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Background: As physical signals, mechanical cues regulate the neural cells in the brain. The mechanosensitive channels (MSCs) perceive the mechanical cues and transduce them by permeating specific ions or molecules across the plasma membrane, and finally trigger a series of intracellular bioelectrical and biochemical signals. Emerging evidence supports that wide‐distributed, high‐expressed MSCs like Piezo1 play important roles in several neurophysiological processes and neurological disorders. Aim s : To systematically conclude the functions of MSCs in the brain and provide a novel mechanobiological perspective for brain diseases. Method: We summarized the mechanical cues and MSCs detected in the brain and the research progress on the functional roles of MSCs in physiological conditions. We then concluded the pathological activation and downstream pathways triggered by MSCs in two categories of brain diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and place‐occupying damages. Finally, we outlined the methods for manipulating MSCs and discussed their medical potential with some crucial outstanding issues. Results: The MSCs present underlying common mechanisms in different brain diseases by acting as the "transportation hubs" to transduce the distinct signal patterns: the upstream mechanical cues and the downstream intracellular pathways. Manipulating the MSCs is feasible to alter the complicated downstream processes, providing them promising targets for clinical treatment. Conclusions: Recent research on MSCs provides a novel insight into brain diseases. The common mechanisms mediated by MSCs inspire a wide range of therapeutic potentials targeted on MSCs in different brain diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim was to research ACTL6A's role in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Methods: OSCC and normal samples were obtained from patients and public databases. GSEA was performed. CIBERSORT was utilized to analyze immune landscape. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis were conducted. After knocking down ACTL6A, we performed MTT assay, transwell assays, and flow cytometry to detect the impact of knockdown. Results: ACTL6A expressed higher in OSCC samples than normal samples. The CNV and mutation rate of TP53 was higher in ACTL6A high‐expression group. TFs E2F7 and TP63 and miRNA hsa‐mir‐381 were significantly related to ACTL6A. ACTL6A could influence immune microenvironment of OSCC. Knockdown of ACTL6A inhibited OSCC cells' proliferation, migration, and invasion. ACTL6A was able to predict OSCC prognosis independently. Conclusion: ACTL6A expressed higher in OSCC than normal samples and it could be used as an independent prognostic marker in OSCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural optimization is essential to improve the performance of mixing equipment. An efficient optimization strategy based on computational fluid dynamics, machine learning, and the multi‐objective genetic algorithm was proposed to predict and optimize the performance of the stirred tank. Single‐factor analysis was performed to study the effects of structural parameters on power consumption and mixing time, which were reduced by 16.0% and 1.4%, respectively, in the optimized stirred vessel. To further optimize the stirred tank geometries and maximize the integrated performance, XGB coupled NSGA‐ІІ were utilized to minimize the power consumption and mixing time. The optimal design parameters from the Pareto front were identified by two well‐known decision‐making methods (LINMAP and TOPSIS), which decreased power consumption and mixing time by 12.3% and 13.4% compared to the stirred tank with the baseline structure. This research further confirmed the accuracy and reliability of the machine learning‐based optimization method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electro‐chemically reducing CO2 in a highly acidic medium is promising for addressing the issue of carbonate accumulation. However, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) typically dominates the acidic CO2 reduction. Herein, we construct an efficient electro‐catalyst for CO formation based on a core‐shell structure, where nitrogen‐doped Ni nanoparticles coexist with nitrogen‐coordinated Ni single atoms. The optimal catalyst demonstrates a significantly improved CO faradaic efficiency (FE) of 96.7 % in the acidic electrolyte (pH=1) at an industrial‐scale current density of 500 mA cm−2. Notably, the optimal catalyst maintains a high FE of CO exceeding 90 % (current density=500 mA cm−2) in the electrolyte with a wide pH range from 0.67 to 14. In‐situ spectroscopic characterization and density functional theory calculations show that the local electron density of Ni‐N‐C sites is enhanced by N‐doped Ni particles, which facilitates the formation of *COOH intermediate and the adsorption of *CO. This study demonstrates the potential of a hybrid metal/Ni‐N‐C interface in boosting acidic CO2 electro‐reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The kinetics and mechanisms of selective maltose hydrogenation over Raney Ni remain poorly understood, which hinders the industrial advancement of maltitol production for biorefining. Herein, the impact of hydrogenation conditions and in‐depth mechanistic characterizations were carefully investigated in this research. Optimization of reaction conditions illustrated that maltitol formation was favored by moderate reaction temperatures (≤130°C), high hydrogen pressures (>7 MPa), and near‐neutral sodium phosphate buffer (pH = 6.47). Kinetic studies demonstrated the Ea of 45.5 kJ/mol for the hydrogenation of maltose. The in situ IR revealed that the hydrogenation of maltose over Raney Ni occurs in the order of ring opening and adsorption via CO of the aldose form followed by hydrogenation. The UV–vis spectra demonstrated the near‐neutral setting (pH = 6.47) promoted the production of open‐chain aldose conformation and selective CO hydrogenation to the corresponding alcohols. The present study on concentrated‐maltose hydrogenation paves the way for the industrial development of maltitol manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of partial substitution of Hf for Zr on the microstructure and thermal stability of near‐α high‐temperature titanium alloys is systematically investigated. The results show that the addition of Hf promotes the refinement of precipitated phases of the silicides and α2 phase and the (Ti,Zr,Hf)6(Si,Sn)3 S2‐type silicides were formed in alloys after aging treatment. During thermal exposure, both silicides and α2 phase in alloy with 2.5 wt% Hf exhibited excellent anti‐coarsening ability, which may be attributed to the slow diffusion of Hf in Ti that significantly inhibited the growth rate of the precipitated phase. The loss of plasticity of near‐α titanium alloys after thermal exposure is mainly due to the precipitation and coarsening of silicides and α2 phase, therefore, the Hf‐containing titanium alloy has more excellent thermal stability, i.e., the plasticity loss rate is decreased from 34.8% (the alloy without Hf) to 7.4% (the alloy with 2.5 wt% Hf). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luminescence, a physical phenomenon that producing cool light in vivo, has been found in bacteria, fungi, and animals but not yet in terrestrial higher plants. Through genetic engineering, it is feasible to introduce luminescence systems into living plant cells as biomarkers. Recently, some plants transformed with luminescent systems can glimmer in darkness, which can be observed by our naked eyes and provides a novel lighting resource. In this review, we summarized the bioassay development of luminescence in plant cells, followed by exampling the successful cases of glowing plants transformed with diverse luminescent systems. The potential key factors to design or optimize a glowing plant were also discussed. Our review is useful for the creation of the optimized glowing plants, which can be used not only in scientific research, but also as promising substitutes of artificial light sources in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous study, three kinds of polymers are synthesized by the covalent bonding of three anthraquinone chromophores to polyphenylene sulfone. Herein, the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of solutions and thin films of anthraquinone‐containing polyphenylsulfone, which can function as effective optical limiting materials are discussed in detail. The reasons for the improved NLO properties of the thin films are explained from the perspective of chromophore content, polarization orientation, and energy level transition. In addition, the NLO properties thermal stability and chemical stability of the three polymers are tested. The results show that the three types of polyphenylsulfone materials have excellent optical limiting properties. Further, since the nonlinear optical coefficient decreases by less than 8% after treatment by heat and acid or basic solutions, they exhibit excellent nonlinear optical stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Hydrogen is an important sustainable resource, and here we report a catalytic route for the direct production of hydrogen (with a purity of 95 %) and dimethoxylmethane (DMM) from supercritical methanol over a Cu/SiO2 catalyst prepared by deposition–precipitation with ammonia (DPA) at 240°C in a one‐pot process. The procedure starts with methanol dehydrogenation to hydrogen and formaldehyde at the interface of the Cu2O⋅SiO2–Cu0 particle mixture, and subsequently, the formaldehyde intermediate condenses with substantial methanol to form DMM in the liquid phase. The Cu0, CuO, and chrysocolla species are inactive for hydrogen generation from methanol, and the intrinsic active species for methanol decomposition is the Cu2O⋅SiO2–Cu0 nanoparticle interface, which is produced from the hydrogen reduction of Cu2Si2O5(OH)2 or from the methanol reduction of Cu−O−Si moieties. A correlation between the structure and activity on reduced Cu/SiO2 (DPA) suggested that only Cu0 was not active, but the combined Cu0 and Cu+ sites with interfaces on SiO2 with an optimal Cu+/Cu0 ratio of 1.56 were highly active for methanol dehydrogenation and subsequent condensation steps. The developed new catalytic system offers a facile and atom‐economical way to generate pure hydrogen (almost CO free) from liquid methanol that can be used in fuel cell and hydrogen‐involved biomass reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco‐friendly polymeric dyes with excellent thermal stability, good mechanical performance, and robust chemical stability are highly desired for their diverse and practical applications in food, medicine, electronics and aerospace, etc. However, it remains a big challenge to develop them. Herein, a novel type of eco‐friendly polymeric dye is fabricated by covalently bonding anthraquinone chromophores onto polyphenylsulfone at a molecular level. The obtained polymeric dyes exhibit excellent thermal stability, with a weight loss of 5% at temperatures above 500 °C in air and negligible changes in both color appearance and transparency after being treated at 200 °C in air for 8 h, good mechanical performance with a tensile strength around 70 MPa, and robust chemical stability with demonstrated insolubility and very outstanding colorfastness and anti‐permeability against strong acidic or basic solutions for 7 days at room temperature. These outstanding properties make these polymeric dyes suitable for use in harsh conditions, exceeding existing polymeric dyes, which makes them good to use in some special engineering plastics. A kind of eco‐friendly polymeric dye is developed by covalently bonding anthraquinone chromophores into polyphenylsulfone at the molecular level. The as‐prepared polymer dyes exhibit excellent thermal stability, good mechanical performance, and robust chemical stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, semi‐solid Al–7Si–0.4Mg–x erbium(Er) (x = 0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8 wt%) alloys are fabricated via electromagnetic stirring method. The effects of Er on the microstructures and mechanical properties of semi‐solid Al–7Si–0.4Mg alloys are investigated. Results show that the eutectic π‐phase is modified to fine sized Er‐poor π‐phase and primary α‐Al is refined in semi‐solid Al–7Si–0.4Mg alloys with the addition of Er. Meanwhile, the plate‐like shape eutectic Si is transformed into fibrous eutectic Si with addition of Er, which has an excellent modification effect on the eutectic Si. Nucleation rate of the Er‐poor π‐phase is increased with a higher super cooling rate, which causes the refinement of primary α‐Al and the modification of eutectic Si phase. With the addition of 0.3 wt% Er, semi‐solid Al–7Si–0.4Mg alloys obtain the best tensile properties. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation values are 228 MPa and 10.4%, which is increased by 7% and 50% than Er‐free alloy, respectively. With the addition of Er into semi‐solid Al–7Si–0.4Mg alloys, the Chinese script π‐Fe phase is modified to fine size and globule Er‐poor π‐phase. The addition of 0.3% Er to semi‐solid Al–7Si–0.4Mg alloy improves the tensile strength about 7%, especially elongation (50%), which is attributed to the combined action of eutectic Si modification, primary α‐Al grain refinement, and π‐phase modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]