Teacher Well-Being in Chinese Universities: Examining the Relationship between Challenge-Hindrance Stressors, Job Satisfaction, and Teaching Engagement.

Improving teacher well-being at work is a great challenge worldwide. Understanding the stressors of Chinese university teachers in teaching activities is critical for shedding light on well-being in the midst of the rapid expansion of the higher education system and the quest to rise in world rankings. This study integrates the well-being perspective and the transactional model of stress and coping to investigate the mechanisms underlying the effect of challenge-hindrance stressors on teacher engagement. Data were collected through the online platform SoJump in mainland China (N = 7743), and structural equation modeling was used to test the relationship between challenge-hindrance stressors and teaching engagement. The statistical results revealed the following: (1) challenge stressors had a significant positive effect on teaching engagement, while hindrance stressors were negatively related to teaching engagement; (2) challenge and hindrance stressors were significant negative predictors of teacher job satisfaction; (3) teacher job satisfaction suppressed the impact of challenge stressors on teaching engagement and partially mediated the process by which hindrance stressors impact teaching engagement. The findings suggest that the theoretically opposing effects of the two stressors are not absolute and that special consideration should be given to teachers' job satisfaction in relation to stress management for university teachers.

A bibliometric review on latent topics and research trends in the growth mindset literature for mathematics education.

Embracing a growth mindset is essential to students' academic improvement. This manuscript aims to better understand the existing literature on the role and effects of the growth mindset in mathematics teaching and learning. It provides an updated perspective on the research regarding the growth mindset in mathematics education. The dataset comprises 85 journal articles published from 2012 to 2022 retrieved from the Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus databases. The current study applies a methodology based on bibliometric analysis techniques. The analysis reveals and corroborates several patterns from the research trends, journals, countries, and authors that have significant impacts on the research field. The findings show that USA, UK, and Norway are the most productive countries in publishing research on the topic. Moreover, the results of the thematic analysis indicate that the topics discussed among most of the articles in the dataset include engagement, implementation, persistence, children, fluid intelligence, and skills. The longitudinal trends in research themes based on study keywords illustrate an evolution in the research from the concept of mindsets to implicit theories on the growth mindset alongside academic achievement. Lastly, this study also provides an overview of the conceptual structure underlying studies on the growth mindset, which offers valuable insights into potential research topics for academics and practitioners seeking to explore the growth mindset in the future.

Reducing the discrepancies between the Aerodynamic Gradient Method and other micrometeorological approaches for measuring fumigant emissions.

Observations of fumigant and pesticide emissions are needed for multiple public health and environmental protection mandates. The aerodynamic gradient method (ADM) is commonly used to measure fumigant and pesticide emissions. However, the ADM may over estimate emissions compared to other micrometeorological and modeling approaches, which would increase uncertainty over the true flux estimate. Different studies with ADM have also used multiple differing transport functions that relate concentration gradients to emissions. Therefore, we tested different and more recent transport functions to try to correct the anticipated observed higher values with ADM using observations from two sites in California, USA. We evaluated different transport functions against eddy covariance observations and found that using the functions developed by Högström (1996) corrected the ADM values to be in line with other observational methods. For the Fresno experiment, cumulative emission masses from the ADM- Högström functions were within 7% of other approaches while the Pruitt function was >15% higher. Applying the Högström functions to a series of previous fumigation experiments in California saw reductions in the ADM observations of >25% for cumulative mass emissions. The results indicate that the Högström functions should be used for future ADM experiments in the absence of more robust transport factors for local meteorological conditions. The results also illustrate how previous ADM observations could be corrected to reduce uncertainty in flux emissions estimates.

A "self-accelerating endosomal escape" siRNA delivery nanosystem for significantly suppressing hyperplasia via blocking the ERK2 pathway.

Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based therapy is an emerging treatment to address serious cardiovascular disease. It is essential to construct highly efficient vehicles for therapeutic siRNA intracellular delivery. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase-2 (ERK2) siRNA (abbreviated as ERK2-siRNA) is known as a type of siRNA to selectively silence the expression of ERK2. Herein, a type of ternary delivery system characterized by an endosome-selective-self-accelerating-escape ability was designed and prepared for the purpose of inhibiting the migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in vitro. This system was called ternary ERK2-siRNA complexes (abbreviated as TRCs-Aco), which were fabricated via sequential electrostatic self-assembly of a star-shaped cell-penetrating peptide based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS-(C-G-R8-G-W)16), ERK2-siRNA and a pH-sensitive anionic polymer of cis-aconitic anhydride grafted ε-poly(l-lysine). Importantly, TRCs-Aco could break down the obstacle of biocompatibility-silencing efficiency. In comparison with the parent binary siRNA complexes (abbreviated as BRCs), which are composed of POSS-(C-G-R8-G-W)16 and ERK2-siRNA, our designed TRCs-Aco revealed more excellent biocompatibility including hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility. Unexpectedly, TRCs-Aco exhibited stronger ERK2 silencing efficiency at the level of mRNA and protein, which was mainly due to its remarkable self-accelerating endosomal escape. Definitive evidence demonstrated that this ternary ERK2-siRNA delivery system significantly prevented the migration of VSMCs and decreased the dermal thickness in bleomycin-treated mice. In brief, this unique structured system could provide a valuable nanoplatform for highly efficient siRNA delivery in VSMCs, and it might hold great potential in guiding ERK2-siRNA-based proliferative disease therapy.

A progressively targeted gene delivery system with a pH triggered surface charge-switching ability to drive angiogenesis in vivo.

For clinical application of therapeutic gene delivery, it is urgent to develop safe and in vivo efficient delivery systems. Nowadays, gene delivery carriers based on functional peptides have attracted much attention due to their excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and biological multifunctionality. In the present study, a star-shaped integrated functional peptide, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS-(C-G-NLS-G-TAT)16, abbreviated as PP1), was synthesized through "thiol-ene" click chemistry between the TAT-G-NLS-G-C multifunctional peptide sequence and inorganic octa-diallyl POSS. Cationic PP1 was mixed with the pZNF580 plasmid to obtain stable binary gene complexes (BCPs) with membrane penetrating and nucleus targeting functions. In order to improve BCPs' biocompatibility, cellular uptake, and endosome escape, they were further modified using an anionic polymer of PLL-g-CAGW21%-g-Acon (n = 47%, 57% and 64%) having an EC targeting ligand (CAGW peptide) and a charge reversal moiety (cis-aconitic amide) through electrostatic absorption to obtain ternary gene complexes (TCPs). By adjusting the weight ratio of PP1/pZNF580 plasmid/PLL-g-CAGW21%-g-Acon to 5/1/1.25, TCPs-1 with n = 47%, TCPs-2 with n = 57% and TCPs-3 with n = 64% exhibited a neutral zeta potential and suitable particle size; thus they were used for further biological evaluation. Compared with BCPs (5/1 weight ratio of PP1/pZNF580 plasmid), TCPs exhibited high hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility; more interestingly, they also showed significantly enhanced gene delivery efficiency. The TCP groups achieved perfect transfection effects in the proliferation and migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), and especially high neovascularization in vitro and in vivo. Our results demonstrated that the high graft ratio of cis-aconitic amide provided benefits of high biocompatibility and gene delivery efficiency, and the TCPs-3 group showed the optimized transfection efficiency among the three groups. Importantly, HUVECs transfected with TCPs-3 exhibited an outstanding ability to enhance angiogenesis in vivo. In brief, this multifunctional ternary gene system with the EC targeting ligand and membrane penetrating, charge reversal and nucleus targeting functions is a promising platform for the transfection of HUVECs, and may be useful for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in clinical applications.

Multifunctional gene delivery systems with targeting ligand CAGW and charge reversal function for enhanced angiogenesis.

Gene delivery systems with good biocompatibility and high transfection efficiency play a major role in the clinical application of gene therapy. It is of great interest to develop a functional anionic polymer to modify polycationic carriers for the purpose of improving their biocompatibility and gene delivery ability. Herein, we prepared three kinds of anionic polymers, i.e., cis-aconitic anhydride grafted poly(l-lysine) (PLCA), cis-aconitic anhydride and CAGW functional peptide grafted poly(l-lysine) (PLCA-CAGW), and succinic anhydride and CAGW peptide grafted poly(l-lysine) (PLSA-CAGW), and coated them onto binary gene complexes to obtain three ternary complexes, i.e., TCP-CA, TCP-CA-CAGW and TCP-SA-CAGW, respectively. These gene delivery systems were integrated with a specific functional peptide and smart polyplexes that enabled them to perform a desired function in response to pH changes in biological microenvironments. The results of the cell viability assay showed that the prepared anionic polymers could improve the biocompatibility of gene complexes. Gene expression at the mRNA and protein levels demonstrated that TCP-CA-CAGW enhanced the gene delivery efficiency, benefiting from the targeting CAGW peptide and charge reversal moiety (cis-aconitic amide), while TCP-SA-CAGW showed a relatively low transfection efficiency because of negatively charged PLSA-CAGW and its non-reversal function. The PLCA-CAGW shell in TCP-CA-CAGW possessed an aconitic acid group, EC targeting ligand and charge reversal cis-aconitic amide, which enabled the gene delivery systems to be neutral in blood circulation, but once in the acidic lysosomes, they became positively charged for improving lysosomal escape and nuclear localization. Importantly, the in vitro/vivo angiogenesis assay demonstrated that human umbilical vein endothelial cells transfected with TCP-CA-CAGW functionalized ternary complexes could obviously enhance vascularization. These multifunctional ternary complexes with functional smart anionic polymer shells possessed low cytotoxicity and high gene delivery efficiency, and this strategy may be a promising platform for cardiovascular gene therapy.

Polarization-insensitive hot-electron infrared photodetection by double Schottky junction and multilayer grating.

Infrared photodetection based on hot electrons is drawing increasing interest due to the capabilities of below-bandgap detection, high tunability of working wavelength, compact size, and room-temperature operation. However, conventional hot-electron photodetectors are mostly based on surface plasmons with a strong polarization preference. In this Letter, we propose a multilayer grating double-junction hot-electron photodetector by introducing an ultrathin Au layer sandwiched between two Au-Si-Au cavities. The multilayer grating system allows the excitation of the guided-mode resonance that shows a weak reliance on the incident polarization and, therefore, realizes the polarization-insensitive optical absorption up to 98%. The special multilayer design facilitates hot-electron generation in the ultrathin Au layers with high carrier transport efficiency, as well as enabling the formation of a double Schottky junction, which doubles the carrier emission probability. The optical and electrical benefits ensure a polarization-independent photoresponsivity ∼1 mA/W at the wavelength of 1470 nm.

Emissions of 1,3-Dichloropropene and Chloropicrin after Soil Fumigation under Field Conditions.

Soil fumigation is an important agronomic practice in the production of many high-value vegetable and fruit crops, but the use of chemical fumigants can lead to excessive atmospheric emissions. A large-scale (2.9 ha) field experiment was conducted to obtain volatilization and cumulative emission rates for two commonly used soil fumigants under typical agronomic practices: 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-D) and chloropicrin. The aerodynamic method and the indirect back-calculation method using ISCST3 and CALPUFF dispersion models were used to estimate flux loss from the treated field. Over the course of the experiment, the daily peak volatilization rates ranged from 12 to 30 µg m(-2) s(-1) for 1,3-D and from 0.7 to 2.6 µg m(-2) s(-1) for chloropicrin. Depending on the method used for quantification, total emissions of 1,3-D and chloropicrin, respectively, ranged from 16 to 35% and from 0.3 to 1.3% of the applied fumigant. A soil incubation study showed that the low volatilization rates measured for chloropicrin were due to particularly high soil degradation rates observed at this field site. Understanding and quantifying fumigant emissions from agricultural soil will help in developing best management practices to reduce emission losses, reducing adverse impacts to human and ecosystem health, and providing inputs for conducting risk assessments.

Accurate centerline detection and line width estimation of thick lines using the radon transform.

Centerline detection and line width estimation are important for many computer vision applications, e.g., road network extraction from high resolution remotely sensed imagery. Radon transform-based linear feature detection has many advantages over other approaches: for example, its robustness in noisy images. However, it usually fails to detect the centerline of a thick line due to the peak selection problem. In this paper, several key issues that affect the centerline detection using the radon transform are investigated. A mean filter is proposed to locate the true peak in the radon image and a profile analysis technique is used to further refine the line parameters. The theta-boundary problem of the radon transform is also discussed and the erroneous line parameters are corrected. Intensive experiments have shown that the proposed methodology is effective in finding the centerline and estimating the line width of thick lines.

[Study on the aggregation of metal-free tetrasulfophthalocyanine in solutions].

Metal-free tetrasulfophthalocyanine was synthesized by the reaction of triammonium salt of 4-sulfophalic acid with urea, using antimony powder as catalyst. The aggregation of this compound in aqueous and aqueous alcoholic solutions(MeOH, EtOH, ArOH) has been studied by electronic absorption spectra. The result shows that several factors such as the composition of the solvent, the acidity of solution, influence the extent of the aggregation. The dimerisation constant (Kd) of the titled compound in different solvents is reported.