Dissecting microenvironment in cystadenomas and hepatic cysts based on single nucleus RNA-sequencing data.

Hepatic cystadenoma is a rare disease, accounting for about 5% of all cystic lesions, with a high tendency of malignant transformation. The preoperative diagnosis of cystadenoma is difficult, and some cystadenomas are easily misdiagnosed as hepatic cysts at first. Hepatic cyst is a relatively common liver disease, most of which are benign, but large hepatic cysts can lead to pressure on the bile duct, resulting in abnormal liver function. To better understand the difference between the microenvironment of cystadenomas and hepatic cysts, we performed single-nuclei RNA-sequencing on cystadenoma and hepatic cysts samples. In addition, we performed spatial transcriptome sequencing of hepatic cysts. Based on nucleus RNA-sequencing data, a total of seven major cell types were identified. Here we described the tumor microenvironment of cystadenomas and hepatic cysts, particularly the transcriptome signatures and regulators of immune cells and stromal cells. By inferring copy number variation, it was found that the malignant degree of hepatic stellate cells in cystadenoma was higher. Pseudotime trajectory analysis demonstrated dynamic transformation of hepatocytes in hepatic cysts and cystadenomas. Cystadenomas had higher immune infiltration than hepatic cysts, and T cells had a more complex regulatory mechanism in cystadenomas than hepatic cysts. Immunohistochemistry confirms a cystadenoma-specific T-cell immunoregulatory mechanism. These results provided a single-cell atlas of cystadenomas and hepatic cyst, revealed a more complex microenvironment in cystadenomas than in hepatic cysts, and provided new perspective for the molecular mechanisms of cystadenomas and hepatic cyst.

Effect of ultrasonic treatment during fermentation on the quality of fortified sweet wine.

The present study aimed to investigate the potential of ultrasonic treatment during fermentation for enhancing the quality of fortified wines with varying time and power settings. Chemical analysis and sensory evaluation were conducted to assess the impact of ultrasonic treatment on wine quality. Results showed that ultrasonic treatment could increase total anthocyanin and total phenol content, reduce anthocyanin degradation rate, and improve color stability. Moreover, ethyl carbamate content was lower in the ultrasonic group after aging compared to non-ultrasonic group. A combination of 200 W for 20 min resulted in higher sensory scores and more coordinated taste, while a combination of 400 W for 40 min produced higher levels of volatile compounds (21860.12 µg/L) leading to a richer and more elegant aroma. Therefore, ultrasound can be used as a potential technology to improve the quality of wine.

Salivary proteins NlSP5 and NlSP7 are required for optimal feeding and fitness of the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens.

BACKGROUND: Saliva has a crucial role in determining the compatibility between piercing-sucking insects and their hosts. The brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens, a notorious pest of rice in East and Southeast Asia, secretes gelling and watery saliva when feeding on rice sap. Nlsalivap-5 (NlSP5) and Nlsalivap-7 (NlSP7) were identified as potential planthopper-specific gelling saliva components, but their biological functions remain unknown. RESULTS: Here, we showed by transcriptomic analyses that NlSP5 and NlSP7 were biasedly expressed in the salivary glands of BPHs. Using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9-mediated genome-editing system, we constructed NlSP5 and NlSP7 homozygous mutants (NlSP5-/- and NlSP7-/-). Electrical penetration graph assay showed that NlSP5-/- and NlSP7-/- mutants exhibited abnormal probing and feeding behaviors. Bioassays revealed that the loss-of-function of NlSP5 and NlSP7 significantly reduced the fitness of BPHs, with extended developmental duration, shortened lifespan, reduced weight, and impaired fecundity and hatching rates. CONCLUSION: These findings deepen our understanding of the BPH-host interaction and may provide potential targets for the management of rice planthoppers. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Poly-l-lysine modified MOF nanoparticles with pH/ROS sensitive CIP release and CUR triggered photodynamic therapy against drug-resistant bacterial infection.

The challenge of drug resistance in bacteria caused by the over use of biotics is increasing during the therapy process, which has attracted great attentions of the clinicians and scientists around the world. Recently, photodynamic therapy (PDT) triggered by photosensitizer (PS) has become a promising treatment method because of its high efficacy, easy operation, and low side effect. Herein, the poly-l-lysine (PLL) modified metal-organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles, ZIF/PLL-CIP/CUR, were synthesized to allow both reactive oxygen species (ROS) responsive drug release and photodynamic effect for synergistic therapy against drug resistant bacterial infections. The PLL was modified on the shell of the zeolite imidazole framework (ZIF) by the ROS-responsive thioketal linker for controllable CIP release. CUR were encapsulated in ZIF as the photosensitizer for blue light mediated photodynamic effect to produce singlet oxygen (1O2) and superoxide anion radical (O2-) for efficient inhibition towards methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The charge conversion from negative charge (-4.6 mV) to positive charge (2.6 mV) was observed at pH 7.4 and pH 5.5, and 70.9 % CIP was found released at pH 5.5 in the presence of H2O2, which suggests the good biosafety at physiological pH and ROS-responsive drug release of the as-prepared nanoparticle in the bacterial microenvironment. The as-prepared nanoparticles could effectively kill MRSA and disrupt bacterial biofilm by combination of chemo- and photodynamic therapy. In mice model, the as-prepared nanoparticles exhibited excellent biosafety and synergistic effect with 98.81 % healing rate in treatment of MRSA infection, which is considered as a promising candidate in combating drug resistant bacterial infection.

Enhanced immunomodulation and periodontal regeneration efficacy of subgingivally delivered progranulin-loaded hydrogel as an adjunct to non-surgical treatment for Class II furcation involvement in dogs.

AIM: To evaluate the effect of subgingival delivery of progranulin (PGRN)/gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) complex as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) on an experimental periodontitis dog model with Class II furcation involvement (FI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A Class II FI model was established, and the defects were divided into four treatment groups: (a) no treatment (control); (b) SRP; (c) SRP + GelMA; (d) SRP + PGRN/GelMA. Eight weeks after treatment, periodontal parameters were recorded, gingival crevicular fluid and gingival tissue were collected for ELISA and RT-qPCR, respectively, and mandibular tissue blocks were collected for micro computed tomography (micro-CT) scanning and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. RESULTS: The SRP + PGRN/GelMA group showed significant improvement in all periodontal parameters compared with those in the other groups. The expression of markers related to M1 macrophage and Th17 cell significantly decreased, and the expression of markers related to M2 macrophage and Treg cell significantly increased in the SRP + PGRN/GelMA group compared with those in the other groups. The volume, quality and area of new bone and the length of new cementum in the root furcation defects of the PGRN/GelMA group were significantly increased compared to those in the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Subgingival delivery of the PGRN/GelMA complex could be a promising non-surgical adjunctive therapy for anti-inflammation, immunomodulation and periodontal regeneration.

Effect of indoor dehydration on the chemical composition of Marselan grapes in Heyang of China.

Marselan is a red wine grape variety with great brewing prospects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of postharvest indoor dehydration on the quality of Marselan grapes. For two consecutive years, the harvested grapes were dehydrated naturally indoors (24-28°C). Fresh grapes were used as a control, and dehydrated samples were taken every 7 days during the period of dehydration until ending at day 28. Dehydration treatment increased degrees Brix, reducing sugars, glycerol, and malic acid. On day 7, there was an increase in protocatechuic acid, p-coumaric acid, and total tannin of 26.00%-27.73%, 11.43%-52.52%, and 39.74%-70.45%, respectively. With increasing dehydration time, total phenols, total flavonoids and total flavanols in the skins were decreased by 17.05%-38.13%, 24.32%-57.38%, and 17.05%-59.48%, respectively, with an increase in pH, citric acid, and ascorbic acid contents of grape juice by 7.66%-21.43%, 100%-137.50%, and 61.29%-258.82%, respectively. On day 21, the esters were increased by 1.10-1.75 factors. Partial least square-discriminant analysis result of volatile compounds showed that ethyl acetate, 1-propanol, 1-propanol, 2-methyl-, 1-hexanol, and 1-butanol, 3-methyl- were the predominant characteristic flavor compounds during dehydration of Marselan grapes. The effect of indoor dehydration on Marselan grape quality offered application value for China's later dehydration wine production.

Inclusion complex of quercetin with sulfobutylether ß-cyclodextrin: preparation, characterization, antioxidant and antibacterial activities and the inclusion mechanism.

Quercetin (QCT) has a variety of pharmacological effects, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anticancer, anticardiovascular and antiaging effects. However, its poor water solubility, stability and bioavailability limit its applications. The special structure of cyclodextrins and their derivatives with a hydrophobic inner cavity and hydrophilic outer wall can load a variety of hydrophobic drugs of a suitable size and shape, thereby improving the stability and solubility of these molecules. In this study, an inclusion complex of quercetin and sulfobutylether-ß-cyclodextrin was prepared. It was characterized via FT-IR, UV, 1H NMR, XRD, DSC, and SEM analysis, which revealed the successful formation of the inclusion complex. In vitro biological activity estimations were carried out and the results indicated that the inclusion complex displayed higher antioxidative and antibacterial properties compared with free QCT. In addition, the mechanisms of inclusion were explored using 1H NMR analysis and docking calculations, thus providing a theoretical basis for obtaining an inclusion complex.

Significant reduction in creep life of P91 steam pipe elbow caused by an aberrant microstructure after short-term service.

P91 steel is an important steam pipe for ultra-supercritical power plants due to its excellent creep strength, which generally has a design life of 100,000 h. Here, we found a significant aberrant decrease in the creep rupture life of a main steam pipe elbow after only 20,000 h of service. The microstructure in the aberrant piece exhibited a decomposition of martensitic lath into blocky ferrite due to recrystallization and accumulation of M23C6 as well as formation of the Laves phase along the prior austenitic grain boundaries, resulting in the decrease of hardness that no long meet ASME standard requirement. The creep testing of the P91 piece at 550-600 °C and 85-140 MPa shows that the influence of temperature on the cavity formation and cracking is greater than that of the applied stress. The rupture life is nearly two orders of magnitude shorter than the normal P91, attributing to the creep damage of the subgrain growth, M23C6 and Laves phase coarsening (aggregation approaching 3.4 µm). The residual life of the aberrant piece was evaluated to be 53,353 h based on the Larson-Miller parameter, which is much shorter than the design life, suggesting the safety operation of the elbow area should be paid more attention during the afterward service periods. P91 steel, main steam pipe elbow, aberrant microstructure, service degradation, creep life prediction.

Effect of exogenous organic acids on chemical compositions and sensory attributes of fortified sweet wines from dehydrated grapes.

In this study, acidity was regulated with the addition of exogenous tartaric acid and citric acid before bottling. The effect of exogenous organic acids on chemical compositions and sensory attributes of fortified sweet wines from dehydrated grapes were investigated. The results indicated that exogenous organic acids promoted the conversion of monomeric anthocyanins to copigmented anthocyanins in wines. Specifically, the combination of malvidin-3-O-glucoside and flavanols (catechin and epicatechin) was facilitated to form copigmented anthocyanins. Sensory analysis suggested that exogenous organic acids improved the balance of sugar and acidity and benefited the harmony in wines on the taste. Wines with a residual sugar and titratable acidity ratio of about 11:1 exhibited the more harmonious taste. In addition, it was also observed changes in the aroma profile related to volatile compounds, namely, more intense fruity aroma in wines with the addition of organic acids.

SIMULATED AEROMEDICAL EVACUATION EXACERBATES ACUTE LUNG INJURY VIA HYPOXIA-INDUCIBLE FACTOR-1α-MEDIATED BNIP3/NIX-DEPENDENT MITOPHAGY.

BACKGROUND: With the advancement of medicine and the development of technology, the limiting factors of aeromedical evacuation are gradually decreasing, and the scope of indications is expanding. However, the hypobaric and hypoxic environments experienced by critically ill patients in flight can cause lung injury, leading to inflammation and hypoxemia, which remains one of the few limiting factors for air medical evacuation. This study aimed to examine the mechanism of secondary lung injury in rat models of acute lung injury that simulate aeromedical evacuation. METHODS: An acute lung injury model was induced in SD rats by the administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) followed by exposure to a simulated aeromedical evacuation environment (equivalent to 8,000 feet above sea level) or a normobaric normoxic environment for 4 hours. The expression of hypoxia-inducible transcription-1 α (HIF-1α) was stabilized by pretreatment with dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG). The reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and the protein expression levels of HIF-1α, BNIP3 and NIX in lung tissue were measured. RESULTS: Simulated aeromedical evacuation exacerbated pathological damage to lung tissue and increased the release of inflammatory cytokines in serum as well as the ROS levels and the protein levels of HIF-1α, BNIP3, and NIX in lung tissue. Pretreatment with DMOG resulted in increases in the protein expression of HIF-1α, BNIP3 and NIX. CONCLUSION: Simulated aeromedical evacuation leads to secondary lung injury through mitophagy.

Retinal and choroidal structure and vascularity in Chinese emmetropic and myopic children.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the structural features of the retinal and choroidal regions and their correlations with ocular biometric and vascular parameters in Chinese children using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). METHODS: A total of 159 children, 6-13 years of age, were included in this prospective study. The sample consisted of 55 emmetropes (spherical equivalent ≤ +0.75 and > -0.50 D), 53 low-moderate myopes (≤ -0.50 to > -6.00 D) and 51 high myopes without pathological changes (≤ -6.00 D). Optical coherence biometry was used to measure axial length (AL) and anterior segment parameters. Swept-source optical coherence tomography/OCTA was used to assess the macular structures and vascular characteristics in a 6 × 6 mm region centred on the macula. RESULTS: In a comprehensive analysis adjusting for age, sex, AL, macular blood perfusion, intraocular pressure and anterior segment parameters, retinal thickness (RT) showed a significant positive association with deep retinal vascular density and superficial retinal vascular density in the foveal area, but not with AL. Moreover, RT exhibited a significant negative association with AL in the parafoveal and perifoveal regions. Further, a significant positive correlation was observed between choroidal thickness and both choroidal vascular volume and choriocapillaris perfusion area, along with a negative correlation with AL across the entire macular region. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the thickness of retina and choroid in Chinese children was not only associated with AL but also showed dynamic properties such as the blood perfusion of the retina and choroid, particularly in the foveal area.

Highly efficient biosynthesis of salidroside by a UDP-glucosyltransferase-catalyzed cascade reaction.

OBJECTIVE: Salidroside is an important plant-derived aromatic compound with diverse biological properties. The main objective of this study was to synthesize salidroside from tyrosol using UDP-glucosyltransferase (UGT) with in situ regeneration of UDP-glucose (UDPG). RESULTS: The UDP-glucosyltransferase 85A1 (UGT85A1) from Arabidopsis thaliana, which showed high activity and regioselectivity towards tyrosol, was selected for the production of salidroside. Then, an in vitro cascade reaction for in situ regeneration of UDPG was constructed by coupling UGT85A1 to sucrose synthase from Glycine max (GmSuSy). The optimal UGT85A1-GmSuSy activity ratio of 1:2 was determined to balance the efficiency of salidroside production and UDP-glucose regeneration. Different cascade reaction conditions for salidroside production were also determined. Under the optimized condition, salidroside was produced at a titer of 6.0 g/L with a corresponding molar conversion of 99.6% and a specific productivity of 199.1 mg/L/h in a continuous feeding reactor. CONCLUSION: This is the highest salidroside titer ever reported so far using biocatalytic approach.

Antibacterial micro/nanomotors: current research progress, challenges, and opportunities.

Bacterial infections remain a formidable threat to human health, a situation exacerbated by the escalating problem of antibiotic resistance. While alternative antibacterial strategies such as oxidants, heat treatments, and metal nanoparticles (NPs) have shown potential, they come with significant drawbacks, ranging from non-specificity to potential environmental concerns. In the face of these challenges, the rapid evolution of micro/nanomotors (MNMs) stands out as a revolutionary development in the antimicrobial arena. MNMs harness various forms of energy and convert it into a substantial driving force, offering bright prospects for combating microbial threats. MNMs' mobility allows for swift and targeted interaction with bacteria, which not only improves the carrying potential of therapeutic agents but also narrows the required activation range for non-drug antimicrobial interventions like photothermal and photodynamic therapies, substantially improving their bacterial clearance rates. In this review, we summarized the diverse propulsion mechanisms of MNMs employed in antimicrobial applications and articulated their multiple functions, which include direct bactericidal action, capture and removal of microorganisms, detoxification processes, and the innovative detection of bacteria and associated toxins. Despite MNMs' potential to revolutionize antibacterial research, the translation from laboratory to clinical use remains challenging. Based on the current research status, we summarized the potential challenges and possible solutions and also prospected several key directions for future studies of MNMs for antimicrobial purposes. Collectively, by highlighting the important knowns and unknowns of antimicrobial MNMs, our present review would help to light the way forward for the field of antimicrobial MNMs and prevent unnecessary blindness and detours.

Giant magnetocaloric effect in spin supersolid candidate Na2BaCo(PO4)2.

Supersolid, an exotic quantum state of matter that consists of particles forming an incompressible solid structure while simultaneously showing superfluidity of zero viscosity1, is one of the long-standing pursuits in fundamental research2,3. Although the initial report of 4He supersolid turned out to be an artefact4, this intriguing quantum matter has inspired enthusiastic investigations into ultracold quantum gases5-8. Nevertheless, the realization of supersolidity in condensed matter remains elusive. Here we find evidence for a quantum magnetic analogue of supersolid-the spin supersolid-in the recently synthesized triangular-lattice antiferromagnet Na2BaCo(PO4)2 (ref. 9). Notably, a giant magnetocaloric effect related to the spin supersolidity is observed in the demagnetization cooling process, manifesting itself as two prominent valley-like regimes, with the lowest temperature attaining below 100 mK. Not only is there an experimentally determined series of critical fields but the demagnetization cooling profile also shows excellent agreement with the theoretical simulations with an easy-axis Heisenberg model. Neutron diffractions also successfully locate the proposed spin supersolid phases by revealing the coexistence of three-sublattice spin solid order and interlayer incommensurability indicative of the spin superfluidity. Thus, our results reveal a strong entropic effect of the spin supersolid phase in a frustrated quantum magnet and open up a viable and promising avenue for applications in sub-kelvin refrigeration, especially in the context of persistent concerns about helium shortages10,11.

PBPK/PD Modeling of Nifedipine for Precision Medicine in Pregnant Women: Enhancing Clinical Decision-Making for Optimal Drug Therapy.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to develop physiologically based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PBPK/PD) predictive models for nifedipine in pregnant women, enhancing precision medicine and reducing adverse reactions for both mothers and infants. METHODS: A PBPK/PD model was constructed using PK-Sim, MoBi, and MATLAB software, integrating literature and pregnancy-specific physiological information. The process involved: (1) establishing and validating a PBPK model for serum clearance after intravenous administration in non-pregnant individuals, (2) establishing and validating a PBPK model for serum clearance after oral administration in non-pregnant individuals, (3) constructing and validating a PBPK model for enzyme clearance after oral administration in non-pregnant individuals, and (4) adjusting the PBPK model structure and enzyme parameters according to pregnant women and validating it in oral administration. (5) PK/PD model was explored through MATLAB, and the PBPK and PK/PD models were integrated to form the PBPK/PD model. RESULTS: The Nifedipine PBPK model's predictive accuracy was confirmed by non-pregnant and pregnant validation studies. The developed PBPK/PD model accurately predicted maximum antihypertensive effects for clinical doses of 5, 10, and 20 mg. The model suggested peak effect at 0.86 h post-administration, achieving blood pressure reductions of 5.4 mmHg, 14.3 mmHg, and 21.3 mmHg, respectively. This model provides guidance for tailored dosing in pregnancy-induced hypertension based on targeted blood pressure reduction. CONCLUSION: Based on available literature data, the PBPK/PD model of Nifedipine in pregnancy demonstrated good predictive performance. It will help optimize individualized dosing of Nifedipine, improve treatment outcomes, and minimize the risk of adverse reactions in mothers and infants.

The Brain Tumor Segmentation (BraTS) Challenge 2023: Focus on Pediatrics (CBTN-CONNECT-DIPGR-ASNR-MICCAI BraTS-PEDs).

Pediatric tumors of the central nervous system are the most common cause of cancer-related death in children. The five-year survival rate for high-grade gliomas in children is less than 20%. Due to their rarity, the diagnosis of these entities is often delayed, their treatment is mainly based on historic treatment concepts, and clinical trials require multi-institutional collaborations. The MICCAI Brain Tumor Segmentation (BraTS) Challenge is a landmark community benchmark event with a successful history of 12 years of resource creation for the segmentation and analysis of adult glioma. Here we present the CBTN-CONNECT-DIPGR-ASNR-MICCAI BraTS-PEDs 2023 challenge, which represents the first BraTS challenge focused on pediatric brain tumors with data acquired across multiple international consortia dedicated to pediatric neuro-oncology and clinical trials. The BraTS-PEDs 2023 challenge focuses on benchmarking the development of volumentric segmentation algorithms for pediatric brain glioma through standardized quantitative performance evaluation metrics utilized across the BraTS 2023 cluster of challenges. Models gaining knowledge from the BraTS-PEDs multi-parametric structural MRI (mpMRI) training data will be evaluated on separate validation and unseen test mpMRI dataof high-grade pediatric glioma. The CBTN-CONNECT-DIPGR-ASNR-MICCAI BraTS-PEDs 2023 challenge brings together clinicians and AI/imaging scientists to lead to faster development of automated segmentation techniques that could benefit clinical trials, and ultimately the care of children with brain tumors.

Early prognostication of overall survival for pediatric diffuse midline gliomas using MRI radiomics and machine learning: a two-center study.

Background: Diffuse midline gliomas (DMG) are aggressive pediatric brain tumors that are diagnosed and monitored through MRI. We developed an automatic pipeline to segment subregions of DMG and select radiomic features that predict patient overall survival (OS). Methods: We acquired diagnostic and post-radiation therapy (RT) multisequence MRI (T1, T1ce, T2, T2 FLAIR) and manual segmentations from two centers of 53 (internal cohort) and 16 (external cohort) DMG patients. We pretrained a deep learning model on a public adult brain tumor dataset, and finetuned it to automatically segment tumor core (TC) and whole tumor (WT) volumes. PyRadiomics and sequential feature selection were used for feature extraction and selection based on the segmented volumes. Two machine learning models were trained on our internal cohort to predict patient 1-year survival from diagnosis. One model used only diagnostic tumor features and the other used both diagnostic and post-RT features. Results: For segmentation, Dice score (mean [median]±SD) was 0.91 (0.94)±0.12 and 0.74 (0.83)±0.32 for TC, and 0.88 (0.91)±0.07 and 0.86 (0.89)±0.06 for WT for internal and external cohorts, respectively. For OS prediction, accuracy was 77% and 81% at time of diagnosis, and 85% and 78% post-RT for internal and external cohorts, respectively. Homogeneous WT intensity in baseline T2 FLAIR and larger post-RT TC/WT volume ratio indicate shorter OS. Conclusions: Machine learning analysis of MRI radiomics has potential to accurately and non-invasively predict which pediatric patients with DMG will survive less than one year from the time of diagnosis to provide patient stratification and guide therapy.

The Effects of Age and Reading Experience on the Lifespan Neurodevelopment for Reading Comprehension.

Reading comprehension is a vital cognitive skill that individuals use throughout their lives. The neurodevelopment of reading comprehension across the lifespan, however, remains underresearched. Furthermore, factors such as maturation and experience significantly influence functional brain development. Given the complexity of reading comprehension, which incorporates lower-level word reading process and higher-level semantic integration process, our study aims to investigate how age and reading experience influence the neurobiology underpinning these two processes across the lifespan. fMRI data of 158 participants aged from 7 to 77 years were collected during a passive word viewing task and a sentence comprehension task to engage the lower- and higher-level processes, respectively. We found that the neurodevelopment of the lower-level process was primarily influenced by age, showing increased activation and connectivity with age in parieto-occipital and middle/inferior frontal lobes related to morphological-semantic mapping while decreased activation in the temporoparietal regions linked to phonological processing. However, the brain function of the higher-level process was primarily influenced by reading experience, exhibiting a greater reliance on the frontotemporal semantic network with enhanced sentence-level reading performance. Furthermore, reading experience did not significantly affect the brain function of children, but had a positive effect on young adults in the lower-level process and on middle-aged and older adults in the higher-level process. These findings indicate that the brain function for lower- and higher-level processes of reading comprehension is differently affected by maturation and reading experience, and the experience effect is contingent on age regarding the two processes.

Exploring the structure of college students' adaptability by using cross-lagged path analysis: The role of emotional adaptability.

Adaptability is an important psychological trait for college students. However, the components of adaptability contained significant inconsistencies in previous studies. On the one hand, there were discrepancies among the adaptability dimensions. On the other hand, significant inconsistencies were found in the connections among different aspects of adaptability. Therefore, the current research aimed to investigate the latent relationship among various components of adaptability. To achieve this, 565 volunteers were recruited to complete a 5-min cross-sectional survey. Subsequently, 402 participants were recruited to complete an 8-min longitudinal survey. The current study comprised two sub-studies: Study 1 utilized a structural equation model to examine the relationship between various dimensions of adaptability in a cross-sectional dataset, while Study 2 employed the cross-lagged panel model to validate the latent relationship between emotional adaptability and other types of adaptability using a longitudinal dataset. Results from the cross-sectional study indicated significant associations between emotional adaptability and other types of adaptability, with coefficients ranging from .231 to .588. The longitudinal study revealed that emotional adaptability at Time 2 and 3 could be predicted by learning adaptability, professional adaptability, and economic adaptability at Time 1 and 2. Consequently, the research concluded that individuals' emotional maladjustment could be predicted by maladaptive difficulties in learning, professional settings, homesickness, interpersonal relationships, and economics.

Rotational energy transfer in the collision of N2O with He atom.

The quantum state-to-state rotationally inelastic quenching of N2O by colliding with a He atom is studied on an ab initio potential energy surface with N2O lying on its vibrational ground state. The cross sections for collision energies from 10-6-100 cm-1 and rate constants from 10-5-10 K are calculated employing the fully converged quantum close-coupling method for the quenching of the j = 1-6 rotational states of N2O. Numerous van der Waals shapes or Feshbach resonances are observed; the cross sections of different channels are found to follow the Wigner scaling law in the cold threshold regime and may intersect with each other. In order to interpret the mechanism and estimate the cross sections of the rotational energy transfer, we propose a minimal classical model of collision between an asymmetric double-shell ellipsoid and a point particle. The classical model reproduces the quantum scattering results and points out the attractive interactions and the potential asymmetry can affect the collision process. The resulting insights are expected to expand our interpretations of inelastic scattering and energy transfer in molecular collisions.