The transcription factor EBF1 non-cell-autonomously regulates cardiac growth and differentiation.

Reciprocal interactions between non-myocytes and cardiomyocytes regulate cardiac growth and differentiation. Here, we report that the transcription factor Ebf1 is highly expressed in non-myocytes and potently regulates heart development. Ebf1-deficient hearts display myocardial hypercellularity and reduced cardiomyocyte size, ventricular conduction system hypoplasia, and conduction system disease. Growth abnormalities in Ebf1 knockout hearts are observed as early as embryonic day 13.5. Transcriptional profiling of Ebf1-deficient embryonic cardiac non-myocytes demonstrates dysregulation of Polycomb repressive complex 2 targets, and ATAC-Seq reveals altered chromatin accessibility near many of these same genes. Gene set enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes in cardiomyocytes isolated from E13.5 hearts of wild-type and mutant mice reveals significant enrichment of MYC targets and, consistent with this finding, we observe increased abundance of MYC in mutant hearts. EBF1-deficient non-myocytes, but not wild-type non-myocytes, are sufficient to induce excessive accumulation of MYC in co-cultured wild-type cardiomyocytes. Finally, we demonstrate that BMP signaling induces Ebf1 expression in embryonic heart cultures and controls a gene program enriched in EBF1 targets. These data reveal a previously unreported non-cell-autonomous pathway controlling cardiac growth and differentiation.

The impact of COVID-19 on a college freshman sample reveals genetic and nongenetic forms of susceptibility and resilience to stress.

Using a longitudinal approach, we sought to define the interplay between genetic and nongenetic factors in shaping vulnerability or resilience to COVID-19 pandemic stress, as indexed by the emergence of symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. University of Michigan freshmen were characterized at baseline using multiple psychological instruments. Subjects were genotyped, and a polygenic risk score for depression (MDD-PRS) was calculated. Daily physical activity and sleep were captured. Subjects were sampled at multiple time points throughout the freshman year on clinical rating scales, including GAD-7 and PHQ-9 for anxiety and depression, respectively. Two cohorts (2019 to 2021) were compared to a pre-COVID-19 cohort to assess the impact of the pandemic. Across cohorts, 26 to 40% of freshmen developed symptoms of anxiety or depression (N = 331). Depression symptoms significantly increased in the pandemic years and became more chronic, especially in females. Physical activity was reduced, and sleep was increased by the pandemic, and this correlated with the emergence of mood symptoms. While low MDD-PRS predicted lower risk for depression during a typical freshman year, this genetic advantage vanished during the pandemic. Indeed, females with lower genetic risk accounted for the majority of the pandemic-induced rise in depression. We developed a model that explained approximately half of the variance in follow-up depression scores based on psychological trait and state characteristics at baseline and contributed to resilience in genetically vulnerable subjects. We discuss the concept of multiple types of resilience, and the interplay between genetic, sex, and psychological factors in shaping the affective response to different types of stressors.

Molecular design and architectonics towards film-based fluorescent sensing.

The past few decades have witnessed encouraging progress in the development of high-performance film-based fluorescent sensors (FFSs) for detecting explosives, illicit drugs, chemical warfare agents (CWAs), and hazardous volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), among others. Several FFSs have transitioned from laboratory research to real-world applications, demonstrating their practical relevance. At the heart of FFS technology lies the sensing films, which play a crucial role in determining the analytes and the resulting signals. The selection of sensing fluorophores and the fabrication strategies employed in film construction are key factors that influence the fluorescence properties, active-layer structures, and overall sensing behaviors of these films. This review examines the progress and innovations in the research field of FFSs over the past two decades, focusing on advancements in fluorophore design and active-layer structural engineering. It underscores popular sensing fluorophore scaffolds and the dynamics of excited state processes. Additionally, it delves into six distinct categories of film fabrication technologies and strategies, providing insights into their advantages and limitations. This review further addresses important considerations such as photostability and substrate effects. Concluding with an overview of the field's challenges and prospects, it sheds light on the potential for further development in this burgeoning area.

A Programmable Peptidic Hydrogel Adjuvant for Personalized Immunotherapy in Resected Stage Tumors.

Adjuvant treatment after surgical resection usually plays an important role in delaying disease recurrence. Immunotherapy displays encouraging results in increasing patients' chances of staying cancer-free after surgery, as reported by recent clinical trials. However, the clinical outcomes of current immunotherapy need to be improved due to the limited responses, patient heterogeneity, nontargeted distribution, and immune-related adverse effects. This work describes a programmable hydrogel adjuvant for personalized immunotherapy after surgical resection. By filling the hydrogel in the cavity, this system aims to address the limited secretion of granzyme B (GrB) during immunotherapy and improve the low immunotherapy responses typically observed, while minimizing immune-related side effects. The TLR7/8 agonist imidazoquinoline (IMDQ) is linked to the self-assembling peptide backbone through a GrB-responsive linkage. Its release could enhance the activation and function of immune cells, which will lead to increased secretion of GrB and enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapy together. The hydrogel adjuvant recruits immune cells, initiates dendritic cell maturation, and induces M1 polarized macrophages to reverse the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in situ. In multiple murine tumor models, the hydrogel adjuvant suppresses tumor growth, increases animal survival and long-term immunological memory, and protects mice against tumor rechallenge, leading to effective prophylactic and therapeutic responses. This work provides a potential chemical strategy to overcome the limitations associated with immunotherapy.

Age at lung cancer diagnosis in females versus males who never smoke by race and ethnicity.

BACKGROUND: We characterized age at diagnosis and estimated sex differences for lung cancer and its histological subtypes among individuals who never smoke. METHODS: We analyzed the distribution of age at lung cancer diagnosis in 33,793 individuals across 8 cohort studies and two national registries from East Asia, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK). Student's t-tests were used to assess the study population differences (Δ years) in age at diagnosis comparing females and males who never smoke across subgroups defined by race/ethnicity, geographic location, and histological subtypes. RESULTS: We found that among Chinese individuals diagnosed with lung cancer who never smoke, females were diagnosed with lung cancer younger than males in the Taiwan Cancer Registry (n = 29,832) (Δ years = -2.2 (95% confidence interval (CI):-2.5, -1.9), in Shanghai (n = 1049) (Δ years = -1.6 (95% CI:-2.9, -0.3), and in Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente Hawai'i in the US (n = 82) (Δ years = -11.3 (95% CI: -17.7, -4.9). While there was a suggestion of similar patterns in African American and non-Hispanic White individuals. the estimated differences were not consistent across studies and were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence of sex differences for age at lung cancer diagnosis among individuals who never smoke.

Interfacially Confined Dynamic Reaction Resulted to Fluorescent Nanofilms Depicting High-Performance Ammonia Sensing.

Sensing materials innovation plays a crucial role in the development of high-performance film-based fluorescent sensors (FFSs). In our current study, we present the innovative fabrication of four fluorescent nanofilms via interfacially confined dynamic reaction of a specially designed fluorescent building block, a new boron-coordinated compound (NI-CHO), with a chosen one, benzene-1,3,5-tricarbohydrazide (BTH). The nanofilms as prepared are robust, uniform, flexible, and thickness tunable, at least from 40 to 1500 nm. The fabricated FFSs based on Film 3, one of the four nanofilms, shows highly selective and fully reversible response to NH3 vapor with an experimental detection limit of <0.1 ppm and a response time of 0.2 s. The unprecedented high performance of the nanofilm is ascribed to the specific quenching of its fluorescence emission owing to formation of an excited-state complex between the sensing unit and the analyte molecule. Efficient mass transfer also contributes to the high performance owing to the porous adlayer structure of the nanofilm. This work provides an example to show how to develop a high-performance sensing film via controlling the film's structure, especially the thickness.

A Nanofilm-Based Fluorescent Sensor toward Highly Efficient Detection of Ethephon.

Ethephon (ETH) is widely used to promote fruit ripening and improve fruit quality. However, improper use is harmful to human health and to the environmental safety. Therefore, development of the techniques for on-site and at real-time monitoring of ETH is of importance for its safe use. In this work, we developed a nanofilm-based fluorescence film sensor (FFS) and realized highly efficient detection of ETH in vapor phase, where the detection limit (DL) is <0.2 ppb, the response time is less than 10 s, and the interference is almost free. The unusual sensing performance of the sensor was ascribed to the specific binding of the nanofilm to ETH and to its great porosity, which enables efficient adlayer mass transfer, a requirement for high signal-to-noise ratio. Moreover, visualization-based qualitative sensing is also realized. The nanofilm, a key component of the sensor, was prepared at the humid air/DMSO interface. The building blocks used were a specially designed fluorescent o-carborane derivative (CB-2CHO) and a cross-linker BTN possessing three acylhydrazine groups. The nanofilm as prepared is flexible, uniform, thickness tunable, and photochemically super stable. We believe our effort not only addresses the challenging issue of on-site and at real-time detection of ETH but also provides another route for developing new FFSs via sensing film innovation.

FcγR-dependent apoptosis regulates tissue persistence of mucosal and connective tissue mast cells.

Rodent mast cells can be divided into two major subtypes: the mucosal mast cell (MMC) and the connective tissue mast cell (CTMC). A decade-old observation revealed a longer lifespan for CTMC compared with MMC. The precise mechanisms underlying such differential tissue persistence of mast cell subsets have not been described. In this study, we have discovered that mast cells expressing only one receptor, either FcγRIIB or FcγRIIIA, underwent caspase-independent apoptosis in response to IgG immune complex treatment. Lower frequencies of CTMC in mice that lacked either FcγRIIB or FcγRIIIA compared with WT mice were recorded, especially in aged mice. We proposed that this paradigm of FcγR-mediated mast cell apoptosis could account for the more robust persistence of CTMC, which express both FcγRIIB and FcγRIIIA, than MMC, which express only FcγRIIB. Importantly, we reproduced these results using a mast cell engraftment model, which ruled out possible confounding effects of mast cell recruitment or FcγR expression by other cells on mast cell number regulation. In conclusion, our work has uncovered an FcγR-dependent mast cell number regulation paradigm that might provide a mechanistic explanation for the long-observed differential mast cell subset persistence in tissues.

Neural cell adhesion molecule is required for ventricular conduction system development.

The most distal portion of the ventricular conduction system (VCS) contains cardiac Purkinje cells (PCs), which are essential for synchronous activation of the ventricular myocardium. Contactin-2 (CNTN2), a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily of cell adhesion molecules (IgSF-CAMs), was previously identified as a marker of the VCS. Through differential transcriptional profiling, we discovered two additional highly enriched IgSF-CAMs in the VCS: NCAM-1 and ALCAM. Immunofluorescence staining showed dynamic expression patterns for each IgSF-CAM during embryonic and early postnatal stages, but ultimately all three proteins became highly enriched in mature PCs. Mice deficient in NCAM-1, but not CNTN2 or ALCAM, exhibited defects in PC gene expression and VCS patterning, as well as cardiac conduction disease. Moreover, using ST8sia2 and ST8sia4 knockout mice, we show that inhibition of post-translational modification of NCAM-1 by polysialic acid leads to disrupted trafficking of sarcolemmal intercalated disc proteins to junctional membranes and abnormal expansion of the extracellular space between apposing PCs. Taken together, our data provide insights into the complex developmental biology of the ventricular conduction system.

Developing a practical neurodevelopmental prediction model for targeting high-risk very preterm infants during visit after NICU: a retrospective national longitudinal cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Follow-up visits for very preterm infants (VPI) after hospital discharge is crucial for their neurodevelopmental trajectories, but ensuring their attendance before 12 months corrected age (CA) remains a challenge. Current prediction models focus on future outcomes at discharge, but post-discharge data may enhance predictions of neurodevelopmental trajectories due to brain plasticity. Few studies in this field have utilized machine learning models to achieve this potential benefit with transparency, explainability, and transportability. METHODS: We developed four prediction models for cognitive or motor function at 24 months CA separately at each follow-up visits, two for the 6-month and two for the 12-month CA visits, using hospitalized and follow-up data of VPI from the Taiwan Premature Infant Follow-up Network from 2010 to 2017. Regression models were employed at 6 months CA, defined as a decline in The Bayley Scales of Infant Development 3rd edition (BSIDIII) composite score > 1 SD between 6- and 24-month CA. The delay models were developed at 12 months CA, defined as a BSIDIII composite score < 85 at 24 months CA. We used an evolutionary-derived machine learning method (EL-NDI) to develop models and compared them to those built by lasso regression, random forest, and support vector machine. RESULTS: One thousand two hundred forty-four VPI were in the developmental set and the two validation cohorts had 763 and 1347 VPI, respectively. EL-NDI used only 4-10 variables, while the others required 29 or more variables to achieve similar performance. For models at 6 months CA, the area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of EL-NDI were 0.76-0.81(95% CI, 0.73-0.83) for cognitive regress with 4 variables and 0.79-0.83 (95% CI, 0.76-0.86) for motor regress with 4 variables. For models at 12 months CA, the AUC of EL-NDI were 0.75-0.78 (95% CI, 0.72-0.82) for cognitive delay with 10 variables and 0.73-0.82 (95% CI, 0.72-0.85) for motor delay with 4 variables. CONCLUSIONS: Our EL-NDI demonstrated good performance using simpler, transparent, explainable models for clinical purpose. Implementing these models for VPI during follow-up visits may facilitate more informed discussions between parents and physicians and identify high-risk infants more effectively for early intervention.

Self-Adaptive Liquid Film: Dynamic Realization of Dendrite-Free Zn Deposition Toward Ultralong-Life Aqueous Zn Battery.

The poor reversibility and stability of Zn metal anode (ZMA) caused by uncontrolled Zn deposition behaviors and serious side reactions severely impeded the practical application of aqueous Zn metal battery. Herein, a liquid-dynamic and self-adaptive protective layer (LSPL) was constructed on the ZMA surface for inhibiting dendrites and by-products formation. Interestingly, the outer LSPL consists of liquid perfluoropolyether (PFPE), which can dynamically adapt volume change during repeat cycling and inhibit side reactions. Moreover, it can also decrease the de-solvation energy barrier of Zn2+ by strong interaction between C-F bond and foreign Zn2+ , improving Zn2+ transport kinetics. For the LSPL inner region, in-situ formed ZnF2 through the spontaneous chemical reaction between metallic Zn and part PFPE can establish an unimpeded Zn2+ migration pathway for accelerating ion transfer, thereby restricting Zn dendrites formation. Consequently, the LSPL-modified ZMA enables reversible Zn deposition/dissolution up to 2000 h at 1 mA cm-2 and high coulombic efficiency of 99.8% at 4 mA cm-2 . Meanwhile, LSPL@Zn||NH4 V4 O10 full cells deliver an ultralong cycling lifespan of 100 00 cycles with 0.0056% per cycle decay rate at 10 A g-1 . This self-adaptive layer provides a new strategy to improve the interface stability for next-generation aqueous Zn battery.

Vascular endothelial glycocalyx shedding in ventilator-induced lung injury in rats.

Endothelial permeability deterioration is involved in ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). The integrality of vascular endothelial glycocalyx (EG) is closely associated with endothelial permeability. The hypothesis was that vascular EG shedding participates in VILI through promoting endothelial permeability. In the present study, male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were ventilated with high tidal volume (VT =40 ml/kg) or low tidal volume (VT =8 ml/kg) to investigate the effects of different tidal volume and ventilation durations on EG in vivo. We report disruption of EG during the period of high tidal volume ventilation characterized by increased glycocalyx structural components (such as syndecan-1, heparan sulfate, hyaluronan) in the plasma and decreased the expression of syndecan-1 in the lung tissues. Mechanistically, the disruption of EG was associated with increased proinflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinase in the lung tissues. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the degradation of EG is involved in the occurrence and development of VILI in rats, and the inflammatory mechanism mediated by activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway may be partly responsible for the degradation of EG in VILI in rats. This study enhances our understanding of the pathophysiological processes underlying VILI, shedding light on potential therapeutic targets to mitigate VILI.

Fluorogenic Rhodamine Probes with Pyrrole Substitution Enables STED and Lifetime Imaging of Lysosomes in Live Cells.

Fluorogenic dyes with high brightness, large turn-on ratios, excellent photostability, favorable specificity, low cytotoxicity, and high membrane permeability are essential for high-resolution fluorescence imaging in live cells. In this study, we endowed these desirable properties to a rhodamine derivative by simply replacing the N, N-diethyl group with a pyrrole substituent. The resulting dye, Rh-NH, exhibited doubled Stokes shifts (54 nm) and a red-shift of more than 50 nm in fluorescence spectra compared to Rhodamine B. Rh-NH preferentially exists in a non-emissive but highly permeable spirolactone form. Upon binding to lysosomes, the collective effects of low pH, low polarity, and high viscosity endow Rh-NH with significant fluorescence turn-on, making it a suitable candidate for wash-free, high-contrast lysosome tracking. Consequently, Rh-NH enabled us to successfully explore stimulated emission depletion (STED) super-resolution imaging of lysosome dynamics, as well as fluorescence lifetime imaging of lysosomes in live cells.

The associates of anxiety among lung cancer patients: Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) as a potential biomarker.

OBJECTIVE: Anxiety is a prevalent comorbidity in lung cancer (LC) patients associated with a decline in quality of life. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a neuroactive steroid, levels rise in response to stress. Prior research on the association between DHEA and anxiety has yielded contradictory results and no study has investigated this association in LC patients. METHODS: A total of 213 patients with LC were recruited from a general hospital. Data on demographic and cancer-related variables were collected. Using the Chinese version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the degree of anxiety was determined. Cortisol, DHEA, and Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) levels in saliva were measured. Adjusting for confounding variables, a multivariate regression analysis was conducted. RESULTS: 147 men and 66 women comprised our group with an average age of 63.75 years. After accounting for demographic and treatment-related factors, anxiety levels were significantly correlated with, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs) (ß = 0.332, p < 0.001) and fatigue (ß = 0.247, p = 0.02). Association between anxiety and three factors, including DHEA, PTSSs, and fatigue, was observed in patients with advanced cancer stages (III and IV) (DHEA ß = 0.319, p = 0.004; PTSS ß = 0.396, p = 0.001; fatigue ß = 0.289, p = 0.027) and those undergoing chemotherapy (DHEA ß = 0.346, p = 0.001; PTSS ß = 0.407, p = 0.001; fatigue ß = 0.326, p = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS: The association between anxiety and DHEA remained positive in advanced cancer stages and chemotherapy patients. Further study is necessary to determine whether DHEA is a potential biomarker of anxiety in LC patients.

Efficient Removal of Iodine from Water by a Calix[4]pyrrole-Based Nanofilm.

The efficient removal of radioactive iodine from an aqueous solution is largely dependent on the adsorbent materials employed. In this work, we report a calix[4]pyrrole-based nanofilm and its application for the rapid removal of iodine from water. The nanofilm was synthesized through a confined dynamic condensation of tetra hydrazide calix[4]pyrrole with 1,3,5-tri-(4-formylphenyl) aldehyde at the air/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) interface. The thickness of the obtained nanofilm is ∼35 nm, enabling fast mass transfer and a high ratio of accessible binding sites for iodine. The pseudo-second-order rate constant of the nanofilm for iodine is ∼0.061 g g-1 min-1, 3 orders of magnitude higher than most reported adsorbent materials. Flow-through nanofiltration tests demonstrated that the nanofilm has an adsorption capacity of 1.48 g g-1, a high removal efficiency, and good reusability. The mechanism study revealed that the moieties of Schiff base, pyrrole, and aromatic rings play a key role for binding iodine. We believe this work provides not only a new strategy for the efficient removal of radioactive iodine from water but also new ideas for designing efficient iodine adsorbents.

Time trends and regional variation in utilization of antidiabetic medicines in China, 2015-2022.

AIM: To assess the use of non-insulin antidiabetic medicines in China. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analysed the national procurement data for 29 non-insulin antidiabetic medicines from nine subgroups in China from 2015 to 2022. We estimated the number of defined daily doses (DDDs) procured per year in seven regions of China for nine subgroups and adjusted the data by the number of patients with diabetes. For each subgroup, the regional ratio was calculated by comparing the procurement per patient in each region with the procurement nationwide. The regional disparity was the difference between the highest and lowest regional ratios. We compared the medication patterns across regions. RESULTS: Nationally, between 2015 and 2022, the number of DDDs per patient increased from 14.45 to 47.37. The two most commonly used categories were sulphonylurea and biguanides, which increased from 7.04 to 15.39 (119%) and 3.28 to 11.11 (239%) DDDs per patient, respectively. The procurement of new drugs (dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists) increased quickly and had >5000% relative changes. Particularly for sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors, it increased from 0.08 to 5.03 DDDs (6662%). The southwest region had the highest relative change (319%), while the southern region had the lowest (118%). Biguanide and thiazolidinediones had the lowest (1.19) and highest level (2.21) of regional disparity in 2022, respectively. CONCLUSION: The procurement of non-insulin antidiabetic medicines in China has increased a lot from 2015 to 2022. In terms of DDDs per patient, sulphonylurea ranked first, followed by metformin. The procurement of new drugs increased greatly. A large regional disparity existed in medicine usage and patterns.

Comparison of multiple linear regression and machine learning methods in predicting cognitive function in older Chinese type 2 diabetes patients.

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has increased dramatically in recent decades, and there are increasing indications that dementia is related to T2D. Previous attempts to analyze such relationships principally relied on traditional multiple linear regression (MLR). However, recently developed machine learning methods (Mach-L) outperform MLR in capturing non-linear relationships. The present study applied four different Mach-L methods to analyze the relationships between risk factors and cognitive function in older T2D patients, seeking to compare the accuracy between MLR and Mach-L in predicting cognitive function and to rank the importance of risks factors for impaired cognitive function in T2D. METHODS: We recruited older T2D between 60-95 years old without other major comorbidities. Demographic factors and biochemistry data were used as independent variables and cognitive function assessment (CFA) was conducted using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment as an independent variable. In addition to traditional MLR, we applied random forest (RF), stochastic gradient boosting (SGB), Naïve Byer's classifier (NB) and eXtreme gradient boosting (XGBoost). RESULTS: Totally, the test cohort consisted of 197 T2D (98 men and 99 women). Results showed that all ML methods outperformed MLR, with symmetric mean absolute percentage errors for MLR, RF, SGB, NB and XGBoost respectively of 0.61, 0.599, 0.606, 0.599 and 0.2139. Education level, age, frailty score, fasting plasma glucose and body mass index were identified as key factors in descending order of importance. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our study demonstrated that RF, SGB, NB and XGBoost are more accurate than MLR for predicting CFA score, and identify education level, age, frailty score, fasting plasma glucose, body fat and body mass index as important risk factors in an older Chinese T2D cohort.

Iodomethane in C1 chemistry: application in palladium-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 1] annulation.

An efficient palladium-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 1] annulation of 3-iodochromones, bridged olefins, and iodomethane is described, affording a range of chromone-containing polycyclic compounds. Additionally, the corresponding deuterated products were smoothly obtained with iodomethane-d3 instead of iodomethane. Moreover, the synthetic utility of this method is further substantiated by gram scale preparation and application to late-stage modification of estrone.

Ultrabright Acrylic Polymers with Tunable Fluorescence Enabled by Imprisoning Single TICT Probe.

Bright and colorful fluorescent polymers are ideal materials for a variety of applications. Although polymers could be made fluorescent by physical doping or chemical binding of fluorescent units, it is a great challenge to get colorful and highly emissive polymers with a single fluorophore. Here the development of a general and facile method to synthesize ultrabright and colorful polymers using a single twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) probe is reported. By incorporating polymerizable, highly fluorescent, and environmental sensitive TICT probe, a series of colorful acrylic polymers (emission from 481 to 543 nm) with almost 100% fluorescence quantum yields are prepared. Like the solvatochromic effect, functional groups within side chains of acrylic polymers (including alkyl chain, tetrahydrofurfuryl group, and hydroxyl group) provide varied environmental polarity for the incorporated fluorophore, resulting in a series of colorful polymeric materials. Benefiting from the excellent photophysical properties, the polymers show great potential in encryption, cultural relics protection, white light-emitting diode bulb making, and fingerprint identification.

Changes in temporal lobe activation during a sound stimulation task in patients with sensorineural tinnitus: a multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy study.

BACKGROUND: The subjective sign of a serious pandemic in human work and life is mathematical neural tinnitus. fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) is a new non-invasive brain imaging technology for studying the neurological activity of the human cerebral cortex. It is based on neural coupling effects. This research uses the fNIRS approach to detect differences in the neurological activity of the cerebral skin in the sound stimulation mission in order to better discriminate between the sensational neurological tinnitus. METHODS: In the fNIRS brain imaging method, 14 sensorineural tinnitus sufferers and 14 healthy controls listened to varied noise and quiet for fNIRS data collection. Linear fitting was employed in MATLAB to eliminate slow drifts during preprocessing and event-related design analysis. The false discovery rate (FDR) procedure was applied in IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0 to control the false positive rate in multiple comparison analyses. RESULTS: When the ill group and the healthy control group were stimulated by pink noise, there was a significant difference in blood oxygen concentration (P < 0.05), and the healthy control group exhibited a high activation, according to the fNIRS measurement data. The blood oxygen concentration level in the patient group was dramatically enhanced after one month of acupuncture therapy under the identical stimulation task settings, and it was favorably connected with the levels of THI and TEQ scales. CONCLUSIONS: Using sensorineural tinnitus illness as an example, fNIRS technology has the potential to disclose future pathological study on subjective diseases throughout time. Other clinical disorders involving the temporal lobe and adjacent brain areas may also be examined, in addition to tinnitus-related brain alterations.