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In this work, cobalt-doped oxygen-vacancies-rich BiVO 4 (Co/BiVO 4 -V o ) was successfully synthesized for the degradation of tetracycline (TC) by activated peroxymonosulfate (PMS) under visible light. The morphologies, microstructures, and optical properties of the photocatalysts were analyzed in detail. Co/BiVO 4 -V o exhibited significantly enhanced degradation, removing 92.3% of TC within 10 min, which was greater than those of pure BiVO 4 (62.2%) and oxygen-vacancies-rich BiVO 4 (BiVO 4 -V o ) (72.0%), respectively. The photogenerated charge separation and transport properties were explored through surface photovoltage (SPV), photoluminescence spectrum (PL), and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS) measurements. Additionally, an in-depth investigation was conducted on the photocatalytically assisted advanced oxidation processes based on SO 4 •- (SR-AOPs) for the degradation of organic pollutants. The experimental results showed that the introduction of oxygen vacancies and Co doping achieved an effective separation of photogenerated carriers, which could accelerate the cycling between Co 3+ and Co 2+ and further activate PMS. The results of free radical capture experiments and electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments showed that reactive oxygen species (ROSs) such as 1 O 2 , •O 2 - , and SO 4 •- played a dominant role in the removal of pollutants. This work provides a novel insight into the further development of efficient and rapid PMS photoactivators for environmental remediation of water bodies.

Mass transfer enhancement and crystallinity engineering are two prevailing technologies for photocatalyst modification. However, their relative effectiveness in enhancing photocatalytic activity remains unclear due to the lack of rational probing catalysts. In this study, we synthesized two distinct carbon nitride (C 3 N 4 ) catalysts: one with a high specific surface area (CN-HA) and the other with improved crystallinity (CN-HC). These catalysts served as probes to compare their respective impacts on photocatalytic activities. Comprehensive characterization techniques and density functional theory (DFT) calculation results unveiled that crystallinity played a dominant role in light absorption and charge dynamics, while surface area primarily influenced mass transfer in photocatalysis. Importantly, our findings revealed that crystallinity engineering of photocatalyst achieved a greater impact on photocatalytic hydrogen evolution than that from mass transfer enhancement. Consequently, CN-HC demonstrated a remarkable improvement in photocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution (6465.4 μmol h -1 g -1 ), surpassing both C 3 N 4 and CN-HA by 19.4- and 2.4-fold, respectively, accompanied by a high apparent quantum yield of 23.8 % at 420 nm. This study not only unveils the dominant factor influencing the activity of photocatalysts but also provides a modified approach for robust solar fuel production, shedding light on the path toward efficient and sustainable energy conversion., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The kinetic competition between water oxidation/electron extraction processes and recombination behaviors is a key consideration in the development of efficient photoanodes for solar-driven water splitting. Investigating the photogenerated charge behaviors could guide the construction of high-efficiency photoanodes. In this study, the charge carrier kinetics involved in photoelectrochemical water oxidation of PDS/Ti-Fe 2 O 3 were analyzed using surface photovoltage (SPV), transient photovoltage (TPV), short-pulse transient photocurrent (TPC) and photoelectrochemical impedance spectra (PEIS). The TPC results indicate the interfacial electric field introduced by the PDS loading increases the electron extraction and suppresses the bulk recombination, enhancing the spatial separation of photogenerated charges, which is consistent with the SPV and TPV results. Besides, the surface recombination of the back electron (BER) is also attenuated, which enhances the long-lived holes at the surface of PDS/Ti-Fe 2 O 3 photoanode. Similarly, as obtained by PEIS fitting, the loading of PDS accelerates holes transfer at the photoanode/electrolyte interface, and increases the utilization of long-lived holes. In other word, the recombination behaviors of photogenerated charges are restrained both in the bulk and surface of the photoanode after the deposition of PDS, leading to enhanced PEC performance. These findings highlight the importance of understanding charge carrier dynamics in the design of high-efficient photoanodes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Ti-ZnFe 2 O 4 photoanode has attracted extensive attention in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation due to its narrow band gap and good photostability. However, its low efficiency limits its development. Herein, we designed and constructed direct Z-scheme Ti-ZnFe 2 O 4 /In 2 O 3 (Ti-ZFO/In 2 O 3 ) photoanode. Under the interface electric field, photogenerated holes with stronger oxidation capacity on In 2 O 3 are retained to participate in the water oxidation reaction, and the photocurrent density of Ti-ZFO/In 2 O 3 is much higher than that of pure Ti-ZFO, reaching 2.2 mA/cm 2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE. Kelvin Probe, steady-state photovoltage spectroscopy (SPV), transient photovoltage spectroscopy (TPV) and in-situ double beam strategy were used to demonstrate the Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism of Ti-ZFO/In 2 O 3 photoanode. Our work provides an effective scheme and technical means for further understanding the mechanism of interfacial charge transfer., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Deep learning is vulnerable to backdoor poisoning attacks in which an attacker can easily embed a hidden backdoor into a trained model by injecting poisoned samples into the training set. Many prior state-of-the-art techniques for detecting backdoor poisoning attacks are based on a potential separability assumption. However, current adaptive poisoning strategies can significantly reduce 'distinguishable behavior', making most prior state-of-the-art techniques less effective. In addition, we note that existing detection methods are not practical for multidomain datasets and may leak user privacy because they require and collect clean samples. To address the above issues, we propose a multidomain active defense approach that does not use clean datasets. The proposed approach can generate diverse clean samples from different domains and decouple neural networks round by round using clean samples to disassociate features and labels, making backdoor poisoned samples easier to detect without fitting clean samples. We demonstrate the advantage of our approach through an extensive evaluation of CIFAR10, CelebA, MNIST & MNIST-M, MNIST & USPS & MNIST-M, MNIST & USPS & SVHN and CIFAR10 & Tiny-ImageNet., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Linear active disturbance rejection control (LADRC) has been widely used to improve the tracking accuracy and anti-disturbance performance of telescope servo control under disturbances. However, the linear extended state observer (LESO) is sensitive to noise, and its bandwidth is limited by the resonant frequency of the telescope. To enhance the LARDC's ability to attenuate disturbances, a novel cascade anti-disturbance structure (NCADS) with LADRC on the outer speed loop and a nonlinear disturbance observer (NDOB) on the inner current loop is proposed. The NDOB compensates for the dominant disturbance through feedforwarding the q-axis current reference, and the LESO compensates for the residual disturbance on the outer speed loop. First, the NCADS is introduced in a three-closed-loop control framework of PMSM. Then, the design method of the controller for each loop and the NDOB are presented, the parameter-tuning method based on bandwidth is demonstrated, and the convergence of the NDOB is proved. Furthermore, to improve the searching and tracking efficiency of wide-field survey telescopes, the nonlinear tracking differentiator (NTD) was modified to plan the transition process of the position loop, which only needs to set the maximum speed and acceleration of the telescope. Finally, simulations and experiments were performed on a 2.5-m-wide field survey telescope. The experimental results verify that the proposed NCADS method has a better anti-disturbance performance and higher tracking precision than the conventional method, and the improved NTD method does not need to tune parameters and achieved a fast and smooth transition process of the position loop.

Accurate modeling of Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) in terrestrial ecosystems is a major challenge in quantifying the carbon cycle. Many light use efficiency (LUE) models have been developed, but the variables and algorithms used for environmental constraints in different models vary importantly. It is still unclear whether the models can be further improved by machine learning methods and the combination of different variables. Here, we have developed a series of RFR-LUE models, which used the random forest regression (RFR) algorithm based on variables of LUE models, to explore the potential of estimating site-level GPP. Based on remote sensing indices, eddy covariance and meteorological data, we applied RFR-LUE models to evaluate the effects of different variables combined on GPP on daily, 8-day, 16-day and monthly scales, respectively. Cross-validation analyses revealed performances of RFR-LUE models varied significantly among sites with R 2 of 0.52-0.97. Slopes of the regression relationship between simulated and observed GPP ranged from 0.59 to 0.95. Most models performed better in capturing the temporal changes and magnitude of GPP in mixed forests and evergreen needle-leaf forests than in evergreen broadleaf forests and grasslands. Performances were improved at the longer temporal scale, with the average R 2 for four-time resolutions of 0.81, 0.87, 0.88, and 0.90, respectively. Additionally, the importance of the variables showed that temperature and vegetation indices were critical variables for RFR-LUE models, followed by radiation and moisture variables. The importance of moisture variables was higher in non-forests than in forests. A comparison with four GPP products indicated that RFR-LUE model predicted GPP better matcher observed GPP across sites. The study provided an approach to deriving GPP fluxes and evaluating the extent to which variables affect GPP estimation. It may be used for predicting vegetation GPP at the regional scales and for calibration and evaluation of land surface process models., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Treatment-related toxicity following stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) in patients with central and ultracentral non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is of potential concern, and the best regimens are still being explored. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes and toxicities of the patients with ultracentral and central NSCLC treated with SABR at our institution., Method: This retrospective study included patients with central and ultracentral NSCLC treated with SABR to prescription doses of 50 Gy in five fractions, 56 Gy in seven fractions, or 60 Gy in ten fractionsat Jiangsu Cancer Hospital between May 2013 and October 2018. The patients were grouped as central or ultracentral tumors.Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and grade ≥3 toxicities were analyzed., Results: Forty patients (31 male, nine female) were included. Median follow-up was 41 (5-81) months. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS rates were 90.0%, 83.6%, and 66.0%, respectively, and the 1-, 2-, and 3-year PFS rates were 82.5%, 62.9%, and 54.2%, respectively. OS in the ultracentral group was inferior compared with the central group (median, 52.0 months, 95%CI: 43.0-61.0 vs. not reached, P=0.03).The median PFS was 38.0 months in the ultracentral group (95%CI: 19.8-56.2) vs. not reached in the central group, although this difference was not statistically significant (P= 0.06). The overall incidence of grade ≥3 toxicity was five (12.5%) patients, (5 in the ultracentralgroup vs. 0 in the central group; P=0. 11), including one patient with grade 3 pneumonitis, two with grade 3 bronchial obstruction, one with grade 5 bronchial obstruction, and one with grade 5 esophageal perforation., Conclusion: Worse outcomes were obseverd in patients with ultracentral NSCLC than those with central tumors after SABR. Higher rate of treatment-related grade 3 or more toxicity was observed in the ultracentral group., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To investigate the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of long-term survivors of inoperable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) treated with definitive radiation therapy, the real-world trends in the use of advanced radiation techniques, and their impact on the survival outcomes of ESCC patients., Methods: In this multicenter retrospective observational study, the medical records related to demographics and treatment of ESCC patients who were treated with definitive radiation therapy at 14 provincial hospitals in China from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016 were analyzed. A HRQL questionnaire was completed by survivors and collected by doctors at the final follow-up. The difference in quality of life between patients with or without recurrence was compared using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and the group differences were assessed by unstratified log-rank test. The Cox proportional hazards model with Efron's method of tie handling was used to calculate the risk factors for OS., Results: The data of a total of 3,308 patients were collected for this study, 248 were excluded because of missing data, and a final of 3,060 patients were included in the analysis. Most patients (2,901; 94.8%) received intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT)/volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT)/tomotherapy (TOMO). The 5-year OS rate was 30%. Patients who received either two-dimensional radiotherapy (2DRT; HR, 2.43 [95% CI, 1.70-3.47]; P <  0.001) or three-dimensional radiotherapy (3DRT; HR, 1.45 [95% CI, 1.14-1.84]; P  = 0.003) had a significantly increased risk of death compared to those who received IMRT/VMAT/TOMO. Of the 716 (23.4%) long-term survivors who completed the HRQL questionnaire, nearly 70% patients were still able to swallow normally or almost normally, and >80% patients did not experience weight loss. Nearly 80% patients found life very enjoyable or were fairly enjoying life., Conclusions: This large, multicenter retrospective study on ESCC patients who received definitive radiation therapy found that most ESCC survivors are satisfied with their quality of life. Most patients received advanced radiation technology. Patients who received either 2DRT or 3DRT had a significantly increased risk of death compared to those who received advanced radiation technology., (© 2023 Chinese National Cancer Center. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

We investigated the effect of nitrogen-hydrogen (NH) mixed plasma pretreatment of 4H-SiC surfaces on SiC surface properties, SiO 2 /SiC interface quality, and the reliability and voltage stability of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors. The NH plasma pretreatment decreased the incomplete oxide and contaminants on the SiC surface and reduced the density of SiO 2 /SiC interface traps. Compared with the untreated sample, the dielectric insulating characteristics and reliability of samples pretreated by NH plasma were improved. We also demonstrated that the shift/hysteresis of the flat band voltage ( V fb ) and the midgap voltage ( V mg ) induced by bias temperature stress for SiC MOS capacitors after NH plasma pretreatment was significantly decreased. Furthermore, the mechanisms of NH plasma pretreatment to improve interface properties and device performances were determined by combining secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and first-principles calculations. The result indicates that the excessive oxidation at the SiO 2 /SiC interface was limited due to the reduction in the diffusion of oxygen atoms into SiC caused by the surface Si-H and Si-N; NH plasma pretreatment suppressed the generation of interfacial traps by reducing surface pollutants and passivating surface defects, and some N atoms introduced into the SiO 2 /SiC interface effectively passivated the interfacial electroactive traps.

Objective: From the perspective of metabolomics, this study compares the metabolomics characteristics of feces and urine between children with spleen-deficiency and healthy children to explain the scientific connotation of children with spleen-deficiency susceptibility to digestive system diseases from the metabolic level and provide a scientific basis for further research., Methods: This study included 20 children with spleen-deficiencies and 17 healthy children. Children's symptom scores, height, and weight were recorded in groups, and feces and urine samples were collected. The samples were detected using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The data were analyzed using multivariate statistical analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Related differential metabolites were identified through database comparisons between two groups based on the MS and KEGG., Results: Compared to healthy children, the metabolites glucuronic acid, xanthine, and indole-3-acetaldehyde tend to be reduced in children with spleen-deficiency. Moreover, these children showed an increase in metabolites such as quinic acid, adenine, 4-methyl-5-thiazole-ethanol, 3-formyl indole, and 5-hydroxy indole-3-acetic acid. The condition affected many of the critical metabolic pathways, including the metabolism of tryptophan, cysteine, methionine, and pentose phosphate., Conclusion: The children with spleen-deficiency had disorders at the metabolic level, which might be due to factors such as diet, personal preferences, and genes, leading to various symptoms, making spleen-deficiency children more prone to suffer from digestive diseases than healthy children. The results set a basis for the research on children's TCM constitution, which can be a reference to further studies to deal with the spleen-deficiency., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Zhiyi Liang et al.)

Y-doping can effectively improve the performance of HfO x -based resistive random-access memory (RRAM) devices, but the underlying physical mechanism of Y-doping affecting the performance of HfO x -based memristors is still missing and unclear. Although impedance spectroscopy (IS) has been widely used to investigate impedance characteristics and switching mechanisms of RRAM devices, there is less IS analysis on Y-doped HfO x -based RRAM devices as well as devices at different temperatures. Here, the effect of Y-doping on the switching mechanism of HfO x -based RRAM devices with a Ti/HfO x /Pt structure were reported using current-voltage characteristics and IS. The results indicated that doping Y into HfO x films could decrease the forming/operate voltage and improve the RS uniform. Both doped and undoped HfO x -based RRAM devices obeyed the oxygen vacancies ( V O ) conductive filament model along the grain boundary (GB). Additionally, the GB resistive activation energy of the Y-doped device was inferior to that of the undoped device. It exhibited a shift of the V O trap level towards the conduction band bottom after Y-doping in the HfO x film, which was the main reason for the improved RS performance., (© 2023 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Photogenerated carrier behavior at a CO 2 /Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 quantum dot (QD) interface is investigated. In situ photovoltage spectra reveal electron transfer from the Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 QDs to CO 2 . Moreover, this carrier transfer prefers Bi 3+ sites (over Ca + and Ag + sites) due to them exhibiting the lowest adsorption energy ( E ads = -0.125 eV) and CO 2 -Bi 3+ interactions being more stable.

Interface modification is an important means to enhance the photovoltaic performance of quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSCs). The TiO 2 /CdS/CdSe solar cells are sensitized with CdS QDs and CdSe QDs, which inevitably introduces a new interface to form a recombination center. Therefore, it is necessary to coat a passivation layer in order to effectively inhibit charge recombination at the CdS/CdSe interface. In this work, CuInS 2 (CIS) has been introduced into the CdS/CdSe QD system as an inner passivation layer and the CdS/CIS/CdSe photoanode structure has been fabricated in an environmentally friendly manner. The extracted charge amount ( Q ) is used to express the charge separation efficiency, indicating that we have obtained outstanding charge extraction efficiency in CIS based CdS/CdSe QDSCs. As a result, the photocurrent density of the TiO 2 /CdS/CIS/CdSe photoanode significantly has increased from 19.01 mA cm -2 to 22.74 mA cm -2 (TiO 2 /CdS/CdSe photoanode), which demonstrates a higher photoconversion efficiency of 4.52% in comparison with that of TiO 2 /CdS/CdSe photoanode.

Renal fibrosis (RF) is the common pathological manifestation and central treatment target of multiple chronic kidney diseases with high morbidity and mortality. Currently, the molecular mechanisms underlying RF remain poorly understood, and exploration of RF-related hub targets and pathways is urgently needed. In this study, two classical RF rat models (adenine and UUO) were established and evaluated by HE, Masson and immunohistochemical staining. To clear molecular mechanisms of RF, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using RNA-Seq analysis, hub targets and pathways were screened by bioinformatics (functional enrichment analyses, PPI network, and co-expression analysis), the screening results were verified by qRT-PCR, and potential drugs of RF were predicted by network pharmacology and molecular docking. The results illustrated that renal structures were severely damaged and fibrotic in adenine- and UUO-induced models, as evidenced by collagen deposition, enhanced expressions of biomarkers (TGF-β1 and α-SMA), reduction of E-cadherin biomarker, and severe renal function changes (significantly decreased UTP, CREA, Ccr, and ALB levels and increased UUN and BUN levels), etc. 1189 and 1253 RF-related DEGs were screened in the adenine and UUO models, respectively. Two key pathways (AGE-RAGE and NOD-like receptor) and their hub targets (Tgfb1, Col1a1, Nlrc4, Casp4, Trpm2, and Il18) were identified by PPI networks, co-expressed relationships, and qRT-PCR verification. Furthermore, various reported herbal ingredients (curcumin, resveratrol, honokiol, etc.) were considered as important drug candidates due to the strong binding affinity with these hub targets. Overall, this study mainly identified two key RF-related pathways (AGE-RAGE and NOD-like receptor), screened hub targets (Tgfb1, Col1a1, Nlrc4, Casp4, Trpm2, and Il18) that involved inflammation, ECM formation, myofibroblasts generation, and pyroptosis, etc., and provided referable drug candidates (curcumin, resveratrol, honokiol, etc.) in basic research and clinical treatment of RF., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Cai, Chen, Liu, Zhu, Xu, Shen, Wang and Chu.)

The high demand for pressure devices with miniaturization and a wide bearing range has encouraged researchers to explore new high-performance sensors from different approaches. In this study, a sensitive element based on graphene in-plane compression properties for realizing pressure sensing is experimentally prepared using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication technology; it consists of a 50 µm thick, 1400 µm wide square multilayer component membrane and a graphene monolayer with a meander pattern. The prepared sample is extensively characterized and analyzed by using various techniques, including atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, COMSOL finite element method, and density functional theory. The sensing performance of the new pressure sensor based on the sensitive element are obtained by theoretical analysis for electromechanical measurements of the sensitive element before and after low-temperature annealing in atmosphere. Results demonstrate that atmospheric annealing at 300 °C enhances the pressure sensing sensitivity by 4 times compared to pristine graphene without annealing, which benefits from the desorption of hydroxyl groups on the graphene surface during annealing. The sensitivity is comparable and even better than that of previous sensors based on graphene in-plane properties. Our results provide new insights into realizing high-performance MEMS devices based on 2D sensitive materials.

Self-sovereign identity authentication protocol is an active research topic in the field of identity authentication and management. However, the current SSI authentication protocols pay little attention to privacy protection and the fine-grained access control. Therefore, a secure and decentralized SSI authentication protocol with privacy protection and fine-grained access control is proposed. Firstly, the formal model of SSI including the SDPP-SSI identity model and management model is presented. And then, based on the federated blockchain, the distributed identifier is used as a global identifier for users in the decentralized domain. Finally, the verifiable statement is encapsulated using a policy control signature supporting privacy protection to develop the user's access control for identity registration in the centralized domain. Compared with the related work (Lin 2018, Zhu 2018, Stokkink 2018, Hammudoglu 2017, Othman 2017, Abraham 2018, Guan 2019, Lin 2019) from controllability, security, flexibility, privacy protection, authentication and fine-grained access control, the proposed SSI authentication protocol not only meets controllability, authentication, and flexibility, but also supports privacy protection and fine-grained access control., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Objective: To analyse differences in sex, age, depression, insomnia, psychological stress, resilience, and perceived social support among patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) in a psychological clinic of a general hospital, and to explore the influencing factors of MUS., Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Seven hundred forty-six first-time patients were assessed with the integrated psychosomatic comprehensive evaluation system (IPS) to evaluate their MUS, depression, insomnia, psychological stress, resilience, and perceived social support. The psychological characteristics were compared with regard to sex and age group (<25 years, low age group; 26-44 years, middle age group; >45 years, high age group). The relationships between age and MUS were explored, and how psychological stress affects MUS was analyzed using the mediator effect model., Results: Different age groups had significant differences in sex, MUS, depression, psychological stress, resilience, and perceived social support. In further pairwise comparison, no significant difference existed in depression, psychological stress, resilience and perceived social support in the middle and low age groups, depression and psychological stress were higher than those in the high age group, resilience and perceived social support were lower than those of the high age group. MUS were higher in the middle age group than in the low age group. No significant difference existed between the two groups and the high age group. Age, severity of MUS, and perceived social support were significantly different between the sexes. Differences in MUS between men and women in different age groups were analyzed using two-factor analysis of variance. It revealed no interaction between sex and different age groups on MUS. The main effect analysis showed that the effects of different age groups on MUS were statistically significant. Based on pairwise comparative analysis, the MUS score in the low age group was lower than that in the middle age group. To clarify a nonlinear relationship between age and MUS, threshold effect analysis was conducted. The results indicated that the piecewise linear regression model could better depict the relationship between age and MUS. The inflection point was at the age of 60 years. Before the age of 60 years, MUS increased with age. No significant correlation existed between age and MUS after the age of 60 years. To understand the influencing factors of MUS, the intermediary effect model was analyzed using MUS as the dependent variable, psychological stress as the independent variable, resilience as mediator variable M1, perceived social support as mediator variable M2, and depression as mediator variable M3. Resilience, perceived social support, and depression had significant mediator effects on the effects of psychological stress on MUS with a total indirect effect of 69.81%., Conclusion: The middle age group had greater MUS than the low age group. Before the age of 60 years, MUS increased with increasing age. Women had more severe MUS than men. Resilience, perceived social support, and depression had significant mediating effects on the effects of perceived stress on MUS. These findings suggest that clinicians should make more comprehensive and detailed evaluations and timely intervention for middle-aged and female patients. Improving psychological resilience and social support can reduce the impact of psychological stress on MUS. Therefore, psychotherapy and multidisciplinary comprehensive treatment are very important for patients is very important for patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhang, Pan, Hong, Guo, Wang, Liu, Dong, Wang, Liu, Tan and Jiang.)

Purpose: As an epigenetic regulation mechanism after transcription, RNA modification is installed by endogenous "writer" enzymes and is widely involved in a variety of physiological processes, including cancer progression. This study explored the RNA modification patterns of cervical cancer to clarify overall effect of RNA modification on tumor microenvironment (TME) characteristics and immune/targeted therapy., Methods: 26 RNA modification "writers" were clustered, and the RNA modification patterns and TME characteristics of cervical cancer patients in TCGA were systematically evaluated. Based on differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between different RNA modification patterns, an RNA modification "writer" score (WM score) system was developed to assess the RNA modification of a single sample., Results: Two different RNA modification patterns of cervical cancer were identified, and these patterns were significantly related to the prognosis and TME infiltration characteristics of patients. WM score was an independent risk factor for the prognosis of cervical cancer. High WM score was characterized by poor prognosis, low immune infiltration and low tumor mutation burden (TMB), while low-WM score was related to relatively long overall survival (OS), more immune components in TME and increased TMB. In addition, the low-WM score group was expected to be more sensitive to programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) therapy and showed lower predicted IC 50 of chemotherapy drugs paclitaxel and cisplatin treatment., Conclusions: This study identified and characterized RNA modification patterns, and clarified potential relationship between RNA modification patterns and immune infiltration characteristics and immunotherapy of cervical cancer, offering a new evaluation scheme for treatment of cervical cancer patients., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Federación de Sociedades Españolas de Oncología (FESEO).)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Smilax glabra Roxb., the dry rhizome of Sarsaparilla, which is also known as Tu fuling (TFL) in China, is a well-known traditional CHINESE medicine that is widely used for detoxication, relieving dampness and as a diuretic. We have previously shown that the extracted TFL flavonoids (designated TFLF) possess anti-cardiac hypertrophy effects in vitro. However, the anti-cardiac hypertrophy effects of TFLF in vivo and the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated., Aim of the Study: To reveal the underlying therapeutic mechanism of TFLF on cardiac hypertrophy by using transverse aortic constriction (TAC) model and cellular assays in vitro., Material & Methods: Cardiac hypertrophy was replicated by TAC surgery in rats or by isoprenaline treatment of rat H9C2 myocardial cells in vitro. Cardiac structure and function were evaluated by echocardiographic and hemodynamic examinations in vivo and histological analysis of tissues ex vivo. Biochemical kits and quantitative PCR were used to analyze markers of cardiac hypertrophy. Expression and phosphorylation of key proteins in the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway were quantified by Western blotting. We further confirmed our findings in H9C2 rat cardiomyocytes treated with isoprenaline and the ERK inhibitor in vitro., Results: TFLF attenuated cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis and improved cardiac dysfunction in TAC rats. TFLF treatment induced a strong reduction in serum NT-proBNP levels. Cardiac hypertrophy marker gene (ANP, BNP and β-MHC) expression and the phosphorylation levels of c-Raf and ERK1/2 were decreased by TFLF treatment. TFLF also protected H9C2 cells from isoprenaline-induced hypertrophy in vitro via a similar molecular mechanism as that observed in the rat heart. Moreover, pretreatment with TRLF and the ERK inhibitor further inhibited the mRNA overexpression of hypertrophic genes in vitro., Conclusions: TFLFs may protect against pathological cardiac hypertrophy via negative regulation of the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway. Thus, TFLFs are implicated as a potential pharmacological agent for treating cardiac hypertrophy in clinical practice., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Decabrominated diphenyl ether (BDE-209) and its substitute decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) are two flame retardants that have similar structure and are widely used in various industrial products. The accumulation and potential toxicity of them to human health have already aroused attention, and some research showed that they may affect mitochondrial function. Therefore, this study focused on the population with high exposure to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and the related changes in mtDNA copy number (mtDNAcn) in whole blood. 334 blood samples were collected from three groups of people in Shandong Province, including 42 BDE-209 occupational exposure workers from the BDE-209 manufacturing plant, 131 DBDPE occupational exposure workers from the DBDPE manufacturing plant, and 161 non-BFRs occupational exposure residents from the BFRs contaminated area. We measured the levels of BDE-209, DBDPE in serum sample, and the mtDNAcn in whole blood sample and analyzed these data by multiple linear regression. The average concentrations of BDE-209, DBDPE and ∑(BDE-209 + DBDPE) in BDE-209 occupational workers were 3510, 639 and 4600 ng/g lw, respectively; the average concentrations of BDE-209, DBDPE and ∑(BDE-209 + DBDPE) in DBDPE occupational workers were 229, 4040 and 4470 ng/g lw, respectively; the average concentrations of BDE-209, DBDPE and ∑(BDE-209 + DBDPE) in non-BFRs occupational exposure residents were 66.3, 45.7 and 137 ng/g lw, respectively. The relative mtDNAcn was 0.823 in BDE-209 occupational workers, 0.845 in DBDPE occupational workers and 0.989 in non-BFRs occupational exposure residents. A 10-fold increase in BDE-209, DBDPE concentrations was separately associated with a 0.068 and 0.063 decrease in mtDNAcn. Therefore, our study implied that BFRs may affect mitochondrial function. As increasing BFRs exposure has emerged in recent years, the relationship between BFRs exposure and mitochondrial function needs further study., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the function and mechanism of miR-1179 in the tumorigenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: The levels of miR-1179 and NUAK2 in clinical tissues or cell lines were examined using quantitative Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), EdU assay, colony formation, wound healing, Transwell assays and flow cytometry assays were conducted to examine the impact of miR-1179 on HCC cells. The protein expression of NUAK2 was detected using Western blotting assay. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assays were conducted to reveal the association of miR-1179 with NUAK2., Results: MiR-1179 expression was significantly downregulated in HCC specimens and cell lines compared to normal samples and cells. The miR-1179 overexpression inhibited HCC cell migration, invasion and proliferation through targeting NUAK2. Overexpression of NUAK2 can reverse the effect of miR-1179 on hepatocellular carcinoma cells., Conclusion: miR-1179 suppresses HCC developmen through targeting NUAK2. Which can be used as a potent HCC diagnostic marker., Competing Interests: None., (AJTR Copyright © 2022.)

Long noncoding RNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 10 (SNHG10) has been suggested to function as tumor promoter in various human cancer types. Herein, the role of SNHG10 in colorectal cancer (CRC) was explored. Expression levels of genes in colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines were detected by Starbase and reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), the BrdU incorporation assay and Transwell assays were explored to study the function of SNHG10 in HCT116 and DXH-1 cells. In addition, the interaction of SNHG10 and miR-3690 was analyzed by dual-luciferase reporter assays. SNHG10 had a high expression level in CRC tissues and cell lines. Meanwhile, knockdown of SNHG10 reduced cell viability, inhibited cell proliferation and decreased cell migration and invasion. Moreover, bioinformatics analysis revealed that one potential target gene of SNHG10 was miR-3690. Dual-luciferase reporter assay confirmed that miR-3690 directly targeted SNHG10. Importantly, SNHG10 could decrease the expression of miR-3690 in HCT116 and DXH-1 cells. More importantly, the silencing of miR-3690 reversed the effect of the SNHG10 knockdown on the cell viability, proliferation, migration and invasion of HCT116 and DXH-1 cells. The present results demonstrated that SNHG10 promotes colorectal cancer cells the malignant progression by targeting miR-3690. Abbreviations : CRC: Colorectal cancer; Lnc RNA: Long noncoding RNA; microRNAs: miRNAs/miRs; RT-qPCR: reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction; CCK-8: Cell Counting Kit-8.

Decorating a high-efficiency oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst as a cocatalyst on an α-Fe 2 O 3 photoanode is known to be one of the most efficient methods to improve the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation activity. In our work, different from traditional methods of transition metal sulfide cocatalyst synthesis, an NiFeS x -decorated Ti-Fe 2 O 3 photoanode is synthesized through a simple one-step electrodeposition method, which benefits the interface between Ti-Fe 2 O 3 and NiFeS x . With the help of this excellent OER electrocatalyst, the photocurrent density of the NiFeS x -Ti-Fe 2 O 3 photoanode rises to 3 mA cm -2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE, which is 2.5 times greater than the photocurrent of Ti-Fe 2 O 3 . Moreover, the onset potential of NiFeS x -Ti-Fe 2 O 3 shifts negatively by 170 mV compared with that of pure Ti-Fe 2 O 3 . Furthermore, surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPV) and transient photovoltage (TPV) techniques and photoelectrochemical impedance spectroscopy (PEIS) were used to analyze the true effects of NiFeS x as an efficient cocatalyst for enhancing the PEC performance of the NiFeS x -Ti-Fe 2 O 3 photoanode. This work provides a simple method for loading a low-cost and efficient cocatalyst to modify a Ti-Fe 2 O 3 photoanode for the PEC water oxidation reaction.

Efficiency and privacy are the key aspects in content extraction signatures. In this study, we proposed a Secure and Efficient and Certificateless Content Extraction Signature with Privacy Protection (SECCESPP) in which scalar multiplication of elliptic curves is used to replace inefficient bilinear pairing of certificateless public key cryptosystem, and the signcryption idea is borrowed to implement privacy protection for signed messages. The correctness of the SECCESPP scheme is demonstrated by the consistency of the message and the accuracy of the equation. The security and privacy of the SECCESPP scheme are demonstrated based on the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem in the random oracle model and are formally analyzed with the formal analysis tool ProVerif, respectively. Theory and experimental analysis show that the SECCESPP scheme is more efficient than other schemes., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

This study evaluated the food safety of the swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus) found in Shandong Province, China and obtained information on possible edible parts and gender differences. White and brown muscle samples from 108 swimming crabs were collected from seven cities along the eastern coastline of Shandong Province and analyzed for levels of Cu, Zn, Ni, As, Fe, Mn, Cr, Se, Cd, and Pb. There were significant differences in the metal concentrations among different edible muscles. High concentrations of Zn, Mn, and Cr were found in leg and claw meat while Fe, Cu, Ni, As, Cd, Pb, and Se were predominantly found in the hepatopancreas and gonads. Gender differences were found only for Fe and Zn. Based on the estimated daily intake (EDI), target hazard quotient (THQ), total target hazard quotient (TTHQ), and the permissible safety limits prescribed by various agencies, consumption of the swimming crab is considered safe., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

A series of Al-doped BiVO 4 composites have been synthesized via the hydrothermal method for methylene blue (MB) degradation application. The reasons for the improvement of photocatalytic performance was explained from the perspective of optics. Transient photovoltage (TPV) measurements suggested that the surface states have the priority to capture photogenerated carriers, and the Al 2 O 3 surface passivation layer can prolong the lifetime of charge carrier. The results of surface photovoltage (SPV), transient photovoltage (TPV), and surface photocurrent (SPC) measurements suggested that the coexistence of Al 3+ and Al 2 O 3 caused by the appropriate doping would improve the transfer property and prolong the lifetime of photogenerated carriers. Finally, the possible photocatalytic mechanism is expounded to illustrate the photogenerated charge behavior under visible light irradiation. This work provides a better understanding of the synergistic effect of Al-doping and Al 2 O 3 passivation layer on enhancing the photocatalytic performance.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been used as flame retardants (FRs) in China for decades, even after they were identified as persistent organic pollutants. In this study, serum samples were collected from 172 adults without occupational exposure who were residents of a well-known FR production region (Laizhou Bay, north China), and PBDE congeners were measured to assess their occurrence, congener profile and influencing factors in serum. Moreover, the relationships between serum concentrations of PBDEs and thyroid/liver function indicators were analyzed to evaluate whether human exposure to PBDEs would lead to thyroid/liver injury. All 8 PBDE congeners were detected at higher frequencies and serum concentrations than those found in general populations. The median levels of ∑PBDEs, BDE-209 and ∑ 3-7 PBDEs (sum of tri-to hepta-BDEs) were 64.5, 56.9 and 7.2 ng/g lw (lipid weight), respectively, which indicated that deca-BDE was the primarily produced PBDE in Laizhou Bay and that the lower brominated BDEs were still ubiquitous in the environment. Gender was a primary influencing factor for some BDE congeners in serum; their levels in female serum samples were significantly lower than those in male serum samples. Serum PBDE levels showed a downward trend with increased body mass index (BMI), which might reflect the increasing serum lipid contents. Serum levels of some BDE congeners were significantly positively correlated with certain thyroid hormones and antibodies, including free triiodothyronine (fT3), total triiodothyronine (tT3), total thyroxine (tT4) and thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab). Levels of some congeners were significantly negatively correlated with some types of serum lipid, including cholesterol (CHOL), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and total triglyceride (TG). Other than serum lipids, only two liver function indicators, total protein (TP) and direct bilirubin (DBIL), were significantly correlated with certain BDE congeners (BDE-100 and BDE-154). Our results provide new evidence on the thyroid-disrupting and hepatotoxic effects of PBDEs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Five currently used novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) were determined in 172 serum samples collected from nonoccupational residents of a major BFR-producing region. All the 5 NBFRs presented high detection frequencies (DFs, >90%), and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE), a substitute of decabrominated diphenyl ethers (deca-BDE), was the most abundant NBFR. The levels of DBDPE were from

The wearable and integrated sensing platform is a promising choice for developing real-time analytic electronics with clear advantages but still poses challenges, such as the realization of high precision, low limit of detection (LOD), moderate mechanical capacity, integration, and miniaturization. In this work, a simple printed wearable smartsensor has been fabricated with the aid of electrochemical plating methods with bismuth (Bi) films. The excellent sensing behaviors, including linear relationship, selectivity, stability, repeatability, and the LOD at ppb levels, have been obtained by this smartsensor. Additionally, the highly flexible textile-based sensor exhibits potential application on the substrates of daily cloth, sports T-shirt, and sports wristbands, and it maintains good stability under repeated deformations of washing and twisting. Importantly, integrated with printed circuit board, single chip micyoco, and Bluetooth modules, a smartsensing platform is successfully acquired for real-time detection of heavy metals (e.g., Zn, Cd, Pb, etc.). Finally, actual samples of human sweat, seawater, cosmetics, and drinking water have been remotely successfully demonstrated for detection by this smartsensor, enabling a great promise for fast on-site screening of samples in practical application.

Constructing heterojunction is an effective way to improve the photo-generated carrier separation efficiency and photocatalytic activity. Here, we construct SnS 2 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunctions by in-situ growth of SnS 2 on the g-C 3 N 4 . By adjusting annealing temperatures, the SnS 2 /g-C 3 N 4 -180 and SnS 2 /g-C 3 N 4 -120 samples could meet Z-scheme carrier transfer mechanism and conventional type-II charge transfer mechanism, respectively. By the aid of surface photovoltage spectra, the photo-generated carrier transfer direction and the driving force of the charge transfer are suggested. This difference in these two charge transfer mechanisms is supposed to be mainly related to the discrepancy in work functions of the SnS 2 treated at different temperatures. This work provides an effective method to understand the Z-scheme carrier transfer mechanism, which could help us to design Z-scheme photocatalysts for higher hydrogen evolution activity., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Despite great efforts dedicated to enhance power conversion efficiency (PCE) of quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) in the past two decades, the efficiency of QDSSCs is still far behind its theoretical value. The present approaches for improving PCE are mainly focused on tailoring the bandgap of QDs to broadening light-harvesting and optimizing interfaces of component parts. Herein, a new solar cell architecture is proposed by integrating concentrating solar cell (CPV) concept into QDSSCs with double photoanode design. The Cu 2 S mesh is used as a counter electrode and sandwiched between two photoanodes. This designed battery structure can increase the PCE by 260% compared with a single photoanode. With the most extensively used CdS/CdSe QD sensitizers, a champion PCE of 8.28% (V oc = 0.629 V, J sc = 32.247 mA cm - 2) was achieved. This is mainly due to the increase in J sc due to the double photoanode design and adoption of the CPV concept. In addition, another reason is that concentrated sunshine illumination induced a photothermal effect, accelerating the preceding chemical reactions associated with the conversion of polysulfide species. The cell fabrication and design reported here provides a new insight for further development of QDSSCs.

We detected the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) or decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) in paired hair-serum and nail-serum samples collected from the corresponding chemical manufacturing workers. The levels of decabrominated diphenyl ether (BDE-209) or DBDPE in the serum, hair and nail samples were all significantly higher than those reported in other studies, and the "work place" (pretreatment or posttreatment workshop) was the primary influencing factor that affected the levels of specific BFRs in vivo. For BDE-209 workers, the BDE-209 in both the hair and nail samples were significantly and positively related to the BDE-209 in the serum, indicating that both hair and nails can be used as noninvasive biomatrices to reflect internal exposure to BDE-209. In DBDPE workers, hair rather than nails was more suitable for use as a noninvasive biomatrix to infer the DBDPE exposure level. A series of serum biomarkers reflecting thyroid hormones and liver and kidney injuries were tested to calculate the correlations between hair or nail BFR levels and the levels of the biomatrices. The BDE-209 in the hair samples was significantly and positively correlated with the total protein (TP), and the nail BDE-209 level was significantly and positively related to the total bilirubin (TBIL), indirect bilirubin (IDBIL) and uric acid (UA). The DBDPE in hair was significantly and positively correlated with the thyroid hormones free triiodothyronine (fT3) and total triiodothyronine (tT3) and kidney injury markers, including blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CRE) and cystatin C (Cys-C). In addition, the nail DBDPE levels were significantly and positively correlated with the albumin/globulin (A/G), BUN, CRE and Cys-C but negatively correlated with the TP and globulin (GLO). Our findings provide preliminary evidence that hair and nails can be used as noninvasive biomatrices for assessing internal BFR exposure and health damage in occupational workers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declared that there is no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Smilax glabra Roxb. (SG) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine that has been extensively used as both food and folk medicine in many countries. Although many beneficial health effects of SG and its primary components have been reported, their action on adipocyte function remains unknown. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the total flavonoids from Smilax glabra Roxb. (SGF) on lipid accumulation in mouse 3T3-L1 adipocytes and further elucidated its potential mechanism using RNA-Seq transcriptome technique. Our results showed that SGF exposure significantly decreased the lipid droplet size and the levels of cellular free fatty acids, while triglyceride accumulation was not affected by SGF. Transcriptome analysis revealed that SGF induced the expression of genes involved in triglyceride storage, fatty acid β-oxidation and mitochondrial biogenesis. Furthermore, we also observed an increased cellular ATP level and mitochondrial mass after SGF exposure, indicating that SGF enhanced mitochondrial function. The other relevant transcriptional changes appeared to be involved in AMPK/PGC-1α signaling, inflammatory response, as well as PI3K/AKT and calcium signaling pathways, which might contribute to the beneficial metabolic effects of SGF on adipocyte function. The results of Western blotting confirmed that SGF could increase the phosphorylation of AMPK while decrease the phosphorylation of AKT in adipocytes. Altogether, our results provided novel information about the molecular mechanism responsible for the effects of SGF on fat storage in adipocytes and highlights the potential metabolic benefits of SGF on human obesity and its related chronic diseases., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which are persistent organic pollutants, affect thyroid function. Human exposure to decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE), which has a similar structure to PBDEs, has recently increased, and the health effects of DBDPE have not been well studied. The objective of this study was to determine whether human exposure to DBDPE was associated with thyroid hormone levels in adults from a DBDPE manufacturing area. Three hundred-two blood samples were collected from two populations in the largest DBDPE manufacturing area located in North China: 133 DBDPE occupationally exposed workers from a DBDPE manufacturing plant and 169 non-DBDPE occupationally exposed residents from a nearby food processing plant. The levels of DBDPE, and thyroid function parameters [total thyroxine (TT4), free T4 (FT4), total triiodothyronine (TT3), free T3 (FT3), thyroid-stimulating-hormone (TSH), thyroglobulin antibody (TG-Ab), and thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab)] were measured in serum samples. Serum concentrations of DBDPE ranged from 3.148 to 54,360 ng g - 1 lipid weight (lw), with a geometric mean of 332.6 ng g - 1 lw. A 10-fold increase in the DBDPE concentration was associated with increase of 4.73 nmol L - 1 [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.75, 6.71] TT4 and 0.046 nmol L - 1 TT3 [95% CI: 0.012, 0.081], corresponding to increases of approximately of 4.73% (95% CI: 2.75%-6.71%) and 2.38% (95% CI: 0.62%-4.20%), respectively. DBDPE in serum was also significantly and positively associated with the concentrations of TG-Ab and TPO-Ab. Our study found that exposure to DBDPE was associated with changes in thyroid activity in adults exposed to a high concentration of DBDPE, mainly increases of TT4, TT3, TPO-Ab, and TG-Ab. The association between DBDPE exposure and thyroid homeostasis requires further investigation because increasing DBDPE exposure has emerged in recent years., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Field investigations were conducted on a decabrominated diphenyl ether (BDE-209) manufacturing plant and a decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) manufacturing plant, and worker exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) or DBDPE was assessed. Workshop air was collected and tested to measure levels of external exposure to corresponding chemicals via air inhalation. Paired human serum and urine samples taken from 202 workers were tested to assess levels of internal BFR exposure. Levels of BDE-209 in air for the BDE-209 plant ranged from 10.6 to 295 μg m -3 , accounting for at least 99% of the total PBDEs in the workshop air, and those of DBDPE in air samples from the DBDPE plant ranged from 12.7 to 435 μg m -3 . Maximum estimated daily intakes (EDIs) of BDE-209 and DBDPE accumulated via air inhalation exceeded the corresponding RfD level recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, indicating that for some workers, occupational exposure is likely to create significant health problems. The levels of BDE-209 measured in serum taken from BDE-209 workers ranged from 0.202 to 57.1 μg g -1 lw, and those of DBDPE in serum taken from DBDPE workers ranged from 0.087 to 54.4 μg g -1 lw. These values are several orders of magnitude higher than those detected in general areas and e-waste recycling sites. BDE-209 and DBDPE were detected in all of the urine samples with median levels of 1.12 and 8.6 ng mL -1 , respectively, and levels of BDE-209 and DBDPE in the urine were significantly and positively correlated with those observed in the serum., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Smilax glabra Roxb, a traditional Chinese herb, has been widely used in folk medicine. The current study was performed to investigate the protective effect of S. glabra Roxb extract, pure total flavonoids from Smilax glabra Roxb (PTFS), on renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF) and its underlying mechanism., Methods: First, a surgical model of unilateral ureteral obstruction was established in rats to induce RIF. Then, rats were grouped and treated with PTFS at different concentration. Second, HK-2 cells underwent an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by the addition of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1). Additionally, HK-2 cells after inducing for EMT were transfected with microRNA-21 (miR-21) mimic or inhibitor. These HK-2 cells were grouped and treated with PTFS at different concentration. Finally, real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis were performed to detect the expression of possible signaling factor involved in RIF in renal tissues or HK-2 cells after PTFS treatment., Results: In vivo and in vitro experiments indicated that PTFS treatment could decrease the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA; mesenchymal marker) and increase the expression of E-cadherin (epithelial marker) in both messenger RNA and protein level. Moreover, PTFS also attenuated the expression of TGF-β1/Smad signaling in both renal tissues and HK-2 cells that underwent EMT. Overexpression or inhibition of miR-21 in HK-2 cells activated or blocked the PI3K/Akt signaling via targeting phosphatase and tension homolog (PTEN), and then promoted or suppressed the progress of TGF-β1-induced EMT by regulating the expression of α-SMA and E-cadherin. Furthermore, PTFS treatment inhibited TGF-β1-induced EMT progress by blocking miR-21/PTEN/PI3K/Akt signaling., Conclusion: PTFS has strong anti-EMT and antifibrosis effects both in vitro and in vivo. The mechanism underlying these effects may be related to inhibition of TGF-β1/Smad, and their downstream miR-21/PTEN signaling, leading to blocks of EMT process during RIF., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

While there is some evidence that exposure to decabrominated diphenyl ethers (BDE-209) affects thyroid function, the results obtained to date have been inconsistent. No studies have been performed on workers in deca-BDE manufacturing who had a high level of exposure to BDE-209 and relatively little exposure to other contaminants. In the present study, the relationship between BDE-209 exposure and thyroid hormone in occupational workers from a deca-BDE manufacturing plant was investigated. The serum and urine levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and serum thyroid hormones were measured in 72 workers recruited from the deca-BDE manufacturing plant. The associations between their thyroid hormone levels and their exposure to BDE-209 were examined using multiple linear regression models. Serum concentrations of BDE-209 ranged from 67.4 to 109,000 ng/g lipid weight (lw), with a median of 3420 ng/g lw, contributing to 93.1% of the total PBDEs. The concentration of BDE-209 in urine was highly correlated with that in the serum (r 2  = 0.440, p < 0.001), indicating that urine may be a good non-invasive biomonitoring medium of BDE-209 body burden in occupational workers. BDE-209 in the serum was significantly and positively correlated with total thyroxine (tT4, r = 0.270, p = 0.029) and marginally and positively correlated with total triiodothyronine (tT3, r = 0.232, p = 0.061) in all occupational workers after adjusting for gender, age, BMI, and occupational exposure duration. A 10-fold increase in the serum BDE-209 concentration was associated with an increase in tT4 (8.63 nmol/L) [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.930-16.3] and tT3 (0.106 nmol/L) [95% confidence interval (CI): -0.005-0.219], corresponding to the increase of 7.8% in tT4 level and 5.4% in tT3 level. Associations between urine BDE-209 levels and thyroid hormones were similar to the results for the serum levels. These findings offer new evidence for proving the thyroid disrupting effects of BDE-209, impacting the direction of hyperthyroidism., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Semiconductor electrodes integrated with cocatalysts are key components of photoelectrochemistry (PEC)-based solar-energy conversion. However, efforts to optimize the PEC device have been limited by an inadequate understanding of the interface interactions between the semiconductor-cocatalyst (sem|cat) and cocatalyst-electrolyte (cat|ele) interface. In our work, we used ferrihydrite (Fh)-modified Ti-Fe 2 O 3 as a model to explore the transfer process of photogenerated charge carriers between the Ti-Fe 2 O 3 -Fh (Ti-Fe 2 O 3 |Fh) interface and Fh-electrolyte (Fh|ele) interface. The results demonstrate that the biphasic structure (Fh/Ti-Fe 2 O 3 ) possesses the advantage that the minority hole transfer from Ti-Fe 2 O 3 to Fh is driven by the interfacial electric field at the Ti-Fe 2 O 3 |Fh interface; meanwhile, the holes reached at the surface of Fh can rapidly inject into the electrolyte across the Fh|ele interface. As a benefit from the improved charge transfer at the Ti-Fe 2 O 3 |Fh and Fh|ele interface, the photocurrent density obtained by Fh/Ti-Fe 2 O 3 can reach 2.32 mA cm -2 at 1.23 V versus RHE, which is three times higher than that of Ti-Fe 2 O 3 ., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Drought stress limits the growth and development of grapevines, thereby reducing productivity, but the mechanisms by which grapevines respond to drought stress remain largely uncharacterized. Here, we characterized a group A bZIP gene from "Kyoho" grapevine, VlbZIP30 , which was shown to be induced by abscisic acid (ABA) and dehydration stress. Overexpression of VlbZIP30 in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana enhanced dehydration tolerance. Transcriptome analysis revealed that a major proportion of ABA-responsive and/or drought-responsive genes are transcriptionally regulated by VlbZIP30 during ABA or mannitol treatment at the cotyledon greening stage. We identified an A. thaliana G-box motif (CACGTG) and a potential grapevine G-box motif (MCACGTGK) in the promoters of the 39 selected A. thaliana genes upregulated in the transgenic plants and in the 35 grapevine homologs, respectively. Subsequently, using two grapevine-related databases, we found that 74% (23/31) and 84% (21/25) of the detected grapevine genes were significantly upregulated by ABA and drought stress, respectively, suggesting that these genes are involved in ABA or dehydration stress and may be regulated by VlbZIP30 in grapevine. We propose that VlbZIP30 functions as a positive regulator of dehydration-responsive signaling in the ABA core signaling pathway., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

In this work, the ternary hybrid photocatalyst composed of ZnO nanorods with BiOI and Pt NPs (denoted as Pt@BiOI/ZnO) was fabricated by a simple three-step method. The as-prepared samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrometry (DRS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which proved the strong interaction has occurred among the Pt, BiOI and ZnO. The phenol degradation test showed that the Pt@BiOI/ZnO ternary hybrid composite exhibited the maximum photodegradation efficiency of phenol (99.9%) under UV irradiation within 30 min compared to Pt/BiOI, BiOI/ZnO binary composites as well as Pt/ZnO. Additionally, the transient photovoltage (TPV), steady-state PL spectra and time-resolved PL spectra were used to investigate the possible mechanism for photocatalytic performance. Our results elaborated that the enhanced photocatalyticactivity was mainly attributed to the synergetic effect of Pt/ZnO and BiOI/ZnO interfaces. Conversely, the interfacial interaction of Pt/BiOI is little contribution, indicating that the effective interfaces design is very important for the degradation of phenol in the preparation process of ternary hybrid photocatalyst. These findings will contribute to developing high efficiency photocatalysts for application in environmental remediation., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Immunotherapy for cervical cancer with type I interferon (IFN) is limited because of the cytotoxicity that accompanies the high doses that are administered. In this study, we investigated the utilization of amniotic fluid-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AF-MSCs) as a means for delivering IFN α to local tumor sites for the suppression of cervical cancer in a mouse model using HeLa cell xenografts., Methods: The tumor tropism ability of AF-MSCs and AF-MSCs genetically modified to overexpress IFN α (IFN α -AF-MSCs) was examined through Transwell in vitro and through fluorescent images and immunohistochemistry in a mouse model. Tumor size and tumor apoptosis were observed to evaluate the efficacy of the targeting therapy. Mechanistically, tumor cell apoptosis was detected by cytometry and TUNEL, and oncogenic proteins c-Myc, p53, and Bcl-2 as well as microvessel density were detected by immunohistochemistry., Results: In this model, intravenously injected AF-MSCs selectively migrated to the tumor sites, participated in tumor construction, and promoted tumor growth. After being genetically modified to overexpress IFN α , the IFN α -AF-MSCs maintained their tumor tropism but could significantly suppress tumor growth. The restrictive efficacy of IFN α -AF-MSCs was associated with the suppression of angiogenesis, inhibition of tumor cell proliferation, and induction of apoptosis in tumor cells. Neither AF-MSCs nor IFN α -AF-MSCs trigger tumor formation., Conclusions: IFN α -AF-MSC-based therapy is feasible and shows potential for treating cervical cancer, suggesting that AF-MSCs may be promising vehicles for delivering targeted anticancer therapy.

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system is a powerful tool for editing plant genomes. Efficient genome editing of grape (Vitis vinifera) suspension cells using the type II CRISPR/Cas9 system has been demonstrated; however, it has not been established whether this system can be applied to get biallelic mutations in the first generation of grape. In this current study, we designed four guide RNAs for the VvWRKY52 transcription factor gene for using with the CRISPR/Cas9 system, and obtained transgenic plants via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, using somatic embryos of the Thompson Seedless cultivar. Analysis of the first-generation transgenic plants verified 22 mutant plants of the 72 T-DNA-inserted plants. Of these, 15 lines carried biallelic mutations and seven were heterozygous. A range of RNA-guided editing events, including large deletions, were found in the mutant plants, while smaller deletions comprised the majority of the detected mutations. Sequencing of potential off-target sites for all four targets revealed no off-target events. In addition, knockout of VvWRKY52 in grape increased the resistance to Botrytis cinerea. We conclude that the CRISPR/Cas9 system allows precise genome editing in the first generation of grape and represents a useful tool for gene functional analysis and grape molecular breeding., (© 2017 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Although NiCoP has attracted much attention in the field of electrocatalysis, the study of its photocatalytic activity and mechanism have been somewhat limited. NiCoP/g-C 3 N 4 , synthesized by simple one-pot method, is a highly efficient photocatalyst for hydrogen production from water. NiCoP/g-C 3 N 4 exhibits a hydrogen evolution rate of 1643 μmol h -1  g -1 , which is 21 times higher than that of bare g-C 3 N 4 . The excellent performance is due to a combination of improved separation efficiency and effective charge transfer efficiency. The photogenerated charge behavior is characterized by the surface photovoltage (SPV), transient photovoltage (TPV), and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The photogenerated charge transport is investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and polarization curve. Moreover, the effective charge transfer efficiency was measured according to the mimetic apparent quantum yield. SPV and TPV measurements, whereby 10 vol % of a triethanolamine-water mixture was added into the testing system, were taken to simulate the real atmosphere for photocatalytic reaction, which can give rise to the photogenerated charge transfer process. A possible photocatalytic mechanism was also proposed. This study may provide an efficient theoretical basis to design transition metal phosphide cocatalyst-modified photocatalysts., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Background: miR-203a-3p was reported as a tumor suppressor and disregulated in many malignancies including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, its function in tumor growth and metastasis in NPC has rarely been reported., Methods: The expression level of miR-203a-3p in human NPC tissues and cell lines was detected via real-time PCR (RT-PCR). Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were assessed in vitro by MTT, colony formation and transwell assay, respectively. The function of miR-203a-3p in vivo was detected through NPC xenograft tumor growth and lung metastatic mice model. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to identify the direct target of miR-203a-3p., Results: The expression of miR-203a-3p was decreased in NPC tissues and cell lines in comparison with normal nasopharyngeal tissues and cell line. Ectopic expression of miR-203a-3p inhibited while inhibiting miR-203a-3p expression increased NPC cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro. MR-203a-3p overexpression suppressed xenograft tumor growth and lung metastasis in vivo. LASP1 was identified as a direct target of miR-203a-3p, which was confirmed by real-time PCR and western blotting assay. Ectopic expression of LASP1 partially reversed miR-203a-3p-mediated inhibition on proliferation, migration and invasion in NPC cells., Conclusion: Collectively, miR-203a-3p suppresses tumor growth and metastasis through targeting LASP1 in NPC. The newly identified miR-203a-3p/LASP1 pathway provides further insights into the initiation and progression of NPC, which may represent a novel therapeutic target for NPC.

Stilbene synthase (STS) is a key enzyme that catalyzes the biosynthesis of resveratrol compounds and plays an important role in disease resistance. The molecular pathways linking STS with pathogen responses and their regulation are not known. We isolated an STS gene, VaSTS19 , from a Chinese wild grape, Vitis amurensis Rupr. cv. "Tonghua-3", and transferred this gene to Arabidopsis . We then generated VaSTS19 -expressing Arabidopsis lines and evaluated the functions of VaSTS19 in various pathogen stresses, including powdery mildew, B. cinerea and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 ( Pst DC3000). VaSTS19 enhanced resistance to powdery mildew and B. cinerea , but increased susceptibility to Pst DC3000. Aniline blue staining revealed that VaSTS19 transgenic lines accumulated more callose compared to nontransgenic control plants, and showed smaller stomatal apertures when exposed to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (flagellin fragment (flg22) or lipopolysaccharides (LPS)). Analysis of the expression of several disease-related genes suggested that VaSTS19 expression enhanced defense responses though salicylic acid (SA) and/or jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathways. These findings provide a deeper insight into the function of STS genes in defense against pathogens, and a better understanding of the regulatory cross talk between SA and JA pathways., Competing Interests: There are no competing interests in this paper, and the authors declare no conflict of interest.

Developing nonprecious hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts that can work well at large current densities (e.g., at 1000 mA/cm 2 : a value that is relevant for practical, large-scale applications) is of great importance for realizing a viable water-splitting technology. Herein we present a combined theoretical and experimental study that leads to the identification of α-phase molybdenum diboride (α-MoB 2 ) comprising borophene subunits as a noble metal-free, superefficient electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Our theoretical finding indicates, unlike the surfaces of Pt- and MoS 2 -based catalysts, those of α-MoB 2 can maintain high catalytic activity for HER even at very high hydrogen coverage and attain a high density of efficient catalytic active sites. Experiments confirm α-MoB 2 can deliver large current densities in the order of 1000 mA/cm 2 , and also has excellent catalytic stability during HER. The theoretical and experimental results show α-MoB 2 's catalytic activity, especially at large current densities, is due to its high conductivity, large density of efficient catalytic active sites and good mass transport property.

The photoexcited electrons transfer dynamics at the TiO 2 film/fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) interface of anatase TiO 2 nanowire arrays (NWAs) and QD-sensitized TiO 2 NWAs films have been studied by using surface photovoltage (SPV) and transient photovoltage (TPV) techniques. Various SPV and TPV responses were obtained when the laser beam was incident from the front side illumination and back side illumination. Based on the work function values of anatase TiO 2 NWAs and FTO, the results indicate that diffusion is the major way for the separation and transfer of the photoexcited charge in the both anatase TiO 2 NWAs and QD-sensitized TiO 2 NWAs films under front side illumination. And the photoexcited charge were separated by drift under the built-in electric field at the TiO 2 film/FTO interface for anatase TiO 2 NWAs and QD-sensitized TiO 2 NWAs films under back side illumination. In addition, under back side illumination the built-in electric field and band structure of CdS/CdSe QDs and anatase TiO 2 NWAs lead to the separation and transfer of the photoexcited charge for CdS/CdSe QDs sensitized TiO 2 NWAs/FTO film. As the intensity of illumination increases, the effect of built-in electric field on the separation and transfer of the photoexcited charge in the QD-sensitized TiO 2 NWAs film decreases., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Nickel phosphide (Ni 2 P) was used as an excellent water oxidation cocatalyst for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, which could significantly promote the hole injection efficiency and suppress the back reaction of water oxidation over a Ti 4+ doped Fe 2 O 3 photoanode.