Adaptive Changes in Neurovascular Properties With Binocular Accommodation Functions in Myopic Participants by 3D Visual Training: An EEG and fNIRS Study.

Although three-dimensional visual training (3DVT) has been used for myopia intervention, its neural mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, visual function was examined before and after 3DVT, while resting-state EEG-fNIRS signals were recorded from 38 myopic participants. A graph theoretical analysis was applied to compute the neurovascular properties, including static brain networks (SBNs), dynamic brain networks (DBNs), and dynamic neurovascular coupling (DNC). Correlations between the changes in neurovascular properties and the changes in visual functions were calculated. After 3DVT, the local efficiency and node efficiency in the frontal lobes increased in the SBNs constructed from EEG δ -band; the global efficiency and node efficiency in the frontal-parietal lobes decreased in the DBNs variability constructed from EEG δ -band. For the DNC constructed with EEG α -band and oxyhemoglobin (HbO), the local efficiency decreased, for EEG α -band and deoxyhemoglobin (HbR), the node efficiency in the frontal-occipital lobes decreased. For the SBNs constructed from HbO, the functional connectivity (FC) between the frontal-occipital lobes increased. The DNC constructed between the FC of the frontal-parietal lobes from EEG ß -band and the FC of the frontal-occipital lobes from HbO increased, and between the FC of the frontal-occipital lobes from EEG ß -band and the FC of the inter-frontal lobes from HbR increased. The neurovascular properties were significantly correlated with the amplitude of accommodation and accommodative facility. The result indicated the positive effects of 3DVT on myopic participants, including improved efficiency of brain networks, increased FC of SBNs and DNC, and enhanced binocular accommodation functions.

Combined Radiomics-Clinical Model to Predict Radiotherapy Response in Inoperable Stage III and IV Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Purpose: Radiotherapy is a promising treatment option for lung cancer, but patients' responses vary. The purpose of the study was to investigate the potential of radiomics and clinical signature for predicting the radiotherapy sensitivity and overall survival of inoperable stage III and IV non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Materials: This retrospective study collected 104 inoperable stage III and IV NSCLC patients at the Yunnan Cancer Hospital from October 2016 to September 2020. They were divided into radiation-sensitive and non-sensitive groups. We used analysis of variance (ANOVA) to select features and support vector machine (SVM) to build the radiomic model. Furthermore, the logistic regression method was used to screen out clinically relevant predictive factors and construct the combined model of radiomics-clinical features. Finally, survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: There were 40 patients in the radiation-sensitive group and 64 in the non-sensitive group. These patients were divided into training set (73 cases) and testing set (31 cases) according to the ratio of 7:3. Nine radiomics features and one clinical feature were significantly associated with radiotherapy sensitivity. Both the radiomics model and combined model have good predictive performance (the areas under the curve (AUC) values of the testing set were 0.864 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.683-0.996) and 0.868 (95% CI: 0.689-1.000), respectively). Only platelet level status was associated with overall survival. Conclusion: The combined model constructed based on radiomics and clinical features can effectively identify the radiation-sensitive population and provide valuable clinical information. Patients with higher platelet levels may have a poor prognosis.

Development of a mass spectrometry-based metabolomics workflow for traceability of wild and cultivated Cordyceps sinensis.

Cordyceps sinensis, as an expensive traditional Chinese medicine and edible fungus mycelium, lacks an effective quality evaluation method, especially and cultivated Cordyceps sinensis. In this study, a feasible workflow method was developed for traceability evaluation of wild and cultivated Cordyceps sinensis, based on mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. Mass spectrometry data were firstly acquired from Cordyceps sinensis, samples by liquid chromatography-quadrupole and time of flight mass spectrometry. Characteristic mass spectrometry peaks were extracted by applying the MZmine. Then significant markers were obtained from Cordyceps sinensis samples by orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis. Then, identification of significant markers were identified by MS-FINDER data analytics. The results showed that Changdu, the other four wild origins (Naqu, Xinghai, Yushu and Guoluo) and cultivated samples could be significantly distinguished. This identified significant markers of Cordyceps sinensis, including 174 special significant markers for the wild samples, 204 special significant markers for the cultivated samples and 87 share significant markers. Number of 87 shared significant markers were identified in the wild and cultivated Cordyceps sinensis, especially 28 confident significant compounds, such as adenosine, riboflavin, tyrosine, arginine and glutamine. These shared significant markers might support the quality control of multi-targets of Cordyceps sinensis, compared with a single target in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The special significant markers indicated that cultivated Cordyceps sinensis was different from the wild based on mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. In the comparison of chromatographic fingerprint technology, it was found that the established feasible workflow method was easy to acquire significant markers and traceability of Cordyceps sinensis. This feasible workflow method has great potential to be successful for comprehensive and traceability evaluation of the wild and cultivated Cordyceps sinensis.

Advances of gold nanoclusters for bioimaging.

Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) have become a promising material for bioimaging detection because of their tunable photoluminescence, large Stokes shift, low photobleaching, and good biocompatibility. Last decade, great efforts have been made to develop AuNCs for enhanced imaging contrast and multimodal imaging. Herein, an updated overview of recent advances in AuNCs was present for visible fluorescence (FL) imaging, near-infrared fluorescence (NIR-FL) imaging, two-photon near-infrared fluorescence (TP-NIR-FL) imaging, computed tomography (CT) imaging, positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and photoacoustic (PA) imaging. The justification of AuNCs applied in bioimaging mentioned above applications was discussed, the performance location of different AuNCs were summarized and highlighted in an unified parameter coordinate system of corresponding bioimaging, and the current challenges, research frontiers, and prospects of AuNCs in bioimaging were discussed. This review will bring new insights into the future development of AuNCs in bio-diagnostic imaging.

The Application and Development of Deep Learning in Radiotherapy: A Systematic Review.

With the massive use of computers, the growth and explosion of data has greatly promoted the development of artificial intelligence (AI). The rise of deep learning (DL) algorithms, such as convolutional neural networks (CNN), has provided radiation oncologists with many promising tools that can simplify the complex radiotherapy process in the clinical work of radiation oncology, improve the accuracy and objectivity of diagnosis, and reduce the workload, thus enabling clinicians to spend more time on advanced decision-making tasks. As the development of DL gets closer to clinical practice, radiation oncologists will need to be more familiar with its principles to properly evaluate and use this powerful tool. In this paper, we explain the development and basic concepts of AI and discuss its application in radiation oncology based on different task categories of DL algorithms. This work clarifies the possibility of further development of DL in radiation oncology.

Mass ratio quantitative detection for kidney bean in lotus seed paste using duplex droplet digital PCR and chip digital PCR.

Two "mass ratio-DNA copy concentration ratio" formulas were established respectively on droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) and chip-based digital PCR (cdPCR) to determine the mass ratio of kidney bean, a common alternative plant-derived ingredient in lotus seed paste. The limit of detection for DNA copy concentration of kidney bean and lotus seed was 6 copies/µL. Quantitative detection range was set from 5 to 80%, and the limit of quantification for mass ratio of kidney bean in lotus seed paste was defined as 5%. Results of 6 simulated samples and 16 prepackaged pastes in this work offer compelling evidence that an innovative scheme for quantitative detection of kidney bean in lotus seed paste was available, and provide technical support for the identification of suspicious ingredients from fraudulent substitution or adventitious contamination. Graphical abstract Two "mass ratio-DNA copy concentration ratio" formulas were established respectively on droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) and chip digital PCR (cdPCR) to determine the mass ratio of kidney bean in adulterated lotus seed paste. It was the first time to quantify adulterate food by directly converting DNA copy concentration ratio obtained from digital PCR to mass ratio, which could provide strong technical support for quantitative detection of adulterated food.

[Advances in development and application of liquid chromatography coupled with isotope ratio mass spectrometry].

The first commercial interface for hyphenating liquid chromatography with isotope ratio mass spectrometry (LC-IRMS) was not available until 2004, and it was commercialized under the name LC IsoLink by Thermo Finnigan. LC-IRMS, a method of compound-specific isotope analysis, has enabled the detection of stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) in targeted substances in order to determine their origin and authenticity. This paper provides an overview of IRMS and LC-IRMS techniques, the history and detailed classification of the latter over the past twenty years. The application of LC-IRMS to the fields of food safety, environment and ecology, life sciences, and archeology are reviewed. Finally, the technical limitations, current challenges, and future development trends of LC-IRMS are outlined.

[Simultaneous determination of nitrapyrin and its metabolite residues in food crops by derivatization with gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry].

A method based on precolumn derivatization along with gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) was developed for the determination of nitrapyrin and its metabolite, 6-chloropicolinic acid, in crops. The samples were extracted by acid acetonitrile, and subjected to precolumn derivatization using a sulfoacid. The quantification of the analytes was performed by the internal standard method. Good linear relationships between the peak areas and mass concentrations of the analytes were obtained in the range of 0.025-0.2 mg/L with correlation coefficients greater than 0.995 (n=6). The limits of quantification (LOQs) were 0.05 mg/kg. The recoveries of the analytes in crops at three spiked levels (0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 mg/kg) were in the range of 80.4%-98.4%, with relative standard deviations between 1.0% and 10.1% (n=6). This new method satisfies the related regulations for the determination of nitrapyrin and its metabolite in crops.

Applications of the Chinese version of the primary care PTSD screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5) for children.

BACKGROUND: Effective screening is important for public mental health services. Although the primary care PTSD screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5) is useful in screening for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults, its reliability and validity for use in children remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the performance characteristics of the Chinese PC-PTSD-5 for children in children aged 8 to 16 years. METHODS: 4,022 rural children from Grades 4 to 9 in China were included in this study. All participants were assessed for PTSD using the Chinese PC-PTSD-5 for children and the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and assessed for anxiety using the Chinese version of the State Anxiety Scale for Children (CSAS-C), and for depression using the Children's Depression Inventory - Short Form (CDI-S). The performance characteristics of the PC-PTSD-5 for children were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic analyses. RESULTS: The mean scores on the PCL-5 and the PC-PTSD-5 were 17.45 (SD = 14.78) and 1.78 (SD = 1.33), respectively. There was a significant correlation between the PC-PTSD-5 and PCL-5 (r = 0.54, p < 0.001), and small but significant correlations of the PC-PTSD-5 with the CSAS-C (r = 0.31, p < 0.001) and CDI-S (r = 0.27, p < 0.001). In this study, 2 and 3 were both found to be acceptable cutoff values. A cutoff value of 2 yielded a sensitivity of 0.87 and a specificity of 0.52, while a cutoff of 3 had sensitivity = 0.57, and specificity = 0.77. LIMITATIONS: A clinical interview was not used to validated diagnostic findings. CONCLUSIONS: The reliability and validity of the Chinese PC-PTSD-5 were statistically acceptable for screening for probable PTSD in children. Additionally, the Chinese PC-PTSD-5 had a favorable sensitivity at a cut off 2 and a favorable specificity at a cut off 3, based on PCL-5 results.

Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors in Chinese tonic liquors by liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry.

Chinese tonic liquor is an important dietary supplement in daily use, but it often happens that illicitly adulterated drugs in Chinese tonic liquor could lead to food safety issues. In this survey, an analytical method consisting of a liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometer (LC-Q-TOF-MS), coupled with quick easy cheap effective rugged safe (QuEChERS) pretreatment, was established for identification of phosphodiesterase type 5 enzyme (PDE-5) inhibitors in Chinese tonic liquors. 86 PDE-5 inhibitors were qualitatively analysed by employing information dependent acquisition mass spectrometry (IDA-MS) in comparison with the accurate mass of the protonated molecular ion, isotopic pattern, library and chemical formula. This method was used to test 28 Chinese tonic liquor samples. The results revealed that the IDA-MS screening method is suitable for qualitative analysis of 86 PDE-5 inhibitors. Four samples were found to be adulterated with sildenafil, tadalafil, vardenafil, isopiperazinoafil, nortadalafil and desmethylsidenafil, which was 14.3% of the tested samples.

Enveloping Mothers, Enveloped Sons: Positions in Chinese Family Therapy.

The increasing acceptance and use of psychotherapy in contemporary China powerfully attests to the "psychologization" of Chinese society. Yet attending therapy is only one aspect of psychologization. Analyzing the practice of therapy through case examples illuminates the broader sociocultural context of China's "psycho-boom." This includes insight into what I term an expansive-I notion of personhood. This non-singular notion of personhood is a major challenge for Chinese therapists. Therapists' attempts to resolve clients' problems by reorienting them according to psychological ideals highlight the multiple, at times contradictory relationships between psychotherapy, the state and families.

A pillar[5]arene based gel from a low-molecular-weight gelator for sustained dye release in water.

A soft gel based on pillar[5]arene was successfully prepared using a carbazone reaction. Furthermore, dyes such as TPP or TPPE can be incorporated into this gel and were observed to be released in a sustained way in water due to solvent exchange.

Chinese college freshmen's mental health problems and their subsequent help-seeking behaviors: A cohort design (2005-2011).

Based on cohort data obtained from 13,085 college freshmen's (2005 to 2011) SCL-90 (the Symptom Check-List-90) reports and their subsequent 4-year psychological counseling help-seeking records, this study examined the association between college students' mental health problems and help-seeking behaviors across four college years. Female students' mental health problems and help-seeking behaviors increased from the 2005 to the 2011 cohorts and no changes emerged for male students across cohorts. Overall, male students reported higher levels of mental health problems than did female students in the first college year, whereas female students reported more help-seeking behaviors than did male students in the following four college years. College students' mental health problems was associated positively with help-seeking behaviors. College students were more likely to seek help from the college psychological counselling center when they experienced relatively few or quite a lot of mental health issues (i.e., an inversed U shape). Implications for future studies and practices are discussed.

A novel aggregation-induced emission enhancement triggered by the assembly of a chiral gelator: from non-emissive nanofibers to emissive micro-loops.

In this study, a novel aggregation-induced emission (AIE) enhancement triggered by the self-assembly of chiral gelator is described. Tuning of molecular chirality in situ triggers different assemblies of superstructures exhibiting fluorescence. This novel AIE material can constitute an emerging library of chiral supramolecules for turn-on fluorescent sensors. It will also help in better understanding the effects of chiral factors on the photophysical process.

Bioactive α-pyrone meroterpenoids from mangrove endophytic fungus Penicillium sp.

Five α-pyrone meroterpenoids, including one new 3-epiarigsugacin E (1) and four known compounds, arisugacin D (2), arisugacin B (3), territrem C (4) and terreulactone C (5) were obtained from the marine fungus Penicillium sp. SK5GW1L. Their structures were identified by MS and NMR experiments, and the absolute configuration of compound 1 was further confirmed by low temperature (150 K) single crystal X-ray diffraction with Cu Kα radiation. Compounds 3, 4 and 5 showed strong inhibitory activities against acetylcholinesterase (AchE) with IC50 values of 3.03, 0.23 and 0.028 µM, respectively.

Social ecological factors associated with future orientation of children affected by parental HIV infection and AIDS.

From a social ecological perspective, this study examined the effects of stigma (societal level), trusting relationships with current caregivers (familial level), and self-esteem (individual level) on future orientation of children affected by HIV infection and AIDS. Comparing self-report data from 1221 children affected by parental HIV infection and AIDS and 404 unaffected children, affected children reported greater stigma and lower future orientation, trusting relationships, and self-esteem. Based on structural equation modeling, stigma experiences, trusting relationships, and self-esteem had direct effects on future orientation, with self-esteem and trusting relationships partially mediating the effect of stigma experiences on children's future orientation. Implications are discussed.

[Low temperature freezing followed by dispersive solid phase extraction for the determination of 104 pesticide residues in vegetable oils using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

A method using liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) followed by clean-up steps of centrifugation, freezing and dispersive solid phase extraction (D-SPE) and ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) has been devel- oped for the determination of trace levels of 104 pesticides in vegetable oils. LLE has been optimized to extract these pesticide residues from oils to obtain the highest recoveries of pesticides and the lowest co-extract fat residue in the final extract. In addition, the centrifugation and freezing steps as well as D-SPE with primary secondary amine (PSA), graphite carbon black (GCB) and C18 were used as the clean-up steps to minimize the co-extract fat. The recoveries obtained ranged from 55% to 121% and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) ranged from 0. 47% to 19. 2% at the spiked levels of 0.01, 0.02 and 0.05 mg/kg. This method, combining with accurate and sensitive detection, allowed quantification and confirmation at levels as low as 1 µg/kg for 80% of the analytes. The limits of quantification (LOQs) of the most compounds were below the maximum residue limits (MRLs) established by the Chinese legislations for oils. The proposed method was applied successfully for the residue determination of the selected pesticides in oils.

[Determination of docosahexaenoic acid in milk powder by gas chromatography using acid hydrolysis].

A method to determine docosahexenoic acid (DHA) in milk powder by gas chromatography was established. The milk powder samples were hydrolyzed with hydrochloric acid, extracted to get total fatty acids by Soxhlet extractor, then esterified with potassium hydroxide methanol solution to form methyl esters, and treated with sodium hydrogen sulfate. The optimal experiment conditions were obtained from orthogonal experiment L9(3(3)) which performed with three factors and three levels, and it requires the reaction performed with 1 mol/L potassium hydroxide solution at 25 degrees C for 5 min. The derivative treated with sodium hydrogen sulfate was separated on a column of SP-2560 (100 m x 0.25 mm x 0.20 µm), and determined in 55 min by temperature programming-gas chromatography. Good linearity was obtained in the range 5.0-300 mg/L with the correlation coefficient of 0.999 9. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 3.4%, 1.2% and 1.1% for the seven repeated experiments of 10, 50 and 100 mg/L of DHA, respectively. The limit of detection was 2 mg/kg, and the recoveries of DHA were in the range of 90.4%-93.5%. The results are satisfactory through the tests of practical samples.

Solvent-driven chiral-interaction reversion for organogel formation.

For chiral gels and related applications, one of the critical issues is how to modulate the stereoselective interaction between the gel and the chiral guest precisely, as well as how to translate this information into the macroscopic properties of materials. Herein, we report that this process can also be modulated by nonchiral solvents, which can induce a chiral-interaction reversion for organogel formation. This process could be observed through the clear difference in gelation speed and the morphology of the resulting self-assembly. This chiral effect was successfully applied in the selective separation of quinine enantiomers and imparts "smart" merits to the gel materials.

A novel design method of anthropomorphic prosthetic hands for reproducing human hand grasping.

Because hand is often used for grasping, developing a design of prosthetic hands, particularly light and compact underactuated anthropomorphic transradial prostheses for reproducing human hand complex grasping is crucial for upper-limb amputees. Obviously, the less the number of actuators is, the worse the anthropomorphic motion capability of the prosthetic hands will be. This paper aims to design a transmission mechanism with few motors actuating fingers which could serve the relatively accurate grasp movement of a human hand and has the potential to be embedded in a palm including the motors. We start with establishing an index for evaluating the anthropomorphic motion capability of a prosthetic hand. Based on the optimization of this index, we determine the number of actuators in fingers and the transmission relationship between the actuators and the metacarpophalangeal(MCP) joints. Then, a new design method to mechanically implement the transmission relationship based on a novel decomposition of transmission matrix is proposed in this paper. Utilizing this method, we obtained the final mechanical structure of a new prosthetic hand.