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The electrolyte effect has been key to the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) and has received extensive attention in recent years. Here we combined atomic force microscopy, quasi-in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and in situ attenuated total reflection surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) to study the effect of iodine anions on Cu-catalyzed CO2RR in the absence or presence of KI in the KHCO3 solution. Our results suggested that iodine adsorption caused coarsening of the Cu surface and altered its intrinsic activity for CO2RR. As the potential of the Cu catalyst became more negative, there was an increase in surface iodine anion concentration ([I−]), which could be connected to the reaction-enhanced adsorption of I− ions accompanying the increase in CO2RR activity. A linear relationship was observed between [I−] and current density. SEIRAS results further suggested that the presence of KI in the electrolyte strengthened the Cu–CO bond and facilitated the hydrogenation process, enhancing the production of CH4. Our results have thus provided insight into the role of halogen anions and aided in the design of an efficient CO2RR process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of the active sites of transition metal oxides during the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has attracted much attention. Herein, we constructed well-defined nickel oxide/Au (111) model catalysts to study the relationship between the structures and their OER activity using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electrochemical measurements, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The deposited nickel oxides on Au (111) were found to exhibit a two-dimensional (2D)/three-dimensional (3D) structure by regulating the annealing temperature. Combining STM, XPS and electrochemical measurements, our results demonstrated an optimal OER reactivity could be achieved for NiOx with a 2D structure on Au and provided a morphological description of the active phase during electrocatalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories of embodied cognition suggest that hand motions and cognition are closely interconnected. An emerging technique of tracking how participants move a computer mouse (i.e., the mouse-tracking technique) has shown advantages over the traditional response time measurement to detect implicit cognitive conflicts. Previous research suggests that attention is essential for subliminal processing to take place at a semantic level. However, this assumption is challenged by evidence showing the presence of subliminal semantic processing in the near-absence of attention. The inconsistency of evidence could stem from the insufficient sensitivity in the response time measurement. Therefore, we examined the role of attention in subliminal semantic processing by analyzing participants' hand motions using the mouse-tracking technique. The results suggest that subliminal semantic processing is not only enhanced by attention but also occurs when attention is disrupted, challenging the necessity of facilitated top-down attention for subliminal semantic processing, as claimed by a number of studies. In addition, by manipulating the color of attentional cues, our experiment shows that the cue color per se could influence participants' response patterns. Overall, the current study suggests that attentional status and subliminal semantic processing can be reliably revealed by temporal–spatial features extracted from cursor motion trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cervical adenocarcinomas (ADCs), including human papillomavirus (HPV)‐associated (HPVA) and non‐HPVA (NHPVA), though exhibiting a more malignant phenotype and poorer prognosis, are treated identically to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). This clinical dilemma requires a deeper investigation into their differences. Herein a transcriptomic atlas of SCC, HPVA, and NHPVA‐ADC using single‐cell RNA (scRNA) and T‐cell receptor sequencing (TCR‐seq) is presented. Regarding structural cells, the malignancy origin of epithelial cells, angiogenic tip cells and two subtypes of fibroblasts is revealed. The promalignant properties of the structural cells using organoids are further confirmed. Regarding immune cells, myeloid cells with multiple functions other than antigen presentation and exhausted T lymphocytes contribute to immunosuppression. From the perspective of HPV infection, not only is HPV‐dependent and independent cervical cancer oncogenesis proposed but also three immune reaction patterns mediated by T cells (coordinated/inactive/imbalanced) are identified. Strikingly, diagnostic biomarkers to distinguish ADC from SCC are discovered and prognostic biomarkers with marker genes for malignant epithelial cells, tip cells, and SPP1/C1QC macrophages are generated. Importantly, the efficacy of anti‐CD96 and anti‐TIGIT, not inferior to anti‐PD1, in animal experiments is confirmed and targeted therapies specifically for HPV‐positive SCC, HPVA and NHPVA‐ADC, providing essential clues for further clinical trials, are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The mechanism underlying cervical carcinogenesis that is mediated by persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection remains elusive. Aims: Here, for the first time, we deciphered both the temporal transition and spatial distribution of cellular subsets during disease progression from normal cervix tissues to precursor lesions to cervical cancer. Materials & Methods: We generated scRNA‐seq profiles and spatial transcriptomics data from nine patient samples, including two HPV‐negative normal, two HPV‐positive normal, two HPV‐positive HSIL and three HPV‐positive cancer samples. Results: We not only identified three 'HPV‐related epithelial clusters' that are unique to normal, high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) and cervical cancer tissues but also discovered node genes that potentially regulate disease progression. Moreover, we observed the gradual transition of multiple immune cells that exhibited positive immune responses, followed by dysregulation and exhaustion, and ultimately established an immune‐suppressive microenvironment during the malignant program. In addition, analysis of cellular interactions further verified that a 'homeostasis‐balance‐malignancy' change occurred within the cervical microenvironment during disease progression. Discussion: We for the first time presented a spatiotemporal atlas that systematically described the cellular heterogeneity and spatial map along the four developmental steps of HPV‐related cervical oncogenesis, including normal, HPV‐positive normal, HSIL and cancer. We identified three unique HPV‐related clusters, discovered critical node genes that determined the cell fate and uncovered the immune remodeling during disease escalation. Conclusion: Together, these findings provided novel possibilities for accurate diagnosis, precise treatment and prognosis evaluation of patients with precancer and cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of effective catalysts for the electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) to two‐carbon (C2) products is a practical approach to solve the energy crisis and stabilize the carbon cycle of the ecosystem. The production of electrocatalytic CO2RR with copper metal shows low selectivity and mainly generates one‐carbon (C1) products, hindering its wide practical application. The use of copper (I) oxide (Cu2O) in electrocatalysis has attracted intense research attention because it can more efficiently produce C2 products with high energy density such as ethylene (C2H4) and ethane (C2H6). We use an amino‐modified Cu2O catalyst (NH2−Cu2O) for electrocatalytic CO2RR to obtain significantly increased production of the CO and C2 products. Electrochemical in‐situ infrared spectroscopy analysis was used to detect the presence of the *COOH and *CHO reaction intermediates. Density functional theory calculations showed that the amino (−NH2) modification reduces the free energy of the *CO→*CHO reaction that is the rate‐determining step in C2H4 production. Our results show that amino modification can promote the protonation of *CO and *CHO carbon‐carbon coupling to produce C2H4. Thus, amino‐modified copper‐based catalysts are promising materials for application in electrocatalytic CO2RR to multi‐carbon products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic performance of the revised 2018 FIGO staging system for cervical cancer. Methods: This retrospective multicenter study enrolled cervical cancer patients with 2009 FIGO Stage IA1–IIA2 who underwent surgeries between January 2006 and December 2017 in four tertiary hospitals. Patients were restaged according to the 2018 FIGO staging system by reviewing their medical data. Results: Of 3238 cervical cancer patients included, 1841 (56.9%) patients were restaged: 641 (34.9%) due to tumor size, 544 (29.5%) due to lymph node metastasis, 614 (33.4%) due to the inconsistency between pre‐ and postoperative assessments, and 42 due to the cancellation of invasion width in Stage IA. After restaging, a clear tendency of decreased recurrence‐free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) with increasing stage was observed. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that 2018 FIGO stage, parametrial involvement, and histology were independent prognostic factors for both OS and RFS (P < 0.05). Based on these factors, we established predictive nomograms with c‐indexes of 0.735 and 0.721, showing good predictive ability for cervical cancer. Conclusion: The revised 2018 FIGO staging system can better reflect the survival of cervical cancer patients. Based on it, we established a nomogram that can predict the prognosis of cervical cancer patients more precisely. Synopsis: The 2018 FIGO staging system for cervical cancer can better reflect the survival of patients; based on it, a prognostic nomogram was established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cervical cancer has high mortality, high recurrence and poor prognosis. Although prognostic biomarkers such as clinicopathological features have been proposed, their accuracy and precision are far from satisfactory. Therefore, novel biomarkers are urgently needed for disease surveillance, prognosis prediction and treatment selection. Materials: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between cervical cancer and normal tissues from three microarray datasets extracted from the Gene Expression Omnibus platform were identified and screened. Based on these DEGs, a six‐gene prognostic signature was constructed using cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Next, the molecular functions and related pathways of the six genes were investigated through gene set enrichment analysis and co‐expression analysis. Additionally, immunophenoscore analysis and the QuartataWeb Server were employed to explore the therapeutic value of the six‐gene signature. Results: We discovered 178 overlapping DEGs in three microarray datasets and established a six‐gene (APOC1, GLTP, ISG20, SPP1, SLC24A3 and UPP1) prognostic signature with stable and excellent performance in predicting overall survival in different subgroups. Intriguingly, the six‐gene signature was closely associated with the immune response and tumour immune microenvironment. The six‐gene signature might be used for predicting response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and the six genes may serve as new drug targets for cervical cancer. Conclusion: Our study established a novel six‐gene (APOC1, GLTP, ISG20, SPP1, SLC24A3 and UPP1) signature that was closely associated with the immune response and tumour immune microenvironment. The six‐gene signature was indicative of aggressive features of cervical cancer and therefore might serve as a promising biomarker for predicting not only overall survival but also ICI treatment effectiveness. Moreover, three genes (UPP1, ISG20 and GLTP) within the six‐gene signature have the potential to become novel drug targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron-doped diamond materials display excellent electrochemical properties, including large potential windows, low background currents, the ability to withstand extreme potentials, and a strong tendency to resist contamination. These materials have been well-studied in the field of electrochemistry by a variety of methods and advanced characterization techniques. This review highlights recent progress and achievements of boron-doped diamond in photoelectrochemical applications. After surface modification of boron-doped diamond (e.g. with metals, metal oxides, molecular catalysts, enzymes, etc.), boron-doped diamond has demonstrated excellent electrochemical and photoelectrochemical properties. Applications in the fields of photoelectrocatalysis, environmental pollutants degradation, energy conversion and (photo)electroanalysis are discussed. Moreover, the challenges and future research directions of boron-doped diamond photoelectrochemistry are discussed and outlined. This review would provide valuable theoretical guidance for boron-doped diamond photoelectrochemistry. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare survival outcomes of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and laparotomy in early‐stage cervical cancer (CC) patients. Methods: A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO, 2009) stage IA1 (lymphovascular invasion)‐IIA1 CC patients undergoing MIS or laparotomy at four tertiary hospitals from 2006 to 2017. Propensity score matching and weighting and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed. Survival was compared in various matched cohorts and subgroups. Results: Three thousand two hundred and fifty‐two patients (2439 MIS and 813 laparotomy) were included after matching. (1) The 2‐ and 5‐year recurrence‐free survival (RFS) (2‐year, hazard ratio [HR], 1.81;95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09‐3.0; 5‐year, HR, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.21‐3.89) or overall survival (OS) (2‐year, HR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.03‐3.40; 5‐year, HR, 2.57; 95% CI, 1.29‐5.10) were significantly worse for MIS in patients with stage I B1, but not the cohort overall (2‐year RFS, HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.76‐1.42; 2‐year OS, HR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.70‐1.41; 5‐year RFS, HR, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.76‐1.65; 5‐year OS, HR, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.79‐1.83) or other stages (2) In a subgroup analysis, MIS exhibited poorer survival in many population subsets, even in patients with less risk factors, such as patients with squamous cell carcinoma, negative for parametrial involvement, with negative surgical margins, negative for lymph node metastasis, and deep stromal invasion < 2/3. (3) In the cohort treated with (2172, 54%) or without adjuvant treatment (1814, 46%), MIS showed worse RFS than laparotomy in patients treated without adjuvant treatment, whereas no differences in RFS and OS were observed in adjuvant‐treatment cohort. (4) Inadequate surgeon proficiency strongly correlated with poor RFS and OS in patients receiving MIS compared with laparotomy. Conclusions: MIS exhibited poorer survival outcomes than laparotomy group in many population subsets, even in low‐risk subgroups. Therefore, laparotomy should be the recommended approach for CC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are novel type of noncoding RNAs that play important roles and serve as noninvasive biomarkers in various cancers. In the present study, we focused on circFoxO3a and aimed to investigate its prognostic value as a novel serum biomarker for squamous cervical cancer (SCC). Patients and Methods: Our study included 103 SCC patients from Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University. Expression levels of circFoxO3a in the serum of patients with SCC were examined by reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR (RT‑qPCR). The correlation between serum circFoxO3a expression and clinicopathologic factors was analyzed. The Kaplan–Meier method and multivariate Cox regression analysis were applied to evaluate the independent prognostic factors for SCC. A prognostic predictive nomogram was constructed using R software. Results: Levels of serum circFoxO3a were decreased in SCC patients compared with controls. Low expression of circFoxO3a was correlated with deeper stromal invasion and positive lymph node metastasis. Moreover, SCC patients with lower expression of serum circFoxO3a showed poorer prognosis, including both overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Multivariate Cox analysis indicated low serum circFoxO3a levels to be an unfavorable prognostic factor for both OS and RFS, independent of positive lymph node metastasis. Notably, the predictive nomogram we established further confirmed that serum circFoxO3a is a useful tool for predicting survival in SCC. Conclusion: Altogether, our findings demonstrated that serum circFoxO3a could serve as a potential novel noninvasive predictive prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for SCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aimed at high-efficiency biomimetic CO2 photoelectrochemical conversion, a bio-proton coupling metal-complex/semiconductor hybrid photoelectrocatalytic interface (Ru-BNAH/TiO2/Cu2O) was constructed by covalently modifying an in situ proton-transfer functionized molecular catalyst (Ru-BNAH) on the surface of a TiO2/Cu2O composite semiconductor substrate electrode. Due to the excellent proton coupling of the bio-proton carrier, the light current density in a CO2 atmosphere of the prepared Ru-BNAH/TiO2/Cu2O photoelectrocatalytic interface was twice as high as that without a proton carrier under the same conditions. Simultaneously, based on the excellent photosensitivity of the metal oxide substrate, the photogenerated electrons could rapidly transfer to the molecular catalyst for efficient CO2 reduction in a water medium. After 8 h irradiation at −0.9 V potential, the Ru-BNAH/TiO2/Cu2O photoelectrocatalytic interface produced 409.5 μmol formic acid, which was 2.44 times more than that without a proton transfer carrier. In addition, the in situ UV-visible absorption spectra and in situ Raman spectra indicated that the proton transport carrier supplied protons during CO2 reduction. Moreover, the generation of HCOO− in CO2-saturated D2O medium confirmed the proton (H) originated from the proton transfer carrier rather than the solvent (D2O). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at high-efficiency biomimetic CO2 photoelectrochemical conversion, a photoelectrocatalyst with excellent CO2 catalytic activity was designed and prepared by immobilizing CoTPP (cobalt meso-tetraphenylporphyrin) onto g-C3N4 conveniently via self-assembly based on π–π supramolecular interaction. The quasi 3-D structure of CoTPP showed a suitable hole with a size of 3.8 Å× 9.6 Å which favoured CO2 adsorption. The pores formed by the π–π stacking of CoTPP and g-C3N4 also provided additional space for CO2 adsorption, which was confirmed by the appearance of a desorption peak at 250 °C in the temperature programmed desorption measurement for CoTPP/g-C3N4. As a normal efficient homogeneous catalyst in organic media, CoTPP commendably maintained outstanding CO2 photoelectrocatalytic activity in heterogeneous aqueous solution, even at a low overpotential of −0.6 V (vs. normal hydrogen electrode, NHE). Under 8 h PEC CO2 reduction, formic acid generation on CoTPP/g-C3N4 reached 154.4 μmol with a TON of 137 and high selectivity of nearly 100% in liquid products. The formation of CoTPP–COO− and CoTPP–COOH intermediates by the Co(ii) active site and CO2 was investigated by in situ UV-vis and Raman spectra. Moreover, an isotopic labelling experiment indicated that water supplied abundant protons for the production of formic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Front Cover shows an amino‐modified copper(I) oxide catalyst reduces the Gibbs free energy for electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to ethylene. The roller coasters and tracks represent the catalysts and the Gibbs free energy, respectively. In their Full Paper, H. Deng et al, illustrate that the modification of amino on copper(I) oxide promotes the hydrogenation of *CO to *CHO, which is the rate‐determining step for the formation of ethylene. This work presents an amino‐assisted carbon‐carbon coupling mechanism during electroreduction of carbon dioxide to multi‐carbon products. More information can be found in the Full Paper by H. Deng et al. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MnO2-deposited lignin-based carbon fiber (MnO2-LCF) mats are fabricated for supercapacitor applications. LCF mats are produced from alkali lignin via electrospinning followed by stabilization and carbonization. The carbonization process is carried out at 800, 900, and 1000 °C, and the corresponding mats are denoted as MnO2-LCF-800, MnO2-LCF-900, and MnO2-LCF-1000, respectively. The LCF mats are immersed in a KMnO4 solution at room temperature for 72 h to obtain MnO2-LCF mats. The scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis confirm the deposition of MnO2 on the LCFs. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, X-ray spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy reveal that MnO2-LCF-800 mat possesses a large number of mesopores and Mn vacancies as compared to MnO2-LCF-900 mat and MnO2-LCF-1000 mat. Consequently, MnO2-LCF-800 mat possesses the best electrochemical properties with a specific capacitance of 131.28 F∙g−1, an energy density of 14.77 Wh∙kg−1, and a power density of 135.01 W∙kg−1 at a specific current of 0.3 A∙g−1. Hence, MnO2-LCF-800 mat shows high potential to be used as a high-performance supercapacitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lignin is the second largest naturally renewable resource and is primarily a by-product of the pulp and paper industry; however, its inefficient use presents a challenge. In this work, Fe3O4 nanoparticles loaded on lignin nanoparticles (Fe3O4@LNPs) were prepared by the self-assembly method and it possessed an enhanced peroxidase-like activity. Fe3O4@LNPs catalyzed the oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in the presence of H2O2 to generate a blue color, was observable by the naked eye. Under the optimal conditions, Fe3O4@LNPs showed the ability of sensitive colorimetric detection of H2O2within a range of 5–100 μM and the limit of detection was 2 μM. The high catalytic activity of Fe3O4@LNPs allows its prospective use in a wide variety of applications, including clinical diagnosis, food safety, and environmental monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbonized wood (CW) electrodes with low-tortuosity and high conductivity have received extensive attention in the fields of energy storage and electrocatalysis. Directly carbonized wood electrodes have low specific surface area and high electrochemical impedance, and require secondary physical or chemical activation to achieve acceptable performance. Herein, we reported a facile method to prepare the CW electrode with superior surface area through self-activation using CO 2 and water vapor generated during the pyrolysis which was conducted with a low inert gas flow rate. The specific surface area and electrical conductivity of the self-activated carbonized wood (SCW, ~ 0.46 g cm−3) were as high as 1145 m2 g−1 and 20.3 S cm−1, respectively. The SCW applied as a freestanding electrode demonstrated an impressive specific capacitance of 6.63 F cm−2 (143.6 F g−1) at 1 mA cm−2. After 10,000 cycles, the capacitance of the SCW electrode was retained as high as 101.7%. The symmetrical supercapacitor (SSC) assembled with two SCW electrodes showed an energy density of 0.27 mWh cm−2 (8.60 Wh L−1) at a power density of 0.5 mW cm−2 (11.8 W L−1). This work provides a simple, low-cost and green procedure for fabricating high-performance CW electrodes, which has great promotional significance and practical value on valorization of biomass. • Pre-oxidation of wood at 220 °C produced substantial amount of CO 2. • Low inert gas rate retains the concentration of CO 2 allowing self-activation. • Self-activated carbonized wood electrode exhibited superior specific surface area. • The freestanding SCW electrode exhibited high energy density at the device level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cervical cancer (CC) is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide. Although immunotherapy has been applied in clinical practice, its therapeutic efficacy remains far from satisfactory, necessitating further investigation of the mechanism of CC immune remodeling and exploration of novel treatment targets. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of CC immune remodeling and explore potential therapeutic targets., Methods: We conducted single-cell RNA sequencing on a total of 17 clinical specimens, including normal cervical tissues, high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, and CC tissues. To validate our findings, we conducted multicolor immunohistochemical staining of CC tissues and constructed a subcutaneous tumorigenesis model in C57BL/6 mice using murine CC cell lines (TC1) to evaluate the effectiveness of combination therapy involving indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) inhibition and immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). We used the unpaired two-tailed Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney test, or Kruskal-Wallis test to compare continuous data between two groups and one-way ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc test to compare data between multiple groups., Results: Malignant cervical epithelial cells did not manifest noticeable signs of tumor escape, whereas lysosomal-associated membrane protein 3-positive (LAMP3 + ) dendritic cells (DCs) in a mature state with immunoregulatory roles were found to express IDO1 and affect tryptophan metabolism. These cells interacted with both tumor-reactive exhausted CD8 + T cells and CD4 + regulatory T cells, synergistically forming a vicious immunosuppressive cycle and mediating CC immune escape. Further validation through multicolor immunohistochemical staining showed co-localization of neoantigen-reactive T cells (CD3 + , CD4 + /CD8 + , and PD-1 + ) and LAMP3 + DCs (CD80 + and PD-L1 + ). Additionally, a combination of the IDO1 inhibitor with an ICB agent significantly reduced tumor volume in the mouse model of CC compared with an ICB agent alone., Conclusions: Our study suggested that a combination treatment consisting of targeting IDO1 and ICB agent could improve the therapeutic efficacy of current CC immunotherapies. Additionally, our results provided crucial insights for designing drugs and conducting future clinical trials for CC., (© 2023 The Authors. Cancer Communications published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of SUN YAT-SEN UNIVERSITY CANCER CENTER.)

Endocervical adenocarcinoma (EAC) is an aggressive type of endocervical cancer. At present, molecular research on EAC mainly focuses on the genome and mRNA transcriptome, the investigation of small RNAs in EAC has not been fully described. Here, we systematically explored small RNAs in 14 EAC patients with different subtypes using small RNA sequencing. MiRNAs and tRNA-derived RNAs (tDRs) accounted for the majority of mapped reads and the total number of miRNAs and tDRs maintained a relative balance. To explore the correlations between small RNAs expression and EAC with different clinical characteristics, we performed the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and screened for hub small RNAs. From the key modules, we identified 9 small RNAs that were significantly related to clinical characteristics in EAC patients. Gene ontology and pathway analyses revealed that these molecules were involved in the pathogenesis of EAC. Our work provided new insights into EAC pathogenesis and successfully identified several small RNAs as candidate biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of EAC.

Background: Machine learning (ML) has been gradually integrated into oncologic research but seldom applied to predict cervical cancer (CC), and no model has been reported to predict survival and site-specific recurrence simultaneously. Thus, we aimed to develop ML models to predict survival and site-specific recurrence in CC and to guide individual surveillance., Methods: We retrospectively collected data on CC patients from 2006 to 2017 in four hospitals. The survival or recurrence predictive value of the variables was analyzed using multivariate Cox, principal component, and K-means clustering analyses. The predictive performances of eight ML models were compared with logistic or Cox models. A novel web-based predictive calculator was developed based on the ML algorithms., Results: This study included 5112 women for analysis (268 deaths, 343 recurrences): (1) For site-specific recurrence, larger tumor size was associated with local recurrence, while positive lymph nodes were associated with distant recurrence. (2) The ML models exhibited better prognostic predictive performance than traditional models. (3) The ML models were superior to traditional models when multiple variables were used. (4) A novel predictive web-based calculator was developed and externally validated to predict survival and site-specific recurrence., Conclusion: ML models might be a better analytic approach in CC prognostic prediction than traditional models as they can predict survival and site-specific recurrence simultaneously, especially when using multiple variables. Moreover, our novel web-based calculator may provide clinicians with useful information and help them make individual postoperative follow-up plans and further treatment strategies., 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. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Pseudo-lignin is generated from lignocellulose biomass during pretreatment with dilute sulfuric acid and has a significant inhibitory effect on cellulase. However, the mechanism of pseudo-lignin generation remains unclear. The following main points have been addressed to help elucidate the pseudo-lignin generation pathway. Cellulose and xylan were pretreated with sulfuric acid at different concentrations; aliquots were periodically collected; and the changes in the byproducts of the prehydrolysate were quantified. Milled wood lignin (MWL) mixed with cellulose and xylan was pretreated to evaluate the impact of lignin on pseudo-lignin generation. Furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, and MWL were pretreated as model compounds to investigate pseudo-lignin generation. The result indicated that the increasing acid concentration significantly promoted the generation of pseudo-lignin. When the acid concentration was increased from 0 to 1.00 wt %, pseudo-lignin was increased from 1.36 to 4.05 g. In addition, lignin promoted the pseudo-lignin generation through the condensation between lignin and the generated intermediates.

Lignin is the second largest naturally renewable resource and is primarily a by-product of the pulp and paper industry; however, its inefficient use presents a challenge. In this work, Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles loaded on lignin nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@LNPs) were prepared by the self-assembly method and it possessed an enhanced peroxidase-like activity. Fe₃O₄@LNPs catalyzed the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in the presence of H₂O₂ to generate a blue color, was observable by the naked eye. Under the optimal conditions, Fe₃O₄@LNPs showed the ability of sensitive colorimetric detection of H₂O₂within a range of 5⁻100 μM and the limit of detection was 2 μM. The high catalytic activity of Fe₃O₄@LNPs allows its prospective use in a wide variety of applications, including clinical diagnosis, food safety, and environmental monitoring.