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Sargassum thunbergii is a brown macroalga endemic to the northwest Pacific. It plays important ecological roles in the structure and maintenance of coastal marine ecosystems. The bioactive compounds extracted from S. thunbergii have been extensively documented for potential use in anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory activity, anti-tumor, anti-oxidant and aquacultural drugs. The species is edible and contains relatively high levels of proteins, minerals and several types of amino acids. The present work compiles recently published literature on S. thunbergii, with particular focus on cultivation efforts in China, including the breeding of seedlings and cultivation at sea. A concise review of possible applications is given. Distribution, range shifts associated with past climate change, population genetic structure and connectivity, life history, reproduction and development are all detailed. The review provides important guidelines for future large-scale farming of S. thunbergii. This will help aquaculturalists (phyconomists) to meet the expected increases in demand by industrial users. It will also help to conserve natural populations which may be declining due to destructive harvesting and rapid ocean changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D finned tube is a highly efficient heat transfer enhanced element, and its manufacturing has always been the focus of research's attention. It is a challenging job to manufacture a 3D finned tube that can enhance both boiling and condensation since the enhanced boiling structure is completely different from the enhanced condensation structure due to their different heat transfer enhancement mechanisms. An innovative rolling-cutting-extruding composite forming method is developed to realize the manufacture of a staggered-stepped lattice finned tube (SLFT) with helical fins, two layers of staggered-stepped lattice fins, and inner helical threads, which can enhance boiling as well as condensation heat transfer. The three specially designed skewed rolling-cutting tools are uniformly distributed around the base tube, and the kinematic of rolling-cutting-extruding process is analyzed. The relative plunge depth of a rolling blade cannot exceed a certain limit value, and the feeding angle has to be equal to the helix angle of outer helical fin. According to the kinematic analysis, the parameters of the rolling-cutting tool are selected, and processing experiments of the SLFT are conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macrophages are mononuclear phagocytes which derive either from blood-borne monocytes or reside as resident macrophages in peripheral (Kupffer cells of the liver, marginal zone macrophages of the spleen, alveolar macrophages of the lung) and central tissue (microglia). They occur as M1 (pro-inflammatory; classic) or M2 (anti-inflammatory; alternatively activated) phenotypes. Macrophages possess P2X7 receptors (Rs) which respond to high concentrations of extracellular ATP under pathological conditions by allowing the non-selective fluxes of cations (Na+, Ca2+, K+). Activation of P2X7Rs by still higher concentrations of ATP, especially after repetitive agonist application, leads to the opening of membrane pores permeable to ~900 Da molecules. For this effect an interaction of the P2X7R with a range of other membrane channels (e.g., P2X4R, transient receptor potential A1 [TRPA1], pannexin-1 hemichannel, ANO6 chloride channel) is required. Macrophage-localized P2X7Rs have to be co-activated with the lipopolysaccharide-sensitive toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in order to induce the formation of the inflammasome 3 (NLRP3), which then activates the pro-interleukin-1β (pro-IL-1β)-degrading caspase-1 to lead to IL-1β release. Moreover, inflammatory diseases (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, sepsis, etc.) are generated downstream of the P2X7R-induced upregulation of intracellular second messengers (e.g., phospholipase A2, p38 mitogen-activated kinase, and rho G proteins). In conclusion, P2X7Rs at macrophages appear to be important targets to preserve immune homeostasis with possible therapeutic consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. This study aims to determine the analgesic effect and safety of dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to epidural local anesthetics during labor. Methods. Randomized controlled trials comparing epidural blocks with or without dexmedetomidine for labor analgesia were comprehensively searched. Review manager 5.4 was used to analyze the extracted data. Results. Compared with placebo and opioids, dexmedetomidine relieved labor pain of 15 min (P = 0.002), 30 min (P = 0.01), and 120 min (P = 0.02) after block and at the moment of fetal disengagement (P = 0.0002), decreased mean arterial pressure of 120 min (P = 0.01), heart rate of 30 min (P = 0.003), 60 min (P < 0.00001), and 120 min (P < 0.00001) after block, blood loss (P = 0.02), and the incidence of nausea/vomiting (P = 0.006), and increased the incidence of maternal bradycardia (P = 0.04). However, sensitivity analysis only found that the incidence of nausea/vomiting was significantly different. Compared with placebo, dexmedetomidine relieved labor pain of 30 min after block (P < 0.00001) and did not increase the incidences of side effects, but only two studies were enrolled. Compared with opioids, dexmedetomidine decreased the incidence of nausea/vomiting (P = 0.002), increased the incidence of maternal bradycardia (P = 0.04), and had a similar effect on labor pain relief; however, sensitivity analysis found that significant difference existed only at the incidence of nausea/vomiting. Other outcomes from meta-analysis or subgroup analysis were not different. Conclusions. Epidural dexmedetomidine has the potential to offer a better analgesic effect than placebo, similar labor pain control to opioids, and has no definite adverse effects on the parturient or fetus, but more high-quality studies are needed to confirm these conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we proposed a facile chemical etching/pyrolysis strategy to prepare multi-heteroatoms doped yolk-shell porous carbon by using common ZIF-8 as the precursor and phytic acid as the etching agent. The as-prepared porous carbon was composed by N-doped carbon frame core (N-CF) and N, P-codoped carbon frame shell (N, P-CF) with unique hierarchically porous structure. Besides, the yolk-shell hierarchically porous carbon (N-CF@N, P-CF) exhibited large specific surface and pore volume, promoted electrochemical active area and electron transfer kinetics. Compared with pure ZIF-8 derived N-CF, the as-synthesized N-CF@N, P-CF displayed enhanced electrochemical activity toward the oxidation of various target analytes, including organic pollutants (hydroquinone and catechol), active pharmaceutical molecule (acetaminophen), and small biological molecules (dopamine and uric acid). As a result, a versatile electrochemical sensing platform was successfully developed for the sensing of hydroquinone, catechol, acetaminophen, dopamine and uric acid with high sensitivity and selectivity. Besides, the detection limits were evaluated as 15.4 nM, 18.8 nM, 16.2 nM, 22.2 nM and 24.5 nM, respectively, which were competitive with many other electrode materials. This work helps to prosper the type of carbon-based nanostructure, and provides an advanced electrode material with great application potential for electrochemical sensors design. [Display omitted] • Heteroatoms doped yolk-shell hierarchically porous carbon was easily prepared. • N-CF@N, P-CF exhibited promoted specific surface and electron tranfer kinetics. • Robust electrochemical sensing performance with high sensitivity and selectivity. • Simple and novel strategy for guiding and synthesizing other functional carbon-based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Preventive intervention can significantly reduce the human and economic costs of postpartum depression (PPD) compared with treatment post-diagnosis. However, identifying women with a high PPD risk and making a judgement as to the benefits of preventive intervention is a major challenge.Methods: This is a retrospective study of parturients that underwent a cesarean delivery. Control group was used as development cohort and validation cohort to construct the risk prediction model of PPD and determine a risk threshold. Ketamine group and development cohort were used to verify the risk classification of parturients by evaluating whether the incidence of PPD decreased significantly after ketamine treatment in high-risk for PPD population.Results: The AUC for the development cohort and validation cohort of the PPD prediction model were 0.751 (95%CI:0.700-0.802) and 0.748 (95%CI:0.680-0.816), respectively. A threshold of 19% PPD risk probability was determined, with a specificity and sensitivity in the validation cohort are 0.766 and 0.604, respectively. After matching the high-risk group and the low-risk group by propensity score, the results demonstrated that PPD incidence significantly reduced in the high-risk group following ketamine, versus non-ketamine, intervention (p < 0.01). In contrast, intervention in the low-risk group showed no significant difference in PPD outcomes (p > 0.01).Limitation: Randomized trials are needed to further verify the feasibility of the model and the thresholds proposed.Conclusion: This prediction model developed in this study shows utility in predicting PPD risk. Ketamine intervention significantly lowers PPD incidence in parturients with a risk classification threshold greater than 19%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) has caused worldwide economic losses in the swine industry. Pigs infected with highly pathogenic (HP)-PRRSV display more severe symptoms than those infected with classical (C)-PRRSV. A rapid, sensitive, and reliable detection method to distinguish between HP-PRRSV and C-PRRSV is needed. In this study, we prepared a monoclonal antibody from a hybridoma that can distinguish HP-PRRSV(including TP, QJ, LQ, JN-HS, and TY strain) from C-PRRSV (CH-1A strain) using cell surface-fluorescence immunosorbent assays (CSFIA). Based on this monoclonal antibody (4D5), we developed a europium microsphere-based lateral flow immunochromatographic strip (EuNPs-LFICS) for the differential diagnostic detection of HP-PRRSV and C-PRRSV. Under optimized conditions, the method was rapid (15 min), sensitive (LOD: 2.57 ng mL−1, 606 TCID50/0.1 mL), selective for HP-PRRSV detection, and quantitative (DLR: 3.56–228 ng mL−1). In clinical samples, the EuNPs-LFICS assay was largely consistent with PCR results, indicating its practical clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The control of contagious or refractory diseases requires early, rapid diagnostic assays that are simple, fast, and easy-to-use. Here, easy-to-implement CRISPR/Cas12a-based diagnostic platform through Raman transducer generated by Raman enhancement effect, term as SERS-CRISPR (S-CRISPR), are described. The S-CRISPR uses high-activity noble metallic nanoscopic materials to increase the sensitivity in the detection of nucleic acids, without amplification. This amplification-free platform, which can be performed within 30–40 min of incubation time, is then used for detection of SARS-CoV-2 derived nucleic acids in RNA extracts obtained from nasopharyngeal swab specimens (n = 112). Compared with the quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), the sensitivity and specificity of S-CRISPR reaches 87.50% and 100%, respectively. In general, the S-CRISPR can rapidly identify the RNA of SARS-CoV-2 RNA without amplification and is a potential strategy for nucleic acid point of care test (POCT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Derived from knowledge bases, knowledge graphs represent knowledge expressions in graphs, which utilize nodes and edges to denote entities and relations conceptually. Knowledge graph can be described in textual triple form, consisting of head entities, tail entities and relations between entities. In order to represent elements in knowledge graphs, knowledge graph embedding techniques are proposed to map entities and relations into continuous vector spaces as numeric vectors for computational efficiency. Convolution-based knowledge graph embedding models have promising performance for knowledge graph representation learning. However, the input of those neural network-based models is frequently in handmade forms and may suffer from low efficiency in feature extraction procedure of the models. In this paper, a convolutional autoencoder is proposed for knowledge graph representation learning with entity pairs as input, aiming to obtain corresponding hidden relation representation. In addition, a bi-directional relation encoding network is utilized to represent semantic of entities in different directional relation patterns, as an encoder to output representation for initialization of the convolutional autoencoder. Experiments are conducted on standard datasets including, WN18RR, Kinship, NELL-995 and FB15k-237 as a link prediction task. Besides, input embedding matrix composed of different ingredients is designed to evaluate performances of the convolutional autoencoder. The results demonstrate that our model is effective in learning representation from entity feature interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sweet potato, a dicotyledonous and perennial plant, is the third tuber/root crop species behind potato and cassava in terms of production. Long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons are highly abundant in sweet potato, contributing to genetic diversity. Retrotransposon-based insertion polymorphism (RBIP) is a high-throughput marker system to study the genetic diversity of plant species. To date, there have been no transposon marker-based genetic diversity analyses of sweet potato. Here, we reported a structure-based analysis of the sweet potato genome, a total of 21555 LTR retrotransposons, which belonged to the main LTR-retrotransposon subfamilies Ty3-gypsy and Ty1-copia were identified. After searching and selecting using Hidden Markov Models (HMMs), 1616 LTR retrotransposon sequences containing at least two models were screened. A total of 48 RBIP primers were synthesized based on the high copy numbers of conserved LTR sequences. Fifty-six amplicons with an average polymorphism of 91.07% were generated in 105 sweet potato germplasm resources based on RBIP markers. A Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmatic Mean (UPGMA) dendrogram, a model-based genetic structure and principal component analysis divided the sweet potato germplasms into 3 groups containing 8, 53, and 44 germplasms. All the three analyses produced significant groupwise consensus. However, almost all the germplasms contained only one primary locus. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) among the groups indicated higher intergroup genetic variation (53%) than intrapopulation genetic variation. In addition, long-term self-retention may cause some germplasm resources to exhibit variable segregation. These results suggest that these sweet potato germplasms are not well evolutionarily diversified, although geographic speciation could have occurred at a limited level. This study highlights the utility of RBIP markers for determining the intraspecies variability of sweet potato and have the potential to be used as core primer pairs for variety identification, genetic diversity assessment and linkage map construction. The results could provide a good theoretical reference and guidance for germplasm research and breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classical swine fever (CSF) is a highly infectious and lethal multisystem disease caused by the classical swine fever virus (CSFV). This virus has resulted in huge economic losses in the porcine industry. Rapid detection of CSFV is needed in order to prevent and control the early transmission of CSFV. In this study, nine hybridoma cell lines that secrete monoclonal antibodies against CSFV (anti-CSFV-mAb) were prepared using the cell fusion and cell surface fluorescent immunosorbent assay (CSFIA). A rapid, sensitive, and specific fluorescent microsphere-based lateral flow immunoassay strip (FM-LFIAs) based on the use of paired CSFV-mAbs was developed. The sensitivity of the FM-LFIAs for CSFV detection was 5.28 ng/mL with a linear range from 9.77 to 625 ng/mL. During clinical sample assays, the FM-LFIAs results were consistent with the measurements obtained using the reverse transcription – polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), highlighting the practical application of FM-LFIAs for the on-site detection of CSFV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge graph completion has become a well-studied problem and a non-trivial task with the broad application of the knowledge graphs. Previously, a lot of works have been proposed to solve the knowledge graph completion problem, for example, a series of Trans model, semantic matching models, convolutional neural networks based methods and so on. However, a series of Trans models and semantic matching models only focused on the shadow information of the knowledge graph, thus failed to capture the implicit fine-grained feature in the triple of knowledge graphs; convolutional neural networks based methods learned more expressive feature for knowledge graph completion, and it also ignored the directional relation characteristic and implicit fine-grained feature in the triple. In this paper, we propose a novel knowledge graph completion model named directional multi-dimensional attention convolution model that explores directional information and an inherent deep expressive characteristic of the triple. At last, we evaluate our directional multi-dimensional attention convolution model based on three standard evaluation criteria in two robust datasets, and the experiment shows that our model achieves state-of-the-art MeanRank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Accurate values along with uncertainties of the energies of R a + and its radiative transition properties are determined by the relativistic coupled-cluster method at different levels of approximation. • Electron correlation corrections to the energies and radiative transition properties of R a + are studied in detail. • The energies of the 11 P 1 / 2 , 3 / 2 , 12 S 1 / 2 , 12 P 1 / 2 , 3 / 2 levels and many transition properties of R a + are reported for the first time. In this paper, we calculate the energy and radiative transition properties of singly charged Ra using the singles and doubles approximated relativistic coupled-cluster method. The excitation energies of the (7 - 12) S 1 / 2 , (7 - 12) P 1 / 2 , 3 / 2 , (6 - 10) D 3 / 2 , 5 / 2 states in Ra + are reported. The results are compared with available experimental results, showing a good agreement. Accurate values along with their uncertainties of the electric-dipole (E1), electric-quadrupole (E2), and several important magnetic-dipole (M1) matrix elements for transitions in singly charged Ra are determined by the relativistic coupled-cluster method at different approximations. Using these computed E1, E2, and M1 matrix elements, we also provide the related radiative transition properties of Ra + , including line strengths, oscillator strengths, and transition rates. Furthermore, we also investigate the role of electron correlation in these properties. To the best of our knowledge, many results are reported for the first time. Present work reports a high-precision atomic property calculation of Ra + and is beneficial for present and future experiments using Ra + targeting various applications such as atomic clocks and studies of parity non-conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Central sensitization is considered a critical pathogenic mechanism of chronic migraine (CM). Activation of microglia in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis (TNC) contributes to this progression. Microglial glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) activation can alleviate pain; however, whether it is involved in the mechanism of CM has not been determined. Thus, this study aims to investigate the precise role of GLP-1R in the central sensitization of CM. Methods: Repeated nitroglycerin injection-treated mice were used as a CM animal model in the experiment. To identify the distribution and cell localization of GLP-1R in the TNC, we performed immunofluorescence staining. Changes in the expression of GLP-1R, Iba-1, PI3K and p-Akt in the TNC were examined by western blotting. To confirm the effect of GLP-1R and PI3K/Akt in CM, a GLP-1R selective agonist (liraglutide) and antagonist (exendin(9–39)) and a PI3K selective antagonist (LY294002) were administered. Mechanical hypersensitivity was measured through von Frey filaments. To investigate the role of GLP-1R in central sensitization, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and c-fos were determined using western blotting and immunofluorescence. To determine the changes in microglial activation, IL-1β and TNF-α were examined by western blotting, and the number and morphology of microglia were measured by immunofluorescence. We also confirmed the effect of GLP-1R on microglial activation in lipopolysaccharide-treated BV-2 microglia. Results: The protein expression of GLP-1R was increased in the TNC after nitroglycerin injection. GLP-1R was colocalized with microglia and astrocytes in the TNC and was fully expressed in BV-2 microglia. The GLP-1R agonist liraglutide alleviated basal allodynia and suppressed the upregulation of CGRP, c-fos and PI3K/p-Akt in the TNC. Similarly, the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 prevented nitroglycerin-induced hyperalgesia. In addition, activating GLP-1R reduced Iba-1, IL-1β and TNF-α release and inhibited TNC microglial number and morphological changes (process retraction) following nitroglycerin administration. In vitro, the protein levels of IL-1β and TNF-α in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated BV-2 microglia were also decreased by liraglutide. Conclusions: These findings suggest that microglial GLP-1R activation in the TNC may suppress the central sensitization of CM by regulating TNC microglial activation via the PI3K/Akt pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although the powerful scientific studies discover Cucurbita pepo probable in the treatment of various ailments, Cucurbita pepo being employed as food material in various part of the world, there is indeterminate in the neuroprotective potential of Cucurbita pepo in LPS induced neuroinflammation experimental model. Aim and Objectives: This study is intended to examine the protective effect of Cucurbita pepo against LPS induced neuro-inflammation in C57BL/6 mice. Materials and Methods: A single dose intraperitoneal (i.p) injection of lipopolysaccharide liquefied in saline was given to C57BL/6 mice. (n=10 per group). Aqueous extract of Cucurbita pepo (AECP) at a concentration of (100 mg/kg b.w.) was administered orally to C57BL/6 mice 1 hour before LPS induction (7 days) and continuous till 30 days (n=10 per group). Results: Levels of enzymatic antioxidants such as catalase (43.26±4.61 %) and superoxide dismutase (43.16±3.82%) restored decidedly and non-enzymatic antioxidants GPx and GSH restored up to 20.81±4.22 and 58.28±2.44 percentage respectively upon AECP treatment. Oxidative stress markers NO and LPO abridged to 57.64±3.17 and 53.25±2.53 percentage compared to LPS induction group. AECP treatment lessened the protein expression level of proinflammatory cytokines Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α), Interleukin 1 beta (IL1-β) and Interleukin 6 (IL-6) significantly (P < 0.05) detected by ELISA. Signs of prolong inflammation caused higher expression of isoforms of nitric oxide synthases genes (eNOS, nNOS and iNOS) signifies NO productivity. In the cortex of LPS challenged mice, AECP significantly (P <0.05) condensed the LPS persuaded expressions of eNOS (1.98±0.41 fold), nNOS (1.74±0.26 fold) and iNOS (1.81±0.52 fold) genes. Also, oral administration of AECP significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the expression of ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule (Iba-1) in LPS induced mice brain cortex (30.37%), were additional supports the anti-inflammatory potential of AECP. Conclusion: In summary AECP displays antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential against LPS induced neuroinflammation. However, the mechanistic insights of Cucurbita pepo in neuroprotection potential have explained in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of bone cement-augmented pedicle screw fixation for stage III Kümmell disease. Twenty-five patients with stage III Kümmell disease who received bone cement-augmented pedicle screw fixation at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine between June 2009 and December 2015 were enrolled. All patients were females with a history of osteoporosis. The vertebral Cobb angle (V-Cobb angle), the fixed segment Cobb Angle (S-Cobb angle), pelvic parameters, visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were assessed preoperatively, postoperatively and at the final follow-up. Complications, loosening rate, operation time, and intraoperative bleeding were recorded. The average lumbar vertebral density T-value was − 3.68 ± 0.71 SD, and the average age was 71.84 ± 5.39. The V-Cobb angle, S-Cobb angle, and Sagittal Vertical Axis (SVA) were significantly smaller postoperatively compared to the preoperative values. The VAS and ODI at 1 month after surgery were 3.60 ± 1.00 and 36.04 ± 6.12%, respectively, which were both significantly lower than before surgery (VAS: 8.56 ± 1.04, ODI: 77.80 ± 6.57%). Bone cement-augmented pedicle screw fixation is a safe and effective treatment for stage III Kümmell disease. It can effectively correct kyphosis, restore and maintain sagittal balance, and maintain spinal stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• AD mice has more postsynaptic terminal colocalized with microglia in the hippocampi. • Anti-LINGO-1 antibody rescues the loss of postsynaptic terminal in AD hippocampi. • Microglia might participate in the effect of Anti-LINGO-1 antibody in AD. In Alzheimer's disease (AD), microglia are involved in synaptic pruning and mediate synapse loss. LINGO-1 is a negative regulator of nerve growth, and whether antagonizing LINGO-1 can attenuate synaptic pruning by microglia and rescue dendritic spines in the hippocampus in AD is still unclear. On this basis, the anti-LINGO-1 antibody, which binds to LINGO-1 protein and antagonizes the effects of LINGO-1, was administered to 10-month-old APP/PS1 transgenic mice for 2 months. The Morris water maze test, immunohistochemical and stereological methods, immunofluorescence and 3D reconstruction were used. Compared to wild-type mice, APP/PS1 transgenic mice had worse performance on behavioral tests, fewer dendritic spines but more microglia in the hippocampus. Meanwhile, the microglia in APP/PS1 transgenic mice had more branches of medium length (4–6 µm) and a cell body area with greater variability. Moreover, APP/PS1 transgenic mice had more postsynaptic termini colocalized with microglia in the hippocampus than wild-type mice. The anti-LINGO-1 antibody significantly reversed these changes in AD, indicating that the anti-LINGO-1 antibody can improve hippocampus-dependent learning and memory abilities and effectively rescue dendritic spines in the hippocampus of AD mice and that microglia might participate in this progression in AD. These results provide a scientific basis for further studying the mechanism of the anti-LINGO-1 antibody in AD and help to elucidate the role of LINGO-1 in the treatment of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Stretchable triboelectric sensor array was proposed based on the coaxial printing. • Surface microstructures and output performance of TSA were studied. • TSA is a promising candidate for electronic skin and tactile detection. With the rapid development of flexible and wearable electronics, tactile sensor array has shown great potential to detect diverse external stimuli in human–machine interactions and robotic intelligence. In this study, we developed triboelectric sensor array (TSA) with cross-laminated electrode via low-cost coaxial printing technique with the advantages of high precision, high efficiency and excellent uniformity. The results show that the proposed cross-laminated electrode based TSA possesses the characteristics of easy-fabrication process, high-sensitivity, long-term mechanical endurance and real-time trajectory sensing capacity. It can generate the maximum output voltage of 15.98 V at a frequency 4 Hz and vertical force 5 N in single electrode mode, and the maximum power is about 3.9 μW. Besides, TSA shows excellent stability under harsh mechanical bending, twisting and stretching deformation and even waterproof capability. This work offers a previously unexplored strategy for shortening individual design and fabrication cycle of flexible electronics, and promoting the potential application for stretchable sensor array in electronic skin, tactile detection and human–machine interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is the most important biopolymer material due to its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and processability. However, its widespread applications were significantly limited by its low crystallization rate. While adding small molecule organic nucleating agents became a commonly used method in enhancing the crystallization rate, these nucleating agents generally suffer from limited solubility, which caused compromised nucleation efficiency and undesirable product appearance due to their precipitation onto the surface of the PLA products overtime. Here we report an efficient method for improving the PLA crystallization performance by using polyethylene (PE) ionomer as an additive in the PLA/TMC300 (an organic nucleating agent) nucleation/crystallization process. The added ionomer led to enhanced crystallization rate and reduced crystalline grain size. The resulting PLA from crystallization with TMC300 and ionomer showed reduced glass transition temperatures, reduced contact angles, and enhanced elastic modulus without compromising the impact strength and elongation at break. A possible mechanism was proposed for the remarkable synergistic effects of ionomer and TMC-300 in modifying the PLA crystallization process with the ionomer playing the roles of both plasticizer (enhanced PLA chain mobility and crystallization rate) and compatibilizer (enhanced dissolution and dispersion of TMC300 in the PLA matrix). This work offered a promising strategy for crystallization and modification of PLA materials. [Display omitted] • Polyethylene (PE) ionomer is used as an additive to enhance PLA crystallization. • The ionomer loading is very small compared to conventional plasticizers. • The ionomer and TMC-300 show significant synergistic effects in enhancing the crystallization of PLA, and the ionomer acts as both a plasticizer and a compatibilizer. • The ionomer accelerates crystallization while reducing the grain size, which reduces the negative impact of nucleating agents on the properties of PLA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rare earth elements (REE including Y—REY) in phosphorites have been used widely as a proxy for seawater chemistry at the time of their formation. However, it is unclear whether metamorphism can lead to REE remobilization and alteration of primary seawater signatures recorded in phosphorites. In this study, we examine similarly aged metamorphosed phosphorite ore deposits from the northeastern margin of the Yangtze Block (Jinping and Xinpu ore sections), with contemporaneously deposited unmetamorphosed equivalents in the southwestern margin of the Yangtze Block (Weng'an ore section). New insights have been provided into the migration of rare earth elements and the redistribution of Zn and O isotopes in metamorphosed phosphorite, which suggests that the varying degrees of metamorphic fluid–rock reaction during the metamorphism process significantly reduced the δ18O value of phosphate (13.7‰ ± 2.2‰ of Jinping phosphate and 7.3‰ ± 1.8‰ of Xinpu phosphate) and added light Zn isotope. These metamorphic fluids were likely generated by the metamorphic dehydration of upper slab uplift during the plate subduction in the Triassic. The negative correlation between the O (and Zn) isotope compositions and REY contents in P-rich rocks suggests that REY were likely re-enriched during the recrystallization process of apatite. Preferential migration of LREE led to significant LREE and MREE enrichment in Haizhou metamorphosed P-rich rocks compared to Weng'an unmetamorphosed phosphorites. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorylation of α-synuclein at the serine-129 site (α-syn Ser129P) is an established pathologic hallmark of synucleinopathies and a therapeutic target. In physiologic states, only a fraction of α-syn is phosphorylated at this site, and most studies have focused on the pathologic roles of this post-translational modification. We found that unlike wild-type (WT) α-syn, which is widely expressed throughout the brain, the overall pattern of α-syn Ser129P is restricted, suggesting intrinsic regulation. Surprisingly, preventing Ser129P blocked activity-dependent synaptic attenuation by α-syn—thought to reflect its normal function. Exploring mechanisms, we found that neuronal activity augments Ser129P, which is a trigger for protein-protein interactions that are necessary for mediating α-syn function at the synapse. AlphaFold2-driven modeling and membrane-binding simulations suggest a scenario where Ser129P induces conformational changes that facilitate interactions with binding partners. Our experiments offer a new conceptual platform for investigating the role of Ser129 in synucleinopathies, with implications for drug development. • Native α-syn serine-129 phosphorylation is seen in discrete brain regions • Preventing α-syn serine-129 phosphorylation blocks activity-dependent α-syn functions • Neuronal activity augments α-syn serine-129 phosphorylation in cells and in vivo • α-syn serine-129 phosphorylation triggers protein-protein interactions at synapses Phosphorylation of α-synuclein at the serine-129 site is an established pathologic hallmark of Parkinson's disease and related "synucleinopathies," but new findings from Parra-Rivas et al. suggest a physiologic role for this post-translational modification in triggering α-synuclein function by facilitating protein-protein interactions at synapses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although covalent organic frameworks (COFs) membranes have promising applications in water treatment due to their ordered structure and adjustable pore size, most of them are imine-linked ones, which severely limits their application in harsh environments. Herein, we offer a stable novel COFs membrane which is composed of hydrazone bonds and β-ketoenamine structures. Such β-ketoenamine based COFs composite membrane was fabricated via interfacial catalytic polymerization on a nylon substrate, which was generated at the water (P-Toluenesulfonic acid)/n-hexane (2,5-dimethoxyterephthalhydrazide, 1,3,5-triformylphoroglucinol) interface. The resultant COFs membrane demonstrates excellent chemical stability in strong acidic (2 mol/L)/alkaline (9 mol/L)/organic solvents (dioxane, acetone, methanol, and ethanol) media. The optimized COFs membrane achieved 109.73 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 permeance in Congo Red aqueous solution and 99.56 % CR rejection. This study exploits a novel approach to produce robust COFs membranes under extreme conditions. [Display omitted] • TpDMTH COFs membranes were fabricated via interfacial catalytic polymerization. • The combination of hydrazone bonds and β-ketoenamine structures makes membranes show stable chemical structure. • Such COFs membranes maintained excellent separation performance in 9 M NaOH solution. • Such COFs membranes showed excellent dye/salt separation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monomers are elementary units that constitute the polyamide layer, which determines the properties of nanofiltration membranes. The design of nanofiltration membranes with both high separation performance and outstanding chemical stability remains a challenge. In this study, two typical monomers, heterocyclic monomer molecule-piperazine (PIP) and carbon ring molecule-1,4-cyclohexane diamine (CHDA), were applied as aqueous monomers for interfacial polymerization to generate polyamide nanofiltration membranes. The physicochemical properties of the two nanofiltration membranes were comprehensively investigated. The results demonstrated that the nanofiltration membrane fabricated via CHDA exhibited more chemical stability than that fabricated via PIP. The mechanisms influencing the chemical stability difference were elucidated via multiscale simulation. The CHDA polyamide has higher levels of HOMO-LUMO energy and Gibbs-free energy, which make it more stable under harsh chemical environments. Overall, this work presents the effect of the diamine structure on the chemical stability of polyamide NF membranes, which can inspire highly chemically stable nanofiltration membrane fabrication. [Display omitted] • Effect of diamine structure for NF membrane chemical stability was investigated. • Carbon ring molecule had better chemical stability than heterocyclic molecule. • Experimental study showed a high correlation with simulation calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel two-dimensional flow channel (TDFCH) with variable cross-sections geometrically controlled by sinusoidal function is proposed for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Two-phase flow simulations and visualisation experiments are combined to reveal the mechanisms for improved water management and enhanced reactant transport. Results show that the centrifugal force generated by the vortex pushes the liquid water away from the central region of the flow channel, forming droplet and film flows to avoid blockage of the flow channel. The reactant gases accumulate on the windward side of the variable-diameter structures, leading to an increase of the local pressure and facilitating fuel diffusion into the porous electrode. The fluid inertia enhances mass transfer of reactants and removal of liquid water inside the porous electrode. The amplitude A of the flow channel based on sinusoidal curve plays a dominant role in improving the performance of the TDFCH. Under the same testing conditions, when amplitude A = 0.2 and period T = 2, the peak power density of the TDFCH-based cell reaches 517.9 mW cm−2, which is 26 % higher than the conventional straight flow channel. The newly designed TDFCH provides an efficient solution to realize performance improvement and long-term stable operation of PEMFCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Significant but not absolute correlation between tumor and nodal response. • The key role of combined-well responder in the evaluation of the efficacy of NSCLC following neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy. • Time of administering infusions of immune checkpoint inhibitors potentially affects efficacy of neoadjuvant immunotherapy. Inconsistent pathological responses of tumor and lymph nodes (LNs) were frequently observed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy. However, there is a lack of studies to report the prognostic significance and the relevant clinicopathological factors of tumor-nodal inconsistent responses after neoadjuvant immunotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy. Therefore, this study aimed to depict the inconsistent pathological combined tumor-nodal responses in NSCLC patients after neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy as well as the underlying clinical significance. A total of 81 node-positive NSCLC patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy were eligible for inclusion. Demographic, radiologic, and pathological features of patients were recorded. Patients with pathological complete response of both tumor (ypT(pCR)) and LNs (ypN0) were classified into the combined good responder group and the relevant clinicopathological features were evaluated. The event-free survival (EFS) outcome was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier analysis. The ypN0 and ypT(pCR) rates were 74.1 % and 42.0 %, respectively. A significant correlation was observed between ypT(pCR) and ypN0 (P = 0.003), but inconsistent responses remained. The combined responses of the primary tumor and LNs demonstrated a significant association with the prognosis outcome (P = 0.005). Notably, patients who received at least twice of their infusions of immune checkpoint inhibitors after 15:30 had a worse prognosis (P = 0.015). A significant but not absolute correlation was observed between good tumor response and good nodal response in NSCLC patients after neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy, but inconsistent responses were also found. The combination of tumor and nodal responses is significantly associated with prognosis and combined good responder can be used as a reliable prognosis predictor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Proper storage helps to improve the flavor of bacon. • 5′-guanosine monophosphate can improve bacon product's flavor. • The key flavor substances can enhance the aroma and taste of bacon. • Some flavor substances can be combined with substitute salt to reduce sodium content. Comprehensive 2D gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC × GC–MS) and non-targeted metabolomics were employed to investigate the differences in key volatile flavor substances between bacon salted with alternative salt and traditional bacon during storage. The GC × GC–MS analysis revealed that among 146 volatile compounds in both types of bacon, alcohol, aldehydes, ketones, phenols, and alkenes were the most abundant. Additionally, non-targeted metabolomics indicated that the changes in amino acids and the oxidation degradation of lipids could be the main reasons for the flavor differences among the two kinds of bacon. Furthermore, the acceptability scores of both bacon types showed a general upward trend as the storage time increased, indicating that the metabolic of substances occurring during bacon storage significantly impact its overall quality. By partially substituting sodium chloride with 22% potassium chloride and 11% calcium ascorbate, coupled with appropriate storage conditions, the quality of bacon can be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Utilizing IRS effect to boost the PL energy outcoupling of perovskite phosphors. • A NMHS-LI reaction was developed to construct NP-PP structure inside the phosphors. • The NP-PP structure transformed the PL propagation from absorption mode to IRS mode. • Our NP-PP phosphor achieved an ultrahigh white luminous efficacy of 131.32 lm/W. Although stable perovskite phosphors, i.e., CsPbBr 3 /Cs 4 PbBr 6 , were extensively reported and made great progress, achieving strong photoluminescence (PL) energy outcoupling remains challenging owing to their short Stoke's shift with serious PL energy absorption. This study utilized internal resonant scattering (IRS) to improve the PL energy outcoupling (PEO) of CsPbBr 3 /Cs 4 PbBr 6 perovskite phosphor, which was realized by the nanopore-packing perovskite particles (NP-PPs) structure inside a phosphor. The nano-porous matrix hybrid solid–liquid interfacial reaction was developed to construct NP-PPs in a phosphor, and it is optimized to achieve a denser NP-PP structure with an enhanced PEO effect (2.8-fold enhanced PL intensity). Numerical results revealed that the NP-PP structure transforms the PL energy absorption mode to the IRS mode, most of the scattering PL energy evades NP-PPs instead of propagating inside. The optimized phosphor was applied to white devices, and we finally achieved an ultrahigh luminous efficacy of 131.32 lm/W based on green perovskite phosphors. This study provides a general guide for efficient perovskite phosphors utilizing the nano-porous matrix to enable the IRS effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hydrocarbon generation by alkaline lacustrine source rocks involve multiple sources and stages. • Shale oil accumulation in saline lacustrine strata is continuous. • Saline lacustrine source rocks host integrated conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources. • Sequential extraction can constrain the entire history of hydrocarbon generation of source rock under geological conditions. Saline lacustrine fine-grained rocks are important hydrocarbon source rocks and host large shale oil accumulations worldwide. However, the specific process and mechanism of hydrocarbon generation and accumulation in such rocks are not clear. Sequential extraction is a method to chemically separate different hydrocarbon fractions in sedimentary rocks, commonly as free, adsorbed and retained hydrocarbons, and thus can theoretically record the entire process of hydrocarbon generation and accumulation. To test this hypothesis, here sequential extraction was carried out on source rock samples with varying maturities from the alkaline lacustrine strata of the Lower Permian Fengcheng Formation, Mahu Sag, Junggar Basin, northwest China. The 17β-ethylandrostane/C 29 -sterane ααα20R and tricyclic terpane/pentacyclic triterpane ratios vary with maturity. In contrast, some biomarker parameters are not significantly affected by thermal maturity, including pristane/phytane, β-carotane index (β-carotane/main peak n -alkane), sterane/hopane, 7-+8-methyl index (7-+8-monomethyl heptadecane/main peak n -alkane), and C 28 /C 29 regular sterane values, and can thus be used for oil–source rock correlations. The low-maturity source rocks have undergone one stage of hydrocarbon generation and associated shale oil accumulation, whereas source rocks with relatively high maturity have experienced multi-stage hydrocarbon generation and associated shale oil accumulation. In the early stages, cyanobacteria were the main bioprecursor to hydrocarbons and, with increasing maturity, Dunaliella gradually became the more important bioprecursor. Hydrocarbon generation by these alkaline lacustrine source rocks involved multiple sources and stages, which accounts for the abundant shale oil resources in the Mahu Sag with one-billion-ton reserves. This might be general for saline lacustrine source rocks worldwide, which can generate both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons in large scales. Compared with conventional thermal modeling to constrain the generation history of hydrocarbon source rocks, a unique advantage of sequential extraction is its ability to characterize the entire history of hydrocarbon generation under geological conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is a complex psychiatric disorder. Previous studies have shown that running exercise reverses depression-like behavior faster and more effectively than fluoxetine therapy. GABAergic interneurons, including the PV+ interneuron subtype, in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) are involved in pathological changes of depression. It was unknown whether running exercise and fluoxetine therapy reverse depression-like behavior via GABAergic interneurons or the PV+ interneurons subtype in MPFC. To address this issue, we subjected mice with chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) to a 4-week running exercise or fluoxetine therapy. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed that running exercise enriched GABAergic synaptic pathways in the MPFC of CUS-exposed mice. However, the number of PV+ interneurons but not the total number of GABAergic interneurons in the MPFC of CUS-exposed mice reversed by running exercise, not fluoxetine therapy. Running exercise increased the relative gene expression levels of the PV gene in the MPFC of CUS-exposed mice without altering other subtypes of GABAergic interneurons. Moreover, running exercise and fluoxetine therapy both significantly improved the length, area and volume of dendrites and the spine morphology of PV+ interneurons in the MPFC of mice exposed to CUS. However, running exercise but not fluoxetine therapy improved the dendritic complexity level of PV+ interneurons in the MPFC of CUS-exposed mice. In summary, the number and dendritic complexity level of PV+ interneurons may be important therapeutic targets for the mechanism by which running exercise reverses depression-like behavior faster and more effectively than fluoxetine therapy. • Runing exercise improved depression-like behavior faster and more comprehensively in CUS-exposed mice than fluoxetine therapy. • The number of PV+ interneurons rather than the total number of GABAergic neurons in the MPFC was increased by running exercise but not fluoxetine therapy. • Runing exercise, but not fluoxetine therapy, reversed the complexity levels of PV+ interneuron dendrites in the MPFC of CUS-exposed mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uridine 5′-diphosphoglucose (UDP-G) as a preferential agonist, but also other UDP-sugars, such as UDP galactose, function as extracellular signaling molecules under conditions of cell injury and apoptosis. Consequently, UDP-G is regarded to function as a damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP), regulating immune responses. UDP-G promotes neutrophil recruitment, leading to the release of pro-inflammatory chemokines. As a potent endogenous agonist with the highest affinity for the P2Y 14 receptor (R), it accomplishes an exclusive relationship between P2Y 14 Rs in regulating inflammation via cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), and signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) pathways. In this review, we initially present a brief introduction into the expression and function of P2Y 14 Rs in combination with UDP-G. Subsequently, we summarize emerging roles of UDP-G/P2Y 14 R signaling pathways that modulate inflammatory responses in diverse systems, and discuss the underlying mechanisms of P2Y 14 R activation in inflammation-related diseases. Moreover, we also refer to the applications as well as effects of novel agonists/antagonists of P2Y 14 Rs in inflammatory conditions. In conclusion, due to the role of the P2Y 14 R in the immune system and inflammatory pathways, it may represent a novel target for anti-inflammatory therapy. • UDP-G/P2Y14R signaling pathways modulate inflammatory responses. • P2Y14R functions as a proinflammatory mediator. Antagonism of P2Y 14 R may be a promising treatment for inflammation-related diseases [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blood retinal barrier (BRB) damage is an important pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy, and alleviating BRB damage has become a key target for DR treatment. We previously found that Lycopene seed polyphenols (LSP) maintained BRB integrity by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated inflammation. However, it is still unknown whether LSP inhibits retinal neovascularization with abnormal capillaries and its mechanism of action. Here, we employed db/db mice and hRECs to find that LSP increases the level of glycolipid metabolism, maintains the morphology of retinal endothelial cells and inhibits acellular capillary neogenesis. Mechanistic studies revealed that LSP inhibits the NLRP3 inflammasome, reduces cell apoptosis in retinal tissue, increases tight junction protein (TJ) expression, and reduces vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and Ve-Cadherin in vivo and in vitro. Collectively, this study finds that LSP inhibits inflammation and angiogenesis to improve BRB function to ameliorate DR. [Display omitted] ● Inflammasomes, apoptosis, and angiogenesis coexist in the pathogenesis of DR, and multitargeted intervention is required to achieve good therapeutic effects. ● LSP could exert anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and TJ protective effects in a high glucose environment. ● BRB dysfunction secondary to inflammasomes and apoptosis is a typical pathologic change in DR. ● LSP improved BRB function by inhibiting inflammation, apoptosis and neovascularization to effectively treat DR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most existing methods for recommendation assume that all the items are of the same category. However, single-category recommendations are no longer sufficient to fulfill the diverse needs of users in the real world. Existing methods cannot be directly applied to recommend multiple categories of items due to the different properties and complex relationships among them. However, a drawback of these approaches is their assumption of a fixed and homogeneous data format, making them incapable of addressing the challenge of recommending multiple categories of items. Recommendation of multiple categories of items to users concurrently has become a challenging task. To tackle this problem, we design a novel method Knowledge Graph Transformer Network (KGTN) for explainable multi-category item recommendation, inspired by advances in knowledge graph in the field of recommendation. Knowledge graph and neural network methods have shown advantages in addressing recommendation problems in heterogeneous graph structures. This is because different categories of items have unique attributes and dimensions, which can be effectively represented and integrated by incorporating knowledge graph and graph neural network techniques. That is, our approach can handle heterogeneous collaborative knowledge graphs composed of users and items, and can mine hidden path relationships without defining original paths. In addition, its algorithmic process has interpretability. Specifically, graph transformer layer converts the heterogeneous input graph into a useful meta-path graph for recommended task; graph convolution layer learns the node representation on the new meta-path graph. Finally, we calculate the inner product of user and item vector representations to output the probability for the recommendation. At the same time, we use the critical path in the learned useful meta-path graph as the explanation. Comprehensive experiments on three datasets demonstrate that KGTN achieves state-of-the-art performance over existing baselines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A planthopper gear-shaped flow channel for PEMFCs is developed. • The oxygen transport mechanism inside the GFCH-based PEMFC is revealed. • The effects of GFCHs for mitigating the oxygen starvation and boosting the reactant homogeneity in PEMFC are analyzed. • A PEMFC with an optimal GFCH with remarkable electrochemical performance is provided. The flow channel design of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is a key factor affecting the power output. This work proposes a planthopper gear-shaped flow channel (GFCH) to address the issues of oxygen starvation and reactant homogeneity in a PEMFC by strengthening oxygen transport from the flow channel to the electrode surface. Full-scale three-dimensional PEMFC based on the GFCHs is constructed to investigate and analyze the multi-phase mass transport process, flow velocity, pressure distribution and electrochemical performances, compared with the conventional serpentine flow channels (SFCHs). Results show that the GFCH remarkably boosts the oxygen transport to the electrode surface under the effects of bio-inspired strengthened structures. Due to the promoted mass transfer efficiency and reactant distribution homogeneity of the GFCHs, the peak power density of the optimized flow channel (1.04 W cm−2) is ∼ 46% higher than that of the conventional SFCH (0.71 W cm−2). The optimal structural parameters for the GFCH with 0.4 mm for the rib width and a combination of 0.6/0.4 mm for the channel height are obtained by simulation and experimental demonstration. We believe that using this novel channel shape provides a good solution for flow channel design of PEMFCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemolymph and midgut are important tissues in the invertebrate's immune response, ROS generated by Sp Nox plays a vital role in regulating microbiota and maintaining homeostasis. In this study, the function of Sp Nox in regulating the hemolymph and midgut homeostasis in mud crab (Scylla paramamosain) was investigated. The results showed that Sp Nox regulated the microbiota harboring the hemolymph and midgut of mud crab through generating ROS. Furthermore, the ROS (principally O 2 −) derived from Sp Nox can modulate the composition of microbiota in the hemolymph (including Bacteroides , Aeromonas , Alteromonas , and Lysobacter) and in the midgut (including Arcobacter , Aliivibrio , Hypnocyclicus , Carboxylicivirga , and Candidatus_Bacilloplasma). Apart from Sp Nox, other ROS-related genes also participate in the regulation of hemolymph microbiota at certain times. Further studies to explain the detailed mechanisms that Sp Nox regulates the microbiota in aquatic animals are promising, which can provide good theoretical support for the healthy culture of aquatic animals. • Sp Nox can change the microbial diversity and composition of hemolymph and midgut in mud crabs. • Sp Nox can modulate the microbial homeostasis through regulating ROS production. • Sp Nox might promote the homeostasis by regulating specific bacteria in hemolymph and midgut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the existing two-phase boiling heat transfer technologies have limitations in extremely narrow spaces and cannot satisfy the high heat flux dissipation requirements of highly integrated and ultrathin devices. In this study, a high-efficiency and low-cost open superhydrophilic microchannel heat sink with a micro/nanocomposite structure, negligible pumping energy, and a high coefficient of performance (COP) was achieved. The wettability and microscopic morphology of the different heat sinks as well as the variation in the critical heat flux (CHF) and heat transfer coefficient (HTC) at different mass fluxes were discussed. When the mass flux was 0.05 kg/m2⋅s, the CHF of the microgrooved composite nanostructured copper (MCNC) heat sink was 173.90 W/cm2, which was 182.80% higher than that of the smooth copper (SC) heat sink and 20% higher than that of the microgrooved copper (MC) heat sink. In addition, the highest CHF of 325.90 W/cm2 was obtained for the MCNC at a 0.15 kg/m2⋅s mass flux. The high CHF of thin film boiling was achieved at a low inlet water pressure. This resulted in a COP of 695,600 for this boiling method, which is a larger value than that in most reports thus far. This study provides a preliminary investigation of the thin film boiling performance for an open microchannel. This may provide a new solution to the challenge of high heat flux dissipation in extreme spaces. • Thin film boiling is achieved via different wetting performance open microchannels. • The MCNC heat sink exhibits a high CHF of 325.90 W/cm2 at 0.15 kg/m2s. • All heat sinks achieve high-CHF heat dissipation with an ultralow pressure drop. • The MCNC heat sink achieves a high COP of 695,600, which is at an advanced level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction of novel two-dimensional porous carbon nanosheets with superior electrochemical activity is of great challenge. Here, graphene/ZIF-8 nano-sandwiches derived N, P-codoped porous carbon nanosheets (N, P-codoped PCN) was easily obtained by sequential room temperature self-assembly and high-temperature carbonization method. Relative to the widely used physically exfoliated graphene nanosheets (GN) and graphene/ZIF-8 derived N-doped porous carbon nanosheets (N-doped PCN), N, P-codoped PCN displayed larger active surface, faster electron transport ability and stronger physical adsorption ability, which can be ascribed to the dual doping effect of heteroatoms N and P. As a result, N, P-codoped PCN exhibited remarkable oxidation signal enhancement for tumor marker (8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine), analgesic and antipyretic drug (acetaminophen) and organic pesticide (benomyl). Besides, the limits of detection were measured as low as 1.58 nM, 7.50 nM and 2.10 nM with sensitivity of 270.00 μA μM−1 cm−2, 757.14 μA μM−1 cm−2 and 272.86 μA μM−1 cm−2 for 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine, acetaminophen and benomyl, respectively. Basing on this, a novel and highly sensitive electrochemical sensing platform was developed. It is believed that the reported two-dimensional N, P-codoped PCN with unique structure and composition is highly valuable for the development of carbon-based electrochemical sensors. [Display omitted] • Graphene/ZIF-8 nano-sandwich was firstly used as the precursor of N, P-codoped PCN. • N, P-codoped PCN exhibited fast electron transfer ability and superior electro-activity. • Robust electrochemical sensing platform with high sensitivity and selectivity. • Simple and effective strategy for guiding and synthesizing novel carbon-based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous efforts have been devoted to understanding the electron transfer process of uranium (UO 2 2+) on adsorbent materials, whereas the potential oxygen vacancies (OVs) in metal oxides have long been overlooked. Once these interactions are taken into account, the emerging molecular orbital effects undoubtedly affect the adsorption process. Here, we synthesized CC/γ-MnO 2 by growing MnO 2 on carbon cloth (CC), followed by the creation of oxygen vacancies (OVs) through electrochemical methods to form CC/γ-MnO 2 -OVs. The CC/γ-MnO 2 -OVs shows significantly enhanced selectivity and durability for UO 2 2+, with the maximum adsorption capacity increasing from 456.8 to 1648.1 mg/g (by a factor of 3.6). Theoretical calculations suggest that the generation of OVs leads to an increase in charge transfer and a decrease in adsorption energy between UO 2 2+ and CC/ γ –MnO 2 , due to the interaction between Mn 3d orbital in CC/ γ –MnO 2 and O 2p orbital in UO 2 2+. The OVs in CC/ γ –MnO 2 provide a spatial structure for anchoring the O U=O moiety of UO 2 2+, while the surface van der Waals forces and the formation of chemical bonds between Mn-U contribute to charge interactions. This synergistic effect allows CC/γ-MnO 2 -OVs to exhibit favorable selectivity, a large adsorption capacity, and rapid adsorption kinetics towards uranyl ions. This work achieves enhanced UO 2 2+ separation by introducing OVs in CC/γ–MnO 2 through a facile electrochemical strategy, highlighting the great potential for nuclear waste processing. [Display omitted] • OVs in CC/γ-MnO2 enhance UO22 + adsorption selectivity, capacity, and kinetics (456.8–1648.1 mg/g). • Electrochemically induced OVs facilitate efficient UO22 + capture and separation. • Mn 3d and O 2p orbital interactions drive efficient UO22 + capture on CC/γ-MnO2. • Synergistic interactions of OVs and surface forces drive enhanced UO22 + adsorption. • Potential for efficient nuclear waste processing through OVs in metal oxides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tricin, a natural nontoxic flavonoid distributed in grasses and euphorbia plants, has been reported to scavenge free radicals, possess anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects. However, its autophagic effect on Parkinson's disease (PD) has not been elucidated. By adopting cellular and C. elegans models of PD, the autophagic effect of tricin was identified based on the level of autophagy markers (LC3-II and p62). Besides, the pharmacological effects on neurotransmitters (dopamine), inflammatory cytokines (IFN γ, TNFα, MCP-1, IL-10, IL-6 and IL-17A), histology (hematoxylin & eosin and Nissl staining) and behavioural pathology (open-field test, hindlimb clasping, Y-maze, Morris water-maze and nest building test) were also confirmed in the A53T-α-synuclein transgenic PD mouse model. Further experiments demonstrated that tricin induced autophagic flux and lowered the level of α-synuclein through AMPK-p70s6K- and ATG7-dependent mechanism. Compared to the existing clinical PD drugs, tricin mitigated pathogenesis and symptoms of PD with no observable side effects. In summary, tricin is proposed as a potential adjuvant remedy or nutraceutical for the prevention and treatment of PD. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. NP-DT-OEG could be simply prepared. 2. NP-DT-OEG exhibits excellent water solubility. 3. NP-DT-OEG exhibits low cytotoxicity, and excellent cell membrane permeability, monitoring Hg2+ in living cells. [Display omitted] For mercury (II) ion (Hg2+) fluorescent sensors, excellent water solubility is a critical property to ensure Hg2+ detection sensitivity in biological and ecological environments. Although many organic fluorescent Hg2+ sensors have been reported, only a few applied in purely aqueous media. Herein, we synthesized a simple oligo (ethylene glycol)-functionalized organic fluorescent sensor (NP-DT-OEG) for the determination of Hg2+ in aqueous media based on a specific Hg2+-triggered dithioacetal deprotection reaction mechanism. NP-DT-OEG exhibits excellent water solubility and fast response of Hg2+ with remarkable selectivity in a purely aqueous media, the fluorescence intensity increased linearly with Hg2+ concentration within the range from 0 to 20 μM and the detection limit was determined to be 6.2 nM. In practical application, NP-DT-OEG was able to determine Hg2+ in crayfish meat and serum samples. Moreover, bioimaging studies indicated that NP-DT-OEG exhibited low cytotoxicity as well as excellent cell membrane permeability, and has been successfully used for monitoring Hg2+ in living cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Reveal the TW reflection principle under different MMC control strategies. • Realize the line protection with the integration of MMC's high controllability. • Propose to identify the fault by only measuring the changing terminal current. • Decrease the dependency on the CLR and improve the protection robustness. With the massive increase of power electronic devices to facilitate renewable integration, the system's fault characteristics will be dramatically changed due to the different control strategies adopted by converters. As a result, the dependability and security of the traditional protection can be severely compromised. Considering the high controllability of power electronic converters, this paper presents an active injection protection scheme to effectively identify the fault. By analyzing the traveling wave (TW) refraction and reflection characteristics under different fault conditions, the variation of the measured terminal current caused by the TW is revealed. Then, a rectangular wave is injected by the hybrid modular multilevel converters (MMC) for a short time after the fault ride-through process. By introducing the concept of the polarity of the current area, the proposed protection scheme only needs to measure the terminal current without any complex signal extracting and processing algorithm to identify the internal and external faults. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed protection scheme are verified by realistic case studies with simulation conducted in the PSCAD platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activities can cause zinc (Zn) contamination of aquatic environments. Zn is an essential trace metal, but effects of environmentally relevant Zn exposure on the brain–intestine axis in fish are poorly understood. Here, six-month-old female zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to environmentally relevant Zn concentrations for six weeks. Zn significantly accumulated in the brain and intestine, causing anxiety-like behaviors and altered social behaviors. Zn accumulation altered levels of neurotransmitters, including serotonin, glutamate, and γ-aminobutyric acid, in the brain and intestine, and these changes were directly associated with changes in behavior. Zn caused oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction, and impaired NADH dehydrogenase, thereby dysregulating the energy supply in brain. Zn exposure resulted in nucleotide imbalance and dysregulation of DNA replication and the cell cycle, potentially impairing the self-renewal of intestinal cells. Zn also disturbed carbohydrate and peptide metabolism in the intestine. These results indicate that chronic exposure to Zn at environmentally relevant concentrations dysregulates the bidirectional interaction of the brain–intestine axis with respect to neurotransmitters, nutrients, and nucleotide metabolites, thereby causing neurological disorder-like behaviors. Our study highlights the necessity to evaluate the negative impacts of chronic environmentally relevant Zn exposure on the health of humans and aquatic animals. [Display omitted] • Zinc exposure causes anxiety-like behaviors and changes in social behavior. • Zinc exposure alters neurotransmitters and impairs mitochondrial function. • Zinc exposure deregulates intestinal DNA repair, cell cycle, and nutrient metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purinergic receptors (Rs) of the ATP/ADP, UTP/UDP (P2X, P2Y) and adenosine (A1, A2A)-sensitive classes broadly interfere with cognitive processes both under quasi normal and disease conditions. During neurodegenerative illnesses, high concentrations of ATP are released from the damaged neuronal and non-neuronal cells of the brain; then, this ATP is enzymatically degraded to adenosine. Thus, the primary injury in neurodegenerative diseases appears to be caused by various protein aggregates on which a superimposed damage mediated by especially P2X7 and A2AR activation develops; this can be efficiently prevented by small molecular antagonists in animal models of the above diseases, or are mitigated in the respective knockout mice. Dementia is a leading symptom in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and accompanies Parkinson's disease (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD), especially in the advanced states of these illnesses. Animal experimentation suggests that P2X7 and A2ARs are also involved in a number of psychiatric diseases, such as major depressive disorder (MDD), obsessive compulsive behavior, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In conclusion, small molecular antagonists of purinergic receptors are expected to supply us in the future with pharmaceuticals which are able to combat in a range of neurological/psychiatric diseases the accompanying cognitive deterioration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The saturable absorbers play key role in passively Q-switched lasers, and Cr4+-doped crystals present attractive advantages for Yb:YAG lasers. At present the major problem is the low doping concentration of Cr4+ and the effective way to promote Cr3+→Cr4+ conversion. From this view, we introduce divalent additives Ca2+ and Mg2+ as charge compensators to ensure the charge state of Cr4+ in the tervalence environment of Yb:YAG. The results reveal that this method can promote Cr3+→Cr4+ conversion effectively and an optimal CaO/MgO ratio is 1:4. The corresponding Cr 0.01at.% ,Yb 5at.% :YAG single crystals present enhanced absorption coefficients and fluorescence intensity at 941 nm and 1030 nm, and decreased fluorescence lifetimes and decay curves than Yb:YAG. The thermal expansion coefficient and laser damage threshold of Cr,Yb:YAG single crystal are approaching the YAG host material. The results show that Cr,Yb:YAG crystal has good potential for self-Q-switched monolithic solid-state lasers. • The Cr 0.01at.% ,Yb 5at.% :YAG single crystals of different CaO/MgO ratios as charge compensators by the Czochralski method. • The Ca2+ and Mg2+ can effectively force Cr3+ convert to Cr4+, and an optimal CaO/MgO ratio of 1:4 can obtain the highest concentration of Cr4+. • The increase of the concentration of Cr4+ can enhance the absorption coefficients of Cr,Yb:YAG single crystals at 941 nm and 1030 nm. • The thermal expansion coefficient and laser damage threshold of Cr,Yb:YAG single crystal are identified as 8.68 × 10−6/°C and 100 ± 5 J/cm2 respectively, which are approaching the values of YAG host material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Recent developments of various noncarbon support materials (NCSMs) for advanced direct methanol fuel cells are comprehensively reviewed. • The synergistic mechanism of NCSMs alleviating Pt poisoning caused by CO are provided. • The aspect of NCSMs design, fabrication methods and electrochemical effects are summarized. • Solutions for future challenges are highlighted by developing advanced surface modification method and / or improving the manufacturing. Noncarbon support materials (NCSMs) used in the membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) have received extensive attentions due to their better chemical stability, excellent corrosion resistance and high electrical conductivity. To develop high-quality MEA, great efforts have been devoted to improving the electrochemical performance and durability of MEAs through the surface engineering of NCSMs. With this context, the recent progress of the NCSMs as catalyst support and diffusion layer is summarized. The functional mechanisms and critical roles of NCSMs in MEAs are firstly discussed in terms of the structure-functions relationship. The design strategies and fabrication process based on different noncarbon materials (e.g., metal-based materials and carbides) as catalyst supports are summarized from the perspective of nanoscale structures like nanoparticles, nanofibers, and nanotubes. The structural design and surface modification of the noncarbon materials applied to the diffusion layer and stack-level MEA are also analyzed. Finally, the current limitations, prospective and future development tendency of NCSMs in MEA are proposed. This review is believed to provide an in-depth overview and promising research directions for the design of catalyst supports in fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) is one of the most common analytical platforms for point-of-care testing (POCT), which is capable of large-scale primary screening and home self-testing of infectious diseases. However, the sensitivity of conventional AuNPs-based LFIA is relatively low and more prone to false negatives. Herein, we report a novel LFIA based on gold-core-silver-shell bimetallic nanoparticles (Au4-ATP@Ag NPs) emitting Surface-enhanced Raman scatting (SERS) and Photothermal (PT) effect, named SERS/PT-based dual-modal LFIA (SERS/PT-dmLFIA), for the antigen detection of infectious diseases pathogens, which displayed an excellent performance. For influenza A virus (IAV), influenza B virus (IBV), and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) N protein detection, the limit of detections (LoD) with Raman as signal were 31.25, 93.75, and 31.25 pg mL-1 respectively, and the LoDs with temperature difference (∆ T) as signal were as low as 15.63, 187.5, and 15.63 pg mL-1 respectively, which were over 4-fold more sensitive than visual-based LFIA. The proposed SERS/PT-dmLFIA was used for detecting virus antigen in pharyngeal swabs and showed ideal coincidence rate of over 95% compared to the commercialized assays. In addition, we explored the development of multiplex SERS/PT-dmLFIA that can detect IAV, IBV, and SARS-CoV-2 antigens simultaneously without cross reactivity. Overall, the SERS/PT-dmLFIA for antigen detection not only exhibits high sensitivity, accuracy and specificity, but also have characteristics of rapidity and simplicity, which holds high potential for rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases in laboratory testing, mass screening, and home self-testing. • SERS/photothermal (PT)-based dual-modal lateral flow immunoassay was developed. • Bimetallic nanomaterials were used as probes displayed excellent PT and SERS effect. • The proposed LFIA for virus antigen detection displayed outstanding performance. • The dual-modal LFIAs were validated using clinical pharyngeal swab samples. • The multiplex LFIA achieved IAV, IBV, and SARS-CoV-2 antigens simultaneous detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital watermarking is of critical importance in multimedia copyright protection. However, with the development of Internet technologies, the combined attacks of complex environments challenge to the robustness of traditional digital watermarking schemes. In order to tackle this problem, a robust periodic blind watermarking scheme based on sub-block mapping and block encryption is proposed in this paper to enhance robustness under combined attacks. Concretely, a watermark is encoded by the periodic encoding method to raise the fault tolerance rate. Then a block encryption technique is designed to encrypt periodic sub-blocks by utilizing different encoding methods to maintain the security of copyright information. To achieve high image quality, this scheme employs a sub-block mapping mechanism to map the encrypted periodic watermark into a smaller watermark to minimize the visual difference between host image and watermarked image. Finally, an improved Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is conducted to embed a quaternary watermark that can extend to a gray-scale watermark. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed watermarking scheme has good visual quality of watermarked images and is robust to image processing attacks, especially in cropping, scaling and combined attacks, which is better than other watermarking schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional phosphorus carbides are predicted to be promising anode materials for Na-ion batteries due to their high theoretical capacity, low diffusion barrier, low volume expansion rate and excellent electronic conductivity. However, previous theoretical calculations show that most phosphorus carbides have weak adsorption for Na atoms, which may lead to the fact that Na atoms are prone to aggregate to form Na dendrites during the charging and discharging process. Here, the effects of Si and B doping on the structural stability, and the adsorption and diffusion behaviors of Na atom of PC 3 were investigated using first-principles calculations. The results show that single Si and B atom doping has more negative formation energy at the P site. Si and B doping enhances the adsorption properties of PC 3 for Na atom, and the maximum adsorption energy of Na on the Si-doped system is decreased to −1.87 eV. B-doped PC 3 monolayer has more Na atom adsorption sites than the undoped ones. Therefore, it can be concluded that Si and B doping is a feasible way to improve the weak Na adsorption in the PC 3 monolayer. This work provides guidance for improving the electrochemical performance of phosphorus carbides. • The adsorption and diffusion behavior of Na atom on Si and B-doped PC 3 monolayer is considered. • The adsorption properties of Si-doped PC 3 for Na atom is more significantly enhanced compared to B-doped PC 3. • The diffusion barrier of Na atom on B-doped PC 3 lower than Si-doped PC 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic carbon accumulation was common during glacial events, but previous studies have focused primarily on marine facies and few have investigated lacustrine facies. This study investigates the sedimentation and organic matter accumulation during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA; Late Carboniferous–Early Permian) in the Junggar Basin of China, which was located in a mid-latitude region of Northern Pangea at the time. Organic-rich hydrocarbon source rocks in three sags were examined. Our findings indicate that the Fengcheng Formation (ca. 300 Ma) in the Mahu Sag was deposited in a saline (carbonate content = 40.8 ± 18.4 wt%), sub-oxic–anoxic (total S/Fe [TS/Fe] = 0.5 ± 0.3), and highly alkaline (δ15N = 19.6‰ ± 2.6‰) lacustrine environment. The Lucaogou Formation (ca. 290 Ma) in the Jimusaer Sag was deposited in a freshwater–saline (carbonate content = 28.9 ± 15.6 wt%), oxic–anoxic (TS/Fe = 0.4 ± 0.8), and circum-neutral–highly alkaline (δ15N = 10.7‰ ± 3.2‰) lacustrine setting. The Lucaogou Formation in the Fukang Sag was deposited in a freshwater–saline water (carbonate content = 11.5 ± 4.3 wt%), oxic–sub-oxic (TS/Fe = 0.1 ± 0.1), and relatively neutral pH (δ15N = 7.0‰ ± 0.9‰) lacustrine environment. The source rocks in these three sags represent a completely evolutionary sequence of a saline lacustrine basin, as the saline degrees follow the order of the Lucaogou Formation in the Fukang Sag < the Lucaogou Formation in the Jimusaer Sag < the Fengcheng Formation in the Mahu Sag. The co-evolution of depositional environment, particularly pH, and source rock quality is shown as the abundance of organic matter and hydrocarbon-generating potential first increasing and then decreasing with increasing pH, as the type of organic matter first became increasingly oil prone and then remained unchanged. This reflects the interplay between the bio-precursors, paleo-environment, and organic C accumulation. This may be a common feature of saline lacustrine basins throughout geological time worldwide, such as the Eocene Piceance Basin in USA (the Green River Formation), the Cretaceous Campos Basin in Brazil (the Itapema and Barra Velha formations), and the Eocene saline lacustrine basins in China (e.g., the Shahejie, Qianjiang, and Xiaganchaigou formations). During glacial periods, it is common for lacustrine basins to undergo salinization, which ultimately leads to such basins being ideal for fossil energy exploration. The accumulation of organic carbon drove and responded to the glacial period by sequestrating atmospheric CO 2 , and was thus an important part of the global carbon cycle that requires further research. • Organic carbon accumulation was common during glacial events in lacustrine basins. • There is a co-evolution of depositional environment, particularly pH, and source rock quality. • Lacustrine basins undergo salinization and thus are ideal for fossil energy exploration. • Organic carbon accumulation drove and responded to the glacial period, and was an important part of the global carbon cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Link prediction in attributed networks has attracted increasing attention recently due to its valuable real-world applications. Various related methods have been proposed, but most of them cannot effectively utilize community structure, neither can they well fuse attribute information and link information to improve the performance. Inspired by our empirical observations on how community structure affects the generation of links, we propose a novel Community Preserving Adaptive Graph Convolutional Networks (CPAGCN) method to tackle the link prediction task in attributed networks. Specifically, CPAGCN is composed of two core modules: network embedding and link prediction. Network embedding module utilizes AGCN to seamlessly fuse link information and attribute information to obtain node representations, which are simultaneously driven to preserve community structure via an appropriate community detection model. Taking these node representations as the input, link prediction module applies multilayer perception (MLP) to directly learn the prediction scores for potential links. Through combining the graph reconstruction loss with the prediction loss to train AGCN and MLP jointly, CPAGCN can learn node representations that are more beneficial to predicting links. To verify the effectiveness of CPAGCN, we conduct extensive experiments on six real-world attributed networks. The results demonstrate that CPAGCN performs better than several strong competitors in link prediction. The source code is available at https://github.com/GDM-SCNU/CPAGCN. • We investigate the impact of community structure on links by empirical observations. • An end-to-end method CPAGCN for link prediction in attributed networks is proposed. • CPAGCN can seamlessly fuse attribute and structural proximities. • CPAGCN uses community preserving network embedding to boost link prediction. • CPAGCN outperforms state-of-the-art baselines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]