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Highlights : With its layered structure, abundant functional groups, and excellent electrical conductivity, MXene is of great research interest in the field of gas sensing. The preparation technology of gas sensors is constantly being optimized, opening up avenues for the development of gas sensing. MXene-based composite materials (MXene/graphene, MXene/metal oxides, MXene/MOF, and MXene/polymer) are applied in various gas sensors. With the development of science and technology, the scale of industrial production continues to grow, and the types and quantities of gas raw materials used in industrial production and produced during the production process are also constantly increasing. These gases include flammable and explosive gases, and even contain toxic gases. Therefore, it is very important and necessary for gas sensors to detect and monitor these gases quickly and accurately. In recent years, a new two-dimensional material called MXene has attracted widespread attention in various applications. Their abundant surface functional groups and sites, excellent current conductivity, tunable surface chemistry, and outstanding stability make them promising for gas sensor applications. Since the birth of MXene materials, researchers have utilized the efficient and convenient solution etching preparation, high flexibility, and easily functionalize MXene with other materials to prepare composites for gas sensing. This has opened a new chapter in high-performance gas sensing materials and provided a new approach for advanced sensor research. However, previous reviews on MXene-based composite materials in gas sensing only focused on the performance of gas sensing, without systematically explaining the gas sensing mechanisms generated by different gases, as well as summarizing and predicting the advantages and disadvantages of MXene-based composite materials. This article reviews the latest progress in the application of MXene-based composite materials in gas sensing. Firstly, a brief summary was given of the commonly used methods for preparing gas sensing device structures, followed by an introduction to the key attributes of MXene related to gas sensing performance. This article focuses on the performance of MXene-based composite materials used for gas sensing, such as MXene/graphene, MXene/Metal oxide, MXene/Transition metal sulfides (TMDs), MXene/Metal–organic framework (MOF), MXene/Polymer. It summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of MXene composite materials with different composites and discusses the possible gas sensing mechanisms of MXene-based composite materials for different gases. Finally, future directions and inroads of MXenes-based composites in gas sensing are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atractylodes chinensis volatile oil (ACVO) microcapsules were prepared with chitosan as parietal material. The optimal conditions for encapsulation were investigated by the Response Surface Method (RSM). ACVO microcapsules were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particle size analyzer and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. In vitro release properties of ACVO microcapsules were investigated at pH 1.5 and 7.4, respectively. The effects of ACVO microcapsules on the length of rat gastric smooth muscle cells (GSMC), mRNA and protein expression of calmodulin (CaM) and myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) were investigated. Results showed that under optimal conditions, encapsulation efficiency (EE) was 82.19 %. ACVO microcapsules were spherical with a particle size of 1100 nm. ACVO microcapsules had a good release profile at pH 1.5, and the cumulative release within 72 h reached 85.32 %. Cell experiments showed that ACVO microcapsules (0.02, 0.04 μg/mL) had no effect on cell activity, while induced GSMC to contract, and improved the mRNA, protein expressions of CaM and MLCK in GSMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic extraction of building contours from high-resolution images is of great significance in the fields of urban planning, demographics, and disaster assessment. Network models based on convolutional neural network (CNN) and transformer technology have been widely used for semantic segmentation of buildings from high resolution remote sensing images (HRSI). However, the fixed geometric structure and the local receptive field of the convolutional kernel are not good at global feature extraction, and the transformer technique with self-attention mechanism introduces computational redundancies and extracts local feature details poorly in the process of modeling the global contextual information. In this paper, a dual-branch fused reconstructive transformer network, DFRTNet, is proposed for efficient and accurate building extraction. In the encoder, the traditional transformer is reconfigured by designing the local and global feature extraction module (LGFE); the branch of global feature extraction (GFE) performs dynamic range attention (DRA) based on the idea of top-k attention for extracting global features; furthermore, the branch of local feature extraction (LFE) is used to obtain fine-grained features. The multilayer perceptron (MLP) is employed to efficiently fuse the local and global features. In the decoder, a simple channel attention module (CAM) is used in the up-sampling part to enhance channel dimension features. Our network achieved the best segmentation accuracy on both the WHU and Massachusetts building datasets when compared to other mainstream and state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

O-GlcNAcylation, an important post-translational modification catalyzed by O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT), plays critical roles in several biological processes. In this study, we present our findings on the function of FpOGT in regulating physiological processes and pathogenicity of Fusarium proliferatum (Fp), the alfalfa root rot fungus. The deletion of FpOGT impaired mycelial growth and altered macroconidia morphology in Fp. Furthermore, ΔFpOGT mutant displayed altered tolerance to various stressors, including cell wall perturbing agents, osmotic stressors, metal ionic stressors, and fungicides. Deletion of FpOGT significantly decreased Fp virulence toward alfalfa. The transcriptome analysis demonstrated that FpOGT plays a regulatory role in glucose metabolic pathways, including glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP), by influencing the expression of relevant genes. The downregulation of the glucokinase gene, FpGCK, was observed in ΔFpOGT, and the disruption of FpGCK led to a decrease in Fp virulence. Additionally, FpOGT affected the expression levels of the FpGCK-AS1 isoform, thereby impacting glucokinase function. The molecular docking analysis elucidated the plausible physical interaction between FpOGT and FpGCK, thereby offering valuable insights into their interrelationship. These findings underscore the indispensable involvement of FpOGT, the sole O-GlcNAc transferase in Fp, in various biological processes and the pathogenicity through its regulation of fundamental metabolic processes. Consequently, this study emphasizes the significance and elucidates the molecular mechanism underlying the role of O-GlcNAc transferase in diverse fundamental biological processes and the pathogenicity of phytopathogenic fungi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of biomass for the production of agricultural green inputs is regarded as a crucial strategy for achieving low-carbon development in agriculture, while also fully harnessing the potential of renewable resources. Pesticides, as a vital agricultural input, often encounter issues pertaining to inefficient usage, resulting in significant environmental pollution and economic losses. As a main component of lignocellulosic biomass, lignin has become one of the most appealing biopolymers for the construction of advanced pesticide delivery systems. This review aims to provide a thorough summary of the advancements in lignin-based controlled release formulations (LCRFs) for the precise delivery of pesticides. The research in this field has experienced rapid growth in the past five years, making it an important area of study. Common LCRFs are introduced, and the factors influencing the release of active ingredients (AIs) within different LCRFs are analyzed. Special emphasis is placed on intelligent-responsive LCRFs, encompassing an overview of the existing formulations and an exploration of their potential application scenarios and development strategies. It is crucial to promote innovation in pesticide formulations based on the actual demands of agricultural production. We hope this review will stimulate the high-value utilization of lignin and the green development of plant protection technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-earthquake secondary fire is the major hazard prefabricated concrete (PC) structures face and is currently a hot research topic. Fully-grouted sleeve connection (FGSC) is the main connection method for PC structures, whose failure can result in serious consequences. However, the research on FGSC with tensile damage at elevated temperatures is limited and only at the experimental stage. To enrich the related studies, we proposed a 2D model that considers material damage in good agreement with the corresponding experimental results. 15 finite element models are established with two key parameters, tensile displacement, and temperature, to further investigate the mechanical performance of FGSC under force-thermal coupling. The temperature and damage distribution of FGSC are presented, in addition to the critical temperatures that cause the force state to change. The study results show that the damage pattern of FGSC mainly depends on the tensile phase, and the temperature-induced force can create non-negligible damage to the material. Based on this, the trends of axial and radial forces of FGSC have been summarized as well as their new prediction equations whose coefficients of determination are 99.36 % and 99.83 % in the elevated temperature stage. The numerical simulation method and conclusions obtained are the essential basis for the subsequent study of the response of PC structures under post-earthquake secondary fires. • In the context of multiple factors such as thermal coupling, a 2D-axisymmetric modeling method that is experimentally validated and can quantitatively assess material damage is proposed. • The damage to FGSC by thermal stress was investigated, as well as the first study of the variation rule of radial force RF1 with temperature. • Summarized the formula of axial and radial forces of FGSC due to heat as a function of temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ventricular remodeling refers to the structural and functional changes of the heart under various stimuli or disease influences and may also be accompanied by myocardial fibrosis, where an excessive amount of fibrous tissue appears in the myocardial tissue, affecting the heart's normal contraction and relaxation. Hypertension is posing the potential risk of causing myocardial injury and remodeling. The significance of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) in myocardial remodeling cannot be overlooked. Drug targeting of RAAS can effectively lower blood pressure and reduce left ventricular mass. Studies have shown that ginsenoside Rh4 can inhibit oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. In this study, a myocardial remodeling model was established using angiotensin (Ang) II, and the inhibitory effect of RH4 on myocardial hypertrophy and remodeling induced by Ang II was investigated using pathological staining and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Immunofluorescence and qPCR demonstrated that Rh4 causes myocardial hypertrophy and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vitro. The Rh4 target was identified using transcriptomics. The findings indicated that RH4 could inhibit myocardial hypertrophy, inflammatory fibrosis, and oxidative stress induced by Ang II, suggesting potential cardiovascular protection effects. In vitro experiments have shown that Rh4 inhibits myocardial hypertrophy. Transcriptomics revealed that nuclear factor interleukin-3 (NFIL3) is a downstream regulator of Rh4. By constructing AAV9-NFIL3 and injecting it into mice, it was found that NFIL3 overexpression interfered with anti-Ang II-induced myocardial remodeling of Rh4. These results indicate that Rh4 demonstrates potential therapeutic effects on myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis. [Display omitted] • Ginsenoside RH4 inhibits Ang II-induced myocardial remodeling. • Rh4 plays cardiac protective role via the downstream regulatory gene of NFIL3. • Rh4 has potential therapeutic effects on myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, SCAPS-1D simulation software (Version: 3.3.10) was employed to enhance the efficiency of CsSnX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) all-inorganic perovskite solar cells. By fine-tuning essential parameters like the work function of the conductive glass, the back contact point, defect density, and the thickness of the light absorption layer, we effectively simulated the optimal performance of CsSnX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) all-inorganic perovskite solar cells under identical conditions. The effects of different X-site elements on the overall performance of the device were also explored. The theoretical photoelectric conversion efficiency of the device gradually increases with the successive substitution of halogen elements (Cl, Br, I), reaching 6.09%, 17.02%, and 26.74%, respectively. This trend is primarily attributed to the increasing size of the halogen atoms, which leads to better light absorption and charge transport properties, with iodine (I) yielding the highest theoretical conversion efficiency. These findings suggest that optimizing the halogen element in CsSnX3 can significantly enhance device performance, providing valuable theoretical guidance for the development of high-efficiency all-inorganic perovskite solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The proposal was made to introduce gelatin into the test solution to utilize the coffee ring effect of liquid droplets for the enrichment of heavy metals in the solution. • The influence of different gelatin mass fractions on the deposition morphology of droplet surfaces and the LIBS spectral intensity was analyzed. • The spectral enhancement mechanism of four different substrate materials, namely Zn plate, Al plate, Ni plate, and Polymethyl methacrylate plate, was investigated. In order to enhance the stability and lower the detection limit of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technology, gelatin was introduced into the test solution in this study to enrich heavy metals using the coffee ring effect. The effects of different gelatin mass fractions on the surface deposition morphology of droplets and the intensity of spectroscopy were analyzed. Explored the spectral enhancement mechanisms of four substrate materials. The results demonstrated that the best coffee ring enrichment was achieved with a gelatin mass fraction of 2.5 %. The signal-to-noise ratios of Cu and Cr were enhanced by 5.5 and 3.6, and the relative standard deviations decreased by 59.5 % and 53.8 %. When Zn plate was used as the substrate material, the detection limits for Cu and Cr were 0.715 mg/L and 3.881 mg/L. The research indicates that surface-enhanced LIBS based on coffee ring enrichment can improve spectral stability and lower the detection limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of sequential recommendation systems is to assist users in efficiently discovering relevant information that they need within vast online environments. Existing studies have frequently overlooked users' diverse interests, failing to capture their multiple latent interests effectively, particularly in cases wherein users have extensive interaction histories. We introduce a novel approach, called A ccurate M ulti- I nterest M odeling for sequential recommendation to address this limitation. The proposed model combines users' long- and short-term preferences by using an attention-based module, allowing for comprehensive preference modeling. Furthermore, it incorporates a distillation capsule network-based module that models different user interests, with each capsule representing a unique interest. These interests are further refined using an interest distiller to identify the top-k interests of each user. Moreover, a module based on the multi-head self-attention mechanism captures hidden preference transition patterns within user interaction sequences. Finally, a complete user interest representation is obtained by aggregating the outputs of the aforementioned modules. This decoupling-then-fusion strategy allows the model to capture various detailed features better and consider the interactions among different features to model user needs more comprehensively. Experimental results conducted on three datasets unequivocally demonstrate the superiority of our proposed model. • Improved capsule network design for more accurate multi-interest extraction. • Combining long/short term preferences and multi-interest. • Using decoupling-then-fusion strategy, the performance of each module is improved. • Our model outperforms several strong baselines on three datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungi have been identified as a prolific source of structurally unique secondary metabolites, many of which display promising biological and pharmacological properties. This review provides an overview of the structures of new natural products derived from fungi and their biological activities along with the research strategies, which focuses on literature published in the representative journals in 2023. In this review, a total of 553 natural products including 219 polyketides, 145 terpenoids, 35 steroids, 106 alkaloids, and 48 peptides are presented. By summarising the latest findings, this review aims to provide a guide and inspire further innovation in the fields of the discovery of fungal natural products and pharmaceutical development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low thermal conductivity and liquid-phase leakage of phase change materials seriously hinder their large-scale applications. Porous materials have been identified as an effective way to address the leakage and provide a thermally conductive network. Therefore, we designed an expanded graphite-based multifunctional composite phase change thermal storage materials for personal thermal management and antimicrobial in medical protection. Expanded graphite (EG) was used as the matrix, silver nanowires (Ag NWs) as the functional enhancement materials, and n-octadecane (OD) as the thermal storage materials. OD and Ag NWs were adsorbed in the porous structure of EG by vacuum-assisted impregnation. Finally, EG/Ag NWs/OD were combined with non-woven fabrics (N) by one-step hot pressing method to obtain EG/Ag NWs/OD-N composite with excellent comprehensive performance. With the mass ratio of EG to Ag NWs of 13:7, EG/Ag NWs/OD-N exhibited a thermal conductivity of 2.0130 W m−1 K−1, which was improved by 1070.3% compared with pure OD. EG/Ag NWs/OD-N has a melting enthalpy of 137.85 J·g−1 and a crystallization enthalpy of 128.97 J·g−1. In addition, EG/Ag NWs/OD-N display great antibacterial properties, thermal cycling stability, shape stability, and cycling persistence and showed excellent temperature control in protective clothing applications, offering great potential for large-scale applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The H igh lig hts of this study were as follows: in both Il-10-/- and TNBS mice, Pm treatment improved CD-like colitis symptoms; the protective effect of Pm against colitis was to maintain the function of intestinal barrier by inhibiting apoptosis of IECs; and Pm activated the Nrf2/HO1 signaling pathway in IECs, which was related to the effects of Pm on the inhibition of apoptosis. Impaired intestinal barrier function is key in maintaining intestinal inflammation in Crohn's disease (CD). However, no targeted treatment in clinical practice has been developed. Peiminine (Pm) strongly protects the epithelial barrier, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether Pm affects CD-like colitis and potential mechanisms for its action. Trinitro-benzene-sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced mice and Il-10-/- mice were used as CD animal models. Colitis symptoms, histological analysis, and intestinal barrier permeability were used to assess the Pm's therapeutic effect on CD-like colitis. The colon organoids were induced by TNF-α to evaluate the direct role of Pm in inhibiting apoptosis of the intestinal epithelial cells. Western blotting and small molecule inhibitors were used to investigate further the potential mechanism of Pm in inhibiting apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells. Pm treatment reduced body weight loss, disease activity index (DAI) score, and inflammatory score, demonstrating that colonic inflammation in mice were alleviated. Pm decreased the intestinal epithelial apoptosis, improved the intestinal barrier function, and prevented the loss of tight junction proteins (ZO1 and claudin-1) in the colon of CD mice and TNF-α-induced colonic organoids. Pm activated Nrf2/HO1 signaling, which may protect intestinal barrier function. Pm inhibits intestinal epithelial apoptosis in CD mice by activating Nrf2/HO1 pathway. This partially explains the potential mechanism of Pm in ameliorating intestinal barrier function in mice and provides a new approach to treating CD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fe-6.5wt.%Si alloy exhibits remarkable soft magnetic characteristics, such as high magnetic permeability, low coercivity, high resistivity, and nearly zero magnetostriction. These attributes establish it as an ideal material for low-power, low-noise electric motors and transformers. This investigation aimed to assess the impact of annealing temperature (ranging from 800 to 1200 °C for 1 h) on the microstructure, texture, and magnetic properties of a 0.15 mm thick Fe-6.5wt.%Si alloy sheet, which was obtained by subjecting the strips produced through the top side-pouring twin-roll casting (TSTRC) process to multi-pass warm rolling in the temperature range of 600 ∼ 800 °C, avoiding hot rolling. Additionally, the recrystallization mechanism of the annealed sheet at 1100 °C for 1 h was explored. The findings indicate that enhancing the annealing temperature corresponded to a reduction in magnetic induction (B 8 and B 50) as well as iron losses (P 10/50 , P 10/400 , and P 2/1000). The annealed sheet at 1200 °C for 1 h demonstrated the most favorable magnetic properties, displaying iron losses of 0.486 W/kg, 6.895 W/kg, and 1.232 W/kg for P 10/50 , P 10/400 , and P 2/1000 , respectively. These results illustrate excellent overall magnetic characteristics. The coercivity (Hc) of both B 8 and B 50 decreased as the annealing temperature increased in the hysteresis loop measurements. Specifically, for B 8 , it decreased from 62.84 A/m to 24.50 A/m, and for B 50 , it decreased from 78.10 A/m to 35.50 A/m. The average grain size of the samples gradually increased as the annealing temperature ranged from 800 to 1200 °C. The dominant texture observed was {1 1 1}, and the volume fraction of {1 1 1} texture increased while the volume fractions of {1 0 0} and {1 1 0} textures decreased. Upon annealing at 1100 °C for 8 s, the elongated and flattened deformed structures were mainly replaced by equiaxed grains, indicating the completion of the recrystallization process. However, there was a noticeable distinction in the coarsening degree of equiaxed grains based on their orientations. The presence of λ-oriented grains was less prominent, while α-oriented and γ-oriented grains were relatively more abundant. As the annealing time increased from 8 s to 1 h, there was a decrease in the presence of λ-oriented and α-oriented grains, while the presence of γ-oriented grains significantly increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Screen use while eating has been recently identified as a highly common and potentially important specific setting of screen use in relation to eating disorder symptomatology. However, given this area of research is still in its infancy, how screen use while eating may be related to eating disorder symptomatology remains largely unexplored. To fill this gap, the present study probed the potential roles of mindfulness and intuitive eating in the association between screen use while eating and eating disorder symptomatology. A large sample of Chinese adults (N = 800, aged 18–67 years old) recruited through a Chinese survey platform, Credamo, completed questionnaires assessing screen use while eating, eating disorder symptomatology, mindfulness, and intuitive eating. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model. Results confirmed our hypotheses that the association between screen use while eating and eating disorder symptomatology was partially explained by mindfulness and intuitive eating, after adjusting for covariates (e.g., gender, age, body mass index, total screen time, and social media use). That said, higher screen use while eating was associated first with lower mindfulness and then with lower intuitive eating, which in turn were related to higher eating disorder symptomatology. The findings underline the importance of including eating-specific screen use for future research on eating disorder symptomatology and also have implications for an integrative intervention of mindfulness-based approaches and intuitive eating for mitigating the adverse effects of excessive screen use on eating behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive age-related disease characterised by pathological changes in the synovium, articular cartilage, and subchondral bone, significantly reducing the patients' quality of life. This study investigated the role of glucocorticoids, specifically dexamethasone, in OA progression, with a particular focus on their effects on chondrocytes. Although glucocorticoids are commonly used for OA pain relief, our research demonstrated that high concentrations of dexamethasone may accelerate OA progression by enhancing the ability of reactive oxygen species to inhibit chondrocyte autophagy, resulting in cell death and accelerated cartilage degeneration. Despite reports on the acceleration of pathogenesis and cartilage damage in some patients of OA taking corticosteroids, the mechanism behind the same has not been investigated. This necessitates an investigation of the concentration-dependent changes in the cartilage cells upon dexamethasone administration. In addition, the protective effect of PPAR γ on chondrocytes can prevent the decrease in chondrocyte autophagy and delay cartilage degeneration. Therefore, our study suggests that the therapeutic use of glucocorticoids in OA treatment should be more nuanced considering their potential detrimental effects. Future investigations should focus on the mechanisms underlying the glucocorticoid-mediated modulation of cell death processes, which could provide insights into new therapeutic strategies for OA treatment. • We studied the role of dexamethasone in osteoarthritis (OA) progression. • High concentrations of dexamethasone accelerate OA progression. • Effects of PPAR γ on chondrocyte can prevent reduced chondrocyte autophagy. • Therapeutic use of glucocorticoids in OA treatment should be nuanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A compartmentalized photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor is constructed. • Nanoreactor is synthesized by synchronously wrapping nanocompartment I and II. • Nanoreactor simultaneously synthesizes pentanediamine and formic acid. • Nanoreactor has higher conversion efficiency for CO 2 from biodecarboxylation. • Stable microenvironment and proximity effect are the key to efficient catalysis. Global output of bio-based products continues to increase, but the release of carbon dioxide (CO 2) has exacerbated the environmental crisis. The simultaneous conversion of CO 2 released by bioprocesses into high-value products is increasingly gaining attention. With this in mind, a compartmentalized photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor consisting of two nanocompartments was created. This nanoreactor uses a ferric tannin-gelatin (TA-Gel) coacervate to synchronously wrap nanocompartment I, which quickly sequesters the CO 2 released by biodecarboxylation to prevent its loss, and nanocompartment II, which converts the sequestered CO 2 into formic acid. The results indicate that nanocompartment I and II were encapsulated in the nanoreactor with high catalytic efficiency. Under the optimal conditions, the yields of pentanediamine and formic acid reached 15.7 ± 1.06 and 8.4 ± 0.07 mM, respectively. Yields of pentanediamine and formic acid by the photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor were highest. The conversion efficiency of formic acid from CO 2 released by biodecarboxylation by the photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor, mixed nanocompartments, and free one-pot multi-enzyme system was 54.5 %, 43.8 %, and 10.0 %, respectively. The proximity effect significantly promotes the catalytic efficiency of formic acid synthesis from CO 2 released by biodecarboxylation. The novel photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor has important capabilites for upgrading multi-enzyme programmed catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]