Assessing the impact of mining on cyclic and linear methylsiloxane distribution in Tibetan soils: Source contribution and transport pattern.

The pervasive presence of methylsiloxanes (MSs), comprising linear and cyclic congeners, in the environment poses significant ecological risks, yet the understanding of their transport mechanisms and deposition patterns remains limited. This study analyzed the concentrations of 12 linear-MSs (L3-L14) and 7 cyclic-MSs (D3-D9) in 29 surface soil samples collected across varying altitudes (3726 to 4863 m) near the Jiama mining sector in Tibet, aiming to investigate the distribution and transport dynamics of MSs from the emission source. The distribution of total MS concentration (ranging from 50.1 to 593 ng/g) showed a remarkable correlation with proximity to the mining site, suggesting the emergent source of mining activities for the MSs in the remote environment of the Tibetan Plateau. Employing the innovative model of robust absolute principal component scores-robust geographically weighted regression (RAPCS-RGWR), the analysis predicted that the mining operations contributing 57.1 % of the total soil MSs, would significantly surpass contributions from traffic emissions (14.7 %), residential activities (13.2 %), and the environmental factor of total organic matter content (14.9 %). The Boltzmann equation effectively modeled the distribution pattern of soil MSs, highlighting atmospheric transport and gravitational settling as key distribution mechanisms. However, linear-MSs exhibited longer transport distances than cyclic-MSs and were more profoundly affected by prevailing wind directions, suggesting their differential environmental behaviors and risks. Our study underscored that the mining sector possibly emerged as a significant source of Tibetan MSs, and provided insights into the transport and fate of MSs in remote, high-altitude environments. The findings emphasize the need for targeted pollution control strategies to mitigate the environmental footprint of mining activities in Tibet and similar regions.

Molecular evolution of transcription factors AF4/FMR2 family member (AFF) gene family and the role of lamprey AFF3 in cell proliferation.

AF4/FMR2 family member (AFF) proteins are a group of transcriptional regulators that can regulate gene transcription and play an important role in cellular physiological processes such as proliferation and differentiation. The transcriptome data of the lamprey spinal cord injury were analyzed in previous research. We then identified a hub gene, Lr-AFF3, from this dataset. Phylogenetic tree analysis determined the evolutionary relationships of the AFF gene family across different species. In addition, analysis of motifs, domains, and 3D structures further confirmed the conservatism of the AFF gene family. In particular, the gene structure of the AFF3 gene was not conserved, possibly because of intron insertion. It was also found that the neighboring genes of the Lr-AFF3 gene had a higher diversity than that in jawed vertebrates through synteny analysis. The results of the MTT and EdU experiments showed that the C-terminal homology domain (CHD) and N-terminal homology domain (NHD) of Lr-AFF3 promoted cell proliferation. In summary, our research will not only provide new insights into the origin and evolution of the AFF gene family in different species, but also provide new clues for the functions of Lr_AFF3.

Extended Paid Maternity Leave Associated With Improved Maternal Mental Health In Hong Kong.

In July 2020, Hong Kong extended statutory paid maternity leave from ten weeks to fourteen weeks to align with International Labour Organization standards. We used the policy enactment as an observational natural experiment to assess the mental health implications of this policy change on probable postnatal depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scores of 10 or higher) and postpartum emotional well-being. Using an opportunistic observational study design, we recruited 1,414 survey respondents with births before (August 1-December 10, 2020) and after (December 11, 2020-July 18, 2022) policy implementation. Participants had a mean age of thirty-two, were majority primiparous, and were mostly working in skilled occupations. Our results show that the policy was associated with a 22 percent decrease in mothers experiencing postnatal depressive symptoms and a 33 percent decrease in postpartum emotional well-being interference. Even this modest change in policy, an additional four weeks of paid leave, was associated with significant mental health benefits. Policy makers should consider extending paid maternity leave to international norms to improve mental health among working mothers and to support workforce retention.

Thermal Fatigue Failure of Micro-Solder Joints in Electronic Packaging Devices: A Review.

In electronic packaging products in the service process, the solder joints experience thermal fatigue due to temperature cycles, which have a significant influence on the performance of electronic products and the reliability of solder joints. In this paper, the thermal fatigue failure mechanism of solder joints in microelectronic packages, the microstructure changes of the thermal fatigue process, the influence factors on the joint fatigue life, and the simulation analysis and forecasting of thermal fatigue life are reviewed. The results show that the solder joints are heterogeneously coarsened, and this leads to fatigue cracks occurring under the elevated high-temperature phase of alternating temperature cycles. However, the thickness of the solder and the hold time in the high-temperature phase do not significantly influence the thermal fatigue. The coarsened region and the IMC layer thicken with the number of cycles, and the cracks initiate and propagate along the interface between the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer and coarsened region, eventually leading to solder joint failure. For lead-containing and lead-free solders, the lead-containing solder shows a faster fatigue crack growth rate and propagates by transgranular mode. Temperature and frequency affect the thermal fatigue life of solder joints to different degrees, and the fatigue lifetime of solder joints can be predicted through a variety of methods and simulated crack trajectories, but also through the use of a unified constitutive model and finite element analysis for prediction.

Unveiling Patient Trust in Physicians Across China: Insights from a Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Trust is a major factor affecting patient-physician relationship and healthcare quality. However, there has been a lack of comprehensive study on the extent of and major factors affecting patient trust in healthcare providers of China, the world's largest developing country. The objective of this study is to elucidate the current status of outpatient trust in physicians in China and its influencing factors, providing empirical evidence to enhance doctor-patient trust and improve doctor-patient relationships. Methods: Between December 2017 and January 2018, 28,760 patients seeking care at the outpatient departments of 136 tertiary hospitals were interviewed, where they were asked to rate their trust in physicians. We applied a multilevel logistic regression model to explore the association between patients trust and characteristics of hospitals, physicians and patient characteristics. We conducted a series of sensitivity analysis to check the robustness of our findings. Results: Among 28,760 participants included in this study, 91.54% expressed trust in their physicians, while 7.52% showed moderate trust. Only 0.94% expressly distrusted or strongly distrusted their physicians. Outpatients of hospitals with convenient payment, volunteer guidance and enough seats available in the rest and waiting area showed higher levels of trust. Physicians who had a senior title, showed patience and protection of the patient's privacy were more likely to be trusted by their patients in the outpatient setting. Compared to their female counterparts, male outpatients showed a higher degree of trust. Conclusion: While this study highlights an overall high level of Trust in physicians (TIP) among patients in China's tertiary hospitals, it is found to vary with patient demographic factors as well as provider's attributes. Hospitals with a more keen sense of protecting patients privacy and better meeting patients' need for efficient and caring service provision process appeared to yield a higher level of trust.

Measurement Method for Contact Wire Wear Based on Stereovision.

The contact wire wear is an important parameter to ensure the safety operation of electric railways. The contact wire may break if the wear is serious, which leads to transportation interruptions. This study proposes an optical measurement method of contact wire wear, using stereovision technology. The matching method of stereovision based on line-scan cameras is proposed. A lookup-table method is developed to exactly determine the image resolution caused by the contact wire being in different spatial positions. The wear width of the contact wire is extracted from catenaries' images, and the residual thickness of the contact wire is calculated. The method was verified by field tests. The round-robin tests of the residual thickness at the same location present excellent measurement repetitiveness. The maximum difference value between dynamic test results and ground measurement results is 0.13 mm. This research represents a potential way to implement condition-based maintenance for contact wire wear in the future in order to improve the maintenance efficiency and ensure the safety of catenary infrastructure.

The attentional guidance and facilitating effects of group behavioral cues on individual college pedestrians' jaywalking decisions.

OBJECTIVE: Jaywalking is an important cause of pedestrian-related automobile accidents. Exploring the factors that influence jaywalking behavior and suggesting appropriate improvement measures are critical for reducing automobile accidents involving pedestrians. METHODS: This study divided traffic situations into high-risk and low-risk situations. Each situation contained three visual attention cues: vehicle, traffic light, and group behavior. Based on this, the role of visual cues in guiding pedestrians' attention and influencing their decisions during jaywalking was examined. Sixty participants, with an average age of 19, were recruited. They were shown 84 crosswalk videos randomly while their crossing decisions and eye movement data were recorded. RESULTS: In low-risk situations, pedestrians spent more attention on group behavioral cues when making jaywalking decisions. The rate of jaywalking increased with the number of other jaywalking pedestrians. In high-risk situations, the pedestrians' total fixation duration at vehicle hazard cues was longer when making jaywalking decisions, and the jaywalking rate decreased. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that pedestrians' jaywalking decisions were based on other pedestrians' illegal crossing cues and automatic associative processes in low-risk situations. The higher the number of people crossing the street, the higher the number of pedestrians illegally crossing the road. In high-risk situations, pedestrians paid more attention to vehicle hazard cues before making jaywalking decisions, and fewer illegal crossings. The jaywalking decisions were based on a risk assessment, a controlled analytical process. The results verify the effect of visual cues on pedestrians' attentional guidance and decision-making in different traffic situations, as well as the effectiveness of visual attention in predicting decision intention. The findings provide a theoretical basis and data reference for pedestrian safety education and constructing an intelligent driving pedestrian trajectory prediction model.

Size-dependent vector effects of microplastics on bioaccumulation of hydrophobic organic contaminants in earthworm: A dual-dosing study.

The potential of microplastics to act as a vector for anthropogenic contaminants is of rising concern. However, directly quantitatively determining the vector effects of microplastics has been rarely studied. Here, we present a dual-dosing method that simulates the chemical bioaccumulation from soil and microplastics simultaneously, wherein unlabeled hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) were spiked in the soil and their respective isotope-labeled reference compounds were spiked on the polyethylene microplastics. The comparison of the bioavailability, i.e., the freely dissolved concentration in soil porewater and bioaccumulation by earthworm, between the unlabeled and isotope-labeled HOCs was carried out. Relatively higher level of bioavailability of the isotope-labeled HOCs was observed compared to the unlabeled HOCs, which may be attributed to the irreversible desorption of HOCs from soil particles. The average relative fractions of bioaccumulated isotope-labeled HOCs in the soil treated with 1 % microplastics ranged from 6.9 % to 46.4 %, which were higher than those in the soil treated with 0.1 % microplastics. Treatments with the smallest microplastic particles were observed to have the highest relative fractions of bioaccumulated isotope-labeled HOCs, with the exception of phenanthrene, suggesting greater vector effects of smaller microplastic particles. Biodynamic model analysis indicated that the contribution of dermal uptake to the bioaccumulation of isotope-labeled HOCs was higher than that for unlabeled HOCs. This proposed method can be used as a tool to assess the prospective vector effects of microplastics in complex environmental conditions and would enhance the comprehensive understanding of the microplastic vector effects for HOC bioaccumulation.

Effects of an early intensive blood pressure-lowering strategy using remifentanil and dexmedetomidine in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage: a multicenter, prospective, superiority, randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Although it has been established that elevated blood pressure and its variability worsen outcomes in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage, antihypertensives use during the acute phase still lacks robust evidence. A blood pressure-lowering regimen using remifentanil and dexmedetomidine might be a reasonable therapeutic option given their analgesic and anti-sympathetic effects. The objective of this superiority trial was to validate the efficacy and safety of this blood pressure-lowering strategy that uses remifentanil and dexmedetomidine in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage. METHODS: In this multicenter, prospective, single-blinded, superiority randomized controlled trial, patients with intracerebral hemorrhage and systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥150 mmHg were randomly allocated to the intervention group (a preset protocol with a standard guideline management using remifentanil and dexmedetomidine) or the control group (standard guideline-based management) to receive blood pressure-lowering treatment. The primary outcome was the SBP control rate (<140 mmHg) at 1 h posttreatment initiation. Secondary outcomes included blood pressure variability, neurologic function and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 338 patients were allocated to the intervention (n = 167) or control group (n = 171). The SBP control rate at 1 h posttreatment initiation in the intervention group was higher than that in controls (101/161, 62.7% vs. 66/166, 39.8%, difference 23.2%, 95% CI, 12.4 to 34.1%, P < 0.001). Analysis of secondary outcomes indicated that patients in the intervention group could effectively reduce agitation while achieving lighter sedation, but no improvement in clinical outcomes was observed. Regarding safety, the incidence of bradycardia and respiratory depression was higher in the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS: Among intracerebral hemorrhage patients with a SBP ≥ 150 mmHg, a preset protocol using a remifentanil and dexmedetomidine-based standard guideline management significantly increased the SBP control rate at 1 h posttreatment compared with the standard guideline-based management. (ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT03207100, Registration date: June 30, 2017).

Neural correlates of novelty detection in the primary auditory cortex of behaving monkeys.

The neural mechanisms underlying novelty detection are not well understood, especially in relation to behavior. Here, we present single-unit responses from the primary auditory cortex (A1) from two monkeys trained to detect deviant tones amid repetitive ones. Results show that monkeys can detect deviant sounds, and there is a strong correlation between late neuronal responses (250-350 ms after deviant onset) and the monkeys' perceptual decisions. The magnitude and timing of both neuronal and behavioral responses are increased by larger frequency differences between the deviant and standard tones and by increasing the number of standard tones preceding the deviant. This suggests that A1 neurons encode novelty detection in behaving monkeys, influenced by stimulus relevance and expectations. This study provides evidence supporting aspects of predictive coding in the sensory cortex.

Fast growth of single-crystal covalent organic frameworks for laboratory x-ray diffraction.

The imine-exchange strategy makes single-crystal growth of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with large size (>15 microns) possible but is a time-consuming process (15 to 80 days) that has had limited success (six examples) and restricts structural characterization to synchrotron-radiation sources for x-ray diffraction studies. We developed a CF3COOH/CF3CH2NH2 protocol to harvest single-crystal COFs within 1 to 2 days with crystal sizes of up to 150 microns. The generality was exemplified by the feasible growth of 16 high-quality single-crystal COFs that were structurally determined by laboratory single-crystal x-ray diffraction with resolutions of up to 0.79 angstroms. The structures obtained included uncommon interpenetration of networks, and the details of the structural evolution of conformational isomers and host-guest interaction could be determined at the atomic level.

Influence of oxygen content on selective laser melting leading to the formation of spheroidization in additive manufacturing technology.

Selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing technology with different oxygen contents leads to the appearance of spherical solids of different sizes on the surface of the part, which affects the mechanical properties of the part, surface roughness, etc. In this study, the SLM molding technique was applied using three different 316L metal powders with different oxygen contents. The spheroidization properties and morphology of the samples were observed using a Quanta 200 environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM), and the samples were observed microscopically and subjected to EDX spectroscopy using metallographic microscopy, and the mechanical properties were investigated. The results of the study showed that when using gas atomized powders, no spheroidization occurred when the oxygen content of the powders was 5.44 ± 0.01% in all cases, whereas using water atomized powders produced spherical structures with larger dimensions. This observation was closely related to the shape and particle size of the powder. When 316L metal powder with an oxygen content of 4.52 ± 0.01% was used for molding, small spherical structures appeared on the surface of the samples. When metal powder with an oxygen content of 5.44 ± 0.01% was used for the molding, larger spherical structures appeared on the surface of the samples. When the powder with an oxygen content of 5.90 ± 0.01% was used for the molding, more small spherical structures and some large spherical structures appeared on the surface of the samples. This suggests that higher oxygen levels may inhibit the occurrence of spheroidization. EDX spectroscopic analysis revealed that the white matter on the surface of the samples without spheroidization was mainly composed of Fe and Cr, whereas the white matter on the surface of the large-sized spherical structures was mainly composed of Si and Mn, which may be related to the oxygenophilicity of the various substances.

Bottom-Up Construction of Ni(II)-Incorporated Covalent Organic Framework for Metallaphotoredox Catalysis.

The construction of an all-in-one catalyst, in which the photosensitizer and the transition metal site are close to each other, is important for improving the efficiency of metallaphotoredox catalysis. However, the development of convenient synthetic strategies for the precise construction of an all-in-one catalyst remains a challenging task due to the requirement of precise installation of the catalytic sites. Herein, we have successfully established a facile bottom-up strategy for the direct synthesis of Ni(II)-incorporated covalent organic framework (COF), named LZU-713@Ni, as a versatile all-in-one metallaphotoredox catalyst. LZU-713@Ni showed excellent activity and recyclability in the photoredox/nickel-catalyzed C-O, C-S, and C-P cross-coupling reactions. Notably, this catalyst displayed a better catalytic activity than its homogeneous analogues, physically mixed dual catalyst system, and, especially, LZU-713/Ni which was prepared through post-synthetic modification. The improved catalytic efficiency of LZU-713@Ni should be attributed to the implementation of bottom-up strategy, which incorporated the fixed, ordered, and abundant catalytic sites into its framework. This work sheds new light on the exploration of concise and effective strategies for the construction of multifunctional COF-based photocatalysts.

Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 does not facilitate porcine epidemic diarrhea virus entry into porcine intestinal epithelial cells and inhibits it-induced inflammatory injury by promoting STAT1 phosphorylation.

ACE2 has been confirmed to be a functional receptor for SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, but research on animal coronaviruses, especially PEDV, are still unknown. The present study investigated whether ACE2 plays a role in receptor recognition and subsequent infection during PEDV invasion of host cells. IPEC-J2 cells stably expressing porcine ACE2 did not increase the production of PEDV-N but inhibited its expression. Porcine ACE2 knockout cells was generated by CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in IPEC-J2 cells. The expression of PEDV-N did not decrease but slightly increased. The Co-IP results showed that there was no significant association between ACE2 and PEDV-S. There were no obvious interaction between PEDV-S, PEDV-E, PEDV-M and porcine ACE2 promoters, but PEDV-N could inhibit the activity of ACE2 promoters. PEDV-N degraded STAT1 and prevented its phosphorylation, thereby inhibiting the expression of interferon-stimulated genes. Repeated infection of PEDV further confirmed the above results. PEDV activated ACE-Ang II-AT1R axis, while ACE2-Ang (1-7)-MasR axis activity was decreased and inflammatory response was intensified. However, excess ACE2 can reverse this reaction. These results reveal that ACE2 does not facilitate PEDV entry into cells, but relieves PEDV-induced inflammation by promoting STAT1 phosphorylation.

DNAzyme-based faithful probing and pulldown to identify candidate biomarkers of low abundance.

Biomarker discovery is essential for the understanding, diagnosis, targeted therapy and prognosis assessment of malignant diseases. However, it remains a huge challenge due to the lack of sensitive methods to identify disease-specific rare molecules. Here we present MORAC, molecular recognition based on affinity and catalysis, which enables the effective identification of candidate biomarkers with low abundance. MORAC relies on a class of DNAzymes, each cleaving a sole RNA linkage embedded in their DNA chain upon specifically sensing a complex system with no prior knowledge of the system's molecular content. We show that signal amplification from catalysis ensures the DNAzymes high sensitivity (for target probing); meanwhile, a simple RNA-to-DNA mutation can shut down their RNA cleavage ability and turn them into a pure affinity tool (for target pulldown). Using MORAC, we identify previously unknown, low-abundance candidate biomarkers with clear clinical value, including apolipoprotein L6 in breast cancer and seryl-tRNA synthetase 1 in polyps preceding colon cancer.

Salt-Promoted Fibrillation of Legume Proteins Enhanced Interfacial Modulus for Stabilization of HIPEs Encapsulating Carotenoids with Improved Nutritional Performance.

The thermal acidic-treatment-induced fibrillation of legume proteins isolated from cowpea and mung bean was demonstrated to be promoted by salt. Worm-like thin prefibrilar intermediates were formed in low salt concentrations (0-75 mM), which twisted to be the thick and mature amyloid-like fibrils with multistrands as the salt content was elevated (150-300 mM). Absorption of the fibrils fabricated in high salt concentrations to the oil/water interface constructed the protein layer with a significantly higher interfacial modulus compared with the one formed by the fibrils fabricated in low salt concentrations. Consequently, they showed the superiority in stabilizing high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) with oil volume fraction ratios higher than 74%. HIPEs stabilized by the high salt-concentration-induced legume protein fibrils had stronger capabilities not only in encapsulating liposoluble carotenoids but also in protecting their stability against heating, ultraviolet, and iron ion stimulus, compared with the one stabilized by the low-salt-concentration-induced legume protein fibrils. Bioaccessibilities of the carotenoids in simulating gastrointestinal (GI) digestion were significantly improved after encapsulation by the HIPEs, which were interestingly increased with the elevation of salt concentrations utilized for preparing the legume protein fibrils. Furthermore, the carotenoids-loading-HIPEs were injectable and showed in vivo nutritional functions of mitigating colitis.

Aged polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as stratigraphic marker in the Anthropocene: Evidence from Tibetan Lake sediments.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were supposed to serve as combustion marker reflecting the past energy use, but it was unclear whether their sediment records in the Anthropocene were "weathered" due to aging-induced formation of bound residues. In this study, the total concentration of PAHs (the sum of rapid desorption, slow desorption, and bound residue fractions) were determined in four dated sediment cores from eastern to central Tibet using multi-step sequential extraction method. The total 16 PAH concentrations were 11.8, 13.5, 18.9, and 29.4 ng/g dw (in average) in the Co Ngoin, Pung Co, Ahung Co, and Putok lakes, respectively. The stratigraphic records and estimated source contributions of PAHs in different areas of Tibet exhibited a coherent change in the mid-20th century in response to the Holocene-Anthropocene transition. The sediment PAHs also displayed a comparable pattern when the bound residue fraction was not accounted for, suggesting their effective retainability under natural aging conditions. This may be elucidated by the enduring forward and back conversions between slow desorption and bound residue fractions, which manifested similar time-dependent variations across PAH congeners. The distinct conversion tendencies of different congeners were predicted by the binding affinity of congeners to surface/inner regions of organic matter using molecular docking simulations. Our findings demonstrate the persistence of sediment PAH records under natural aging and validate the use of PAH documentary evidence for investigating the Anthropocene.

Correction to "Carboxymethyl Chitosan Oligosaccharide Holds Promise for Treatment of Stenosis Crohn's Disease".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.2c00035.].

Evaluation of the oral bioaccessibility of legacy and emerging brominated flame retardants in indoor dust.

Indoor dust is the main source of human exposure to brominated flame retardants (BFRs). In this study, in vitro colon-extended physiologically-based extraction test (CE-PBET) with Tenax as a sorptive sink was applied to evaluate the oral bioaccessibility of twenty-two polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and seven novel BFRs (NBFRs) via indoor dust ingestion. The mean bioaccessibilities of two NBFRs pentabromotoluene (PBT) and 1,2-Bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy) ethane (BTBPE) were first proposed, reaching 36.0% and 26.7%, respectively. In order to maintain homeostasis of the gastrointestinal tract, 0.4 g Tenax was added in CE-PEBT, which increased BFRs bioaccessibility by up to a factor of 1.4-1.9. The highest bioaccessibility of legacy PBDEs was tri-BDEs (73.3%), while 2-ethylhexyl-tetrabromo-benzoate (EHTBB), one of penta-BDE alternatives, showed the highest (62.2%) among NBFRs. The influence of food nutrients, liquid to solid (L/S) ratio, and octanol-water partition coefficient (Kow) on bioaccessibility was assessed. The oral bioaccessibility of BFRs increased with existence of protein or carbohydrate while lipid did the opposite. The bioaccessibilities of PBDEs and NBFRs were relatively higher with 200:1 L/S ratio. PBDEs bioaccessibility generally decreased with increasing LogKow. No significant correlation was observed between NBFRs bioaccessibility and LogKow. This study comprehensively evaluated the bioaccessibilities of legacy and emerging BFRs via dust ingestion using Tenax-assisted CE-PBET, and highlighted the significance to fully consider potential influencing factors on BFRs bioaccessibility in further human exposure estimation.