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As an important π-conjugated bridge, (E)-2-styrylthiophene possesses excellent electronic transport and optical properties, showing great potential in nonlinear optical (NLO) applications. In order to investigate the influence of different donor units on (E)-2-styrylthiophene in NLO, we synthesized three thiophene-based D-π-A conjugates with dicyanoacetylene as the acceptor and different donors (MS, PS, FS) by inducing intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). Their third-order nonlinear absorption was studied using Z-scan experiments and transient absorption spectroscopy. Due to the significant ICT, MS exhibited the highest nonlinear absorption coefficient (β = 1.5 × 10 -9 m W -1 ) and effective third order refractive index (n 2  = -12 × 10 -17 m 2 W -1 ). Taking the strongest performing MS molecule as an example, we analyzed four types of conjugated bridges through theoretical calculations, which indicated that (E)-2-styrylthiophene has the strongest dipole moment difference (Δμ = 34.73 D). Finally, transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy revealed that the nonlinear absorption of these molecules is primarily caused by reverse saturable absorption (RSA)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The massive accumulation of antibiotics accelerates the emergence of antibiotic resistance causing inevitable risks to human and ecosystem. To realize the integration of detection and degradation of antibiotics, it is urgent for exploring novel nanozyme materials with the excellent catalytic activity. Integrating nanozyme with tetrapyrrole-based organics is an effective strategy to enhance the catalytic activity. Herein, a series of tetrapyrrole organics with different energy levels are severally modified on cerium oxysulfate clusters (Ce-clusters) surface to fabricate nanozyme. The mechanism of nanozyme with enhanced catalytic activity was importantly explored by the energy band matching principle. At present, there are no studies that systematically research the enhancement mechanism of tetrapyrrole-based organics with different energy levels on the catalytic activity of nanozyme. Especially, Ce-clusters modified with meso-tetra (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin (TCPP) has the best energy band matching, resulting in the highest catalytic activity. Remarkably, the resultant nanozyme exhibits rapid and sensitive colorimetric response to tetracycline within the range of 0-0.3 mg mL -1 , and the limit of detection was determined to 0.027 mg mL -1 . It also possesses favorable degradation performance to tetracycline under natural light with pH adaptability, strong inorganic ions and organic matter interference tolerance, high reusability, and strong stability. Its degradation efficiency is up to 97.6 % in 60 min, much higher than other types degradation strategies. This study provides a useful principle for designing highly activity nanozyme and a powerful tool to simultaneous detection and degradation of antibiotic, holding great promise for practical application., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Wetlands, which are ecosystems with the highest soil surface carbon density, have been severely degraded and replaced by artificial reclamation for fish and shrimp ponds in recent years. This transformation is causing intricate shifts in soil carbon pools and microbial stability. In this study, we examined natural wetlands and reclaimed aquaculture ponds in Southeast China to analyze the structure and network stability of soil microbial communities following the reclamation of estuarine wetlands and to elucidate the microbial-mediated mechanisms for regulating soil organic carbon (SOC). The aquaculture ponds presented significantly less average SOC content than the natural wetlands (p < 0.05). ACE, Chao1, and Shannon's indices of bacteria and fungi were decreased in aquaculture ponds. Less numbers of nodes and edge links in the co-occurrence network of soil fungi and bacteria in aquaculture ponds. This suggests reduced correlation and stability within the microbial network of aquaculture ponds. Decomposers in soil fungi (e.g. Dung Saprotroph) reduced. Reduced proportions of key phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Rozellomycota in the soil fungal network. Reduced proportions of key phyla Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi and Desulfobacterota in the soil bacterial network. In conclusion, our results suggest that converting wetland paddocks to intensive aquaculture ponds results in carbon pool loss and reduces soil microbial network stability. The results highlight the importance of protecting or moderately restoring mangrove wetlands along the coast of southeastern China. It is also predicted that such measures may enhance the storage capacity of soil carbon pools and improve the stability of carbon sequestration by soil microorganisms, thus offering a potential solution for mitigating global climate change., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Monitoring the variations of lake water quality is essential for urban water security and sustainable eco-environment health. However, it is challenging to investigate the water quality of urban lakes at large scales due to the need for large-amount in situ data with diverse optical properties for developing the remote sensing inversion algorithms. Forel-Ule Index (FUI), a proxy of quantifying water color, whose calculation does not require in situ data of specific properties, can comprehensively reflect water quality conditions. However, the spatial and temporal distribution of water color in Chinese urban lakes is still poorly understood. To fill this research gap, this study investigated the spatial distribution of water color in 523 urban lakes (area > 0.5 km 2 ) in China using the FUI derived from the high-quality Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) data onboard Sentinel-2 during the ice-free period (April-October) from 2019 to 2022. The monthly and seasonal variation patterns of water color in urban lakes were also analyzed. Our results show that green domain is the most common color of urban lakes, with about 86 % of urban lakes in China being green, and non-green lakes accounting for only 14 % of the total number of lakes. The monthly variation of FUI in urban lakes across the country and multiple geographic regions is basically the same. The monthly average FUI first increases, then decreases, and then rebounds. We also found that the seasonal variation of water color in most urban lakes in southern and northern China is opposite. This study helps to comprehensively understand the spatial and temporal variation of water color and quality of urban lakes in China, providing key basic information for the protection and governance of urban lakes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Cancer is the most severe health problem facing most people today. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) for tumors has attracted attention because of its non-invasive nature, negligible adverse reactions, and high spatiotemporal selectivity. Developing biocompatible photosensitizers that can target, guide, and efficiently kill cancer cells is desirable in PDT. Here, two amphiphilic organic compounds, PS-I and PSS-II, were synthesized based on the D-π-A structure with a positive charge. The two AIEgens exhibited near-infrared emission, large Stokes shift, high 1 O 2 and O 2 -∙ generation efficiency, good biocompatibility, and photostability. They were co-incubated with cancer cells and eventually accumulated to lysosomes by cell imaging experiments. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that PS-I and PSS-II could effectively kill cancer cells and sufficiently inhibit tumor growth under light irradiation. PS-I had a higher fluorescence quantum yield in the aggregated state, which made it better for bio-imaging in imaging-guided photodynamic therapy. In contrast, PSS-II with a longer conjugated structure had more ROS generation to kill tumor cells under illumination, and the tumor growth inhibition of mice reached 71.95% during the treatment. No observable injury or undesirable outcomes were detected in the vital organs of the mice within the treatment group, suggesting that PSS-II/PS-I had a promising future in efficient imaging-guided PDT for cancer., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Colorimetric lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) is a widely used point-of-care testing (POCT) technology, while it has entered a bottleneck period because of low detection sensitivity, expensive preparation materials, and incapable quantitative detection. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a novel POCT method that is ultrasensitive, simple, portable, and capable of accurately detecting biomarkers in biofluids daily, particularly for pregnancy preparation and early screening of diseases., Result: In this work, a novel dry chemistry-based self-enhanced electrochemiluminescence (DC-SE-ECL) LFIA sensor is introduced for accurate POCT of luteinizing hormone (LH). The proposed DC-SE-ECL immunosensor significantly improves the detection sensitivity through the Poly-l-Lysine (PLL)-based SE-ECL probe and cathode modification of closed bipolar electrode (C-BPE). Additionally, a new type of C-BPE configuration is designed for easily performing the LFIA. And, two standalone absorbent pads are symmetrically arranged below the reporting channel of the electrode pad to decease useless residues on the detection pad, which further improves the detection performance. Under optimized conditions, the proposed LFIA sensor has a low limit of detection (9.274 μIU mL -1 ) and a wide linear dynamic range (0.01-100 mIU mL -1 ), together with good selectivity, repeatability and storage stability., Significance: These results indicate that the proposed DC-SE-ECL method has the potential as a new tool for detecting biomarkers in clinical samples., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The lake eutrophication is highly variable in both time and location, and greatly restricts the sustainable development of water resources. The lack of national eutrophication evaluation for multi-scale lakes limits the pertinent governance and sustainable management of water quality. In this study, a remote sensing approach was developed to capture 40-year dynamics of trophic state index (TSI) for nationwide lakes in China. 32% of lakes (N = 1925) in China were eutrophic and 26% were oligotrophic, and a longitudinal pattern was discovered, with the 40-year average TSI of 62.26 in the eastern plain compared to 23.72 in the Tibetan Plateau. A decreasing trend was further observed in the past four decades with a correlation of -0.16, which was mainly discovered in the Tibetan Plateau lakes (r > -0.90, p < 0.01). The contribution of climate change and human activities was quantified and varied between lake zones, with anthropogenic factors playing a dominant role in the east plain lakes (88%, N = 473) and large lakes are subject to a more complex driving mechanism (≥ 3 driving factors). The study expands the spatiotemporal scale for eutrophication monitoring and provides an important base for strengthening lake management and ecological services., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Clostridium perfringens is ubiquitously distributed and capable of secreting toxins, posing a significant threat to animal health. Infections caused by Clostridium perfringens, such as Necrotic Enteritis (NE), result in substantial economic losses to the livestock industry annually. However, there is no effective commercial vaccine available. Hence, we set out to propose an effective approach for multi-epitope subunit vaccine construction utilizing biomolecules. We utilized immunoinformatics to design a novel multi-epitope antigen against C. perfringens (CPMEA). Furthermore, we innovated novel bacterium-like particles (BLPs) through thermal acid treatment of various Lactobacillus strains and selected BLP23017 among them. Then, we detailed the structure of CPMEA and BLPs and utilized them to prepare a multi-epitope vaccine. Here, we showed that our vaccine provided full protection against C. perfringens infection after a single dose in a mouse model. Additionally, BLP23017 notably augmented the secretion of secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and enhanced antibody production. We conclude that our vaccine possess safety and high efficacy, making it an excellent candidate for preventing C. perfringens infection. Moreover, we demonstrate our approach to vaccine construction and the preparation of BLP23017 with distinct advantages may contribute to the prevention of a wider array of diseases and the novel vaccine development., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors of this paper declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In most biophysiological processes, sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) is an important intracellular signaling molecule that plays an important role. The change of SO 2 in cells are closely related to various diseases such as neurological disorders and lung cancer, so it is necessary to develop fluorescent probes with the ability to accurately detect SO 2 during physiological processes. In this work, we designed and synthesized a multifunctional fluorescent probe TIS. TIS has excellent properties such as near-infrared emission, large stokes shift, excellent SO 2 detection capabilities, low detection limit, high specificity and visualization of color change before and after reaction. Simultaneously, TIS has low cytotoxicity, good biocompatibility, clear cell imaging capability and mitochondrial targeting ability. In addition, the ability of TIS to be applied to different material surfaces for latent fingerprint fluorescence imaging was also explored. TIS provides an excellent method for the accurate detection of SO 2 derivatives and shows great potential applications in near-infrared cellular imaging and latent fingerprint fluorescence imaging., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No conflict of interest exits in the submission of this manuscript, and manuscript is approved by all authors for publication. I would like to declare on behalf of my co-authors that the work described is original research that has not been published previously, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. All the authors listed have approved the manuscript that is enclosed. We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work. There is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Global climate change, particularly drought, is expected to alter grassland methane (CH 4 ) oxidation, a key natural process against atmospheric greenhouse gas accumulation, yet the extent of this effect and its interaction with future atmospheric CH 4 concentrations increases remains uncertain. To address this research gap, we measured CH 4 flux during an imposed three-month rain-free period corresponding to a 100-year recurrence drought in soil mesocosms collected from 16 different Eurasian steppe sites. We also investigated the abundance and composition of methanotrophs. Additionally, we conducted a laboratory experiment to explore the impact of elevated CH 4 concentration on the CH 4 uptake capacity of grassland soil under drought conditions. We found that regardless of the type of grassland, CH 4 flux was still being absorbed at its peak, meaning that all grasslands functioned as persistent CH 4 sinks even when the soil water content (SWC) was <5 %. A bell-shaped relationship between SWC and CH 4 uptake was observed in the soils. The average maximum CH 4 oxidation rate in the meadow steppe was higher than that in the typical and desert steppe soils during extreme drought. The experimental elevation of atmospheric CH 4 concentration counteracted the anticipated reduction in CH 4 uptake related to physiological water stress on methanotrophic soil microbes under the drought stress. On the contrary, we found that across the regional scale, nitrogen, phosphorous, and total soil organic content played a crucial role in moderating the duration and magnitude of CH 4 uptake with respect to SWC. USC-γ (Upland Soil Cluster γ) and JR-3 (Jasper Ridge Cluster) were the dominant group of soil methanotrophic bacteria in three types of grassland. However, the methanotrophic abundance, rather than the methanotrophic community composition, was the dominant microbiological factor governing CH 4 uptake during the drought., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to in fluence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Rationale: Fu's subcutaneous needling (FSN) is a novel acupuncture technique developed based on traditional needling principles that aims to alleviate diseases by improving local muscle conditions and blood supply. FSN have been widely used for the treatment of various diseases. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common central nervous system disorder characterized by intense discomfort in the legs, particularly at night, leading to an urge to move the legs for relief. In this study, we report a case in which FSN was used to treat primary RLS., Patient Concerns: A 67-year-old patient complained of nocturnal discomfort in the right leg for over 4 months, the symptoms occurred 2-3 times, with uncontrollable movement impulses in the right leg during the onset, accompanied by a burning sensation, lasting about 2 h, accompanied by anxiety and insomnia. Imaging examinations revealed no spinal stenosis or history of kidney disease, rheumatic disease, diabetes, or Parkinson's disease., Diagnoses: The patient was diagnosed with primary RLS, and the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group rating scale (IRLS) score was 26., Interventions: FSN was successfully performed three times per week on different days. No adverse and unanticipated events while the treatment. The total treatment course lasted for six weeks., Outcomes: After the treatment, the patient reported that the recent onset interval was approximately 10 days, each time lasting approximately 15 min. The patient's IRLS score was 5, After a follow-up of 2 months following the end of treatment, the patient reported that the incidence of RLS was approximately one episode within two weeks,each lasting approximately 10 min., Lessons: FSN significantly improved leg discomfort and desire for leg movement in patients with RLS. FSN may exert its therapeutic effects by influencing connective and muscular tissues, thereby improving the condition of the central nervous system and the local blood supply in the legs. However, due to the limitation of a single clinical observation case, a randomized clinical trial with a sufficient follow-up time is needed., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Abnormally high levels of copper in tumors stimulate malignant proliferation and migration of cancer cells, which proposes a formidable challenge for the thorough therapy of malignant tumors. In this work, we developed a reliable, mitochondria-targeted near-infrared aggregation-induced emission fluorescent probe, TTQ-Th, whose thiourea moiety specifically could recognize mitochondria even both upon loss of mitochondrial membrane potential or in fixated cells, and can capture copper overexpressed by tumor cells, leading to severe copper deficiency. In parallel, TTQ-Th can generate sufficient reactive oxygen species (ROS) upon photoexcitation, while copper deficiency inhibits expression of related copper-based enzymes, resulting in a decline in ATP production. Such energy deficiency, combined with reduced MMP and elevated oxidative stress can lead to critical cell oncosis. Both in vitro and intracellular experiments can illustrate that the elevated ROS has remarkable damage to tumor cells and contributes to the elimination of the primary tumor, while copper deficiency further hinder tumor cell migration and induces G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in a dose-dependent manner, which is an efficacious strategy for the treatment of malignant tumors., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

With the wide application prospect of ionic liquids (ILs) as solvent in the future industry, in order to promote green and sustainable chemical engineering, the toxicity problem of common concern has been systematically modeled. Machine learning has promoted the development of chemical property prediction model with its powerful data processing ability. Two typical ensemble learning models, Random Forest (RF) and eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), were used to model the toxicity of ILs to Vibrio fischeri in this work. The model's hyperparameters were fine-tuned using Bayesian optimization, and its robustness was enhanced through the 5-fold cross validation. The results of the model comparison showed that the XGBoost model exhibited good generalization ability. In addition, the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method was used to explain the model in more detail and the XGBoost model was used to supplement the toxicity value matrix of 1590 ILs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Controversial results are reported whereby biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can be promoted or inhibited by biochar amendment of soil. Metabolomics was applied to analyze the metabolic profiles of amendment with biochar (BB) and biochar inoculated with functional bacteria (Pseudomonas putida) (BP) involved in phenanthrene (PHE) degradation. Additionally, metagenomic analysis was utilized to assess the impact of different treatments on PHE degradation by soil microorganisms. Results indicated that BB treatment decreased the PHE biodegradation of the soil indigenous bacterial consortium, but BP treatment alleviated this inhibitory effect. Metabolomics revealed the differential metabolite 9-phenanthrol was absent in the BB treatment, but was found in the control group (CK), and in the treatment inoculated with the Pseudomonas putida (Ps) and the BP treatment. Metagenomic analysis showed that biochar decreased the abundance of the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (CYP116), which was detected in the Pseudomonas putida, thus alleviating the inhibitory effect of biochar on PHE degradation. Moreover, a noticeable delayed increase of functional gene abundance and enzymes abundance in the BB treatment was observed in the PHE degradation pathway. Our findings elucidate the mechanism of inhibition with biochar amendment and the alleviating effect of biochar inoculated with degrading bacteria., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. The role of neutrophils in the pathogenesis of CRSwNP has attracted more attention in recent years, due to its association with more severe disease and reduced steroid responsiveness. Lipocalin-2 (LCN2) has been found to modulate neutrophils infiltration in other neutrophilic inflammation including inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis. The aim was to evaluate the expression and regulator role of LCN2 in neutrophilic inflammation in CRSwNP, and its role as a potential biomarker predicting non-eosinophilic CRSwNP (neCRSwNP)., Methods: Bioinformatic analysis, immunostainings, real-time PCR and ELISA were used to analyze the expression and location of LCN2 in nasal tissues. The expression of proinflammatory mediators were assessed in nasal tissues and secretions. LCN2 production in human nasal epithelial cells (HNECs) and neutrophils, as well as its role in neutrophilic inflammation was evaluated by in vitro experiments., Results: LCN2 was mainly located in neutrophils and HNECs of nasal polyps. LCN2 expression was also significantly higher in the polyp tissue and nasal secretions from patients with neCRSwNP. The LCN2 levels were positively correlated with type 3 inflammation markers, including G-CSF, IL-8, and IL-17. LCN2 expression could be upregulated by IL-17 A and TNF-α in HNECs, and LCN2 could also promote the expression of IL-8 in dispersed polyp cells and HNECs., Conclusions: LCN2 could serve as a novel biomarker predicting patients with neCRSwNP, and the increased expression of LCN2 may participate in the pathogenesis of neCRSwNP., (Copyright © 2023 Japanese Society of Allergology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Grassland degradation threatens ecosystem function and livestock production, partly induced by soil nutrient deficiency due to the lack of nutrient return to soils, which is largely ascribed to the intense grazing activities. Therefore, nitrogen (N) fertilization has been widely adopted to restore degraded Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) grasslands. Despite numerous field manipulation studies investigating its effects on alpine grasslands, the patterns and thresholds of plant response to N fertilization remain unclear, thus hindering the prediction of its influences on the regional scale. Here, we established a random forest model to predict N fertilization effects on plant productivity based on a meta-analysis synthesizing 88 publications in QTP grasslands. Our results showed that N fertilization increased the aboveground biomass (AGB) by 46.51 %, varying wildly among plant functional groups. The positive fertilization effects intensified when the N fertilization rate increased to 272 kg ha -1  yr -1 , and decreased after three years of continuous fertilization. These effects were more substantial when applying ammonium nitrate compared to urea. Further, a machine learning model was used to predict plant productivity response to N fertilization. The total explained variance and mean squared residuals ranged from 49.41 to 75.13 % and 0.011-0.058, respectively, both being the highest for grasses. The crucial predictors were identified as climatic and geographic factors, background AGB without N fertilization, and fertilization methods (i.e., rate, form, and duration). These predictors with easy access contributed 62.47 % of the prediction power of grasses' response, thus enhancing the generalizability and replicability of our model. Notably, if 30 % of yak dung is returned to soils on the QTP, the grassland productivity and plant carbon pool are predicted to increase by 5.90-6.51 % and 9.35-10.31 g C m -2 yr -1 , respectively. Overall, the predictions of this study based on literature synthesis enhance our understanding of plant responses to N fertilization in QTP grasslands, thereby providing helpful information for grassland management policies. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Technique: Although the double flap technique effectively reduces the incidence of postoperative reflux esophagitis and anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic gastrectomy, its clinical application is restricted because the procedure is technical complex. We devised a modified esophagogastric reconstructive method which we termed the "arch-bridge-type" reconstruction. This reconstruction method was performed for a 71-year-old man, who was admitted to our hospital with the diagnosis of cT2N0 upper gastric cancer. The present study reported the surgical details and accompanied with the video., Results: The patient underwent surgery successfully without switching to open surgery. The total operation time was 203 min, the time for making the "arch-bridge" was 16 min, and the time for esophagogastric anastomosis under laparoscopy was 23 min. No surgery-related complications occurred. The postoperative hospital stay was 10 days. The upper GI radiography demonstrated that the anastomosis was not narrow and no extravasation of contrast agent was observed. The gastroscopy found no reflux esophagitis and anastomotic stenosis 1 year after surgery., Conclusion: The "arch-bridge-type" reconstruction method is safe and time saving. It has advantages in simplifying the procedure of conventional double flap technique and reducing postoperative complications after proximal gastrectomy., (Copyright © 2023 Asian Surgical Association and Taiwan Robotic Surgery Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The development of industrial parks has become an important global trend contributing significantly to economic and industrial growth. However, this growth comes at a cost, as the treatment of multisource industrial wastewater generated in these parks can be difficult owing to its complex composition. Microorganisms play a critical role in pollutant removal during industrial park wastewater treatment. Therefore, our study focused on the microbial communities in five full-scale industrial park wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with similar treatment processes and capacities. The results showed that denitrifying bacteria were dominant in almost every process section of all the plants, with heterotrophic denitrification being the main pathway. Moreover, autotrophic sulfur denitrification and methane oxidation denitrification may contribute to total nitrogen (TN) removal. In plants where the influent had low levels of COD and TN, dominant bacteria included oligotrophic microorganisms like Prosthecobacter (2.88 % ~ 10.02 %) and hgcI&#95;clade (2.05 % ~ 9.49 %). Heavy metal metabolizing microorganisms, such as Norank&#95;f&#95;&#95;PHOS-HE36 (3.96 % ~ 5.36 %) and Sediminibacterium (1.86 % ~ 5.34 %), were prevalent in oxidation ditch and secondary settling tanks in certain plants. Functional Annotation of Prokaryotic Taxa (FAPROTAX) revealed that microbial communities in the regulation and hydrolysis tanks exhibited higher potential activity in the nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) cycles than those in the oxidation ditch. Sulfate/sulfite reduction was common in most plants, whereas the potential occurrence of sulfide compounds and thiosulfate oxidation tended to be higher in plants with a relatively high sulfate concentration and low COD content in their influent. Our study provides a new understanding of the microbial community in full-scale industrial park WWTPs and highlights the critical role of microorganisms in the treatment of industrial wastewater., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Given the indispensability and immense value of rare earth elements for scientific and technological advancements in the 21st century, extracting high-quality rare earth resources from nature has become a global priority. Bastnäsite-(Ce) is one of the known rare earth minerals with high rare earth content and wide distribution, which occupies a pivotal position in human life and high-end production activities, making its efficient development and utilization crucial. In recent years, research on separating bastnäsite-(Ce) from gangue minerals has focused on the flotation process, with flotation reagents playing a critical role in achieving effective separation. This paper provides a detailed summary of current research on the behavior of bastnäsite-(Ce) flotation agents on minerals, their interaction with mineral surfaces during flotation separation, and outlines future prospects for further research., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Due to their superparamagnetism and enzyme-like activity, iron oxide (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanozymes can be readily used for sample pretreatment and the generation of detection signals, and have, thus, attracted much attention in the field of bioanalysis and diagnosis. However, the low catalytic activity of Fe 3 O 4 nanozymes does reduce the sensitivity of Fe 3 O 4 -based methods, limiting their application. In this study, Fe 3 O 4 @Cu@poly(pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid) yolk-shell nanozymes (Fe 3 O 4 @Cu@PCPy YSNs) were synthesized using a facile approach and selective chemical etching technology. Compared with Fe 3 O 4 nanozymes, the Fe 3 O 4 @Cu@PCPy YSNs demonstrated a three-fold increase in the peroxidase-like activity, good dispersity and strong superparamagnetism. In addition, the flower-shaped structure of aptamer-complementary strand (Apt-CS) conjugates was designed on the surface of the Fe 3 O 4 @Cu@PCPy YSNs, which effectively inhibited their peroxidase-like activity by creating a physical barrier that hindered the access of substrates to the center of the Fe 3 O 4 @Cu@PCPy YSNs. Based on this principle, a robust and facile colorimetric aptasensor was developed for detecting Salmonella Typhimurium. The flower-shaped Apt-CS were dissociated in the presence of S. Typhimurium, promoting the recovery of Fe 3 O 4 @Cu@PCPy YSN catalytic activity. Under optimized conditions, this proposed aptasensor successfully detected S. Typhimurium in a linear range of 3 to 3 × 10 6  CFU/mL, achieving a detection limit of 1 CFU/mL. Finally, the feasibility of this novel aptasensor was further validated by three actual samples, with recoveries of between 84.3% and 102%, thereby demonstrating the huge potential of the proposed aptasensor for detecting S. Typhimurium in foods., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The bone marrow microenvironment (BMM) can regulate leukemia stem cells (LSCs) via secreted factors. Increasing evidence suggests that dissecting the mechanisms by which the BMM maintains LSCs may lead to the development of effective therapies for the eradication of leukemia. Inhibitor of DNA binding 1 (ID1), a key transcriptional regulator in LSCs, previously identified by us, controls cytokine production in the BMM, but the role of ID1 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) BMM remains obscure. Here, we report that ID1 is highly expressed in the BMM of patients with AML, especially in BM mesenchymal stem cells, and that the high expression of ID1 in the AML BMM is induced by BMP6, secreted from AML cells. Knocking out ID1 in mesenchymal cells significantly suppresses the proliferation of cocultured AML cells. Loss of Id1 in the BMM results in impaired AML progression in AML mouse models. Mechanistically, we found that Id1 deficiency significantly reduces SP1 protein levels in mesenchymal cells cocultured with AML cells. Using ID1-interactome analysis, we found that ID1 interacts with RNF4, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, and causes a decrease in SP1 ubiquitination. Disrupting the ID1-RNF4 interaction via truncation in mesenchymal cells significantly reduces SP1 protein levels and delays AML cell proliferation. We identify that the target of Sp1, Angptl7, is the primary differentially expression protein factor in Id1-deficient BM supernatant fluid to regulate AML progression in mice. Our study highlights the critical role of ID1 in the AML BMM and aids the development of therapeutic strategies for AML., (© 2023 by The American Society of Hematology. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), permitting only noncommercial, nonderivative use with attribution. All other rights reserved.)

High-fidelity imaging and long-term visualization of lysosomes are pivotal factors in the functional assessment of lysosomes, which perform an instrumental role in the physiological activity of cells. However, commercial probes have great limitations in lysosome exploration resulting from the aggregation-caused quenching effect as well as photobleaching instability and small Stokes shift. Therefore, we constructed a novel probe named TTAM with triphenylamine as the matrix and morpholine ring as the targeting group. In contrast with commonly accessible Lyso-tracker Red, TTAM has the merits of aggregation-induced emission effect, extremely high quantum yields (51.57 % solid-state) as well as fluorescence intensity, significant photostability, and high resolution. These properties make it ideal for imaging and activity monitoring lysosomes, which provides a powerful condition for bio-imaging., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The cellular behavior in normal mammary gland development and the progression of breast cancer is like the relationship between an object and its mirror image: they may appear similar, but their essence is completely different. Breast cancer can be considered as temporal and spatial aberrations of normal development in mammary gland. Glycans have been shown to regulate key pathophysiological steps during mammary development and breast cancer progression, and the glycoproteins that play a key role in both processes can affect the normal differentiation and development of mammary cells, and even cause malignant transformation or accelerate tumorigenesis due to differences in their type and level of glycosylation., Key Findings: In this review, we summarize the roles of glycan alterations in essential cellular behaviors during breast cancer progression and mammary development, and also highlight the importance of key glycan-binding proteins such as epidermal growth factor receptor, transforming growth factor β receptors and other proteins, which are pivotal in the modulation of cellular signaling in mammary gland. Our review takes an overall view of the molecular interplay, signal transduction and cellular behaviors in mammary gland development and breast cancer progression from a glycobiological perspective., Significance: This review will give a better understanding of the similarities and differences in glycosylation between mammary gland development and breast cancer progression, laying the foundation for elucidating the key molecular mechanisms of glycobiology underlying the malignant transformation of mammary cells., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

As one of the most common noninfectious diseases, diabetes and diabetic complications (DDC) have attracted great attention in the field of life and health. However, simultaneous detection of DDC markers usually requires labor- and time-consuming steps. Here, a novel cloth-based single-working-electrode electrochemiluminescence (SWE-ECL) sensor was designed for the simultaneous detection of multiple DDC markers. For this sensor, three independent ECL cells are distributed on the SWE, which is a simplification of the configuration of traditional sensors for simultaneous detection. In this way, the modification processes and ECL reactions occur at the back of the SWE, eliminating the adverse effects caused by human intervention on the electrode. Under optimized conditions, glucose, uric acid and lactate were determined, with corresponding linear dynamic ranges of 80-4000 μM, 45-1200 μM and 60-2000 μM, and detection limits of 54.79 μM, 23.95 μM and 25.82 μM, respectively. In addition, the cloth-based SWE-ECL sensor exhibited good specificity and satisfactory reproducibility, and its actual application potential was verified by measuring complex human serum samples. Overall, this work developed a simple, sensitive, low-cost and rapid method for the simultaneous quantitative determination of multiple markers related to DDC and demonstrated a new route for multiple-marker detection., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Organelle-targeted photodynamic therapy has been increasingly investigated in recent decades, but little attention has been paid to the damage caused to other non-primary target organelles during the course of action, even though these non-primary target organelles may play a substantial role in inhibiting the growth of cancer cells. In this contribution, we report an AIE-type strong endoplasmic reticulum-targeted luminogen (MTOQS) with a distorted structure, which is efficient in producing ROS both in cellular and non-cellular environment, causing an effective reduction of high levels of GSH and MDA in cancer cells through the efficient accumulation of intracellular ROS, and the levels of ATP, l-lactic acid, anti-apoptotic factor Bcl-2 and apoptotic protein caspase-3 were determined. Through the identification of these markers, it was evidenced that MTOQS-induced dual organelle oxidative stress could diminish the degree of oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis in cancer cells and trigger an alteration in the culture environment of cancer cells, while causing damage to the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria through multiorganelle oxidative stress, turning on the pathway of apoptosis and consequently driving cancer cells to apoptosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The pollution of water system with Hg(II) exerts hazardous effect to ecosystem and public health. Adsorption is considered to be a promising strategy to remove Hg(II) from aqueous solution. Herein, hyperbranched polyamine dendrimer/chitosan/silica composite (SiO 2 -FP) was synthesized for the adsorption of aqueous Hg(II). The adsorption performance of SiO 2 -FP was comprehensively determined by considering various influencing factors. SiO 2 -FP displays good adsorption performance for Hg(II) with the adsorption capacity of 0.79 mmol·g -1 , which is higher than the corresponding chitosan functionalized silica (SiO 2 -CTS) by 46.30 %. The optimal solution pH for the adsorption of Hg(II) is 6. Adsorption kinetic indicates the adsorption for Hg(II) can reach equilibrium at 250 min. Adsorption kinetic process can be well fitted by pseudo-second-order (PSO). Adsorption isotherm reveals the adsorption for Hg(II) can be promoted by increasing initial Hg(II) concentration and adsorption temperature. The adsorption isotherm indicates the adsorption process can be described by Langmuir model and the adsorption is a spontaneous, endothermic and entropy-increased process. SiO 2 -FP displays excellent adsorption selectivity and can 100 % adsorb Hg(II) with the coexisting of Ni(II), Zn(II), Pb(II), Mn(II), and Co(II). Adsorption mechanism demonstrates -NH-, -NH 2 , CN, CONH, -OH, and CO participated in the adsorption. SiO 2 -FP exhibits good regeneration property and the regeneration rate can maintain approximately 90 % after five adsorption-desorption cycles., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The complex environment of solid tumors and the migration of cancer cells are important obstacles to the cure of tumors through conventional therapy. Developing secure and efficient photosensitizers (PSs) is the crux to the application of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the noninvasive clinical treatment of tumors. Herein, a series of PSs (DCTPys) with the same skeleton structure was designed and prepared. The unique molecular structure of DCTPys endows them with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property and efficient reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation ability. Interestingly, due to their hydrophilic and lipophilic nature, DCTPys have fine staining and visual identification performance for the plasma membrane. In addition (e.g., MeDCTPy-OH), ROS is produced by MeDCTPy-OH under white light irradiation, which could destroy the completeness of cell membranes and cause cell necrosis. Importantly, morphology imaging of the cell membrane using MeDCTPy-OH enables real-time tracking of cancer cell ablation. This allowed cell necrosis and PDT effects to be observed under mild conditions. We conclude that DCTPys are potential cell membrane-selective PSs for PDT, and it is worth systematically exploring the phototherapeutic effect of these PSs on tumors in vivo., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune bullous skin disease characterized by autoantibodies against the hemidesmosomal proteins in the skin and mucous membranes. The efficiency of B-cell‒targeting biologics in BP indicates the important role of B cells in its pathogenesis. However, abnormal B-cell migration and differentiation in BP require further elucidation. We showed that the number of antibody-secreting cells increased in the circulation and skin lesions of patients with BP and was correlated with disease severity. Bulk RNA sequencing of the peripheral B cells identified 171 upregulated and 408 downregulated genes in patients with BP compared with those in healthy controls, among which CXCR4 was significantly upregulated. Notably, CXCR4 + B cells were enriched in BP skin lesions and exhibited antibody-secreting cell characteristics. Correspondingly, an elevated level of CXCL12, the CXCR4 ligand, was detected in the blister fluid and serum of patients with BP, mediating the chemotaxis and accumulation of CXCR4 + B cells to BP skin lesions. Moreover, CXCL12 activated the transcription factor c-Myc, thus promoting B-cell differentiation into antibody-secreting cells and facilitating autoantibody production, which was blocked by CXCR4 inhibitor in vitro. Collectively, our study reveals that the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis plays a pathogenic role in modulating B-cell trafficking and differentiation, thus targeting CXCR4 represents a potential strategy for treating BP and other autoimmune diseases., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Topic: To compare bevacizumab, ranibizumab, aflibercept, and laser treatment as primary therapies for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in terms of retreatment rate., Clinical Relevance: Anti-VEGF agents are increasingly used as primary treatment for ROP and may provide superior outcomes compared with laser in posterior disease. Head-to-head comparisons between different anti-VEGFs are lacking., Methods: We searched CENTRAL, Embase, MEDLINE, and CINAHL databases for randomized controlled trials and nonrandomized comparative studies that had been reported as of March 2022. We included studies that used bevacizumab, ranibizumab, aflibercept or laser for ROP with comparable cohorts and treatment criteria. Studies were evaluated by the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation framework, and those with biased case selection, nonrandomized case-control, or lack of control group were excluded. Frequentist meta-analyses of proportions determined the absolute primary retreatment rate of each modality and Bayesian network meta-analyses compared pairs of treatments in type 1 and Zone I ROP., Results: In all, 30 studies (4686 eyes) were included in the network meta-analyses. For type 1 ROP, single-treatment success rates (i.e., likelihood of needing no further treatment) were 89.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 83.8%-93.8%; n = 1552) for laser, 87.0% (95% CI: 78.6%-93.8%; n = 2081) for bevacizumab, 80.7% (95% CI: 62.0%-94.4%; n = 326) for aflibercept, and 74.0% (95% CI: 62.7%-84.1%; n = 727) for ranibizumab. Bayesian network meta-analysis indicates that laser treatment is associated with a significant 62% (95% credible interval [CrI]: 16%-83%) reduction in retreatment risk compared with ranibizumab, while no significant difference was found among other pairwise comparisons. The mean ± standard error of the mean times to secondary treatment following primary aflibercept (12.96 ± 0.47 weeks) and bevacizumab (11.36 ± 0.54 weeks) therapy were significantly longer than that for primary ranibizumab (9.29 ± 0.43weeks) therapy (P = 7 × 10 -7 and P = 9 × 10 -3 , respectively). For Zone I ROP, single-treatment success rates were 91.2% (95% CI: 83.6-96.9; n = 231) for bevacizumab, 78.3% (95% CI: 61.4-91.9; n = 100) for ranibizumab, and 65.9% (95% CI: 41.4-87.2; n = 158) for laser treatment. In this case, Bayesian network meta-analysis suggests that primary bevacizumab is associated with a significant 67% (95% CrI:10%-90%) reduction in retreatment risk compared with laser treatment., Conclusions: Laser was associated with a lower rate of retreatment than ranibizumab in type 1 ROP (Zones I and II combined), while bevacizumab was associated with a lower rate of retreatment than laser in Zone I ROP. Aflibercept and bevacizumab demonstrate longer duration of action than ranibizumab for ROP., (Copyright © 2022 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Depressive symptoms have a significant impact on the quality-of-life among the oldest old (aged ≥ 80 years) in the population. Current research on the association of blood mercury with depressive symptoms has mainly targeted the general population. However, it is unclear whether this association is present in the oldest old. We used data from the Healthy Aging and Biomarker Cohort Study carried out in 2017-2018, with 1154 participants aged ≥ 80 years eligible for analysis. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was employed to detect blood mercury (Hg) levels, while the CES-D10 depression scale was used to assess depressive symptoms. The association between blood mercury levels and depressive symptoms was investigated using log-binomial and Poisson regression models. We also used restricted cubic splines (RCS) to assess the linear or nonlinear association of blood mercury with depressive symptoms scores. The 1154 participants ranged in age from 80 to 120 years, while the geometric mean of blood mercury concentration was 1.01 μg/L. After adjustment for covariates, log-binomial and Poisson regression analyses revealed a statistically significant, positive association of blood mercury with depressive symptoms. In comparison to the first tertile, the adjusted relative risks of blood mercury and the presence of depressive symptoms in the second and third tertiles were 1.55 (1.20-1.99) and 1.45 (1.11-1.90), respectively. The RCS model showed a linear association between blood mercury level and depressive symptoms scores. In conclusion, among the oldest old, we demonstrated that blood mercury levels were positively associated with depressive symptoms. Further surveys, especially cohort studies and clinical trials are needed to confirm these results., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

It is generally believed that there is a vegetation succession sequence from alpine marsh meadow to desert in the alpine ecosystem of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. However, we still have a limited understanding about distribution patterns and community assemblies of microorganisms' response to such vegetation changes. Hence, across a gradient represented by three types of alpine vegetation from swamp meadow to meadow to steppe, the soil bacterial, fungal and archaeal diversity was evaluated and then associated with their assembly processes, and glacier foreland vegetation was also surveyed as a case out of this gradient. Vegetation biomass was found to decrease significantly along the vegetation gradient. In contrast to irregular shifts in alpha diversity, bacterial and fungal beta diversities that were dominated by species replacement components (71.07-79.08%) significantly increased with the decreasing gradient in vegetation biomass (P < 0.05). These trends of increase were also found in the extent of stochastic bacterial and fungal assembly. Moreover, an increase in microbial beta diversity but a decrease in beta nearest taxon index were observed along with increased discrepancy in vegetation biomass (P < 0.001). Stepwise regression analyses and structural equation models suggested that vegetation biomass was the major variable that was related to microbial distribution and community assembly, and there might be associations between the dominance of species replacements and stochastic assembly. These findings enhanced our recognition of the relationship between vegetation and soil microorganisms and would facilitate the development of vegetation-microbe feedback models in alpine ecosystems., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Lipocalins are a family of secreted adipokines that regulate cell lipid metabolism and immune responses. Although we have previously revealed that LCN2 modulates neutrophil activation in psoriasis, the other roles of LCN2 in psoriatic local inflammation have remained elusive. In this study, we found that 24p3R, the well-known specific receptor of LCN2, was highly expressed in the lesional epidermis of patients with psoriasis. Silencing 24p3R (also known as slc22a17) alleviated hyperkeratosis, inflammatory cell infiltration, and overexpression of inflammatory mediators in an imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like mouse model. In vitro, LCN2 enhanced the expression of proinflammatory factors in primary keratinocytes, such as IL-1β, IL-23, CXCL1, and CXCL10, which was paralleled by enforced cholesterol biosynthetic signaling. Importantly, taking in vivo and in vitro approaches, we discovered the SREBP2, a vital transcriptional factor in cholesterol synthesis pathway, as the critical mediator of LCN2-induced keratinocyte activation, which bound to the promoter region of NLRC4. Suppressing SREBP2 in mice attenuated NLRC4 signaling and psoriasis-like dermatitis. Taken together, this study identifies the critical role of LCN2‒SREBP2‒NLRC4 axis in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and proposes 24p3R or SREBP2 as a potential therapeutic target for psoriasis., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Proton detection in solid state NMR is continuously developing and allows one to gain new insights in structural biology. Overall, this progress is a result of the synergy between hardware development, new NMR methodology and new isotope labeling strategies, to name a few factors. Even though current developments are rapid, it is worthwhile to summarize what can currently be achieved employing proton detection in biological solids. We illustrate this by analysing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for spectra obtained for a microcrystalline α-spectrin SH3 domain protein sample by (i) employing different degrees of chemical dilution to replace protons by incorporating deuterons in different sites, by (ii) variation of the magic angle spinning (MAS) frequencies between 20 and 110 kHz, and by (iii) variation of the static magnetic field B 0 . The experimental SNR values are validated with numerical simulations employing up to 9 proton spins. Although in reality a protein would contain far more than 9 protons, in a deuterated environment this is a sufficient number to achieve satisfactory simulations consistent with the experimental data. The key results of this analysis are (i) with current hardware, deuteration is still necessary to record spectra of optimum quality; (ii) 13CH3 isotopomers for methyl groups yield the best SNR when MAS frequencies above 100 kHz are available; and (iii) sensitivity increases with a factor beyond B0 3/2 with the static magnetic field due to a transition of proton-proton dipolar interactions from a strong to a weak coupling limit., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Diabetic chronic wounds are difficult to heal because of the presence of excessive inflammation and high overexpression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), which greatly affects the quality of life of patients with diabetes and increases the risk of death. Thus, the regulation of excessive inflammation and inhibition of MMP-9 overexpression are effective strategies to improve diabetic wound healing. The present study is the first to demonstrate that ion products of 45S5 Bioglass® (BG) can work with small interfering RNA of MMP9 (MMP9-siRNA) to reduce MMP-9 expression in tissue-forming cells and enhance the synthesis of extracellular matrix proteins (ECMs). Specifically, the BG ionic products can stimulate macrophages to convert to M2 phenotype, thereby creating a proregenerative inflammation microenvironment to indirectly suppress the expression of MMP-9 in tissue-forming cells. Chitosan nanoparticles encapsulating MMP9-siRNA (MMP9-siNP) can directly lower MMP-9 expression in tissue-forming cells. In addition, BG ionic products can promote the vascularization of endothelial cells and ECM protein synthesis by fibroblasts. Thus, injectable BG/sodium alginate (BG/SA) hydrogels loaded with MMP9-siNP can significantly accelerate the healing process of full-thickness excision wounds of diabetic rats by decreasing MMP-9 expression, improving collagen synthesis, and enhancing angiogenesis in the wounds, thereby demonstrating their great application potential in treating diabetic chronic wounds. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Excessive inflammation and high overexpression of MMP-9 have been considered as factors that severely hinder the healing process of diabetic chronic wounds. Effective strategies are required for the regulation of excessive inflammation and inhibition of MMP-9 overexpression to enhance diabetic wound healing. In the present work, an injectable bioglass/sodium alginate (BG/SA) hydrogel loaded with MMP9-siNP was developed; this hydrogel significantly accelerated the healing process of full-thickness excision wounds of diabetic rats by decreasing MMP-9 expression, improving collagen accumulation, and enhancing angiogenesis in the wounds. Thus, the BG/SA hydrogel loaded with MMP9-siNP has great potential for use in healing of diabetic chronic wounds., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Haiyan Li reports financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Psoriasis is a systemic disease that is associated with metabolic disorders, which may contribute to abnormal adipokine levels. However, the underlying mechanism is largely unknown. Here, we investigated the role of the adipokine CTRP3 in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and comorbidities. The circulating CTRP3 level in patients with psoriasis was significantly lower than that in healthy controls and negatively correlated with metabolic risk factors. Rescuing CTRP3 levels with the GLP-1 receptor agonist exendin-4 in diet-induced obese mice could alleviate its more severe psoriatic symptoms in an imiquimod-induced mouse model. Topical application of CTRP3 also exerted a protective effect on imiquimod-induced normal diet mice. Moreover, CTRP3 could directly inhibit the inflammatory responses of psoriatic keratinocytes by blocking phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 via LAMP1 in vitro. We identified the critical psoriatic cytokines, including IL-17A and TNF-α, that impaired adipocyte differentiation and sufficient CTRP3 secretion. In sum, our study reveals that adipocyte dysfunction and low level of CTRP3 caused by IL-17A exacerbates psoriasis progression and related metabolic syndrome, implying a mechanism underlying the vicious cycle between psoriasis and metabolic disorders. Pharmacological agents that improve CTRP3 level in obese patients with psoriasis may be considered as a potential strategy for psoriasis treatment., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The global massive consumption of disposable face masks driven by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a blooming disaster to both the land and marine environment that might last for generations. Growing public concerns have been raised over the management and control of this new form of plastic pollution, and one of the proposed sustainable solution is to use renewable and/or biodegradable resources to develop mask materials in order to minimize their environmental impacts. As a representative biodegradable polymer, polylactic acid (PLA) has been proposed as a promising candidate to produce non-woven face masks instead of those fossil-based polymers. To further explore the feasibility of this alternative mask material, the present work aims to study both the hydrolytic and bio-degradation behaviors of pure PLA-derived 3-ply disposable face masks at ambient temperature. Hydrolytic degradability was investigated at different pH conditions of 2, 7 and 13 with the whole piece of face mask soaked for regular timed intervals up to 8 weeks. Weight loss study showed neutral and acidic conditions had minimal effect on PLA masks, but rapid degradation occurred under basic conditions in the first week with a sharp 25% decrease in weight that slowly tapered off, coupled with solution pH dropping from 13 to 9.6. This trend was supported by mechanical property, bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) and particulate filtration efficiency (PFE) studies. Masks soaked in basic conditions had their modulus and tensile strength dropped by more than 50% after 8 weeks where the middle layer reached 68% and 90% respectively just after 48 h, and BFE and PFE decreased by 14% and 43% respectively after 4 weeks, which was much more significant than those in neutral and acidic conditions. Base degradation was also supported by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and fourier transform infrared (FTIR), which disclosed that only the middle layer undergo major degradation with random chain scission and cleavage of enol or enolate chain ends, while outer and inner layers were much less affected. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) attributed this observation to thinner PLA fibers for the middle layer of 3-7 μm diameter, which on average is 3 times smaller. This degradation was further supported by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) which saw an increase in lower molecular weight fragment Mw ~ 800 Da with soaking duration. The biodegradation behavior was studied under OECD 301F specification in sewage sludge environment. Similarly, degradation to the middle meltblown layer was more extensive, where the average weight loss and carbon loss was 25.8% and 25.7% respectively, double that of outer/inner spunbond layer. The results showed that the face masks did not completely disintegrate after 8 weeks, but small solubilized fragments of PLA formed in the biodegradation process can be completely mineralized into carbon dioxide without generation of secondary microplastic pollution in the environment. PLA masks are therefore a slightly greener option to consider in times of a pandemic that the world was caught unprepared; however future research on masks could be geared towards a higher degradability material that fully breaks down into non-harmful components while maintaining durability, filtration and protection properties for users., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Excessive activation of CD4 + T cells and T helper type (Th) 17/Th1 cell differentiation are critical events in psoriasis pathogenesis, but the associated molecular mechanism is still unclear. Here, using quantitative proteomics analysis, we found that cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (CDK7) expression was markedly increased in CD4 + T cells from patients with psoriasis compared with healthy controls and was positively correlated with psoriasis severity. Meanwhile, genetic or pharmacological inhibition of CDK7 ameliorated the severity of psoriasis in the imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like mouse model and suppressed CD4 + T-cell activation as well as Th17/Th1 cell differentiation in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, the CDK7 inhibitor also reduced the enhanced glycolysis of CD4 + T cells from patients with psoriasis. Proinflammatory cytokine IL-23 induced increased CDK7 expression in CD4 + T cells and activated the protein kinase B/mTOR/HIF-1α signaling pathway, enhancing glycolytic metabolism. Correspondingly, CDK7 inhibition significantly impaired IL-23-induced glycolysis via the protein kinase B/mTOR/HIF-1α pathway. In summary, this study shows that CDK7 promotes CD4 + T-cell activation and Th17/Th1 cell differentiation by regulating glycolysis, thus contributing to the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Targeting CDK7 might be a promising immunosuppressive strategy to control skin inflammation mediated by IL-23., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Apelin and its receptor angiotensin receptor - like 1 (APJ) are closely related to renal fibrosis, but their specific roles in renal fibrosis are still controversial. In this article, we discussed the role of Apelin/APJ system in renal fibrosis and its mechanism., Methods: Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) rat model was established to induce the environment of renal fibrosis and a competitive antagonist of the APJ receptor ML221 was administered to CIH rats. The rats were divided into Control, CIH and ML221 groups. HE staining was used to detect the inflammatory injury and fibrosis of renal tissue. The expressions of renal fibrosis-related indicators transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and Human type I collagen (Col-Ⅰ) were detected by immunohistochemistry. The levels of oxidative stress indexes reactive oxygen species (ROS), Malondialdehyde (MDA), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and inflammation-related indexes Interleukin (IL) -6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and IL-1β were detected by ELISA. At the same time, the levels of Apelin-13 and AngiotensinII (AngⅡ) were also measured by ELISA. Finally, western blot was used to detect the expression of Apelin pathway and renal fibrosis-related proteins. In addition, at the cellular level, we divided the cells into Control, CIH, Apelin-13 and Apelin-13+ML-221 groups to further verify the specific mechanisms at the cellular level., Results: The expression of Apeline-13 and its related pathways was significantly increased after the induction of CIH in rats. However, the degree of renal fibrosis in ML221 group was further significantly increased after inhibiting the expression of Apelin. At the cellular level, CIH model cells treated with Apelin-13 significantly reduced cell proliferation, oxidative stress and inflammatory response, and decreased the expression of fibrosis-related proteins, which can be reversed by ML221 administration., Conclusion: The increased reactivity of Apelin may be one of the protective mechanisms against renal fibrosis induced by CIH., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Gut ecosystem has profound effects on host physiology and health. Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms were frequently observed in patients with COVID-19. Compared with other organs, gut antiviral response can result in more complicated immune responses because of the interactions between the gut microbiota and host immunity. However, there are still large knowledge gaps in the impact of COVID-19 on gut molecular profiles and commensal microbiome, hindering our comprehensive understanding of the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 and the treatment of COVID-19. We performed longitudinal stool multi-omics profiling to systemically investigate the molecular phenomics alterations of gut ecosystem in COVID-19. Gut proteomes of COVID-19 were characterized by disturbed immune, proteolysis and redox homeostasis. The expression and glycosylation of proteins involved in neutrophil degranulation and migration were suppressed, while those of proteases were upregulated. The variable domains of Ig heavy chains were downregulated and the overall glycosylation of IgA heavy chain constant regions, IgGFc-binding protein, and J chain were suppressed with glycan-specific variations. There was a reduction of beneficial gut bacteria and an enrichment of bacteria derived deleterious metabolites potentially associated with multiple types of diseases (such as ethyl glucuronide). The reduction of Ig heave chain variable domains may contribute to the increase of some Bacteroidetes species. Many bacteria ceramide lipids with a C17-sphingoid based were downregulated in COVID-19. In many cases, the gut phenome did not restore two months after symptom onset. Our study indicates widely disturbed gut molecular profiles which may play a role in the development of symptoms in COVID-19. Our findings also emphasis the need for ongoing investigation of the long-term gut molecular and microbial alterations during COVID-19 recovery process. Considering the gut ecosystem as a potential target could offer a valuable approach in managing the disease., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The toxicity of heavy metals is one of the major public health issues leading to hazardous effects on humans. Many studies focus on the adverse effects on people who were working in or living near E-waste recycling. However, little is known to the sustaining effects of E-waste exposure on human health after the recycling factories were shut down. In the present study, we collected the blood of people living near E‑waste recycling facilities after the recycling factories were closed for 2 years. Eight heavy metals were examined in all blood samples. The results revealed that the blood levels of lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), mercury (Hg) were significantly higher in the exposed group than in the reference group, and no difference was observed for copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), stannum (Sn), cadmium (Cd). Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) were analyzed as the important indicators of fibrosis, which were statistically significantly higher in the exposed group than in the reference group. 8-isoprostane (8-I) and malondialdehyde (MDA) as the biomarkers of oxidative stress (OS) were elevated in the exposed group. Furthermore, both Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression showed that Co was positively correlated with TGF-β, α-SMA and 8-I in the exposed group. Accordingly, we speculate that high concentrations of Co dissolved in the blood may increase the risk of tissue fibrosis through stimulating myofibroblast activation and OS involve in the process, which may provide some potential new hints for the intervention for tissue fibrosis in the future., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Due to the difference of vertical distribution of algae in lakes, it is necessary to carry out remote sensing estimation of algal biomass based on the vertically heterogeneous distribution of chlorophyll in order to improve the accuracy of biomass inversion. A new algorithm is proposed and validated to measure algal biomass in Lake Chaohu based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) images. The algal biomass index (ABI) is defined as the difference in remote-sensing reflectance (R rs , sr -1 ) at 555 nm normalized against two baselines with one formed linearly between R rs (859) and R rs (469) and another formed linearly between R rs (645) and R rs (469). Both theory and model simulations show that ABI has a good relation with the algal biomass in the euphotic zone (R 2  = 0.88, p < 0.01, N = 50). Field data were further used to estimate the biomass outside the euphotic layer through an empirical algorithm. The ABI algorithm was applied to MODIS Rayleigh-corrected reflectance (R rc ) data after testing the sensitivity to sun glint and thickness of aerosols, which showed an acceptable precision (root mean square error < 21.31 mg and mean relative error < 16.08%). Spectral analyses showed that ABI algorithm was immune to concentration of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) but relatively sensitive to suspended particulate inorganic matter (SPIM), which can be solved by using Turbid Water Index (TWI) though in such a challenging environment. A long-term (2012-2017) estimation of algal biomass was further calculated based on the robust algorithm, which shows both seasonal and spatial variations in Lake Chaohu. Tests of ABI algorithm on Sentinel-3 OLCI demonstrates the potential for application in other remote sensors, which meets the need of observation using multi-sensor remote sensing in the future., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Grazing is expected to exert a substantial influence on antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in grassland ecosystems. However, the precise effects of grazing on the composition of ARGs in grassland soils remain unclear. This is especially the case for grassland soils subject to long-term grazing. Here, we investigated ARGs and bacterial community composition in soils subject to long-term historic grazing (13-39 years) and corresponding ungrazed samples. Using a combination of shotgun metagenomics, amplicon analyses and associated soil physicochemical data, we provide novel insights regarding the structure of ARGs in grassland soils. Interestingly, our analysis revealed that long-term historic grazing had no impacts on the composition of ARGs in grassland soils. An average of 378 ARGs, conferring resistance to 14 major categories of antibiotics (80%), were identified in both grazing and ungrazed sites. Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria were the most prevalent predicted hosts in these soils and were also shown to harbour genetic capacity for multiple-resistant ARGs. Our results suggested that positive effects of bacterial community composition on ARGs could potentially be controlled by affecting MGEs. Soil properties had direct effects on the composition of ARGs through affecting the frequency of horizontal gene transfer among bacteria. Twelve novel ARGs were found in S. grandis steppe grasslands, indicating that different vegetation types might induce shifts in soil ARGs. Collectively, these findings suggest that soil properties, plants and microorganisms play critical roles in shaping ARG patterns in grasslands. Together, these data establish a solid baseline for understanding environmental antibiotic resistance in grasslands., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Decreased serum ferritin level was recently found in schizophrenia. Whether the brain iron concentration in schizophrenia exists abnormality is of research significance. Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) was used in this study to assess brain iron changes in the grey matter nuclei of patients with first-episode schizophrenia., Methods: The local ethics committee approved the study, and all subjects gave written informed consent. Thirty patients with first-episode schizophrenia and 30 age and gender-matched healthy controls were included in this study. QSM and effective transverse relaxation rate (R 2 *) maps were reconstructed from a three-dimensional multi-echo gradient-echo sequence. The inter-group differences of regional QSM values, R 2 * values and volumes were calculated in the grey matter nuclei, including bilateral caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, substantia nigra, red nucleus, and thalamus. The diagnostic performance of QSM and R 2 * was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve. The correlations between regional iron variations and clinical PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) scores were assessed using partial correlation analysis., Results: Compared to healthy controls, patients with first-episode schizophrenia had significantly decreased QSM values (less paramagnetic) in the bilateral substantia nigra, left red nucleus and left thalamus (p < 0.05, FDR correction). QSM proved more sensitive than R 2 * regarding inter-group differences. The highest diagnostic performance for first-episode schizophrenia was observed in QSM value of the left substantia nigra (area under the curve, AUC = 0.718, p = 0.004). Regional volumes of bilateral putamen and bilateral substantia nigra were increased (p < 0.05, FDR correction) in first-episode schizophrenia. However, both QSM and R 2 * values did not show significant correlations with PANSS scores (p > 0.05)., Conclusion: This study reveals decreased iron concentration in grey matter nuclei of patients with first-episode schizophrenia. QSM provides superior sensitivity over R 2 * in the evaluation of schizophrenia-related brain iron changes. It demonstrated that QSM may be a potential biomarker for further understanding the pathophysiological mechanism of first-episode schizophrenia., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

During early embryogenesis, mammary glands are derived from surface ectoderm and their morphogenesis is controlled by mammary stem cells (MaSCs) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Mammary anlagen stage (E13.5-15.5) is an important stage for fetal mice to achieve EMT dependent mammary morphogenesis. And the characteristics of mammary anlagen repopulating cell population (MaRC) should be identified for understanding its stemness at earlier embryonic stage. Here we quantify and characterize MaSCs proportion at mammary anlagen stage. Compared with adult mouse mammary gland, our data revealed that E14.5 mammary anlagen exhibit higher stem cell activities. Then we purified mammary anlagen cell populations depending on the expression levels of CD24 and CD49f in mouse mammary anlagen, and identified an unique MaRC population (Lin-CD24medCD49f+) by real-time PCR, transplantation and mammosphere forming assays. In addition, by comparing with adult MaSC (Lin-CD24+CD29hi) and differentiated mammary anlagen cells, we find that E14.5 mouse MaRC population exhibit gene expression programs related to mesenchymal properties. To further identify the cell types of E14.5 mouse MaRC population, the expressions of K8, K14, K18, e-cadherin, n-cadherin and vimentin in mammary anlagen Lin-CD24medCD49f + cells were detected by immunofluorescence assay. These findings verified that the undifferentiated E14.5 mouse MaRC population is a heterogeneous population with mesenchymal property, which is associated with cell stemness and mammary duct morphogenesis., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The increased production and environmental release of graphene nanoparticles has raised concerns about its environmental impact, but the effects of graphene on living organisms at the metabolic level remain unknown. In this study, we used matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI)-based untargeted metabolomics to investigate the metabolic response of juvenile earthworms (Eisenia fetida) to graphene exposure in soil tests for the first time. Our results reveal that graphene-exposure significantly disturbs earthworm metabolome, and graphene toxicity on earthworm shows non-concentration-dependent effect. Alanine, phenylalanine, proline, glutamate, arginine, histidine, maltose, glucose, malate, succinate, myo-inositol, and spermidine were successfully screened as significantly change compounds in earthworms for the exposure of graphene. The heterogeneous distributions of these metabolites in earthworm were also clearly imaged by MALDI-MSI. Our MSI results fully showed that the metabolite expression levels in juvenile earthworms significantly changed (up-/down-regulation) after exposure to graphene nanoparticles. This work improves our understanding of graphene nanoparticle toxicity to juvenile earthworms and also enables the continued progression of MALDI-MSI-based metabolomics as an emerging, reliable, and rapid ecotoxicological tool for assessing contaminant toxicity., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by heterogeneous clinical performance and neurocognitive impairment. It is important to explore the correlation between global functioning and regional homogeneity (ReHo)/amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) values in MDD patients. 67 first-episode, drug naïve MDD patients and 69 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) and the Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST) were used to assess functional impairment in patients. Brain activity was assessed using ReHo and ALFF measurements. The relationship between the clinical features and altered brain function was evaluated using correlation analysis. There were significant differences in the ReHo and ALFF values between MDD patients and healthy subjects. The reduction in ReHo in the left calcarine/lingual gyrus/cuneus was negatively correlated with occupational functioning and the total FAST scores. The reduction in ALFF in the right calcarine/lingual gyrus was positively correlated with the verbal learning aspects of the MCCB. These findings suggest that the altered brain function in the default mode network (DMN) may be related to functional impairments in patients with first-episode, drug naïve major depressive disorder., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None, (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this paper, a new interface design strategy for bio‑carbon/SnS 2 nanosheets equipped with CSnS bonds was proposed by using biomass as a template for the efficient photocatalytic conversion of As(III). The characterization results illustrated that the CSnS bonds could effectively prevent the agglomeration of SnS 2 , expand the photoresponse range and improve the hydrophilicity of the bio‑carbon/SnS 2 composites while reducing their transfer resistance. Therefore, the construction of CSnS bonds could more efficiently promote the photoredox catalysis of As(III) to As(V) compared with pure SnS 2 , attributing to the polarization and conjugation effects of the CSn bonds. Meanwhile, CaSO 4 ·nH 2 O (n = 0, 0.5, 2) could rapidly convert AsO 4 3- into Ca 3 (AsO 4 ) 2 precipitates to eliminate arsenic from the aqueous solution in one step. In particular, 7500 μg/L As(III) could not only be photocatalyzed into As(V) but also be converted to Ca 3 (AsO 4 ) 2 to achieve the removal of arsenic within only 55 min in the coexistence of CaSO 4 . In addition, the electron transfer path in the photocatalytic oxidation system on arsenite was proposed according to the Mott-Schottky (MS) plots of SnS 2 and graphitic carbon. The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) results implied that O 2 - and h + were the main active substances in the photooxidation arsenic system and the effect of OH could be negligible. Thus, the possible mechanism of the photocatalytic conversion of As(III) was discussed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)