Partially passivated quantum dots, process for making, and sensors therefrom.

A partially passivating core shell particle includes a luminescent nanocrystal core, and a partially passivating semiconducting core shell on a surface of the nanocrystal. The shell allows selected analytes to alter a luminescent response of the core shell particle. a quantum dot-based sensing system includes at least one partially passivating core shell particle, a light source for irradiating the partially passivating core shell particle, and a light detector for receiving emissions from the particle, wherein emissions from the core shell particle chance in response to the presence of at least one analyte

In vivo reconstitution of autophagy in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Autophagy is a major intracellular degradative pathway that is involved in various human diseases. The role of autophagy, however, is complex; although the process is generally considered to be cytoprotective, it can also contribute to cellular dysfunction and disease progression. Much progress has been made in our understanding of autophagy, aided in large part by the identification of the autophagy-related (ATG) genes. Nonetheless, our understanding of the molecular mechanism remains limited. In this study, we generated a Saccharomyces cerevisiae multiple-knockout strain with 24 ATG genes deleted, and we used it to carry out an in vivo reconstitution of the autophagy pathway. We determined minimum requirements for different aspects of autophagy and studied the initial protein assembly steps at the phagophore assembly site. In vivo reconstitution enables the study of autophagy within the context of the complex regulatory networks that control this process, an analysis that is not possible with an in vitro system

An instrument for measuring scientific empathy in students’ disciplinary engagement: the scientific empathy index

A crucial component of disciplinary engagement for learners in science is that of scientific empathy—in other words, the metaphysical connection between the student and the object of study, as scientists embody when deeply engaged in their work. Scientific empathy is the factor that stimulates and maintains students’ desire to inquire and that elicits creative problem-solving in their “doing” science as a distinctive disposition from general empathy. As such, in this study, the scientific empathy index (SEI) was developed to measure these traits of scientific empathy. For this purpose, two-rounds of factor analyses were conducted in the preliminary and the main tests of SEI. To prove the validity of the main test, correlation and mediated analysis were additionally conducted between other problem-solving scales and Final SEI. The first-factor analysis was conducted on 1,048 elementary, middle, and high school students as a preliminary test for extracting SEI questions. Based on the preliminary test results, 956 K-12 students were newly recruited, and the validity of the main test was confirmed through a second-factor analysis. Through these analyses, it was identified that the scale comprised five factors: sensitivity, situational interest, scientific imagination, empathetic concern, and empathetic understanding of others. Each scientific empathy factor revealed both cognitive and affective process dimensions including individual and social interrelations of students’ empathy in doing science. SEI was more highly correlated than the general empathy scale in the process of creative problem-solving and science process skills. In addition, it was found to exhibit a mediating effect between creative problem-solving and scientific inquiry. These findings validate the newly developed SEI and how it contributes to providing science learners with a useful tool for quick and easy measurement of scientific empathy and its components for the empathized involvement process between the student and their research subject

Acetylation changes tau interactome to degrade tau in Alzheimer’s disease animal and organoid models

© 2019 The Authors. Aging Cell published by the Anatomical Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease. The most common pathological hallmarks are amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. In the brains of patients with AD, pathological tau is abnormally accumulated causing neuronal loss, synaptic dysfunction, and cognitive decline. We found a histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) inhibitor, CKD-504, changed the tau interactome dramatically to degrade pathological tau not only in AD animal model (ADLPAPT) brains containing both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles but also in AD patient-derived brain organoids. Acetylated tau recruited chaperone proteins such as Hsp40, Hsp70, and Hsp110, and this complex bound to novel tau E3 ligases including UBE2O and RNF14. This complex degraded pathological tau through proteasomal pathway. We also identified the responsible acetylation sites on tau. These dramatic tau-interactome changes may result in tau degradation, leading to the recovery of synaptic pathology and cognitive decline in the ADLPAPT mice11Nsciescopu

The Effect of Downward Social Comparison on Creativity in Organizational Teams, with the Moderation of Narcissism and the Mediation of Negative Affect

Employee creativity has become an essential element for the survival and success of contemporary organizations in the fast-changing business environment. The increased importance of team systems in the flood of information has increased the attention given to creativity in social relationships. This study adopts social comparison theory to propose a framework that shows how social comparisons of creative ability between team members influence individual creativity. In particular, this study focuses on the downward social comparison that individuals frequently experience in real team situations. We adopted multi-source field data collected from 130 employees and supervisors working in a manufacturing company in South Korea. The moderated mediation hypotheses were tested using hierarchical linear modeling to address the dependence of employees rated by the same supervisor, given that employees are nested within supervisors. The effect of downward social comparison on creativity, as mediated by negative affect, is positively moderated by narcissism. Specifically, the conditional indirect effects of downward social comparison on creativity through negative affect were significant and negative when narcissism was high but insignificant when it was low. This research provides novel insights for researchers and practitioners by offering a theoretical elaboration of the effects of social comparison processes on creativity and providing unique empirical validation for the model in the context of teams in actual organizations

The Effect of the OCB Gap on Task Performance with the Moderating Role of Task Interdependence

Using the social exchange theory and the social cognitive perspective in group dynamics, this study seeks to examine how different individuals in the degree of engagement in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among members of a team (i.e., the OCB gap) can affect their work performance across varying levels of task interdependence. The research hypotheses were tested empirically using field data regarding 146 employee-supervisor dyads collected from 41 teams in South Korea. The results of the hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis indicate that having a lover level of OCB engagement than the group average induces feelings of indebtedness in employees, and this sense of obligation is stronger in a high level of task dependence context. We further discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this research and suggest areas for future research

Quaternary alloy quantum dots : toward low-threshold stimulated emission and all-solution-processed lasers in the green region

Ultra-low threshold stimulated emission is demonstrated upon both one- and two-photon pumping from quaternary alloyed Cd(1−x)ZnxSe(1−y)Sy/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) in the green region for the first time. Moreover, an all-solution-processed whispering gallery mode laser is produced by coating Cd(1−x)ZnxSe(1−y)Sy/ZnS QDs on a self-assembled hemisphere. These results represent a significant progress in green lasers and hold great potential in addressing the “green gap” challenge

Exploration of empathy factors in the science and development of related scales

For a scientific educational approach toward empathy, this study newly defined empathy in science as “empathy with a problematic situation and other people.” In 6 competency frameworks, content related to empathy was extracted, and exploratory factor analysis was conducted through an online survey of 150 teachers. Three factors of empathy with other people and four factors of empathy with the problem situation were extracted. Based on this content, the study modified the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; Davis, 1980) for use in a scientific situation. This scale was applied to 357 high school students in Korea, and the scale’s validity was confirmed through exploratory factor analysis. Finally, scientific empathy with others was defined as the ability to understand the emotions, thoughts, feelings, and intentions of others and share their viewpoints with accurate emotional responses. And this consisted of perspective-taking in cognitive factor and empathic concern and empathic arousal in emotional empathy. Scientific empathy with the problem situation was defined as an intellectual mechanism deeply involved in the phenomenon of inquiry to clearly understand the scientific problem situation and to share the viewpoint. And this turned out to be perspective-taking and scientific imagination as cognitive factors