Facile Transfer of Reverse Micelles from the Organic to the Aqueous Phase for Mimicking Enzyme Catalysis and Imaging-Guided Cancer Therapy.

Reverse micelles (RMs) with confined water pools have been applied in many fields. However, the water insolubility of RMs seriously limits the scope of their application, especially those needed to operate in aqueous environments. Here, we report the first successful transfer of RMs from the organic phase to water phase without disturbing their confined water pools and hydrophobic alkyl region. This transfer was achieved by virtue of a mild host-guest interaction between the hydrophobic tails of interfacial cross-linked reverse micelles (ICRMs) and the hydrophobic cavity of (2-hydroxypropyl)-ß-cyclodextrin (HP-ß-CD). Benefitting from the maintained confined water pools and the hydrophobic scaffold, the obtained water-soluble ICRMs served as multifunctional nanoplatforms for enzyme-mimicking catalysis and image-guided cancer therapy, which were impossible for normal RMs lacking water solubility or confined pool-buried water-soluble nanoparticles without a hydrophobic alkyl chain. This mild transfer approach thus surmounts the application obstacle of RMs and opens up new avenues for their application in aqueous environments.

Prevalence and Correlates of School Bullying Victimization in Xi'an, China.

This study used the data from a representative sample to estimate the prevalence of child bullying victimization in Xi'an, China. Data on social demographic information and the experiences of different types of bullying victimization were collected from a randomly selected sample with 3,175 middle school students aged 15-17 years by self-administrated questionnaires. t Test, χ2 test, and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to test group differences and examine the correlates of bullying victimization. Results show that 54.9% and 44.6% of Chinese children have been bullied in a lifetime and in the preceding year, respectively. Correlates for direct and relational bullying victimization includes male participants, father's lower education level, father's unemployment, having one or more siblings, smoking, depression, borderline personality trait, posttraumatic stress disorder, and from rural schools. Overall, the prevalence of child bullying victimization in China is substantial. The multiple correlates suggest prevention and intervention of bullying victimization in a holistic and comprehensive way.

Protection of ischemic post conditioning against transient focal ischemia-induced brain damage is associated with inhibition of neuroinflammation via modulation of TLR2 and TLR4 pathways.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Ischemic postconditioning has been demonstrated to be a protective procedure to brain damage caused by transient focal ischemia/reperfusion. However, it is elusive whether the protection of postconditioning against brain damage and neuroinflammation is via regulating TLR2 and TLR4 pathways. In the present study, we examined the protection of ischemic postconditioning performed immediately prior to the recovery of cerebral blood supply on brain damage caused by various duration of ischemia and tested the hypothesis that its protection is via inhibition of neuroinflammation by modulating TLR2/TLR4 pathways. METHODS: Brain damage in rats was induced by using the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model. Ischemic postconditioning consisting of fivecycles of ten seconds of ischemia and reperfusion was performed immediately following theischemic episode Theduration of administration of ischemic postconditioning was examined by comparing its effects on infarction volume, cerebral edema and neurological function in 2, 3, 4, 4.5and 6 hour ischemia groups. The protective mechanism of ischemic postconditioning was investigated by comparing its effects on apoptosis, production of the neurotoxic cytokine IL-1ß and the transcription and expression of TLR2, TLR4 and IRAK4 in the 2 and 4.5 hour ischemia groups. RESULTS: Ischemic postconditioning significantly attenuated cerebral infarction, cerebral edema and neurological dysfunction in ischemia groups of up to 4 hours duration, but not in 4.5and 6 hour ischemia groups. It also inhibited apoptosis, production of IL-1ß, abnormal transcription and expression of TLR2, TLR4 and IRAK4 in the 2 hour ischemia group, but not in the 4.5 hour ischemia group. CONCLUSIONS: Ischemic postconditioning protected brain damage caused by 2, 3 and 4 hours of ischemia, but not by 4.5 and 6 hours of ischemia. The protection of ischemic postconditioning is associated with its inhibition of neuroinflammation via inhibition of TLR2 and TLR4 pathways.

Exploring the electrostatic energy landscape for tetraloop-receptor docking.

It has long been appreciated that Mg(2+) is essential for the stabilization of RNA tertiary structure. However, the problem of quantitative prediction for the ion effect in tertiary structure folding remains. By using the virtual bond RNA folding model (Vfold) to generate RNA conformations and the newly improved tightly bound ion model (TBI) to treat ion-RNA interactions, we investigate Mg(2+)-facilitated tetraloop-receptor docking. For the specific construct of the tetraloop-receptor system, the theoretical analysis shows that the Mg(2+)-induced stabilizing force for the docked state is predominantly entropic and the major contribution comes from the entropy of the diffusive ions. Furthermore, our results show that Mg(2+) ions promote tetraloop-receptor docking mainly through the entropy of the diffusive ions. The theoretical prediction agrees with experimental analysis. The method developed in this paper, which combines the theory for the (Mg(2+)) ion effects in RNA folding and RNA conformational sampling, may provide a useful framework for studying the ion effect in the folding of more complex RNA structures.

Many-body effect in ion binding to RNA.

Ion-mediated electrostatic interactions play an important role in RNA folding stability. For a RNA in a solution with higher Mg(2+) ion concentration, more counterions in the solution can bind to the RNA, causing a strong many-body coupling between the bound ions. The many-body effect can change the effective potential of mean force between the tightly bound ions. This effect tends to dampen ion binding and lower RNA folding stability. Neglecting the many-body effect leads to a systematic error (over-estimation) of RNA folding stability at high Mg(2+) ion concentrations. Using the tightly bound ion model combined with a conformational ensemble model, we investigate the influence of the many-body effect on the ion-dependent RNA folding stability. Comparisons with the experimental data indicate that including the many-body effect led to much improved predictions for RNA folding stability at high Mg(2+) ion concentrations. The results suggest that the many-body effect can be important for RNA folding in high concentrations of multivalent ions. Further investigation showed that the many-body effect can influence the spatial distribution of the tightly bound ions and the effect is more pronounced for compact RNA structures and structures prone to the formation of local clustering of ions.

The role of school climate on student disclosure of private information and cyberbullying: a comparison of regular and vocational school students in China.

Introduction: Adolescents are experiencing an unprecedented cyber-saturated environment where the disclosure of private information should be approached with caution. This study aims to investigate the effects of school environment, including student support, teacher support, and opportunities for autonomy, on students' disclosure of private information and their experiences with cyberbullying. Methods: In September 2022, a total of 1,716 students (mean age = 14.60, SD = 1.35) from three regular and vocational schools in China participated in the survey. Results: The results showed that 35.6% of the participants had experienced victimization by cyberbullying, and 12.6% had perpetrated cyberbullying. Vocational school students reported significantly higher rates of cyberbullying and lower levels of perceived school climate than students from regular school. Student support in the school environment was found to negatively affect both cyberbullying perpetration and victimization, with this impact appearing to be stronger in regular schools as compared to vocational schools. Opportunities for autonomy and the disclosure of private information were positively correlated with experiences of cyberbullying. Discussion: This study introduces a novel perspective that perceived school climate influences adolescents' disclosure of private information and their involvement in cyberbullying. The findings could provide implications for future research and practices aimed at child protection in cyberspace.

Validation of the Chinese version of the coping strategies for victims of cyberbullying scale.

BACKGROUND: Although abundant evidence has confirmed cyberbullying as a global online risk, little is known about the coping strategies employed by victims and those who experiencing bullying. A validated scale for coping with cyberbullying could inform evidence-based social services and enable comparative studies of this phenomenon among victims from different backgrounds. This study aims to validate the Coping Strategies for Victims of Cyberbullying (CSVC) scale among Chinese adolescents and to compare its effectiveness between victims and bully-victims (individuals with dual roles). METHODS: A 25-item CSVC scale was translated and adapted for cultural relevance in the Chinese context. A sample of 1,716 adolescents, aged 13-18 years, from two middle schools and one high school in China, was recruited. Both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted. RESULTS: The EFA revealed that the Chinese version of the CSVC scale had satisfactory validity. The CFA demonstrated a good fit for the eight-factor model in assessing different coping strategies for cyberbullying. Differences in the selection of coping strategies were observed between the general adolescent population and sexual and gender minorities. CONCLUSIONS: Future intervention studies may use this validated scale to educate adolescents, both those affected by cyberbullying and those who are not, to learn a broader range of coping strategies and to choose more effective ones.

TLR2 and TLR4 in the brain injury caused by cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.

Brain injury caused by cerebral ischemia/reperfusion is a complicated pathophysiological course, in which inflammation is thought to play an important role. Toll-like receptors are a type of transmembrane proteins, which can recognize either exogenous pathogen-associated molecular patterns or endogenous stress or damage-associated molecular patterns in the innate immune system and initiate inflammatory responses. Among Toll-like receptors, TLR2 and TLR4 are found to be more important than others in the pathological progression of cerebral injury due to ischemia and reperfusion. This review will focus on the biological characteristics and functions of TLR2 and TLR4 and their downstream signal pathways.

Research on Automatic Identification and Rating of Ferrite-Pearlite Grain Boundaries Based on Deep Learning.

Grain size has a significant effect on the mechanical properties of metals. It is very important to accurately rate the grain size number of steels. This paper presents a model for automatic detection and quantitative analysis of the grain size of ferrite-pearlite two-phase microstructure to segment ferrite grain boundaries. In view of the challenging problem of hidden grain boundaries in pearlite microstructure, the number of hidden grain boundaries is inferred by detecting them with the confidence of average grain size. The grain size number is then rated using the three-circle intercept procedure. The results show that grain boundaries can be accurately segmented by using this procedure. According to the rating results of grain size number of four types of ferrite-pearlite two-phase microstructure samples, the accuracy of this procedure is greater than 90%. The grain size rating results deviate from those calculated by experts using the manual intercept procedure by less than Grade 0.5-the allowable detection error specified in the standard. In addition, the detection time is shortened from 30 min of the manual intercept procedure to 2 s. The procedure presented in this paper allows automatic rating of grain size number of ferrite-pearlite microstructure, thereby effectively improving the detection efficiency and reducing the labor intensity.

Cyberbullying victimisation among adolescents in China: Coping strategies and the role of self-compassion.

Coping strategies have the ability to reduce immediate and long-term stress from cyberbullying experiences. This study compares the perceptions of cyberbullying victims and non-victims in relation to the coping strategies for different types of cyberbullying victimisation. A group of 1,339 Chinese adolescents from vocational schools in Jiangxi province participated in the study. Effects of demographic factors, cyberbullying victimisation and self-compassion on coping strategies were computed with logistic regression analysis. Results showed that cyberbullying victims indicated a stronger preference towards doing nothing, or to rely on themselves, instead of seeking help. Both victims and non-victims indicated 'Asking a parent/family for help' as the first choice across all victimisation types. The effects of self-compassion on coping with cyberbullying were found to be significant. This study provides evidence that can be used to enhance policy and practice for effectively enabling parents and professionals' involvement in cyberbullying intervention. Cyberbullying prevention programs should therefore arm parents with the knowledge to provide support to, and strengthen self-compassion of children, to modulate positive coping emotions and cyber behaviour.

The roles of gratitude and mindfulness between cyberbullying perpetration and depression among children in rural China: A moderated mediation model.

Previous literature suggests that gratitude and mindfulness-based intervention could effectively abate stressful life events, while the associations with cyberbullying perpetration have not been investigated. Little is known about the mechanisms of this association, especially for children who lack sufficient parental protection. The current study aimed to examine the roles of mindfulness and gratitude in the relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and depression among children and adolescents. This study employed data from a school-based survey conducted in 2018, in which 1298 students aged 9-16 years were randomly selected from three elementary and middle schools in China. The moderated mediation effects of gratitude and mindfulness on the relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and depression were examined through PROCESS model. Results showed that mindfulness mediated the relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and depression, while gratitude moderated and weakened the relationship. The findings may offer insights into the awareness and intervention programs regarding positive psychological mechanisms to reduce cyberbullying perpetration among children and adolescents in China.

Health effects of children's witnessing of elder abuse: Evidence from six major cities in China.

Past evidence has revealed the negative effects of children's witnessing of family violence. With our increasingly aging society comes a higher risk of elder abuse, which creates new challenges in the form of the indirect and direct victimisation of children in the home. However, research on the relationship between children's witnessing of elder abuse and their victimisation experiences is limited. This study examines the physical and mental health outcomes of witnessing elder abuse, as well as the relationship between children's witnessing of elder abuse at home and child abuse victimisation. A large-scale representative sample of 18,504 students aged 14-18 from six major cities in China was analysed to investigate the associations. The results showed that children who had witnessed more than one type of elder abuse were more likely to have depression and poor health than those who had witnessed only one type. Children's witnessing of elder abuse was also significantly associated with child abuse and bullying victimisation. These findings offer implications for policy making and service delivery in family-based child protection and interventions: Future interventions aimed at addressing indirect child victimisation should be integrated with those focused on direct forms of victimisation in order to effectively identify at-risk families as a whole.

Exploring Family Backgrounds of Chinese Adolescents Who Are Vulnerable to Victimization and Repeated Victimization.

There is abundant evidence in the literature to show that victimization has a series of adverse consequences on child victims' physical and mental health. However, some studies detailed whether the family correlates of repeat victims differ from those who are victimized only once. This study fills this gap by describing the probabilities that children who fit certain profiles will be repeat victims and implies that it is possible to identify and screen individual and family factors who are at high risk of repeated victimization. Using the 2009-2010 Child Victimization Survey, we analyzed data from 14,564 Chinese adolescents aged 14-18 years from five major cities in China. We employed a multinomial logit regression model, using child victimization as the dependent variable and demographic factors as independent variables. We identified the top 1% of the most vulnerable cases and summarized their demographic characteristics. Our analysis revealed that older boys with siblings in the same household whose mothers' education was below average were the most vulnerable to one-time victimization. Further, boys with siblings whose parents were less-educated than average, unemployed, and unmarried were the most vulnerable to repeated victimization. This study has vast practical implications, including different ways to confront the problem of repeated child victimization (both practically and in the literature), develop a quick screening tool, and apply cost-effective prevention and interventions in China.

Adaptation and validation of the European cyberbullying intervention project questionnaire with and for Chinese adolescents.

Cyberbullying is a global and growing phenomenon, which affects the wellbeing of millions of adolescents around the world including Chinese adolescents. However, there is a lack of valid and reliable measures of cyberbullying behaviours in Chinese. To address this research gap, this study aims to adapt and validate a well-known, reliable and validated instrument: the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIPQ) among Chinese adolescents. A 14-item (seven for cyber aggression and seven for cyber victimisation) of the Chinese version of ECIPQ was developed based on its relevance and appropriateness to the Chinese culture. After its cultural and linguistic adaptation, the measure was norm with a sample of Chinese adolescents. A total sample of 452 adolescents was randomly split into two evenly subsamples for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The EFA results indicated that the Chinese version of ECIPQ had a good convergent validity and satisfactory discriminant validity, and a two-factor model was identified. CFA results showed a good fit of the measurement model in assessing cyber aggression and cyber victimisation. This adapted Chinese version of ECIPQ can be used to facilitate future research on cyberbullying screening, and that research may in turn promote proactive screening and better coordination of community responses for victims as well as perpetrators. Future comparative studies may use the validated scale to assess the prevalence of cyberbullying and the results of interventions to reduce cyberbullying among Chinese adolescents.

Parathyroid hormone-related peptide is a naturally occurring, protein kinase A-dependent angiogenesis inhibitor.

Angiogenesis is a highly regulated process that results from the sequential actions of naturally occurring stimulators and inhibitors. Here, we show that parathyroid hormone-related peptide, a peptide hormone derived from normal and tumor cells that regulates bone metabolism and vascular tone, is a naturally occurring angiogenesis inhibitor. Parathyroid hormone-related peptide or a ten-amino-acid peptide from its N terminus inhibits endothelial cell migration in vitro and angiogenesis in vivo by activating endothelial cell protein kinase A. Activation of protein kinase A inhibits cell migration and angiogenesis by inhibiting the small GTPase Rac. In contrast, inhibition of protein kinase A reverses the anti-migratory and anti-angiogenic properties of parathyroid hormone-related peptide. These studies show that parathyroid hormone-related peptide is a naturally occurring angiogenesis inhibitor that functions by activation of protein kinase A.

[Studies on the chemical constituents from the flowers of Ophiopogon japonicus].

OBJECTIVE: To study the chemical constituents from the flowers of Ophiopogon japonicus. METHODS: Column chromatography and spectral analysis were used to isolate and identify the constituents. RESULTS: Eleven compounds were obtained and identified as beta-sitosterol (I), diosgenin (II), daucosterol (III), ophiopogonin C' (IV), dioscin (V), 7-dihy-droxy-6-methyl-3-(4'-hydroxybenzyl) chroman-4-one(VI), luteolin (VII), kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosides (VIII), kaempferol-3-O-(6"-tigloyl) -beta-D-glucopyranosides (IX), kaempferol-3-O-(6"-acetyl) -beta-D-glucopyranosides (X), glucose (XI). CONCLUSION: Eleven compounds are obtained from the flowers of O. japonicus for the first time. Compond VI is isolated as a simple substance compound of O. japonicus for the first time. Componds VII, VIII, IX and X are isolated from this genus for the first time.

A Meta-Analysis on Effects of Parenting Programs on Bullying Prevention.

Bullying is a serious public health concern across the globe. While there are a number of bullying interventions with parental components, limited efforts have been made to synthesize the impacts of parenting programs on bullying prevention. This meta-analysis aimed to review and examine parenting programs on bullying reduction that involving both school-based and home visiting anti-bullying programs. The overall effect size supported a significant outcome on bullying reduction (d = .640, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.239, 1.041]). Results of this meta-analysis reported that participants in the parenting programs scored significantly lower on both bullying and victimization. Data from the randomized controlled trials and the pre- and posttest design studies showed evidence of highly significant effects of parenting interventions on bullying reduction. Child- and parent-related factors including parenting style, children's empathy, and parent-child interaction about bullying were found to be significantly related to the effectiveness of intervention programs. This study provides evidence to enhance policy and practice for effectively enabling parent involvement in bullying behavior reduction and to increase parent-children communication about bullying as well as parenting skills. Future researchers and practitioners may explore more about the impact of school-family partnerships and their reliance on each other to help reduce bullying.

Parent-Child Attachment Moderates the Associations Between Cyberbullying Victimization and Adolescents' Health/Mental Health Problems: An Exploration of Cyberbullying Victimization Among Chinese Adolescents.

Cyberbullying is a public health concern worldwide, including China. Cyberbullying victimization has negative effects on adolescents' health and mental health. This study examined the associations between cyberbullying victimization and several health and mental health problems among adolescents in China. A total of 3,232 adolescents aged 15 to 17 were recruited from 18 high schools in Xi'an, China, using a stratified random sampling method. Self-report data were collected via survey from adolescents in Xi'an, China. In total, 22.2% and 6.3% of the sample reported having experienced cyberbullying victimization in their lifetime and the past year, respectively. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression revealed that lifetime and preceding-year cyberbullying victimization was, respectively, significantly associated with poorer health (ß = -1.58, p < .001; ß = -2.22, p < .001), more severe depressive symptoms (ß= 3.74, p < .001; ß = 4.48, p < .001), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (ß = 7.16, p < .001; ß = 4.77, p < .001). Binary regression revealed that lifetime and preceding-year cyberbullying victimization was, respectively, significantly related to higher odds of problem drinking (odds ratio [OR] = 1.64, p < .001; OR = 1.84, p < .01), cigarette smoking (OR = 1.69, p < .001; OR = 2.21, p < .001), and gambling engagement (OR = 1.35, p < .05; OR = 1.97, p < .01). Furthermore, greater levels of parent-child attachment were a protective factor against the negative effects of cyberbullying victimization on adolescents' depressive symptoms (p < .001) and PTSD (p < .05). It is critical to develop and implement prevention and early intervention programs that are tailored to address the needs of adolescents in China. Parental involvement needs to be incorporated into interventions for cyberbullying victimization.

Design My Music Instrument: A Project-Based Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics Program on The Development of Creativity.

Creativity is an essential factor in ensuring the sustainable development of a society. Improving students' creativity has gained much attention in education, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) education. In a quasi-experimental design, this study examines the effectiveness of a project-based STEAM program on the development of creativity in Chinese elementary school science education. We selected two fourth-graders classes. One received a project-based STEAM program (the experimental group, n = 33), and the other received a conventional science teaching (the control group, n = 33) over 6 weeks. Students' creativity was assessed before and after the intervention using a multi-method approach, including a test of divergent thinking, a story completion through the Consensus Assessment Technique (CAT), a creative self-efficacy (CSE) measure, and a group-based creative project. Moreover, all students received a test of their science knowledge after the intervention. The results showed that compared with the control group, the creativity of the experimental group students improved significantly for 6 weeks at both individual and group level, even though their knowledge in science were comparable. This result confirmed the effectiveness of a project-based STEAM educational program improving elementary school students' creativity. Implications are discussed.

New steroid saponins from Dioscorea zingiberensis yam and their medicinal use against I/R via anti-inflammatory effect.

Steroid saponins are the medicinal compounds and nutrition ingredients of medicine food  homology (MFH) Dioscorea zingiberensis C. H. Wright (D. zingiberensis) yam. Our phytochemical investigation of the edible rhizomes resulted in 9 new furostanol steroid saponins named dioscins A-I (1-9), together with 11 known steroid saponins. Their chemical structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic and chemical analyses. The new dioscins were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory and beneficial effects against cerebral ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury on RAW264.7 and PC12 cells in vitro, respectively. Dioscins A, B, and G revealed considerable anti-I/R effect through an anti-inflammatory mechanism based on the decreasing concentration of pro-inflammatory (TNF-α and IL-6) and down-regulating the NF-κB expression. The present research demonstrated that daily consumption of this yam plant probably prevented the I/R occurrence via the anti-inflammatory property of steroid saponins, and it also enriched the steroid saponin library, providing the possibility to develop MFH-containing steroid saponins into functional foods for maintenance of human health or drugs for the treatment of I/R disease.