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Near-infrared to visible photon upconversion holds great promise for a diverse range of applications. Current photosensitizers for triplet-fusion upconversion across this spectral window often contain either precious or toxic elements, and have relatively low efficiencies. Although colloidal nanocrystals have emerged as versatile photosensitizers, the only family of nanocrystals discovered for near-infrared upconversion is the highly-toxic lead chalcogenides. Here we report zinc-doped CuInSe2 nanocrystals as a low-cost and lead-free alternate, allowing for near-infrared to yellow upconversion with an external quantum efficiency reaching 16.7%. When directly merged with photoredox catalysis, this system enables efficient near-infrared-driven organic synthesis and polymerization, which in turn solves the issue of reabsorption loss for nanocrystal-sensitized upconversion. Moreover, the broadband light capturing of these nanocrystals allows for very rapid reactions under indoor sunlight. Extending the reach of "solar synthesis" into the near-infrared may realize the century-long dream of conducting high added-value chemical transformations using sunlight.

Deer antlers are the only mammalian organs that can fully regenerate after being lost and provide a valuable model for cartilage development. As one of the best-studied epigenetic mechanisms, DNA methylation is known to engage in organ and tissue development. This study aimed to investigate the role of DNA methylation in antler chondrogenesis by comparing whole-genome DNA methylation between precartilage and cartilage. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) showed significant differences in the expression levels of DNA methyltransferase genes (DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B) between precartilage and cartilage. Subsequently, we obtained DNA methylation profiles of antler precartilage and cartilage tissues by whole-genome bisulfite sequencing. Although sequencing data indicated that overall methylation levels at CpG and non-CpG sites were similar between precartilage and cartilage, 140,784 differentially methylated regions (DMRs, P 0.05) and 3,941 DMR-related genes were identified. Gene ontology (GO) analysis of DMR-related genes demonstrated some significantly enriched GO terms (P 0.05) related to chondrogenesis, including insulin receptor binding, collage trimer, integrin binding, and extracellular matrix structural constituent. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis of DMR-related genes uncovered that the PI3K/AKT, cortisol synthesis and secretion, glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis-keratan sulfate, Hippo, and NF-κB signaling pathways might play a pivotal role in the transition of precartilage to cartilage. Moreover, we found that 25 DMR-related genes, including CD44, IGF1, ITGAV, ITGB1, RUNX1, COL2A1, COMP, and TAGLN, were most likely involved in antler chondrogenesis. In conclusion, this study revealed the genome-wide DNA methylation patterns of antler precartilage and cartilage, which may contribute to understanding the epigenetic regulation of antler chondrogenesis.

Purpose Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma (HSTCL), mostly derived from γδ T cells, is a rare but very aggressive lymphoma with poor outcomes. In this study, we generated the first single cell landscape for this rare disease and characterized the molecular pathogenesis underlying the disease progression. Methods We performed paired single cell RNA-seq and T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing on biopsies from a HSTCL patient pre- and post- chemotherapy treatments. Following by a series of bioinformatics analysis, we investigated the gene expression profile of γδ HSTCS as well as its tumor microenvironment (TME). Results We characterized the unique gene expressing signatures of malignant γδ T cells with a set of marker genes were newly identified in HSTCL (AREG, PLEKHA5, VCAM1 etc.). Although the malignant γδ T cells were expanded from a single TCR clonotype, they evolved into two transcriptionally distinct tumor subtypes during the disease progression. The Tumor_1 subtype was dominant in pre-treatment samples with highly aggressive phenotypes. While the Tumor_2 had relative mild cancer hallmark signatures but expressed genes associated with tumor survival signal and drug resistance (IL32, TOX2, AIF1, AKAP12, CD38 etc.), and eventually became the main tumor subtype post-treatment. We further dissected the tumor microenvironment and discovered the dynamically rewiring cell–cell interaction networks during the treatment. The tumor cells had reduced communications with the microenvironment post-treatment. Conclusions Our study reveals heterogenous and dynamic tumor and microenvironment underlying pathogenesis of HSTCL and may contribute to identify novel targets for diagnosis and treatment of HSTCL in the future.

In this paper, the bandgap characteristics of a missing rib lattice structure composed of beam elements are investigated by using the Floquet-Bloch theorem. The tuning of the width and position of the bandgap is achieved by changing the local structural parameters, i.e., the rotation angle, the short beam length, and the beam thickness. In order to expand the regulation of the bandgap, the influence of the material parameters of the crossed long beams inside the structure on the bandgap is analyzed. The results show that the mass density and stiffness of the structure have significant effects on the bandgap, while Poisson’s ratio has no effect on the bandgap. By analyzing the first ten bands of the reference unit cell, it can be found that the missing rib lattice structure generates multiple local resonance bandgaps for vibration reduction, and these bandgap widths are wider. The modal analysis reveals that the formation of the bandgap is due to the dipole resonance of the lattice structure, and this dipole resonance originates from the coupling of the bending deformation of the beam elements. In the band structure, the vibrational mode of the 9th band with a negative slope corresponds to a rotational resonance, which is different from that with the conventional negative slope formed by the coupling of two resonance modes. This study can provide a theoretical reference for the design of simple and lightweight elastic metamaterials, as well as for the regulation of bandgaps and the suppression of elastic waves.

Acoustic cloaking is an important application of acoustic metamaterials. This article proposes a novel design scheme for acoustic cloaking based on the region partitioning and multi-origin coordinate transformation. The cloaked region is partitioned into multiple narrow strips. For each strip, a local coordinate system is established with the local origin located at the strip center, and a coordinate transformation in the local coordinate system is conducted to squeeze the material along the strip length direction to form the cloaked region. To facilitate the implementation of the acoustic cloak, the multilayer effective medium is used to approximate the non-uniform anisotropic material parameters. The effectiveness of the proposed coordinate transformation method is verified by comparing the results from our method with those in the literature. Firstly, the results of a circular acoustic cloak in the literature are reproduced by using our finite element (FE) simulations for validation. Then, a comparison is made between the traditional coordinate transformation scheme and our new scheme for simulating an elliptical acoustic cloak. The results indicate that the proposed multi-origin coordinate transformation method has a better cloaking effect on the incident wave along the ellipse minor axis direction than the traditional method. This means that for the same object, an appropriate transformation scheme can be selected for different incident wave directions to achieve the optimal control effect. The validated scheme is further used to design an arch-shaped cloak composed of an upper semicircular area and a lower rectangular area, by combining the traditional single-centered coordinate transformation method for the semicircular area and the proposed multi-origin method for the rectangular area. The results show that the designed cloak can effectively control the wave propagation with significantly reduced acoustic pressure level. This work provides a flexible acoustic cloak design method applicable for arbitrary shapes and different wave incident directions, enriching the theory of acoustic cloaking based on coordinate transformation.

Application of biochar to treat heavy metal polluted wastewater has received increasing attention; however, the immobilization ability of pristine biochar for metal ions is still limited. In this study, phosphate tailing was co-pyrolyzed with sawdust and peanut shell to acquire phosphorus-rich biochars with high removal rates for Cd, Zn, Pb, and Cu. Meanwhile, the improvement mechanisms by phosphate tailing were clarified by XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDS, BET-N

Acute kidney injury (AKI), a prevalent non-neurological complication following traumatic brain injury (TBI), is a major clinical issue with an unfavorable prognosis. This study aimed to develop and validate machine learning models to predict severe AKI (stage 3 or greater) incidence in patients with TBI.A retrospective cohort study was conducted by using two public databases: the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC)-IV and the eICU Collaborative Research Database (eICU-CRD). Recursive feature elimination was used to select candidate predictors obtained within 24 h of intensive care unit admission. The area under the curve and decision curve analysis curves were used to determine the discriminatory ability. On the other hand, the calibration curve was employed to evaluate the calibrated performance of the newly developed machine learning models.In the MIMIC-IV database, there were 808 patients diagnosed with moderate and severe TBI (msTBI) (msTBI is defined as Glasgow Coma Score 12). Of these, 60 (7.43%) patients experienced severe AKI. External validation in the eICU-CRD indicated that the random forest (RF) model had the highest area under the curve of 0.819 (95% confidence interval 0.783-0.851). Furthermore, in the calibration curve, the RF model was well calibrated (P = 0.795).In this study, the RF model demonstrated better discrimination in predicting severe AKI than other models. An online calculator could facilitate its application, potentially improving the early detection of severe AKI and subsequently improving the clinical outcomes among patients with msTBI.

Background Biliary atresia (BA) is one of the main causes of neonatal end-stage liver disease. Without timely diagnosis and treatment, most children with BA will develop irreversible liver fibrosis within the first two months. While current theorized causes of BA include viral infection, immune disorders, and genetic defects, the comprehensive etiology is still largely unknown. Recently, biliatresone attracted much interest for its ability to induce BA in both zebrafish and mice, so we summarized the latest progress of biliatresone research in BA and tried to answer the question of whether it could provide further clues to the etiology of human BA. Data sources We conducted a PubMed search for any published articles related to the topic using search terms including “biliary atresia”, “biliatresone”, “GSH”, and “HSP90”. Relevant data were extracted from the original text or supplementary materials of the corresponding articles. Results Biliatresone had shown its unique toxicity in multiple species such as zebrafish and mice, and pathogenic factors involved included glutathione (GSH), heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) and the related pathways. In combination with epidemiological evidence and recent studies on the intestinal flora in biliary atresia, a new pathogenic hypothesis that the occurrence of biliary atresia is partly due to biliatresone or its structure-like compounds depositing in human body via vegetables or/and the altered intestinal flora structure can be tentatively established. Conclusions Based on the existing evidence, we emphasized that GSH and HSP90 are involved in the development of BA, and the maternal diet, especially higher vegetable intake of Asian women of childbearing age, accompanied by the altered intestinal flora structure, may contribute to the occurrence of biliary atresia and the higher incidence in the Asia group. However, the evidence from large sample epidemiological research is necessary.

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) can aggravate lung inflammatory reactions in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). Dexmedetomidine (Dex) is a selective α-2 adrenoreceptor agonist that can alleviate lung injury. This study was designed to investigate the effects of Dex on oxygenation and inflammatory factors in patients undergoing UPPP in the early perioperative period.Patients with OSAS undergoing UPPP were randomly allocated to the Dex Group or Control Group. Arterial blood gas analyses were performed, and the respiratory index (RI) and oxygenation index (OI) were calculated upon entering the operating room (TA total of 44 patients with OSAS were randomized. There was no significant difference in basic patient characteristics between the two groups. The preoperative RI and OI were not significantly different between the two groups, but they were altered immediately after surgery relative to the corresponding preoperative value (p 0.05). Compared with the Control Group, the RI was significantly lower at TDexmedetomidine can improve the oxygenation and inhibit the inflammatory response in patients undergoing UPPP in the early perioperative period.The present clinical study has been registered at Clinical Trials under number NCT03612440.

The transient receptor potential vanilloid 2 (TRPV2) ion channel is a polymodal receptor widely involved in many physiological and pathological processes. Despite many TRPV2 modulators being identified, whether and how TRPV2 is regulated by endogenous lipids remains elusive. Here, we report an endogenous cholesterol molecule inside the vanilloid binding pocket (VBP) of TRPV2, with a 'head down, tail up' configuration, resolved at 3.2 Å using cryo-EM. Cholesterol binding antagonizes ligand activation of TRPV2, which is removed from VBP by methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MβCD) as resolved at 2.9 Å. We also observed that estradiol (E2) potentiated TRPV2 activation by 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB), a classic tool compound for TRP channels. Our cryo-EM structures (resolved at 2.8-3.3 Å) further suggest how E2 disturbed cholesterol binding and how 2-APB bound within the VBP with E2 or without both E2 and endogenous cholesterol, respectively. Therefore, our study has established the structural basis for ligand recognition of the inhibitory endogenous cholesterol and excitatory exogenous 2-APB in TRPV2.