People quasi-randomly assigned to farm rice are more collectivistic than people assigned to farm wheat.

The rice theory of culture argues that the high labor demands and interdependent irrigation networks of paddy rice farming makes cultures more collectivistic than wheat-farming cultures. Despite prior evidence, proving causality is difficult because people are not randomly assigned to farm rice. In this study, we take advantage of a unique time when the Chinese government quasi-randomly assigned people to farm rice or wheat in two state farms that are otherwise nearly identical. The rice farmers show less individualism, more loyalty/nepotism toward a friend over a stranger, and more relational thought style. These results rule out confounds in tests of the rice theory, such as temperature, latitude, and historical events. The differences suggest rice-wheat cultural differences can form in a single generation.

People in historically rice-farming areas are less happy and socially compare more than people in wheat-farming areas.

Using two nationally representative surveys, we find that people in China's historically rice-farming areas are less happy than people in wheat areas. This is a puzzle because the rice area is more interdependent, and relationships are an important predictor of happiness. We explore how the interdependence of historical rice farming may have paradoxically undermined happiness by creating more social comparison than wheat farming. We build a framework in which rice farming leads to social comparison, which makes people unhappy (especially people who are worse off). If people in rice areas socially compare more, then people's happiness in rice areas should be more closely related to markers of social status like income. In two studies, national survey data show that income, self-reported social status, and occupational status predict people's happiness twice as strongly in rice areas than wheat areas. In Study 3, we use a unique natural experiment comparing two nearby state farms that effectively randomly assigned people to farm rice or wheat. The rice farmers socially compare more, and farmers who socially compare more are less happy. If interdependence breeds social comparison and erodes happiness, it could help explain the paradox of why the interdependent cultures of East Asia are less happy than similarly wealthy cultures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Ultra-Small and Metabolizable Near-Infrared Au/Gd Nanoclusters for Targeted FL/MRI Imaging and Cancer Theranostics.

Tumor accurate imaging can effectively guide tumor resection and accurate follow-up targeted therapy. The development of imaging-stable, safe, and metabolizable contrast agents is key to accurate tumor imaging. Herein, ultra-small and metabolizable dual-mode imaging probe Au/Gd@FA NCs is rationally engineered by a simple hydrothermal method to achieve accurate FL/MRI imaging of tumors. The probes exhibit ultra-small size (2.5-3.0 nm), near-infrared fluorescence (690 nm), high quantum yield (4.4%), and a better T1 nuclear magnetic signal compared to commercial MRI contrast agents. By modifying the folic acid (FA) molecules, the uptake and targeting of the probes are effectively improved, enabling specific fluorescence imaging of breast cancer. Au/Gd@FA NCs with good biosafety were found to be excreted in the feces after imaging without affecting the normal physiological metabolism of mice. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased significantly after incubation of Au/Gd@FA NCs with tumor cells under 660 nm laser irradiation, indicating that Au/Gd@FA NCs can promote intracellular ROS production and effectively induce cell apoptosis. Thus, metabolizable Au/Gd@FA NCs provide a potential candidate probe for multimodal imaging and tumor diagnosis in clinical basic research. Meanwhile, Au/Gd@FA NCs mediated excessive intracellular production of ROS that could help promote tumor cell death.

Body Image and Sociocultural Predictors of Body Image Dissatisfaction in Croatian and Chinese Women.

In the current paper, two different studies were designed to investigate body image dissatisfaction and perception of the attractive female body in Chinese and Croatian women and men using the correlational and experimental study research approach. Study 1 comprised 266 Chinese (160 women; 106 men) and 261 Croatian participants (161 women; 100 men). Women from both countries were asked to complete the measures of the Contour Rating Scale, SATAQ - 4, Body Area Scale and demographic data, while men were asked to complete the measures of the Contour Rating Scale and demographic data via online surveys. The obtained results indicated that thin internalization predicted body image dissatisfaction in both samples. Besides, while both samples scored relatively high on thin-ideal internalization, Chinese women, who were also in general less satisfied with their body image, had higher scores. Chinese women also scored higher on musculature internalization and felt more pressure from family, friends, and media to conform to standard beauty norms compared to Croatian women. The samples also differed in their perceptions of preferable body size, where Chinese women had a more negative perception of their actual body size. The obtained results furthermore revealed that Chinese men preferred thinner women compared to Croatian men. Moreover, both samples misjudged what their female counterparts found attractive, thinking that women wanted to have even thinner bodies than they actually reported. Similarly, women from both cultures revealed a preference for thinner figures than the ones selected as the most attractive by the opposite sex. Finally, in Study 2, experimental manipulation of thin-ideal was used to examine whether thin priming affected body image dissatisfaction. The obtained results revealed that when primed with thin-ideal women from both countries felt lower satisfaction with their body size. The observed effect was stronger for Chinese participants. Limitations of the current study are discussed in the conclusion.

A novel turn-on fluorescent sensor for the sensitive detection of glutathione via gold nanocluster preparation based on controllable ligand-induced etching.

In this study, we report a facile one-pot chemical etching approach to simply and rapidly prepare gold nanoclusters capped with luminol (Lum-AuNCs) in an alkaline aqueous solution at room temperature. A series of characterization studies have been carried out to explore the morphology, the optical properties and chemical components of Lum-AuNCs. The average diameter of Lum-AuNCs is 1.8 ± 0.3 nm, exhibiting fluorescence near 510 nm upon excitation at 420 nm with a quantum yield of 14.29% and an average fluorescence lifetime of 9.47 ns. On the basis of the ligand-induced etching of glutathione (GSH) to the intermediate (luminol capped gold nanoparticles, abbreviated as Lum-AuNPs), a novel and simple method for the fluorescence determination of GSH has been established. The method displays a good linear response in the range of 0.05-300 µM toward GSH with a limit of detection of 35 nM. This detection strategy with high sensitivity and selectivity facilitates its practical application for the detection of GSH levels in cell extracts. The in vitro cell results illustrate that Lum-AuNCs have good cytocompatibility and can be used to readily differentiate normal cells and tumor cells.

Genome-wide functional analysis on the molecular mechanism of specifically biosynthesized fluorescence Eu complex.

Fluorescence imaging as an attractive diagnostic technique is widely employed for early diagnosis of cancer. Self-biosynthesized fluorescent Eu complex in situ in Hela cells have realized specifically and accurately fluorescence imaging for cancer cells. But the molecular mechanism of the in situ biosynthesized process is still unclear. In order to reveal this mechanism, we have investigated whole-genome expression profiles with cDNA microarray, incubated with Eu solution in Hela cells for 24 h. Methylthiazoltetrazolium (MTT) assay and laser confocal fluorescence microscopy study showed the low cytotoxicity and specifically fluorescence imaging of Eu complex in Hela cells. It is observed that 563 up-regulated genes and 274 down-regulated genes were differentially expressed. Meanwhile, quantitative RT-PCR was utilized to measure the expression of some important genes, which validated the results of microarray data analysis. Besides, GO analysis showed that a wide range of differential expression functional genes involved in three groups, including cellular component, molecular function and cellular biological process. It was evident that some important biological pathways were apparently affected through KEGG pathway analysis, including focal adhesion pathway and PI3K (phosphatidylinositol 3' -kinase)-Akt signaling pathway, which can influence glycolytic metabolism and NAD(P)H-oxidases metabolic pathway.

An intracellular temperature nanoprobe based on biosynthesized fluorescent copper nanoclusters.

Temperature variation is related to a series of biological reactions and abnormal medical processes of living cells. Fluorescence-based temperature nanoprobes have great potential for cellular imaging and temperature measurement. In this study, we have established a facile, efficient and green strategy for the preparation of an intracellular temperature nanoprobe specifically by in situ biosynthesized fluorescent copper nanoclusters (CuNCs). Our observations demonstrate that the fluorescent CuNCs could specifically be biosynthesized spontaneously in MDA-MB-231 cancer cells through a particular molecular process, but not in normal cells (i.e., L02 cells). The resultant CuNCs, with an average diameter of 2.4 ± 0.4 nm, were found to exhibit red fluorescence emission (λem = 610 nm) and could further efficiently accumulate for bioimaging in target cancer cells. More importantly, the fluorescence signal of the biosynthesized CuNCs is sensitively thermo-responsive over the physiological temperature range in MDA-MB-231 cells (relative sensitivity: -3.18% per Celsius). This provides an efficient nanothermometer based on the in situ biosynthesized CuNCs for cellular fluorescence imaging and other biomedical applications.

Rapid and accurate tumor-target bio-imaging through specific in vivo biosynthesis of a fluorescent europium complex.

A new and facile method for rapidly and accurately achieving tumor targeting fluorescent images has been explored using a specifically biosynthesized europium (Eu) complex in vivo and in vitro. It demonstrated that a fluorescent Eu complex could be bio-synthesized through a spontaneous molecular process in cancerous cells and tumors, but not prepared in normal cells and tissues. In addition, the proteomics analyses show that some biological pathways of metabolism, especially for NADPH production and glutamine metabolism, are remarkably affected during the relevant biosynthesis process, where molecular precursors of europium ions are reduced to fluorescent europium complexes inside cancerous cells or tumor tissues. These results proved that the specific self-biosynthesis of a fluorescent Eu complex by cancer cells or tumor tissues can provide a new strategy for accurate diagnosis and treatment strategies in the early stages of cancers and thus is beneficial for realizing precise surgical intervention based on the relevant cheap and readily available agents.

Culture and Unmerited Authorship Credit: Who Wants It and Why?

Unmerited authorship is a practice common to many countries around the world, but are there systematic cultural differences in the practice? We tested whether scientists from collectivistic countries are more likely to add unmerited coauthors than scientists from individualistic countries. We analyzed archival data from top scientific journals (Study 1) and found that national collectivism predicted the number of authors, which might suggest more unmerited authors. Next, we found that collectivistic scientists were more likely to add unmerited coauthors than individualistic scientists, both between cultures (Studies 2-3) and within cultures (Study 4). Finally, we found that priming people with collectivistic self-construal primes made them more likely to endorse questionable authorship attitudes (Study 5). These findings show that culture collectivism is related to unmerited authorship.

Eu(III)-induced room-temperature fast transformation of CdTe nanocrystals into nanorods.

A fast and mild synthesis method of highly crystalline CdTe nanorods (NRs) was developed by adding europium nitrate hexahydrate to an aqueous solution of CdTe nanocrystals (NCs) at room temperature within 30 min. It was suggested that strong coordination strength of Eu(III) decreases zeta potential, thereby accelerates aggregation of NCs, and favors the transformation process from NCs to NRs. The oriented attachment of aggregated particles was suggested as a major path for the formation of highly crystalline NRs under experimental conditions. The proposed extremely fast room-temperature methodology opens up novel pathways for the synthesis of one-dimensional (1D) semiconductor nanostructures with high crystallinity, which would become potential candidates for many practical applications such as photovoltaics, circuit design and fabrication of functional architectures.