Causal role of the frontal eye field in attention-induced ocular dominance plasticity.

Previous research has found that prolonged eye-based attention can bias ocular dominance. If one eye long-termly views a regular movie meanwhile the opposite eye views a backward movie of the same episode, perceptual ocular dominance will shift towards the eye previously viewing the backward movie. Yet it remains unclear whether the role of eye-based attention in this phenomenon is causal or not. To address this issue, the present study relied on both the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) techniques. We found robust activation of the frontal eye field (FEF) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS) when participants were watching the dichoptic movie while focusing their attention on the regular movie. Interestingly, we found a robust effect of attention-induced ocular dominance shift when the cortical function of vertex or IPS was transiently inhibited by continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS), yet the effect was significantly attenuated to a negligible extent when cTBS was delivered to FEF. A control experiment verified that the attenuation of ocular dominance shift after inhibitory stimulation of FEF was not due to any impact of the cTBS on the binocular rivalry measurement of ocular dominance. These findings suggest that the fronto-parietal attentional network is involved in controlling eye-based attention in the 'dichoptic-backward-movie' adaptation paradigm, and in this network, FEF plays a crucial causal role in generating the attention-induced ocular dominance shift.

Cascade Catalytic Nanoparticles Selectively Alkalize Cancerous Lysosomes to Suppress Cancer Progression and Metastasis.

Lysosomes are critical in modulating the progression and metastasis for various cancers. There is currently an unmet need for lysosomal alkalizers that can selectively and safely alter the pH and inhibit the function of cancer lysosomes. Here an effective, selective, and safe lysosomal alkalizer is reported that can inhibit autophagy and suppress tumors in mice. The lysosomal alkalizer consists of an iron oxide core that generates hydroxyl radicals (•OH) in the presence of excessive H+ and hydrogen peroxide inside cancer lysosomes and cerium oxide satellites that capture and convert •OH into hydroxide ions. Alkalized lysosomes, which display impaired enzyme activity and autophagy, lead to cancer cell apoptosis. It is shown that the alkalizer effectively inhibits both local and systemic tumor growth and metastasis in mice. This work demonstrates that the intrinsic properties of nanoparticles can be harnessed to build effective lysosomal alkalizers that are both selective and safe.

Unraveling mitochondria-targeting reactive oxygen species modulation and their implementations in cancer therapy by nanomaterials.

Functional subcellular organelle mitochondria are emerging as a crucial player and driver of cancer. For maintaining the sites of cellular respiration, mitochondria experience production, and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) underlying oxidative damage in electron transport chain carriers. Precision medicine targeting mitochondria can change nutrient availability and redox homeostasis in cancer cells, which might represent a promising strategy for suppressing tumor growth. Herein, this review highlights how the modification capable of manipulating nanomaterials for ROS generation strategies can influence or compensate the state of mitochondrial redox homeostasis. We propose foresight to guide research and innovation with an overview of seminal work and discuss future challenges and our perspective on the commercialization of novel mitochondria-targeting agents.

Defect self-assembly of metal-organic framework triggers ferroptosis to overcome resistance.

The emergence of multidrug treatment resistance presents a hurdle for the successful chemotherapy of tumours. Ferroptosis, resulting from the iron-dependent accumulation of lipid peroxides, has the potential to reverse multidrug resistance. However, simultaneous delivery of the iron sources, ferroptosis inducers, drugs, and enhanced circulation carriers within matrices remains a significant challenge. Herein, we designed and fabricated a defect self-assembly of metal-organic framework (MOF)-red blood cell (RBC) membrane-camouflaged multi-drug-delivery nanoplatform for combined ferroptosis-apoptosis treatment of multidrug-resistant cancer. Ferroptosis and chemotherapeutic drugs are embedded in the centre of the iron (III)-based MOF at defect sites by coordination with metal clusters during a one-pot solvothermal synthesis process. The RBC membrane could camouflage the nanoplatform for longer circulation. Our results demonstrate that this defect self-assembly-enabled MOF-membrane-camouflaged nanoplatform could deplete the glutathione, amplify the reactive oxidative species oxidative stress, and enable remarkable anticancer properties. Our work provides an alternative strategy for overcoming multidrug resistance, which could regulate the fluidity and permeability of the cell membrane by ferroptosis to downregulate of P-glycoprotein protein expression by ferroptosis. This defect self-assembly-enabled MOF-membrane-camouflaged multi-drug-delivery nanoplatform has great therapeutic potential.

The role of eye-specific attention in ocular dominance plasticity.

It is well known how selective attention biases information processing in real time, but few work investigates the aftereffects of prolonged attention, let alone the underlying neural mechanisms. To examine perceptual aftereffect after prolonged attention to a monocular pathway, movie images played normally were presented to normal adult's one eye (attended eye), while movie images of the same episode but played backwards were presented to the opposite eye (unattended eye). One hour of watching this dichoptic movie caused a shift of perceptual ocular dominance towards the unattended eye. Interestingly, the aftereffect positively correlated with the advantage of neural activity for the attended-eye over unattended-eye signals at the frontal electrodes measured with steady-state visual evoked potentials. Moreover, the aftereffect disappeared when interocular competition was minimized during adaptation. These results suggest that top-down eye-specific attention can induce ocular dominance plasticity through binocular rivalry mechanisms. The present study opens the route to explain at least part of short-term ocular dominance plasticity with the ocular-opponency-neuron model, which may be an interesting complement to the homeostatic compensation theory.

ZnT8 loss-of-function accelerates functional maturation of hESC-derived ß cells and resists metabolic stress in diabetes.

Human embryonic stem cell-derived ß cells (SC-ß cells) hold great promise for treatment of diabetes, yet how to achieve functional maturation and protect them against metabolic stresses such as glucotoxicity and lipotoxicity remains elusive. Our single-cell RNA-seq analysis reveals that ZnT8 loss of function (LOF) accelerates the functional maturation of SC-ß cells. As a result, ZnT8 LOF improves glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) by releasing the negative feedback of zinc inhibition on insulin secretion. Furthermore, we demonstrate that ZnT8 LOF mutations endow SC-ß cells with resistance to lipotoxicity/glucotoxicity-triggered cell death by alleviating endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress through modulation of zinc levels. Importantly, transplantation of SC-ß cells with ZnT8 LOF into mice with preexisting diabetes significantly improves glycemia restoration and glucose tolerance. These findings highlight the beneficial effect of ZnT8 LOF on the functional maturation and survival of SC-ß cells that are useful as a potential source for cell replacement therapies.

Human pluripotent stem-cell-derived islets ameliorate diabetes in non-human primates.

Human pluripotent stem-cell-derived islets (hPSC-islets) are a promising cell resource for diabetes treatment1,2. However, this therapeutic strategy has not been systematically assessed in large animal models physiologically similar to humans, such as non-human primates3. In this study, we generated islets from human chemically induced pluripotent stem cells (hCiPSC-islets) and show that a one-dose intraportal infusion of hCiPSC-islets into diabetic non-human primates effectively restored endogenous insulin secretion and improved glycemic control. Fasting and average pre-prandial blood glucose levels significantly decreased in all recipients, accompanied by meal or glucose-responsive C-peptide release and overall increase in body weight. Notably, in the four long-term follow-up macaques, average hemoglobin A1c dropped by over 2% compared with peak values, whereas the average exogenous insulin requirement reduced by 49% 15 weeks after transplantation. Collectively, our findings show the feasibility of hPSC-islets for diabetic treatment in a preclinical context, marking a substantial step forward in clinical translation of hPSC-islets.

Constructing a Solar Evaporator with Salt-Collecting Paper by Stacking Hydrophilic Sponges for Freshwater Production and Salt Collection.

Solar water evaporation is universally considered as an effective method to alleviate the freshwater shortage worldwide. A series of three-dimensional, salt-resistant evaporators have been brought out to improve the evaporation performance. However, little attention was paid to the collection of salt from seawater and high salinity brine. In this work, a carbon black polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) sponge was prepared to harvest light using a physical adsorption method to load carbon black on the PVA sponge. The experimental results showed that optimal light absorption (97.8%) and evaporation rate (1.60 kg m-2 h-1) were achieved when the carbon black PVA sponge was produced at a carbon black concentration of 1 g L-1. Moreover, we stacked PVA sponges beneath the carbon black PVA sponge to construct a non-photothermal evaporation area. It was seen that the evaporator with an eight-layer PVA sponge had an excellent evaporation rate as high as 2.35 kg m-2 h-1. In addition, the salt-collecting paper, all-black printed by a laser printer, was inserted between the stacked PVA sponges for salt collection, and the eight-layer PVA sponge evaporator with the salt-collecting paper at the fourth floor was tested in a 2 h desalination experiment. The outcome indicated that a square meter of this evaporator can produce about 7.03 L of freshwater and 206 g of salt per day from 10 wt % NaCl solution. As a result, the solar evaporator developed in this work is capable of collecting salt and maintaining a high evaporation rate, which is of great competence in the fields of freshwater production and salt collection.

The relationship between mindfulness and envy: The mediating role of emotional intelligence.

Envy is a mixed negative emotion that is characterized by feelings of hostility, inferiority, resentment, and depression. It has been found that mindfulness is negatively associated with envy. This paper aimed to explore the interaction between mindfulness and envy by referring to the mindful emotion regulation model, and it also examines the mediation of emotional intelligence. Six hundred and seventy-six participants (182 men and 494 women) completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, the Dispositional Envy Scale, and the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. Results suggest that mindfulness is significantly and negatively correlated with envy. Meanwhile, a multiple mediation analysis indicated that regulation of emotion and use of emotion partially mediate the impact of mindfulness on envy. The current study not only provides a theoretical basis for possible mechanisms underlying the inhibition of envy, but also provides valuable guidance for developing mindfulness-based intervention programs aiming at reducing the negative effects of envy.

Prevalence of Risk Factors Associated With Mental Health Symptoms Among the Outpatient Psychiatric Patients and Their Family Members in China During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of and risk factors associated with mental health symptoms in psychiatric outpatients and their family members in China during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional, survey-based, region-stratified study collected demographic data and mental health measurements for depression, anxiety and acute stress from 269 psychiatric patients and 231 family members in the Second Xiangya Hospital in China from April 27, 2020 to May 8, 2020. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors associated with mental health outcomes. Result: The results of this survey revealed that symptoms of depression, anxiety, and acute stress were highly prevalent symptoms in the psychiatric patient group. Respondents who were female, unmarried or highly educated were significantly more likely to have the above symptoms. In the family member group, more than half of them felt that the burden of nursing had increased during the epidemic. Subjects with a high degree of burden of care were significantly more likely to exhibit the above mental health symptoms, while females were significantly more likely to have acute stress. Conclusions: The results of this survey revealed a high prevalence of mental health disorder symptoms among psychiatric patients and an increased burden of nursing among their family members after the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Understanding the risk factors in those particular groups of people help improve the public health service system for mental health problems during public health events. For further study, exploration of the needs of mental health services and dynamic change tracking will be needed.

Gratitude affects moral disgust: From the perspective of social norm theory.

The present research verified the relationship between gratitude and moral disgust and explored its internal mechanism based on the social norm theory for the first time. In this study, 979 participants were recruited and required to complete the Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ), the Moral Disgust Questionnaire (MD), the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Data were then analyzed via structural equation model. The results demonstrated that gratitude indirectly affects moral disgust through the chain path of social support → resilience rather than being directly mediated by social support and resilience. From the perspective of social norm theory, the current research reveals the internal mechanism between gratitude and moral disgust, which is of great significance to expand our understanding of theory and apply it to practice.

Childhood maltreatment and life satisfaction in adulthood: The mediating effect of emotional intelligence, positive affect and negative affect.

This study explored the mediation role of emotional intelligence, positive affect, and negative affect in the influence of childhood maltreatment on life satisfaction. A total of 811 participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale validly. Results revealed that emotional intelligence, positive affect and negative affect are mediators between childhood maltreatment and life satisfaction. In addition, childhood maltreatment influenced life satisfaction through the sequential intermediary of "emotional intelligence-positive affect" and "emotional intelligence-negative affect". Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

How gratitude inhibits envy: From the perspective of positive psychology.

With the development of positive psychology, gratitude, as a typical positive emotion, has attracted significant attention. Gratitude has a profoundly positive effect on cultivating people's positive traits, and negative emotions affect many aspects of people's daily lives. Many studies have explored the inhibiting effect of gratitude on negative emotions. In this study, based on the coping theory and the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotion, we used scenario method to discuss the inhibiting effect of trait gratitude and state gratitude on a common and typical negative emotion: situational envy. We randomly recruited 326 undergraduate students as participants and asked them to complete the Gratitude Questionnaire, Dispositional Envy Scale, state gratitude materials, and situational envy materials. Our results showed that (1) state gratitude inhibits situational envy and (2) state gratitude plays a partial mediating role between trait gratitude and situational envy. This article suggests educational field for future school should devote more attention to gratitude, and lay a good foundation for students' future development in society. Taken together, these results verify the positive role of gratitude, help to expand relevant theories about inhibiting envy, and provide a theoretical reference for cultivating people's positive traits and countering negative emotions.

CASK modulates the assembly and function of the Mint1/Munc18-1 complex to regulate insulin secretion.

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein serine kinase (CASK) is a key player in vesicle transport and release in neurons. However, its precise role, particularly in nonneuronal systems, is incompletely understood. We report that CASK functions as an important regulator of insulin secretion. CASK depletion in mouse islets/ß cells substantially reduces insulin secretion and vesicle docking/fusion. CASK forms a ternary complex with Mint1 and Munc18-1, and this event is regulated by glucose stimulation in ß cells. The crystal structure of the CASK/Mint1 complex demonstrates that Mint1 exhibits a unique "whip"-like structure that wraps tightly around the CASK-CaMK domain, which contains dual hydrophobic interaction sites. When triggered by CASK binding, Mint1 modulates the assembly of the complex. Further investigation revealed that CASK-Mint1 binding is critical for ternary complex formation, thereby controlling Munc18-1 membrane localization and insulin secretion. Our work illustrates the distinctive molecular basis underlying CASK/Mint1/Munc18-1 complex formation and reveals the importance of the CASK-Mint1-Munc18 signaling axis in insulin secretion.

Cognitive Process Differences Between Moral Beauty Judgments and Moral Goodness Judgments.

Goodness and beauty have always been important topics of debate in the field of philosophy and aesthetics. The present study used behavior and event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate whether moral beauty judgments and moral goodness judgments involve different cognitive processes or the same cognitive process under different language labels for the same human act. Behavioral results showed that individuals gave significantly higher scores for a beautiful face than an ugly face when making moral beauty judgments, but there were no significant differences between the two conditions when making moral goodness judgments. The ERP experiment displayed larger P2 amplitudes and the late positive potential (LPP) amplitude was elicited when displaying beautiful faces but not ugly faces during moral beauty judgments. However, during moral goodness judgments, the P2 and LPP showed no significant differences under the two conditions. In general, we conclude that moral beauty judgments and moral goodness judgments involve different cognitive processes, although they objectively refer to the same human act. One of the most important differences between moral beauty judgments and moral goodness judgments was that the former process involved an image, whereas the latter did not. The present conclusion provides important insights into the research in aesthetic perception and moral sense.

Effects of Envy on Depression: The Mediating Roles of Psychological Resilience and Social Support.

OBJECTIVE: Envy, as a stable personality trait, can affect individuals' mental health. Specifically, previous studies have found that envy can lead to depression; however, the mechanism by which envy affects depression is still unclear. Therefore, based on the resilience framework, we used structural equation modeling to explore the mediating roles that social support and psychological resilience play between envy and depression. METHODS: Chinese college students (n=680) were recruited to complete four scales: the Dispositional Envy Scale (DES), the Symptom Checklist 90-Depression Subscale (SCL-90-DS), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS). RESULTS: The results confirmed that both social support and psychological resilience are significant mediators between envy and depression. Furthermore, social support plays a significant mediating role between envy and psychological resilience, and psychological resilience plays a significant mediating role between social support and depression. Specifically, the results indicated that envy not only directly increases the likelihood of developing depression, but also indirectly increases the likelihood of developing depression by affecting psychological resilience through negatively influencing social support. CONCLUSION: This study provides a theoretical basis for enhancing psychological resilience and social support in order to ameliorate adverse effects of envy on depression.

The relationship between childhood maltreatment and benign/malicious envy among Chinese college students: the mediating role of emotional intelligence.

In the field of psychology, there are many studies on various aspects of envy. Previous studies have explored the effects of childhood maltreatment on general envy. However, few studies explored interventions aimed at mitigating the effects of childhood maltreatment on benign/malicious envy. Therefore, this study use a structural equation model method to examine the mediating role of emotional intelligence on the effects of childhood maltreatment on benign/malicious envy. We recruited 676 Chinese undergraduates to complete the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Benign and Malicious Envy Scale (BEMAS), and Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS). The results show that childhood maltreatment positively predicts malicious envy and negatively predicts benign envy. In addition, emotional intelligence plays a significant role in mediating them. Moreover, path analysis shows that the mediating effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and malicious envy is significantly stronger than that between childhood maltreatment and benign envy. These results demonstrate the different relationships between childhood maltreatment and benign/malicious envy, and the mediating role of emotional intelligence.

How mindfulness affects benign and malicious envy from the perspective of the mindfulness reperceiving model.

At present, mindfulness is a hotspot in psychological research. Mindfulness is an effective tool that enables people to effectively inhibit negative emotions. Previous studies have shown that envy is a typical negative emotion; however, envy can be divided into two completely different types: benign envy and malicious envy. The question then arises, how does mindfulness affect both types of envy? Using a mindfulness reperceiving model, we explored the effect of mindfulness on these two different types of envy and on the mediating mechanism of psychological resilience. To accomplish this, we recruited 676 Chinese undergraduates to complete the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Benign and Malicious Envy Scale (BEMAS) and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). The results we obtained showed that mindfulness and psychological resilience significantly and negatively predicted malicious envy and that psychological resilience played a partially mediating role in the relationship. In addition, the results showed that there was no significant effect between mindfulness and benign envy; however, psychological resilience can significantly and positively predict benign envy and played a completely mediating role between mindfulness and benign envy. These results effectively extend theories based on the mindfulness reperceiving model while also being important for promoting benign envy and inhibiting malicious envy in terms of improving mindfulness and psychological resilience.

Childhood Maltreatment Influences Mental Symptoms: The Mediating Roles of Emotional Intelligence and Social Support.

Childhood maltreatment and its influence on mental health are key concerns around the world. Previous studies have found that childhood maltreatment is a positive predictor of mental symptoms, but few studies have been done to explore the specific mediating mechanisms between these two variables. Previous studies have found that there is a negative correlation between childhood maltreatment and emotional intelligence and between childhood maltreatment and social support, both of which are strong indicators of mental symptoms. Therefore, in this study, we took emotional intelligence and social support as mediating variables, exploring their mediating effects between childhood maltreatment and mental symptoms via the structural equation modeling method. We recruited 811 Chinese college students to complete the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Symptom Checklist 90 Scale (SCL-90), the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), and the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS). The results showed a significant and positive correlation between childhood maltreatment and mental symptoms (ß = 0.26, P < 0.001); meanwhile, social support played a significant mediating role in the influence of childhood maltreatment on emotional intelligence [95% confidence intervals, (-0.594 to -0.327)]; and emotional intelligence likewise played a significant mediating role in the effect of social support on mental symptoms [95% confidence intervals, (-0.224 to -0.105)]. These results indicated that childhood maltreatment not only directly increases the likelihood of developing mental symptoms, but also affects emotional intelligence through influencing social support and then indirectly increasing the likelihood of developing mental symptoms. This study provided a theoretical basis for ameliorating adverse effects of childhood maltreatment on mental symptoms by enhancing emotional intelligence and social support.

Intestinal lysozyme liberates Nod1 ligands from microbes to direct insulin trafficking in pancreatic beta cells.

Long-range communication between intestinal symbiotic bacteria and extra-intestinal organs can occur through circulating bacterial signal molecules, through neural circuits, or through cytokines or hormones from host cells. Here we report that Nod1 ligands derived from intestinal bacteria act as signal molecules and directly modulate insulin trafficking in pancreatic beta cells. The cytosolic peptidoglycan receptor Nod1 and its downstream adapter Rip2 are required for insulin trafficking in beta cells in a cell-autonomous manner. Mechanistically, upon recognizing cognate ligands, Nod1 and Rip2 localize to insulin vesicles, recruiting Rab1a to direct insulin trafficking through the cytoplasm. Importantly, intestinal lysozyme liberates Nod1 ligands into the circulation, thus enabling long-range communication between intestinal microbes and islets. The intestine-islet crosstalk bridged by Nod1 ligands modulates host glucose tolerance. Our study defines a new type of inter-organ communication based on circulating bacterial signal molecules, which has broad implications for understanding the mutualistic relationship between microbes and host.