Love me, because I rely on you: Dependency-oriented help-seeking as a strategy for human mating.

Existing research has suggested a predominantly negative view of dependency-oriented help. In contrast, the current research aims to test the positive function of dependency-oriented help in intimate relationships where interpersonal dependency is valued. We hypothesized that dependency-oriented help-seeking could function in communicating liking and romantic interests and, therefore, can be instrumental in attracting mates. Our hypothesis was confirmed across nine studies (N = 2,535). For help-seekers, a mate-seeking motivation could positively predict (Study 1) and lead to (Studies 2A-4) dependency-oriented help-seeking behavior tendencies (Studies 1-2B) and actual behavior (Studies 3 and 4). For help-providers, after activating a mating goal, imagining (Studies 5A and 5B) and actually receiving (Study 6) dependency-oriented (vs. autonomy-oriented) help-seeking requests from a potential mate increased help-providers' romantic interests in that mate. Study 7 further showed the function of dependency-oriented help from the perspective of romantic competitors. As such, people in romantic relationships were more likely to see a potential competitor as a mate poacher when this person asked for dependency-oriented help from their partner. Theoretical and practical implications have been discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Development of cinnamon essential oil-loaded PBAT/thermoplastic starch active packaging films with different release behavior and antimicrobial activity.

The poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)/thermoplastic starch (PBAT/TPS) active packaging films containing cinnamon essential oil (CEO) were fabricated by melting blending and extrusion casting method. The effects of TPS content (0 %, 10 %, 20 %, 30 %, 40 % and 50 %) on the properties of the films and their application in largemouth bass preservation were studied. As TPS content increased from 0 % to 50 %, the water vapor permeability increased from 7.923 × 10-13 (g•cm/(cm2•s•Pa)) to 23.967 × 10-13 (g•cm/(cm2•s•Pa)), the oxygen permeability decreased from 8.642 × 10-11 (cm3•m/(m2•s•Pa)) to 3.644 × 10-11 (cm3•m/(m2•s•Pa)), the retention of CEO in the films increased. The release rate of CEO from the films into food simulant (10 % ethanol) accelerated with increasing TPS. The films exhibited different antibacterial activity against E. coli, S. aureus, and S. putrefaciens. It was closely related with the release behavior of the CEO. The films containing CEO could efficiently inhibit the decomposition of protein and the growth of microorganisms in largemouth bass. It showed that the higher TPS in the films, the better inhibitory effect. This study provided a new idea for developing PBAT/TPS active films with different release behavior of active agents and different antibacterial activity for food packaging.

Molecular epidemiology of Coxiella burnetii infection in sheep and goats in Henan province, China.

Q fever is a significant zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, an obligate intracellular gram-negative bacterium. Although C. burnetii infection has been identified in various animal species, domestic ruminants serve as the primary reservoirs and main sources of human infection. Understanding of the epidemiology of C. burnetii in domestic ruminants is crucial for preventing and controlling of C. burnetii infection in humans. In this study, spleen tissues from sheep and goats were collected in Hennan province, China. Through PCR screening, C. burnetii was detected in sheep and goats in Henan province with an overall infection rate of 6.8 %. Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis revealed that all newly identified C. burnetii strains shared a close genetic relationship with those found in humans worldwide. These findings highlight the high risk of C. burnetii infection among slaughterhouse workers and emphasize the importance of epidemiological studies that investigate samples from both humans and animals within the "One Health" framework. Such surveillance will contribute to a better understanding of the epidemic situation and aid in the development of effective prevention and control strategies for C. burnetii infections in humans.

Recent Advances in Stimuli-Sensitive Amphiphilic Polymer-Paclitaxel Prodrugs.

Paclitaxel (PTX) is a broad-spectrum chemotherapy drug employed in the treatment of a variety of tumors. However, the clinical applications of PTX are limited by its poor water solubility. Adjuvants are widely used to overcome this issue. However, these adjuvants often have side effects and poor biodistribution. The smart drug delivery system is a promising strategy for the improvement of solubility, permeability, and stability of drugs, and can promote sustained controlled release, increasing therapeutic efficacy and reducing side effects. Polymeric prodrugs show great advantages for drug delivery due to their high drug loading and stability. There has been some groundbreaking work in the development of PTX-based stimulus-sensitive polymeric prodrug micelles, which is summarized in this study. We consider these in terms of the four main types of stimulus (pH, reduction, enzyme, and reactive oxygen species (ROS)). The design, synthesis, and biomedical applications of stimulus-responsive polymeric prodrugs of PTX are reviewed, and the current research results and future directions of the field are summarized.

A Novel Coumarin-based Fluorescent Probe with Aggregation Induced Emission for Detecting CN- and its Applications in Bioimaging.

Although cyanogen ion (CN-) plays important role in industry which also bring acute environmental pollution. More serious, trace CN- enters the human body can cause serious consequences and even death. Therefore, it is of great significance to detect trace CN- with high sensitivity. Herein, a novel aggregation-induced emission (AIE) probe C-BH was synthesized based on coumarin matrix. Probe C-BH showed high selectivity and sensitivity toward CN- by dual channel response due to the excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT). The low detection limit was calculated to be 0.05 µM. Moreover, probe C-BH was successfully used for imaging CN- in living cells and zebrafish due to its low toxicity and excellent optical properties.

Delivery of epirubicin via slow infusion as a strategy to mitigate chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity.

BACKGROUND: Continuous infusion of doxorubicin has been a strategy to reduce cardiotoxicity. Epirubicin is another anthracycline in common clinical use. However, evidence is lacking regarding whether this strategy can reduce cardiotoxicity of epirubicin without compromising antineoplastic efficacy. DESIGN AND METHODS: Healthy rats were randomized into groups: epirubicin (8 mg/kg) delivered intraperitoneally via micro osmotic pumps (MOP), epirubicin (8 mg/kg) by intraperitoneal (IP) bolus injection, and placebo control. Blood samples were collected for analyzing biomarkers of myocardial injury and pharmacokinetics. At chosen times, sub-groups of animals were sacrificed for histopathology. A mouse breast cancer cell line (4T1), stably transfected with luciferase, was orthotopically allografted in female mice, and treated in three groups as described above for the rats. Tumor growth was monitored by measuring tumor size as well as bioluminescence. RESULTS: Delivery by IP bolus and by MOP achieved essentially the same area under the curve of epirubicin plasma concentration time profile. Blood biomarkers showed that the degree of myocardial injury in MOP group was lower than that of IP group. Histopathology showed that there was less eosinophilic enhancement, interstitial hemorrhage and necrotizing muscle atrophy in MOP group than IP group. In the orthotopic breast cancer allograft mouse model, the antineoplastic effect of epirubicin by MOP was not different from that by IP as measured by tumor weights or by in vivo bioluminescence. CONCLUSION: Slow delivery of epirubicin by MOP reduced cardiotoxicity without compromising the antineoplastic effect compared to IP bolus delivery. These in vivo data support our previous clinical data that continuous intravenous infusion of epirubicin using micro infusion pumps over 48-96 hours had less cardiotoxicity than intravenous bolus injections. However, whether multiple doses of epirubicin given by MOP result in a lower magnitude of long term cardiomyopathy remains to be further investigated.

Combining Partial Directed Coherence and Graph Theory to Analyse Effective Brain Networks of Different Mental Tasks.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to qualify the network properties of the brain networks between two different mental tasks (play task or rest task) in a healthy population. METHODS AND MATERIALS: EEG signals were recorded from 19 healthy subjects when performing different mental tasks. Partial directed coherence (PDC) analysis, based on Granger causality (GC), was used to assess the effective brain networks during the different mental tasks. Moreover, the network measures, including degree, degree distribution, local and global efficiency in delta, theta, alpha, and beta rhythms were calculated and analyzed. RESULTS: The local efficiency is higher in the beta frequency and lower in the theta frequency during play task whereas the global efficiency is higher in the theta frequency and lower in the beta frequency in the rest task. SIGNIFICANCE: This study reveals the network measures during different mental states and efficiency measures may be used as characteristic quantities for improvement in attentional performance.

Analysis and modeling of moisture sorption behavior for antimicrobial composite protein films.

The WPI-NaCas-GLY antimicrobial film takes full advantage of the controlled release of active or antimicrobial agents as well as demonstrates a great potential for functioning as an alternative biodegradable polymer in practical applications. The moisture sorption kinetics of the film as an important carrier of active agents was investigated at various relative humidities (RH). The results indicated that the moisture sorption characterization and procedure of this film can be described well by the empirical Peleg model with higher confidence and concordance. The model could predict the film's moisture content at any time (Mt), the time to reach any given level of R (tR), the equilibrium moisture at any RH condition (Me), and isotherm trend based upon experimental data and modeled constants k(1), k(2), a, b, c, and d without giving consideration to their physical meaning. The water vapor transmission rate of the WPI-NaCas-GLY antimicrobial film increased exponentially with increasing RH due to its hydrophilicity, which was primarily caused by the presence of glycerol in a higher content. The results also suggested that aw predominately affects the film's Me values compared with the temperature factor by fixed nonlinear multiple regression analyses.

Association of creative achievement with cognitive flexibility by a combined voxel-based morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity study.

Although researchers generally concur that creativity involves the production of novel and useful products, the neural basis of creativity remains elusive due to the complexity of the cognitive processes involved. Recent studies have shown that highly creative individuals displayed more cognitive flexibility. However, direct evidence supporting the relationship between creativity and cognitive flexibility has rarely been investigated using both structural and functional neuroimaging techniques. We used a combined voxel-based morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) analysis to investigate the relationship between individual creativity ability assessed by the creative achievement questionnaire (CAQ), and regional gray matter volume (GMV), as well as intrinsic functional connectivity. Results showed that CAQ scores negatively correlated with GMV in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the bilateral dorsal ACC (dACC) extending to supplementary motor area, but positively correlated with GMV in the bilateral superior frontal gyrus and ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Further functional connectivity analysis revealed that higher creative achievement was inversely associated with the strength of rsFC between the dACC and medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG), right middle frontal gyrus, and left orbito-frontal insula. Moreover, the association between the dACC-mSFG connectivity and CAQ scores was mediated by cognitive flexibility, assessed by a task-switching paradigm. These findings indicate that individual differences in creative achievement are associated with both brain structure and corresponding intrinsic functional connectivity involved in cognitive flexibility and deliberate creative processing. Furthermore, dACC-mSFG connectivity may affect creative achievement through its impact on cognitive flexibility.