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Cardamonin (CD), a naturally occurring chalcone isolated from large black cardamom, was previously reported to suppress the proliferation of breast cancer cells. However, its precise molecular anti‐tumor mechanisms have not been well elucidated. In this study, we found that CD markedly inhibited the proliferation of MDA‐MB 231 and MCF‐7 breast cancer cells through the induction of G2/M arrest and apoptosis. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays a pivotal role in the inhibition of CD‐induced cell proliferation. Treatment with N‐acetyl‐cysteine (NAC), an ROS scavenger, blocked CD‐induced G2/M arrest and apoptosis in this study. Quenching of ROS by overexpression of catalase also blocked CD‐induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. We showed that CD enhanced the expression and nuclear translocation of Forkhead box O3 (FOXO3a) via upstream c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase, inducing the expression of FOXO3a and its target genes, including p21, p27, and Bim. This process led to the reduction of cyclin D1 and enhancement of activated caspase‐3 expression. The addition of NAC markedly reversed these effects, knockdown of FOXO3a using small interfering RNA also decreased CD‐induced G2/M arrest and apoptosis. In vivo, CD efficiently suppressed the growth of MDA‐MB 231 breast cancer xenograft tumors. Taken together, our data provide a molecular mechanistic rationale for CD‐induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in breast cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid increase in global warming, the impact of extreme temperatures on morbidity and mortality related to respiratory diseases has attracted considerable attention. In the current study, we quantified the relative risks (RRs) of mortality for respiratory diseases in three capital cities in Northeast China. We used a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) based on a generalized additive model (GAM) to estimate the impact of extreme temperatures on respiratory mortality in Shenyang, Changchun, and Harbin from 2014 to 2016. The results revealed that the maximum cumulative RRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were 1.52 (1.28–1.80), 1.42 (1.07–1.89), and 1.38 (1.21–1.58) in Shenyang, Changchun, and Harbin respectively when the median temperature was used as reference. The effect of extremely high temperature (99th percentile relative to 90th percentile) on respiratory mortality was found to be strongest in Shenyang (at the lowest latitude), while the effect of extreme low temperature (1st percentile relative to 10th percentile) on respiratory mortality was strongest in Harbin (at the highest latitude). In Shenyang and Changchun, the effects of high temperatures were much more intense and pronounced in females. Furthermore, the effect of high temperatures was more acute, whereas the effect of low temperatures was longer lasting. • Effects of extreme temperatures on respiratory mortality were significant, especially the extreme low temperature. • Latitude has obvious modification on the effect of temperatures. • Effect of high temperatures was more intense and pronounced in females. • Effect of low temperature was longer lasting than that of high temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new Quantitative approach to weight its compositions changes by analyzed functional groups content percentage and to determine its reactivity ranking by analyzed functional groups activation rate. • The chain thermal reaction of ten active groups were analyzed to reveal the oxidation mechanism of functional groups in coal combustion spontaneous. • The inhibition reaction of magnesium chloride on coal samples was different from those of sodium chloride and potassium chloride, which led to the different temperature stages in which the blocking effect occurs. • The inhibition effect of sodium chloride and potassium chloride was mainly manifested in the two-stage involving dehydration/desorption and dynamic equilibrium (below T 3). • The inhibition effect of magnesium chloride presents in the whole coal-oxygen reaction. To study the inhibition characteristics of different chloride salts on the spontaneous combustion of coal and to further reveal why magnesium chloride shows a different inhibitory effect, coal samples from FuSheng Coal Mine No. 15 in Shanxi Province were selected. Based on the characteristics of functional group absorption peak at different temperature, the composition changes and reactivity ranking of the functional groups in oxidized coal samples were tested by thermal oxidation experiments and infrared spectroscopy and analyzed to obtain the chain thermal reactions of different active groups. The weight-loss process and heat release characteristics of raw coal and three chloride salt-containing coal samples (sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and magnesium chloride) were compared and analyzed by synchronous thermal analysis experiments, and their inhibition reaction mechanism were studied. The results showed that different functional groups reacted at different low-temperature stages, and the active groups containing C–H, O–H, C-O, and C = O bonds were important during the spontaneous combustion of coal. In the chain thermal reactions with different active groups, heat and oxidative cleavage of the C-O and O–H bonds determined the chain development of different functional groups, and the R·, RO·, H·, and ·OH, chain thermal reaction products again acted as reactants that promoted further development of the reaction. Sodium chloride and potassium chloride played inhibitory roles in the dehydration-desorption stage and dynamic equilibrium stage through water evaporation and heat absorption, while magnesium chloride participated in the whole coal-oxygen reaction process. The inhibitory mechanism included dehydration and heat absorption by MgCl 2 ·6H 2 O, the complex dehydration of active groups containing O–H, the precipitation and oxygen insulation of [(SH·) n ]Mg and Mg(OH) 2 , the nucleophilic substitution of α-H for RCH 3 and RCH 2 OH groups, and the formation of H...Cl...H bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rectifier-Less Synchronized Switch Harvesting on Inductor (ReL-SSHI) interface is one of the most efficient interfaces for weakly-coupled piezoelectric (PE) systems. However, ReL-SSHI interface has narrow optimal rectified voltage range. Therefore, in this paper a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) circuit is presented for ReL-SSHI interface. An envelope extractor and a hysteresis voltage controller are used in the MPPT, which can monitor the open circuit (OC) voltage of piezoelectric transducer (PZT) during Energy Harvesting (EH). Simulation shows the maximum MPPT efficiency can reach up to 99.1% and the Figure of Merit (FoM) factor can achieve 6.4. The measurements confirm the simplicity and efficiency of the proposed MPPT solution for the weakly-coupled piezoelectric energy harvesting (PEH). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A flexible micro-perforated material was fabricated for acoustic application in this study, which is different from the traditional perforated material whose general impression is rigid, dense and inflexible. The raw material is polyvinyl alcohol and develop into PVA nanofiber membranes by electrospinning. On this basis, flexible PVA micro-perforated membranes were fabricated through punching process. The structure combined nanofiber, porous material and perforated panel in an organic whole. And the effects of perforation rate, perforation diameter and cavity distance on the acoustic performance were studied in light of the experimental result. The acoustic-electric analogy model of the micro-perforated sound absorber was used for theoretical calculation and compared with the corresponding experimental results. As we studied, the flexible microperforated material had favorable sound absorption performance both in low and high frequency, which was a significant improvement over traditional perforated plate. Besides, the broadband sound absorption could be obtained with the properly selection and optimization of the structural parameters. These latent qualities of the flexible PVA micro-perforated membrane make it ideal for use in the noise reduction field as a flexible and lightweight acoustic material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: Localized surface plasmon resonance has been demonstrated to provide effective photophysical enhancement mechanisms in plasmonic photocatalysis. However, it remains highly challenging for distinct mechanisms to function in synergy for a collective gain in catalysis due to the lack of spatiotemporal control of their effect. Herein, the anisotropic plasmon resonance nature of Au nanorods was exploited to achieve distinct functionality towards synergistic photocatalysis. Photothermal and photochemical effects were enabled by the longitudinal and transverse plasmon resonance modes, respectively, and were enhanced by partial coating of silica nanoshells and epitaxial growth of a reactor component. Resonant excitation leads to a synergistic gain in photothermal‐mediated hot carrier‐driven hydrogen evolution catalysis. Our approach provides important design principles for plasmonic photocatalysts in achieving spatiotemporal modulation of distinct photophysical enhancement mechanisms. It also effectively broadens the sunlight response range and increases the efficacy of distinct plasmonic enhancement pathways towards solar energy harvesting and conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare the postoperative rehabilitation of femoral neck fractures treated with robot-assisted nailing and freehand nailing. Methods: We systematically searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI), WanFang database, China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP) and Web of Science databases to identify potentially eligible articles. Indispensable data such as the year of publication, country, study type, robot type, age, number of patients, sex distribution, study design, and outcome indicators were extracted. The outcome indicators of interest included healing rate, length of healing time, Harris score, operation time, frequency of X-ray fluoroscopy, frequency of guide pin insertion, and intraoperative blood loss. RevMan 5.4.1 was used for the meta-analysis. Results: Fourteen studies with 908 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that in terms of healing rate (SMD = 2.75, 95% CI, 1.03 to 7.32, P = 0.04) and Harris score (SMD = 2.27, 95% CI, 0.79 to 3.75, P = 0.003), robot-assisted screw placement technique scores were higher than the traditional freehand technique. Additionally, operative time (SMD = -12.72, 95% CI, -19.74 to -5.70, P = 0.0004), healing time (SMD = -13.63, 95% CI, -20.18 to -7.08, P < 0.0001), frequency of X-ray fluoroscopy (SMD = − 13.64, 95% CI, − 18.32 to − 8.95, P < 0.00001), frequency of guide pin insertion (SMD = − 7.95, 95% CI, − 10.13 to − 5.76, P < 0.00001), and intraoperative blood loss (SMD = − 17.33, 95% CI, − 23.66 to − 11.00, P < 0.00001) were lower for patients who underwent robotic-assisted screw placement than those for patients who underwent the conventional freehand technique. Conclusion: Compared to the freehand nailing technique, robot-assisted nailing helps improve postoperative healing rates in patients with femoral neck fractures; shortens healing times; better restores hip function; reduces the number of intraoperative fluoroscopies, guides pin placements; reduces intraoperative bleeding; and increases perioperative safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study design: Meta-analysis and systematic review. Background: Robot-assisted pedicle screw placement technique offers greater accuracy than the traditional freehand screw placement technique. However, it is controversial whether there is a difference between the two procedures in terms of improved clinical outcomes. Materials and methods: We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Web of Science to identify potentially eligible articles. Indispensable data such as the year of publication, study type, age, number of patients, sex distribution, and outcomes were extracted. The outcome indicators of interest included Oswestry disability index (ODI), visual analog scale (VAS) score, operative time, intraoperative blood loss, and post-operative length of stay. RevMan 5.4.1 was used for the meta-analysis. Results: A total of eight studies with 508 participants were included. Eight were related to ΔVAS, six were related to ΔODI, seven were related to operative time, five were related to intraoperative blood loss, and seven were related to the length of hospitalization. The results showed that, in terms of ΔVAS (95% CI, −1.20 to −0.36, P = 0.0003) and ΔODI (95% CI, −2.50 to −0.48, P = 0.004), robot-assisted pedicle screw placement technique scored higher than traditional freehand technique. Additionally, the intraoperative blood loss (95% CI, −140.34 to −10.94, P = 0.02) and the length of hospitalization (95% CI, −2.59 to −0.31, P = 0.01) for patients who underwent robotic-assisted pedicle screw placement were less than that of those who underwent the conventional freehand screw placement. No significant difference was found between robot-assisted techniques and conventional freehand techniques in pedicle screw placement in surgical time (95% CI, −2.24 to 26.32, P = 0.10). Conclusions: Robot-assisted technique helps improve short-term clinical outcomes, reduce intraoperative blood loss and patient suffering, and shorten recovery time compared to the freehand technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to address the problem of weighting disputes in the evaluation of rockburst-induced coal and gas outburst as well as to improve the rationality and accuracy of the risk identification results. Hence, we developed a risk identification method for rockburst-induced coal and gas outburst, considering the influence of multiple factors based on poset decision-making theory. The risk identification index system was established according to stress factors, gas factors, and physical and mechanical properties of coal, including 12 indexes and 4 risk grades. The poset adopted implicit weighting to store the weight information. The proposed method was applied to identify risks in an engineering case study. Thus, we determined the outburst risk grade and compared the case study results with the actual situation of the working surface. The comparison and analyses showed that the outburst risk grade of the case study working surface under gas factors was grade Ⅱ, the outburst risk grade under stress factors and the physical and mechanical properties of coal was grade Ⅲ, and the outburst risk grade under comprehensive factors was grade Ⅲ. The results of the risk identification of rockburst-induced coal and gas outburst based on poset were consistent with the results obtained by the method used in the case study and the actual situation of the working surface. This study extends the methods for accurately identifying risks of rockburst-induced coal and gas outburst and facilitates the formulation of effective preventive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The mass variation of all BFRP rebar types was similar in air atmosphere while Phenolic-BFRP rebars decomposed more slowly in nitrogen atmosphere. • Phenolic-BFRP rebars exhibited a much higher glass transition temperature (375 °C) which delayed the initiation of interfacial bonding failure up to 300 °C. • No reduction in tensile strength occurred in P-BFRP rebars up to 300 °C, while V-BFRP and E-BFRP rebars experienced a significant degradation of tensile strength at around 100 °C already. An experimental investigation was conducted on the thermophysical and thermomechanical properties of phenolic-basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (P-BFRP) rebars subjected to high temperature. As a comparison, vinyl-BFRP (V-BFRP) and epoxy-BFRP (E-BFRP) rebars were also investigated within the same program. The mass variation of all BFRP rebar types was similar in air atmosphere while P-BFRP rebars decomposed more slowly in nitrogen atmosphere. All BFRP rebar types were found to have a similar specific heat and thermal conductivity up to 350 °C. P-BFRP rebars exhibited a much higher glass transition temperature compared with the other two types of BFRP rebars. Three failure modes could be differentiated for all BFRP rebar types according to three temperature ranges, the latter were shifted to higher values for P-BFRP rebars. No reduction in tensile strength occurred in P-BFRP rebars up to 300 °C, while V-BFRP and E-BFRP rebars experienced a significant degradation of tensile strength at around 100 °C already. This advantage of P-BFRP rebars was mainly caused by the much higher T g which delayed the initiation of interfacial bonding failure up to 300 °C. The elastic modulus of all BFRP rebar types exhibited a similar degradation, which was caused by progressive fiber and fiber bundle failure due to non-uniform stress distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synchronized Switching Harvesting on Inductor (SSHI) and Synchronous Electric Charge Extraction (SECE) are two classic interface circuit techniques for Piezoelectric energy harvesting. But the former has high peak output power with narrow rectified voltage range, while the latter has wide rectified voltage range with lower peak output power. This paper presents a self-powered interface circuit for piezoelectric energy harvesting to achieve a good balance between the two. The proposed interface circuit is based on the Series-SSHI (S–SSHI) and SECE. The circuit proposed can harvest energy through S–SSHI and SECE in positive and negative half cycles, respectively. Moreover, the figure of merit (FOM), optimal rectified voltage range (ORVR) and region of interest (S RoI) of simulation and experiment results are discussed. The maximum FOM of the proposed circuit is as high as 2.15, which is 1.68 times that of the SECE, and it can reach 6 times the ORVR of the S–SSHI. S RoI factor of the proposed circuit show that the proposed method has better performance. In addition, the circuit shows a simpler implementation compared with state-of-the-art designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The association between atmospheric particulate matter and emergency room visits for cerebrovascular disease were evaluated in Beijing. Methods: A generalized additive model was used to evaluate the associations between particulate matter and cerebrovascular disease, based on the daily data of meteorological elements, PM concentrations, and emergency room (ER) visits for cerebrovascular disease in Beijing from 2009 to 2012. Long-term trends and the effects of holidays, the day of the week, and confounding factors were controlled to determine the lag effect at 0–6 days. Single- and double-pollutant models were employed for different age and sex groups. Results: The effect of PM2.5 concentration on the number of daily ER visits for cerebrovascular disease was much stronger than that of PM10 concentration. PM2.5 and PM10 had maximum RR values of 1.096 and 1.054 at lag 6 for patients aged 61–75 years. For each inter-quartile range (IQR) increase in PM10 concentration, the maximum RR values for the total, males, females, aged 15–60 years, aged 61–75 years, and aged > 75 years were 1.024, 1.044, 1.043, 1.038, 1.054, and 1.032, respectively. For each IQR increase in PM2.5 concentration, the maximum RR values for the total, males, females, aged 15–60 years, aged 61–75 years, and aged > 75 years were 1.038, 1.064, 1.076, 1.054, 1.096, and 1.049, respectively. The RR values of the double-pollutant models were lower than those of the single-pollutant models. Conclusion: This study showed that the effects of PM pollution on cerebrovascular disease were different among different gender and age groups, and aged 61–75 years were mostly sensitive to particulate matters. The effects of PM2.5 on cerebrovascular disease were stronger than those of PM10. Our results can provide scientific evidence for the local government to take effective measures to improve air quality and the health of residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperlipidemia as a major health issue has attracted much public attention. As a geographical indication product of China, Liupao tea (LPT) is a typical representative of traditional Chinese dark tea that has shown good potential in regulating glucose and lipid metabolism. LPT has important medicinal value in hyperlipidemia prevention. However, the active ingredients and metabolic mechanisms by which LPT alleviates hyperlipidemia remain unclear. This study aimed to systematically investigate the metabolic mechanisms and active ingredients of LPT extract in alleviating hyperlipidemia. Firstly, we developed a mouse model of hyperlipidemia to study the pharmacodynamics of LPT. Subsequently, network pharmacology and molecular docking were performed to predict the potential key active ingredients and core targets of LPT against hyperlipidemia. LC-MS/MS was used to validate the identity of key active ingredients in LPT with chemical standards. Finally, the effect and metabolic mechanisms of LPT extract in alleviating hyperlipidemia were investigated by integrating metabolomic, lipidomic, and gut microbiome analyses. Results showed that LPT extract effectively improved hyperlipidemia by suppressing weight gain, remedying dysregulation of glucose and lipid metabolism, and reducing hepatic damage. Network pharmacology analysis and molecular docking suggested that four potential active ingredients and seven potential core targets were closely associated with roles for hyperlipidemia treatment. Ellagic acid, catechin, and naringenin were considered to be the key active ingredients of LPT alleviating hyperlipidemia. Additionally, LPT extract modulated the mRNA expression levels of Fxr , Cyp7a1 , Cyp8b1 , and Cyp27a1 associated with bile acid (BA) metabolism, mitigated the disturbances of BA and glycerophospholipid (GP) metabolism in hyperlipidemia mice. Combining fecal microbiota transplantation and correlation analysis, LPT extract effectively improved species diversity and abundance of gut microbiota, particularly the BA and GP metabolism-related gut microbiota, in the hyperlipidemia mice. LPT extract ameliorated hyperlipidemia by modulating GP and BA metabolism by regulating Lactobacillus and Dubosiella , thereby alleviating hyperlipidemia. Three active ingredients of LPT served as the key factors in exerting an improvement on hyperlipidemia. These findings provide new insights into the active ingredients and metabolic mechanisms of LPT in improving hyperlipidemia, suggesting that LPT can be used to prevent and therapeutic hyperlipidemia. [Display omitted] • An integrated strategy to assess the amelioration of LPT in hyperlipidemia. • Obvious alleviation of hyperlipidemia observed in mice intervened with LPT. • Key microbiota and active ingredients of LPT improving hyperlipidemia. • LPT with great potential for the prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current treatments for orthopaedic illnesses frequently result in poor prognosis, treatment failure, numerous relapses, and other unpleasant outcomes that have a significant impact on patients' quality of life. Cell-free therapy has emerged as one of the most promising options in recent decades for improving the status quo. As a result, using exosomes produced from various cells to modulate ferroptosis has been proposed as a therapeutic method for the condition. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles that secrete various bioactive chemicals that influence disease treatment and play a role in the genesis and progression of orthopaedic illnesses. Ferroptosis is a recently defined kind of controlled cell death typified by large iron ion buildup and lipid peroxidation. An increasing number of studies indicate that ferroptosis plays a significant role in orthopaedic illnesses. Exosomes, as intercellular information transfer channels, have been found to play a significant role in the regulation of ferroptosis processes. Furthermore, accumulating research suggests that exosomes can influence the course of many diseases by regulating ferroptosis in injured cells. In order to better understand the processes by which exosomes govern ferroptosis in the therapy of orthopaedic illnesses. This review discusses the biogenesis, secretion, and uptake of exosomes, as well as the mechanisms of ferroptosis and exosomes in the therapy of orthopaedic illnesses. It focuses on recent research advances and exosome mechanisms in regulating iron death for the therapy of orthopaedic illnesses. The present state of review conducted both domestically and internationally is elucidated and anticipated as a viable avenue for future therapy in the field of orthopaedics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solvatochromic fluorophores are one of the most investigated dyes because they exhibit multi-color luminescence properties as the polarity of the solvent changes. It remains a challenge to regulate solvatochromism with a large emission shift and maintain high fluorescence efficiency from apolar to polar solvents. Herein, we report a new type of solvatochromic fluorophore that exhibits both multicolor solvatochromism and stable high fluorescence efficiency in polar solvents. The unique solvatochromic properties of indoleninonaphthooxazole derivatives are realized by constructing a single carbon-bond-linked coplanar scaffold containing indolenine and naphthooxazole components with different substituents. We propose a possible mechanism to explain the unique solvatochromism. Excited USTS-3 and USTS-4 exhibit LE state in non-polar solvent and different HLCT states in polar solvents with both high luminescence efficiency. And the excitation of USTS-3 and USTS-4 is determined by aggregation states of molecular USTS-3 and USTS-4 under different concentrations, which exhibits different relaxations but share the same luminescence decay pathway. Benefitting from the unique luminescence properties of indoleninonaphthooxazole derivatives, they exhibit potential applications in solvent polarity detection, bioimaging, anticounterfeiting, electroluminescence, and lighting in different matrix. Our results also provide a new perspective on designing novel fluorophores based on indolenine and naphthoxazole moieties. • Indoleninonaphthooxazole derivatives (USTS-3 and USTS-4) were discoved as a unique solvatochromic fluorophore. • Solvatochromic USTS-3/4 exhibits large emission shift and stable high emission efficiency from apolar to polar solvents. • A coplanar scaffold containing indolenine and naphthooxazole derivatives to the unique solvatochromic properties. • The excitation and decay paths of solvatochromic USTS-3 and USTS-4 depend on solvent polarity and solution concentration. • USTS-3/4 exhibits potential applications in solvent polarity detection, anticounterfeiting, and lighting in different matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conductive hydrogels have received widespread attention in the field of flexible sensors. However, a single network structure inside the hydrogel sensor usually makes it difficult to bear larger mechanical loadings, greatly limiting practical applications. Developing a recoverable conductive hydrogel sensor with high toughness and adaptability is still challenging. Herein, a high-performance polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based conductive composite hydrogel was constructed, assisted by green cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs), magnesium chloride (MgCl 2), ethylene glycol (EG), and liquid metal (LM). The synergistic effects between CNFs and LM enhanced the network structure inside the recoverable hydrogel. This resulted in an excellent tensile strength of 3.86 MPa with an elongation at break of as high as 918.4 % and compressive strength of 4.04 MPa at 80 % strain. In addition, the conductive network composed of MgCl 2 and LM endowed the hydrogel good electrical conductivity. Moreover, it could be used as a flexible strain sensor for various application scenarios, e.g. , micro-stress monitoring (water droplet falling) and information encryption transmission of Morse code. Such uniqueness will provide a design strategy for developing a new generation of hydrogel sensors. [Display omitted] • High-toughness conductive hydrogel reinforced by liquid metal • Flexible hydrogel sensor for monitoring various external mechanical stimuli • Application potential for encryption and secure transmission of information [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MXenes exhibit outstanding potential as electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their extensive specific surface area, superior electrical conductivity and abundant surface-active terminations. The electrochemical properties of Mo 2 CT 2 (T = bare, -O, -S) as anodes for LIBs have been studied by adopting the first-principles calculations and experiments. The results reveal that Mo 2 CO 2 has a negative impact on Li storage, leading to a slight decrease in theoretical capacity and a significant increase in average voltage. The low migration energy barriers of Mo 2 C, Mo 2 CO 2 and Mo 2 CS 2 are estimated as 0.037 eV, 0.145 eV and 0.244 eV. Moreover, the predicted average voltages of Mo 2 C and Mo 2 CS 2 are 0.79 V and 0.11 V, rendering them highly desirable for low charging voltage applications. It is striking that the storage capacity of Mo 2 C is improved remarkably from 263 mA·h/g to 400 mA·h/g by introducing S functional group. Herein, experimental batteries are fabricated with Mo 2 CS x and Mo 2 C as anodes to investigate their electrochemical properties, which exhibit both stability and reversibility. Interestingly, the exceptional discharge capacity and cycling stability of Mo 2 CS x can be attributed to its unique structure, which is consistent with the calculated results. Therefore, S-decorated Mo 2 C is a more suitable anode for LIBs with excellent performance, which also provides guidance for introducing appropriate functional groups to enhance the electrode performance of other MXenes. [Display omitted] • Mo 2 C and Mo 2 CS 2 exhibit excellent conductivity, low migration energy barriers and appropriate open circuit voltages. • The introduction of S functional group enhances the storage capacity from 263 mA·h/g to 400 mA·h/g in Mo 2 C. • Experiments have confirmed the excellent reversibility, cycling stability and discharge capacity of Mo 2 CS x. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecule-based selective contacts have become a crucial component to ensure high-efficiency inverted perovskite solar cells 1-5 . These molecules always consist of a conjugated core with heteroatom substitution to render the desirable carrier-transport capability 6-9 . So far, the design of successful conjugation cores has been limited to two N-substituted π-conjugated structures, carbazole and triphenylamine, with molecular optimization evolving around their derivatives 2,5,10-12 . However, further improvement of the device longevity has been hampered by the concomitant limitations of the molecular stability induced by such heteroatom-substituted structures 13,14 . A more robust molecular contact without sacrificing the electronic properties is in urgent demand, but remains a challenge. Here we report a peri-fused polyaromatic core structure without heteroatom substitution that yields superior carrier transport and selectivity over conventional heteroatom-substituted core structures. This core structure produced a relatively chemically inert and structurally rigid molecular contact, which considerably improved the performance of perovskite solar cells in terms of both efficiency and durability. The champion device showed an efficiency up to 26.1% with greatly improved longevity under different accelerated-ageing tests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the factors influencing dry eye disease (DED)-related ocular symptoms in participants with short fluorescein tear break-up time (FTBUT)., Methods: This cross-sectional study included 82 participants with short FTBUT (<10 seconds). Examinations included Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), FTBUT, average noninvasive tear break-up time (NIBUTave), lid wiper epitheliopathy, lipid layer thickness, blink rate, partial blink, tear meniscus height, and meibomian gland (MG) evaluation which included ratio of residual MG area (RMGA) and MG grade in tarsal plates. One-way analysis of variance was used to detect differences between symptomatic tear film instability group (FTBUT <5 s, OSDI ≥13), asymptomatic tear film instability group (FTBUT <5 s, OSDI <13), and control group (FTBUT ≥5 s, OSDI <13). A bivariate correlation, partial correlation, and multiple linear regression analyses were used to identify major factors. Only the right eye was included., Results: Among the participants with FTBUT <5 seconds, symptomatic group showed less upper RMGA ( P < 0.001) and NIBUTave ( P = 0.010). OSDI was negatively associated with upper RMGA ( r = -0.450, P < 0.001) and NIBUTave ( r = -0.414, P = 0.001), and positively associated with upper MG grade ( r = 0.277, P = 0.027). Linear regression analysis showed that the upper RMGA significantly affected OSDI (B = -41.895, P = 0.001), while not significantly correlated with age, upper MG grade, and NIBUTave., Conclusions: The upper RMGA might be the main factor affecting DED-related discomfort in participants with unstable tear film, indicating an early ocular change in DED., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

The skeleton serves as a supportive and protective organ for the body. As individuals age, their bone tissue undergoes structural, cellular, and molecular changes, including the accumulation of senescent cells. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a crucial role in aging through the cellular secretome and have been found to induce or accelerate age-related dysfunction in bones and to contribute further via the circulatory system to the aging of phenotypes of other bodily systems. However, the extent of these effects and their underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, this paper attempts to give an overview of the current understanding of age-related alteration in EVs derived from bones. The role of EVs in mediating communications among bone-related cells and other body parts is discussed, and the significance of bones in the whole-body aging process is highlighted. Ultimately, it is hoped that gaining a clearer understanding of the relationship between EVs and aging mechanisms may serve as a basis for new treatment strategies for age-related degenerative diseases in the skeleton and other systems., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The spray system mechanism during a gas explosion in an underground square pipeline is complex. In this paper, the underground square of Fuxin City is selected as the research object. FLACS numerical simulation software is used to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of a gas explosion in an underground square pipeline with an unopened spray system using combustion and combustion rate models. Different spray pressures were compared and analyzed to determine the optimal spray control pressure, and the spray system mechanism was clarified. The results revealed that the gas explosion overpressure is divided into the overpressure gentle, overpressure rising, and overpressure decay stages, corresponding to a trend of rapid growth and slow decline. The influence of spray pressure on the gas explosion exhibits a promotion-inhibition-promotion trend, corresponding to 0-0.2 MPa, 0.2-0.6 MPa, and 0.6-1.6 Mpa, respectively. The peak overpressure and overpressure propagation rates are the lowest at 0.6 MPa, and the explosion suppression effect is the most pronounced. The spray system mechanism varies with the explosion overpressure stages. Generally, the time to peak value, that is, the peak time, the overall duration of the explosion, and the duration of the explosion stage decrease, whereas the peak explosion overpressure decreases., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Osteoclast precursors (OCPs) are thought to commit to osteoclast differentiation, which is accelerated by aging-related chronic inflammation, thereby leading to osteoporosis. However, whether the fate of OCPs can be reshaped to transition into other cell lineages is unknown. Here, we showed that M2 macrophage-derived extracellular vesicles (M2-EVs) could reprogram OCPs to downregulate osteoclast-specific gene expression and convert OCPs to M2 macrophage-like lineage cells, which reshaped the fate of OCPs by delivering the molecular metabolite glutamate. Upon delivery of glutamate, glutamine metabolism in OCPs was markedly enhanced, resulting in the increased production of α-ketoglutarate (αKG), which participates in Jmjd3-dependent epigenetic reprogramming, causing M2-like macrophage differentiation. Thus, we revealed a novel transformation of OCPs into M2-like macrophages via M2-EVs-initiated metabolic reprogramming and epigenetic modification. Our findings suggest that M2-EVs can reestablish the balance between osteoclasts and M2 macrophages, alleviate the symptoms of bone loss, and constitute a new approach for bone-targeted therapy to treat osteoporosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Improving the solar-to-thermal energy conversion efficiency of photothermal nanomaterials at no expense of other physicochemical properties, e.g., the catalytic reactivity of metal nanoparticles, is highly desired for diverse applications but remains a big challenge. Herein, a synergistic strategy is developed for enhanced photothermal conversion by a greenhouse-like plasmonic superstructure of 4 nm cobalt nanoparticles while maintaining their intrinsic catalytic reactivity. The silica shell plays a key role in retaining the plasmonic superstructures for efficient use of the full solar spectrum, and reducing the heat loss of cobalt nanoparticles via the nano-greenhouse effect. The optimized plasmonic superstructure catalyst exhibits supra-photothermal CO 2 methanation performance with a record-high rate of 2.3 mol g Co -1 h -1 , close to 100% CH 4 selectivity, and desirable catalytic stability. This work reveals the great potential of nanoscale greenhouse effect in enhancing photothermal conversions through the combination with conventional promoting strategies, shedding light on the design of efficient photothermal nanomaterials for demanding applications., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Facial age recognition has been widely used in real-world applications. Most of current facial age recognition methods use deep learning to extract facial features to identify age. However, due to the high dimension features of faces, deep learning methods might extract a lot of redundant features, which is not beneficial for facial age recognition. To improve facial age recognition effectively, this paper proposed the deep manifold learning (DML), a combination of deep learning and manifold learning. In DML, deep learning was used to extract high-dimensional facial features, and manifold learning selected age-related features from these high-dimensional facial features for facial age recognition. Finally, we validated the DML on Multivariate Observations of Reactions and Physical Health (MORPH) and Face and Gesture Recognition Network (FG-NET) datasets. The results indicated that the mean absolute error (MAE) of MORPH is 1.60 and that of FG-NET is 2.48. Moreover, compared with the state of the art facial age recognition methods, the accuracy of DML has been greatly improved.

The low-temperature impact toughness of nodular cast iron can be significantly enhanced by heat treatment, and thus meet the severe service requirements in the fields of high-speed rail and power generation, etc. In order to explore the enhancement mechanism, microstructure, hardness, composition and other characteristics of as-cast and heat-treated nodular cast iron is systematically tested and compared by optical microscopy, microhardness tester, EBSD, SEM, electron probe, and impact toughness testing machine in this study. The results show that heat treatment has little effect on the morphology and size of graphite in nodular cast iron, ignores the effect on the grain size, morphology, and distribution of ferritic matrix, and has little effect on the hardness and exchange of elements, while it is meaningful to find that heat treatment brings about significant decrease in high-angle grain boundaries (HAGB) between 59° and 60°, decreasing from 10% to 3%. Therefore, the significant enhancement of low-temperature impact toughness of nodular cast iron by heat treatment may result from the obvious decrease in HAGB between 59° and 60°, instead of other reasons. From this perspective, the study can provide novel ideas for optimizing the heat treatment process of nodular cast iron.

Nowadays, functional electronic devices with excellent flexibility and thermal management capability for effective electromagnetic wave absorption are urgently in demand. Herein, a novel and highly flexible silver nanowire (AgNW)/iron nanowire (FeNW) decorated melamine composite foam (AgFe-MF) was prepared via simple dip-coating process. Owing to optimal impedance matching, synergistic dielectric and magnetic losses as well as three-dimensional porous structure, the AgFe-MF with an ultra-low filler content (0.22 vol%) exhibited an outstanding minimum reflection loss of -69.61 dB, and the best effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) could reach up to 6.37 GHz. Importantly, the EAB of long-time working AgFe-MF was enhanced to 7.01 GHz after 1000 compress-release cycles under 40 % strain. Besides, it also featured considerate Joule heating capacity and achieved a saturation temperature of over 85.7 ℃ under 2.6 V voltage. The impressive thermal isolation and long-term stability ensured the safety used as portable heater. Therefore, this work will provide a vital slight for fabricating smart wearable electronic devices with integrated anti-electromagnetic radiation and personalized thermal management performances towards potential thermal and health threats., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A multi-objective pedestrian tracking method based on you only look once-v8 (YOLOv8) and the improved simple online and real time tracking with a deep association metric (DeepSORT) was proposed with the purpose of coping with the issues of local occlusion and ID dynamic transformation that frequently arise when tracking target pedestrians in real complex traffic scenarios. To begin with, in order to enhance the feature extraction network's capacity to learn target feature information in busy traffic situations, the detector implemented the YOLOv8 method with a high level of small-scale feature expression. In addition, the omni-scale network (OSNet) feature extraction network was then put on top of DeepSORT in order to accomplish real-time synchronized target tracking. This increases the effectiveness of picture edge recognition by dynamically fusing the collected feature information at various scales. Furthermore, a new adaptive forgetting smoothing Kalman filtering algorithm (FSA) was created to adapt to the nonlinear condition of the pedestrian trajectory in the traffic scene in order to address the issue of poor prediction attributed to the linear state equation of Kalman filtering once more. Afterward, the original intersection over union (IOU) association matching algorithm of DeepSORT was replaced by the complete-intersection over union (CIOU) association matching algorithm to fundamentally reduce the target pedestrians' omission and misdetection situation and to improve the accuracy of data matching. Eventually, the generalized trajectory feature extractor model (GFModel) was developed to tightly merge the local and global information through the average pooling operation in order to get precise tracking results and further decrease the impact of numerous disturbances on target tracking. The fusion algorithm of YOLOv8 and improved DeepSORT method based on OSNet, FSA and GFModel was named YOFGD. According to the experimental findings, YOFGD's ultimate accuracy can reach 77.9% and its speed can reach 55.8 frames per second (FPS), which is more than enough to fulfill the demands of real-world scenarios.

Objective: To summarize the influence of microstructure on performance of triply-periodic minimal surface (TPMS) bone scaffolds., Methods: The relevant literature on the microstructure of TPMS bone scaffolds both domestically and internationally in recent years was widely reviewed, and the research progress in the imfluence of microstructure on the performance of bone scaffolds was summarized., Results: The microstructure characteristics of TPMS bone scaffolds, such as pore shape, porosity, pore size, curvature, specific surface area, and tortuosity, exert a profound influence on bone scaffold performance. By finely adjusting the above parameters, it becomes feasible to substantially optimize the structural mechanical characteristics of the scaffold, thereby effectively preempting the occurrence of stress shielding phenomena. Concurrently, the manipulation of these parameters can also optimize the scaffold's biological performance, facilitating cell adhesion, proliferation, and growth, while facilitating the ingrowth and permeation of bone tissue. Ultimately, the ideal bone fusion results will obtain., Conclusion: The microstructure significantly and substantially influences the performance of TPMS bone scaffolds. By deeply exploring the characteristics of these microstructure effects on the performance of bone scaffolds, the design of bone scaffolds can be further optimized to better match specific implantation regions.

The crosstalk between the nerve and stomatognathic systems plays a more important role in organismal health than previously appreciated with the presence of emerging concept of the "brain-oral axis". A deeper understanding of the intricate interaction between the nervous system and the stomatognathic system is warranted, considering their significant developmental homology and anatomical proximity, and the more complex innervation of the jawbone compared to other skeletons. In this review, we provide an in-depth look at studies concerning neurodevelopment, craniofacial development, and congenital anomalies that occur when the two systems develop abnormally. It summarizes the cross-regulation between nerves and jawbones and the effects of various states of the jawbone on intrabony nerve distribution. Diseases closely related to both the nervous system and the stomatognathic system are divided into craniofacial diseases caused by neurological illnesses, and neurological diseases caused by an aberrant stomatognathic system. The two-way relationships between common diseases, such as periodontitis and neurodegenerative disorders, and depression and oral diseases were also discussed. This review provides valuable insights into novel strategies for neuro-skeletal tissue engineering and early prevention and treatment of orofacial and neurological diseases., (© 2023. West China School of Stomatology Sichuan University.)