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Pathogenic bacteria are closely associated with the occurrence, development and metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Antibacterial therapy has been considered an enhancement strategy to suppress bacteria-associated tumors and promote anti-tumor immune responses. Herein, we developed an injectable adhesive hydrogel, PNIPAM/DL@TIR, for the in situ photothermal ablation and robust stimulation of antitumor immunity against OSCC colonized by Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), one of the major oral pathogenic bacteria. PNIPAM/DL@TIR, composed of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), demethylated lignin, and TAT peptide-conjugated IR820, was prepared using a simple dissolve-dry-swell solvent exchange method. Upon 808 nm laser irradiation, PNIPAM/DL@TIR exerted photothermal effects to ablate Pg-colonized OSCC and generate dual tumor and bacterial antigens. Owing to its large number of catechol groups, PNIPAM/DL@TIR efficiently captured these antigens to form an in situ antigen repository, thereby eliciting robust and durable antitumor immune responses. Proteomic analysis revealed that the captured antigens comprised both tumor neoantigens and bacterial antigens. The catechol groups endowed PNIPAM/DL@TIR with antioxidant activity, which was also conducive to stimulating antitumor immunity. Altogether, this study develops an injectable adhesive hydrogel and provides a combination strategy for treating bacteria-associated OSCC. In this study, we developed an injectable adhesive hydrogel, PNIPAM/DL@TIR, for in situ photothermal ablation and robust stimulation of antitumor immunity against OSCC colonized by Porphyromonas gingivalis , one of the major oral pathogenic bacteria. PNIPAM/DL@TIR, which consists of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), demethylated lignin, and TAT peptide-conjugated IR820 exhibited outstanding photothermal performance. Owing to the presence of catechol groups, PNIPAM/DL@TIR has good bioadhesive properties and can capture protein antigens to form in situ antigen repository, thus initiating robust and long-term antitumor immune responses. In addition, PNIPAM/DL@TIR exhibited strong antioxidant activity that is favorable for promoting antitumor immunity. In the mouse model of OSCC with bacterial infection, PNIPAM/DL@TIR not only ablated the primary tumors upon NIR laser irradiation, but also induced tumor and bacterial vaccination in situ to suppress distant tumors and lung metastasis. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of xMnCu/Ce catalysts with constant low Cu loading of 1 wt% were prepared by the simple impregnation method. The obtained catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET, H 2 -TPR and XPS, and the preferential oxidation of CO was evaluated in CO 2 /H 2 -rich atmospheres. It was shown that partial Mn and Cu could be incorporated into the Ceria lattice, forming surface ternary Cu–Mn–Ce oxide solid solutions. At Mn/Cu = 0.6, the catalyst presented strong interaction among Cu, Mn and Ce, had more Ce3+ and Mn4+ at the surface and showed the best catalytic performance, making CO conversion increase of 23.57% at 90 °C as compared with the Cu/Ce catalyst. For CO-Prox, the highest CO conversion was 94.7% with an oxidation selectivity of 78.9% at 125 °C. At this temperature, the catalyst revealed stable catalytic performance for a total TOS of 205 h. In addition, with CO/Ar as feed gas, CO conversion was 100%, confirming the negative effects of CO 2 /H 2. [Display omitted] • MnCu/Ce with 1 wt% Cu for CO-Prox prepared by different doping sequence. • Best catalytic performance with good stability within 205 h at Mn/Cu ratio of 0.6. • Cu–Mn–Ce soild solution and more Ce3+/Mn4+ facilitated the catalytic performance. • Negative effect of CO 2 was confirmed by changing the feeding gas composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fuzzy C-means clustering (FCM) algorithm has gained prominence as a widely utilized technique for data partitioning and image segmentation in various applications. Nevertheless, it exhibits certain limitations in its current form, primarily in its inability to effectively incorporate spatial information from images and its diminished robustness and accuracy when confronted with noisy image data. This paper proposes an adaptive sparse regularization FCM algorithm for noisy image segmentation based on complementary spatial information. Firstly, a novel local spatial operation based on the non-averaging idea and a novel non-local spatial operation based on wavelet transform are proposed. Combining these two kinds of spatial information, we construct the FCM objective function incorporating the complementary spatial information. Secondly, the absolute pixel difference between the original image and the local and non-local information is computed, using the absolute difference and its inverse to achieve adaptation computation of critical parameters. Finally, the sparse regularization term is introduced into the objective function of FCM, which reduces the number of iterations of the algorithm. In addition, we also designed a three-step iterative algorithm to solve the sparse regularization-based FCM model, which consists of a Lagrange multiplier method, a hard threshold operator, and a normalization operator, respectively. Numerous experiments on synthetic images and authentic images on the BSDS500 dataset show that the proposed algorithm is superior to state-of-the-art algorithms. Furthermore, extensive experiments on different types of authentic images on different databases show that the proposed algorithm has good generalization performance and may be applied in most image segmentation situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food ingredients fabricated with materials science and engineering principles have unique functionalities serving various applications and purposes. With repeated warnings from energy consumption and environmental issues, scouting for environment-friendly, sustainable, and recyclable routes of preparing self-assembled nanostructures is imperative. Food-grade molecules are abundant, renewable, biocompatible, biodegradable, and affordable, and can be used as building blocks to prepare materials for use as novel functional food ingredients. In this article, we review low-energy and organic solvent-free routes of producing self-assembled nanostructures by manipulating pH, i.e. , the pH-cycle technology. The principles of forming nanostructures using the pH-cycle and the potential applications of these nanostructures are discussed. Key findings and conclusions : The pH-cycle technology utilizes pH-dependent intra- and intermolecular interactions to initially dissolve constituents to enable molecular contact, followed by spontaneous assembly as unique nanostructures tunable with processing parameters and formulations. The technology does not require sophisticated equipment, and implementation of mild reaction temperature and short exposure time minimizes possible chemical reactions at alkaline pH. These nanostructures physically self-assembled from food molecules can be used as novel food ingredients for applications such as delivery systems of bioactive compounds and edible coatings and packaging films to enhance food quality, safety, healthfulness, and sustainability. • Food-grade molecules are natural candidates for nanostructure assembly. • PH-cycle is a green and facile route to producing self-assembled nanostructures. • The self-assembled nanostructures may find multiple applications in foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A water-soluble polysaccharide, designated as LBP-3, was isolated and purified from Lycium barbarum. Chemical analysis indicated that LBP-3 was composed of arabinose and galactose at a molar ratio of 1.00:1.56. The average molecular weight of LBP-3 was 6.74 × 104 Da. The structural features of LBP-3 were investigated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), methylation, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). LBP-3 is a highly branched polysaccharide with a backbone of 1, 3-linked β-Galp, which is partially substituted at C-6. The branches contain 1, 5-linked α-Araf, 1, 6-linked β-Galp, 1, 3-linked α-Araf, and 1, 4-linked α-Araf. In vitro studies revealed that LBP-3 induced a concentration-dependent decrease in the levels of Aβ42/Aβ40 in N2a/APP695 cells. Proteomic analysis was conducted to investigate the potential molecular mechanism underlying the neuroprotective effect of LBP-3, and the results suggested that LBP-3 might have the potential for the treatment of AD. • A novel structure LBP-3 was separated from Lycium barbarum polysaccharides. • LBP-3 have potential for the treatment of AD. • Proteomic analysis was conducted to investigate the potential mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global liner shipping network (GLSN) serves as the backbone of international commerce. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and regional integration, regionalization has become one of the dominant trends of the GLSN's structure. This study detected 27 practical relevant port communities within the directed-weighted GLSN using the Infomap algorithm. Based on the community structure of the GLSN, we identified the provincial, gateway, and connector hubs, considering the balance and intensity of the inbound and outbound shipping routes. To highlight the smaller communities obtained in this study, those practical relevant port communities are further differentiated into 7 large and 20 small port communities. The spatial heterogeneity among different-sized port communities is investigated regarding geographical distribution, topological properties, functional characteristics, etc. The large port community is typically formed in major trading regions with well-developed hub-and-spoke networks. They are the principal market in which most liner operators participate in it. Some small port communities lying along the main lane of seaborne container trades also play pivotal roles in the GLSN with many liner companies involved. While other small port communities located peripherally only connect to a few surrounding port communities. The spatial heterogeneity among different-sized port communities is mainly caused by the unbalanced distribution of seaborne container trades. These findings offer new insights into the community structure and its spatial heterogeneity within the GLSN, which can provide stakeholders with practical implications. • A directed-weighted global liner shipping network (GLSN) was constructed. • A finer port community structure of the GLSN was detected by the Infomap algorithm. • Hub ports were identified regarding the balance and intensity of shipping routes. • Spatial heterogeneity among different-sized port communities was analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liquid foams stabilized by protein nanoparticles generally have a lifetime less than several hours because of poor interface and unavoidable coalescence, which strictly limits their applications in, e.g., coffee toppings and milk shakes. In this study, stable foams with a lifetime of several days were prepared by protein nanoparticle-starch nanocrystal (SNC) complexes. The nanoparticles of rice proteins (RPs) or rice bran proteins (RBPs) were prepared by neutralization of their alkaline solutions by cationic exchange resins (CERs) that displace Na+ by releasing H+, leading to the formation of monodisperse, 20-nm nanoparticles facilitating diffusion to the water-air interface. The complexes were assembled by simply mixing proteins with SNCs, affording the formation of quite dispersed network structures (RP@SNCs or RBP@SNCs). During whipping, the protein nanoparticles performed as the diffusion initiators from the continuous phase to the biphasic interface, whereas the SNCs stabilized the interface and functioned as the spacers preventing the approaching of adjacent bubbles in the continuous phase. Moreover, RPs and RBPs had different affinities to SNCs, resulting in foams of varied stabilities. Our study represented a compelling example of structuring stable foams taking joint advantages of diffusion behaviors of protein nanoparticles and biphasic stabilization of SNCs. [Display omitted] • RP-SNC and RBP-SNC complexes with balanced amphiphilicity were obtained. • The nanoscale protein nanoparticles enabled excellent diffusion behaviors. • SNCs stabilized the interface and prevented the approaching of adjacent bubbles. • The foams stabilized by complexes can be stable against long-term storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial-temporal variations of macrofouling organisms that attach to ecological floating beds (EFBs) in the Yundang Lagoon were investigated to identify factors that influence the appearance of macrofouling organisms. Results show that the composition, abundance, biomass, and dominance of macrofouling organisms on EFBs exhibited significant seasonal variation. Pearson correlation analysis indicates that the abundance and biomass of the bivalve Mytilopsis sallei showed negative correlation with root biomass (p < 0.05) and particulate matter (p < 0.05). Environmental (temperature and salinity, p < 0.05) and biological (bottom-up control) factors are the main drivers of population turnover. There were significant species differences of macrofouling organisms within the different parts of the lagoon, which were attributed to environmental characteristics such as hydrodynamics, dissolved oxygen, and the degree of eutrophication. Results of this study provide a basis for controlling macrofouling organisms, while improving the stability of EFBs and the efficiency of ecological restoration. • Dominant macrofouling organisms in Yundang Lagoon have seasonal replacement. • Environmental factors affect spatial-temporal variations of macrofouling organisms. • Bivalves growing on the ecological floating beds are a "double-edged sword". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]