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Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation can modify the antioxidant capacity of food. This study investigates the impact and mechanisms of various LAB strains (Lactobacillus plantarum NCU116, Lactobacillus acidophilus NCU402, and Lactobacillus casei NCU215) fermentation on the antioxidant properties of mango juice. LAB strains inoculation enhanced the antioxidant activity of mango juice, with metabolomics showing increased in polyphenols and decreased in vitamins and carotenoids, indicating polyphenols as the main contributors. Quantification of polyphenols (free and bound forms) revealed that fermentation decreased bound gallic acid levels while increasing free pyrogallol and 1,2,3,4,6-O-pentagalloylglucose, which mainly contributed to the rise in antioxidant capacity in mango juice. L. acidophilus NCU402 had the highest increase in 1,2,3,4,6-O-pentagalloylglucose (from 918.07 to 1750 μg/10 g), whereas L. casei NCU215 facilitated the greatest release of bound gallic acid (49.29 to 11.77 μg/10 g). Bound polyphenol release may be linked to pectin degradation, with lower galacturonic acid and increased pectinase 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 © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Thermal annealing on hybrid perovskites is essential to prepare high-quality solar cells with extraordinary efficiency, whose benefits include transformation of inactive phases such as δ-FAPbI 3 to active α-FAPbI 3 . The detailed mechanism for such critical phase transition, however, has not yet been adequately studied. Here, we present multiscale microscopic observation to unravel the anisotropic δ-to-α transition in epitaxial FAPbI 3 thin films. We adopt polarized light microscopy that offers enhanced contrast to distinguish isotropic α-FAPbI 3 from the anisotropic δ-FAPbI 3 . Facilitated by in situ heating, it allows us to identify heterogeneous nucleation of α-FAPbI 3 and the subsequent diffusional phase transition preferentially occurring along ⟨0001⟩, which is underpinned by the smaller activation energy along the face-sharing direction of PbI 6 octahedra. We further reveal the morphology and orientation relationship at the δ-to-α transition front using four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM), evincing the surface energy dominated orientation rather than the interfacial energy. The presence of high-density planar defects is also discovered at the transition front, which can be considered as an intermediate state facilitating δ-to-α structure transformation. Besides filling the knowledge gap on the phase transition behavior in FAPbI 3 , our work also demonstrates a multiscale microscopy approach to interrogate the phase transition mechanism in hybrid perovskites.

The hypoxic and high-pressure microenvironment of the intervertebral discs poses a major challenge to the survival and therapeutic efficiency of exogenous stem cells. Therefore, improving the utilization efficiency and therapeutic effect of exogenous stem cells to delay intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is of great importance. Here, hypoxic induction studies are conducted in vivo and in vitro using rat costal cartilage-derived skeletal stem cells (SSCs) and find that hypoxia activates the cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate synthase (cGAS)/stimulator of interferon genes (STING) signaling pathway and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, triggering ferroptosis in SSCs through hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha-dependent mitophagy. Progressive hypoxia preconditioning reduce STING expression and ROS accumulation, inducing SSCs differentiation into nucleus pulposus-like cells via the Wnt signaling pathway. Considering this, a 3-D sustained-release culture carrier is generated by mixing SSCs with methacrylated hyaluronic acid and polydopamine nanoparticles coated with the STING inhibitor C-176 and evaluated its inhibitory effect on IVDD. This carrier is demonstrated to inhibit the cGAS/STING pathway and prevent ROS accumulation by continuously releasing C-176-coated polydopamine nanoparticles, thereby reducing ferroptosis, promoting differentiation, and ultimately attenuating IVDD, suggesting its potential as a novel treatment strategy., (© 2025 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Cytoplasmic glutathione S-transferase (GST) is a key enzyme in cellular detoxification, catalysing the nucleophilic attack of glutathione (GSH) with toxic electrophilic substrates to produce less harmful compounds, thus aiding cellular detoxification. Studies have shown that GST is closely associated with the development of resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs, pesticides, herbicides and antibiotics, and the development of drug resistance in organisms poses new challenges in areas such as environmental protection and tumour therapy. In order to clarify the mechanism of GST in the development of drug resistance and detect the content of GST more accurately, this paper summarized the mechanism of GST on the development of drug resistance in different organisms, the types and research progress of organic small molecule fluorescence probes for GST imaging detection are introduced., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in adults is aggressive, with long-term outcomes impacted by treatment resistance and toxicity. CD52 is expressed in most cases of B- and T-lineage ALL. Alemtuzumab, a humanized immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody that targets CD52, was identified as a potential agent to improve treatment efficacy without increasing toxicity., Methods: In this phase 1/2 study (Cancer and Leukemia Group B [CALGB] 10102, NCT00061945), a course of single-agent alemtuzumab was intercalated into CALGB 19802 backbone chemotherapy after the third course of intensive chemotherapy in those who were CD52+ at diagnosis. Phase 1 tested three dose levels of subcutaneous alemtuzumab (10, 20, and 30 mg 3 times weekly for 4 weeks/12 doses) and demonstrated that 30 mg was tolerable. Phase 2 established feasibility., Results: The study enrolled 295 evaluable patients (115 in phase 1, 180 in phase 2); 206 (69.8%) were CD52+. Among evaluable CD52+ patients, 43.7% (90/206) completed the first three treatment modules; 97.8% (88 of 90) were treated with alemtuzumab. Alemtuzumab was associated with cytomegalovirus viremia, which occurred in 23.3% (14 of 60) of patients during and 29.2% (19 of 65) after alemtuzumab treatment. With a median follow-up of 101.2 months, median overall survival (OS) was 26.3 months (3-year rate, 44%; 5-year rate, 36%; 10-year rate, 31%). Landmark analysis at the start of the fourth course of treatment demonstrated no difference in OS or disease-free survival between patients who did and who did not receive alemtuzumab., Conclusion: Alemtuzumab was feasible to administer in adults with ALL receiving intensive chemotherapy, but was without evidence of benefit., (© 2025 The Author(s). Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Cancer Society.)

Background/Objectives: Research on cashmere goat coat color is crucial for optimizing cashmere goat breeds and increasing their economic value. To identify key genes associated with the formation of cashmere goat coat color and to provide molecular markers for breeding purposes, three healthy, 3-year-old does with similar weights and distinct coat colors-white, black, and light brown-were selected. Methods: Skin samples were collected for transcriptome sequencing, and bioinformatics methods were applied to screen for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the skin of cashmere goats with varying coat colors. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunofluorescence were subsequently conducted to examine the expression patterns of these DEGs. Results: The results showed that a total of 1153 DEGs were identified across the three groups of cashmere goats. According to GO and KEGG analyses, these DEGs were involved in key biological processes and structures, such as the melanin biosynthetic process (GO:0042438), melanosome membrane (GO:0033162), and melanin biosynthesis from tyrosine (GO:0006583). Employing Cytoscape, a gene interaction network was plotted, highlighting a compact network of DEGs associated with coat color formation. Critical genes identified included TYRP1 , TYR , DCT , ASIP , PMEL , LOC102180584 , MLANA , TSPAN10 , TRPM1 , CLDN16 , AHCY , LOC106503350 , and LOC102175263 . qRT-PCR and fluorescence immunohistochemistry further determined that TYRP1, TYR, DCT, and PMEL expression levels were high in black goats (BGs), while ASIP and AHCY expression levels were high in white goats (WGs). The expression levels of these six genes in light brown goats (RGs) were intermediate between those in BGs and WGs. Conclusions: TYRP1 , TYR , DCT , and PMEL were believed to play pivotal roles in the formation of black coat color, while ASIP and AHCY regulated the formation of white coat color in cashmere goats.

Fullerene derivatives are widely employed as efficient electron-transporting layers (ETLs) in p-i-n perovskite photovoltaics but face challenges in mitigating interfacial recombination losses and ensuring stable film morphology. Non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs), commonly utilized in organic photovoltaics, present a promising alternative to fullerene-based ETLs. Nevertheless, the suboptimal performance of NFA-based devices underscores the need for molecular engineering to tailor their properties. Herein, we develop two Y-type NFAs, Y-Phen and Y-CE, by substituting the benzothiadiazole core of Y6 with higher-polarity phenanthroline and crown ether. These modifications effectively enhance carrier kinetics by (1) promoting ordered molecular assembly on the perovskite surface through supramolecular interactions, thereby optimizing interfacial energetic alignment, and (2) improving the molecular packing to facilitate efficient charge transport. Using Y-CE as the ETL, the device achieves a certified power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.59%. Furthermore, the optimized device exhibits less than 10% degradation in PCE after 1440 hours of thermal aging. This work offers valuable insights into designing NFA-based ETLs for high-performance perovskite photovoltaics., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer. The identification of new biomarkers is crucial for enhancing early detection and treatment outcomes. This study explores the role of Canopy FGF Signaling Regulator 2 (CNPY2) in NSCLC progression and its potential as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker., Methods: CNPY2 expression was analyzed in 228 NSCLC tumor samples and adjacent normal tissues using quantitative RT-PCR and ELISA. Serum CNPY2 levels were also measured in 160 healthy controls and NSCLC patients. The relationship between CNPY2 expression and clinicopathological features, including epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, was assessed. Receiver operator curve analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic potential of serum CNPY2, while Kaplan-Meier survival analysis assessed its prognostic significance., Results: CNPY2 levels were significantly elevated in NSCLC tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues. Higher CNPY2 expression was associated with larger tumor size, advanced T stage, and higher N stage. Furthermore, CNPY2 expression was positively correlated with Vimentin and N-cadherin, and negatively correlated with E-cadherin. Elevated serum CNPY2 levels in NSCLC patients demonstrated moderate diagnostic accuracy, with an area under the curve of 0.78. High CNPY2 expression was also linked to reduced overall survival (p = 0.001)., Conclusions: CNPY2 is markedly overexpressed in NSCLC and is associated with increased tumor aggressiveness and EMT. Serum CNPY2 shows promise as a non-invasive biomarker for NSCLC diagnosis, and elevated expression is correlated with a poorer prognosis. Thus, CNPY2 may serve as both a valuable biomarker and a potential therapeutic target in NSCLC., 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 © 2025 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Realgar is a mineral medicine with a long history that can be used externally or internally. It is often used to treat skin diseases and leukemia in clinical practice. Realgar exhibits a polycrystalline phenomenon, and it remains unknown whether there is a difference in the efficacies of the different realgar crystalline forms., Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the pharmacodynamic differences of the different realgar crystalline forms (α-As 4 S 4 and β-As 4 S 4 ) using in vivo and in vitro experiments., Material and Methods: The in realgar crystalline patterns were initially identified using a powder x-ray diffractometer (PXRD). The antimicrobial activities of α-As 4 S 4 and β-As 4 S 4 were then assessed in vitro to elucidate their effectiveness against bacteria. Transdermal absorption and pharmacokinetic experiments were used to investigate the variances in the bioavailabilities between the in vitro and in vivo conditions. The effects of α-As 4 S 4 and β-As 4 S 4 for skin abscess healing were studied in mice using a subcutaneous injection of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). HL-60 cells were exposed to a serum that contained different crystalline forms of realgar to evaluate the potential differences in the therapeutic effects of α-As 4 S 4 and β-As 4 S 4 on leukemia., Results: Realgar is composed of α-As 4 S 4 and β-As 4 S 4 crystalline forms. The soluble arsenic content in α-As 4 S 4 generally exceeded that of β-As 4 S 4 , and the antimicrobial activity showed a positive correlation with the soluble arsenic content. α-As 4 S 4 demonstrated a higher in vivo and in vitro bioavailability and a faster elimination rate in vivo compared to β-As 4 S 4 . The pharmacodynamic experimental investigations showed that α-As 4 S 4 exhibited a superior healing effect on subcutaneous abscesses. Furthermore, serum pharmacology experiments revealed that α-As 4 S 4 induced significantly higher membrane damage and apoptosis in HL-60 cells compared to β-As 4 S 4 ., Conclusion: The different realgar crystalline forms had distinct pharmacodynamics. α-As 4 S 4 demonstrated higher bioavailability in vitro and in vivo and superior effects on skin abscess healing compared to β-As 4 S 4 . It also possessed anti-leukemia properties. It is the first time to report the differences in the efficacy between two crystalline forms of realgar, which is helpful to improve the knowledge of the real chemical substances for realgar., 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 © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Developing strategies to manage ion-migration-induced phase segregation in wide-bandgap (WBG) perovskites is crucial for achieving high-performance perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells (TSCs). However, maintaining continuous suppression of phase segregation from the film crystallization process to device operation remains a significant challenge. The present study demonstrates an efficient strategy of activating halogen circulation in WBG perovskite by using halogen circulation agents (HCA) of N-halosuccinimide molecules as the sustainable stabilizers, in order to achieve dynamic halogen equilibrium within the precursor solution and perovskite film, which blocks the migration path of Br - /I - ions both in crystallization and aging of WBG perovskites. Attempts on in situ dynamic monitoring of halide migration visually verified the enhanced stability by activated halogen circulation in both WBG films and devices. Consequently, present work achieves a champion efficiency up to 23.25% with a low V oc loss of 0.39 V in the 1.67-eV-bandgap device, and the HCA-based devices can maintain 88% and 93% of their initial efficiencies over 1000 h under continuous illumination and 2500 h at 85 °C in N 2 atmosphere, respectively. As a proof of concept, the perovskite/silicon monolithic TSCs are fabricated to demonstrate a high V oc of 1.99 V and a high power conversion efficiency of 33.2%., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Purpose: Previous research has primarily focused on bounce drop jump (BDJ) rather than countermovement drop jump (CDJ) in studying optimal drop heights for drop jump. This study explored the biomechanic parameters of both BDJ and CDJ and their relationship with performance across varying drop heights based on the percentage of squat-jump height (SJH)., Methods: Twenty-four college basketball athletes were recruited and divided into low- and high-strength groups. Participants performed BDJ and CDJ at 50%, 75%, 100%, 125%, 150%, and 175% of SJH. The point or zone with the largest reactive strength index (RSI) corresponds to the optimal drop height for a drop jump., Results: Optimal drop heights were determined to be 84.7% of SJH for BDJ low strength and 84.1% of SJH for BDJ high strength, with no significant difference between groups (P = .213). For CDJ, relative optimal drop heights were 104.6% of SJH for CDJ low strength and 106.1% of SJH for CDJ high strength, also with no significant difference (P = .717). Mechanical power with RSI exhibited a coefficient close to 1 (r = .98-.99), while average propulsive force demonstrated a very strong positive correlation with RSI (r = .72-.77)., Conclusions: It is recommended that basketball athletes incorporate particular percentages of SJH into drop jump, with 75% to 100% of SJH for BDJ and 100% to 125% of SJH for CDJ, as these heights are associated with achieving an optimal RSI and mechanical power. Tailoring the inclusion of BDJ or CDJ in training should account for the specific demands of on-court positions and task objectives for basketball players.

When two objects are brought into contact, separating them typically requires overcoming a detachment force. While this adhesion-induced force is vital for thin film materials in a range of nature and engineering systems, its quantitative understanding remains elusive due to the complex interplay between nonlinear deformation and adhesion. Here we perform controlled experiments and develop formal theories for the detachment force in a canonical configuration: separation of a sphere from an elastic graphene film. We observe that applying tension to the film can increase both its apparent out-of-plane stiffness and its detachment force, a behavior that cannot be explained by macroscopic adhesion theories. We attribute this unusual "stiffer-stickier" behavior to long-range intermolecular forces and demonstrate that it is a general phenomenon for elastic nanofilms, explainable through a multiscale theory that we develop. The ideas introduced here offer a generic strategy to understand the adhesion of slender structures across various length scales.

The cytosolic delivery of therapeutic proteins represents a promising strategy for addressing diseases caused by protein dysfunction. Despite significant advances, efficient delivery remains challenging due to barriers such as cell membrane impermeability, endosomal sequestration and protein instability. This review summarises recent progress in protein delivery systems, including physical, chemical and biological approaches, with a particular focus on strategies that enhance endosomal escape and targeting specificity. We further discuss the clinical translatability of these approaches and propose future directions for improving delivery efficiency and safety, ultimately unlocking the therapeutic potential of intracellular proteins.

In this study, the effects of fermentation pH and redox potential on the performance of the lactate platform were comprehensively evaluated. The results indicated that the type of acidogenic fermentation was influenced by redox potential, while pH was correlated with volatile fatty acid yield. The highest propionate yield was achieved under anaerobic conditions at a pH of9, with the dominant genus Serpentinicella producing propionate through the acrylate pathway. The highest acetate yield was produced under facultative conditions at a pH of 6. This production was primarily facilitated by the dominant genera unclassified_f__Enterobacteriaceae and Desulfovibrio, which exhibited significant upregulation of the expression of related genes. Furthermore, ecological processes were employed to establish the relationship between environmental factors and microbial communities. This study emphasized the process of converting lactate into volatile fatty acid, providing a theoretical basis for future strategies aimed at regulating targeted acid production., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Recently, the conventional criterion of "one-size-fits-all" is not qualified for each individual patient, requiring precision medicine for enhanced therapeutic effects. Besides, drug screening is a high-cost and time-consuming process which requires innovative approaches to facilitate drug development rate. Benefiting from consistent technical advances in 3D bioprinting techniques, droplet-based 3D bioprinting techniques have been broadly utilized in pharmaceutics due to the noncontact printing mechanism and precise control on the deposition position of droplets. More specifically, cell-free/cell-laden bioinks which are deposited for the fabrication of drug carriers/3D tissue constructs have been broadly utilized for precise drug delivery and high throughput drug screening, respectively. This review summarizes the mechanism of various droplet-based 3D bioprinting techniques and the most up-to-date applications in drug delivery and screening and discusses the potential improvements of droplet-based 3D bioprinting techniques from both technical and material aspects. Through technical innovations, materials development, and the assistance from artificial intelligence, the formation process of drug carriers will be more stable and accurately controlled guaranteeing precise drug delivery. Meanwhile, the shape fidelity and uniformity of the printed tissue models will be significantly improved ensuring drug screening efficiency and efficacy., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: Early identification of malignant biliary strictures (MBSs) is challenging, with up to 20% classified as indeterminants after preliminary testing and tissue sampling with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. We aimed to evaluate the use of methylated DNA markers (MDMs) from biliary brushings to enhance MBS detection in a prospective cohort., Approach: Candidate MDMs were evaluated for their utility in MBS diagnosis through a series of discovery and validation phases. DNA was extracted from biliary brushing samples, quantified, bisulfite-converted, and then subjected to methylation-specific droplet digital polymerase chain reaction.  Patients were considered to have no malignancy if the sampling was negative and there was no evidence of malignancy after 1 year or definitive negative surgical histopathology., Results: Fourteen candidate MDMs were evaluated in the discovery phase, with top-performing and new markers evaluated in the technical validation phase. The top 4 MDMs were TWIST1, HOXA1, VSTM2B, and CLEC11A, which individually achieved AUC values of 0.82, 0.81, 0.83, and 0.78, respectively, with sensitivities of 59.4%, 53.1%, 62.5%, and 50.0%, respectively, at high specificities for malignancy of 95.2%-95.3% for the final biologic validation phase. When combined as a panel, the AUC was 0.86, achieving 73.4% sensitivity and 92.9% specificity, which outperformed cytology and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)., Conclusions: The selected MDMs demonstrated improved performance characteristics for the detection of MBS compared to cytology and FISH. Therefore, MDMs should be considered viable candidates for inclusion in diagnostic testing algorithms., (Copyright © 2024 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.)

Fourteen benzofuran compounds were identified in the fruits of Psoralea corylifolia L., with four previously undescribed compounds (4, 9-11) being discovered. Their chemical structures were definitively determined through comprehensive spectral data analysis. The compounds were investigated for their antioxidant, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory properties, revealing that benzofuran compounds exhibit significant anti-inflammatory effects. Compound 2 demonstrated the most potent anti-inflammatory effect, surpassing that of the positive control drug. The potential anti-inflammatory mechanism of 2 was extensively explored through network pharmacology research. Subsequent validation of the selected targets via Western blot analysis confirmed that 2 exerts its anti-inflammatory effects by activating the TLR4/NF-κB pathway. These findings offer a novel perspective on the development of benzofuran glycoside compounds and Psoralea fructus., 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 © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: In esophageal cancer, the ypN0 status after induction therapy could be categorized into two primary groups: "natural N0" (cN0/ypN0) and "down-staged N0" (cN+/ypN0). The assessment of cN status is typically based on clinical imagination or pathological regression. However, there is no standardized method for evaluating cN/ypN status. This study aims to investigate the prognosis of patients with cN+/ypN0 using both assessment methods through a cohort study and meta-analysis., Methods: A prospectively maintained database encompassing esophageal cancer patients undergoing induction therapy followed by radical esophagectomy was comprehensively reviewed. The prognostic significance of cN+/ypN0 across two evaluation methods was quantified. Additionally, a meta-analysis using data from previous studies was conducted., Results: 578 patients were identified from the cohort analysis, with 342 classified as ypN0 and 236 as ypN+. When evaluated with clinical imagination, patients with cN+/ypN0 had survival outcomes comparable to those with natural N0 but significantly better than those with ypN+ (p < 0.001). Using pathological nodal regression, cN+/ypN0 patients showed superior overall survival compared to ypN+ patients (p = 0.0043), although their disease-free survival was notably inferior to that of natural N0 patients (p = 0.0088). A meta-analysis of 20 previous studies confirmed the prognostic value of cN+/ypN0 status in both clinical imagination and pathological regression., Conclusions: For esophageal cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant, cN+/ypN0 status, assessed through both clinical imagination and pathological regression, serves as a significant prognostic factor. It holds precedence over ypN+ yet falls short of the natural N0. The pre-treatment categorizations warrant recognition as a novel and pertinent staging metric., (© 2025 The Author(s). Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Hot-carrier relaxation above the bandgap results in significant energy losses, making the extraction of hot carriers a critical challenge for efficient hot-carrier photocurrent generation in devices. In this study, we observe long-lived hot carriers in the metal-halide perovskite multiple quantum wells, (BA) 2 (MA) n-1 Pb n I 3n+1 (n = 3), and demonstrate effective hot-hole photocurrent generation using 2D MoS₂ as an extraction layer. A high external quantum efficiency of short-circuit hot-carrier photocurrent of up to 35.4% is achieved. Further enhancement in photocurrent efficiency and open-circuit photovoltage is achieved when a gate electric field is applied, resulting in an external quantum efficiency of up to 61.9%. Evidence of hot-hole extraction is validated through operando transient reflection measurements on the working devices, with studies that depend on wavelength, carrier density, and gate voltage. DFT calculations on the heterostructure devices under different bias voltages further elucidate the mechanism of hot-hole extraction enhancement. These findings underscore the potential of perovskite multiple quantum wells as long-lived hot-carrier generators and highlight the role of 2D transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductors as efficient hot-carrier extraction electrodes for low-power optoelectronics., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: This study proposes a modified lymph node (LN) staging category (BALN) on the basis of the number of positive LNs before (prepN) and after (ypN) neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) to improve prognostic stratification in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC)., Patients and Methods: A total of 381 patients with ESCC who underwent nCRT at three medical centers were retrospectively enrolled. The ypN categories were scored according to the eighth edition of the American Joint Committee of Cancer (AJCC) staging manual. LNs with regression changes or vital tumor cells were used for interpretation of the prepN stage, reflecting the estimated number of originally involved LNs. BALN category was organized on the basis of the sum of the number of positive LNs in prepN and ypN categories., Results: BALN category revealed clearer survival classification and prognostic value of disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with ESCC (p < 0.0001). Multivariate cox proportional risk model identified BALN stage as a significant risk factor of DFS of patients with ESCC (p < 0.001). The results of 5-year time-area under the curve (AUC) demonstrated better predictive ability of the BALN category than the ypN category (AUC 0.755 versus 0.707, p = 0.004). The rypTNM system based on BALN category exhibited comparable survival discrimination and better predictive performance than ypTNM system (AUC 0.799 versus 0.756, p = 0.020)., Conclusions: The BALN stage and the revised ypTNM system showed preferable prognosis outcomes to the ypN stage and the ypTNM system, respectively. Evaluating LN status before and after nCRT could allow for more accurate esophageal cancer staging., (© 2025. Society of Surgical Oncology.)

Radioactive molecular iodine (I 2 ) is a critical volatile pollutant generated in nuclear energy applications, necessitating sensors that rapidly and selectively detect low concentrations of I 2 vapor to protect human health and the environment. In this study, we design and prepare a three-component sensing material comprising reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as the substrate, silver iodide (AgI) particles as active sites, and polystyrene sulfonate as an additive. The AgI particles enable reversible adsorption and conversion of I 2 molecules into polyiodides, inducing substantial charge density variation in rGO. This mechanism facilitates exceptional sensitivity and selectivity, ultrafast response and recovery times, and room-temperature operation. A multifunctional sensor prototype fabricated utilizing this material achieves the fastest reported response/recovery times (22/22 seconds in dynamic mode and 4.2/11 seconds in static mode) and a detection limit of 25 ppb, surpassing standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), while outperforming commercial I 2 gas sensors. This work provides profound insights into the design of I 2 sensing materials and mechanisms for real-world applications., Competing Interests: Competing interests: Z.C., X.D., Y.H., and J.W. are co-inventors on an international patent ‘Iodine Gas Sensor and Method’ (PCT/IB2023/050847) and may benefit from the commercialization of the technologies discussed in this paper. The remaining authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death globally, with its incidence and mortality rates continuing to rise. While commonly used biomarkers such as low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and blood glucose are widely applied, they have certain limitations. This study investigates the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), a simple immune biomarker associated with inflammation, to assess whether it can serve as a new marker for predicting chronic inflammation in cardiovascular disease, and compares it to traditional biomarkers., Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2007 to 2018, utilizing a cohort of 1518 participants with a median follow-up period of 150 months. During this time, 522 participants died, including 166 from cardiovascular disease. We employed various statistical methods, including weighted Cox proportional hazards models, restricted cubic spline models, and time-varying receiver operating characteristic curves, to examine the association between LMR and mortality risk., Results: The analysis revealed an L-shaped relationship between LMR and the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Lower LMR levels were negatively correlated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. The XGBoost model yielded the best performance metrics (AUC and F1 scores), and SHAP value analysis indicated that LMR significantly contributes to CVD outcomes. Non-linear analyses confirmed a stable negative correlation between LMR and all-cause mortality., Conclusion: The study concludes that LMR is a simple and practical indicator for predicting cardiovascular disease and its mortality. Low levels of LMR significantly increase the risk of both cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025 Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are regarded as the potential alternative of lithium-ion batteries due to their ultrahigh theoretical specific capacity (3860 mAh g -1 ). However, severe instability and safety problems caused by the dendrite growth and inevitable side reactions have hindered the commercialization of LMBs. To solve them, in this contribution, a design strategy of soluble lithiophilic covalent organic frameworks (COFs) is proposed. By introducing polyethylene glycol as the side chains, two COFs (CityU-28 and CityU-29) not only become soluble for the facile coating technique, but also can facilitate the lithium-ion migration in batteries. Furthermore, when coated on the lithium anode of LMB, both COFs can act as artificial solid electrolyte interphase to prevent dendrite growth thus enabling the long-term stability of the cells. Notably, the symmetric CityU-29@Li cell can work for more than 5000 h at a current density of 2 mA cm -2 and an areal capacity of 1 mAh cm -2 . A remarkable capacity retention of 78.9 % after 1500 cycles and a Coulombic efficiency of about 99.9 % at 1.0 C can also be realized in CityU-29@Li||LiFePO 4 full cell. This work could provide a universal design strategy for soluble COFs and enlighten their application in diverse scenarios, especially energy-related fields., (© 2025 The Author(s). Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic progressive liver disease caused by the immune system mistakenly attacking its own hepatocytes. The role of the gut microbiome in the pathogenesis and progression of AIH is of considerable significance. However, the dearth of suitable animal models has significantly constrained advancements in the pathogenesis and the development of therapeutic strategies for AIH. Helicobacter mastomyrinus ( H. mastomyrinus, Hm) is a potentially zoonotic pathogenic microorganism capable of causing diseases of the enterohepatic system in rodent laboratory animals. Nevertheless, research on its role and mechanisms in causing liver disease is severely limited., Methods: In this study, male BALB/c mice were infected with Hm isolate Hm-17, and were sacrificed at 4 w, 8 w, 14 w and 22 w after infection, respectively. The serum was collected for detecting a number of AIH indicators, including the aminotransferases level, IgG content and autoantibody level. Additionally, the liver tissue was examined for pathological analysis, fibrosis, bacterial content, and the distribution of immune cells., Results: It was observed that the infection initially caused focal necrotizing hepatitis and subsequently progressed to interface hepatitis with lymphocyte/plasma cell infiltration, as well as hypergammaglobulinemia and autoantibody reactions, predominantly to Anti-nuclear and anti-smooth muscle antibodies. Furthermore, as the infection persisted, the mice exhibited a progressive increase in liver fibrosis and mild steatosis. Despite the maintenance of a low level of Hm colonization in the liver, there was a notable infiltrate of macrophages, T and B lymphocytes. In particular, the inflammatory foci in the Hm-infected liver were highly enriched for IL17 + cells., Conclusion: The present study provides an animal model of immunological liver injury induced by Hm infection that exhibits main characteristics similar to those observed in AIH-1 patients. This model may serve as a novel animal model for the study of the pathogenesis and potential therapeutic strategies for human AIH., Competing Interests: 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., (© 2025 The Authors.)

Lanthanide (Ln 3+ )-titanium-based molecular nanoclusters (NCs) have attracted much attention due to their atomically precise total structure and promising optical behavior, while there is still minimal cognition of structure-dictated electron relaxation dynamics in such an NCs regime with unsatisfied photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY, in general below 20%). Herein, the photoexcited small polarons (i.e., local electron-phonon coupling) are identified and emphasized in modulating the emission of Ln 3+ NCs. Taking 4- tert -butylbenzoate coordinated Eu 2 Ti 4 NCs as a model, the excited electron is capable of being captured by the Ti 4+ to form the Ti 3+ -dominated small polarons, which allows influencing the ligands-sensitive antenna effect for Eu 3+ emission. Most importantly, by chelating the Eu 2 Ti 4 NCs with Eu 3 Ti 3 units bilaterally, the evolved Eu 8 Ti 10 NCs perform suppressed lattice vibration and therefore eliminate the photoexcited small polaron-mediated energy transfer, giving a remarkable enhancement in PLQY, from 17.6% to 73.1%.

Orthotopic implantation in vivo is the ultimate target of tissue-engineering organoids research, aiming to achieve sustaining survival after implantation. However, the limited representation of a complex microenvironment in implanted accepter hampers a comprehensive understanding of long-term maintenance of tissue-engineering organoids, especially in liver. In this research, we developed a 3D bioprinting method using gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogel to fabricate lobule-like hepatorganoids, which faithfully mimic the structure of hepatic lobules with lower level of hypoxia (lobule vs 60°, 90°, control; 0.4880 vs 1.009, 0.6778, 0.8704; p < 0.01), high secretion of albumin (lobule vs 60°, 90°, control; 13.47 vs 12.39, 12.65, 10.08 mg/L; p < 0.01) and urea (lobule vs 60°, 90°, control; 5.304 vs 5.233, 4.781, 4.358 mg/L; p < 0.01) in vitro; and promotion of angiogenesis and maintenance of activity following orthotopic implantation. Loaded with a prolonged released system of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and infused with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), we developed a fabricating method of vascularized lobule-like hepatorganoids (VLH) which possessed promoted vascularization. We identified GAS6/AXL and LAMB3/ITGA3 signaling pathway up-regulated in VLH, which was conducive to vascularization and proliferation. Furthermore, orthotopic implantation model indicated that VLH exhibited prolonged survival in vivo , with elevated level of serological biomarkers and more abundant vascularization in grafts. Eventually, our findings demonstrate that this system effectively forms orthotopic implantation of hepatorganoids and facilitates vascularization, which may notably contribute to the understanding of transplantation, drug screening, and replacement therapy., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2025 The Authors.)

The thermocatalytic hydrogenation of CO 2 to ethanol has attracted significant interest because ethanol offers ease of transport and substantial value in chemical synthesis. Here, we present a state-of-the-art catalyst for the CO 2 hydrogenation to ethanol achieved by precisely depositing single-atom Ir species on P cluster islands situated on the In 2 O 3 nanosheets. The Ir 1 -P x /In 2 O 3 catalyst achieves an impressive ethanol yield of 3.33 mmol g -1  h -1 and a turnover frequency (TOF) of 914 h -1 under 1.0 MPa (H 2 /CO 2 =3 : 1) at 180 °C, nearly 8 times higher than that of the unmodified Ir 1 /In 2 O 3 catalyst. Additionally, at a more industrially relevant pressure of 5.0 MPa, the TOF of the Ir 1 -P x /In 2 O 3 catalyst can reach up to 2108 h -1 , surpassing previously reported catalysts. Combined in situ characterization and theoretical studies reveal that the hydrogenation process is significantly enhanced by the Ir 1 -P x entities. Specifically, the Ir atom facilitates CO 2 activation and C-C coupling, while the surrounding P island exhibits exceptional H 2 dissociation ability. These three steps have been found crucial for the CO 2 hydrogenation reaction. This discovery opens new opportunities for the regulation of the microenvironment of current catalysts by providing essential chemical functionalities that enhance intricate and complex reaction processes., (© 2025 The Author(s). Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background and Objective: Mitochondria are crucial to the function of renal tubular cells, and their dynamic perturbation in many aspects is an important mechanism of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) technology is a high-throughput sequencing analysis technique for RNA at the level of a single cell nucleus. Here, our DKD mouse kidney single-cell RNA sequencing conveys a more comprehensive mitochondrial profile, which helps us further understand the therapeutic response of this unique organelle family to drugs., Methods: After high fat diet (HFD), mice were intraperitoneally injected with streptozotocin (STZ) to induce DKD, and then divided into three subsets: CON (healthy) subset, DKD (vehicle) subset, and LST (losartan; 25 mg/kg/day) subset. Divide HK-2 cell into LG (low glucose; 5 mM) and HG (high glucose; 30 mM) and HG + LST (losartan; 1 µ M) subsets. snRNA-seq was performed on the renal tissues of LST and DKD subset mice. To reveal the effects of losartan on gene function and pathway changes in renal tubular mitochondria, Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and GSEA/GSVA scoring were performed to analyze the specific response of proximal tubular (PT) cell mitochondria to losartan treatment, including key events in mitochondrial homeostasis such as mitochondrial morphology, dynamics, mitophagy, autophagic flux, mitochondrial respiratory chain, apoptosis, and ROS generation. Preliminary validation through in vitro and in vivo experiments, including observation of changes in mitochondrial morphology and dynamics using probes such as Mitotracker Red, and evaluation of the effect of losartan on key events of mitochondrial homeostasis perturbation using electron microscopy, laser confocal microscopy, immunofluorescence, and Western blotting. Detection of autophagic flux in cells by transfecting Ad-mCherry-GFP-LC3B dual fluorescence labeled adenovirus. Various fluorescent probes and energy detector are used to detect mitochondrial apoptosis, ROS, and respiration of mitochondrion., Results: Through the single-cell atlas of DKD mouse kidneys, it was found that losartan treatment significantly increased the percentage of PT cells. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes showed enrichment of autophagy of mitochondrion pathway. Further GSEA analysis and GSVA scoring revealed that mitophagy and other key mitochondrial perturbation events, such as ROS production, apoptosis, membrane potential, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis, and mitochondrial dynamics, were involved in the protective mechanism of losartan on PT cells, thereby improving mitochondrial homeostasis. Consistent results were also obtained in mice and cellular experiments. In addition, we highlighted a specific renal tubular subpopulation with mitophagy phenotype found in single-cell data, and preliminarily validated it with co-localization and increased expression of Pink1 and Gclc in kidney specimens of DKD patients treated with losartan., Conclusions: Our research suggests that scRNA-seq can reflect the multifaceted mitochondrial landscape of DKD renal tubular cells after drug treatment, and these findings may provide new targets for DKD therapy at the organelle level., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: All procedures in mice adhered to the “Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments” (ARRIVE) standards and were approved by the Sixth People’s Hospital Ethics Committee guidelines (approval no.: 2020-022). In accordance with local and national laws, ethics approval and consent to participate were exempted due to the retrospective/observational and non-interventional nature of the human study. However, all patients involved in this study provided written informed consent before undergoing treatment administration and molecular assessments. Consent for publication: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

TXA9, a cardiac glycoside isolated from the root of Streptocaulon juventas (Lour.) Merr., with better therapeutic effect in vitro on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than cisplatin and has no toxic side effects on the body. However, poor water solubility and rapid metabolism limited its clinical application. Multi-arm star PEG have many advantages over linear PEG, such as high drug loading due to more terminals and better anti-hemodilution ability, which have become popular carriers for drug delivery. In this study, to improve the efficacy of TXA9, 6/8armPEG n -Glycine Carbamate (Gly) (n = 10, 20, and 40 kDa) were used as carriers to prepare star PEG-TXA9 conjugates. The particle size and zeta potential of six prodrug NPs for effective tumor targeting, with suitable drug loading, and good water solubility. Compared with free TXA9, 6/8APG n -T NPs had more significant anti-tumor effects in vitro. Since the multi-arm star PEG formed an "umbrella" structure on the surface of NPs, the 8APG 40k -T NPs with the best pharmacokinetic properties increased half-life of TXA9 about 60 times in vivo. In addition, the arm numbers and molecular weight of multi-arm star PEGs significantly influenced the in vivo destiny of prodrugs. In vivo experiments showed that the same dose of 8APG 40k -T NPs increased the tumor inhibition rate about 3.56 or 1.22 times compared with TXA9 or cisplatin, and had good biocompatibility. This study provides a simple but effective strategy to solve the challenges caused by the poor water solubility and short half-life of TXA9 for developing the TXA9 as a safe and effective drug against NSCLC., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval: All animal procedures were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Shenyang Pharmaceutical University (approval number: SYPU-IACUC-S2023-0710-101). All animal procedures conformed to the NIH Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Consent for participate: Not applicable. No human studies have been performed in this research. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. Controlled Release Society.)

The utilization of low-dimensional perovskites (LDPs) as interlayers on three-dimensional (3D) perovskites has been regarded as an efficient strategy to enhance the performance of perovskite solar cells. Yet, the formation mechanism of LDPs and their impacts on the device performance remain elusive. Herein, we use dimensional engineering to facilitate the controllable growth of 1D and 2D structures on 3D perovskites. The differences of isomeric ligands in electrostatic potential distribution and steric effects for intermolecular forces contribute to different LDPs. The 1D structure facilitates charge transfer with favored channel orientation and energy level alignment. This approach enables perovskite solar modules (PSMs) using 2,2',7,7'-tetrakis[ N , N -di(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]-9,9'-spirobifluorene to achieve an efficiency of 20.20% over 10 by 10 square centimeters (cm 2 ) and 22.05% over 6 by 6 cm 2 . In particular, a PSM (6 by 6 cm 2 ) using poly[bis(4-phenyl)(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)amine] maintains an initial efficiency of ~95% after 1000 hours under the rigorous ISOS-L-3 accelerated aging tests, marking a record for the highest stability of n-i-p structure modules.

Bacterial infection severely hinders skin wound healing, highlighting the critical application value of developing antibacterial and anti-inflammatory hydrogel dressings. In this work, we focused on β-glucan from Hericium erinaceus (HEBG) as the research object, and proposed a solvent-induced combined temperature manipulation technique to trigger multilevel self-assembly of β-glucan. Furthermore, we incorporated green synthesized near-infrared photosensitizer tannic acid (TA)/iron (III) complex into the system. A hydrogel with exceptional antibacterial properties, capable of responding to near-infrared photothermal stimuli while exhibiting remarkable stiffness and structural consistency, was successfully synthesized. Under near-infrared radiation, HEBG/TA/Fe hydrogels produced local hyperthermia and exhibited excellent antibacterial activity against bacteria-infected wounds. Moreover, the HEBG/TA/Fe hydrogel demonstrates its ability to regulate cytokines by effectively inhibiting the production of inflammatory mediators TNF-α and IL-6, while simultaneously enhancing the expression of cell proliferation factor KI-67 and markers associated with angiogenesis such as CD31 and α-SMA. Notably, the results of tissue staining revealed that the NIR + HEBG/TA/Fe 5 hydrogel could effectively promoting granulation and vascularization, improving collagen deposition in infected wounds thereby accelerating the healing process. These findings indicate that mixed hydrogels exhibit potential as viable options for the treatment of bacterial infections., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declared that there were no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily plays an important role in tumor progression and metastasis. Activin A receptor type 1C (ACVR1C) is a TGF-β type I receptor that is involved in tumorigenesis through binding to different ligands., Aim: To evaluate the correlation between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ACVR1C and susceptibility to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in Chinese Han population., Methods: In this hospital-based cohort study, 1043 ESCC patients and 1143 healthy controls were enrolled. Five SNPs (rs4664229, rs4556933, rs77886248, rs77263459, rs6734630) of ACVR1C were assessed by the ligation detection reaction method. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium test, genetic model analysis, stratified analysis, linkage disequilibrium test, and haplotype analysis were conducted., Results: Participants carrying ACVR1C rs4556933 GA mutant had significantly decreased risk of ESCC, and those with rs77886248 TA mutant were related with higher risk, especially in older male smokers. In the haplotype analysis, ACVR1C T rs4664229 A rs4556933 T rs77886248 C rs77263459 A rs6734630 increased risk of ESCC, while T rs4664229 G rs4556933 T rs77886248 C rs77263459 A rs6734630 was associated with lower susceptibility to ESCC., Conclusion: ACVR1C rs4556933 and rs77886248 SNPs were associated with the susceptibility to ESCC, which could provide a potential target for early diagnosis and treatment of ESCC in Chinese Han population., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article., (©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Van der Waals interaction in multilayer structures was predicted to be of many-body character, almost in parallel with the establishment of Lifshitz theory. However, the diminishing interaction between layers separated by a finite-thickness intermediate layer prevents experimental verification of the many-body nature. Here we verify the substrate contribution at the adhesion between the atomic force microscopy tip and the supported graphene, by taking advantage of the atomic-scale proximity of two objects separated by graphene. While the pairwise dispersion theory overestimates the substrate contribution at critical adhesive pressures, the many-body dispersion theory remedies this deficiency, highlighting the non-additivity nature of substrate contribution. The many-body effect is further understood through the energy spectrum of charge density fluctuations. These findings open the door to modulating the van der Waals interaction on two-dimensional material surfaces, which would be relevant to various technologies, including microelectromechanical systems and surface molecular assembly., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Purpose: Radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis is the most common side effect in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Rabdosia rubescens drop pills in NPC patients with radiation-induced oral mucositis (RTOM)., Methods: The study involved 40 NPC patients who were given Rabdosia rubescens drop pills thrice daily from the start of radiation therapy. The study monitored the incidence and severity of oral mucositis and oral pain. The main outcomes measured were the occurrence rate of oral mucositis, grade 3 oral mucositis, oral pain assessment, and changes in immunological function, body weight, BMI, NRS2002, and albumin levels., Results: In the study, 38 patients completed the treatment. The incidence rates of Grade 0 to 3 oral mucositis were 5.26%, 21.05%, 47.37%, and 26.32% respectively. Pain levels were mild (42.11%), moderate (13.16%), and severe (13.16%). The onset of Grade 1, 2, and 3 oral mucositis occurred at 18, 24, and 30 days respectively. Grade 3 oral mucositis was associated with body weight, BMI, NRS2002 score, and albumin levels. Post-treatment, there was a decrease in CD4 + /CD8 + , CD3 + , and CD4 + immune cells, but an increase in CD8 + cells. Mild to moderate gastrointestinal adverse events were observed in 13.2% of patients., Conclusion: Rabdosia rubescens drop pills administration can reduce the incidence and severity of radiotherapy induced oral mucositis. Our finding suggested a positive impact of Rabdosia rubescens drops pills upon administration to NPC patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are suitable substrates for synthesizing poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), wherein propionate is a precursor of PHBV biosynthesis; however, high concentrations are toxic to bacteria. Therefore, VFAs with suitable ratio are needed. Here, with the ratio of acetate: propionate: butyrate being 1:4:2, the maximum PHBV content and the 3HV content were 46.77 wt% and 19.24 mol%, respectively, by Halomonas sp. YJ01. The optimal C/P and C/N ratios for PHBV synthesis were controlled at 800-1000 and 70-90. The carbon source uptake by the strain at higher C/N ratios was mainly used to synthesize PHBV. The metabolic pathway for PHBV biosynthesis with mixed VFAs showed that the 2-methylcitrate cycle (2-MCC) pathway converted propionyl-CoA to pyruvate, which reduced the toxicity of propionate to the strain. Moreover, the strain utilized acetate and butyrate without producing pyruvate, which did not affect the detoxification of the 2-MCC pathway. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) results showed that when the 2-MCC pathway was inhibited, phaC expression decreased 2.74-fold, and the expression of prpB and prpC was down-regulated 2-fold and 6.88-fold, respectively; therefore, propionate toxicity exposure resulted in a significant decrease in PHBV content., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aimed to compare the difference in perioperative outcomes and prognosis between neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy and neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma., Methods: The patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma receiving neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy were identified from a prospectively maintained database at Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University between January 2018 and March 2022. Propensity score matching was performed to balance the 2 groups., Results: A total of 124 patient pairs were enrolled in the final analysis. The complete pathological response rate (20.2% vs 29.0%, P = .140) was similar in the 2 groups, whereas the lower major pathological response rate (44.4% vs 61.3%, P = .011) was observed in the neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy group. Neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy was associated with a lower rate of adverse events (42.7% vs 55.6%, P = .047) without additional postoperative complications (38.7% vs 35.5%, P = .693). The neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy group had lower distant metastasis (6.5% vs 16.1%, P = .027) and overall recurrence (11.3% vs 23.4%, P = .019) in the postoperative 1 year. Also, neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy was associated with better progression-free survival (hazard ratio, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.32-0.77; P = .002). Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy (univariable: hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.37-0.82; P = .003; multivariable: hazard ratio, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.29-0.65; P < .001) was one of the independent prognostic factors for progression-free survival. The 2 groups had similar overall survival (hazard ratio, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.36-1.09; P = .094) at the latest follow-up., Conclusions: This retrospective study showed that neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy was safe and effective for patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Further verification is needed in randomized controlled trials., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest Statement The authors reported no conflicts of interest. The Journal policy requires editors and reviewers to disclose conflicts of interest and to decline handling or reviewing manuscripts for which they may have a conflict of interest. The editors and reviewers of this article have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of birth defects in children, with high morbidity and mortality rates. Despite advances in surgical and interventional treatments, perioperative management of CHD remains challenging, particularly in complex cases and neonates. Effective perioperative assessment of cardiac function is essential for optimizing surgical outcomes and improving postoperative prognosis. This study investigates the association between red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and perioperative cardiac function in children with CHD. Specifically, we aim to determine whether RDW can serve as a reliable biomarker for assessing perioperative cardiac risk in this patient population. This retrospective cohort study included 107 pediatric patients aged 0 to 18 years who underwent surgical or interventional treatment for CHD at Sichuan Provincial Maternity and Child Health Hospital between March 2022 and March 2023. Patients were classified into 3 groups based on their cardiac function (Class I-III) according to the European Society of Cardiology guidelines. Clinical and imaging data, as well as RDW levels, were analyzed to assess their relationship with perioperative cardiac function. Both preoperative and postoperative RDW-coefficient of variation (RDW-CV) and RDW-standard deviation (RDW-SD) levels were significantly higher with increasing severity of cardiac dysfunction, with statistically significant differences observed among the 3 cardiac function groups (P < .001). Preoperative RDW-CV values were 13.26 ± 1.44%, 15.07 ± 2.13%, and 19.87 ± 3.62%, and RDW-SD values were 39.84 ± 4.04%, 45.02 ± 6.33%, and 56.12 ± 9.61% (all P < .001). Postoperative RDW-CV values were 14.05 ± 2.14%, 15.98 ± 2.29%, and 20.36 ± 4.42%, and RDW-SD values were 43.99 ± 4.73%, 48.21 ± 6.23%, and 58.33 ± 9.71% (all P < .001). Patients with heart failure had significantly higher RDW-CV and RDW-SD levels compared to non-heart failure patients, both preoperatively and postoperatively (P < .001). RDW is strongly associated with perioperative cardiac function in children with CHD. RDW levels increase with the severity of cardiac dysfunction and are clinically valuable in identifying heart failure in these children. As a simple and effective biomarker, RDW can assist in the perioperative assessment of cardiac function in this patient population., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Objective: Hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) is a leading cause of neonatal mortality, resulting in brain injury and persistent seizures that can last into the late neonatal period and beyond. Effective treatments and interventions for infants affected by hypoxia-ischemia remain lacking. Clinical investigations have indicated an elevation of nuclear factor of activated T cells 5 (NFAT5) in whole blood from umbilical cords of severely affected HIBD infants with epilepsy. Experimental research has demonstrated that NFAT5 has ambivalent effects on neuroprotection and neurologic damage. However, the mechanistic role of NFAT5 in HIBD remains unclear. This investigation aims to further clarify the role of NFAT5 in epilepsy following HIBD insult., Methods: We created a neonatal HIBD mouse model through left common carotid artery occlusion. By specifically knocking down astrocytic NFAT5 and its downstream molecule, Nedd4-2, using hippocampal delivery of adeno-associated virus 5-driven targeted shRNA, we investigated the role of astrocytic NFAT5 in epilepsy susceptibility in HIBD mice. This was assessed through electroencephalographic recordings, behavioral observations in vivo, and whole-cell recordings of hippocampal neuronal activity. In vitro, we evaluated the effects of astrocytic NFAT5 alteration on Kir4.1 expression and I Kir4.1 in both brain slices from HIBD mice and cultured astrocytes treated with oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation., Results: Hypoxia-ischemia-induced upregulation of hippocampal NFAT5 occurs in astrocytes rather than in neurons. This upregulation leads to increased expression of the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4-2, resulting in excessive degradation of Kir4.1 in astrocytes. Consequently, astrocytic function in buffering extracellular K + is impaired, causing depolarization of the resting potential and enhanced neuronal discharge. This disruption ultimately affects local neural network balance and increases susceptibility to epilepsy. In contrast, inhibiting or knocking down astrocytic NFAT5 almost completely reverses these effects., Significance: Our findings suggest that manipulating the NFAT5-Nedd4-2-Kir4.1 axis in astrocytes could provide a potential therapeutic strategy for the epileptic complications of HIBD., (© 2024 International League Against Epilepsy.)

Butyrylcholinesterase plays an indispensable role in organisms, and its abnormal expression poses a significant threat to human health and safety, covering various aspects including liver-related diseases, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, toxic substances such as organophosphorus and carbamate pesticides markedly inhibit BChE activity. BChE activity serves as a critical parameter for the clinical diagnosis of acute organophosphorus pesticide poisoning and the evaluation of organophosphorus and carbamate pesticide residues. Therefore, the accurate and reliable detection of butyrylcholinesterase activity is particularly urgent and important for in-depth analysis of its biological function, diagnosis and therapy of related diseases, drug screening and sensitive detection of pesticide residues. Fluorescent probes have become a promising tool for sensing and imaging of butyrylcholinesterase, due to its advantages of high spatio-temporal resolution, high selectivity, non-invasive, high sensitivity, and tailored molecule structures. Here, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of the research progress in the sensing, imaging and therapy of butyrylcholinesterase utilizing fluorescent probes. This paper might be a useful guideline for researchers to design new high-performance fluorescence probes for BChE, and making further contributions to this intriguing field., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Inverted perovskite/organic tandem solar cells (P/O TSCs) suffer from poor long-term device stability due to halide segregation in organic-inorganic hybrid wide-band gap (WBG) perovskites, which hinders their practical deployment. Therefore, developing all-inorganic WBG perovskites for incorporation into P/O TSCs is a promising strategy because of their superior stability under continuous illumination. However, these inorganic WBG perovskites also face some critical issues, including rapid crystallization, phase instability, and large energy loss, etc. To tackle these issues, two multifunctional additives based on 9,10-anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid (AQS) are developed to regulate the perovskite crystallization by mediating the intermediate phases and suppress the halide segregation through the redox-shuttle effect. By coupling with organic cations having the desirable functional groups and dipole moments, these additives can effectively passivate the defects and adjust the alignment of interface energy levels. Consequently, a record V oc approaching 1.3 V with high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.59 % could be achieved in a 1.78 eV band gap single-junction inverted all-inorganic PSC. More importantly, the P/O TSC derived from this cell demonstrates a T 90 lifetime of 1000 h under continuous operation, presenting the most stable P/O TSCs reported so far., (© 2024 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: As a typical medicinal food homology species, Chinese herbal medicine Astragali radix (AR) has been widely used to regulate the human immune system worldwide. However, the human immunomodulation of AR and its corresponding mechanisms remain unclear., Methods: First, following a fortnight successive AR administration, the changes in immune cytokines and immune cells from 20 healthy human subjects were used as immune indicators to characterize the immunomodulatory effects of AR. Subsequently, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS) based lipidomics and metabolomics analysis was performed on human serum, urine, and feces samples to investigate the changes in metabolic profiles. Then, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of feces samples was adopted for the changes of human gut microbiota. Finally, correlation analysis was conducted on the gut microbiome, metabolome/lipidome data, and immune indicators., Results: AR displayed good safety in clinical use and posed a minor impact on gut microbiota major genera, global metabolic profiles, and immune cells. Meanwhile, AR could significantly up-regulate anti-inflammatory cytokines, down-regulate serum creatinine and pro-inflammatory cytokines, promote the anabolism of arginine, glycerolipid, sphingolipid, and purine, and the catabolism of phenylalanine and glycerophospholipid. Moreover, these AR-induced changes were closely correlated with significantly decreased Granulicatella, slightly higher Bifidobacterium, Ruminococcus, and Subdoligranulum, and slightly lower Blautia., Conclusion: The study clearly demonstrated that AR could modulate the human immune, by modifying the metabolism of amino acids, lipids, and purines in a microbiota-related way. Trial registration ChiCTR, ChiCTR2100054765. Registered 26 December 2021-Prospectively registered, https://www.chictr.org.cn/historyversionpub.html?regno=ChiCTR2100054765., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: All procedures were performed in accordance with the guidelines of the Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine ethics committee. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: 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., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The halotolerant yeast Scheffersomyces spartinae, commonly found in marine environments, holds significant potential for various industrial applications. Despite this, its genetic characteristics have been relatively underexplored. In this study, we isolated a strain of S. spartinae named YMxiao from seawater in Zhoushan City, China. Through scanning electron microscopy and flow cytometry, we characterized S. spartinae YMxiao cells as urn-shaped, demonstrating asymmetric division via budding, and possessing a diploid genome. Compared to the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, S. spartinae YMxiao exhibited greater tolerance to various stressful conditions. Furthermore, S. spartinae YMxiao was capable of utilizing xylose, mannitol, sorbitol, and arabinose as sole carbon sources for growth. We conducted whole-genome sequencing of S. spartinae YMxiao using a combination of Nanopore and Illumina technologies, resulting in a telomere-to-telomere complete genome assembly of 12 Mb. Genome annotation identified 5311 protein-coding genes, 214 tRNA genes, and 236 transposable elements distributed across 8 chromosomes. Comparative genomics between S. spartinae strains YMxiao and ARV011 revealed genomic variations and evolutionary patterns within this species. Notably, certain genes in S. spartinae strains were found to be under strong positive selection. Additionally, we developed a genetic manipulation protocol that successfully enabled gene knockouts in S. spartinae. Our findings not only enhance our understanding of the S. spartinae genome but also provide a foundation for future research into its potential biotechnological applications. KEY POINTS: • The unique phenotypes and genetic characteristics of S. spartinae were disclosed. • Comparative genomics showed vast genetic variations between S. spartinae strains. • Genetic manipulation protocol was established for S. spartinae strain., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval: This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Developing dithienylethene (DTE)-based fluorescence switches triggered by biocompatible visible light has always been a long-term goal in view of their potential in numerous biological scenarios. However, their practical availability is severely limited by the short visible light (generally less than 500 nm) required for photocyclization, their inability to achieve red or near-infrared emission, and their short fluorescence lifetimes. Herein, we present a novel DTE derivative featuring a dimethylamine-functionalized BF 2 -curcuminoid moiety (NBDC) by using an "acceptor synergistic conjugation system" strategy. The dimethylamine group not only enables a red shift in the absorption and emission wavelengths of the open isomer but also endows NBDC with unique acid/base-gated photochromism. As expected, as-prepared NBDC presents 570 nm/770 nm light-driven photochromic properties, red-emissive fluorescence, and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) switching in toluene. To our knowledge, this represents the first instance of a yellow-green- and NIR light-controlled red fluorescence DTE switch with the longer fluorescence lifetime. Specifically, NBDC, which shows weak photochromic activity in CHCl 3 , demonstrates enhanced photochromic performance when gated by TFA/TEA. Ultimately, this non-toxic deep-red fluorescence switch has been successfully applied for photoswitchable imaging in vivo of living cells and zebrafish, further proving its versatility in life sciences., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Hereditary multiple exostoses (HME) is an autosomal dominant skeletal disorder primarily linked with mutations in Exostosin-1 (EXT1) and Exostosin-2 (EXT2) genes. However, not all HME cases can be explained by these mutations, and its pathogenic mechanisms are not fully understood. Herein, utilizing whole-exome sequencing and genetic screening with a family trio design, we identify two novel rare mutations co-segregating with HME in a Chinese family, including a nonsense mutation (c.204G>A, p.Trp68*) in EXT1 and a missense mutation (c.893T>G, p.Phe298Cys) in FUT7. Functional assays reveal that the FUT7 mutation affects the cellular localization of FUT7 protein and regulates cell proliferation. Notably, the simultaneous loss of fut7 and ext1 in a zebrafish model results in severe chondrodysplasia, indicating a functional link between FUT7 and EXT1 in chondrocyte regulation. Additionally, we unveil that FUT7 p.Phe298Cys reduces EXT1 expression through IL6/STAT3/SLUG axis at the transcription level and through ubiquitination-related proteasomal degradation at the protein level. Together, our findings not only identify novel germline mutations in FUT7 and EXT1 genes, but also highlight the critical interaction between these genes, suggesting a potential 'second-hit' mechanism over EXT1 mutations in HME pathogenesis. This insight enhances our understanding of the mechanisms underlying HME and opens new avenues for potential therapeutic interventions., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval and consent to participate: All methods used in the present study were in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee for Clinical Research and Animal Trials of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (permit NO. [2020]363). Informed consent was obtained from all the participants. All work involving zebrafish was reviewed and approved by the Animal Research Advisory Committee of the South China University of Technology., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Interfacial recombination and ion migration between perovskite and electron-transporting materials have been the persisting challenges in further improving the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). Here, we design a series of molecularly tailorable clusters as an interlayer that can simultaneously enhance the interaction with C 60 and perovskite. These clusters have precisely controlled structures, decent charge carrier mobility, considerable solubility, suitable energy levels, and functional ligands, which can help passivate perovskite surface defects, form a uniform capping net to immobilize C 60 , and build a robust coupling between perovskite and C 60 . The target inverted PVSCs achieve an impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.6% without the need for additional surface passivation. Crucially, the unencapsulated device displays excellent stability under light, heat, and bias, maintaining 98% of its initial PCE after 1500 hours of maximum power point tracking. These results show great promise in the development of advanced interfacial materials for highly efficient perovskite photovoltaics.

In the realm of perovskite materials, organic molecules situated at the A site play a critical role in stabilizing the structure through specific orientations and weak interactions with the inorganic framework. These polar interactions significantly influence the optoelectronic properties of perovskites, and the introduction of polar molecules can disrupt the inherent polarization, thereby altering the material performance. The research primarily focuses on the relationship between the length and width of these organic cations and their polar inductive effects. Overall, the interplay between the chain length, molecular width, and dipole moments was shown to significantly affect the lifetime of MAPbI 3 materials. Key findings indicate that non-radiative recombination, which is a major energy loss mechanism in solar cells, is intrinsically linked to the variations of hydrogen bonds and PbI 6 octahedral distortion. The analysis revealed a strong negative correlation between octahedral angles, highlighting the complex relationship between these variables and their collective effects on charge carrier dynamics.

The effect of the serine/glycine-free diet (-SG diet) on colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear; meanwhile, programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors are less effective for most CRC patients. Here, we demonstrate that the -SG diet inhibits CRC growth and promotes the accumulation of cytotoxic T cells to enhance antitumor immunity. Additionally, we also identified the lactylation of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in tumor cells as a mechanism of immune evasion during cytotoxic T cell-mediated antitumor responses, and blocking the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway is able to rejuvenate the function of CD8+ T cells recruited by the -SG diet, indicating the potential of combining the -SG diet with immunotherapy. We conducted a single-arm, phase I study (ChiCTR2300067929). The primary outcome suggests that the -SG diet is feasible and safe for regulating systemic immunity. Secondary outcomes include patient tolerability and potential antitumor effects. Collectively, our findings highlight the promising therapeutic potential of the -SG diet for treating solid tumors., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors C.H. and Z. Lei are shareholders and board members of Recovery Plus Clinic Co., which develops medical digital devices and nutritional powder for clinicians. Z. Long and J.Y. are also members of this company. Additionally, Recovery Plus Clinic Co. funded the targeted amino acid metabolism and some other sequencing services for this project. Their involvement could potentially bias the results, but independent analyses and unaffiliated researchers were included for study design and data analysis to minimize this possible risk., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Enrichment of metal particles in lubricating oil is a crucial pretreatment for wear debris analyses in applications of condition-based machinery maintenance. Current techniques using physical filter cleaning and magnetic attachment to enrich metal particles have limitations in terms of efficiency and selectivity. This work presents an innovative acoustic manipulation chip for efficiently enriching metallic particles from lubricating oil. The platform utilizes the hybrid acoustic forces to perform high throughput particle enrichment in microchannels, even in an intensive flow environment. Regarding the viscosity effect of lubricating oil, the temperature dependence upon the particle enrichment is explored, and the figure of merit is employed to quantify the enrichment performance from the captured microscopic images. Experimental results demonstrate the proposed platform shows great nonselectivity for enriching both magnetic and nonmagnetic particles. This method opens a new door for developing automatic filter-free pretreatment tools to perform efficient particle enrichment in lubricating oil, which have great potential in many application scenarios, such as advanced wear debris analyses, oil quality monitoring, etc.