How are irritability and anhedonia symptoms linked? A network approach.

BACKGROUND: Anhedonia and irritability are two prevalent symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) that predict greater depression severity and poor outcomes, including suicidality. Although both symptoms have been proposed to result from paradoxical reward processing dysfunctions, the interactions between these symptoms remain unclear. Anhedonia is a multifaceted symptom reflecting impairments in multiple dimensions of reward processing (e.g., pleasure, desire, motivation, and effort) across distinct reward types (e.g., food, sensory experiences, social activities, hobbies) that may differentially interact with irritability. This study investigated the complex associations between anhedonia and irritability using network analysis. METHOD: Participants (N = 448, Mage = 33.29, SD = 14.58) reported their symptoms of irritability on the Brief Irritability Test (Holtzman et al., 2015) and anhedonia (i.e., pleasure, desire, motivation, and effort dimensions across four reward types) on the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (Rizvi et al., 2015). A regularized Gaussian Graphical Model was built to estimate the network structure between items. RESULTS: Irritability was negatively related to willingness to expand effort to obtain food/drinks (estimate = -0.18), social activities (-0.13), and hobbies (-0.12) rewards. Irritability was positively associated with a desire for food/drinks (0.12). LIMITATIONS: Only a small proportion (5.8%) of our sample was clinical and the study design was cross-sectional. CONCLUSION: A specific link between irritability and the effort dimension of the hedonic response across three reward types was identified. Investigating effort expenditure deficits with experimental paradigms may help us understand the mechanisms underlying the comorbidity between irritability and anhedonia in the context of MDD.

Evaluationof compact air-induction flat fan nozzles for herbicide applications: Spray drift and biological efficacy.

Nozzles are the most critical component of a sprayer for pesticide applications. Recently, air-induction nozzles and twin flat-fan air-induction nozzles have started to be used for herbicide applications. In order to evaluate the potential of compact air-induction nozzles for herbicide spraying, this paper compares the effects of air-induction nozzles and standard flat-fan nozzles on spray atomization, deposition, drift, and weed control efficacy in maize and wheat. Droplet spectra were measured by a laser particle size analyzer, and drift potential values were determined using a drift test bench (ISO 22401). A field study was conducted to compare the spray drift and biological efficacy between Lechler standard flat-fan nozzles and compact air-induction nozzles including different nozzle sizes. In the range from 0.2 to 0.4 MPa, the droplet size classes of the LU and ST nozzles were very similar and ranged from fine to very fine, while the droplets of the air-induction nozzles IDK and IDKT were medium or coarse depending on the spray pressure and nozzle size. The drift potential trials showed that the droplet size characteristics, mainly V 100, are strongly linked with the drift reduction potential. Both drift potential and field results showed that the compact air-induction nozzles had a good performance in drift reduction. In terms of weed control biological efficacy, there were no significant differences between standard flat-fan nozzles and air-induction nozzles. In all cases, the efficacy values were above 80% both in maize and in wheat. In conclusion, air-induction nozzles are recommended for herbicide applications as they provide good biological efficacy while significantly reducing the amount of spray drift, which is of great significance for the protection of the environment and the surrounding sensitive crops.

Promotion strategy for online healthcare platform during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Spring Rain Doctor in China.

Introduction: Online healthcare platform (OHP) is a new form of medical treatment that solves the problems of an unbalanced distribution of medical resources in China. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, OHP has greatly reduced the medical pressure of the hospital and the risk of cross-infection. Methods: Based on self-determination theory (SDT) (Ryan and Deci, 2000), privacy calculus theory (PCT) (Culnan, 1999) and perceived value theory (PVT) (Choi, 2004), this study uses evolutionary game theory to analyze behavioral strategies and their dynamic evolution in the promotion of OHP. Moreover, we conduct numerical simulations with the help of program compilation. Results: The results demonstrate that (1) both the qualification inspection of doctors and the investment in information protection influence doctors' participation in and patients' usage of OHP; (2) both the initial probabilities of doctor participation and patient usage influence the multi-game results; (3) the trend of doctors joining OHP is affected by registration cost, time cost, and reputation loss; and (4) the trend of patients using online healthcare is mainly decided by the cost. Conclusion: This study takes the Spring Rain Doctor as an example to verify the game results. To further popularize online medical treatment among patients, the platform should attach importance to the inspection of doctors and the protection of privacy information and strengthen its publicity in remote places.

Design and development of orchard autonomous navigation spray system.

Driven by the demand for efficient plant protection in orchards, the autonomous navigation system for orchards is hereby designed and developed in this study. According to the three modules of unmanned system "perception-decision-control," the environment perception and map construction strategy based on 3D lidar is constructed for the complex environment in orchards. At the same time, millimeter-wave radar is further selected for multi-source information fusion for the perception of obstacles. The extraction of orchard navigation lines is achieved by formulating a four-step extraction strategy according to the obtained lidar data. Finally, aiming at the control problem of plant protection machine, the ADRC control strategy is adopted to enhance the noise immunity of the system. Different working conditions are designed in the experimental section for testing the obstacle avoidance performance and navigation accuracy of the autonomous navigation sprayer. The experimental results show that the unmanned vehicle can identify the obstacle quickly and make an emergency stop and find a rather narrow feasible area when a moving person or a different thin column is used as an obstacle. Many experiments have shown a safe distance for obstacle avoidance about 0.5 m, which meets the obstacle avoidance requirements. In the navigation accuracy experiment, the average navigation error in both experiments is within 15 cm, satisfying the requirements for orchard spray operation. A set of spray test experiments are designed in the final experimental part to further verify the feasibility of the system developed by the institute, and the coverage rate of the leaves of the canopy is about 50%.

Lateral Flow Immunoassay for Visible Detection of Human Brucellosis Based on Blue Silica Nanoparticles.

Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonosis chronic infectious disease with a strong latent capability to endanger human health and economic development via direct or indirect ways. However, the existing methods for brucellosis diagnosis are time-consuming and expensive as they require a tedious experimental procedure and a sophisticated experimental device and performance. To overcome these defects, it is truly necessary to establish a real-time, on-site, and rapid detection method for human brucellosis. Here, a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) with a rapid, sensitive, and alternative diagnostic procedure for human brucellosis with a high degree of accuracy was developed based on blue silica nanoparticles (SiNPs), Staphylococcal protein A (SPA), and surface Lipopolysaccharide of Brucella spp. (LPS), which can be applied for rapid and feasible detection of human brucellosis. To our knowledge, this is the first report that uses blue SiNPs as a signal probe of LFIA for the rapid diagnosis of human brucellosis. The precursor of blue SiNPs@SPA such as colorless SiNPs and blue SiNPs was synthesized at first and then coupled with SPA onto the surface of blue SiNPs by covalent bond to prepare blue SiNPs@SPA as a capture signal to catch the antibody in the brucellosis-positive serum. When SPA was combined with the antibodies in the brucellosis-positive serum, it was captured by LPS on the test line, forming an antigen-antibody sandwich structure, resulting in the T line turning blue. Finally, the results showed that it is acceptable to use blue SiNPs as visible labels of LFIA, and standard brucellosis serum (containing Brucella spp. antibody at 1,000 IU/ml) could be detected at a dilution of 10-5 and the detection limit of this method was 0.01 IU/ml. Moreover, it also demonstrated good specificity and accuracy for the detection of real human serum samples. Above all, the blue SiNPs-based LFIA that we developed provides a rapid, highly accurate, and inexpensive on-site diagnosis of human brucellosis, and shows great promise in clinical diagnostics for other diseases.

Characterization of antibiotic resistance genes and bacterial community in selected municipal and industrial sewage treatment plants beside Poyang Lake.

Sewage treatment plants (STPs) are significant reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB). Municipal STPs (MSTPs) and industrial STPs (ISTPs) are the two most important STP types in cities. In this study, the ARGs, mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and bacterial communities of selected STPs, including two MSTPs and one ISTP, in the vicinity of Poyang Lake were comprehensively investigated through high-throughput qPCR and high-throughput Illumina sequencing. The results showed that the profiles of ARGs, MGEs and bacteria differed between the ISTP and the two MSTPs, most likely due to differences in influent water quality, such as the Pb that characterized in the ISTP's influent. The longer hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of the two MSTPs than of the ISTP may also have accounted for the different profiles. Thus, a prolonged HRT in the CASS process seems to allow a more extensive removal of ARGs and bacteria in ISTPs with similar treatment process. By providing comprehensive insights into the characteristics of ARGs, MGEs and the bacterial communities of the selected MSTPs and ISTP, our study provides a scientific basis for controlling the propagation and diffusion of ARGs and ARB in different types of STPs.

High-throughput investigation of crystal-to-glass transformation of Ti-Ni-Cu ternary alloy.

A high-throughput investigation of metallic glass formation via solid-state reaction was reported in this paper. Combinatorial multilayered thin-film chips covering the entire Ti-Ni-Cu ternary system were prepared using ion beam sputtering technique. Microbeam synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements were conducted, with 1,325 data points collected from each chip, to map out the composition and the phase constitution before and after annealing at 373 K for 110 hours. The composition dependence of the crystal-to-glass transition by solid-state reaction was surveyed using this approach. The resulting composition-phase map is consistent with previously reported results. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS) was performed on the representative compositions to determine the inter-diffusion between layers, the result shows that the diffusion of Ti is the key factor for the crystal-to-glass transition. In addition, both layer thickness and layer sequence play important roles as well. This work demonstrates that combinatorial chip technique is an efficient way for systematic and rapid study of crystal-to-glass transition for multi-component alloy systems.

Mesoporous SnMgNd substituted M-hexaferrite catalyzed heterogeneous photo-Fenton-like activity for degradation of methylene blue.

Emerging pollutants and industrial waste dyes are significantly increasing with the development of new industries. The development of nano-composites are getting more attention in this regard due to their unique properties. Here in barium M-hexaferrites with novel composition BaFe11(SnMg)0.25Nd0.5O19 (SMN) was synthesized as heterogeneous photo-Fenton-like system for the degradation of Methylene Blue (MB). The synthesized SMN nano-particles (NPs) were characterized with numerous techniques, including Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Optical properties (UV), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) and magnetometer (VSM). The factors affecting the degradation reaction such as photocatalyst (SMN) dosage, H2O2 concentrations, UV irradiation and pH were scientifically explored. The photo-Fenton-like activity of SMN-NPs revealed high degradation (98.89%) and mineralization (83%) after 140 min in SMN-NPs + H2O2 + UV irradiation system within a wide range of pH. Moreover, good stability and recycling ability of SMN-NPs was achieved. HPLC/GC-MS analysis revealed the degradation pathways of MB and the intermediates were mineralized into CO2 and H2O. The outcomes revealed that SMN-NPs were promising for emerging industrial dyes removal.

Microstructural Characterization and Phase Diagram Calculation of a Less Known Al-Fe-Mn-Si Phase in a SiCp/2014Al Composite.

A systematic characterization of a less known Al, Fe, Mn, and Si phase in a SiC particulate-reinforced 2014Al composite (SiCp/2014Al) was performed. In addition to the expected CuAl2 phase, the Al, Fe, Mn, and Si phase was formed as either an adhesion (>1 µm) onto SiC in the as-cast composite, or as a precipitate (<100 nm) in the matrix after hot extrusion. The structure of the phase was identified as cubic by both X-ray diffraction and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). The SAED pattern also indicated that the structure belongs to the Pm space group instead of Im. The thermodynamic phase diagram was calculated, confirming the presence of an α-AlFeMn or α-AlFeSi phase in the Al-Fe-Mn and Al-Fe-Si ternary systems, respectively, within the Fe, Mn, and Si content range corresponding to 2014Al. Wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy analysis indicated that the composition of the phase is close to Al12(Fe, Mn)3Si2, in which the Mn/Fe ratio is in the range of 0.6-1.4. The determined Mn/Fe ratio corresponds to the nominal composition of Mn and Fe in the alloy.

Rapid Construction of Fe-Co-Ni Composition-Phase Map by Combinatorial Materials Chip Approach.

One hundred nanometer thick Fe-Co-Ni material chips were prepared and isothermally annealed at 500, 600, and 700 °C, respectively. Pixel-by-pixel composition and structural mapping was performed by microbeam X-ray at synchrotron light source. Diffraction images were recorded at a rate of 1 pattern/s. The XRD patterns were automatically processed, phase-identified, and categorized by hierarchical clustering algorithm to construct the composition-phase map. The resulting maps are consistent with corresponding isothermal sections reported in the ASM Alloy Phase Diagram Database, verifying the effectiveness of the present approach in phase diagram construction.

Experimental study on viscosity reduction for residual oil by ultrasonic.

Because of characteristics of large density, high viscosity and poor mobility, the processing and transportation of residual oil are difficult and challenging, viscosity reduction of residual oil is of great significance. In this paper, the effects of different placement forms of ultrasonic transducers on the sound pressure distribution of ultrasonic inside a cubic container have been simulated, the characteristics of oil bath heating and ultrasonic viscosity reduction were compared, viscosity reduction rule of residual oil was experimentally analyzed by utilizing Response Surface Method under conditions of changing ultrasonic exposure time, power and action mode, the mechanism of viscosity reduction was studied by applying Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, the viscosity retentivity experiment was carried out at last. Experiments were conducted using two kinds of residual oil, and results show that ultrasonic effect on the viscosity reduction of residual oil is significant, the higher viscosity of residual oil, the better effect of ultrasonic, ultrasonic power and exposure time are the significant factors affecting the viscosity reduction rate of residual oil. The maximum viscosity reduction rate is obtained under condition of ultrasonic power is 900W, exposure time is 14min and action mode of exposure time is 2s and interrupting time is 2s, viscosity reduction rate reaching up to 63.95%. The infrared spectroscopy results show that light component in residual oil increased. The viscosity retentivity experiment results show that the viscosity reduction effect remains very well. This paper can provide data reference for the application of ultrasonic in the field of viscosity reduction for residual oil.

[Study on the interaction mechanism of antimicrobial peptide Cecropin-XJ in Xinjiang silkworm and Staphylococcus aureus DNA by spectra].

Nowadays many of antimicrobial peptides have been extensively studied in order to elucidate their antimicrobial mode of action. Much of the research focused on mechanisms of cytoplasmic membrane disruption has been proposed for antimicrobial peptides, but it is not known whether their antimicrobial mode of action is due to their effects on bacterial chromosome. To obtain more information about the possible mechanisms, Cecropin-XJ, a kind of antimicrobial peptide from Xinjiang silkworm, was used as subject and prepared by purification of Pichia yeast fermentation containing cecropin-XJ gene expression product. Subsequently, ultraviolet absorption spectra were employed to investigate whether this antibacterial function is due to Cecropin-XJ works on S. aureus DNA in vitro. The increase in absorbance of DNA samples at 260nm due to the addition of Cecropin-XJ was measured. It is called hyperchromicity of DNA, which can provide a direct measure of the degree of base-pair unstacking. The unstacking results in the loss of duplex helix, and then leads to the duplex helix becoming relaxing. At the same time, the interaction mode was studied by using ethidium bromide (EB) as an extrinsic fluorescence probe. With the addition of Cecropin-XJ, the intensity of intrinsic fluorescence absorbance of DNA at 307 nm increases greatly. It is suggested that the addition of Cecropin-XJ may unstack base-paire of DNA exposing the fluorescent amino acide, leading to the enhancing of DNA fluorescence intensity. Subsequently the competition between Cecropin-XJ and EB to combine with DNA was found. It is suggested that the style was groove binding and intercalation in the interaction of Cecropin-XJ and double helix DNA. Furthermore, in this study, the binding constant and binding number of Cecropin-XJ complex with DNA were determined. There were different binding constant and number of EB complex with DNA because of the the addition of Cecropin-XJ. It is showed that the interaction of Cecropin-XJ and DNA was based on intercalation or non-intercalation. Meanwhile, these results help explain the molecule mechanism of antimicrobial peptide from the interaction style and structure characteristic of Cecropin-XJ and S. aureus DNA. These findings could contribute to further investigation on the mechanism of action of Cecropin-XJ.