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Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is a luminescence production technique triggered by electrochemistry, which has emerged as a powerful analytical technique in bioanalysis and clinical diagnosis. During ECL, charge transfer (CT) is an important process between electrochemical excitation and luminescent emission, and dramatically affects the efficiency of exciton generation, playing a pivotal role in the light-emitting properties of nanomaterials. Reticular framework materials with intramolecular/intermolecular interactions offer a promising platform for regulating CT pathways and enhancing luminescence efficiency. Deciphering the role of intramolecular/intermolecular CT processes in reticular framework materials allows for the targeted design and synthesis of emitters with precisely controlled CT properties. This sheds light on the microscopic mechanisms of electro-optical conversion in ECL, propelling advancements in their efficiency and breakthrough applications. This mini-review focuses on recent advancements in engineering CT within reticular frameworks to boost ECL efficiency. We summarized strategies including intra-reticular charge transfer, CT between the metal and ligands, and CT between guest molecules and frameworks within reticular frameworks, which holds promise for developing next-generation ECL devices with enhanced sensitivity and light emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperspectral image classification (HSIC) has garnered increasing attention among researchers. While classical networks like convolution neural networks (CNNs) have achieved satisfactory results with the advent of deep learning, they are confined to processing local information. Vision transformers, despite being effective at establishing long-distance dependencies, face challenges in extracting high-representation features for high-dimensional images. In this paper, we present the multiscale efficient attention with enhanced feature transformer (MEA-EFFormer), which is designed for the efficient extraction of spectral–spatial features, leading to effective classification. MEA-EFFormer employs a multiscale efficient attention feature extraction module to initially extract 3D convolution features and applies effective channel attention to refine spectral information. Following this, 2D convolution features are extracted and integrated with local binary pattern (LBP) spatial information to augment their representation. Then, the processed features are fed into a spectral–spatial enhancement attention (SSEA) module that facilitates interactive enhancement of spectral–spatial information across the three dimensions. Finally, these features undergo classification through a transformer encoder. We evaluate MEA-EFFormer against several state-of-the-art methods on three datasets and demonstrate its outstanding HSIC performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work focuses on the optimization of management strategies of energy supply chain in oil–gas enterprises to find out the optimal management strategy and overcome the fragility of the traditional energy supply system. Back propagation neural network (BPNN) is applied to energy supply predicting and energy security early warning in oil–gas enterprises, and the security early warning system is designed based on the auxiliary cognitive system. The security early warning system is used to predict the peak value of oil and gas supply, and then the detection performances and the data security transmission performances of different models are compared and analysed. Finally, a comprehensive evaluation model for security management of oil–gas supply chain based on the neural network is established. It is found that compared with convolutional neural network (CNNs), the improved BPNN model algorithm proposed shows increased accuracy by 5.4%, reduced model training time and test time, and improved accuracy and recall rate. The accuracy, recall rate, and F1 value of the proposed model are 88.48%, 75.88%, and 96.21%, respectively, which were obviously higher than those of the CNN. It suggests that the improved security management model of oil–gas supply chain shows better recognition and prediction accuracy. Based on the quantitative and qualitative analysis results, the optimization suggestions for management strategies in oil–gas enterprises are put forward, which is of strategic significance for improving the security of oil–gas supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Progressive neuronal loss is a hallmark feature distinguishing neurodegenerative diseases from normal ageing. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Extracellular K+ homeostasis is a potential mediator of neuronal injury as K+ elevations increase excitatory activity. The dysregulation of extracellular K+ and potassium channel expressions during neurodegeneration could contribute to this distinction. Here we measured the cortical extracellular K+ concentration ([K+]e) in awake wild-type mice as well as murine models of neurodegeneration using K+-sensitive microelectrodes. Unexpectedly, aged wild-type mice exhibited significantly lower cortical [K+]e than young mice. In contrast, cortical [K+]e was consistently elevated in Alzheimer's disease (APP/PS1), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (SOD1G93A) and Huntington's disease (R6/2) models. Cortical resting [K+]e correlated inversely with neuronal density and the [K+]e buffering rate but correlated positively with the predicted neuronal firing rate. Screening of astrocyte-selective genomic datasets revealed a number of potassium channel genes that were downregulated in these disease models but not in normal ageing. In particular, the inwardly rectifying potassium channel Kcnj10 was downregulated in ALS and Huntington's disease models but not in normal ageing, while Fxyd1 and Slc1a3 , each of which acts as a negative regulator of potassium uptake, were each upregulated by astrocytes in both Alzheimer's disease and ALS models. Chronic elevation of [K+]e in response to changes in gene expression and the attendant neuronal hyperexcitability may drive the neuronal loss characteristic of these neurodegenerative diseases. These observations suggest that the dysregulation of extracellular K+ homeostasis in a number of neurodegenerative diseases could be due to aberrant astrocytic K+ buffering and as such, highlight a fundamental role for glial dysfunction in neurodegeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid progress of urbanization in China, the real estate industry, characterized by a long industrial chain, has become a pillar industry for economic development. Therefore, we inspect the nexus between land finance, housing prices, and economic growth. For this purpose, we use the panel data of 277 cities at the prefecture level or above in China from 2011 to 2019, and empirically examine it by using the Panel Vector Auto Regression (PVAR) model. The results show that there is a causal relationship between housing prices and economic growth. Housing prices promote economic growth in the short term and inhibit it in the long term. Both economic growth and housing prices have a significant impact on land finance. The economic growth show a significantly positive impact, while housing prices promote land finance in the short term with a long-term trend from positive to negative. This is the first study that tries to probe the relationship between urban housing prices, land finance, and economic growth by considering 277 prefecture-level and above cities in China. To promote the stable development of the regional economy, local governments need to overcome their dependence on the housing market and land finance and promote the healthy development of the housing market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an overview of two years of research findings concerning the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai (HTHH) volcanic eruption in the stratospheric environment is provided, focusing on water vapor, aerosols, and ozone. Additionally, the potential impacts of these changes on aviation equipment materials are discussed. The HTHH volcanic eruption released a large amount of particles (e.g., ash and ice) and gases (e.g., H2O, SO2, and HCl), significantly affecting the redistribution of stratospheric water vapor and aerosols. Stratospheric water vapor increased by approximately 140–150 Tg (8–10%), with a concentration peak observed in the height range of 22.2–27 km (38–17 hPa). Satellite measurements indicate that the HTHH volcano injected approximately 0.2–0.5 Tg of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, which was partially converted into sulfate aerosols. In-situ observations revealed that the volcanic aerosols exhibit hygroscopic characteristics, with particle sizes ranging from 0.22–0.42 μm under background conditions to 0.42–1.27 μm. The moist stratospheric conditions increased the aerosol surface area, inducing heterogeneous chlorine chemical reactions on the aerosol surface, resulting in stratospheric ozone depletion in the HTHH plume within one week. In addition, atmospheric disturbances and ionospheric disruptions triggered by volcanic eruptions may adversely affect aircraft and communication systems. Further research is required to understand the evolution of volcanic aerosols and the impact of volcanic activity on aviation equipment materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite notable advancements achieved on Hyperspectral (HS) pansharpening tasks through deep learning techniques, previous methods are inherently constrained by convolution or self-attention intrinsic defects, leading to limited performance. In this paper, we proposed an Attention-Interactive Dual-Branch Convolutional Neural Network (AIDB-Net) for HS pansharpening. Our model purely consists of convolutional layers and simultaneously inherits the strengths of both convolution and self-attention, especially the modeling of short- and long-range dependencies. Specially, we first extract, tokenize, and align the hyperspectral image (HSI) and panchromatic image (PAN) by Overlapping Patch Embedding Blocks. Then, we specialize a novel Spectral-Spatial Interactive Attention which is able to globally interact and fuse the cross-modality features. The resultant token-global similarity scores can guide the refinement and renewal of the textural details and spectral characteristics within HSI features. By deeply combined these two paradigms, our AIDB-Net significantly improve the pansharpening performance. Moreover, with the acceleration by the convolution inductive bias, our interactive attention can be trained without large scale dataset and achieves competitive time cost with its counterparts. Compared with the state-of-the-art methods, our AIDB-Net makes 5.2%, 3.1%, and 2.2% improvement on PSNR metric on three public datasets, respectively. Comprehensive experiments quantitatively and qualitatively demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of our AIDB-Net. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducts two-dimensional numerical simulations of the flow over four square cylinders arranged side by side at a low Reynolds number (Re) of 100. The investigation primarily centers on the influence of the gap to a square cylinder width ratio (g*) on the flow. The range of g* spans from 0.1 to 7.0. Within this parameter range, three distinct flow regimes emerge based on the inherent flow characteristics. These regimes are defined as follows: (1) single bluff body flow (g* ≤ 0.3), (2) flip-flopping flow (0.3 < g* < 2.0), and (3) modulated periodic flow (g* ≥ 2.0). Additionally, the modulated periodic flow is further categorized into three distinct flow patterns. Various aspects of these different flow regimes are examined, including vortex contours, velocity fields, and liquid force coefficients around the cylinders. Moreover, detailed illustrations are provided for the modulation behaviors in vortex structures and liquid force coefficients. Finally, the proper orthogonal decomposition technique is employed to identify and analyze the underlying spatial coherent structures in the flow field, offering further insights into the dynamic features of wakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been considerable efforts in generating tree crown maps from satellite images. However, tree localization in urban environments using satellite imagery remains a challenging task. One of the difficulties in complex urban tree detection tasks lies in the segmentation of dense tree crowns. Currently, methods based on semantic segmentation algorithms have made significant progress. We propose to split the tree localization problem into two parts, dense clusters and single trees, and combine the target detection method with a procedural generation method based on planting rules for the complex urban tree detection task, which improves the accuracy of single tree detection. Specifically, we propose a two-stage urban tree localization pipeline that leverages deep learning and planting strategy algorithms along with region discrimination methods. This approach ensures the precise localization of individual trees while also facilitating distribution inference within dense tree canopies. Additionally, our method estimates the radius and height of trees, which provides significant advantages for three-dimensional reconstruction tasks from remote sensing images. We compare our results with other existing methods, achieving an 82.3% accuracy in individual tree localization. This method can be seamlessly integrated with the three-dimensional reconstruction of urban trees. We visualized the three-dimensional reconstruction of urban trees generated by this method, which demonstrates the diversity of tree heights and provides a more realistic solution for tree distribution generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objective: To summarize evidence from systematic reviews (SRs)/meta‐analyses (MAs) regarding the impact of dyadic interventions delivered to both members of a cancer dyad, including a cancer patient and caregiver (e.g. family caregiver, intimate partner). Design: This overview of SRs was conducted in accordance with the preferred reporting items for overviews of reviews statement. Methods: A comprehensive search of multiple databases, including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wan Fang. The methodological and reporting quality of SRs and MAs was assessed using the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2. The quality of the included SRs/MAs was evaluated using the Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. Results: Eighteen SRs/MAs undertook quantitative synthesis to assess the impact of dyadic interventions on cancer dyads. Both the credibility of the SRs/MAs and the evidence quality of the outcome measures were below satisfactory standards. Prior SRs/MAs revealed several limitations such as lack of pre‐published protocols or research objectives, failure to report excluded studies and insufficient details on funding sources for individual studies. Conclusions: Dyadic interventions may prove advantageous for the physical health and dyadic adjustment of cancer dyads. Nevertheless, the reported results of dyadic interventions on the psychological health of patient–caregiver dyads affected by cancer are inconsistent. Thus, rigorous and comprehensive studies are requisite to establish reliable evidence for conclusive determinations. Relevance to Clinical Practice: The findings of this overview can guide healthcare practitioners when considering the use of dyadic interventions for cancer dyads. Moreover, these findings have the potential to enhance the integration of these approaches into clinical practice. Patient or Public Contribution: Our paper presents an overview of systematic reviews, and therefore, such specific details may not be relevant to our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Scarce research has reported the efficacy and safety of laparoscopic distal gastrectomy in elderly patients. This retrospective study aimed to compare the outcomes of laparoscopic and open distal gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer in elderly patients. Methods: A total of 303 elderly patients who underwent distal gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer from June 2017 to June 2021 were enrolled. Variables used to calculate propensity score matching included sex, age, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists, history of diabetes, and history of hypertension. The statistical significance of continuous variables was tested using an independent sample t test. chi-square or Fisher's exact tests were used for categorical variables. Kaplan–Meier curve and log-rank test were used for the evaluation of 3-year overall survival and recurrence-free survival. Results: After performing 1:1 propensity score matching, 248 patients were included for analysis (laparoscopic = 124, open = 124). Compared with the open group, the laparoscopic group showed significant advantages in estimated blood loss (P < 0.001), pain scale on the first postoperative day (P = 0.002), time to first flatus (P = 0.004), time to first liquid diet (P = 0.005), hospital stays (P < 0.001), and total complications (P = 0.011), but devoted much more operation time (P < 0.001). No statistical difference was observed between the two groups in 3-year recurrence-free survival (P = 0.315) or overall survival (P = 0.159). Conclusions: Our analysis demonstrated that laparoscopic surgery had the advantages of less intraoperative blood loss, fewer postoperative complications, and faster postoperative recovery in distal gastrectomy for advanced gastric, indicating that laparoscopic distal gastrectomy is safe and effective for treating elderly patients with distal gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Poststroke sleep disturbances are common and can affect stroke outcomes, but the clinical studies mainly focus on breathing-related sleep disorders, while the bidirectional impact of circadian rhythm dysfunction in ischemic stroke remains unknown. This study observed the characteristics of melatonin secretion in acute ischemic stroke patients and evaluated whether melatonin rhythm impacts the prognosis after stroke by assessing the neurological function, cognition, emotion, and quality of life 3 months after stroke. Methods: Acute ischemic stroke patients were selected from the Department of Neurology Inpatients of the Second Hospital affiliated with Soochow University from October 2019 to July 2021. Healthy control subjects were recruited at the same time. Demographic and clinical data were collected, and relevant scale scores (including neurological function, cognition, emotion, and sleep) were assessed within 2 weeks of onset and followed up 3 months later. All participants collected salivary melatonin samples on the 4th day of hospitalization and dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) was calculated according to melatonin concentration. Stroke patients were then divided into three groups based on their DLMO values. Results: A total of 74 stroke patients and 33 control subjects were included in this analysis. Compared with healthy controls, stroke patients exhibited a delayed melatonin rhythm during the acute phase of stroke (21:36 vs. 20:38, p = 0.004). Stroke patients were then divided into three groups, namely normal (n = 36), delayed (n = 28), or advanced DLMO (n = 10), based on their DLMO values. A χ2 test showed that there were significant differences in the rate of poor prognosis (p = 0.011) and depression tendency (p = 0.028) among the three groups. A further pairwise comparison revealed that stroke patients with delayed DLMO were more likely to experience poor short-term outcomes than normal DLMO group (p = 0.003). The average melatonin concentration of stroke patients at 5 time points was significantly lower than that of the control group (3.145 vs. 7.065 pg/mL, p < 0.001). Accordingly, we split stroke patients into three groups, namely low melatonin level (n = 14), normal melatonin level (n = 54), or high melatonin level (n = 6). Unfortunately, there were no great differences in the clinical characteristics, cognition, emotion, sleep quality, and short-term outcome among groups. Conclusions: This is a preliminary study, and our results indicate that changes in melatonin secretion phase of stroke patients may have effect on their short-term prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood discharge atomization is a phenomenon of water droplets and mist diffusion caused by dam discharge, which brings heavy rainfall around the dam. The unnatural rainfall is harmful to the safe operation of hydropower stations and the stability of slopes. Jet splashing is the most important factor in the formation of flood discharge atomization. The splashing rainfall intensity and diffusion region are highly dependent on the jet impingement conditions. In this study, a two-dimensional splashing model is derived that describes the splashing rainfall distribution when a jet impinges on a plunge pool surface in terms of the jet impingement conditions. Given the close relationship between the splashing rainfall intensity distribution and the motion trajectories of droplets, it is hypothesized that certain droplet trajectories can accurately represent the distribution of rainfall intensity. The characteristic ejection angle of splashing droplets and the splashing diffusion coefficient are introduced to estimate the characteristic trajectories of droplets. Experimental data from laboratory tests are used to estimate the parameters of the splashing model. The current predictions are compared with the data from laboratory tests and prototype observations. The results suggest that the model accurately predicts the relative rainfall intensity at the upper region of the predicted curves, which corresponds to approximately 1/10 of the total height of the ideal parabola. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• VN/Mo 2 C heterointerfaces nanoparticles are monodispersed on N-doped carbon nanosheets. • Mo 2 C and VN synergistically promote the diffusion and conversion of polysulfides. • The functional separator also has excellent protective effect on the lithium anode. • The modified separator exhibits superb electrochemical performance in Li-S batteries. Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery is deemed as one of the optimal next-generation energy storage devices due to its low cost and high energy density. However, the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfide (LiPS), sluggish reaction kinetics, and fatal Li-dendrite growth hinder its practical applications. In this work, a bifunctional nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheet conductive framework embedded with VN-Mo 2 C heterointerfaces (VN/Mo 2 C@CNS) is reported as a separator modifier for both sulfur cathode and lithium anode. The VN/Mo 2 C@CNS can offer a synergistic effect of strong surface affinity, good catalytic activity, and small diffusion barrier to accelerate the conversion of polysulfides, which was confirmed by in-situ Raman and theoretical calculation. Moreover, the composite has good lithiophilicity, thus inhibiting the formation of dendrites and achieving uniform lithium deposition. Benefiting from the above merits, the Li-S cells with VN/Mo 2 C@CNS separator obtain desirable rate performance (687 mAh g−1 at 4 C), long cycle life of 1000 cycles (0.042 % capacity attenuation per cycle at 1 C), high areal capacity of 4.2 mAh cm−2 (under a high sulfur loading of 5.6 mg cm−2), and stable performance in protecting the Li anode (at 5 mA cm−2 for 1000 h). This work highlights a novel strategy for facilely designing heterostructures, offering valuable insights to tackle sulfur cathode and lithium anode challenges simultaneously for longevous Li-S batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Screening for fentanyl has been adopted by many clinical laboratories to detect illicit drug use and monitor medication adherence. However, compared to other urine drug testing, fentanyl screening assays are relatively new and therefore their clinical performances are largely unknown. This study extensively evaluated the clinical performance, positive cutoff, and interference profile of SEFRIA fentanyl immunoassay in real patient settings. The FDA-cleared cutoff of 1.0 was verified with 21 urine samples with low or undetectable levels of fentanyl. After assay implementation, all screened-positive samples were confirmed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A new cutoff was derived from the numeric values of the false positive (FP) screening results. The FP rates before and after implementing the new cutoff were compared. Interferences were identified by an untargeted drug analysis and confirmed by spiking experiments. A total of 3951 screening results were reviewed in the first two months of the assay utilization, 410 were screened-positive, and 157 (38 %) were FP. After a new cutoff of 1.3 was implemented, the FP rate was reduced to 17 % based on 11119 screening results. Trazodone, labetalol, and haloperidol were identified as major interferents, accounting for 56 % of the FP results using the cutoff of 1.3. By applying the new cutoff and including an interference comment to positive screening results, the FP rate was reduced from initial 38 % to 7.5 % (17 % times 56 %). • A false positive rate of 38 % was observed with the FDA-cleared cutoff of 1.0. • A new cutoff of 1.3 was implemented, and the false positive rate dropped to 17 %. • Interferences were identified by an untargeted drug analysis and spiking studies. • Trazodone, labetalol, and haloperidol accounted for 56 % of the false positives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early prostatic cancer (PCa) diagnosis significantly improves the chances of successful treatment and enhances patient survival rates. Traditional enzyme cascade-based early cancer detection methods offer efficiency and signal amplification but are limited by cost, complexity, and enzyme dependency, affecting stability and practicality. Meanwhile, sarcosine (Sar) is commonly considered a biomarker for PCa development. It is essential to develop a Sar detection method based on cascade reactions, which should be efficient, low skill requirement, and suitable for on-site testing. To address this, our study introduces the synthesis of organic-inorganic self-assembled nanoflowers to optimize existing detection methods. The Sar oxidase (SOX)-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers (Cu 3 (PO 4) 2 :Ce@SOX) possess inherent fluorescent properties and excellent peroxidase activity, coupled with efficient enzyme loading. Based on this, we have developed a dual-mode multi-enzyme cascade nanoplatform combining fluorescence and colorimetric methods for the detection of Sar. The encapsulation yield of Cu 3 (PO 4) 2 :Ce@SOX reaches 84.5 %, exhibiting a remarkable enhancement in catalytic activity by 1.26–1.29 fold compared to free SOX. The present study employing a dual-signal mechanism encompasses 'turn-off' fluorescence signals ranging from 0.5 μM to 60 μM, with a detection limit of 0.226 μM, and 'turn-on' colorimetric signals ranging from 0.18 μM to 60 μM, with a detection limit of 0.120 μM. Furthermore, our study developed an intelligent smartphone sensor system utilizing cotton swabs for real-time analysis of Sar without additional instruments. The nano-platform exhibits exceptional repeatability and stability, rendering it well-suited for detecting Sar in authentic human urine samples. This innovation allows for immediate analysis, offering valuable insights for portable and efficient biosensors applicable to Sar and other analytes. A fluorescence and smartphone colorimetric sensing dual-mode multienzyme cascade based on oxidation-induced self-assembled nanoflowers for sarcosine's sensitive and selective detection. [Display omitted] • The simple synthesis method includes SOX as part of the enzyme-like catalyst. • The fluorescence was quenched by the SOX + Sar system, with activating nanozyme activity. • The generated H 2 O 2 has the effect of killing two birds with one stone for the cascade reaction system. • A chromogenic cotton swabs-based smartphone sensing system was developed for sarcosine analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The learning and memory abilities of GHP offspring rats were significantly lower than those of normal rat offspring. • Sal treatment can significantly increase the expression of Wnt1 and Skp2 protein, and decrease the expression of P27kiwf and P21waf1protein. • Sal significantly promoted the proliferation and differentiation on neural stem cell, while Wnt1 knockdown could reverse these promotions by Sal. • Sal treatment significantly increased the expression of Tuj1, SOX2, Ki67 and DCX protein. Salidroside (Sal) has been found to protect against multiple impairments caused by diabetes, and we designed this study to investigate the effect of Sal on gestational hypertension (GHP)-induced impairment of offspring learning and memory. We established a GHP rat model by intraperitoneal injection of NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), and treated with Sal by daily gavage. We used Morris Water Maze test to evaluate the learning and memory ability of offspring rats. HE staining was used to measured the pathological changes in hippocampus of offspring. Immunohistochemistry, cellular immunofluorescence and western blot were used to detect the protein expression. The learning and memory abilities of GHP offspring rats were significantly lower than those of normal rat offspring, while Sal treatment could significantly improve the learning and memory abilities of GHP offspring rats. HE staining did not reveal pathological differences in the hippocampus of normal rats, GHP rats and Sal-treated GHP offspring rats. However, Sal treatment can significantly increase the expression of Wnt1 and Skp2 protein, and decrease the expression of P27kiwf and P21waf1 protein in the hippocampus of GHP offspring rats. In vitro, Sal significantly promoted the proliferation and differentiation on neural stem cell, while Wnt1 knockdown could reverse these promotions by Sal. In the hippocampus of GHP offspring rats, Sal treatment significantly increased the expression of Tuj1, SOX2, Ki67 and DCX protein. Salidroside significantly improves the learning and memory impairment of offspring caused by GHP, and its mechanism may be related to the fact that Salidroside promotes the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells by activating the Wnt1/Skp2 signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The published funding statement is inaccurate. The correct funding statement is as follows: This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China General Program (72373037), Social Science Foundation of Hunan Province Key Program (22ZDB080), Provincial Natural Science Foundation of Hunan (2022JJ30116).By Qian Sun; Sohail Ahmad Javeed; Yong Tang and Yan FengReported by Author; Author; Author; Author [Extracted from the article]

• The proposed model can be used for IFTs and MMPs prediction in nanopores. • Critical properties shift dominates IFT and MMP reduction over capillary pressure. • IFTs and MMPs become less sensitive to pore size when the pore radius exceeds 15 nm. • Mixing rule is more reasonable for MMP prediction in a real reservoir. CO 2 miscible flooding is considered to be a cost-effective and efficient method for improving shale oil recovery. The minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) between CO 2 and shale oil in nanopores is a crucial parameter for assessing the viability of miscible flooding. Experimental methods are often inadequate for capturing phase transition behaviors at the nanoscale. Therefore, it is essential to establish a comprehensive theoretical model to explore the phase behavior and miscibility of fluids confined in nanopores. Besides, the real shale formations have highly heterogeneous pore spaces, where the effect of pore size distribution on the MMP prediction should be properly addressed. In this research, a thermodynamic model that accounts for the nano-confinement effect is proposed to describe the interfacial tensions (IFTs) and MMPs profiles based on the vanishing interfacial tension (VIT) method. Firstly, a modified Peng-Robinson equation of state (PR-EOS) was employed for the vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) calculations at the nanopores by considering the capillary pressure effect and critical properties shift. Secondly, the model validation and the effect of temperature, pore radius, alkane type, and injected gas components on IFTs and MMPs were launched to analyze the nano-confinement effect. Finally, the model was applied to real shale oil to explore how pore size distribution affected the MMP in nanopores. The simulation results show that IFTs and MMPs calculated by the proposed model match very well with the experimental and molecular dynamic simulation (MD) results. The critical properties shift is the main cause for IFT and MMP reduction compared with capillary pressure. The MMPs of CO 2 -alkanes initially increase and then decrease with increasing temperature in nanopores. The IFTs and MMPs increase with pore radius, carbon number of alkanes. However, the IFTs and MMPs become less sensitive to pore size when the pore radius exceeds 15 nm. Higher C 2 H 6 & C 3 H 8 mole fractions decrease the MMP of confined fluids, while higher CH 4 mole fraction increases MMP. The MMPs calculated by considering the pore size distribution are lower than those calculated using the average pore radius. Therefore, the mixing rule should be considered when the pore size distribution is provided. We hope this model can give a more precise depiction of fluid phase behaviors in shale reservoirs, thereby facilitating the development of shale oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A mild pressure-assisted hydrothermal pretreatment was developed to facilitate PHK. • Air pressure of 3 MPa improved hemicelluloses removal more than heating up 10 °C. • Pressurised PHK facilitated the reduction of active alkali content in Kraft process. • This strategy could provide superior cellulose properties and purity. The efficient removal of hemicelluloses while preventing cellulose hydrolysis is crucial in Kraft pulping yet remains challenging. Herein, a mild pressure-assisted hydrothermal pretreatment strategy was developed in this study prior to Kraft pulping. Research indicated that pretreatment at 155 °C under 3 MPa pressure significantly enhances hemicelluloses removal (to 70.63 %), surpassing even that at 165 °C under ambient pressure. Moreover, during pre-hydrolysis Kraft pulping, pressure-assisted hydrothermal pretreatment could reduce the concentration of active alkali used in the subsequent pulping process. The cellulose properties (viscosity = 491 ml/g) and purity (R10 = 94.60 %) of bleached pulp obtained from pressure-assisted hydrothermal pretreatment outperform those obtained from conventional hydrolysis. Furthermore, the removed hemicelluloses were converted into monosaccharides and polysaccharides to produce high-value chemicals in downstream processes. Therefore, pressure-assisted hydrothermal pretreatment not only enhanced hemicelluloses removal and pulp properties but also reduced alkali concentration in the subsequent pulping process, promoting sustainable development in pulp production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Respiratory sensor based on two segments of plastic optical fibers and a clamp based on the 3D printing technology is proposed. • The experiment demonstrates the scheme's capability to detect a broad range of stable respiratory frequencies and weak signals. • An automatic multi-scale peak detection algorithm is utilized to achieve real-time display of transient respiratory rate, which enables the timely feedback of apnea and abnormal signals. A respiratory signal sensing scheme based on plastic optical fiber and smartphone is proposed. Respiratory signals are achieved by detecting the changes in abdominal circumference caused by the inhalation and exhalation of air from the lungs during breathing. A flexible clamp is prepared based on the 3D printing technology and the changes in abdominal circumference are leading to the lateral distance variation between the end face of the two plastic optical fibers in the clamp. The experiment demonstrates the scheme's capability to detect a broad range of stable respiratory frequencies and weak signals. Finally, an automatic multi-scale peak detection algorithm is utilized to achieve real-time display of transient respiratory rate, which enables the timely feedback of apnea and abnormal signals. The proposed respiratory sensing system provides an efficient, accurate, convenient and low-cost solution for human physiological signal monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of data-driven complex ship-motion attitude prediction models not only depends on the structure and algorithm design of the model but is also affected by the quantity and quality of training samples. Insufficient available data, resulting from factors such as low sampling rates and high costs, could inhibit the achievement of optimal prediction accuracy. This limitation in turn increases the model's expected generalization error of the model and causes overfitting in regression models. Nevertheless, by artificially expanding the training dataset, data-augmentation methods enhance the resistance of the model to overfitting, thereby improving the prediction performance. This study introduces a novel data-driven model for ship-motion prediction based on the principles of Slim Generative Adversarial Imputation Networks (SGAINs). The model not only increases the amount of data but also considers temporal correlation features in the enhancement process, thus uniquely addressing the issue of poor accuracy of prediction models caused by insufficient training datasets. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed model for short-term ship-motion attitude data augmentation. • The autocorrelation from state variable sequences sets the sliding window length and ensures inputs' relevance. • A robust framework is effectively constructed for data expansion for ship-motion attitude. • The model's accuracy ties to training length and balances complexity and precision. Bayesian optimization boosts prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to develop a multifunctional wound dressing with enhanced antibacterial properties and wound healing promotion. The synthesis process involved preparing oxidized regenerated cellulose (ORC) following a modified procedure, synthesizing chitosan/silver nanoparticles (CS/Ag NPs) via an in-situ reduction method, and subsequently preparing ORC/CS/Lys@Ag NPs hydrogels. Characterization techniques including FTIR, XRD, SEM, and EDS were employed to analyze functional groups, lattice structure, morphology, and elemental composition. Gelation time, swelling behavior, water retention, mechanical properties, viscosity, self-healing capacity, rheological behavior, oxygen permeability, in vitro degradation, release of Ag+, and antibacterial properties were evaluated using various experimental methods. Results indicated that the novel wound dressing has the capability to evenly distribute Ag NPs to effectively counteract bacteria. It can maintain moist conditions for 86 h, resist a sturdy mechanical pressure of 11.3 KPa, and degrade by 11.045 % ± 0.429 within 8 h. Combining its efficient gas exchange abilities, self-repairing function, and biocompatibility, almost full recovery was observed in injured mouse skin within 13 days, highlighting its promising clinical utility. [Display omitted] • Novel ORC/CS/Lys@Ag NPs hydrogel dressing successfully developed. • In situ synthesis yields well-distributed nanosilver, ensuring antibacterial efficacy. • Introduction of lysine significantly promotes comprehensive wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A potent ionizable lipid nanoparticle and its lyophilization formulation was developed to efficiently co-delivery of Cas9 mRNA and sgRNA for genome editing. [Display omitted] CRISPR-Cas genome editing technology holds great promise for wide-ranging biomedical applications. However, the development of efficient delivery system for CRISPR-Cas components remains challenging. Herein, we synthesized a series of ionizable lipids by conjugation of alkyl-acrylate to different amine molecules and further assembled ionizable lipid nanoparticles (iLNPs) for co-delivery of Cas9 mRNA and sgRNA. Among all the iLNP candidates, 1A14-iLNP with lipids containing spermine as amine head, demonstrated the highest cellular uptake, endosomal escape and mRNA expression in vitro. Co-delivery of Cas9 mRNA and sgRNA targeting EGFP by 1A14-iLNP achieved the highest EGFP knockout efficiency up to 70% in HeLa-EGFP cells. In addition, 1A14-iLNP displayed passive liver-targeting delivery of Cas9 mRNA in vivo with good biocompatibility. Moreover, we developed a simple method of lyophilization-mediated reverse transfection of CRISPR-Cas9 components for efficient genome editing. Therefore, the developed 1A14-iLNP and the lyophilization formulation, represent a potent solution for CRISPR-Cas9 delivery, which might broaden the future of biomedical applications of both mRNA and CRISPR-based therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The correlation between process and microstructure for laser writing Cu/C composites has been established. • The electrochemical energy storage performance of Cu/C composites has been investigated. • The factors influencing the energy storage performance of the composites have been discussed. One-step laser written copper-carbon (Cu-C) composites are ideal for assembling supercapacitors, but their structuring-performance correlation remains unclear. In this study, the microstructure of written composites has been controlled by varying the laser power. Their electrochemical energy storage performance has been investigated and compared to reveal the contribution of each component. The porous carbon-rich (C-rich) structure, introduced by laser carbonization of the substrate, can provide abundant active sites for the Faraday reaction of the copper-rich (Cu-rich) structure. The continuous sintered Cu-rich structure, obtained by laser reduction of ionic precursor and in-situ joining, can ensure fast transfer of electrons in the composites. Owing to their synergistic effect, our optimal composite exhibits an excellent specific capacity of 107.2 C/cm2 at 1 mA/cm2. This study provides a theoretical reference for the development of high-performance supercapacitors. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Our research demonstrated the significance of SDC2 and NDRG4 methylation in early CRC diagnosis and screening using fast, easy and noninvasive fecal samples. • The two genes showed a high frequency of methylation in stool and could be candidate biomarkers for CRC diagnosis with stool-based approach, especially when combined. Recent studies have identified methylated SDC2 and NDRG4 in colorectal cancer (CRC), however, the diagnostic value of the combined two genes remains undefined. This study aims to investigate the methylation of SDC2 and NDRG4 in stool samples and their application in diagnosis of CRC. Five groups were enrolled in our study which consisted of CRC (n = 138), advanced adenomas (n = 27), polyp (n = 35), intestinal disease control (n = 150), and healthy individuals (n = 28). Methylation status of SDC2 and NDRG4 in fecal samples were tested with appropriate commercial kits. Primary data were collected and statistical analyses were performed. The positive rates of both SDC2 and NDRG4 methylation in stool samples of CRC group were significantly higher (P < 0.001) than those of either group of advanced adenomas, or polyp, or intestinal disease or the healthy control. It was suggested that both methylated SDC2,NDRG4, SDC2/NDRG4 and age were independent risk factors for CRC. The sensitivity of SDC2 and NDRG4 for CRC diagnosis were 73.9 % and 63.0 %, respectively, while SDC2 combined with NDRG4 had a higher sensitivity of 85.5 %. The specificity of SDC2, NDRG4 and SDC2 combined with NDRG4 achieved 91.6 %, 88.3 % and 84.6 %, respectively. The AUC for methylated SDC2 and NDRG4 were 0.828 (95 % CI: 0.780–0.876) and 0.757 (95 % CI: 0.703–0.811), respectively. In contrast, SDC2 combined with NDRG4 improved the AUC to 0.850 (95 % CI: 0.807–0.893). This research confirmed the significance of detection of SDC2 and NDRG4 methylation by using noninvasive samples of stool. More importantly, attributing to their high level and frequency of methylation in stool, SDC2 and NDRG4 could be promising biomarkers for stool-based method for screening and early diagnosis of CRC, especially when combined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sc microalloying and isothermal multidirectional compression (IMC) are important methods to refine grains and improve the mechanical properties of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Zr alloys. Herein, EBSD, SAXS and TEM have been carried out to investigate the effect of IMC and minor Sc on the microstructure, especially for grain boundary wetting, and mechanical properties of aged Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Zr alloys by melting and hot compression process parameter optimization. The results show that the strength and plasticity can be obviously improved simultaneously by minor Sc addition and IMC. Especially, stripy GBs (one kind of typical GB complexion) have been widely observed for alloy samples after microalloying Sc and IMC, which indicates the occurrence of GB wetting for Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Zr alloy. And the GB wetting degree gradually increases for alloys with only microalloying Sc, only IMC and (microalloying Sc + IMC). Combined with GB wetting, the formation of Al 3 (Sc, Zr) due to Sc addition could inhibit the motion of dislocation and grain boundary, which promotes formation and inhibit growth of recrystallized grains, leading to further grain refinement. Besides, GB wetting degree would affect the precipitate distribution, especially for grain boundary precipitates. Also, GB wetting probably promote grain bridging, which is beneficial to improve the yield strength and ductility of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Zr alloys. The concurrent effect of grain refinement, the precipitate including finer Al 3 (Sc, Zr) particles, dislocation strengthening and grain bridging contribute to the simultaneous improvement of the strength and ductility of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Zr alloys under IMC and Sc. This study provides a new understanding on microalloying Sc combined with IMC on the microstructure and properties of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Zr alloys. [Display omitted] • IMC and minor Sc induce nonlinear GB wetting of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Zr alloy. • Sc, IMC and (Sc + IMC) cause gradually increased GB wetting degrees. • Minor Sc promotes formation and inhibits growth of recrystallization grain. • GB complexion transition affecting the mechanical properties of alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Journey to crime describes the spatial patterns of offenders from their residential area to the crime location. When compared to other research topics regarding urban crime, there is still a lack of research on journey to crime, especially in China, as a result of which the behavioural motivation of offenders cannot be comprehensively examined. Four typical types of crimes committed against property (pickpocketing, robbery, theft and burglary) were investigated in the Nanguan District of Changchun from 2010 to 2016. The results showed significant effects of the demographic characteristics of offenders and spatiotemporal factors on the journey to crime. In terms of the place of household registration, offenders from the central urban districts of Changchun tend to commit short‐distance local robbery, whereas those from the suburban counties tend to commit long‐distance non‐local crimes. With increasing population density, the proportion of local plunders increases directly. This study aims to encourage urban managers to rethink the governance of floating populations, and assist police in strengthening social security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Lung cancer (LC) and breast cancer (BC) are the most common causes of brain metastases (BMs). Time from primary diagnosis to BM (TPDBM) refers to the time interval between initial LC or BC diagnosis and development of BM. This research aims to identify clinical, molecular, and therapeutic risk factors associated with shorter TPDBM. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all diagnosed LC and BC patients with BM at Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital from 2016 to 2020. A total of 570 patients with LC brain metastasis (LCBM) and 173 patients with breast cancer brain metastasis (BCBM) patients who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled for further analysis. BM free survival time curves were generated using Kaplan–Meier analyses. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were applied to identify risk factors associated with earlier development of BM in LC and BC, respectively. Results: The median TPDBM was 5.3 months in LC and 44.4 months in BC. In multivariate analysis, clinical stage IV and M1 stage were independent risk factors for early development of LCBM. LC patients who received chemotherapy, targeted therapy, pulmonary radiotherapy, and pulmonary surgery had longer TPDBM. For BC patients, age ≥ 50 years, Ki67 ≥ 0.3, HER2 positive or triple‐negative breast cancer subtype, advanced N stage, and no mastectomy were correlated with shorter TPDBM. Conclusions: This single‐institutional study helps identify patients who have a high risk of developing BM early. For these patients, early detection and intervention could have clinical benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitric oxide (NO) exhibits both pro‐ and anti‐tumor effects. Therefore, real‐time in vivo imaging and quantification of tumor NO dynamics are essential for understanding the conflicting roles of NO played in pathophysiology. The current molecular probes, however, cannot provide high‐resolution imaging in deep tissues, making them unsuitable for these purposes. Herein, we designed a photoacoustic probe with an absorption maximum beyond 1000 nm for high spatial quantitative imaging of in vivo tumor NO dynamics. The probe exhibits remarkable sensitivity, selective ratiometric response behavior, and good tumor‐targeting abilities, facilitating ratiometric imaging of tumor NO throughout tumor progression in a micron‐resolution level. Using the probe as the imaging agent, we successfully quantified NO dynamics in tumor, liver and kidney. We have pinpointed an essential concentration threshold of around 80 nmol/cm3 for NO, which plays a crucial role in the "double‐edged‐sword" function of NO in tumors. Furthermore, we revealed a reciprocal relationship between the NO concentration in tumors and that in the liver, providing initial insights into the possible NO‐mediated communication between tumor and the liver. We believe that the probe will help resolve conflicting aspects of NO biology and guide the design of imaging agents for tumor diagnosis and anti‐cancer drug screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitric oxide (NO) exhibits both pro‐ and anti‐tumor effects. Therefore, real‐time in vivo imaging and quantification of tumor NO dynamics are essential for understanding the conflicting roles of NO played in pathophysiology. The current molecular probes, however, cannot provide high‐resolution imaging in deep tissues, making them unsuitable for these purposes. Herein, we designed a photoacoustic probe with an absorption maximum beyond 1000 nm for high spatial quantitative imaging of in vivo tumor NO dynamics. The probe exhibits remarkable sensitivity, selective ratiometric response behavior, and good tumor‐targeting abilities, facilitating ratiometric imaging of tumor NO throughout tumor progression in a micron‐resolution level. Using the probe as the imaging agent, we successfully quantified NO dynamics in tumor, liver and kidney. We have pinpointed an essential concentration threshold of around 80 nmol/cm3 for NO, which plays a crucial role in the "double‐edged‐sword" function of NO in tumors. Furthermore, we revealed a reciprocal relationship between the NO concentration in tumors and that in the liver, providing initial insights into the possible NO‐mediated communication between tumor and the liver. We believe that the probe will help resolve conflicting aspects of NO biology and guide the design of imaging agents for tumor diagnosis and anti‐cancer drug screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study investigates the impact of pension on depressive symptoms among Chinese older adults. Additional effort is made to test the mediating effect of multidimensional downward intergenerational support and the moderating effect of age on this relationship. Methods: A total of 1828 Chinese older community‐dwellers who met our inclusion criteria are drawn from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Multivariate regression modeling is applied to analyze the effect of pensions on depressive symptoms of older adults. Additionally, bootstrap method with resampling strategies is used to estimate the mediating effect of three dimensions of downward intergenerational support (instrumental, emotional, and financial support). Further, Johnson‐Neyman technique is employed to analysis and visualize the moderating effect of age. Results: The findings reveal a significant inverse relationship between pension levels and depressive symptoms (B = −6.664, SE = 2.826, p < 0.05). The analysis shows that downward intergenerational emotional support (B = −0.195, Boot SE = 0.103, 95% Boot CI [−0.404, −0.003]) serves as a partial mediator in this relationship. Furthermore, the results highlight the moderating role of age in the linkage between pension and depressive symptoms (B = 0.065, SE = 0.039, p < 0.1). Discussion: This investigation is pioneering in simultaneously assessing the mediating role of multidimensional downward intergenerational support and the moderating effect of age in the context of pension and depressive symptoms. The study underscores the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach in devising comprehensive intervention strategies. These should encompass pension policy consultation, respite services, and other crucial elements aimed at mitigating the severity or reducing the risk of depressive symptoms among the older adults. Key points: We discovered a moderating effect of age on the relationship between pension benefits and depressive symptoms in older adults, and further elucidated this effect using the Johnson‐Neyman method.Concurrently, we employed bootstrapping methods to validate the mediating effect of downward intergenerational support between pension benefits and depressive symptoms in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past several decades, deep neural networks have been extensively applied to medical image segmentation tasks, achieving significant success. However, the effectiveness of traditional deep segmentation networks is substantially limited by the small scale of medical datasets, a limitation directly stemming from current medical data acquisition capabilities. To this end, we introduce AttEUnet, a medical cell segmentation network enhanced by edge attention, based on the Attention U-Net architecture. It incorporates a detection branch enhanced with edge attention and a learnable fusion gate unit to improve segmentation accuracy and convergence speed on small medical datasets. The AttEUnet allows for the integration of various types of prior information into the backbone network according to different tasks, offering notable flexibility and generalization ability. This method was trained and validated on two public datasets, MoNuSeg and PanNuke. The results show that AttEUnet significantly improves segmentation performance on small medical datasets, especially in capturing edge details, with F1 scores of 0.859 and 0.888 and Intersection over Union (IoU) scores of 0.758 and 0.794 on the respective datasets, outperforming both convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and transformer-based baseline networks. Furthermore, the proposed method demonstrated a convergence speed over 10.6 times faster than that of the baseline networks. The edge attention branch proposed in this study can also be added as an independent module to other classic network structures and can integrate more attention priors based on the task at hand, offering considerable scalability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The 4-hydroxysesamin (4-HS, a di-tetrahydrofuran lignin) is a modified sesamin that was prepared in the laboratory. This preclinical study was designed to preliminarily investigate the neuroprotective properties of 4-HS. Methods: In vitro, neuronal injury and inflammation were simulated by oxygen-glucose deprivation and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure in mouse hippocampal neuronal HT22 cell line, and treated with 4-HS and/or metformin (MET, MAPK pathway activator for exploring mechanism). CCK-8, flow cytometry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were performed to evaluate cell viability, apoptosis, and inflammation. Apoptosis- and pathway-related proteins were detected by Western blotting. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was constructed as a stroke model and treated with 4-HS for in vivo confirmation. Histological staining was used for in vivo evaluation of 4-HS properties. Results: The 4-HS showed similar anti-inflammatory activity to sesamin but did not affect the cell viability of HT22 cells. In vitro, 4-HS improved the cell viability, ameliorated neuronal apoptosis, along with the reversion of apoptotic proteins (Bax, cleaved-caspase 3/9, Bcl-2) expression and inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-10) in LPS-treated HT22 cells. The 4-HS suppressed the phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, and p38 but the addition of MET reversed 4-HS-induced changes of phenotype and protein expression in LPS-treated cells. In vivo, 4-HS showed apparent improvement in cerebral infarction, brain tissue morphology, neuronal architecture, apoptosis, and inflammation of MCAO mice, and also showed inhibiting effects on the phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, and p38, confirming in vivo results. Conclusion: In this first pre-clinical study on 4-HS, we preliminarily demonstrated the neuroprotective properties of 4-HS both in cell and animal models, and proposed that the underlying mechanism might be associated with the MAPK pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

17β-Estradiol (E2) has been widely detected in natural water and treatment with E2 induces potential endocrine disrupting effects in fish. However, effects on fish fecundity and steroid system after treatment with environmentally relevant concentrations of E2 for the full sexual maturation cycle remain unclear. In this study, zebrafish were treatment with 0, 10 or 100 ng/L E2 from embryo to adult stage, and effects on gonadal development and differentiation, steroid hormone levels, transcription of genes associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal-liver (HPG) axis in adults and fertilization rate of offspring were assessed. The results showed that treatment with E2 lead to increased number of feminization in zebrafish. In females, E2 decreased cumulative amount of spawning and inhibited the maturation of oocyte. In males, E2 inhibited the maturation and motility of sperm, as well as decreased the movement speed of sperm. These adverse effects on sperm might be responsible for the reduced fertilization observed in offspring. In addition, treatment with E2 changed the levels of steroid hormones in zebrafish gonad and altered the transcriptional levels of genes associated with HPG axis, which is responsible for the regulation of germ cells maturation and gonadal development in zebrafish. Overall, these results suggested that treatment with environmentally relevant concentrations of E2 for the full sexual maturity cycle resulted in adverse effects on reproduction in zebrafish. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a pharmaceutical drug delivery system (DDS) faces two problems: low drug capacity and poor biodegradability. This study focused on synthesizing two iron-based crystalline porous materials (CPMs) with a cationic framework and their loading capacities and sustained release behavior for diclofenac sodium (DS), an anionic drug. The moderate hierarchical structures and the positively charged frameworks confer upon the two compounds an exceptionally high adsorption capacity for DS under electrostatic attraction, with drug loadings reaching 36.92 and 68.55 wt%, respectively. As for the DS sustained release behavior, the whole process lasted up to 96 hours in both of the two CPM drug carriers, considerably prolonging the release time of DS, which helped reduce blood drug concentration and drug toxicity. In addition, the drug delivery system DS@Fe-CPM-1 in the gastric juice (pH = 1.5) exhibited a more effective release, while DS@Fe-CPM-2 showed excellent delivery in normal tissues (pH = 7.4), indicating that they can be used in different physiological surroundings according to intrinsic pH-responsive behavior. The cytotoxicity test demonstrated that both the iron-based crystalline materials were biocompatible, which is critical to developing new drug delivery systems in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Soymilk is a high‐quality source of protein and minerals, such as calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn). However, phytic acid in soymilk restricts mineral and protein availability. We here investigated the effects of removing phytic acid on the physicochemical properties, mineral (Ca, Fe, and Zn) bioaccessibility, and protein digestibility of soymilk. RESULTS: Physicochemical property analysis revealed that the removal of phytic acid reduced protein accumulation at the gastric stage, thereby facilitating soymilk matrix digestion. The removal of phytic acid significantly increased Zn bioaccessibility by 18.19% in low‐protein soymilk and Ca and Fe bioaccessibility by 31.20% and 30.03%, respectively, in high‐protein soymilk. CONCLUSION: Removing phytic acid was beneficial for the hydrolysis of high‐molecular‐weight proteins and increased the soluble protein content in soymilk, which was conducive to protein digestion. This study offers a feasible guide for developing plant‐based milk with high nutrient bioaccessibility. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior literature finds senior executives can influence auditor decision making. However, few studies have discussed the impact of employee's personal characteristics. Our research aims to fill the above research gaps by examining the impact of employee level education on audit costs. Taking A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2006 to 2021 as the research object, this paper examines the impact of employee education on audit fees. It is found that highly educated employees can effectively reduce the audit fees borne by the company, but the implementation of the Labor Protection Law weakens this inhibitory effect. In the case of low marketization level and weak Confucian culture intensity, employee education level has a more significant inhibitory effect on audit fees of listed companies. This study provides a basis for empirical research on the impact of employee attributes on auditor decision making, provides a new research perspective on the impact of labor protection law at the corporate micro level, and enriches the theoretical research on corporate governance rooted in traditional Chinese culture. We contribute to the practice that implications for evaluating the effectiveness of adopting labor protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Brachytherapy has been indicated as an alternative option for treating cystic craniopharyngiomas (CPs). The potential benefits of brachytherapy for CPs have not yet been clarified. The purpose of this work was to conduct a meta-analysis to analyze the long-term efficacy and adverse reactions profile of brachytherapy for CPs. Materials and methods: The relevant databases were searched to collect the clinical trials on brachytherapy in patients with CPs. Included studies were limited to publications in full manuscript form with at least 5-year median follow-up, and adequate reporting of treatment outcomes and adverse reactions data. Stata 12.0 was used for data analysis. Results: According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 6 clinical trials involving 266 patients with CPs were included in this meta-analysis. The minimum average follow-up was 5 years. The results of the meta-analysis showed that 1-year, 2–3 years and 5 years progression free survival rates (PFS) are 75% (95%CI: 66-84%), 62% (95%CI: 52-72%) and 57% (95%CI: 22-92%), respectively. At the last follow-up, less than 16% of patients with visual outcomes worser than baseline in all included studies. While, for endocrine outcomes, less than 32% of patients worser than baseline level. Conclusion: In general, based on the above results, brachytherapy should be considered as a good choice for the treatment of CP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-horizontal submerged jets stilling basins have been utilized in large-scale water conservancy and hydropower projects due to its stable flow pattern, high energy dissipation rate and less atomization. This study employs vorticity criterion, Q criterion, λ2 criterion and Ω criterion to investigate the characteristics of vortex formation and turbulent dissipation in multi-horizontal submerged jets stilling basins with various configurations, including crest overflowing orifice alone (COO), combination of crest overflowing orifice and mid-discharge orifice (COO-MO) and mid-discharge orifice alone (MO). The results indicate that the Q criterion and λ2 criterion are effective in identifying vortex structure within multi-horizontal submerged jets stilling basin. Specifically, the stronger intensity of vortex structure and vortex dissipation are mainly distributed in the vicinity of the vertical drop, which gradually weakens for the increasing distance to the vertical drop. Furthermore, the intensity and number of vortexes with COO-MO are the largest. This conclusion can provide guidance for energy dissipation and bottom protection of stilling pool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we present a new configuration of opposed-contact vanadium-compensation semi-insulating (VCSI) 4H–SiC photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) to reduce the input laser energy for operation. The configuration is made up of three parts: the PCSS with optical grating, the convex lens in front of PCSS, and the additional reflector behind PCSS. Periodic surface structures were fabricated on the VCSI 4H–SiC substrate by ultrafine femtosecond laser direct writing to etch optical gratings. The microstructure on the lower surface plays the role of reflection grating, so that the laser forms a specific distribution pattern and enhances the laser absorption. Experiments and simulations show that the triggering efficiency increased 3.7 times compared to PCSS without grating at 532 nm laser. And output voltage can reach 90 % of the input bias voltage. This SiC PCSS optical system significantly reduces the laser energy without reducing the electrodes spacing. • The designed SiC PCSS can increase the triggering efficiency by up to 3.7 times without increasing the laser energy. • Femtosecond laser direct writing technology can etch grating on the substrate of SiC PCSS. • Grating-type optical system can not only improve photoelectric conversion efficiency but also enhance integration level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People adapt to changes in livelihoods and risks caused by summer high temperature in the era of global warming, which may also lead to residential mobility at the individual level and migration flow at the aggregate level. However, little evidence is available to show the long-term localized impact of summer temperature on residential mobility. Our study aims to conduct a 20-year nationwide investigation of the heat-mobility relationship in Australia to reveal how the increase of summer temperature is associated with the change of residential mobility and how such relationship shifts over time. Employing a tri-environmental (i.e., social, built and natural environment) conceptual framework adapted from the Social Ecological Theory, our analyses draw on the Australian census data from 2001 to 2021 together with the earth observation data to quantify multiple confounders in the tri-environmental dimensions in order to reveal the heat-mobility relationship at the national, state, urban and rural scales. We find that locales with significant increase in summer temperature have less inbound residential mobility, that is, people are less likely to move into heat-affected areas. This study enhances the understanding of how global warming affects residential mobility and settlement, and what adaptation strategies are needed to reduce the heat threat and achieve urban sustainability. • It provides a 20-year nationwide study of the nexus between heat and residential mobility in Australia. • A tri-environmental framework was applied to analyze the heat-mobility nexus. • Such a nexus was examined by accounting for the complexity of confounders. • People are less likely to move to areas with the increase in temperature over time. • No substantial difference is observed in the heat-mobility nexus within and beyond the capital cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface property of biomaterials has a profound influence on the adhesion and biofunction of mesenchymal stem cells, which is vital for successful implantation and regeneration. Nanotopological surface is capable of mimicking bone's extracellular matrix (ECM) to regulate cell behavior, the understanding of which however remains elusive. In this study, we decoupled the effect of nanotopological cues from two perspectives: nanostructure and specific surface area. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) displayed stable and organized F-actin fibers, forming intricate myosin networks on the poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) substrate decorated with a well-defined nanopattern that was formed by the PCL lamellae. The cell spreading and myosin activation were limited when the specific surface area of the nanopattern was reduced. These findings illustrate that the specific surface area of the nanopatterned surface is a dominant regulator for cell mechanosensing. Our results highlight the potential of optimizing biomaterial interfaces to enhance cell adhesion and functionality for bone regeneration. [Display omitted] • The nanopatterned surface was obtained via epitaxial crystallization. • The nanopatterned surface promoted stem cell adhesion and osteogenic differentiation. • The intracellular traction force activated by the nanopatterned surface were attributed to the increased specific surface area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of lasing materials with weak pile‐up effect from triplet excitons, low lasing threshold, and long operational lifetime is much significant for truly continuous wave operation and electrically pumping organic lasers. However, most of organic gain media has been verified to have extreme quenching effect from triplet excitons due to its wide‐band distribution of triplet absorption spectrum. Here, it is found that the phenanthroimidazole derivatives as gain media have congenital advantages on handling triplet's issues. A very low amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) threshold of 0.56 µJ cm−2 and a long operational lifetime of 5.77 × 105 pump pulses in air atmosphere are well obtained. When increasing the pump repetition frequency from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, the operational lifetimes of the thin films have small reduction. Under a high pump repetition frequency of 200 kHz, which is quasi‐continuous wave operational regime, the PI2PhDPO thin film exhibits very low ASE threshold of 0.78 µJ cm−2 due to the tiny overlap between triplet absorption and ASE spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triplet‐triplet fusion (TTF) can effectively transfer triplet excitons to singlet energy level and exhibit good stability, making it widely used in blue fluorescence organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) for practical application. However, the efficiency of the resulting blue fluorescence OLEDs is still fundamentally limited. Herein, this work introduces a hot exciton efficiency enhancement layer (EEL) between TTF emissive layer and electron‐transporting layer for the first time. It can be found that the triplet excitons are greatly utilized by the efficient hot exciton EEL. As a result, a high efficiency blue fluorescence OLED is successfully developed, exhibiting a maximum external quantum efficiency of 15.2% at the luminance of 4068.0 cd m−2, achieving a breakthrough in the efficiency of blue TTF‐OLEDs. Transient electroluminescence (TrEL) measurements and detailed theoretical calculations confirm the key role of the effective hot exciton process from the high‐lying triplet energy level (Tn, n ≥ 2) to S1 via a reverse intersystem crossing (hRISC). Furthermore, the device lifetime is also greatly improved owing to the fast and efficient hRISC in the introduced hot exciton EEL. This work has important guiding significance for constructing high efficiency blue fluorescence OLEDs by introducing hot exciton molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Objectives Materials and methods Results Conclusion Like the coronavirus disease 2019, the hepatitis B virus is also wreaking havoc worldwide, which has infected over 2 billion people globally. Using an experimental animal model, our previous research observed that the hepatitis B virus genes integrated into human spermatozoa can replicate and express after being transmitted to embryos. However, as of now, this phenomenon has not been confirmed in clinical data from patients.To explore the integration of the hepatitis B virus into patients' sperm genome and its potential clinical risks.Forty‐eight patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection were categorized into two groups: Test Group‐1 comprised 23 patients without integration of hepatitis B virus DNA within the sperm genome. Test Group‐2 comprised 25 patients with integration of hepatitis B virus DNA within the sperm genome. Forty‐eight healthy male donors were included as control. The standard semen parameter analysis, real‐time polymerase chain reaction, quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction, sperm chromatin structure assay, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and immunofluorescence assays were utilized.The difference in the median copy number of hepatitis B virus DNA per mL of sera between Test Group‐1 and Group‐2 was not statistically significant. In Test Group‐2, the integration rate of hepatitis B virus DNA was 0.109%, which showed a significant correlation with the median copy number of hepatitis B virus DNA in motile spermatozoa (1.18 × 103/mL). Abnormal semen parameters were found in almost all these 25 patients. The integrated hepatitis B virus S, C, X, and P genes were detected to be introduced into sperm‐derived embryos through fertilization and retained their function in replication, transcription, and translation.Our findings suggest that hepatitis B virus infection can lead to sperm quality deterioration and reduced fertilization capacity. Furthermore, viral integration causes instability in the sperm genome, increasing the potential risk of termination, miscarriage, and stillbirth. This study identified an unconventional mode of hepatitis B virus transmission through genes rather than virions. The presence of viral sequences in the embryonic genome poses a risk of liver inflammation and cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Wood formation, which occurs mainly through secondary xylem development, is important not only for supplying raw material for the ‘ligno‐chemical’ industry but also for driving the storage of carbon. However, the complex mechanisms underlying the promotion of xylem formation remain to be elucidated. Here, we found that overexpression of Auxin‐Regulated Gene involved in Organ Size (ARGOS) in hybrid poplar 84 K (Populus alba × Populus tremula var. glandulosa) enlarged organ size. In particular, PagARGOS promoted secondary growth of stems with increased xylem formation. To gain further insight into how PagARGOS regulates xylem development, we further carried out yeast two‐hybrid screening and identified that the auxin transporter WALLS ARE THIN1 (WAT1) interacts with PagARGOS. Overexpression of PagARGOS up‐regulated WAT1, activating a downstream auxin response promoting cambial cell division and xylem differentiation for wood formation. Moreover, overexpressing PagARGOS caused not only higher wood yield but also lower lignin content compared with wild‐type controls. PagARGOS is therefore a potential candidate gene for engineering fast‐growing and low‐lignin trees with improved biomass production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to analyze the correlation between skeletal muscle mass and the distribution of peripheral blood lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells, as well as their impact on prognosis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). A retrospective analysis was conducted on 211 newly diagnosed AML patients, evaluating skeletal muscle index (SMI), NK cell proportion, and absolute value, along with relevant clinical data. Linear regression and Spearman's correlation coefficient were used to assess the relationship between various indicators and SMI, followed by multiple linear regression for further modeling. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to identify independent predictors for overall survival (OS). Among the 211 AML patients, 38 cases (18.0%) were diagnosed with sarcopenia. Multiple linear regression analysis included weight, fat mass, ECOG score, body mass index, and peripheral blood NK cell proportion, constructing a correlation model for SMI (R2 = 0.745). Univariate analysis identified higher NK cell count (> 9.53 × 106/L) as a poor predictor for OS. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model indicated that age ≥ 60 years, PLT < 100 × 109/L, ELN high risk, sarcopenia, and B cell count > 94.6 × 106/L were independent adverse prognostic factors for AML patients. Low skeletal muscle mass may negatively impact the count and function of NK cells, thereby affecting the prognosis of AML. However, further basic and clinical research is needed to explore the specific mechanisms underlying the relationship between NK cells and SMI in AML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]