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Plants or tissues can be regenerated through various pathways. Like animal regeneration, cell totipotency and pluripotency are the molecular basis of plant regeneration. Detailed systematic studies on Arabidopsis thaliana gradually unravel the fundamental mechanisms and principles underlying plant regeneration. Specifically, plant hormones, cell division, epigenetic remodeling, and transcription factors play crucial roles in reprogramming somatic cells and reestablishing meristematic cells. Recent research on basal non-vascular plants and monocot crops has revealed that plant regeneration differs among species, with various plant species using distinct mechanisms and displaying significant differences in regenerative capacity. Conducting multi-omics studies at the single-cell level, tracking plant regeneration processes in real-time, and deciphering the natural variation in regenerative capacity will ultimately help understand the essence of plant regeneration, improve crop regeneration efficiency, and contribute to future crop design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effect of various clarification treatments on the physicochemical properties, volatile compounds, and sensory attributes of kiwi wines produced from five different kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) varieties. The degree of clarification had a minimal impact on physicochemical parameters, including the content of residual sugar, ethanol, volatile acid, titratable acidity (except for the kiwifruit variety 'Qinmei'), and the pH value. However, wines made from unclarified juices (muddy juice and pulp) displayed a higher glycerol content than those made from clarified juices. The cluster heat map and principal component analyses (PCA) demonstrated that kiwi wines produced from clarified kiwi juices possessed a higher ester content, whereas muddy juice and pulp wines contained elevated levels of higher alcohols. Quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) indicated that clarified juice wines outperformed muddy juice and pulp wines in terms of purity, typicality, harmony, intensity, and freshness, with negligible differences in terms of palate acidity. Moreover, the clarified juice wines featured more characteristic kiwi wine aromas (kiwifruit, passionfruit, and pineapple) compared with that of the muddy juice and pulp wines, which exhibited an increased grassy flavour. Although the 100-NTU kiwifruit juice-fermented wine did not show an advantage in the cluster heat map and PCA, it presented better freshness, typicality, and intensity in the QDA, as well as a more passionfruit aroma. Based on the orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis, A. deliciosa 'Xuxiang' was deemed to be the most suitable variety for vinification. This study provides crucial insights for enhancing the production of high-quality kiwi wine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas past research on the trickle-down diffusion of abusive supervision has demonstrated that abused supervisors often translate the abuse that they experience from their managers downward to their followers, we examine the active involvement of abused supervisors through leading in a more principled and positive manner. Adopting the sociofunctional perspective on emotions, we propose that supervisors who feel contempt for their abusers and are morally attentive will be motivated to morally differentiate themselves from perpetrators by treating their subordinates with greater, rather than less, interpersonal justice. Four studies, including two survey-based studies and two scenario-based experiments, based on data collected in China and the United Kingdom show consistent evidence supporting the overall moderated mediation model. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The use of miR-21 expression remains vague in diagnosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This study aimed to systematically evaluate the diagnostic potential of the miR-21 expression in patients with HNSCCs through investigating and summarizing the results reported in the literature. Methods: Extant medical databases were examined for articles of clinical study assessing the miR-21 expression in HNSCC cases, published in the past 20 years. Bioinformatics research was also performed for finding miR-21 targets differentially expressed in HNSCC so as to present their biological behaviors. Results: Our meta-analysis comprised 11 studies including 622/450 cases in HNSCC/control group. Forest plots displayed miR-21 which possessed significantly good specificity (0.76, p < 0.001) and sensitivity (0.80, p < 0.001). Diagnostic odds ratio was 2.46 (95% CI 1.87–3.24). Positive and negative likelihood ratio was 3.40 (95% CI 1.94–5.97) and 0.26 (95% CI 0.18–0.38), respectively. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.85. Conclusion: This study is the highest level of evidence presently available in diagnosing HNSCC. This PRISMA meta-analysis indicated that the pooled results were robust, confirming the oncogenic potential of miR-21 that could be used successfully as a screening biomarker in HNSCC patients. Specifically, the overexpression of miR-21 in these patients presents a worse survival outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We characterized age at diagnosis and estimated sex differences for lung cancer and its histological subtypes among individuals who never smoke. Methods: We analyzed the distribution of age at lung cancer diagnosis in 33,793 individuals across 8 cohort studies and two national registries from East Asia, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK). Student's t-tests were used to assess the study population differences (Δ years) in age at diagnosis comparing females and males who never smoke across subgroups defined by race/ethnicity, geographic location, and histological subtypes. Results: We found that among Chinese individuals diagnosed with lung cancer who never smoke, females were diagnosed with lung cancer younger than males in the Taiwan Cancer Registry (n = 29,832) (Δ years = −2.2 (95% confidence interval (CI):−2.5, −1.9), in Shanghai (n = 1049) (Δ years = −1.6 (95% CI:-2.9, −0.3), and in Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʽi in the US (n = 82) (Δ years = −11.3 (95% CI: −17.7, −4.9). While there was a suggestion of similar patterns in African American and non-Hispanic White individuals. the estimated differences were not consistent across studies and were not statistically significant. Conclusions: We found evidence of sex differences for age at lung cancer diagnosis among individuals who never smoke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It needs to be improved the conversion efficiency and stable operation of conventional pyrolysis with high-temperature flue gas heating (HFH). Herein, a new radiative heating (RH) pyrolysis method is proposed. Experimental studies are carried out on a self-made radiation pyrolysis pilot plant to investigate the effects of different factors (pyrolysis final temperature, residence time, and carrier gas volume) on product distribution. The results show that with the increase of pyrolysis temperature, the yield of the gas phase consistently increases, and the proportion of CH4 and H2 in the pyrolysis gas reaches 62.31% at 700 °C. The yield of the liquid phase increases and then decreases. The recovery rate of pyrolysis oil achieves 68.07% when the pyrolysis temperature is 600 °C with main components of ketones and unsaturated hydrocarbon compounds. The yield of the solid phase consistently decreases. The RH in this work generates more pyrolysis gas in the pyrolysis process and alleviates the effects of fouling layers on the continuous operation of the equipment which has guiding significance for the efficient resource utilization of oil sludge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness in developed countries, and intraocular pressure (IOP) is primary and only treatable risk factor, suggesting that to a significant extent, glaucoma is a disease of IOP disorder and pathological mechanotransduction. IOP-lowering ways are limited to decreaseing aqueous humour (AH) production or increasing the uveoscleral outflow pathway. Still, therapeutic approaches have been lacking to control IOP by enhancing the trabecular meshwork (TM) pathway. Trabecular meshwork cells (TMCs) have endothelial and myofibroblast properties and are responsible for the renewal of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Mechanosensitive cation channels, including Piezo1 and TRPV4, are abundantly expressed in primary TMCs and trigger mechanostress-dependent ECM and cytoskeletal remodelling. However, prolonged mechanical stimulation severely affects cellular biosynthesis through TMC mechanotransduction, including signaling, gene expression, ECM remodelling, and cytoskeletal structural changes, involving outflow facilities and elevating IOP. As for the functional coupling relationship between Piezo1 and TRPV4 channels, inspired by VECs and osteoblasts, we hypothesized that Piezo1 may also act upstream of TRPV4 in glaucomatous TM tissue, mediating the activation of TRPV4 via Ca2+ inflow or Ca2+ binding to phospholipase A2(PLA2), and thus be involved in increasing TM outflow resistance and elevated IOP. Therefore, this review aims to help identify new potential targets for IOP stabilization in ocular hypertension and primary open-angle glaucoma by understanding the mechanical transduction mechanisms associated with the development of glaucoma and may provide ideas into novel treatments for preventing the progression of glaucoma by targeting mechanotransduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The level and style of teaching management have been continuously updated and enhanced as part of China's educational system reform in recent years. A new era of individualized learning and teaching administration has begun as a result of the fusion of cutting-edge educational technologies and pedagogical theories. In light of this, we introduced a teaching management system created for the ever-changing needs of physical education in colleges and universities. We use support vector machines (SVM) to personalize and improve students' educational experiences by using the Theory of multiple intelligences (MI) as our theoretical framework. In the very first step, we started with the collection of diverse student information, such as academic records, athletic prowess, and many intelligence profiles. To obtain this information, multiple skills of all the students were thoroughly analyzed using MI's theory. By conducting thorough feature engineering and data preprocessing, we established the foundation for our analysis using SVM. In this phase, we score each student's performance in sports-related skills. From there, we created a profile for each student and preprocessed the data to build a useful dataset. This dataset trains an SVM model to forecast student engagement and performance using specific kernels and hyperparameters. Our proposed system places a big emphasis on personalized learning. We enable teachers to design a learning environment that fosters student potential by adapting teaching tactics to individual student's strengths and limitations in both sports skills and multiple intelligences. The effectiveness of the system is assessed by separating the students into two groups: one group received training using our suggested system, known as the experimental group, and the other group, known as the control group, received training using the conventional approach. The result shows that the score of the experimental group is 88.9, which is higher than the control group's 83.5. The result shows that after applying MI's theory and SVM in physical education teaching in colleges and universities, the scores have been significantly improved, which can maximize the students' multiple intelligences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An optimized hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-targeted methylation next generation sequencing assay was developed to discover HCC-associated methylation markers directly from urine for HCC screening. Urine cell-free DNA (ucfDNA) isolated from a discovery cohort of 31 non-HCC and 30 HCC was used for biomarker discovery, identifying 29 genes with differentially methylated regions (DMRs). Methylation-specific qPCR (MSqPCR) assays were developed to verify the selected DMRs corresponding to 8 genes (GRASP, CCND2, HOXA9, BMP4, VIM, EMX1, SFRP1, and ECE). Using archived ucfDNA, methylation of GRASP, HOXA9, BMP4, and ECE1, were found to be significantly different (p < 0.05) between HCC and non-HCC patients. The four markers together with previously reported GSTP1 and RASSF1A markers were assessed as a 6-marker panel in an independent training cohort of 87 non-HCC and 78 HCC using logistic regression modeling. AUROC of 0.908 (95% CI, 0.8656–0.9252) was identified for the 6-marker panel with AFP, which was significantly higher than AFP-alone (AUROC 0.841 (95% CI, 0.778–0.904), p = 0.0026). Applying backward selection method, a 4-marker panel was found to exhibit similar performance to the 6-marker panel with AFP having 80% sensitivity compared to 29.5% by AFP-alone at a specificity of 85%. This study supports the potential use of methylated transrenal ucfDNA for HCC screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study aims at investigating the mechanical and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding properties of cementitious composites with combined utilization of recycled carbon fiber (rCF) and steel slag. Different dosage of raw steel slag (SS) and wet-grinding steel slag (WSS) as replacement of cement were introduced to the cementitious composites with rCF. Wet-grinding can enhance hydration activity of SS, and also can improve the dispersibility of rCF in cement matrix thus optimizing the mechanical properties. The electrical resistivity of the composites decreases with increased WSS dosage, the conductive phase in WSS not only form new conductive pathways, but also act as bridges to connect rCFs, the WSS is more effective in lowering the electrical resistivity. The shielding effectiveness (SE) of the rCF-WSS cementitious composites increases with increased WSS dosage, which is higher than that of SS due to the higher conductivity and scattering effect of reduced particle fineness. The absorption loss SEA dominates the SET, which is mainly attributed to increasing electrical conductivity, the dielectric loss and magnetic loss also contribute to absorption loss. The synergistic effect of rCF and steel slag on electrically conductive and EMI shielding properties was demonstrated, wet-grinding process can promote the synergistic effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metal ions are essential micronutrients for human health. They are also indispensable to maintaining health and regular operation of organs. Increasing or decreasing these metal ions will lead to cell death, such as ferroptosis. Tsvetkov et al. have recently proposed a novel cell death method called "Cuproptosis". Many researchers have linked this form of death to the diagnosis, prognosis, microenvironment infiltration, and prediction of immunotherapeutic efficacy of various tumors to better understand these tumors. Similarly, with the proposal of this mechanism, the killing effect of copper ionophores on cancer cells has come to our attention again. We introduced the mechanism of cuproptosis in detail and described the establishment of the corresponding prognostic model and risk score for uveal melanoma through cuproptosis. In addition, we describe the current progress in the study of cancer in other organs through cuproptosis and summarize the treatment of tumours by copper ionophore and its future research direction. With further research, the concept of cuproptosis may help us understand cancer and guide its clinical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interplay of water resources with social-economy spheres involves a reciprocal feedback mechanism. With the acceleration of the construction process of modernized water networks in Hunan Province, investigating the adaptation status of the "Water-Social-Economy " composite system (WSE) is crucial for promoting sustainability. This study clarifies the connotation of the adaptability of WSE, and the quantitative analyses were conducted through coupling coordinative degree, harmonious development capacity, and the evolution of development lag types among the 14 cities of Hunan Province from 2005 to 2020. The results show that: (1) The development index of the water resources subsystem (WRS) showed a "downward-fluctuation-upward" trend, while the development index of the social-economy subsystem (SES) showed signs of great improvement, the former didn't catch up with the latter. (2) The coupling coordination degree of WSE developed well, and reached the coordinative development stage by 2020, but the unbalanced spatial pattern between north to south and east to west still exists and is further intensified. (3) The development ability of WSE improved while the harmony ability reduced, and the development rate of WRS and SES hasn't achieved dynamic synchronization. Finally, the policies and suggestions to improve the adaptability are put forward, which is of instructive significance for the sustainable development of water suitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional light sources cannot emit an electromagnetic (EM) field with an orbital angular momentum (OAM), limiting their applications in modern optics. The recent development of the OAM laser, mainly based on micro- and nanostructures, can satisfy the increasing requirements for on-chip photonics and information capacities. Nevertheless, the photonic structures have fixed parameters that prevent these OAM lasers from being dynamically tuned. Here, we propose tunable vortex lasing from a microring cavity integrated by a phase change material, Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST225). By modulating the complex refractive index to create an exceptional point (EP) to break the degeneracy of whispering gallery modes with opposite orientations, the microlaser working at the EP can impart an artificial angular momentum, thus emitting vortex beams with well-defined OAM. The grating scatter on the edge of the microring can provide efficient vertical radiation. The vortex laser wavelength from the GST225/InGaAsP dual-layered microring cavity can be dynamically tuned by switching the state of GST225 between amorphous and crystalline without changing the microring geometry. We construct an electric-thermal model to show the tuning range of operating wavelengths (EPs) from 1544.5 to 1565.9 nm in ~25 ns. Our study on high-speed tunable PT-symmetry vortex lasers facilitates the next generation of integrated optoelectronic devices for optical computing and communications in both classical and quantum regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ischemic cardiomyopathy is treated mainly with thrombolytic drugs, percutaneous coronary intervention, and coronary artery bypass grafting to recanalize blocked vessels. Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI) is an unavoidable complication of obstructive revascularization. Compared with those of myocardial ischemic injury, few effective therapeutic options are available for MIRI treatment. The pathophysiological mechanisms of MIRI involve the inflammatory response, the immune response, oxidative stress, apoptosis, intracellular Ca2+ overload, and cardiomyocyte energy metabolism. These mechanisms exacerbate MIRI. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSC-EXOs) can alleviate MIRI through these mechanisms and, to some extent, prevent the limitations caused by direct MSC administration. Therefore, using MSC-EXOs instead of MSCs to treat MIRI is a potentially beneficial cell-free treatment strategy. In this review, we describe the mechanism of action of MSC-EXO-derived noncoding RNAs in the treatment of MIRI and discuss the advantages and limitations of this strategy, as well as possible future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd)—an antibody–drug conjugate targeting the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)—improved outcomes of patients with HER2-positive and HER2-low metastatic breast cancer. Guidance on monitoring and managing T-DXd–related adverse events (AEs) is an emerging unmet need as translating clinical trial experience into real-world practice may be difficult due to practical and cultural considerations and differences in health care infrastructure. Thus, 13 experts including oncologists, pulmonologists and a radiologist from the Asia-Pacific region gathered to provide recommendations for T-DXd–related AE monitoring and management by using the latest evidence from the DESTINY-Breast trials, our own clinical trial experience and loco-regional health care considerations. While subgroup analysis of Asian (excluding Japanese) versus overall population in the DESTINY-Breast03 uncovered no major differences in the AE profile, we concluded that proactive monitoring and management are essential in maximising the benefits with T-DXd. As interstitial lung disease (ILD)/pneumonitis is a serious AE, patients should undergo regular computed tomography scans, but the frequency may have to account for the median time of ILD/pneumonitis onset and access. Trastuzumab deruxtecan appears to be a highly emetic regimen, and prophylaxis with serotonin receptor antagonists and dexamethasone (with or without neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist) should be considered. Health care professionals should be vigilant for treatable causes of fatigue, and patients should be encouraged to use support groups and practice low-intensity exercises. To increase treatment acceptance, patients should be made aware of alopecia risk prior to starting T-DXd. Detailed monitoring and management recommendations for T-DXd–related AEs are discussed further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an essential trace element in the body, iron is critical for the maintenance of organismal metabolism. Excessive iron facilitates reactive oxygen species generation and inflicts damage on cells and tissues. Ferroptosis, a newly identified iron-dependent type of programmed cell death, has been implicated in a broad set of metabolic disorders. Ferroptosis is mainly characterized by excess iron accumulation, elevated lipid peroxides and reactive oxygen species, and reduced levels of glutathione and glutathione peroxidase 4. The vast emerging literature on ferroptosis has shown that numerous diseases, such as cancers, neurodegeneration, and autoimmune diseases, are associated with ferroptosis. Meanwhile, recent studies have confirmed the relationship between ferroptosis and eye diseases including keratopathy, cataract, glaucoma, retinal ischemia-reperfusion injury, age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, diabetic retinopathy, and retinoblastoma, indicating the critical role of ferroptosis in ocular diseases. In this article, we introduce the primary signaling pathways of ferroptosis and review current advances in research on ocular diseases involving iron overload and ferroptosis. Furthermore, several unanswered questions in the area are raised. Addressing these unanswered questions promises to provide new insights into preventing, controlling, and treating not only ocular diseases but also a variety of other diseases in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moiré superlattices of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides enable unprecedented spatial control of electron wavefunctions, leading to emerging quantum states. The breaking of translational symmetry further introduces a new degree of freedom: high symmetry moiré sites of energy minima behaving as spatially separated quantum dots. We demonstrate the superposition between two moiré sites by constructing a trilayer WSe2/monolayer WS2 moiré heterojunction. The two moiré sites in the first layer WSe2 interfacing WS2 allow the formation of two different interlayer excitons, with the hole residing in either moiré site of the first layer WSe2 and the electron in the third layer WSe2. An electric field can drive the hybridization of either of the interlayer excitons with the intralayer excitons in the third WSe2 layer, realizing the continuous tuning of interlayer exciton hopping between two moiré sites and a superposition of the two interlayer excitons, distinctively different from the natural trilayer WSe2. The moiré lattice of trilayer WSe2 and monolayer WS2 host interlayer excitons localized at different moiré sites. Using an electric field, the authors tune the superposition between two moiré sites via hybridization with intralayer excitons in WSe2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a malignant tumor with a high lethality rate. Immunotherapy has become a breakthrough in cancer treatment and improves patient survival and prognosis. Therefore, it is necessary to find new immune-related markers. However, the current research on immune-related markers in LUAD is not sufficient. Therefore, there is a need to find new immune-related biomarkers to help treat LUAD patients. Methods: In this study, a bioinformatics approach combined with a machine learning approach screened reliable immune-related markers to construct a prognostic model to predict the overall survival (OS) of LUAD patients, thus promoting the clinical application of immunotherapy in LUAD. The experimental data were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, including 535 LUAD and 59 healthy control samples. Firstly, the Hub gene was screened using a bioinformatics approach combined with the Support Vector Machine Recursive Feature Elimination algorithm; then, a multifactorial Cox regression analysis by constructing an immune prognostic model for LUAD and a nomogram to predict the OS rate of LUAD patients. Finally, the regulatory mechanism of Hub genes in LUAD was analyzed by ceRNA. Results: Five genes, ADM2, CDH17, DKK1, PTX3, and AC145343.1, were screened as potential immune-related genes in LUAD. Among them, ADM2 and AC145343.1 had a good prognosis in LUAD patients (HR < 1) and were novel markers. The remaining three genes screened were associated with poor prognosis in LUAD patients (HR > 1). In addition, the experimental results showed that patients in the low-risk group had better OS rates than those in the high-risk group (P < 0.001). Conclusion: In this paper, we propose an immune prognostic model to predict OS rate in LUAD patients and show the correlation between five immune genes and the level of immune-related cell infiltration. It provides new markers and additional ideas for immunotherapy in patients with LUAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) moiré superlattices, owing to the moiré flatbands and strong correlation, can host periodic electron crystals and fascinating correlated physics. The TMDC heterojunctions in the type-II alignment also enable long-lived interlayer excitons that are promising for correlated bosonic states, while the interaction is dictated by the asymmetry of the heterojunction. Here we demonstrate a new excitonic state, quadrupolar exciton, in a symmetric WSe2-WS2-WSe2 trilayer moiré superlattice. The quadrupolar excitons exhibit a quadratic dependence on the electric field, distinctively different from the linear Stark shift of the dipolar excitons in heterobilayers. This quadrupolar exciton stems from the hybridization of WSe2 valence moiré flatbands. The same mechanism also gives rise to an interlayer Mott insulator state, in which the two WSe2 layers share one hole laterally confined in one moiré unit cell. In contrast, the hole occupation probability in each layer can be continuously tuned via an out-of-plane electric field, reaching 100% in the top or bottom WSe2 under a large electric field, accompanying the transition from quadrupolar excitons to dipolar excitons. Our work demonstrates a trilayer moiré system as a new exciting playground for realizing novel correlated states and engineering quantum phase transitions. The authors observe the signatures of quadrupolar excitons in a WSe2-WS2-WSe2 trilayer moiré superlattice, originating from the hybridization of the WSe2 valence moiré flatbands. They further use electrostatic gating to reveal a hybridized interlayer Mott insulator state, with holes shared between the two WSe2 layers but laterally confined in moiré superlattices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corn stover is the abundant biowaste that can be utilized to produce biofuels and high value-added biological products. However, the complex structures of lignocellulose, on the other hand, are highly resistant to subsequent transformations. To promote enzymatic saccharification of corn stover, green and safe phosphotungstic acid was used to pretreat corn stover. Using a single-factor experiment and response surface approach, the influence of different pretreatment variables such as temperature, phosphotungstic acid concentration, pretreatment time, and solid-to-liquid ratio on the pretreatment effect was investigated. The best conditions were 126 ℃, 1.33%, 45 min, and 1:14, respectively, and the cellulose conversion rate was the greatest at 70.61% combined phosphotungstic acid and cellulase, raised by 171.99% when compared to the raw corn stover. Phosphotungstic acid was demonstrated to degrade both hemicellulose and lignin, yielding 25.89 mmol/L xylose. Phosphotungstic acid pretreatment samples were found to be more porous, with cellulase adsorption capacity increased from 161.56 to 245.70 mg/g biomass. CrI/cellulose was found to decrease from 1.09 to 0.77, indicating significant chemical alterations in corn stover functional linkages. These findings suggest that phosphotungstic acid enhances saccharification by altering the structure and chemistry of corn stover. The combination of phosphotungstic acid and cellulase will give an efficient approach for increasing the saccharification of cellulose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the incidence and severity of symptoms of patients with cervical cancer within 6 months after radiotherapy and chemotherapy, form a symptom burden report, evaluate the distribution characteristics of symptoms, identify symptom clusters, and provide a basis for clinical doctors and nurses to improve the symptom management of patients with cervical cancer after radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Methods: The patients with cervical cancer within 6 months after radiotherapy and chemotherapy were recruited to investigate their symptom burden. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify symptom clusters. Results: A total of 250 patients participated in the study. The study found that the most common symptom among the 40 symptoms was fatigue, and the most serious symptom was nocturia. Based on the occurrence rate and severity of symptoms, nine symptom clusters were identified, including psycho–emotion-related symptom cluster, pain–disturbed sleep-related symptom cluster, menopausal symptom cluster, tinnitus–dizziness-related symptom cluster, urinary-related symptom cluster, dry mouth–bitter taste-related symptom cluster, intestinal-related symptom cluster, memory loss–numbness-related symptom cluster, and emaciation-related symptom cluster. The three most serious symptom clusters are pain–disturbed sleep-related symptom cluster, urinary-related symptom cluster, and memory loss–numbness-related symptom cluster. Conclusion: The symptoms of patients with cervical cancer within 6 months after radiotherapy and chemotherapy are complex, and nine symptom clusters can be identified according to the incidence and severity of symptoms. We can find the potential biological mechanism of each symptom cluster through the discussion of previous mechanism research and clinical research. The number of symptom clusters and the number of symptoms within the symptom cluster are closely related to the symptom evaluation scale selected for the study. Therefore, the symptom cluster study urgently needs a targeted symptom evaluation scale that can comprehensively reflect the patient’s condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the agreement between swept-source OCT (CASIA2) and UBM in primary angle-closure glaucoma. Methods: Eighty eyes of 40 participants diagnosed with primary angle-closure glaucoma were examined. Parameters measured included angle opening distance (AOD), angle recess area (ARA), trabecular iris space area (TISA), trabecular iris angle (TIA), lens vault (LV), anterior chamber depth (ACD), and anterior chamber width (ACW). Angle images of nasal, temporal, superior, and inferior were acquired by the anterior segment mode of CASIA2 and UBM. One-way analysis of variance and paired t-test were used for statistical analysis, and the agreement was analyzed by internal correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland–Altman method. Results: One-way ANOVA pairwise comparison showed that CASIA2 or UBM had the narrowest superior chamber angle and the widest temporal chamber angle in patients with primary angle-closure glaucoma. The paired t-test showed that inter-device AOD, TIA, ARA, and TISA of superior chamber angle had significant differences (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the measured values of LV, ACD, and ACW (p > 0.05). The agreement of all parameters is good through the Bland–Altman method comparison. ICC result showed moderate agreement in other angle parameters except for superior ARA500 (0.739). Conclusion: In the anterior chamber angle measurement process, we should pay more attention to the superior chamber angle covered by eyelids. Although the agreement is acceptable between CASIA2 and UBM, the measurements could not be considered interchangeable due to the tremendous statistical difference between the two devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the major causes of cancer deaths with 5-year survival ratio of 20%. RNU12 is one of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulating the tumor progression. However, how RNU12 affecting GC is not clear. qRT-PCR was utilized for determining the RNU12 expression in cell lines, 113 cases of paired gastric cancer (GC) and their adjacent normal gastric tissues. The biofunction alterations of RNU12 were assessed by its overexpression or knockdown in GC cells. MTT and cloning assay were assayed for the cell proliferation, the flow cytometry for the detection of cell cycle and the wound healing assay (WHA) and transwell invasion assay (TIA) for examining the migration and invasion of cells. The expressions of a set of genes related proliferation and migration were investigated with the Western Blotting (WB). RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), biotinylated RNA pull-down and dual luciferase reporter tests were used to detect the interactions of RNU12 with miR-575/BLID. The in vivo proliferation and migration ability of RNU12 infected cells were determined in zebrafish system. This study revealed that RNU12 inhibited proliferation, invasion and metastasis by sponging of miR-575 and regulating the downstream BLID and modulated EMT of GC cells. The RNU12/miR-575/BLID axis is likely to be the prognosis biomarkers and drug targets of GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorylation of tau at Ser (396, 404) (p-tau396,404) is one of the earliest phosphorylation events, and plasma p-tau396,404 level appears to be a potentially promising biomarker of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The low abundance and easy degradation of p-tau in the plasma make the lateral flow assay (LFA) a suitable choice for point-of-care detection of plasma p-tau396,404 levels. Herein, based on our screening of a pair of p-tau396,404-specific antibodies, we developed a colorimetric and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) dual-readout LFA for the rapid, highly sensitive, and robust detection of plasma p-tau396,404 levels. This LFA realized a detection limit of 60 pg/mL by the naked eye or 3.8 pg/mL by SERS without cross-reacting with other tau species. More importantly, LFA rapidly and accurately differentiated AD patients from healthy controls, suggesting that it has the potential for clinical point-of-care application in AD diagnosis. This dual-readout LFA has the advantages of simple operation, rapid, and ultra-sensitive detection, providing a new way for early AD diagnosis and intervention, especially in primary and community AD screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming has recently become a significant concern for world leaders. Financial efficiency, environmental regulations, and green technologies are widely recognized as important contributors to a clean environment. Consequently, the primary motive of this study is to investigate the impact of financial efficiency, environmental regulations, and green technologies on CO2 emissions and energy efficiency in top polluted economies over the period 1995 to 2020. To that end, the study relies on the ARDL-PMG model, which can provide both short- and long-run estimates simultaneously. The findings of the model imply that environmental innovation and regulations helps improve energy efficiency and environmental quality in the long run. In contrast, financial development deteriorates the environmental quality and improves energy efficiency. Therefore, policy experts in top polluted economies must increase research and development activities to promote green technologies and introduce strict environmental-related regulations to complement other mitigating policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike other death forms, such as autophagy, necrosis, and apoptosis, ferroptosis is a novel type of programmed cell death with iron-dependent properties. Esteroxygenase affects the content of unsaturated fatty acids and promotes lipid peroxidation. In addition, GSH can cause the reduction of GPX4, which can cause ferroptosis. P53 and its signaling pathways also regulate ferroptosis. Recent studies have confirmed that ferroptosis also promotes the death of RGC. The progressive loss of RGC is one of the pathological features of glaucoma, indicating that ferroptosis may be related to the onset of glaucoma. Down-regulation of GPX4 leads to the loss of nerve cells, which suggests that ferroptosis may also be related to diseases related to optic nerve damage. At present, ferroptosis has been extensively researched and advanced in systemic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal tumors such as stomach, liver, and pancreas, and brain diseases. This review focuses on the research progress of ferroptosis in ophthalmic diseases, especially glaucoma and optic nerve damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Surgical decisions and methods of surgery highly influence long term QoL for breast cancer (BC) survivors. This study is aimed towards an exploration of the dynamic changes in quality of life (QoL), anxiety/depression status, and body image (BI) among women with BC who received a mastectomy compared with those receiving breast reconstruction (BR) within an 8-year follow-up period. Methods: Women with major BC surgeries were invited to complete the World Health Organization Quality of Life–Brief (WHOQOL-BREF), the European quality of life five dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D), and a body image scale within 8 years of surgery. Kernel smoothing methods were applied to describe dynamic changes in QoL, anxiety/depression, and BI at different time points. Linear mixed effects models were constructed to identify the interaction between time, different types of surgery, and the determinants of QoL in these patients. Results: After 1:10 propensity score matching, a total of 741 women who had undergone a BR and mastectomy were included. The BR group exhibited a high WHOQOL QoL score one to five years after surgery with some fluctuations. The mastectomy group had comparatively stable QoL scores on WHOQOL items and were less depressed/anxious. The BR group generally showed fluctuating, higher BI scores two years after surgery, but they exhibited more anxiety/depression during follow up for 8 years. Medical comorbidities, the status of anxiety/depression, and BI were the major factors influencing all domains and items of the WHOQOL BREF among women with BC. Conclusion: The mastectomy group showed a decreased trend toward depression in patients with BC. The BR group showed a significant improvement in QoL in the first 5 years with massive fluctuations. These findings should be considered and discussed in patient participatory decision-making and promotion of QoL for breast cancer survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids (THIQAs) are ubiquitous compounds with important pharmaceutical and biological activity. Their key N-heterocyclic structural motifs are synthesised via Pictet–Spengler (P–S) reaction by norcoclaurine synthases (NCS) in plants. The synthesis of 1-aryl-tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids has attracted increasing attention due to their antitumor and antivirus activities. Herein, the L68T/M97V mutant of NCS from Thalictrum flavum with improved activity was developed by semi-rational design. This mutant not only showed higher catalytic performance (> 96% conversion) toward benzaldehyde and dopamine over the wild-type enzyme, but also catalysed the P–S reaction of the bulky substrate 4-biphenylaldehyde and dopamine with high conversion (> 99%) for the effective synthesis of 1-aryl-THIQA. In terms of stereoselectivity, all products synthesised by the L68T/M97V mutant showed high optical purity (92–99% enantiomeric excess). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the capacities of large-scale turbine generators increase, higher electrical and thermal loads may cause higher risk of thermal faults. Especially, for those air cooling machines with single channel ventilation system, the comparatively poor thermal conductibility of air makes the air-gap become a critical part in thermal transmission network. Thus, the heat transfer in air-gap of large scale turbine generators is followed with interest. The investigation is performed on a 150 MW air cooling turbine generator with single channel ventilation cooling system, and realized via the thermal-fluid coupling field studying. A nonlinear numerical calculation model for fluid flowing and heat transfer within the machine is proposed, and solved by finite volume method (FVM). Then, the heat transfer in the air-gap is analyzed, whilst the temperature distributions in machine different parts, as windings, stator core, and rotor components, are investigated. In addition, the velocity vector distribution of coolant in the ventilation system is also studied, and the air motion track in the air-gap is analyzed while considering the influence of rotor rotation. Finally, the influence of flow in the air-gap on fluid flowing in the stator radial ventilation ducts is investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The persistence and adherence to endocrine therapy (ET) in hormone receptor-positive (HR +) breast cancer patients remain far less than optimal. Aim: This retrospective study aimed to evaluate adherence to ET and to identify influencing factors in early-stage HR + breast cancer patients. Method: A stratified random sampling method was used to select patients admitted for breast cancer surgery at a university hospital in Shanghai, China. Patients who received ET medications in the hospital information system (HIS) were included. The primary outcomes were early discontinuation of and adherence to ET. Potential factors influencing the discontinuation and adherence were assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results: In total, 706 patients were included, and 161 (22.8%) discontinued ET in less than five years from the first prescription. The discontinuation rates from the one-year to the five-year treatment were 5.38, 16.70, 32.27, 51.52, and 50.00%, respectively (P < 0.001). The rates of adherence (defined as medication possession ratio ≥ 80%) from the first to the fifth year were 85.18, 82.25, 82.18, 72.92, and 73.68%, respectively (P = 0.18). Age, insurance, and surgery type impacted ET discontinuation and adherence. However, the type of medication only impacted the adherence to ET. Conclusion: Persistence and adherence to ET in patients with breast cancer remain far from optimal and decrease over time. More attention should be paid to patients aged ≥ 70 years and those without insurance who tend to have early discontinuation of ET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims at investigating the microwave absorption and mechanical properties of short-cutted carbon fiber/glass fiber hybrid veil reinforced epoxy composites. The short-cutted carbon fibers (CFs)/glass fibers (GFs) hybrid veil were prepared by papermaking technology, and composites liquid molding was employed to manufacture CFs/GFs hybrid epoxy composites. The microstructure, microwave absorbing properties and mechanical properties of the hybrid epoxy composites were studied by using SEM, vector network analyzer and universal material testing, respectively. The reflection coefficient of the composites were calculated by the measured complex permittivity and permeability in the X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz) range. The optimum microwave absorption properties can be obtained when the content of CFs in the hybrid veil is 6 wt% and the thickness of the composites is 2 mm, the minimum reflection coefficient of -31.8 dB and the effective absorption bandwidth is 2.1 GHz, which is ascribed to benefitting impedance matching characteristic and dielectric loss of the carbon fiber. Simultaneously the tensile strength and modulus can achieve 104.0 and 2.98 GPa, demonstrating that the CFs/GFs hybrid epoxy composites can be a promising candidate of microwave absorbing materials with high mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has swept the whole world and brought about a public health crisis of unprecedented proportions. To combat the rapid transmission and possible deaths due to the disease, researchers and companies around the world are developing all possible strategies. Due to the advantages of safety, specificity, and fewer adverse effects, polypeptide and peptidomimetic drugs are considered promising strategies. This review comprehensively summarizes and discusses the progress in development of peptide drugs for use in the treatment of COVID-19. Based on the latest results in this field, we divided them into clinically approved drugs, clinical trial drugs, and clinically ineffective drugs, and outlined the molecular targets and mechanisms of action one by one to reveal their feasibility as promising therapeutic agents for COVID-19. Notably, monoclonal antibodies have shown beneficial effects in the early stages of infection, while Paxlovid can significantly reduce hospitalization and mortality among non-vaccinated patients. Among clinical experimental drugs, both the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist anakinra and the bradykinin B2 receptor antagonist icatibant are well tolerated and effective in patients with COVID-19, but long-term trials are needed to confirm the durability of efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of oral administration of Buxue Yimu Pills (BYP, 补血益母丸), ferrous sulfate (FS), and the combination of BYP and FS on gynecological anemia, and investigate the mechanisms using network pharmacology. Methods: A randomized, controlled, multi-center clinical trial was conducted. Totally 150 patients with hemoglobin of 70–110 g/L due to gynecological conditions were recruited and randomized (using the block randomization method) into Buxue Yimu Pills group (24 g/d), oral iron group (FS Tablets, 0.9 g/d), and combined treatment group (BYP, 24 g/d plus FS Tablets, 0.9 g/d), 50 patients in each group. At the enrollment and 4-week treatment, complete blood count, serum iron indexes were evaluated. Adverse events, liver and renal functions, as well as blood coagulation were observed. Network pharmacology was conducted to identify the active ingredients and explore the potential mechanisms of BYP. Results: Ten (20%) and 7 (14%) participants discontinued the therapy due to gastrointestinal symptoms in oral iron and combination treatment groups. All 3 groups showed elevated hemoglobin. The patients in the iron group exhibited typically elevated in serum iron and ferritin and decreased in total iron-binding capacity. No change in iron indexes was observed in BYP group. The patients in the combination treatment group neither showed significant changes in serum ferritin nor total iron-binding capacity. No significant adverse reactions were observed in the BYP group. The network pharmacology identified 27 bioactive compounds and 145 targets of BYP on gynecological anemia. Biological processes and pathways including regulation of inflammation, hormone, angiogenesis and hemostasis, response to decreased oxygen levels, effects on myeloma cell, and response to metal ions were identified. Conclusion: BYP contributes to the practical improvement on gynecological anemia potentially through multi-target mechanisms and optimized iron re-distribution. (Trial registration: No. NCT03232554) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of our study was to investigate waist circumference (WC) change and the risk of incident chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among Chinese adults. A total of 8164 participants aged > 18 years who attended health examinations with repeat measurements of WC and lung function [forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)] from 2010 to 2019 were recruited. WC change was categorized as ≤ − 2.5%, − 2.5 to 2.5%, 2.5% to 5% and > 5% according to sex. Modified Poisson regression models were used to assess the association of WC gain and the risk of COPD. During the 10-year follow-up, a total of 917 COPD cases were identified. From baseline to follow-up, the mean FEV1 decreased from 3.20 to 2.79L among male participants and 2.28–1.95L among female participants. Compared with participants who did not have abdominal obesity, at either, baseline or follow-up, participants with abdominal obesity of both sexes after the follow-up were associated with a greater risk of COPD regardless of abdominal obesity at baseline. The risk of incident COPD increased 19% among male participants (RR = 1.19, 95%CI = 1.04–1.48) and 14% among female participants (RR = 1.14, 95%CI = 1.01–1.40) when WC gain increased > 5% during the 10-year follow-up. The COPD risk decreased 18% among male participants with a WC change ≤ − 2.5% (RR = 0.82, 95%CI = 0.67–0.99). The risk of incident COPD was positively associated with increasing WC among Chinese adults of both sexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green economic growth is the best alternative strategy for sustainable development. Existing literature investigated the determinants of green economic growth in China and provides mixed results. Thus, our study explores the impact of green environmental technology, financial innovation, and environmental regulations on green economic growth by controlling the impact of renewable energy consumption, trade, and education. The study explores the symmetric and asymmetric associations by employing ARDL and NARDL approaches. The ARDL long-run findings display that green environmental technologies, environmental regulations, and financial innovations positively and significantly contribute to green economic growth. However, the NARDL long-run findings infer that positive shock in green environmental technology, financial innovation, and environmental regulation exerts a significant and positive impact on green growth, while negative shock in green environmental technology, financial innovation, and environmental regulation has an insignificant impact on green growth. Based on the findings, the study delivers important policy implications to promote green economic growth in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using state-of-the-art ab initio GW many-body perturbation theory calculations, we show that monolayer MoS2 on Au is a p-type contact, in contrast to the vast majority of theoretical predictions using density functional theory. The predominantly n-type behaviour observed experimentally for MoS2/Au junctions can be attributed to the presence of sulfur vacancies, which pin the Fermi level. GW calculations on WSe2/Au junctions likewise predict p-type contacts for pristine WSe2 and n-type contacts for junctions with selenium vacancies. Experimentally, WSe2/metal junctions are predominantly p-type or ambipolar, with p-type junctions being observed for selenium-deficient WSe2, suggesting that selenium vacancies are not effective in pinning the Fermi level for WSe2/metal junctions. We rationalize these apparently contradictory results by noting that selenium vacancies in WSe2 are readily passivated by oxygen atoms. Taken together, our state-of-the-art calculations clearly elucidate the relation between contact polarity and atomic structure. We show that non-local exchange and correlation effects are critical for determining the energy level alignment and even the contact polarity (in the case of MoS2 on Au). We further reconcile a large body of experimental literature on TMDC/metal contact polarities by consideration of the defect chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zero-refractive-index (ZRI) phononic crystals (PhCs), in which acoustic waves can be transmitted without phase variations, have considerable potential for engineering wavefronts and thus are applicable to invisibility cloaking. However, the creation of the transmissive cloaking achieved by ZRI-PhCs is challenging under an oblique incidence, which substantially hinders their practical applications. Here, we experimentally demonstrate acoustic transmissive cloaking with the adjustable capacity to the incident direction. Acoustic transmissive cloaking of arbitrarily shaped obstacles can be obtained through a hybrid acoustic structure consisting of one outer layer of a programmable phase-engineered metasurface (PPEM) and one inner layer of a double zero-refractive-index (DZRI)-PhC. The DZRI-PhC is functionally the same as an equiphase area and can guide acoustic waves around the obstacle, a process known as acoustic tunneling. The PPEM perpendicularly transfers the incident acoustic waves to the DZRI-PhC and allows the emergent waves from the DZRI-PhC to transmit along the original incident direction. The DZRI-PhC is made of an array of iron squares in the air. The reciprocal of the effective bulk modulus and the effective mass density is approximately zero at a frequency of 3015 Hz (0.5187 v0/a) originating from the zeroth-order Fabry–Pérot (FP) resonance that possesses infinite phase velocities. Each meta-atom of the outer metasurface consists of a line channel and four shunted Helmholtz resonators, which have effective masses that are engineered by a mechanics system. The amplitude and phase of the sound waves propagating through each meta-atom can be controlled continuously and dynamically, enabling the metasurface to obtain versatile wavefront manipulation functions. Acoustic cloaking is visually demonstrated by experimentally scanning the acoustic field over the hybrid structure at a frequency of 3000 Hz (0.5160 v0/a). Our work may provide applications with great potential, including underwater ultrasound, airborne sound, acoustic communication, imaging, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a delay differential equation model to describe the Wolbachia infection dynamics in mosquitoes in which the key factor of cytoplasmic incompactibility (CI) is incorporated in a more natural way than those in the literature. By analyzing the dynamics of the model, we are able to obtain some information on the impact of four important parameters: the competition capabilities of the wild mosquitoes and infected mosquitoes, the maternal transmission level and the CI level. The analytic results show that there are ranges of parameters that support competition exclusion principle, and there are also ranges of parameters that allow co-persistence for both wild and infected mosquitoes. These ranges account for the scenarios of failure of invasion, invasion and suppressing the wild mosquitoes, and invasion and replacing the wild mosquitoes. We also discuss some possible future problems both in mathematics and in modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementing nonlinear optical components in nanoscale photonic devices is challenged by phase-matching conditions requiring thicknesses in the order of hundreds of wavelengths, and is disadvantaged by the short optical interaction depth of nanometre-scale materials and weak photon–photon interactions. Here we report that ferroelectric NbOI2 nanosheets exhibit giant second-harmonic generation with conversion efficiencies that are orders of magnitude higher than commonly reported nonlinear crystals. The nonlinear response scales with layer thickness and is strain- and electrical-tunable; a record >0.2% absolute SHG conversion efficiency and an effective nonlinear susceptibility χ eff (2) in the order of 10−9 m V−1 are demonstrated at an average pump intensity of 8 kW cm–2. Due to the interplay between anisotropic polarization and excitonic resonance in NbOI2, the spatial profile of the polarized SHG response can be tuned by the excitation wavelength. Our results represent a new paradigm for ultrathin, efficient nonlinear optical components. Strained NbOI2 flakes with a thickness of 20 nm exhibit a record SHG absolute conversion efficiency of >0.2% and an effective bulk-like nonlinear susceptibility of 1.1 × 10−9 m V−1 at the fundamental wavelength of 1,050 nm. The spatial profile of the polarized second-harmonic generation response can be tuned by the fundamental wavelength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlorophenols are widely used in industry and are known environmental pollutants. The degradation of chlorophenols is important for environmental remediation. In this study, we evaluated the biodegradation of 2-chlorophenol using crude laccase produced by Myrothecium verrucaria. Atmospheric and room temperature plasma technology was used to increase laccase production. The culture conditions of the M-6 mutant were optimized. Our results showed that corn stover could replace glucose as a carbon source and promote laccase production. The maximum laccase activity of 30.08 U/mL was achieved after optimization, which was a 19.04-fold increase. The biodegradation rate of 2-chlorophenol using crude laccase was 97.13%, a positive correlation was determined between laccase activity and degradation rate. The toxicity of 2-CP was substantially reduced after degradation by laccase solution. Our findings show the feasibility of the use of corn stover in laccase production by M. verrucaria mutant and the subsequent biodegradation of 2-chlorophenol using crude laccase. Highlights: A mutant of M. verrucaria with high laccase production and genetic stability was obtained using ARTP mutagenesis. Culture conditions were optimized, and extracellular laccase activity was increased by corn stover and copper ion supplementation. Crude laccase could degrade 2-chlorophenol by up to 97.13%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaucomatous optic nerve damage caused by pathological intraocular pressure elevation is irreversible, and its course is often difficult to control. This group of eye diseases is closely related to biomechanics, and the correlation between glaucoma pathogenesis and mechanical stimulation has been studied in recent decades. The nonselective cation channel Piezo1, the most important known mechanical stress sensor, is a transmembrane protein widely expressed in various cell types. Piezo1 has been detected throughout the eye, and the close relationship between Piezo1 and glaucoma is being confirmed. Pathological changes in glaucoma occur in both the anterior and posterior segments of the eye, and it is of great interest for researchers to determine whether Piezo1 plays a role in these changes and how it functions. The elucidation of the mechanisms of Piezo1 action in nonocular tissues and the reported roles of similar mechanically activated ion channels in glaucoma will provide an appropriate basis for further investigation. From a new perspective, this review provides a detailed description of the current progress in elucidating the role of Piezo1 in glaucoma, including relevant questions and assumptions, the remaining challenging research directions and mechanism-related therapeutic potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moiré coupling in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) superlattices introduces flat minibands that enable strong electronic correlation and fascinating correlated states, and it also modifies the strong Coulomb-interaction-driven excitons and gives rise to moiré excitons. Here, we introduce the layer degree of freedom to the WSe2/WS2 moiré superlattice by changing WSe2 from monolayer to bilayer and trilayer. We observe systematic changes of optical spectra of the moiré excitons, which directly confirm the highly interfacial nature of moiré coupling at the WSe2/WS2 interface. In addition, the energy resonances of moiré excitons are strongly modified, with their separation significantly increased in multilayer WSe2/monolayer WS2 moiré superlattice. The additional WSe2 layers also modulate the strong electronic correlation strength, evidenced by the reduced Mott transition temperature with added WSe2 layer(s). The layer dependence of both moiré excitons and correlated electronic states can be well described by our theoretical model. Our study presents a new method to tune the strong electronic correlation and moiré exciton bands in the TMDCs moiré superlattices, ushering in an exciting platform to engineer quantum phenomena stemming from strong correlation and Coulomb interaction. Twisted heterostructures of transition metal dichalcogenides host the so-called moiré excitons, or intralayer excitons modified by the moiré potential. Here the authors show tunability of the moiré excitons and the coexisting correlated electronic states in WSe2/WS2 superlattices with varying WSe2 layer thickness [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess the impact of Lean primary care redesigns on the amount of time that physicians spent working each day. Methods: This observational study was based on 92 million time-stamped Epic® EHR access logs captured among 317 primary care physicians in a large ambulatory care delivery system. Seventeen clinic facilities housing 46 primary care departments were included for study. We conducted interrupted time series analysis to monitor changes in physician work patterns over 6 years. Key measures included total daily work time; time spent on "desktop medicine" outside the exam room; time spent with patients during office visits; time still working after clinic, i.e., after seeing the last patient each day; and remote work time. Results: The amount of time that physicians spent on desktop EHR activities throughout the day, including after clinic hours, decreased by 10.9% (95% CI: −22.2, −2.03) and 8.3% (95% CI: −13.8, −2.12), respectively, during the first year of Lean implementation. Total daily work hours among physicians, which included both desktop activity and time in office visits, decreased by 20% (95% CI: −29.2, −9.60) by the third year of Lean implementation. Conclusions: These findings suggest that Lean redesign may be associated with time savings for primary care physicians. However, since this was an observational analysis, further study is warranted (e.g., randomized trial) —to determine the impact of Lean interventions on physician work experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an urgent need for treatments for hydrofluoric acid (HF) burns and their derivative problems that prevent hydrogen ion dissociation and fluoride ion binding to tissues. This study evaluated the ability of chitosan-based hydrogels combined with a buffer solution containing either boric acid or Tris and calcium gluconate (CHS-BA-CG and CHS-Tris-CG) to repair HF burn wounds and prevent wound infections. We assessed calcium release rates and biocompatability and constructed a mouse HF burn model to assess the tissue repair effects of the hydrogels. Finally, we performed disc diffusion tests from burn tissue and quantified the bacterial counts to assess the anti-infection properties of the hydrogels. Calcium was gradually released in the CHS-BA-CG and CHS-Tris-CG groups (73% and 43%, respectively, after 48 h). The cell viabilities at 48 h after HF burn in these groups were significantly higher than those in the phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and CG-treated groups. Histopathological evaluation showed a clear boundary between the epidermal and dermal layers in both CHS-BA-CG and CHS-Tris-CG-treated groups, indicating their effectiveness in tissue repair. In the disc diffusion test, CHS-BA-CG and CHS-Tris-CG exhibited larger inhibition zones against Acinetobacter baumannii than those for PBS and CG. The bacterial counts on HF burn wounds were significantly lower in the CHS-BA-CG and CHS-Tris-CG-treated groups than those in the PBS and CG-treated groups. The in vitro studies demonstrated the biocompatibility and antimicrobial effects of the CHS-BA-CG and CHS-Tris-CG hydrogels. Both gels also demonstrated tissue repair and anti-infection effects. Thus, chitosan-based hydrogels may be candidates for HF burn therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the sliding mode control (SMC) problem of discrete-time singular Markovian jump systems with time-varying delay under an event-triggered strategy (ETS). In the system we study, there are uncertainties in the system matrix, especially in the difference matrix. A state augmentation strategy is proposed due to uncertainties in the difference matrix. A suitable sliding mode surface (SMS) function is built, and the corresponding sliding mode dynamics (SMD) is derived based on ETS. Some sufficient conditions are presented to guarantee that SMD is H∞\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$H_{\infty }$$\end{document}-admissible for all uncertainties. Furthermore, an SMC law under ETS is derived so that the system trajectories can be driven onto the prescribed SMS in finite time. Finally, the effectiveness of the approach in the paper is demonstrated by two simulated examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugar content of the outer seed coat and hardness of the inner seed coat are important traits of the pomegranate fruit. The translocation of sugars across biological membranes, mediated by SWEET transporters, is critical to seed development. In this study, we identified 16 PgrSWEET genes distributed on six chromosomes in the pomegranate genome. According to the phylogenetic analysis, PgrSWEET proteins were divided into four groups. Tandem and segmental duplications contributed to the expansion of the PgrSWEET family, while functional redundancy and diversification may have occurred among SWEET members according to analyses of evolution and gene expression. RNA-seq and qRT-PCR analyses revealed that PgrSWEET1a and PgrSWEET9 were highly expressed in the inner seed coat, and the expression levels gradually increased during seed development. Moreover, the relative expression levels of PgrSWEET1a and PgrSWEET9 in a hard-seeded cultivar were higher than those in a soft-seeded cultivar, indicating that PgrSWEET1a and PgrSWEET9 might function in the inner seed coat development by accumulating sugar metabolites. We also found that PgrSWEET2 was highly expressed in the outer seed coat during seed development, and the protein was localized to the tonoplast, indicating that PgrSWEET2 is likely a candidate regulating sugar accumulation or reutilization in the vacuoles of the outer seed coat. Genes encoding transcription factors probably regulating the candidate PgrSWEET genes were chosen by co-expression analysis. These results not only helped to characterize PgrSWEET genes but also provided an insight into their functions in relation to seed coat development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]