Comparative Analysis of the Effect of Dietary Supplementation with Fermented and Water-Extracted Leaf Extracts of on Egg Production and Egg Nutrition.

Although the water extract of leaf (WEE) promotes egg laying in hens, its palatability is poor. To improve the palatability of leaf, probiotic fermentation was used, and fermented extract leaf (FEE) was prepared using . The safety of FEE was investigated using a long-term toxicity test, and no oxidative damage, inflammatory reactions, or histological lesions were observed in the experimental rats receiving dietary supplementation of FEE at 200 mg/kg, suggesting that FEE is suitable for long-term feeding.

Explaining the Insufficient Relationship between Affective Empathy and Physical Aggression Based on a Double-edged Sword Model.

Affective empathy is generally considered an important inhibitor of aggression. However, the meta-analysis studies on the relationship between affective empathy and aggression have challenged this common-sense view and found no substantial correlation between the two variables. We proposed a double-edged sword model to explain this counterintuitive phenomenon and tested this model by establishing an inconsistent mediation model.

Modality-dependent distortion effects of temporal frequency on time perception.

Time perception has been known to depend on the temporal frequency of the stimulus. Previously, the effect of temporal frequency modulation was assumed to be monotonically lengthening or shortening. However, this study shows that temporal frequency affects time perception in a non-monotonic and modality-dependent manner.

Quantitative colorimetric sensing of heavy metal ions via analyte-promoted growth of Au nanoparticles with timer or smartphone readout.

This work describes two new colorimetric nanosensors for label-free, equipment-free quantitative detection of nanomolar copper (II) (Cu) and mercury (II) (Hg) ions. Both are based on the analyte-promoted growth of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) from the reduction of chloroauric acid by 4-morpholineethanesulfonic acid. For the Cu nanosensor, the analyte can accelerate such a redox system to rapidly form a red solution containing dispersed, uniform, spherical AuNPs that is related to these particles' surface plasmon resonance property.

Specific effects of working memory training on the reading skills of Chinese children with developmental dyslexia.

Most research on working memory (WM) training for children with developmental dyslexia (DD) has focused on western alphabetical languages. Moreover, most of these studies used a combination of training tasks targeting a variety of WM components, making it difficult to determine whether WM training generates a general improvement in overall reading, or improves specific cognitive skills corresponding to the WM components that are targeted in training. We tested the general and specific effects of WM training on the reading skills of 45 Chinese children with DD, grades 3 to 5.

Using the Rubik's Cube to directly produce paper analytical devices for quantitative point-of-care aptamer-based assays.

In this article, we describe a facile method named as Rubik's Cube stamping (RCS) for equipment-free fabrication of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs). RCS is inspired by the worldwide ubiquitous RC toy and requires no specialized electric equipment other than a classical six-faced RC that is assembled with home-made small iron components. It can pattern various rosin microstructures in paper simply by either using different functional faces of the modified RC or applying its internal pivot mechanism to adjust the components' patterning forms on one functional face.

Analyte-triggered autocatalytic amplification combined with gold nanoparticle probes for colorimetric detection of heavy-metal ions.

This work reports a new colorimetric nanosensor for the detection of heavy-metal ions that initially integrates analyte-triggered autocatalytic amplification with o-phenylenediamine-mediated aggregation of label-free gold nanoparticles. Its utility is well demonstrated with the simple, rapid, sensitive, and specific detection of Hg, Cu, and Ag targets with detection limits less than 3 nM.

Enhanced ELISA using a handheld pH meter and enzyme-coated microparticles for the portable, sensitive detection of proteins.

This work describes a general methodology for enhanced enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that integrates enzyme-coated microparticle probes for robust yet highly efficient signal amplification and a handheld pH meter for a simple, portable, quantitative readout. Its utility is well demonstrated with the detection of the target protein with a 14-fold enhancement of sensitivity in comparison with the conventional optical ELISA.

Intramolecular electronic couplings in class II/III organic mixed-valence systems of bis(1,4-dimethoxybenzene).

The intramolecular electronic couplings in organic mixed-valence systems [D-(ph)(n)-D](•+) (D = 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylphenyl, n = 0, 1, and 2) are calculated by dominantly using density functional theory to investigate their dependence of functionals. Since these systems have the property that the charge is from localization to delocalization, the optimized structures are sensitive to the functionals. The geometric optimizations show that CAM-B3LYP and ωB97X-D functionals are good choices for delocalized systems and LC-ωPBE and M06HF are suitable for the systems from charge almost localization to localization.