Neuroimaging features for cognitive fatigue and its recovery with VR intervention: An EEG microstates analysis.

Introduction: Cognitive fatigue is mainly caused by enduring mental stress or monotonous work, impairing cognitive and physical performance. Natural scene exposure is a promising intervention for relieving cognitive fatigue, but the efficacy of virtual reality (VR) simulated natural scene exposure is unclear. We aimed to investigate the effect of VR natural scene on cognitive fatigue and further explored its underlying neurophysiological alterations with electroencephalogram (EEG) microstates analysis.

Hypermethylation of the sodium channel beta subunit gene promoter is associated with colorectal cancer.

Aims: To better understand the role of sodium channel beta subunit (SCNN1B) in the initiation and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC) and to identify potential biomarkers for the early detection and prognosis of CRC.

Methods: A total of 74 pairs of CRC tissues and their adjacent normal tissues were collected between October 2016 and November 2017. The methylation levels of the SCNN1B promoter region in CRC tissues and their adjacent normal tissues were investigated by pyrosequencing.

Research on interaction and trust theory model for cockpit human-machine fusion intelligence.

Based on Boyd's "Observation Orientation-Decision-Action (OODA)" aerial combat theory and the principles of operational success, an analysis of the operational division patterns for cross-generational human-machine collaboration was conducted. The research proposed three stages in the development of aerial combat human-machine fusion intelligence: "Human-Machine Separation, Functional Coordination," "Human-Machine Trust, Task Coordination," and "Human-Machine Integration, Deep Fusion." Currently, the transition from the first stage to the second stage is underway, posing challenges primarily related to the lack of effective methods guiding experimental research on human-machine fusion interaction and trust.

Interrelationship between platelets and BUN in postmenopausal patients with coronary heart disease: findings of the NHANES from 2003 to 2016.

Objective: During menopause, women are more likely to develop coronary heart disease (CHD) due to the significant changes in body metabolism brought on by the loss of estrogen. The purpose of this study was to investigate the independent association between platelet parameters and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in postmenopausal patients with coronary artery disease in order to clarify the function performed by platelet parameters and BUN in thrombosis.

Patients And Methods: We took information from the NHANES between 2003 and 2016.

Overexpressed LAMC2 promotes trophoblast over-invasion through the PI3K/Akt/MMP2/9 pathway in placenta accreta spectrum.

Background: Placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) is an ongoing major iatrogenic public health challenge with devastating obstetric complications, but its underlying molecular pathogenesis remains poorly illuminated. LAMC2 is reported to regulate tumor cells proliferation and invasion, yet has not been explored in placenta trophoblast cells. This study investigated LAMC2 expression and its contribution in the etiology of PAS.

A functional polymorphism of microRNA-143 is associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the northern Chinese Han population.

Objective: To explore the association between two polymorphisms of microRNA-143 (miR-143) and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the northern Chinese Han population.

Study Design: This case-control study involved 326 patients with T2DM and 342 healthy controls. Two genetic variants (rs4705342 and rs353292) of were genotyped by the polymerase chain reaction/ligase detection reaction (PCR-LDR) method.

Association of interleukin-12B gene polymorphisms and mRNA expression with preeclampsia.

Objective: To explore the effects of functional genetic polymorphisms of the interleukin-12B (IL-12B) gene on the susceptibility to preeclampsia in northern Chinese women.

Study Design: Maternal peripheral blood from 306 preeclamptic women and 310 control women and the placentas from 52 preeclamptic and 55 control women were collected. Two polymorphisms (rs17860508 and rs3212227) of the IL-12B gene were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with a direct sequencing method.

The TIM-3 Rs10053538 Polymorphism Is Associated with Clinical Prognosis of Colorectal Cancer.

Background: Genetic variants in the T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing molecule 3 () gene have been reported to be associated with the risk of cancers and patients' outcomes. The aims of this study were to explore the role of polymorphisms in the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) and the prognosis of CRC patients in a northern Chinese population.

Methods: Two polymorphisms of were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction and ligase detection reaction in 364 CRC patients and 372 healthy control subjects.

MiR-34a-5p directly targeting TRIM44 affects the biological behavior of ovarian cancer cells.

Objective: This research intended to explore the expression and molecular mechanism of miR-34a-5p and Tripartite motif-containing protein 44 (TRIM44) in ovarian cancer (OC).

Patients And Methods: Tissue and serums of OC patients were collected, and miR-34a-5p and TRIM44 in serum and tissue were tested by Real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). In vitro cell experiment was constructed.

Pharmacological Characteristics and Efficacy of Fluazinam Against , Causing Cucumber Target Spot in Greenhouses.

Cucumber target spot, caused by , is a devastating fungal disease in greenhouses in China. Lack of resistant cultivars and unscientific use of fungicides aggravated the difficulty to manage this disease. In recent years, resistance of to benzimidazoles, quinone outside inhibitors, and succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors has occurred in China.

Pilots' mental workload prediction based on timeline analysis.

Background: The aircraft cockpit is a highly intensive human-computer interaction system, and its design directly affects flight safety.

Objective: To optimize the display interface design in complex flight tasks, the present study aimed to propose a dynamic conceptual framework and a timeline task analysis method for the quantization of the dynamic time effect of mental workload and the influencing factors of task types in the mental workload prediction model.

Methods: The multi-factor mental workload prediction model based on attention resource allocation was integrated to establish the dynamic prediction model of mental workload.

Simultaneous Detection of Multiple Benzimidazole-Resistant β-Tubulin Variants of Botrytis cinerea using Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification.

Optimal disease management depends on the ability to monitor the development of fungicide resistance in plant pathogen populations. Benzimidazole resistance is caused by the point mutations of the β-tubulin gene in Botrytis cinerea, and three mutations (E198A, E198K, and E198V) at codon 198 account for more than 98% of all resistant strains. Although traditional methods remain a cornerstone in monitoring fungicide resistance, molecular methods that do not require the isolation of pathogens can detect resistance alleles present at low frequencies, and require less time and labor than traditional methods.

A theoretical exploration of the effect of fluorine and cyano substitutions in diketopyrrolopyrrole-based polymer donor for organic solar cells.

A series of polymer donor materials 1-5 based on diketopyrrolopyrrole and thiophene unit which have been widely used in organic solar cells (OSCs) were investigated based on quantum chemical calculations. The effect of fluorine and cyano substitutions in polymer donor materials was focused on. Based on the investigation on electronic structures and optical properties of the reported molecules 1 and 2 and the analysis on some parameters relevant to charge dissociation ability at donor/acceptor interface constituted by 1 and 2 with PCBM such as intermolecular charge transfer and recombination, driving force and Coulombic bound energy, we explained why fluorine substitution can improve OPV efficiency through strengthening eletron-withdrawing ability from a theoretical perspective.

Improved Performance of Recombinant Protein A Immobilized on Agarose Beads by Site-Specific Conjugation.

Protein A affinity adsorbent with high antibody-binding capacity plays a prominent part in the purification of biopharmaceuticals to decrease the manufacturing costs. We describe a site-specific covalent conjugation strategy for protein A to immobilize on agarose beads. Recombinant protein A, which has one cysteine introduced at the C terminus through genetic engineering technology, was immobilized site-specifically on maleimide-functionalized agarose beads by the thiol-maleimide reaction.

Theoretical study on the charge transfer mechanism at donor/acceptor interface: Why TTF/TCNQ is inadaptable to photovoltaics?

A combined molecular dynamics (MD) and quantum chemical (QC) simulation method is utilized to investigate charge generation mechanism at TTF/TCNQ (tetrathiafulvalene/tetracyanoquinodimethane) heterojunction, which is a controversial donor/acceptor (D/A) interface for organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. The TTF/TCNQ complexes extracted from MD simulation are classified into parallel and herringbone packings. And then, the amounts of charge transferred from ground states to different excited states and the corresponding energies of charge transfer (CT) state are compared and analyzed using QC simulation.

Development and application of loop-mediated isothermal amplification for detecting the highly benzimidazole-resistant isolates in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.

Resistance of benzimidazole fungicides is related to the point mutation of the β-tubulin gene in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The point mutation at codon 198 (GAG → GCG, E198A) occurs in more than 90% of field resistant populations in China. Traditional detection methods of benzimidazole-resistant mutants of S.

A designed bithiopheneimide-based conjugated polymer for organic photovoltaic with ultrafast charge transfer at donor/PC(71)BM interface: theoretical study and characterization.

In the current work, a series of bithiopheneimide (BTI)-based D-A copolymers were investigated based on the reported PDTSBTI (1) to screen excellent molecules toward organic photovoltaic (OPV) donor materials. It is found that the PCE based on the proposed derivative 4, where the silicon atom is replaced with vinyl and cyano groups on the DTS unit, shows a 70 percent improvement by Scharber diagrams compared with its prototype 1. Then, the charge transfer dynamics of 1/PC71BM and 4/PC71BM were investigated, including the intermolecular charge transfer (inter-CT) and recombination (inter-CR) rates.

Stepwise modulation of the electron-donating strength of ancillary ligands: understanding the AIE mechanism of cationic iridium(III) complexes.

The AIE mechanism for cationic Ir(III) complexes with triazole-pyridine ligands has been determined by the combination of an experimental and a computational study. Larger structural relaxation and weak emissive excited-state intraligand charge transfer (ILCT) characters are responsible for the non-emission in solution, whereas the non-radiative processes are efficiently restricted in the solid state, enhancing the emission.

Theoretical studies on organic D-π-A sensitizers with planar triphenylamine donor and different π-linkers for dyes-sensitized solar cells.

Systematic density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT calculations on the geometry, electronic structure, absorption, and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of experimentally synthesized organic sensitizers LCn (n = 1-3) used in dyes-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were performed to disclose the important influences of the planar triphenylamine donor and the extended π-linker on the DSSCs performance. The interaction of dye with I2 and the conduction band shift were also investigated to rationalize the difference in open-circuit photovoltage (V oc). The results demonstrated that the planarization of TPA donor and the extended conjugation of π-linker in sensitizers LC2 and LC3 could result in a red shift of absorption and a reduction in exciton binding energy, which is beneficial to enhance the matching degree of absorption of sensitizers with solar photon-flux spectrum and to improve the incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency, both contributing to the significant increase of photocurrent density as compared to reference dye LC1.

Density functional studies on photophysical properties and chemical reactivities of the triarylboranes: effect of the constraint of planarity.

The geometric and electronic structures, absorption spectra, transporting properties, chemical reactivity indices and electrostatic potentials of the planar three-coordinate organoboron compounds 1-2 and twisted reference compound Mes(3)B, have been investigated by employing density functional theory (DFT) and conceptual DFT methods to shed light on the planarity effects on the photophysical properties and the chemical reactivity. The results show that the planar compounds 1-2 exhibit significantly lower HOMO level than Mes(3)B, owing to the stronger electronic induction effect of boron centers. This feature conspicuously induces a blue shifted absorption for 1, although 1 seemingly possesses more extended conjugation framework than Mes(3)B.

Theoretical characterization and design of small molecule donor material containing naphthodithiophene central unit for efficient organic solar cells.

To seek for high-performance small molecule donor materials used in heterojunction solar cell, six acceptor-donor-acceptor small molecules based on naphtho[2,3-b:6,7-b']dithiophene (NDT) units with different acceptor units were designed and characterized using density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory. Their geometries, electronic structures, photophysical, and charge transport properties have been scrutinized comparing with the reported donor material NDT(TDPP)2 (TDPP  =  thiophene-capped diketopyrrolopyrrole). The open circuit voltage (V(oc)), energetic driving force(ΔE(L-L)), and exciton binding energy (E(b)) were also provided to give an elementary understanding on their cell performance.

Cyano or o-nitrophenyl? Which is the optimal electron-withdrawing group for the acrylic acid acceptor of D-π-A sensitizers in DSSCs? A density functional evaluation.

We report a DFT, TDDFT and DFTB investigation of the performance of two donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A)-type organic dyes bearing different electron-withdrawing groups (EWG) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) to evaluate which EWG is better for an acrylic acid acceptor, i.e., Cyano (-CN) or o-nitrophenyl (o-NO2-Ph).

Theoretical insight into the origin of large stokes shift and photophysical properties of anilido-pyridine boron difluoride dyes.

The geometric and electronic structures and photophysical properties of anilido-pyridine boron difluoride dyes 1-4, a series of scarce 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) derivatives with large Stokes shift, are investigated by employing density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations to shed light on the origin of their large Stokes shifts. To this end, a suitable functional is first determined based on functional tests and a recently proposed index-the charge-transfer distance. It is found that PBE0 provides satisfactory overall results.

Effect of micro-environment maintenance on embryo culture after in-vitro fertilization: comparison of top-load mini incubator and conventional front-load incubator.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of microenvironment maintenance on embryo culture and clinical results using two types of incubators.

Methods: Temperature and oxygen concentration in a mini-incubator and a conventional incubator were compared following a 5-s door opening/closing procedure. Embryos of 30 in-vitro fertilization embryo transfer (IVF-ET) cases were randomly allocated to either one of the incubator, cultured, and the early-stage good embryo formation rate and the good blastocyst formation rate were compared, as indicators for micro-environment maintenance ability.