De Novo Designed Ru(II) Metallacycle as a Microenvironment-Adaptive Sonosensitizer and Sonocatalyst for Multidrug-Resistant Biofilms Eradication.

Albeit sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has achieved encouraging progress in microbial sterilization, the scarcity of guidelines for designing highly effective sonosensitizers and the intricate biofilm microenvironment (BME), substantially hamper the therapeutic efficacy against biofilm infections. To address the bottlenecks, we innovatively design a Ru(II) metallacycle-based sonosensitizer/sonocatalyst (named Ru-A3-TTD) to enhance the potency of sonotherapy by employing molecular engineering strategies tailored to BME. Our approach involves augmenting Ru-A3-TTD's production of ultrasonic-triggered reactive oxygen species (ROS), surpassing the performance of commercial sonosensitizers, through a straightforward but potent π-expansion approach. Within the BME, Ru-A3-TTD synergistically amplifies sonotherapeutic efficacy via triple-modulated approaches: (i) effective alleviation of hypoxia, leading to increased ROS generation, (ii) disruption of the antioxidant defense system, which shields ROS from glutathione consumption, and (iii) enhanced biofilm penetration, enabling ROS production in deep sites. Notably, Ru-A3-TTD sono-catalytically oxidizes NADPH, a critical coenzyme involved in antioxidant defenses. Consequently, Ru-A3-TTD demonstrates superior biofilm eradication potency against multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli compared to conventional clinical antibiotics, both in vitro and in vivo. To our knowledge, this study represents the pioneering instance of a supramolecular sonosensitizer/sonocatalyst. It provides valuable insights into the structure-activity relationship of sonosensitizers and paves a promising pathway for the treatment of biofilm infections.

The effects of family environment cognition and its difference perceived by adolescents and their parents on the treatment effect of non-suicidal self-injury behaviors in adolescents: a 1-year prospective cohort study.

Introduction: Family environment is the primary environment for adolescent growth and development, which is believed to have an important impact on the occurrence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behavior in adolescents. This study aimed to explore the effects of family environment cognition and cognitive differences perceived by adolescents and their parents on the treatment effects of NSSI in adolescents and to provide more potential perspectives for NSSI treatment. Methods: A one-year prospective longitudinal sub-cohort investigation was carried out among 199 adolescents engaged in NSSI and one of their important guardians from the Longitudinal Psychosomatic Disease Study (LoPDS). The NSSI behaviors of adolescents were evaluated at 3 months, 6 months and 1 year after enrollment. The family environment scale (FES) and NSSI Behavior Questionnaire were used as assessment tools for family environment and adolescents NSSI behaviors. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate the role of family environment perception difference in the treatment effect of adolescent NSSI. Results: After one year of follow-up, the perceived self-injury impulse score in recent 2 weeks, self-injury impulse frequency in recent 2 weeks, total number of self-injury in recent 2 weeks decreased significantly. The higher the adolescent family cohesion (Beta: 1.130, 95% CI: 0.886,1.373; p=0.032), parental family expressiveness (Beta: 0.818, 95% CI: 0.375,1.260; p=0.037) and parental family active-recreational orientation score (Beta: 0.609, 95% CI: 0.236,0.981; p=0.048), the better the treatment effect. However, higher adolescent family conflict (Beta: -0.838, 95% CI: -1.377,-0.298; p=0.024) were associated with lower treatment outcomes. The greater the cognitive difference between parents and adolescents in family cohesion (Beta: -1.307, 95% CI: -2.074,-0.539; p=0.014) and family conflict(Beta: -0.665, 95% CI: -0.919,-0.410; p=0.037), the worse the therapeutic effect of NSSI might be. Discussion: There were certain differences in the cognition of family relationships between parents and adolescents, and subjective family relationship cognition and cognitive differences had a significant effect on the treatment effect of NSSI in adolescents. Helping them identify the cause of cognitive differences and conducting systematic family therapy from the points of difference may be another perspective to improve the treatment effect of NSSI in adolescents.

Workplace violence against Chinese health professionals 2013-2021: A study of national criminal judgment documents.

Objectives: Patient-initiated hospital violence is a global problem which threatens the safety of health professionals and is indicative of doctor-patient tensions, impeding health system quality and access. The current study aimed to improve the understanding of medical workplace violence (WPV) in China, using authoritative and nationally representative judgment records, and to approach violence prevention strategies. Methods: All litigation records relating to violence against health professionals between 2013 and 2021 were extracted from the China Judgment Online System. Basic case information, victim characteristics, perpetrator characteristics and the nature of the violence were collated. The relationship between different treatment outcomes and violence was also explored. Results: Numbers of cases of hospital violence gradually increased from 2013 to a peak in 2016 before gradually decreasing in the following years. The most common perpetrators were patients' relatives (58.2%), followed by patients themselves (38.2%). Only 9 perpetrators had a confirmed history of mental illness and only two were intoxicated with alcohol. More than half of the cases (52.5%) occurred in rural areas and this percentage is even greater for primary health care institutions (71.4%) and secondary hospitals (73.5%). On a departmental level, the highest incidence of medical WPV was found in the emergency (18.9%), pediatrics (13.2%) and obstetrics (11.5%) departments. Violent behaviors, such as stalking, mass occupation of the ward and sharp instrument injury were significantly related to cases not involving patient death (p < 0.05). Disruptive behavior, such as hanging banners, blocking hospital passages, placing flower wreaths and burning paper money were significantly correlated with cases involving patient death (p < 0.01). The interval between a patient's death and the ensuing violence was short, happening on the same day in 54.8% of cases. Conclusions: A comprehensive overview of medical WPV in China is presented and may have utility for the formulation of prevention strategies.

Aspartic acid and epidermal growth factor modified decellularized rabbit conjunctiva for conjunctival reconstruction.

Conjunctival reconstruction is an indispensable part of ocular surface regeneration. Decellularized matrix has been considered as an ideal conjunctival substitution for conjunctival reconstruction. In the present study, we report the use of a decellularized rabbit conjunctiva (DRC) for conjunctival reconstruction in the rabbit surgical trauma model. Prepared by the phospholipase A2 decellularized method, the DRC was nearly DNA free while the collagen structure and natural extracellular matrix (ECM) were well preserved. In order to improve the performance of DRC, aspartic acid (Asp) was used as a spacer arm to crosslink epidermal growth factor (EGF) on the DRC to obtain DRC-Asp-EGF. The conjunctival epithelial cells cultured on the DRC-Asp-EGF showed a higher survival rates and a greater potential to differentiate into conjunctival goblet cells (CGCs) than those on the DRC. Finally, three groups were set to evaluate the transplantation effects in the rabbit surgical trauma model for 28 days: DRC-Asp-EGF group, amniotic membrane (AM) group, and ungrafted group. The DRC-Asp-EGF group was completely re-epithelized, and more CGCs were regenerated than the AM group, while no significant improvements were observed in the ungrafted group. Intact collagen structure, angiogenesis, and no scar formation were also observed in the DRC-Asp-EGF group. These results suggest that DRC-Asp-EGF is a feasible and effective transplant for conjunctival reconstruction and ocular surface regeneration.

Crosslinked Decellularized Porcine Pericardium as a Substrate for Conjunctival Reconstruction.

Seeking for suitable conjunctival reconstruction substitutes to overcome the limitations of current substitutes, such as amniotic membrane, is urgent. Decellularized tissues have become a promising strategy for tissue engineering. In this study, we prepared decellularized porcine pericardium (DPP) scaffolds by the phospholipase A2 method and crosslinked them with aspartic acid (Asp) and human endothelial growth factor (hEGF) to enhance biological performance on the DPP, obtaining DPP-Asp-hEGF scaffolds. In vitro DPP showed lower apoptosis, highly desirable, well preservation of extracellular matrix components, and favorable macro-microstructure, which was confirmed by histology, immunofluorescence, electron microscopy, collagen and DNA quantification, and cytotoxicity assay, compared to the native porcine pericardium (NPP). The crosslinked efficacy of the DPP-Asp-hEGF was furtherer verified by in vitro experiments with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Through animal models of conjunctiva defect model, the DPP-Asp-hEGF revealed a closed, multilayer epithelium with an equal amount of goblet cells and no indication for conjunctival scarring after 28 days, compared to amniotic membrane (AM) groups and sham groups. These results suggested that DPP-Asp-hEGF can offer a good conjunctival reconstructive substitute both in structure and in function.

Longitudinal study of mental health changes in residents affected by an initial outbreak of COVID-19 in China.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, and the world continues to work to defeat it. We designed this study to understand the longitudinal change in the mental health of residents who experienced the initial disease outbreak in China and to explore the long-term influencing factors. Methods: The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Generalized Anxiety Scale (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) were administered to the same sample four times: during the initial outbreak (T1), 1 month later (T2), 18 months later (T3), and 26 months later (T4). Results: A total of 397 participants completed all of the follow ups. The mean PSS scores among the four time points showed significant differences (F = 183.98, P < 0.001), with the highest score at T1 (15.35 ± 7.14), a sharp decline at T2 (11.27 ± 6.27), an obvious rebound at T3 (15.17 ± 7.46), and finally a slight decrease at T4 (14.41 ± 7.99). Among the four mean GAD-7 scores, significant differences were also found (F = 242.0, P < 0.001), with the trend that from T1 (7.42 ± 6.03) to T2 (7.35 ± 5.88), the scores remained steady, while they showed an apparent decline at T3 (5.00 ± 5.30) and no obvious change at T4 (4.91 ± 4.81). There were no significant differences among the mean PHQ-9 scores (F = 1.256, P < 0.284). The long-term influencing factors differed for stress, anxiety and depression, but all three were influenced by a history of psychosis at T4, quarantine status and whether the participants' family members were infected during the initial outbreak. Discussion: The survey revealed that repeated outbreaks in other areas also had an impact on those who experienced the initial outbreak, with a return of stress, a decline in anxiety, and no change in depression, which provides direction for interventions in the future.

Evaluation of Abramowitz functions in the right half of the complex plane.

A numerical scheme is developed for the evaluation of Abramowitz functions Jn in the right half of the complex plane. For n = - 1, … , 2, the scheme utilizes series expansions for ∣z∣ < 1, asymptotic expansions for ∣z∣ > R with R determined by the required precision, and least squares Laurent polynomial approximations on each sub-region in the intermediate region 1 ≤ ∣z∣ ≤ R. For n > 2, Jn is evaluated via a forward recurrence relation. The scheme achieves nearly machine precision for n = -1, … , 2 at a cost that is competitive as compared with software packages for the evaluation of other special functions in the complex domain.

Theory of the Lattice Boltzmann method: Derivation of macroscopic equations via the Maxwell iteration.

We propose using the Maxwell iteration to derive the hydrodynamic equations from the lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) with an external forcing term. The proposed methodology differs from existing approaches in several aspects. First, it need not explicitly introduce multiple-timescales or the Knudsen number, both of which are required in the Chapman-Enskog analysis. Second, it need not use the Hilbert expansion of the hydrodynamic variables, which is necessary in the asymptotic analysis of the LBE. The proposed methodology assumes the acoustic scaling (or the convective scaling) δ(t)∼δ(x), thus δ(t) is the only expansion parameter in the analysis of the LBE system, and it leads to the Navier-Stokes equations in compressible form. The forcing density derived in this work can reproduce existing forcing schemes by adjusting appropriate parameters. The proposed methodology also analyzes the numerical accuracy of the LBE. In particular, it shows the Mach number Ma should scale as O(δ(t)(1/3)) to maintain the truncation errors due to Ma and δ(t) in balance when δ(t)→0, so that the LBE can converge to the expected hydrodynamic equations effectively and efficiently.

Reply to "Comment on 'Numerics of the lattice Boltzmann method: Effects of collision models on the lattice Boltzmann simulations'".

This Reply addresses two issues raised in the Comment [Phys. Rev. E 84, 068701 (2011)] by Karlin, Succi, and Chikatamarla (KSC): (1) A lattice Boltzmann (LB) model, which is claimed to have an H theorem, is not qualified to be called an entropic lattice Boltzmann equation (ELBE); and (2) the real ELBE with a variable relaxation time performs exceedingly well, as exhibited by their simulations of decaying "Kida vortex" flow in a three-dimensional periodic cube free of no-slip boundary. The first issue is a semantic one. We note that it was Karlin, Succi, and others who "prove the H theorem for lattice Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook models," which is the model we called ELBE in our original study to distinguish it from the usual lattice BGK model without the H theorem. Regardless of how this model is named, it does not affect the results and conclusions of our study in any way. Second, the focus of our original study is to quantify the errors of various LB models near no-slip boundaries. Hence, KSC's example, which is free of no-slip boundaries, is not relevant to our study. The results in our original paper are valid and its conclusions remain unchallenged. On the other hand, KSC's assertion that their real ELBE "provides a reliable subgrid simulation" of turbulence is not substantiated.

Accuracy of the viscous stress in the lattice Boltzmann equation with simple boundary conditions.

Based on the theory of asymptotic analysis, we prove that the viscous stress tensor computed with the lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) in a two-dimensional domain is indeed second-order accurate in space. We only consider simple bounce-back boundary conditions which can be reduced to the periodic boundary conditions by using the method of image. While the LBE with nine velocities on two-dimensional square lattice (i.e., the D2Q9 model) and with the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook collision model is used as an example in this work, our proof can be extended to the LBE with any linear relaxation collision models in both two and three dimensions.

Comment on "Heat transfer and fluid flow in microchannels and nanochannels at high Knudsen number using thermal lattice-Boltzmann method".

In this Comment we reveal the falsehood of the claim that the lattice Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) model "is capable of modeling shear-driven, pressure-driven, and mixed shear-pressure-driven rarified [sic] flows and heat transfer up to Kn=1 in the transitional regime" made in a recent paper [Ghazanfarian and Abbassi, Phys. Rev. E 82, 026307 (2010)]. In particular, we demonstrate that the so-called "Knudsen effects" described are merely numerical artifacts of the lattice BGK model and they are unphysical. Specifically, we show that the erroneous results for the pressure-driven flow in a microchannel imply the false and unphysical condition that 6σKn<-1, where Kn is the Knudsen number σ=(2-σ(v))/σ(v) and σ(v)∈(0,1] is the tangential momentum accommodation coefficient. We also show explicitly that the defects of the lattice BGK model can be completely removed by using the multiple-relaxation-time collision model.

Numerics of the lattice Boltzmann method: effects of collision models on the lattice Boltzmann simulations.

We conduct a comparative study to evaluate several lattice Boltzmann (LB) models for solving the near incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, including the lattice Boltzmann equation with the multiple-relaxation-time (MRT), the two-relaxation-time (TRT), the single-relaxation-time (SRT) collision models, and the entropic lattice Boltzmann equation (ELBE). The lid-driven square cavity flow in two dimensions is used as a benchmark test. Our results demonstrate that the ELBE does not improve the numerical stability of the SRT or the lattice Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (LBGK) model. Our results also show that the MRT and TRT LB models are superior to the ELBE and LBGK models in terms of accuracy, stability, and computational efficiency and that the ELBE scheme is the most inferior among the LB models tested in this study, thus is unfit for carrying out numerical simulations in practice. Our study suggests that, to optimize the accuracy, stability, and efficiency in the MRT model, it requires at least three independently adjustable relaxation rates: one for the shear viscosity ν (or the Reynolds number Re), one for the bulk viscosity ζ, and one to satisfy the criterion imposed by the Dirichlet boundary conditions which are realized by the bounce-back-type boundary conditions.

Effects of multitemperature nonequilibrium on compressible homogeneous turbulence.

We study the effects of the rotational-translational energy exchange on the compressible decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence (DHIT) in three dimensions through direct numerical simulations. We use the gas-kinetic scheme coupled with multitemperature nonequilibrium based on the Jeans-Landau-Teller model. We investigate the effects of the relaxation time of rotational temperature, ZR, and the initial ratio of the rotational and translational temperatures, TR0/TL0, on the dynamics of various turbulence statistics including the kinetic energy K(t), the dissipation rate epsilon(t), the energy spectrum E(k,t), the root mean square of the velocity divergence theta'(t), the skewness Su(t) and the flatness Fu(t) of the velocity derivatives, and the probability distribution functions of the local Mach number Ma and the shocklet strength chi. The larger the ZR is, the faster the compressibility decays after an initial time. Similarly, with a fixed TL0, the higher the initial energy ratio TR0/TL0, the weaker is the compressibility in the flow. It is also observed that the effect of TR0/TL0 is strong in all times in the decay, while the effect of ZR is severe only in the later times passing through the stage with strong nonlinearity. We also observe that the multitemperature model does not affect the self-similarities obeyed by the probability distribution functions of Ma and chi , which appear to be a robust feature of the compressible DHIT.

Gas-kinetic schemes for direct numerical simulations of compressible homogeneous turbulence.

We apply the gas-kinetic scheme (GKS) for the direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of compressible decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence (DHIT). We intend to study the accuracy, stability, and efficiency of the gas-kinetic scheme for DNS of compressible homogeneous turbulence depending on both flow conditions and numerics. In particular, we study the GKS with multidimensional, quasi-one-dimensional, dimensional-splitting, and smooth-flow approximations. We simulate the compressible DHIT with the Taylor microscale Reynolds number Re(lambda)=72.0 and the turbulence Mach number Ma(t) between 0.1 and 0.6. We compute the low-order statistical quantities including the total kinetic energy K(t), the dissipation rate epsilon(t), the skewness S(u)(t), and the flatness F(u)(t) of the velocity field u(x,t). We assess the effects on the turbulence statistics due to the approximations made in the treatment of fluxes, the flux limiter, the accuracy of the interpolation, and the bulk viscosity. Our results show that the GKS is adequate for DNS of compressible homogeneous turbulence as far as the low-order turbulence statistics are concerned.

Theory of the lattice Boltzmann equation: symmetry properties of discrete velocity sets.

The lattice Boltzmann equation replaces continuous particle velocity space by a finite set; the velocity distribution function then varies over a finite-dimensional vector space instead of over an infinite-dimensional function space. The number of linearly independent moments of the distribution function in a lattice Boltzmann model cannot exceed the number of velocities; finite dimensionality therefore necessarily induces linear dependences among the moments that do not exist in a continuous theory. Given a finite velocity set, it is important to know which moments are free of these dependences. Elementary group theory is applied to the solution of this problem. It is found that decomposing the velocity set into subsets that transform among themselves under an appropriate symmetry group makes it straightforward to uncover linear dependences among the moments. The construction of some standard two- and three-dimensional models is reviewed from this viewpoint, and procedures for constructing higher-dimensional models are suggested.

Comment on "Alternative approach to the solution of the dispersion relation for a generalized lattice Boltzmann equation".

Recently Reis and Phillips [Phys. Rev. E 77, 026702 (2008)] proposed a perturbative method to solve the dispersion equation derived from the linearized lattice Boltzmann equation. We will demonstrate that the method proposed by Reis and Phillips is a reinvention of an existing method. We would also like to refute a number of claims made by Reis and Phillips.

Lattice Boltzmann simulations of decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence.

Decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence in inertial and rotating reference frames is investigated to evaluate the capability of the lattice Boltzmann method in turbulence. In the inertial frame case, the decay exponents of kinetic energy and dissipation and the low wave-number scaling of the spectrum are studied. The results are in agreement with classical ones. In the frame-rotation case, simulations show that the energy decay rate decreases with decreasing Rossby number as the energy cascade is inhibited by rotation, again in agreement with turbulence physics. These results clearly indicate that the lattice Boltzmann method captures important features of decaying turbulence.

Theory of the lattice Boltzmann method: acoustic and thermal properties in two and three dimensions.

The focus of the present work is to provide an analysis for the acoustic and thermal properties of the energy-conserving lattice Boltzmann models, and a solution to the numerical defects and instability associated with these models in two and three dimensions. We discover that a spurious algebraic coupling between the shear and energy modes of the linearized evolution operator is a defect universal to the energy-conserving Boltzmann models in two and three dimensions. This spurious mode coupling is highly anisotropic and may occur at small values of wave number k along certain directions, and it is a direct consequence of the following key features of the lattice Boltzmann equation: (1) its simple spatial-temporal dynamics, (2) the linearity of the relaxation modeling for collision operator, and (3) the energy-conservation constraint. To eliminate the spurious mode coupling, we propose a hybrid thermal lattice Boltzmann equation (HTLBE) in which the mass and momentum conservation equations are solved by using the multiple-relaxation-time model due to d'Humières, whereas the diffusion-advection equation for the temperature is solved separately by using finite-difference technique (or other means). Through the Chapman-Enskog analysis we show that the hydrodynamic equations derived from the proposed HTLBE model include the equivalent effect of gamma=C(P)/C(V) in both the speed and attenuation of sound. Appropriate coupling between the energy and velocity field is introduced to attain correct acoustics in the model. The numerical stability of the HTLBE scheme is analyzed by solving the dispersion equation of the linearized collision operator. We find that the numerical stability of the lattice Boltzmann scheme improves drastically once the spurious mode coupling is removed. It is shown that the HTLBE scheme is far superior to the existing thermal LBE schemes in terms of numerical stability, flexibility, and possible generalization for complex fluids. We also present the simulation results of the convective flow in a rectangular cavity with different temperatures on two opposite vertical walls and under the influence of gravity. Our numerical results agree well with the pseudospectral result.