This study examined the role of individual differences in horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism, trust and worries, and concerns about COVID-19 in predicting the attitudes toward ...compliance of health advice and psychological responses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese university students (
N
=384, 324 female) completed measures of individualism and collectivism, trust, attitudes toward compliance, and psychological responses to the pandemic. Results showed that not only vertical collectivist orientation but also horizontal individualist orientation significantly predicted higher willingness to comply, whereas vertical individualist orientation significantly predicted lower willingness to comply. Vertical individualist and vertical collectivist orientations predicted higher psychological response in terms of distress, anxiety, and depression, while horizontal collectivistic orientation significantly predicted less psychological problems. Implications of the effect of individual-level cultural orientations on attitudes toward public health compliance and psychological well-being during global health crises are discussed.
A bridging domain method for coupling continuum models with molecular models is described. In this method, the continuum and molecular domains are overlapped in a bridging subdomain, where the ...Hamiltonian is taken to be a linear combination of the continuum and molecular Hamiltonians. We enforce the compatibility in the bridging domain by Lagrange multipliers or by the augmented Lagrangian method. An explicit algorithm for dynamic solutions is developed. Results show that this multiscale method can avoid spurious wave reflections at the molecular/continuum interface without any additional filtering procedures, even for problems with significant nonlinearities. The method is also shown to naturally handle the coupling of the continuum energy equation with the molecular subdomain. A multiple-time-step algorithm is also developed within this framework.
Infections caused by the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS‐CoV) are a serious health issue due to their prevalence and associated mortality. However, the transmission routes of the ...virus remain unclear, and thus, the current recommended control strategies are not evidence based. In this study, we investigated the transmission routes of MERS‐CoV during the first nosocomial outbreak in the Republic of Korea in May 2015 using a multi‐agent modeling framework. We identified seven hypothesized transmission modes based on the three main transmission routes (long‐range airborne, close contact, and fomite). The infection risks for each hypothesis were estimated using the multi‐agent modeling framework. Least‐squares fitting was conducted to compare the distribution of the predicted infection risk in the various scenarios with that of the reported attack rates and to identify the hypotheses with the best fit. In the scenarios in which the index patient was a super‐spreader, our model simulations suggested that MERS‐CoV probably spread via the long‐range airborne route. However, it is possible that the index patient shed an average viral load comparable to the loads reported in the literature, and that transmission occurred via a combined long‐range airborne and close contact route.
Summary
Experiments were performed to study the transformation, migration and outcome of residual bodies (RBs) in the seminiferous tubules of the rat testes. One part of the testes from adult ...Sprague–Dawley rats was used to generate paraffin sections to observe RBs and RB precursors through specific staining, and the other part of the testes was used to generate ultrathin sections to observe RBs under a transmission electron microscope. Deep blue particles of different sizes were observed in some seminiferous tubules through specific staining for RBs and RB precursors. These particles first appeared in the seminiferous tubules at stage I of the spermatogenic cycle, and after spermiation, the particles travelled rapidly towards the deeper region of the seminiferous epithelium and soon appeared close to the basement membrane of the seminiferous tubule. All of the particles in the tubules disappeared at stage IX. Using transmission electron microscopy, components of different electron densities were observed in the RBs on the surface of the seminiferous epithelium, all of which gradually formed in the cytoplasm of spermatozoon in later stages of spermiogenesis. After the spermatozoa were released, the RBs in the epithelium travelled quickly to the edge of the tube and were gradually transformed into lipid inclusions. These lipid inclusions ultimately became lipidlike particles. The lipidlike particles were discharged into the interstitial tissue. RBs initiate their own digestive process before their formation during spermiation in the rat testes. After spermiation, the RBs transform into lipid inclusions and finally into lipidlike particles. These lipidlike particles can be eliminated from the seminiferous tubules.
A composite polymer membrane is prepared by coating poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) on the surface of a membrane based on methyl cellulose (MC) which is environmentally friendly and cheap. Its ...characteristics are investigated by scanning electron microscopy, FT-IR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The outer PVDF layers are porous which results in high electrolyte uptake and the lithium ion transference number is much larger than that of the pure MC. Moreover, the cell based on Li//LiFePO4 delivers high discharge capacity and good rate behavior in the range of 4.2–2.5 V when the composite membrane is used as the separator and the host of a gel polymer electrolyte, lithium as the counter and reference electrode, and LiFePO4 as cathode. The obtained results suggest that this unique composite membrane shows great attraction in the lithium ion batteries with high safety and low cost.
A composite membrane, PVDF/MC/PVDF, is successfully made. As a host for gel polymer electrolyte, it delivers high lithium ion transference number and good mechanical performance. When used as separator in lithium ion batteries, it shows excellent rate behaviour and cycling performance. Display omitted
•Methyl cellulose (MC) is environmentally friendly and cheap.•A composite polymer membrane is prepared by coating PVDF on the surface of a membrane from MC.•The composite membrane is used as the separator and the host of a gel polymer electrolyte.•The prepared gel polymer electrolyte shows excellent electrochemical performance.
Surface plasmon polaritons enable light concentration within subwavelength regions, opening thereby new avenues for miniaturizing the device and strengthening light-matter interactions. Here we ...realize efficient electro-optic modulation in low-loss plasmonic waveguides with the aid of graphene, and the devices are fully integrated in the silicon-on-insulator platform. By advantageously exploiting low-loss plasmonic slot-waveguide modes, which weakly leak into a substrate while featuring strong fields within the two-layer-graphene covered slots in metals, we successfully achieve a tunability of 0.13 dB μm
for our fabricated graphene-plasmonic waveguide devices with extremely low insertion loss, which outperforms previously reported graphene-plasmonic devices. Our results highlight the potential of graphene plasmonic leaky-mode hybrid waveguides to realize active ultra-compact devices for optoelectronic applications.
Exomic studies have demonstrated that innate immune genes exhibit an even higher degree of variation than the majority of other gene families. However, the phenotypic implications of this genetic ...variation are not well understood, with effects ranging from hypomorphic to silent to hyperfunctioning. In this work, we study the functional consequences of this variation by investigating polymorphisms in gasdermin D, the key pyroptotic effector protein. We find that, although SNPs affecting potential posttranslational modifications did not affect gasdermin D function or pyroptosis, polymorphisms disrupting sites predicted to be structurally important dramatically alter gasdermin D function. The manner in which these polymorphisms alter function varies from conserving normal pyroptotic function to inhibiting caspase cleavage to disrupting oligomerization and pore formation. Further, downstream of inflammasome activation, polymorphisms that cause loss of gasdermin D function convert inflammatory pyroptotic cell death into immunologically silent apoptotic cell death. These findings suggest that human genetic variation can alter mechanisms of cell death in inflammation.
Abstract
Refraction between isotropic media is characterized by light bending towards the normal to the boundary when passing from a low- to a high-refractive-index medium. However, refraction ...between anisotropic media is a more exotic phenomenon which remains barely investigated, particularly at the nanoscale. Here, we visualize and comprehensively study the general case of refraction of electromagnetic waves between two strongly anisotropic (hyperbolic) media, and we do it with the use of nanoscale-confined polaritons in a natural medium: α-MoO
3
. The refracted polaritons exhibit non-intuitive directions of propagation as they traverse planar nanoprisms, enabling to unveil an exotic optical effect: bending-free refraction. Furthermore, we develop an in-plane refractive hyperlens, yielding foci as small as λ
p
/6, being λ
p
the polariton wavelength (λ
0
/50 compared to the wavelength of free-space light). Our results set the grounds for planar nano-optics in strongly anisotropic media, with potential for effective control of the flow of energy at the nanoscale.
A LiMn2O4 nanohybrid consisting of nanotubes, nanorods and nanoparticles has been synthesized using I--MnO2 nanotubes from hydrothermal reaction as a precursor. It is characterized with X-ray ...diffraction, field emission scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy. A formation mechanism is proposed. As a positive electrode material for supercapacitors, it exhibits a high specific discharge capacitance of 415 F ga1 at 0.5 A ga1 in 0.5 mol la1 Li2SO4 aqueous solution. Even at 10 A ga1, it still has a specific discharge capacitance of 208 F ga1. The energy density of the asymmetric supercapacitor using activated carbon as the negative electrode and LiMn2O4-nanohybrid as the positive electrode in the aqueous solution in the voltage range of 0a1.8 V presents 29.8 Wh kga1 at power density of 90 W kga1. In addition, the cycling behavior of the asymmetric supercapacitor is good.
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