The relationship between health behaviors and quality of life: the mediating roles of activities of daily living and psychological distress.

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the role of activities of daily living performance (ADLs) and psychological distress in mediating the process by which health behaviors affect QOL. Methods: A non-probabilistic study was conducted among 1,065 older adult people older than 60 years. Participants were assessed using the Barthel Index, Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ), Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), Australian Active Survey, and EQ-VAS score. The SPSS22.0 software was used to analyze the differences in QOL scores among older adults with different demographic characteristics. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between health behaviors, psychological distress, ADLs, and QOL. Amos23.0 software was used to construct structural equation model (SEM) to analyze the path of health behavior affecting QOL and the mediating role of BADLs, IADLs and psychological distress. Results: (1) The direct effect of health behaviors on QOL was not significant in the model; (2) ADLs had multiple mediating effects on the relationship between health behaviors and QOL, and the incidence of ADL limitation was negatively correlated with the reported QOL in the older adult; (3) Psychological distress had a significant mediating effect on the relationship between health behaviors and QOL. Conclusion: The results of this study elucidated the mechanisms of the correlation between health behaviors and QOL, and added to the existing literature. In addition, these mediating factors and indirect pathways have been identified as targets for intervention to improve the QOL of older adult individuals, which is important for achieving healthy aging.

Photoactivation of Millimeters Thick Liquid Crystal Elastomers with Broadband Visible Light using Donor-Acceptor Stenhouse Adducts.

Light-responsive liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are stimuli-responsive materials that facilitate the conversion of light energy into a mechanical response. In this work, a novel polysiloxane-based LCE with donor-acceptor Stenhouse adduct (DASA) side-chains was synthesized using a late-stage functionalization strategy. We demonstrate that this approach does not compromise the molecular alignment observed in the traditional Finkelmann method. This easy, single-batch process provides a robust platform to access well-aligned, light-responsive LCE films with thickness ranging from 400 µm to a fourteen-layer stack that is 5 mm thick. Upon irradiation with low-intensity broadband visible light (100 to 200 mW cm-2), these systems undergo 2D planar actuation and complete bleaching. Conversely, exposure to higher-intensity visible light induces bending followed by contraction (300 mW cm-2). These processes are repeatable over several cycles. Finally, we demonstrate how light intensity and the resulting heat generation influences the photothermal stationary state equilibrium of DASA, thereby controlling its photoresponsive properties. This work establishes the groundwork for advancement of LCE-based actuators beyond thin film and UV-light reliant systems. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Time trends in the mortality of testicular cancer across the BRICS: an age-period-cohort analysis for the GBD 2019.

Testicular cancer (TCa) is a rare but impactful malignancy that primarily affects young men. Understanding the mortality rate of TCa is crucial for improving prevention and treatment strategies to reduce the risk of death among patients. We obtained TCa mortality data by place (5 countries), age (20-79 years), and year (1990-2019) from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Age-period-cohort model was used to estimate the net drift, local drift, age effects, period and cohort effects. In 2019, the global mortality of TCa increased to 10842 (95% UI 9961, 11902), with an increase of 50.08% compared to 1990.The all-age mortality rate for TCa in 2019 increased from 0.17/100,000 (95% UI 0.13, 0.20) in China to 0.48/100,000 (95% UI 0.38, 0.59) in Russian Federation, whereas the age-standardized mortality rate in 2019 was highest in the South Africa 0.47/100,000 (95% UI 0.42, 0.53) and lowest in the China 0.16/100,000 (95% UI 0.13, 0.19). China's aging population shifts mortality patterns towards the elderly, while in Russian Federation, young individuals are primarily affected by the distribution of deaths. To address divergent TCa mortality advancements in BRICS countries, we propose a contextually adaptive and resource-conscious approach to prioritize TCa prevention. Tailoring strategies to contextual diversity, including policy frameworks, human resources, and financial capacities, will enhance targeted interventions and effectiveness in reducing TCa mortality.

Isorhamnetin alleviates ferroptosis-mediated colitis by activating the NRF2/HO-1 pathway and chelating iron.

Ferroptosis of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) had been identified as a key factor in the development of ulcerative colitis (UC). Therefore, targeted inhibition of ferroptosis may provide a new strategy for the treatment of UC. Isorhamnetin (ISO) was an O-methylated flavonol with therapeutic effects on a variety of diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders and tumors. However, the role and mechanism of ISO in ferroptosis and associated colitis were rarely investigated. In this study, we demonstrated that ISO could effectively alleviate intestinal inflammation by inhibiting ferroptosis of IECs in DSS-induced mice. Moreover, our results shown that ISO acted as a potent and common ferroptosis inhibitor in multiple human and murine cell lines. Mechanistically, ISO inhibited ferroptosis independent of its previously reported targets MEK1 and PI3K, but alleviated oxidative stress by targeting and activating NRF2. Furthermore, ISO could also directly chelate iron to hinder ferroptosis. In conclusion, our study indicated that ISO as a novel potential ferroptosis inhibitor, providing a promising therapeutic strategy for ferroptosis-related colitis.

Identification of odorant-binding proteins and functional analysis of antenna-specific BhorOBP28 in Batocera horsfieldi (Hope).

BACKGROUND: The important wood-boring pest Batocera horsfieldi has evolved a sensitive olfactory system to locate host plants. Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are thought to play key roles in olfactory recognition. Therefore, exploring the physiological function of OBPs could facilitate a better understanding of insect chemical communications. RESULTS: In this research, 36 BhorOBPs genes were identified via transcriptome sequencing of adults' antennae from B. horsfieldi, and most BhorOBPs were predominantly expressed in chemosensory body parts. Through fluorescence competitive binding and fluorescence quenching assays, the antenna-specific BhorOBP28 was investigated and displayed strong binding affinities forming stable complexes with five volatiles, including (+)-α-Pinene, (+)-Limonene, ß-Pinene, (-)-Limonene, and (+)-Longifolene, which could also elicit conformation changes when they were interacting with BhorOBP28. Batocera horsfieldi females exhibited a preference for (-)-Limonene, and a repellent response to (+)-Longifolene. Feeding dsOBP19 produced by a bacteria-expressed system with a newly constructed vector could lead to the knockdown of BhorOBP28, and could further impair B. horsfieldi attraction to (-)-Limonene and repellent activity of (+)-Longifolene. The analysis of site-directed mutagenesis revealed that Leu7, Leu72, and Phe121 play a vital role in selectively binding properties of BhorOBP28. CONCLUSION: By modeling the molecular mechanism of olfactory recognition, these results demonstrate that BhorOBP28 is involved in the chemoreception of B. horsfieldi. The bacterial-expressed dsRNA delivery system gains new insights into potential population management strategies. Through the olfactory process concluded that discovering novel behavioral regulation and environmentally friendly control options for B. horsfieldi in the future. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Influence of Controlled Chirality on the Crystallization of Maleimide-Functionalized 3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT-MA) Monomers.

Conjugated poly(alkoxythiophenes) such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) have attracted considerable interest for use in a variety of applications such as biomedical devices, energy storage, and chemical sensing. Functionalized versions of the 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) monomer make it possible to create polymers with properties tailored for specific applications. The maleimide functional group shows particular promise due to the wide variety of chemical modifications that it can undergo. Here, we examine the role that control of the chirality of the maleimide (MA) substituent has on the crystal structure and crystallization of the EDOT-MA monomer. We describe a method for the synthesis of a homochiral (S) variant of EDOT-MA and compare its crystallography, morphology, and thermal properties to that of the (R,S) EDOT-MA racemic compound. The conformation of the EDOT-MA molecule was substantially different, with the molecules adopting an "L" shape in the homochiral crystal, while in the racemic crystals, they were more colinear. The thermal stability of the homochiral crystals (Tm = 128.6 °C) was slightly higher than the racemic ones (Tm = 102.8 °C). We expect these results to be important in better understanding the solid-state assembly of the corresponding polymers prepared from these monomers.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Fluocinolone Acetonide Intravitreal (FAI) Implant for Chronic Noninfectious Uveitis Affecting the Posterior Segment of the Eye (NIU-PS) in China.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic non-infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment (NIU-PS), which can be recurrent and persistent for numerous years, mainly affects people of working age and significantly increases the risk of visual impairment. This study aimed to investigate the cost-effectiveness of fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal (FAI) implant in the treatment of patients with chronic NIU-PS from the Chinese healthcare perspective. METHODS: A Markov model with a 2-week cycle was constructed from the perspective of the Chinese healthcare system over a lifetime time horizon. The model consists of four health states: on-treatment, treatment failure, blindness, and death. The outcomes for effectiveness were based on the Chinese real-world study (RWS). Utilities and mortality rates were derived from published literature and standard sources. Costs were determined from the MENET website, prices of medical service items at local providers, published literature, and expert surveys. Outcomes were measured in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Sensitivity analyses were performed to account for the impact of uncertainty. RESULTS: It was estimated that in the base case, the FAI implant provided 0.43 incremental QALYs compared with the limited current practice (LCP) at an additional cost of $7503.72 (¥50,575.05), resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $17,373.49 (¥117,097.33) per QALY gained. Parameters related to utility emerged as the primary influencers on the outcomes. In probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA), considering the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of $19,072 (¥128,547) and $38,145 (¥257,094), the FAI implant had 67.70% and 99.50% probability of being cost-effective, respectively. As demonstrated in the scenario analysis, if the FAI implant aligns its price reduction with the average rate from the 2023 negotiation of the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL), it would result in lower costs and represent an absolute advantage. CONCLUSIONS: The FAI implant, which can effectively reduce the recurrence rate and maintain the incremental costs within the WTP limit, is likely to be cost-effective in treating chronic NIU-PS in China.

Variations in species diversity patterns and community assembly rules among vegetation types in the karst landscape.

The various vegetation types in the karst landscape have been considered the results of heterogeneous habitats. However, the lack of a comprehensive understanding of regional biodiversity patterns and the underlying ecological processes limits further research on ecological management. This study established forest dynamic plots (FDPs) of the dominant vegetation types (shrubland, SL; mixed tree and shrub forest, MTSF; coniferous forest, CF; coniferous broadleaf mixed forest, CBMF; and broadleaf forest, BF) in the karst landscape and quantified the species diversity patterns and potential ecological processes. The results showed that in terms of diversity patterns, the evenness and species richness of the CF community were significantly lower than other vegetation types, while the BF community had the highest species richness. The other three vegetation types showed no significant variation in species richness and evenness. However, when controlling the number of individuals of FDPs, the rarefied species richness showed significant differences and ranked as BF > SL > MTSF > CBMF > CF, highlighting the importance of considering the impacts of abundance. Additionally, the community assembly of climax communities (CF or BF) was dominated by stochastic processes such as species dispersal or species formation, whereas deterministic processes (habitat filtering) dominated the secondary forests (SL, MTSF, and CBMF). These findings proved that community assembly differs mainly between the climax community and other communities. Hence, it is crucial to consider the biodiversity and of the potential underlying ecological processes together when studying regional ecology and management, particularly in heterogeneous ecosystems.

Childhood environmental unpredictability and hoarding: Mediating roles of attachment and security.

Life history theory provides a unified perspective for understanding human behaviors as adaptive strategies to specific environmental conditions. Within this theoretical framework, hoarding emerges as a behavior reflecting an evolved strategy in response to unpredictable environmental challenges, serving as a buffer against resource scarcity and enhancing survival prospects. This study aimed to explore the key roles of childhood environmental unpredictability, attachment, and sense of security in the development of hoarding. 662 participants completed scales on childhood environmental unpredictability, Revised Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR-R), sense of insecurity, and Savings Inventory-Revised (SI-R). The results showed that childhood environmental unpredictability was significantly positively correlated with hoarding. Attachment anxiety and sense of security individually mediate the effect of childhood environmental unpredictability on hoarding. Additionally, 'attachment anxiety--sense of security' and 'attachment avoidance--sense of security' serve as chain mediators in this relationship separately. This study offers insights into the cognitive-behavioral model of hoarding, highlighting the importance of life history theory in examining childhood environmental unpredictability's relationship with hoarding. It also integrates insights from the psychosocial acceleration theory into our comprehension of hoarding's development. Future research directions are also discussed.

One Pot Photomediated Formation of Electrically Conductive Hydrogels.

Electrically conductive hydrogels represent an innovative platform for the development of bioelectronic devices. While photolithography technologies have enabled the fabrication of complex architectures with high resolution, photoprinting conductive hydrogels is still a challenging task because the conductive polymer absorbs light which can outcompete photopolymerization of the insulating scaffold. In this study, we introduce an approach to synthesizing conductive hydrogels in one step. Our approach combines the simultaneous photo-cross-linking of a polymeric scaffold and the polymerization of 3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene (EDOT), without additional photocatalysts. This process involves the copolymerization of photo-cross-linkable coumarin-containing monomers with sodium styrenesulfonate to produce a water-soluble poly(styrenesulfonate-co-coumarin acrylate) (P(SS-co-CoumAc)) copolymer. Our findings reveal that optimizing the [SS]:[CoumAc] ratio at 100:5 results in hydrogels with the strain at break up to 16%. This mechanical resilience is coupled with an electronic conductivity of 9.2 S m-1 suitable for wearable electronics. Furthermore, the conductive hydrogels can be photopatterned to achieve micrometer-sized structures with high resolution. The photo-cross-linked hydrogels are used as electrodes to record stable and reliable surface electromyography (sEMG) signals. These novel photo-cross-linkable polymers combined with one-pot PEDOT (poly-EDOT) polymerization open possibilities for rapidly prototyping complex bioelectronic devices and creating custom-designed interfaces between electronics and biological systems.

Effect of electrolytic zero-valent iron activated sodium hypochlorite on sludge dewatering performance.

Using electrolytic zero-valent iron-activated sodium hypochlorite (EZVI-NaClO) to pretreat sludge, the capillary suction time (CST) was utilized to evaluate sludge dewaterability. Ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N), dissolved phosphorus, and total phosphorus in the supernatant were used to analyze sludge disintegration. This approach aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the pretreatment process and its impact on the sludge composition. The migration and transformation of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), including dissolved EPS (S-EPS), loosely boundEPS, and tightly bound-EPS (TB-EPS), were analyzed by detecting protein and polysaccharide concentrations and three-dimensional fluorescence excitation-emission spectroscopy (3D-EEM). The sludge particle properties, including sludge viscosity and particle size, were also analyzed. The results suggested that the optimal pH value, NaClO dosage, current, and reaction time were 2, 100 mg/gDS (dry sludge), 0.2A, and 30 min, respectively, with a CST reduction of 43%. Protein and polysaccharide contents in TB-EPS were significantly reduced in the EZVI-NaClO group. Conversely, protein and polysaccharides contents in S-EPS increased, suggesting that EZVI-NaClO treatment could disrupt the EPS. Besides, the viscosity of the treated sludge decreased from 195.4 to 54.9 mPa·S, indicating that sludge fluidity became better. ZEVI-NaClO could enhance sludge dewaterability by destructing protein and polysaccharide structure and improving sludge hydrophobicity.

Deficiency of ASGR1 Alleviates Diet-Induced Systemic Insulin Resistance via Improved Hepatic Insulin Sensitivity.

Background: Insulin resistance (IR) is the key pathological basis of many metabolic disorders. Lack of asialoglycoprotein receptor 1 (ASGR1) decreased the serum lipid levels and reduced the risk of coronary artery disease. However, whether ASGR1 also participates in the regulatory network of insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism remains unknown. Methods: The constructed ASGR1 knockout mice and ASGR1-/- HepG2 cell lines were used to establish the animal model of metabolic syndrome and the IR cell model by high-fat diet (HFD) or drug induction, respectively. Then we evaluated the glucose metabolism and insulin signaling in vivo and in vitro. Results: ASGR1 deficiency ameliorated systemic IR in mice fed with HFD, evidenced by improved insulin intolerance, serum insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of IR index, mainly contributed from increased insulin signaling in the liver, but not in muscle or adipose tissues. Meanwhile, the insulin signal transduction was significantly enhanced in ASGR1-/- HepG2 cells. By transcriptome analyses and comparison, those differentially expressed genes between ASGR1 null and wild type were enriched in the insulin signal pathway, particularly in phosphoinositide 3-kinase-AKT signaling. Notably, ASGR1 deficiency significantly reduced hepatic gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis. Conclusion: The ASGR1 deficiency was consequentially linked with improved hepatic insulin sensitivity under metabolic stress, hepatic IR was the core factor of systemic IR, and overcoming hepatic IR significantly relieved the systemic IR. It suggests that ASGR1 is a potential intervention target for improving systemic IR in metabolic disorders.

The mediating role of impulsivity between sleep quality and suicidal ideation in adolescent population: a multicenter cross-sectional study in the northeastern Sichuan, China.

Introduction: Suicidal ideation is a critical early stage in the progression towards suicidal be havior. Prior research has established links between sleep quality, impulsivity, and suicidal tendencies, yet the interaction among these factors has been less explored. This study aims to explore the mediating role of impulsivity in the relationship between sleep quality and suicidal ideation in adolescents. Methods: Employing a cross-sectional study design, 6,974 questionnaires were distributed,including the Socio-demographic Characteristics Questionnaire, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, the Positive and Negative Suicide Ideation Inventory,and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Scale. The participants were high school and middle school students from 33 schools in northeastern Sichuan, China, selected through random cluster sampling. Results: Of these 6,786 questionnaires were analyzed. The participant distribution included 47.2% male and 52.8% female students, with 68.3% from junior schools and 31.7% from senior schools. The prevalence of suicidal ideation was found to be 13.6%. The analysis, which involved correlation analysis and the construction of a structural equation model, revealed that sleep quality had a significant positive effect on impulsivity (ß:0.289,p < 0.05), and impulsivity, in turn, had a positive impact on suicidal ideation (ß:0.355,p < 0.05).Moreover, sleep quality was directly linked to suicidal ideation (ß:0.208,p < 0.05). Thus, sleep quality affects suicidal ideation both directly and indirectly through impulsivity. Discussion: The results of this study suggest that both sleep quality and impulsivity are significant direct influencers of suicidal ideation among adolescents in the region studied, with impulsivity also playing an indirect role in the relationship between sleep quality and suicidal ideation.

How do species richness and its component dependence vary along the natural restoration in extremely heterogeneous forest ecosystems?

Giant habitat heterogeneity is an important factor contributing to the high species richness (SR) in karst forests. Yet, the driving factor behind the alterations in SR patterns during natural restoration remains unclear. In this study, we established the forest dynamics plots along the natural restoration sequence (including shrub-tree mixed forest stage (SC), secondary forest stage (SG) and old-growth forest sage (OG)) in degraded karst forests to compare the SR and the dependence on its components (including total community abundance, species abundance distribution (SAD), and conspecific spatial aggregation (CSA)) among stages of natural restoration. By evaluating the degree of contribution of the components to local SR and rarefied SR, we found that the SG exhibited the highest local SR, while the rarefied SR remained increasing along the restoration sequence after controlling the sample size. At SC-SG stage, SAD and CSA contributed negatively to the differences in SR, while abundance made a positive contribution to SR differences. At SG-OG, abundance contributed positively to the difference in SR at all scales, while SAD contributed negatively at small scales. No significant contribution of CSA was found at observed scales. In addition, local SR varied more significantly with PIE than with abundance. Our research emphasizes the importance of eliminating the influence of abundance on species richness in forest ecology and management, as well as the significance of separately evaluating the components that shape the diversity patterns.

Amorphous Engineering of Scalable Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Electrocatalyst for Highly Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

The engineering of amorphous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) offers potential opportunities for the construction of electrocatalysts for efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, highly efficient OER performance and durability in alkaline electrolyte are discovered for MOF-derived amorphous and porous electrocatalysts, which are synthesized in a brief procedure and can be facilely produced in scalable quantities. The structural inheritance of MOF amorphous catalysts is significant for the retention of catalytic sites and the diffusion of electrolytes, and the presence of Fe sites can change the electronic structure and effectively control the adsorption behavior of important intermediates, accelerating reaction kinetics. The obtained amorphous A-FeNi can be transformed from FeNi-MOF effortlessly and instantly, and it only needs low overpotentials of 152 and 232 mV at 10 and 100 mA cm-2 with a Tafel slope of 17 mV dec-1 in 1 m KOH for OER. Moreover, A-FeNi possesses high corrosion resistance and durability, therefore A-FeNi can work continually for at least 400 h at 100 mA cm-2 . This work may pave a new avenue for the design of MOFs-related amorphous electrocatalyst.

A comparative assessment of time-consuming and laborious diatom analysis：Brief experimentation with suggestion of automatic identification.

Diatom testing is considered a useful method for providing supportive evidence for the diagnosis of drowning in forensic pathology. However, various factors remain controversial for recognizing diatoms, such as being time-consuming and laborious and influencing the consistency of the results. Given the absence of precise and well-defined studies on this subject, this study aimed to determine the relationship between the ability to identify diatoms and researchers with different technical backgrounds. A total of 55 samples from 18 cases, including water, lungs, liver, and kidneys, were treated using the microwave digestion-vacuum filtration-automated scanning electron microscopy (MD-VF-Auto SEM), which was used to compare diatom analyses among three groups of well-trained forensic pathologists (FPs), trained junior employees (JEs), and new trainees (TEs). In addition to achieving similar accuracy of positive findings from drowning cases, counting efficiency was evaluated based on taxonomy records and counting time after viewing more than 5500 diatom images. In contrast to the higher counting efficiency of the JE group than that of the TE group, we observed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in the diatom classification between these two groups. Based on our experiments, an efficient analysis for automatically identifying and classifying diatoms is urgently required.

Engineered poly(A)-surrogates for translational regulation and therapeutic biocomputation in mammalian cells.

Here, we present a gene regulation strategy enabling programmable control over eukaryotic translational initiation. By excising the natural poly-adenylation (poly-A) signal of target genes and replacing it with a synthetic control region harboring RNA-binding protein (RBP)-specific aptamers, cap-dependent translation is rendered exclusively dependent on synthetic translation initiation factors (STIFs) containing different RBPs engineered to conditionally associate with different eIF4F-binding proteins (eIFBPs). This modular design framework facilitates the engineering of various gene switches and intracellular sensors responding to many user-defined trigger signals of interest, demonstrating tightly controlled, rapid and reversible regulation of transgene expression in mammalian cells as well as compatibility with various clinically applicable delivery routes of in vivo gene therapy. Therapeutic efficacy was demonstrated in two animal models. To exemplify disease treatments that require on-demand drug secretion, we show that a custom-designed gene switch triggered by the FDA-approved drug grazoprevir can effectively control insulin expression and restore glucose homeostasis in diabetic mice. For diseases that require instantaneous sense-and-response treatment programs, we create highly specific sensors for various subcellularly (mis)localized protein markers (such as cancer-related fusion proteins) and show that translation-based protein sensors can be used either alone or in combination with other cell-state classification strategies to create therapeutic biocomputers driving self-sufficient elimination of tumor cells in mice. This design strategy demonstrates unprecedented flexibility for translational regulation and could form the basis for a novel class of programmable gene therapies in vivo.

Non-Covalently Stapled H+ /Cl- Ion Channels Activatable by Visible Light for Targeted Anticancer Therapy.

The development of stimuli-responsive artificial H+ /Cl- ion channels, capable of specifically disturbing the intracellular ion homeostasis of cancer cells, presents an intriguing opportunity for achieving high selectivity in cancer therapy. Herein, we describe a novel family of non-covalently stapled self-assembled artificial channels activatable by biocompatible visible light at 442 nm, which enables the co-transport of H+ /Cl- across the membrane with H+ /Cl- transport selectivity of 6.0. Upon photoirradiation of the caged C4F-L for 10 min, 90 % of ion transport efficiency can be restored, giving rise to a 10.5-fold enhancement in cytotoxicity against human colorectal cancer cells (IC50 =8.5 µM). The mechanism underlying cancer cell death mediated by the H+ /Cl- channels involves the activation of the caspase 9 apoptosis pathway as well as the scarcely reported disruption of the autophagic processes. In the absence of photoirradiation, C4F-L exhibits minimal toxicity towards normal intestine cells, even at a concentration of 200 µM.

[Chemical Composition and Characterization of Nitroaromatic Compounds in Urban Areas of Shanghai].

The compositional characteristics, concentration of nitroaromatic compounds(NACs) in PM2.5 in urban Shanghai, and their correlation with gaseous precursors were investigated. A total of 39 winter and 46 summer PM2.5 samples from 2020 to 2021 were collected using a high-flow sampler and analyzed via ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ESI-Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry(UPLC-Orbitrap-HRMS). Quantitative analysis was performed on 12 NACs compounds, combined with backward trajectory meteorological elements, molecular composition, and classification analysis of CHON substances. The results showed that a total of 12 NACs had an average concentration in winter of 17.1 ng·m-3, which was three times higher than that in summer(5.7 ng·m-3), mainly due to air masses in winter coming primarily from the northern part of China with more biomass burning, whereas more air masses in summer came from the cleaner southeastern ocean. 4-Nitrophenol was the most abundant species of NACs in winter, whereas 4-nitrophenol(clean days) and 4-hydroxy-3-nitrobenzoic acid(polluted days) were the most abundant species in summer. Qualitative analysis based on features such as aromatic ring equivalence number(Xc), O/C, and H/C values for the identification and characterization of monocyclic and polycyclic aromatic compounds showed that CHON compounds were mainly aromatic compounds in winter and summer in urban Shanghai. The number and abundance of CHON compounds detected on PM2.5 polluted days were 2 and 1.5 times higher(winter) and 2.5 and 2 times higher(summer) than that on clean days, respectively. Comparing the analysis results of clean and polluted days in winter and summer, it was found that 80% of the CHON compounds with a relative abundance in the top 10 had O/N ≥ 3 and RDBE values between 5 and 8. The results suggest that these highly abundant CHON analogs may have had mononitro- or dinitro-substituted benzene rings. Correlation analysis between gaseous precursors and NACs indicated that oxidative reactive formation of VOCs(benzene, toluene, etc.) from anthropogenic emissions was the main source of NACs in summer. By contrast, it was influenced by a combination of biomass combustion emissions and secondary formation of oxidative NOx from anthropogenic VOCs in winter.

Development and Validation of a Double-Sensor Hump Calibration Method for Articulated Vehicle Model Identification.

The realistic simulation of the dynamic responses of a moving articulated vehicle has attracted considerable attention in various disciplines, with the identification of the vehicle model being the prerequisite. To this end, a double-sensor hump calibration method (DHCM) was developed to identify both unladen and laden vehicle models, consisting of a sensor layout optimization step and a system identification step. The first step was to optimize the number and position of sensors via parameter sensitivity analysis; the second was to inversely identify the vehicle system based on sensor responses. For comparison, the DHCM and the existing single-sensor hump calibration method (SHCM) were used to calibrate a small-sized vehicle model and a multi-axle articulated vehicle model. Vertical accelerations of the vehicle models were then simulated and characterized by power spectral densities (PSDs). Validation against experimental measurements indicated that the PSDs of the models identified with the DHCM matched the measured PSDs better than those of the SHCM, i.e., the DHCM-identified model accurately simulated the dynamic response of an articulated vehicle with relative errors below 16% in the low-frequency range. Therefore, the DHCM could identify models of small-sized vehicles and multi-axle articulated vehicles, while the SHCM was only suitable for the former.