. Enrichment of DNMT1 in FBXO32 promoter region led to increased DNA methylation and reduced transcription. Mechanistically, FBXO32 degraded CDK9 through promoting its ubiquitination.

Family obligation in Chinese adolescents: Consequences and parental antecedents.

Adolescents' family obligation is a cultural strength that shows enduring prevalence in China. Given that the meaning of family obligation has undergone rapid changes in recent decades, it is crucial to examine the role of family obligation in adolescent adjustment in contemporary China. More importantly, although past research has investigated the consequences of family obligation on adolescents' adjustment, little is known about the antecedents of Chinese adolescents' family obligation. Using a two-wave longitudinal sample of 450 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 13.78 years, SD = .71 years; 49% female) and their parents, the current research explored two questions. First, this study examined the role of family obligation in adolescents' academic achievement, externalizing problems, and internalizing problems over early adolescence. Second, this study explored the role of parents in predicting Chinese adolescents' family obligation, specifically whether parental expectations or parental acceptance was predictive of adolescents' family obligation over time. Third, this study investigated whether family obligation is an underlying mechanism between parenting and Chinese adolescents' adjustment. Results showed that Chinese adolescents' family obligation was longitudinally associated with increased academic achievement and reduced externalizing problems. Moreover, perceived parental acceptance, but not parental expectations, was longitudinally associated with Chinese adolescents' greater family obligation. Notably, family obligation mediated the longitudinal effect of parental acceptance on Chinese adolescents' externalizing problems. By studying both the consequences and antecedents of Chinese adolescents' family obligation, this study helps provide a comprehensive understanding of this cultural strength.

Ultrasensitive detection of tyrosinase with click reaction-combined dark-field imaging platform.

Tyrosinase (TYR) is an essential oxidase that is responsible for the regulation of multiple physiological processes and diseases. Achieving the trace and reliable detection of TYR in complex biological samples is of great significance for the diagnosis of TYR-related diseases, but which faces a great challenge. In this study, we developed an ingenious and powerful method for the ultrasensitive detection of TYR by click reaction-combined dark-field microscopy. This method begins with the formation of cuprous ions (Cu+) based on the reduction of copper ions (Cu2+) by ascorbic acid (AA). Subsequently, the formed Cu+ can catalyze the crosslinking between azide- and alkyne-functionalized gold nanoparticles, causing a significant red-shift in the scattering spectrum. However, AA can chelate with TYR, which inhibits the generation of Cu+ and subsequent click reaction, thus achieving TYR-controlled scattering spectral shift. The proposed sensing platform shows a good linear detection range of 0.01-0.8 U/L with a low detection limit of 0.003 U/L, which is three orders of magnitude lower than the best performance of TYR sensing probes reported to date. Most importantly, the strategy has the ability to reliably and accurately detect TYR in serum sample, suggesting its potential clinical application in diagnosing TYR-related diseases. This visual sensing platform offers promising prospects for future research in enzymatic analysis and biomedical diagnostics.

Effects of Voice Pitch on Social Perceptions Vary With Relational Mobility and Homicide Rate.

Fundamental frequency ( fo) is the most perceptually salient vocal acoustic parameter, yet little is known about how its perceptual influence varies across societies. We examined how fo affects key social perceptions and how socioecological variables modulate these effects in 2,647 adult listeners sampled from 44 locations across 22 nations. Low male fo increased men's perceptions of formidability and prestige, especially in societies with higher homicide rates and greater relational mobility in which male intrasexual competition may be more intense and rapid identification of high-status competitors may be exigent. High female fo increased women's perceptions of flirtatiousness where relational mobility was lower and threats to mating relationships may be greater. These results indicate that the influence of fo on social perceptions depends on socioecological variables, including those related to competition for status and mates.

Inferring Causal Relationships Between Metabolites and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Using Summary Statistics from Genome­Wide Association Studies.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a disorder characterized by hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction, and polycystic ovarian morphology. Previous studies have suggested that metabolites may play a pivotal mediating role in the progression of phenotypic variations. Although several metabolites had been identified as potential markers for PCOS, the relationship between blood metabolites and PCOS was not comprehensively explored. Previously, Pickrell et al. designed a robust approach to infer evidence of a causal relationship between different phenotypes using independently putative causal SNPs. Our previous paper extended this approach to make it more suitable for cases where only a few independently putative causal SNPs were identified to be significantly associated with the phenotypes (i.e., metabolites). When the most significant SNPs in each independent locus (the independent lead SNPs) with p-values of < 1 × 10-5 were used, 3 metabolites (2-tetradecenoyl carnitine, threitol, 1-docosahexaenoylglycerophosphocholine) causally influencing PCOS and 2 metabolites (asparagine and phenyllactate) influenced by PCOS were identified, (relative likelihood r < 0.01). Under a less stringent threshold of r < 0.05, 7 metabolites (trans-4-hydroxyproline, glutaroyl carnitine, stachydrine, undecanoate, 7-Hoca, N-acetylalanine and 2-hydroxyisobutyrate) were identified. Taken together, this study can provide novel insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying PCOS; whether these metabolites can serve as biomarkers to predict PCOS in clinical practice warrants further investigations.

Aqueous Solution Enhanced Room Temperature Phosphorescence through Coordination-Induced Structural Rigidity.

Achieving aqueous solution enhanced room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) is critical for the applications of RTP materials in solution phase, but which faces a great challenge. Herein, for the first time, a strategy of coordination-induced structural rigidity is proposed to achieve enhanced quantum efficiency of aluminum/scandium-doped phosphorescent microcubes (Al/Sc-PMCs) in aqueous solution. The Al/Sc-PMCs in a dry state exhibit a nearly invisible blue RTP. However, they emit a strong RTP emission in aqueous solution with a RTP intensity increase of up to 22.16-times, which is opposite to common solution-quenched RTP. The RTP enhancement mechanism is attributed to the abundant metal sites (Al3+ and Sc3+ ions) on the Al/Sc-PMCs surface that can tightly combine with water molecules through the strong coordination. Subsequently, these coordinated water molecules as the bridging agent can bind with surface groups by hydrogen bonding interaction, thereby rigidifying chemical groups and inhibiting their motions, resulting in the transition from the nonradiative decay to the radiative decay, which greatly enhances the RTP efficiency of the Al/Sc-PMCs. This work not only develops a coordination rigidity strategy to enhance RTP intensity in aqueous solution, but also constructs a phosphorescent probe to achieve reliable and accurate determination of analyte in complex biological matrices.

Three reasons why parental burnout is more prevalent in individualistic countries: a mediation study in 36 countries.

PURPOSE: The prevalence of parental burnout, a condition that has severe consequences for both parents and children, varies dramatically across countries and is highest in Western countries characterized by high individualism. METHOD: In this study, we examined the mediators of the relationship between individualism measured at the country level and parental burnout measured at the individual level in 36 countries (16,059 parents). RESULTS: The results revealed three mediating mechanisms, that is, self-discrepancies between socially prescribed and actual parental selves, high agency and self-directed socialization goals, and low parental task sharing, by which individualism leads to an increased risk of burnout among parents. CONCLUSION: The results confirm that the three mediators under consideration are all involved, and that mediation was higher for self-discrepancies between socially prescribed and actual parental selves, then parental task sharing, and lastly self-directed socialization goals. The results provide some important indications of how to prevent parental burnout at the societal level in Western countries.

Cultural values, parenting, and child adjustment in China.

To examine whether parents' cultural values are related to parenting practices and children's behavioural adjustment, mothers, fathers and children (N = 218) from two cities in China (Jinan and Shanghai) were interviewed when children were, on average, 10 years old. Mothers and fathers reported their endorsement of cultural values (individualism, collectivism, conformity), which were used to separately predict warmth and family obligation expectations reported by each parent, as well as children's report of parental psychological control, rule setting, knowledge solicitation and perceived family obligation expectations. Cross-informant (parents and child) composites of internalising and externalising behaviours were also obtained. The results showed that maternal individualism positively predicted parents' knowledge solicitation. Parental collectivism positively predicted their own warmth and family obligation expectations. Mothers' conformity positively predicted mothers' family obligation expectations, paternal warmth and children's perception of family obligation, whereas fathers' conformity only positively predicted fathers' family obligation expectations. These effects were largely consistent across regional subsamples, although mothers in Jinan were more collectivistic than mothers in Shanghai, and parents in Shanghai adopted less psychological control and more knowledge solicitation in parenting.

Spatiotemporal Controlled Formation of Synthetic Nanoreactors in Single Living Cells.

Cellular compartments provide confined environments for spatiotemporal control of biological processes and enzymatic reactions. To mimic such compartmentalization of eukaryotic cells, we report an efficient and general platform to precisely control the formation of artificial nanoreactors in single living cells. We introduce an electroosmotic controlled strategy for the synthesis of ZIF-8 at the nanoscale liquid-liquid interface around the tip of a nanopipet, whereby the formed ZIF-8 nanoparticles are driven into a single living cell by the electroosmotic flow. The porous ZIF-8 nanoparticles, as synthetic nanoreactors, are not only able to harvest fluorescent molecules from peripheral cytoplasm but also perform the subsequent photocatalytic degradation, mimicking compartmentalized chemical reactions in eukaryotic cells. Our strategy provides a useful tool for spatiotemporal controlled synthesis of artificial nanoreactors with on-demand functions in single living cells with versatile applications in chemical biology.

Schiff Base Reaction in a Living Cell: In Situ Synthesis of a Hollow Covalent Organic Polymer To Regulate Biological Functions.

Artificially performing chemical reactions in living biosystems to attain various physiological aims remains an intriguing but very challenging task. In this study, the Schiff base reaction was conducted in cells using Sc(OTf)3 as a catalyst, enabling the in situ synthesis of a hollow covalent organic polymer (HCOP) without external stimuli. The reversible Schiff base reaction mediated intracellular Oswald ripening endows the HCOP with a spherical, hollow porous structure and a large specific surface area. The intracellularly generated HCOP reduced cellular motility by restraining actin polymerization, which consequently induced mitochondrial deactivation, apoptosis, and necroptosis. The presented intracellular synthesis system inspired by the Schiff base reaction has strong potential to regulate cell fate and biological functions, opening up a new strategic possibility for intervening in cellular behavior.

What Motivates Chinese Mothers' Involvement in Adolescents' Learning? Longitudinal Investigation on the Role of Mothers' Expectations of Adolescents' Family Obligations and Adolescents' Academic Performance.

(1) Background: Parental involvement in adolescents' learning generally benefits adolescents' development, thus highlighting the importance of investigating why parents involve. Specifically, Chinese parents are highly involved in adolescents' learning, which may be explained by their cultural beliefs. This longitudinal study provided a novel cultural understanding of the antecedents of Chinese mothers' involvement in adolescents' learning by examining the predicting effect of their expectations of adolescents' family obligations over time, with attention to how adolescents' academic performance moderated such effect. (2) Methods: Chinese mothers (N = 450; Mage = 39.52 years, SD = 3.96) of middle-school adolescents reported on their expectations of adolescents' family obligations at Wave 1 and their involvement in adolescents' learning twice over six months. Adolescents' academic performance (i.e., grade) was obtained from teachers. (3) Results: Chinese mothers who had greater expectations of adolescents' family obligations were involved more in adolescents' learning over time. Moreover, adolescents' academic performance moderated this longitudinal association, such that mothers' expectations only predicted their greater involvement among adolescents with high, but not low, academic performance. (4) Conclusions: These findings highlight the cultural understanding of parents' beliefs that motivate their involvement in adolescents' learning in a non-Western society, as well as the moderating role of adolescents' characteristics.