Molecular insight into the initial hydration of tricalcium aluminate.

Portland cement (PC) is ubiquitously used in construction for centuries, yet the elucidation of its early-age hydration remains a challenge. Understanding the initial hydration progress of tricalcium aluminate (C3A) at molecular scale is thus crucial for tackling this challenge as it exhibits a proclivity for early-stage hydration and plays a pivotal role in structural build-up of cement colloids. Herein, we implement a series of ab-initio calculations to probe the intricate molecular interactions of C3A during its initial hydration process. The C3A surface exhibits remarkable chemical activity in promoting water dissociation, which in turn facilitates the gradual desorption of Ca ions through a metal-proton exchange reaction. The dissolution pathways and free energies of these Ca ions follow the ligand-exchange mechanism with multiple sequential reactions to form the ultimate products where Ca ions adopt fivefold or sixfold coordination. Finally, these Ca complexes reprecipitate on the remaining Al-rich layer through the interface-coupled dissolution-reprecipitation mechanism, demonstrating dynamically stable inner-sphere adsorption states. The above results are helpful in unmasking the early-age hydration of PC and advancing the rational design of cement-based materials through the bottom-up approach.

Highly selective electroreduction of CO2 to CO with ZnO QDs/N-doped porous carbon catalysts.

ZnO quantum dots (QDs) supported on porous nitrogen-doped carbon (ZnOQDs/P-NC) exhibited excellent electrochemical performance for the electroreduction of CO2 to CO with a faradaic efficiency of 95.3% and a current density of 21.6 mA cm-2 at -2.2 V vs. Ag/Ag+.

Ursolic acid alleviates meiotic abnormalities induced by 3-nitropropionic acid in mouse oocytes.

3-nitropropionic acid (3-NPA), a toxic metabolite produced by mold, is mainly found in moldy sugarcane. 3-NPA inhibits the activity of succinate dehydrogenase that can induce oxidative stress injury in cells, reduce ATP production and induce oxidative stress in mouse ovaries to cause reproductive disorders. Ursolic acid (UA) has a variety of biological activities and is a pentacyclic triterpene compound found in many plants. This experiment aimed to investigate the cytotoxicity of 3-NPA during mouse oocyte in vitro maturation and the protective effects of UA on oocytes challenged with 3-NPA. The results showed that UA could alleviate 3-NPA-induced oocyte meiotic maturation failure. Specifically, 3-NPA induced a decrease in the first polar body extrusion rate of oocytes, abnormal distribution of cortical granules, and an increase in the proportion of spindle abnormalities. In addition, 3-NPA caused mitochondrial dysfunction and induced oxidative stress, including decreases in the GSH, mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP levels, and increases in the ROS levels, and these effects led to apoptosis and autophagy. The addition of UA could significantly improve the adverse effects caused by 3-NPA. In general, our data show that 3-NPA affects the normal development of oocytes during the in vitro culture, and the addition of UA can effectively repair the damage caused by 3-NPA to oocytes.

Isoliquiritin can cause mitochondrial dysfunction and regulate Nrf2 to affect the development of mouse oocytes.

IsoliQuirtigenin (ILG) has been widely studied in somatic cells and tissues, but less in reproductive development. It is a kind of widely used food additive. In this study, it was found that ILG could significantly increase the levels of ROS,GSH and MMP in mouse oocytes (P < 0.01). In order to explore the cause of this phenomenon, it was found that the abnormal distribution of mitochondria and ATP synthesis levels were significantly increased (P < 0.05). At this time, we made a reasonable hypothesis that ILG affected mitochondrial function. In subsequent studies, it was found that the endogenous ROS accumulation level in mitochondria was significantly increased. After continuous RT-PCR screening, it was found that the expression of Nrf2 was significantly inhibited (P < 0.01). Its upstream and downstream FOXO3 GPX1, CAT, SOD2, SIRT1 gene also appear different degree of significant change (P < 0.05), in which the lower expression of NADP + (P < 0.05) illustrates the mitochondrial ATP synthesis electronic chain were suppressed, it also has the reason, By inhibiting electron chain and ATP synthesis, ILG leads to oocyte apoptosis and initiation of autophagy, reducing oocyte and its subsequent developmental potential.

Design, Synthesis, Antifungal Evaluation, Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) Study, and Molecular Docking of Novel Spirotryprostatin A Derivatives.

Phytopathogenic fungi cause plant diseases and economic losses in agriculture. To efficiently control plant pathogen infections, a total of 19 spirotryprostatin A derivatives and 26 spirooxindole derivatives were designed, synthesized, and tested for their antifungal activity against ten plant pathogens. Additionally, the intermediates of spirooxindole derivatives were investigated, including proposing a mechanism for diastereoselectivity and performing amplification experiments. The bioassay results demonstrated that spirotryprostatin A derivatives possess good and broad-spectrum antifungal activities. Compound 4d exhibited excellent antifungal activity in vitro, equal to or higher than the positive control ketoconazole, against Helminthosporium maydis, Trichothecium roseum, Botrytis cinerea, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Fusarium graminearum, Alternaria brassicae, Alternaria alternate, and Fusarium solan (MICs: 8-32 µg/mL). Compound 4k also displayed remarkable antifungal activity against eight other phytopathogenic fungi, including Fusarium oxysporium f. sp. niveum and Mycosphaerella melonis (MICs: 8-32 µg/mL). The preliminary structure-activity relationships (SARs) were further discussed. Moreover, molecular docking studies revealed that spirotryprostatin A derivatives anchored in the binding site of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH). Therefore, these compounds showed potential as natural compound-based chiral fungicides and hold promise as candidates for further enhancements in terms of structure and properties.

Effects of limonin on oxidative stress and early apoptosis in oocytes during in vitro maturation.

To investigate the effects of limonin (Lim) on oxidative stress and early apoptosis in bovine oocytes during in vitro maturation (IVM), different concentrations of Lim (0, 10, 20, 50 µmol/L) were added to bovine IVM medium. Oocyte maturation rates and development 24 h after in vitro fertilization (IVF) were examined to determine the optimal Lim concentration. The optimal Lim concentration was added to the IVM medium, and 0 µmol/L Lim was used as the control. Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the abnormal rate of spindle assembly, reactive oxygen species (ROS), glutathione (GSH), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) levels, mitochondrial distribution, and the fluorescence intensity of cathepsin B (CB)-active LC3 protein. RT‒qPCR was used to detect the mRNA expression levels of antioxidant-, apoptosis- and autophagy-related genes in oocytes. The total number of blastocysts and the proportion of apoptotic cells among blastocysts were detected. The results showed that the PBI ejection rate, cleavage rate and blastocyst rate of bovine oocytes in the 20 µmol/L Lim group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with those in the control group, ROS levels, abnormal mitochondrial distribution, the proportion of abnormal spindle assembly, CB activity and LC3 protein fluorescence intensity of oocytes in the 20 µmol/L Lim group were significantly decreased (P < 0.05), and GSH and MMP levels were significantly increased (P < 0.05). The expression of antioxidant genes (Prdx3, Prdx6, Sirt1) and antiapoptotic genes (Bcl-xl, Survivin) were significantly upregulated (P < 0.05), and the expression levels of proapoptotic genes (Caspase-4, BAX) and autophagy-related genes (LC3) were significantly downregulated (P < 0.05). The total number of cells among in vitro fertilized embryos was significantly increased (P < 0.05), and the apoptosis rate of blastocysts was significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Here, we show that Lim exerts positive effects on bovine oocyte IVM by regulating REDOX homeostasis, reducing spindle damage and enhancing mitochondrial function during IVM, thereby inhibiting oocyte apoptosis and autophagy.

Characteristics of common pathogens of urogenital tract among outpatients in Shanghai, China from 2016 to 2021.

Background: Ureaplasma urealyticum, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae are the prevalent causes of several genital diseases worldwide; however, their characteristics in different genders have not been well documented in Shanghai. The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of common pathogens among outpatients, considering variations by gender and age. Methods: From January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2021, the urogenital swabs of 16216 outpatients aged 3-95 years from two general hospitals in Shanghai were collected. All participants' swabs were investigated for U. urealyticum, C. trachomatis, and N. gonorrhoeae by isothermal RNA-based simultaneous amplification and testing. The basic information of all participants was also recorded, including age and gender. The chi-square test was used to compare the prevalence between different genders, age groups, and infection patterns. Results: There were 5,744 patients (35.42%) with positive samples whose ages ranged from 7 to 80 years (33.23 ± 8.63 years), and 62.14% of them were women. The most common pathogen detected was U. urealyticum (85.08%). The highest prevalence rate of all three pathogens was found in patients aged ≤ 20 years (40.53%, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 33.80%-47.63%). The prevalent rate of U. urealyticum was higher in men (33.36%, 95% CI: 32.19%-34.55%). The overall prevalence rates of U. urealyticum, C. trachomatis, and N. gonorrhoeae were 30.14% (95% CI: 29.44%-30.85%), 6.00% (95% CI: 5.64%-6.38%), and 2.10% (95% CI: 1.89%-2.33%). Conclusions: Ureaplasma urealyticum was the most prevalent pathogen in the population, and its prevalence decreased with age. Young men aged ≤ 20 years were more frequently infected. Regular screening for sexually transmitted pathogens in different genders and age groups are warranted, particularly in young men.

Coping with mortality salience: the role of connection thinking and afterlife beliefs in Chinese context.

Introduction: Grounded in Terror Management Theory (TMT), this research explored the influence of mortality salience on preferences for afterlife beliefs (reincarnation vs. resignation to fate) within a Chinese context. We also examined the mediating role of death anxiety and the moderating effects of connection thinking across different age groups. Methods: Across three experimental studies involving a cumulative sample of 485 Chinese participants, we primed individuals with thoughts of their own mortality and then assessed their death anxiety and proclivity toward reincarnation beliefs or resignation to fate. Connection thinking-a cognitive construct emphasizing relational interconnectedness-was also evaluated to ascertain its moderating impact. Results: The data revealed a pronounced preference for reincarnation beliefs as a distal defense mechanism following mortality salience, significantly mediated by death anxiety. The moderating role of connection thinking was also verified, but with age-related differences: among younger Chinese participants (age < 35), heightened connection thinking buffered against increased death anxiety triggered by mortality salience and thus mitigated its mediating role. Conversely, for older participants (age ≥ 35), amplified connection thinking exacerbated both the increased death anxiety and its mediating effect. Discussion: These findings contribute to TMT by elucidating the influence of death anxiety on the relationship between mortality salience and afterlife beliefs in the Chinese cultural context. They also enrich the literature on connection thinking by uncovering its moderating role. Moreover, our research yields practical implications for coping with mortality salience and alleviating existential anxiety, enhancing the understanding of these phenomena across different cultural and age groups.

Automatic assessment of divergent thinking in Chinese language with TransDis: A transformer-based language model approach.

Language models have been increasingly popular for automatic creativity assessment, generating semantic distances to objectively measure the quality of creative ideas. However, there is currently a lack of an automatic assessment system for evaluating creative ideas in the Chinese language. To address this gap, we developed TransDis, a scoring system using transformer-based language models, capable of providing valid originality (novelty) and flexibility (variety) scores for Alternative Uses Task (AUT) responses in Chinese. Study 1 demonstrated that the latent model-rated originality factor, comprised of three transformer-based models, strongly predicted human originality ratings, and the model-rated flexibility strongly correlated with human flexibility ratings as well. Criterion validity analyses indicated that model-rated originality and flexibility positively correlated to other creativity measures, demonstrating similar validity to human ratings. Study 2 and 3 showed that TransDis effectively distinguished participants instructed to provide creative vs. common uses (Study 2) and participants instructed to generate ideas in a flexible vs. persistent way (Study 3). Our findings suggest that TransDis can be a reliable and low-cost tool for measuring idea originality and flexibility in Chinese language, potentially paving the way for automatic creativity assessment in other languages. We offer an open platform to compute originality and flexibility for AUT responses in Chinese and over 50 other languages ( https://osf.io/59jv2/ ).

SSAT ++ : A Semantic-Aware and Versatile Makeup Transfer Network With Local Color Consistency Constraint.

The purpose of makeup transfer (MT) is to transfer makeup from a reference image to a target face while preserving the target's content. Existing methods have made remarkable progress in generating realistic results but do not perform well in terms of semantic correspondence and color fidelity. In addition, the straightforward extension of processing videos frame by frame tends to produce flickering results in most methods. These limitations restrict the applicability of previous methods in real-world scenarios. To address these issues, we propose a symmetric semantic-aware transfer network (SSAT ++ ) to improve makeup similarity and video temporal consistency. For MT, the feature fusion (FF) module first integrates the content and semantic features of the input images, producing multiscale fusion features. Then, the semantic correspondence from the reference to the target is obtained by measuring the correlation of fusion features at each position. According to semantic correspondence, the symmetric mask semantic transfer (SMST) module aligns the reference makeup features with the target content features to generate MT results. Meanwhile, the semantic correspondence from the target to the reference is obtained by transposing the correlation matrix and applied to the makeup removal task. To enhance color fidelity, we propose a novel local color loss that forces the transferred results to have the same color histogram distribution as the reference. Furthermore, a morphing simulation is designed to ensure temporal consistency for video MT without requiring additional video frame input and optical flow estimation. To evaluate the effectiveness of our SSAT ++ , extensive experiments have been conducted on the MT dataset which has a variety of makeup styles, and on the MT-Wild dataset which contains images with diverse poses and expressions. The experiments show that SSAT ++ outperforms existing MT methods through qualitative and quantitative evaluation and provides more flexible makeup control. Code and trained model will be available at https://gitee.com/sunzhaoyang0304/ssat-msp and https://github.com/Snowfallingplum/SSAT.

Synthesis and Characterization of High Glycolic Acid Content Poly(glycolic acid-co-butylene adipate-co-butylene terephthalate) and Poly(glycolic acid-co-butylene succinate) Copolymers with Improved Elasticity.

Poly(glycolic acid) (PGA) is a biodegradable polymer with high gas barrier properties, mechanical strength, and heat deflection temperature. However, PGA's brittleness severely limits its application in packaging, creating a need to develop PGA-based copolymers with improved elasticity that maintain its barrier properties and hydrolytic degradability. In this work, a series of PGBAT (poly(glycolic acid-co-butylene) adipate-co-butylene terephthalate) copolymers containing 21-92% glycolic acid (nGA) with Mw values of 46,700-50,600 g mol-1 were synthesized via melt polycondensation, and the effects of altering the nGA on PGBAT's thermomechanical properties and hydrolysis rate were investigated. Poly(glycolic acid-co-butylene succinate) (PGBS) and poly(glycolic acid-co-butylene terephthalate) (PGBT) copolymers with high nGA were synthesized for comparison. DSC analysis revealed that PGBAT21 (nGA = 21%) and PGBAT92 were semicrystalline, melting between 102.8 and 163.3 °C, while PGBAT44, PGBAT86-89, PGBT80, and PGBS90 were amorphous, with Tg values from -19.0 to 23.7 °C. These high nGA copolymers showed similar rates of hydrolysis to PGA, whereas those containing <50% GA showed almost no mass loss over the testing period. Their mechanical properties were highly dependent upon their crystallinity and improved significantly after annealing. Of the high nGA copolymers, annealed PGBS90 (Mw 97,000 g mol-1) possessed excellent mechanical properties with a modulus of 588 MPa, tensile strength of 30.0 MPa, and elongation at break of 171%, a significant improvement on PGA's elongation at break of 3%. This work demonstrates the potential of enhancing PGA's flexibility by introducing minor amounts of low-cost diols and diacids into its synthesis.

Identification of biomarkers of renal ischemia-reperfusion injury by bioinformatics analysis and single-cell sequencing analysis combined with in vivo validation.

BACKGROUND: Renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a serious clinical complication of kidney injury. This research dealt with investigating the hub genes and pathways associated with renal IRI. METHODS: The transcriptome expression dataset of mouse renal ischemia samples (GSE39548) was obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were filtered by R software for key genes utilized for gene ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis, and gene enrichment analysis (GSEA). The gene co-expression network was developed by WGCNA analysis to screen important modules. Hub genes from the intersection of DEGs and WGCNA were subjected to protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. The biomarkers obtained by SVM-REF and LASSO algorithm were validated by other datasets and subjected to GSEA analysis. The expression of biomarkers in renal IRI was detected by qRT-PCR and subjected to single-cell analysis. RESULTS: A total of 157 DEGs were discovered. Biological function analysis depicted that the DEGs were primarily involved in cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, as well as the signaling pathways IL-17, MAPK, and TNF. The intersection of DEGs and the genes obtained by WGCNA analysis yielded 149 hubs genes. Based on SVM-REF and LASSO algorithm, cyp1a1 and pdk4 were determined as potential biomarkers in individuals with renal ischemia and showed good diagnostic value. qRT-PCR results depicted that cyp1a1 and pdk4 were significantly up-regulated in renal ischemia mice (P < 0.05). Finally, the single-cell analysis identified the expression of Cyp1a1 and Pdk4 in mice kidney tissue. CONCLUSION: cyp1a1 and pdk4 were identified to play important roles in renal IRI. This research provides a new perspective and basis for studying the pathogenesis of renal IRI and developing new treatments.

The Effect of Vice-Virtue Bundles on Consumers' Purchase Intentions for Vice Packaged Foods: Evidence from Randomized Experiments.

Packaged foods have significantly expanded their market presence, with the utilization of vice-virtue bundles gaining momentum, particularly in the realm of vice-packaged foods. Consequently, understanding how consumers respond to vice-packaged food with vice-virtue bundles (i.e., vice-packaged food combined with virtue ingredients) becomes crucial. This research investigates this issue through four experiments employing a one-way between-subjects design, incorporating distinct stimuli and measures, and involving samples from diverse sources. In Experiment 1 (n = 172), Experiment 2 (n = 169), and the follow-up experiment (n = 153), variance analysis, chi-square test, and mediating analysis demonstrate that consumers are more inclined to purchase vice-packaged food with vice-virtue bundles owing to the perception of it being healthier than vice packaged food with vice-virtue bundles. Furthermore, Experiment 3 (n = 249) employs moderated mediation analysis, uncovering that both the heightened purchase intention for vice-packaged food with vice-virtue bundles and the mediating effect of perceived healthiness are attenuated among consumers with prevention (vs. promotion) focus. Beyond contributing to theories on packaged food consumption, vice-virtue bundles, and regulatory focus theory, these findings hold practical implications for packaged food marketing, promoting rational food choices, and enhancing healthier diets.

Selectivity control for CO2 electroreduction to syngas using Fe/CuOx catalysts with high current density.

A novel and tunable synthesis of Fe/CuOx bimetallic catalysts has been achieved via a simple Fe-precipitation and calcination method, which was used for highly efficient CO2 electroreduction to control the wide-ranging CO to H2 ratio by simply changing the ratio of metals. The faradaic efficiency of CO could reach 86.1% with a current density of 49.1 mA cm-2. The ratio of CO/H2 could reach 1.94 to 6.18 and it was discovered that the Fe/CuOx bimetallic catalysts could easily get different ratios of syngas, which can be applied directly in industry.

The Role of Negative Perfectionism and the Relationship between Critical Thinking and the Halo Effect: Insights from Corporate Managers in Human Resources.

This research aims to explore the relationship between critical thinking and the halo effect among managers working in the Human Resources (HR) departments of corporations. By utilizing a sample of over 301 corporate HR managers as participants, this study provides valuable insight into the dynamics between critical thinking, the halo effect, and the mediating role of negative perfectionism. The findings of this study suggest a significant negative relationship between critical thinking and the halo effect, as well as a significant positive relationship between negative perfectionism and the halo effect. Notably, negative perfectionism acts as a mediator between critical thinking and the halo effect. Our research also reveals that compensation level moderates this relationship, with lower-income HR managers exhibiting a stronger association between negative perfectionism and the halo effect compared to higher-income HR managers. These findings significantly contribute to our understanding of the interplay between critical thinking and the halo effect among HR managers in corporate settings. Identifying negative perfectionism as a mediating factor clarifies the underlying mechanisms between critical thinking and the halo effect, while the moderating effect of compensation level highlights the importance of considering contextual factors. The practical implications of this research include the significance of promoting critical thinking skills among HR managers to mitigate the halo effect in job recruitment and performance evaluation. Additionally, organizations should prioritize fairness and consistency in compensation levels to minimize the influence of negative perfectionism and its impact on the halo effect.

Dendrobine enhances bovine oocyte maturation and subsequent embryonic development and quality.

Strategies for improving the quality of oocytes have important theoretical and practical significance for increasing the efficiency of livestock breeding. In this respect, the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a major factor affecting the development of oocytes and embryos. This study investigated the effects of Dendrobium nobile extract (DNE) on the in vitro maturation of bovine oocytes and embryonic development after IVF. DNE is an extract from Dendrobium rhizomes that contains alkaloids with anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-ageing functions. Various concentrations of DNE (0, 5, 10, 20 and 50 µmol/L) were added during oocyte maturation in vitro, and we found that 10 µmol/L of DNE remarkably increased the oocyte maturation rate, the subsequent blastocyst formation rate and embryo quality. Further, we found that DNE treatment decreased the frequency of spindle/chromosome defects and ROS and increased the oocyte glutathione and mitochondrial membrane potential in oocytes. Moreover, DNE upregulated the expression of oxidative stress-related genes (Sirt1, Sirt2, Sirt3 and Sod1) in oocytes and apoptosis-related genes (Caspase-3, Caspase-4, Bax, Bcl-xl and Survivin) in blastocysts. These results suggest that DNE supplementation can promote oocyte maturation and subsequent embryonic development by regulating redox reactions and inhibiting embryonic apoptosis.

How Does COVID-19 Risk Perception Affect Sense of Control? The Roles of Death Anxiety and Confucian Coping.

This research examined the impact of COVID-19 risk perception on sense of control, testing the hypotheses that COVID-19 risk perception would reduce sense of control and that this effect would be mediated by death anxiety and moderated by Confucian coping. A series of six studies were conducted with Chinese participants (N = 2202) and employed different research designs in lab and real-life settings. Across the studies, we found that the perceived risk of COVID-19 impaired sense of control. Studies 3a to 5 further revealed that death anxiety mediated the adverse effect of COVID-19 risk perception on sense of control, and Studies 4 to 5 revealed that Confucian coping strategies alleviated the adverse effect of COVID-19 risk perception on sense of control. These findings shed new light on the psychological impact of risk perception in times of crisis and identify mitigating factors and boundary conditions.

A High Performance Triboelectric Nanogenerator Based on MXene/Graphene Oxide Electrode for Glucose Detection.

A smart sensing platform based on a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) possesses various advantages such as self-powering, convenience, real-time and biocompatibility. However, the detection limit of the TENG-based sensor is required to be improved. In this study, a high performance TENG-based glucose sensor was proposed by using the Ti3C2Tx (MXene)/graphene oxide (GO) composite electrode. The MXene and GO nanosheets are popular 2D materials which possessed high conductivity and a rich surface functional group. The MXene/GO thin films were prepared through electrostatic self-assembly technology, which can effectively impede the agglomeration of two nanoflakes. The as-prepared MXene/GO film presented outstanding mechanical property. To figure out the relationship between the nanostructure of MXene/GO film and the TENG, a series of MXene/GO-based TENG with different GO sizes was characterized. As a result, the TENG with 400 nm GO demonstrated the highest output performance. Subsequently, the optimized TENG was used in glucose detection application without the assistance of a glucose enzyme. This simple and flexible TENG shows promising potential in biosensors and non-invasive health monitoring.

The Buffering Effect of Awe on Negative Emotions in Self-Threatening Situations.

Negative emotions arising from self-threat are ubiquitous and harmful. We propose that the experience of awe awakens the small-self, which in turn alleviates these negative emotions. We examine our theoretical hypotheses in four studies employing various self-threatening situations, using distinct awe manipulations and involving participants from different countries. The participants experiencing awe reported lower levels of negative emotions arising from self-threat compared with those in the neutral (Study 1) and happiness conditions (Study 2). Moreover, we verified that the small-self mediates the alleviating effect of awe on negative emotions through measuring (Study 3) and manipulating the small-self (Study 4). Beyond a set of practical implications for promoting mental health and well-being, our research also provides novel insights into awe, self-appraisal, and self-threat.

Rapid and precise identification of bloodstream infections using a pre-treatment protocol combined with high-throughput multiplex genetic detection system.

BACKGROUND: Bloodstream infection (BSI) is a life-threatening condition with high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Early diagnosis of BSI is critical to avoid the unnecessary application of antimicrobial agents and for proper treatment. However, the current standard methods based on blood culture are time-consuming, thus failing to provide a timely etiological diagnosis of BSI, and common PCR-based detection might be inhibited by matrix components. METHODS: The current study explored an integrated pre-analytical treatment protocol for whole blood samples, wherein pathogens are enriched and purified by incubation and concentration, and inhibitors are inactivated and removed. Further, this study developed and evaluated a novel high-throughput multiplex genetic detection system (HMGS) to detect 24 of the most clinically prevalent BSI pathogens in blood culture samples and pre-treated whole blood samples. The specificity and sensitivity were evaluated using related reference strains and quantified bacterial/fungal suspensions. The clinical utility of BSI-HMGS combined with the pre-analytical treatment protocol was verified using blood cultures and whole blood samples. RESULTS: The combined pre-treatment protocol and BSI-HMGS was highly specific for target pathogens and possessed a low detection limit for clinical whole blood samples. The pre-treatment protocol could deplete the PCR inhibitors effectively. For blood culture samples, the current method showed 100.0% negative percent agreements and > 87.5% positive percent agreements compared to the reference results based on blood culture findings. For whole blood samples, the current method showed 100.0% negative percent agreements and > 80.0% positive percent agreements compared to the reference results for most pathogens. The turnaround time was ≤ 8 h, and all the procedures could be conducted in a general clinical laboratory. CONCLUSION: The BSI-HMGS combined with the pre-treatment protocol was a practical and promising method for early and precise detection of BSIs, especially for areas without access to advanced medical facilities.