A functional unit combination strategy for enhancing red room-temperature phosphorescence.

Red room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials based on non-metallic organic compounds are less reported compared to the commonly found green RTP materials. Here, we propose a novel approach to obtain red RTP materials by integrating and combining two functional units, resembling a jigsaw puzzle. In this approach, benzo[c][2,1,3]thiadiazole (BZT) serves as the red RTP unit, while a folding unit containing sulphur/oxygen is responsible for enhancing spin-orbit coupling (SOC) to accelerate the intersystem crossing (ISC) process. Three new molecules (SS-BZT, SO-BZT, and OO-BZT) were designed and synthesized, among which SS-BZT and SO-BZT with folded geometries demonstrate enhanced red RTP in their monodisperse films compared to the parent BZT. Meanwhile, the SS-BZT film shows a dual emission consisting of blue fluorescence and red RTP, with a significant spectral separation of approximately 150 nm, which makes the SS-BZT film highly suitable for applications in optical oxygen sensing and ratiometric detection. Within the oxygen concentration range of 0-1.31%, the SS-BZT film demonstrates a quenching constant of 2.66 kPa-1 and a quenching efficiency of 94.24%, indicating that this probe has the potential to accurately detect oxygen in a hypoxic environment.

A Heavy-atom-free Molecular Motif Based on Symmetric Bird-like Structured Tetraphenylenes with Room-Temperature Phosphorescence (RTP) Afterglow over 8 s.

In recent years, pure organic room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) with highly efficient and long-persistent afterglow has drawn substantial awareness. Commonly, spin-orbit coupling can be improved by introducing heavy atoms into pure-organic molecules. However, this strategy will simultaneously increase the radiative and non-radiative transition rate, further resulting in dramatic decreases in the excited state lifetime and afterglow duration. Here in this work, a highly symmetric bird-like structure tetraphenylene (TeP), and its three symmetrical halogenated derivatives (TeP-F, TeP-Cl and TeP-Br) are synthesized, while their RTP properties and mechanisms are systematically investigated by both theoretical and experimental approaches. As the results, the rigid, highly twisted conformation of TeP restricts the non-radiative processes of RTP and gives rise to the enhancement of electron-exchange, which can contribute to the RTP radiation process. Despite the faint RTP of the bromine and chlorine-substituted ones (TeP-Br, TeP-Cl), the fluoro-substituted TeP-F exhibited a long phosphorescent lifetime up to 890 ms, corresponding to an extremely long RTP afterglow over 8 s, which could be incorporated into the best series of non-heavy-atom RTP materials reported in previous literature.

Does Sensation Seeking Lead to Adolescents' Cyberbullying Perpetration? The Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement and The Moderating Role of Perceived Social Support.

Based on the general aggression model, the current study examined the mediating role of moral disengagement in the association between sensation seeking and cyberbullying perpetration and the moderating role of perceived social support. A total of 2,286 Chinese adolescents aged 11-16 years completed the questionnaires regarding sensation seeking, cyberbullying perpetration, moral disengagement, and perceived social support. After gender and age were controlled, sensation seeking was significantly and positively associated with cyberbullying perpetration and this relationship was partially mediated by moral disengagement. Moderated mediation analysis further indicated that perceived social support moderated the relationship between sensation seeking and moral disengagement as well as sensation seeking and cyberbullying perpetration. These two relationships became weaker for adolescents with high perceived social support. Specifically, adolescents with higher levels of sensation seeking were more likely to develop moral disengagement and further engaged in cyberbullying perpetration, when they perceived less social support.

The Bridge between Cybervictimization and Suicidal Ideation among Adolescents: A Vicious Cycle of Hopelessness.

Cybervictimization has been shown to relate to suicidal ideation. However, few studies have fully clarified the directionality of this relationship, and little is known about the potential mediating and moderating mechanisms of this relationship. To address these gaps, the current study tested bidirectional relationships among cybervictimization, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation across three years using a cross-lagged design and examined whether these relationships varied by openness, family socioeconomic status, perceived economic stress, and sex. A total of 2,407 Chinese adolescents (50.23% female, Mage = 12.75, SD = 0.58 at baseline) from seven schools participated in the present study. The results indicated that cybervictimization was related to hopelessness and suicidal ideation. There was a vicious cycle between cybervictimization and hopelessness after controlling the effects of cyberbullying at T1. There were significant reciprocal relationships between hopelessness and suicidal ideation. Hopelessness at T2 mediated the relationship between cybervictimization at T1 and suicidal ideation at T3. Openness moderated the relationships among cybervictimization, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation. Family socioeconomic status, perceived economic stress, and sex did not play a moderating role. These findings will help to understand that intervening with hopelessness is a promising way to reduce adolescents' cybervictimization and suicidal ideation, and promoting adolescents' openness is an effective approach to alleviate the negative outcome of cybervictimization.

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease and the risk of cardiovascular disease.

BACKGROUND: With the gradual adoption of new metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) definitions in clinical practice, the relationship between MAFLD and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk remains unclear. Similarly, clinical differences between MAFLD and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and the relationship between MAFLD and CVD risk are unclear. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study using the 1988-1994 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES III) database, including 11,673 individuals. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to test relationships between MAFLD and the 10-year CVD risk. RESULTS: MAFLD was more significant than NAFLD in medium/high 10-year CVD risk (according to Framingham risk score) (1064 (29.92%) vs. 1022 (26.37%), P < 0.005). MAFLD patients were stratified according to NAFLD fibrosis scores (NFS's). In univariate regression analysis, when compared with non-MAFLD patients, unadjusted-OR values for MAFLD with different liver fibrosis stages, which were tiered by NFS (NFS < -1.455,-1.455 ≤ NFS < 0.676, and NFS ≥ 0.676) in the medium 10-year CVD risk (according to Framingham scores) were 1.175 (95% CI 1.030-1.341), 3.961 (3.449-4.549), and 5.477 (4.100-7.315), and the unadjusted or values of different MAFLD groups in the high 10-year CVD risk were 1.407 (95% CI 1.080-1.833), 5.725 (4.500-7.284), and 5.330 (3.132-9.068). Then, after adjusting for age, sex, race, alcohol consumption, and smoking, or adjusting for age, race, alcohol consumption, smoking, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and other confounding factors, the incidence of medium and high 10-year CVD risk was statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We showed that patients with MAFLD had a higher 10-year CVD risk when compared with patients with NAFLD. Increased MAFLD hepatic fibrosis scores were associated with a 10-year CVD risk.

Parental phubbing, problematic smartphone use, and adolescents' learning burnout: A cross-lagged panel analysis.

BACKGROUND: Parental phubbing is defined as the phenomenon that parents ignore their children when they are paying more attention to smartphones. The present study aimed to test bidirectional relationships among parental phubbing, problematic smartphone use, and learning burnout. We also extended previous studies to examine the mediating role of problematic smartphone use in the relationship between parental phubbing and learning burnout. METHODS: Using a cross-lagged panel model, we recruited 2260 Chinese adolescents (50.35 % girls, Mage = 12.76, SD = 0.58 at baseline) across two years. Descriptive statistics, a cross-lagged panel analysis, a mediation model, and a multiple group analysis were estimated in the current study. RESULTS: Parental phubbing was associated with problematic smartphone use, and there were bidirectional associations between problematic smartphone use and learning burnout as well as between parental phubbing and learning burnout. Problematic smartphone use significantly mediated the relationship between parental phubbing and learning burnout. There were no gender differences among parental phubbing, problematic smartphone use, and learning burnout. LIMITATIONS: The current study only used two-time points to measure variables. Additionally, this study measured adolescents' perceived parental phubbing instead of the actual phubbing behavior. CONCLUSION: It is important to consider the influences of parental phubbing in order to decrease adolescents' problematic smartphone use and learning burnout. Furthermore, there is a vicious circle between PSU and learning burnout. Interventions need to reduce problematic smartphone use and learning burnout simultaneously.

Unprotonatable and ROS-Sensitive Nanocarrier for NIR Spatially Activated siRNA Therapy with Synergistic Drug Effect.

Although small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapy has achieved great progress, unwanted gene inhibition in normal tissues severely limits its extensive clinical applications due to uncontrolled siRNA biodistribution. Herein, a spatially controlled siRNA activation strategy is developed to achieve tumor-specific siRNA therapy without gene inhibition in the normal tissues. The quaternary ammonium moieties are conjugated to amphiphilic copolymers via reactive oxygen species (ROS)-sensitive thioketal (TK) linkers for co-delivery of siRNA and photosensitizer chlorin e6 (Ce6), showing excellent siRNA complexation capacity and near infrared (NIR)-controlled siRNA release. In the normal tissue, siRNAs are trapped and degraded in the endo-lysosomes due to the unprotonatable property of quaternary ammonium moiety, showing the siRNA activity "off" state. When NIR irradiation is spatially applied to the tumor tissue, the NIR irradiation/Ce6-induced ROS trigger siRNA endo-lysosomal escape and cytosolic release through the photochemical internalization effect and cleavage of TK bonds, respectively, showing the siRNA activity "on" state. The siRNA-mediated glutathione peroxidase 4 gene inhibition enhances ROS accumulation. The synergistic antitumor activity of Ce6 photodynamic therapy and gene inhibition is confirmed in vivo. Spatially controlled tumor-specific siRNA activation and co-delivery with Ce6 using unprotonatable and ROS-sensitive cationic nanocarriers provide a feasible strategy for tumor-specific siRNA therapy with synergistic drug effects.

Glutathione-depleting polymer delivering chlorin e6 for enhancing photodynamic therapy.

The therapeutic effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) is highly dependent on the intracellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the ROS generated by photosensitizers can be consumed by the highly concentrated glutathione (GSH) in tumor cells, severely impairing the therapeutic effect of PDT. Herein, we synthesized a GSH-scavenging copolymer to deliver photosensitizer chlorin e6 (Ce6). The pyridyl disulfide groups, which have faster reactivity with the thiol groups of GSH than other disulfide groups, were grafted onto a hydrophobic block to encapsulate the Ce6. Under NIR irradiation, the Ce6 generated ROS to kill tumor cells, and the pyridyl disulfide groups depleted the GSH to prevent ROS consumption, which synergistically enhanced the therapeutic effect of PDT. In vitro and in vivo experiments confirmed the combinatory antitumor effect of Ce6-induced ROS generation and the pyridyl disulfide group-induced GSH depletion. Therefore, the pyridyl disulfide group-grafted amphiphilic copolymer provides a more efficient strategy for enhancing PDT and has promising potential for clinical application.

Robust formation of discrete non-covalent pyrene dimers in an amorphous film by strong π-π interaction.

A pyrene-based non-covalent dimer in a crystal showed a strengthened π-π interaction, which was robust enough against external disturbances. Such a strong π-π interaction made the pyrene-based dimer easily form in the amorphous film, indicating that the dimer could potentially work as the monomer.

Construction of disease-specific cytokine profiles by associating disease genes with immune responses.

The pathogenesis of many inflammatory diseases is a coordinated process involving metabolic dysfunctions and immune response-usually modulated by the production of cytokines and associated inflammatory molecules. In this work, we seek to understand how genes involved in pathogenesis which are often not associated with the immune system in an obvious way communicate with the immune system. We have embedded a network of human protein-protein interactions (PPI) from the STRING database with 14,707 human genes using feature learning that captures high confidence edges. We have found that our predicted Association Scores derived from the features extracted from STRING's high confidence edges are useful for predicting novel connections between genes, thus enabling the construction of a full map of predicted associations for all possible pairs between 14,707 human genes. In particular, we analyzed the pattern of associations for 126 cytokines and found that the six patterns of cytokine interaction with human genes are consistent with their functional classifications. To define the disease-specific roles of cytokines we have collected gene sets for 11,944 diseases from DisGeNET. We used these gene sets to predict disease-specific gene associations with cytokines by calculating the normalized average Association Scores between disease-associated gene sets and the 126 cytokines; this creates a unique profile of inflammatory genes (both known and predicted) for each disease. We validated our predicted cytokine associations by comparing them to known associations for 171 diseases. The predicted cytokine profiles correlate (p-value<0.0003) with the known ones in 95 diseases. We further characterized the profiles of each disease by calculating an "Inflammation Score" that summarizes different modes of immune responses. Finally, by analyzing subnetworks formed between disease-specific pathogenesis genes, hormones, receptors, and cytokines, we identified the key genes responsible for interactions between pathogenesis and inflammatory responses. These genes and the corresponding cytokines used by different immune disorders suggest unique targets for drug discovery.

Amlodipine removal via peroxymonosulfate activated by carbon nanotubes/cobalt oxide (CNTs/Co3O4) in water.

Amlodipine (AML) is an effective drug that has been widely used for hypertension and angina. However, AML is frequently detected in aqueous environments, posing potential risks to human and ecological health. In this study, the degradation of AML via peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activated by CNTs/Co3O4 was investigated. CNTs/Co3O4 was prepared via a facile method, and multiple characterizations suggested that Co3O4 were uniformly dispersed on the surface of MWCNTs-COOH. Experimental results indicated that complete removal of 10 µM AML was achieved within 30 min by using 2 mg/L CNTs/Co3O4 and 4 µM PMS at 25 °C in PBS buffered solution (pH 7.0). The observed pseudo-first-order rate constant was calculated to be 0.1369 min-1. Interestingly, the presence of 100 mM Cl- resulted in a slight enhancement of AML removal rate from 0.0528 to 0.0642 min-1. The addition of 100 mM HCO3-, 5 mg/L Pony Lake fulvic acid (PLFA), or Suwannee River humic acid (SRHA) retarded AML degradation by 15.5, 0.7, and 1.6 times, respectively. As per the quenching experiments, SO4⦁- rather than ⦁OH were verified to be the dominant reactive oxygen species (ROS). Additionally, ten major intermediates were identified using TOF-LC-MS and three associated reaction pathways including ether bond broken, H-abstraction, and hydroxylation were proposed. We outlook these findings to advance the feasibility of organic contaminants removal via CNTs/Co3O4 + PMS systems that have extremely low-level PMS.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Key Genes and Pathways Activated in Response to Fat Deposition in Two Sheep Breeds With Distinct Tail Phenotype.

Fat tail in sheep presents a valuable energy reserve that has historically facilitated adaptation to harsh environments. However, in modern intensive and semi-intensive sheep industry systems, breeds with leaner tails are more desirable. In the present study, RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) was applied to determine the transcriptome profiles of tail fat tissues in two Chinese sheep breeds, fat-rumped Altay sheep and thin-tailed Xinjiang fine wool (XFW) sheep, with extreme fat tail phenotype difference. Then the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and their sequence variations were further analyzed. In total, 21,527 genes were detected, among which 3,965 displayed significant expression variations in tail fat tissues of the two sheep breeds (P < 0.05), including 707 upregulated and 3,258 downregulated genes. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis disclosed that 198 DEGs were related to fat metabolism. In Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, the majority of DEGs were significantly enriched in "adipocytokine signaling," "PPAR signaling," and "metabolic pathways" (P < 0.05); moreover, some genes were involved in multiple pathways. Among the 198 DEGs, 22 genes were markedly up- or downregulated in tail fat tissue of Altay sheep, indicating that these genes might be closely related to the fat tail trait of this breed. A total of 41,724 and 42,193 SNPs were detected in the transcriptomic data of tail fat tissues obtained from Altay and XFW sheep, respectively. The distribution of seven SNPs in the coding regions of the 22 candidate genes was further investigated in populations of three sheep breeds with distinct tail phenotypes. In particular, the g.18167532T/C (Oar_v3.1) mutation of the ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) gene and g.57036072G/T (Oar_v3.1) mutation of the solute carrier family 27 member 2 (SLC27A2) gene showed significantly different distributions and were closely associated with tail phenotype (P < 0.05). The present study provides transcriptomic evidence explaining the differences in fat- and thin-tailed sheep breeds and reveals numerous DEGs and SNPs associated with tail phenotype. Our data provide a valuable theoretical basis for selection of lean-tailed sheep breeds.

MRI-visible and pH-sensitive micelles loaded with doxorubicin for hepatoma treatment.

Emerging pH-sensitive polymeric nanocarriers carrying therapeutic drugs are bringing about new opportunities for the effective treatment of cancer. A big challenge remains though to develop pH-sensitive polymers, which is hard to achieve via introducing only one kind of pH-sensitive chemical structure with a specific pKa. Consequently, in this study, an amphiphilic block copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(ß-benzyl l-aspartate) (mPEG-PBLA), was synthesized, and its PBLA block was aminolyzed by N,N-diisopropylamino ethylamine (DIP) and N,N-dibutalamino ethylamine (DBA) at different molar ratios. The copolymer mPEG-PAsp(DBA75%&DIP25%) (PPAP75%) with an appropriate pKa was screened out to form a pH-sensitive micelle, which could encapsulate a high content of the hydrophobic anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) at neutral pH, but disassemble rapidly under weak acidic conditions. The micellar nanodrug was efficiently taken up by HepG2 cells and intracellular DOX release was readily triggered inside acidic lysosomal compartments to allow migration of the free drug to the cell nucleus. In vivo fluorescence and MR bimodal imaging showed that the pegylated nanodrug with a suitable size and weak positive charge could stay longer in the blood circulation and extravasate preferentially into a tumor. The nanodrug not only exhibited high cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells but also significantly prolonged the survival time of tumor-bearing mice, thereby demonstrating the great potential of this pH-sensitive and MRI-visible micelle for the effective treatment of cancer.

MiR-27b promotes sheep skeletal muscle satellite cell proliferation by targeting myostatin gene.

To investigate the role of miR-27b in sheep skeletal muscle development, here we first cloned the sequence of sheep pre-miR-27b, then further investigated its expression pattern in sheep skeletal muscle in vivo, the relationship of miR-27b expression and sheep skeletal muscle satellite cell proliferation and differentiation in vitro, and then finally confirmed its target gene during this development process. MiR-27b sequence, especially its mature sequence, was conservative among different species. MiR-27b highly expressed in sheep skeletal muscle than other tissues. In skeletal muscle of Suffolk and Bashbay sheep, miR-27b was upregulated during foetal period and downregulated during postnatal period significantly (P<0.01), but it still kept a relatively higher expression level in skeletal muscle of postnatal Suffolk sheep than Bashbay. There is a potential target site of miR-27b on 3'-UTR of sheep myostatin (MSTN) mRNA, and the double luciferase reporter assay proved that miR-27b could successfully bind on this site. When sheep satellite cells were in the proliferation status, miR-27b was upregulated and MSTN was downregulated significantly (P<0.01). When miR-27b mimics was transfected into sheep satellite cells, the cell proliferation was promoted and the protein level of MSTN was significantly downregulated (P<0.01). Moreover, miR-27b regulated its target gene MSTN by translation repression at an early step, and followed by inducing mRNA degradation in sheep satellite cells. Based on these results, we confirm that miR-27b could promote sheep skeletal muscle satellite cell proliferation by targeting MSTN and suppressing its expression.

Short-term effects of overnight orthokeratology on corneal epithelial permeability and biomechanical properties.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of 30 nights of overnight orthokeratology (OOK) on corneal epithelial permeability (Pdc) and corneal biomechanical properties. METHODS: BE Retainer and Paragon CRT lenses were used. Visits were scheduled approximately 4 hours after awakening at baseline and after 1, 5, 10, 14, and 30 days of treatment. Pdc was measured at baseline and at day 30, whereas corneal biomechanical properties and visual acuities (VAs) were measured at all visits. RESULTS: Thirty-nine neophytes and soft contact lens wearers completed the study. There was no difference in Pdc between baseline (ln[Pdc] [95% confidence interval (CI)] = -2.65 [-2.80 to -2.50]) and day 30 (ln[Pdc][CI] = -2.68 [-2.85 to -2.50]) (P = 0.88). Corneal hysteresis (CH) and corneal resistance factor (CRF) reduced significantly from baseline (CH [CI] = 10.89 [10.59-11.19] mm Hg and CRF [CI] = 10.35 [9.99-10.72] mm Hg) to day 30 (CH [CI] = 10.59 [10.31-10.87] mm Hg and CRF [CI] = 9.58 [9.26-9.89] mm Hg) (P = 0.001 for CH and P < 0.001 for CRF). Posttreatment VA did not reach baseline targets, and the difference was worse with low-contrast letters. Asian individuals (n = 18) had significantly worse VA than non-Asian individuals (n = 21) under most conditions through day 5, and the difference extended through day 14 with low-contrast letters under mesopic conditions. The percentage of participants who achieved 20/20 uncorrected was 17% Asian and 40% non-Asian individuals after day 1 and reached 69% Asian and 83% non-Asian individuals at day 30. CONCLUSIONS: Thirty nights of OOK did not alter Pdc when measured 4 hours after awakening. OOK caused CH and CRF to decrease, but the changes were not clinically significant compared with diseased and postsurgical cases. Asian individuals, who had lower baseline CH in this study, responded slower to OOK based on early uncorrected VA and overrefraction measurements.

Does ethnicity influence the short-term adaptation to first reading correction?

PURPOSE: Ethnic variations in accommodative amplitude (AA) are not uncommon. Accommodation can become reduced in response to short-term wear of first near spectacles. Whether ethnicity has an influence on the magnitude of this adaptation is not well understood. We investigated the impact of first near spectacles on changes in AA and on convergence cross-link interactions in incipient presbyopes of Chinese and Caucasian ethnicities. METHODS: Forty-one subjects (22 Caucasians and 19 Chinese) aged 36 to 44 years completed the study. Accommodative stimulus response function, AA, and AC/A and CA/C ratios were measured before and after single vision reading spectacles were used for near tasks over a 2-month period and then again 2 months after discontinuing near spectacle wear. RESULTS: After wearing reading spectacles for 2 months, the accommodative stimulus response slopes and AC/A and CA/C ratios remained invariant irrespective of ethnicity. The accommodative, but not vergence, bias decreased (p < 0.05). The nearpoint of accommodation shifted distally producing an average decrease in AA of 0.52 D from baseline (p < 0.05). Recovery to near baseline values occurred after discontinuing the reading glasses for 2 months. Differences based on ethnicity were not significant. The baseline AA vs. age plots showed steeper slopes for Chinese than the Caucasian subjects in the sample. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of adaptation by accommodation and cross-link interactions to short-term first reading spectacles is not influenced by ethnicity.