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Traditional photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems with inorganic semiconductors as photoactive materials generally involve effortless recombination of electron-hole pairs, which greatly limit the detection sensitivity. The arrangement of multiple components with tunable bandgaps provides an effective way to accelerate charge transfer. In this work, a framework material with adjustable structure was used to promote the charge transfer in the PEC process. The framework was constructed with 9,10-di(p-carboxyphenyl)anthracene (DPA) ligands as the light collector to coordinate with Zn2+ nodes, which formed an electronegative metal-organic framework (ZnMOF), and showed good conductivity and PEC performance due to the π-π stacking of DPA and the intrareticular charge transfer. Based on the band and charge matching of dopamine (DA) with ZnMOF, the ZnMOF modified electrode as a biosensor showed excellent PEC response to DA with good selectivity, thus realized sensitive detection of DA ranging from 0.03 to 10 μM with a detection limit of 17.7 nM. The biosensor could be used to monitor the release of DA from PC12 cells and evaluate the stimulation of K+ to DA release. The conductive framework material provided an approach to develop highly selective sensing platform for trace bioanalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The first comprehensive description of the relationship between air pollution and hospital admissions, length of stay, and costs for patients with cardiovascular disease with comorbid diabetes mellites. • First application of WHO 2021 air quality standards to a real-world study. • PM 2.5 and PM 10 are positively associated with hospital admissions, hospital cost and length of hospital stay for patients with cardiovascular disease with comorbid diabetes mellites. • Policy changes to reduce air pollutants exposure may reduce cardiovascular disease with comorbid diabetes mellites admissions and substantial savings in health care spending and hospital stay. Evidence on the effects of the air pollutants on the hospital admissions, hospital cost and length of stay (LOS) among patients with comorbidities remains limited in China, particularly for patients with cardiovascular diseases and comorbid diabetes mellitus (CVD-DM). We collected daily data on CVD-DM patients from 242 hospitals in Beijing between 2014 and 2019. Generalized additive model was employed to quantify the associations between admissions, LOS, and hospital cost for CVD-DM patients and air pollutants. We further evaluated the attributable risk posed by air pollutants to CVD-DM patients, using both Chinese and WHO air quality guidelines as reference. Per 10 ug/m3 increase of particles with an aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 μm (PM 2.5), particles with an aerodynamic diameter < 10 μm (PM 10), sulfur dioxide (SO 2), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2), carbonic oxide (CO) and ozone (O 3) corresponded to a 0.64% (95% CI : 0.57 to 0.71), 0.52% (95% CI : 0.46 to 0.57), 0.93% (95% CI : 0.67 to 1.20), 0.98% (95% CI : 0.81 to 1.16), 1.66% (95% CI : 1.18 to 2.14) and 0.53% (95% CI : 0.45 to 0.61) increment for CVD-DM patients' admissions. Among the six pollutants, particulate pollutants (PM 2.5 and PM 10) in most lag days exhibited adverse effects on LOS and hospital cost. For every 10 ug/m3 increase in PM 2.5 and PM 10 , the absolute increase with LOS will increase 62.08 days (95% CI : 28.93 to 95.23) and 51.77 days (95% CI :22.88 to 80.66), respectively. The absolute increase with hospital cost will increase 105.04 Chinese Yuan (CNY) (95% CI : 49.27 to 160.81) and 81.76 CNY (95% CI : 42.01 to 121.51) in PM 2.5 and PM 10 , respectively. Given WHO 2021 air quality guideline as the reference, PM 2.5 had the maximum attributable fraction of 3.34% (95% CI : 2.94% to 3.75%), corresponding to an avoidable of 65,845 (95% CI : 57,953 to 73,812) patients with CVD-DM. PM 2.5 and PM 10 are positively associated with hospital admissions, hospital cost and LOS for patients with CVD-DM. Policy changes to reduce air pollutants exposure may reduce CVD-DM admissions and substantial savings in health care spending and LOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High temperature chloride corrosion tests of AlFe 2.5 NiMoNbCr high-entropy alloy were carried out comparing with those of Inconel625 and AlFeNiMoNb plate. Uniform dispersion of elements in the Cr depletion zone existed during the corrosion process of AlFe 2.5 NiMoNbCr high-entropy alloy promoted the formation of continuous Al 2 O 3 layer, and the dendritic Al 2 O 3 improved the adhesion of the corrosion layer through "oxide pegging" mechanism. Observation of metal chloride oxides on the samples sealed for several days at R.T. supplemented the reaction of high temperature chlorine corrosion. Al 2 O 3 /Cr 2 O 3 double-layer makes AlFe 2.5 NiMoNbCr have better potential application value than Inconel625 with a single Cr 2 O 3 layer. • AlFe 2.5 NiMoNbCr HEA was obtained. • Observation of metal chloride oxides. • Al 2 O 3 /Cr 2 O 3 double-layer formed on AlFe 2.5 NiMoNbCr surface. • Dendritic Al 2 O 3 in the HEA improved the adhesion of the corrosion layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Effect of salinity level and gradient on partial nitrification was studied by PN-MBR. • PN-MBRs obtained stable nitrite accumulation and ammonium removal at 10 g/L NaCl. • Salinity stimulated EPS secretion with higher carbohydrates contents. • Salinity differentiated AOBs and NOBs, and enriched AOBs for partial nitrification. • Salt gradients induced different nitrification pathways for at the same salinity. Effects of salinity level and gradient on partial nitrification performance, sludge properties and microbial activities were investigated using partial nitrification membrane bioreactors (PN-MBRs). PN-MBRs obtained stable nitrite accumulation rate of 91.1% and ammonia removal of 64.8% at 10 g/L NaCl. 10 g/L NaCl obtained higher oxygen uptake rate than 5 g/L, and promoted the differentiation of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. Salinity increased sludge flocs size, stimulated secretion of extracellular polymeric substances with high carbohydrates contents, but had insignificant impact on sludge settleability and dewaterability. Salt level and gradient were both important for microbial community evolution to salt-tolerant bacteria. PN-MBRs enriched aerobic AOBs (Nitrosomonas and norank_f_Nitrosomonadaceae) and anaerobic AOBs (Candidatus_Kuenenia and Candidatus_Brocadia) for partial nitrification, while salt gradients resulted in different metabolism pathways for nitrification even at the same salinity. Increasing salinity promoted hydroxylamine oxidizer in nitrification process evolving from Candidatus_Kuenenia and Candidatus_Brocadia to aerobic AOBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An NH 4 +-N adsorption and regeneration (AIR) unit was constructed to remove nitrogen. • A novel process of chemical coagulation, AIR and biological aerated filter was built. • The process achieved COD < 20, NH 4 +-N < 1.0, TN < 3.0 and TP < 0.3 mg/L at HRT 4.6 h. • The biological aerated filter enriched faster-growing heterotrophic bacteria. • The process saved 60% land occupation and obtained treatment cost of $ 0.155/m3. In this study, an ammonia nitrogen (NH 4 +-N) ion exchange (IE) and regeneration (AIR) was constructed, and the chemical enhanced primary treatment (CEPT), AIR and biological aerated filter (BAF) were coupled in series to construct a novel CEPT-AIR-BAF process for efficient pollutants removal. At total hydraulic retention time of 4.6 h, the pilot-scale CEPT-AIR-BAF system obtained effluent with chemical oxygen demand of 17.9 ± 6.0 mg/L, NH 4 +-N of 0.5 ± 0.3 mg/L, total nitrogen of 2.4 ± 1.0 mg/L and total phosphorus of 0.08 ± 0.05 mg/L. AIR module achieved outstanding NH 4 +-N IE performance with NaClO-NaCl regeneration, and long-term regeneration increased surface area and mesopore of zeolites. Faster-growing heterotrophic bacteria, such as Pseudomonas and Comamonas , were enriched in BAF. The CEPT-AIR-BAF system saved at least 60% of land occupation and upfront investment, and the treatment cost ($ 0.155/m3) should be further reduced by investigations on the regeneration of loaded zeolite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Dynamic aggregation of stratified load clusters for transient voltage stability. • Unstable load clusters are filtrated by a fast estimation of critical clearing time. • Load grouping by analysis on the state variable expanded model. • Load aggregation based on the weighted average of internal potential angles. • Fast aggregation is hopefully applied to online scenarios. Transient voltage instability always starts from low-voltage load areas and burgeons to high-voltage grids, where the dynamic load is one significant factor. There is an urgent demand for effective and efficient modeling of electrical loads. Thereby, this paper proposes a classification and aggregation approach to model the multi-voltage-level load clusters. Load clusters from online identification are classified and grouped according to their stabilities and transient characteristics. Then, based on the weighted average of induction motor (IM) voltage angles, an approach is proposed to aggregate models of grouped loads sharing similar dynamic features. The proposed approach can aggregate load models from a low voltage level to a higher one layer by layer. Thus, the aggregated model keeps the primary transient characteristics, as well as dramatically reduces the simulation scale and the calculation complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Anaerobic side-stream reactor (ASSR) coupled MBR was proposed for sludge reduction. • Effect of filling fractions of carriers in ASSR on membrane fouling (MF) was studied. • 25 % carriers alleviated MF by promoting hydrolysis and reducing sludge viscoelastic. • 50 % carriers improved MF little due to the increase of shear forces to biofilm. • MiSeq revealed biomarkers related to severe MF easily attached on membrane surface. An anoxic/oxic membrane bioreactors (AO-MBR) and three identical anaerobic side-stream reactor coupled with anoxic/oxic membrane bioreactors (ASSR-MBR) were constructed and operated in parallel to investigate the appropriate filling fraction of carriers packed in ASSR, influences on pollutants removal, sludge reduction, membrane fouling and microbial community of ASSR-MBR. Inserting ASSR achieved efficient COD removal and nitrification, and packing carriers in ASSR obtained the highest sludge reduction efficiency of 50.5 % at filling fraction of 25 %. Compared to AO-MBR, inserting ASSR without carriers induced the release of viscous components in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and the formation of calcium carbonate-related bacteria on membrane surface, and thus deteriorated membrane fouling. Packing carriers with 25 % filling fraction promoted the hydrolysis of soluble microbial products and EPS, whilst reduced the viscoelasticity of sludge flocs. Higher filling fraction of 50 % increased the shear forces to the biofilm and biomarkers related to membrane fouling, and thus showed little improvement to alleviate membrane fouling. MiSeq sequencing revealed that although it enriched in the bulk sludge of conventional ASSR-MBR and the coupled reactor with filling fraction of 50 %, the floc-forming, hydrolytic and fermentative bacteria were more inclined to attach on the membrane surface and alleviate fouling process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Biological nutrient removal in anaerobic side-stream reactor (ASSR) was studied. • Inserting ASSR and packing carriers enhanced nitrogen removal and sludge reduction. • ASSR and carriers both favored denitrifiers enrichment and organic matters release. • ASSR deteriorated biological phosphorus removal owing to low sludge discharge. • Denitrification and sludge decay in ASSR played important roles in nutrient removal. An anoxic-aerobic membrane bioreactor (AO-MBR), an anaerobic side-stream reactor (ASSR) coupled MBR (A-MBR), and an MBR with ASSR packed with carriers (AP-MBR) were operated parallelly to investigate biological nutrient removal, microbial community structure and mass balance of nutrients in sludge reduction systems. Compared to AO-MBR, A-MBR and AP-MBR were both efficient in COD and NH 4 +-N removal, had significantly higher nitrogen removal, reduced sludge production by 35.0% and 45.9%, but deteriorated biological phosphorus removal. Nitrosomonadaceae and Nitrospira were major bacteria responsible for ammonium and nitrite oxidation in the three systems. Inserting ASSR and packing carriers both favored denitrifying bacteria enrichment and organic substances release, and thus resulted in higher nitrate uptake rate (NUR) in the anoxic tank. Higher endogenous NUR in ASSR than in anoxic tank also indicated that ASSR and carriers both accelerated sludge decay. Denitrification and sludge reduction occurred in ASSR played important roles in biological nutrient removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) involves charge transfer between electrochemical redox intermediates to produce an excited state for light emission. Ensuring precise control of charge transfer is essential for decoding ECL fundamentals, yet guidelines on how to achieve this for conventional emitters remain unexplored. Molecular ratchets offer a potential solution, as they enable the directional transfer of energy or chemicals while impeding the reverse movement. Herein, we designed 10 pairs of imine-based covalent organic frameworks as reticular ratchets to delicately manipulate the intrareticular charge transfer for directing ECL transduction from electric and chemical energies. Aligning the donor and acceptor (D-A) directions with the imine dipole effectively facilitates charge migration, whereas reversing the D-A direction impedes it. Notably, the ratchet effect of charge transfer directionality intensified with increasing D-A contrast, resulting in a remarkable 680-fold improvement in the ECL efficiency. Furthermore, dipole-controlled exciton binding energy, electron/hole decay kinetics, and femtosecond transient absorption spectra identified the electron transfer tendency from the N-end toward the C-end of reticular ratchets during ECL transduction. An exponential correlation between the ECL efficiency and the dipole difference was discovered. Our work provides a general approach to manipulate charge transfer and design next-generation electrochemical devices.

Gene-environment interactions shape behavior and susceptibility to depression. However, little is known about the signaling pathways integrating genetic and environmental inputs to impact neurobehavioral outcomes. We report that gut G-protein-coupled receptor, Gpr35, engages a microbe-to-brain metabolic pathway to modulate neuronal plasticity and depressive behavior in mice. Psychological stress decreases intestinal epithelial Gpr35, genetic deletion of which induces depressive-like behavior in a microbiome-dependent manner. Gpr35 -/- mice and individuals with depression have increased Parabacteroides distasonis, and its colonization to wild-type mice induces depression. Gpr35 -/- and Parabacteroides distasonis-colonized mice show reduced indole-3-carboxaldehyde (IAld) and increased indole-3-lactate (ILA), which are produced from opposing branches along the bacterial catabolic pathway of tryptophan. IAld and ILA counteractively modulate neuroplasticity in the nucleus accumbens, a brain region linked to depression. IAld supplementation produces anti-depressant effects in mice with stress or gut epithelial Gpr35 deficiency. Together, these findings elucidate a gut microbe-brain signaling mechanism that underlies susceptibility to depression., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The early detection of benign and malignant lung tumors enabled patients to diagnose lesions and implement appropriate health measures earlier, dramatically improving lung cancer patients' quality of living. Machine learning methods performed admirably when recognizing small benign and malignant lung nodules. However, exploration and investigation are required to fully leverage the potential of machine learning in distinguishing between benign and malignant small lung nodules., Objective: The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the ResNet50-Ensemble Voting model for detecting the benign and malignant nature of small pulmonary nodules (<20 mm) based on CT images., Methods: In this study, 834 CT imaging data from 396 patients with small pulmonary nodules were gathered and randomly assigned to the training and validation sets in an 8:2 ratio. ResNet50 and VGG16 algorithms were utilized to extract CT image features, followed by XGBoost, SVM, and Ensemble Voting techniques for classification, for a total of ten different classes of machine learning combinatorial classifiers. Indicators such as accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were used to assess the models. The collected features are also shown to investigate the contrasts between them., Results: The algorithm we presented, ResNet50-Ensemble Voting, performed best in the test set, with an accuracy of 0.943 (0.938, 0.948) and sensitivity and specificity of 0.964 and 0.911, respectively. VGG16-Ensemble Voting had an accuracy of 0.887 (0.880, 0.894), with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.952 and 0.784, respectively., Conclusion: Machine learning models that were implemented and integrated ResNet50-Ensemble Voting performed exceptionally well in identifying benign and malignant small pulmonary nodules (<20 mm) from various sites, which might help doctors in accurately diagnosing the nature of early-stage lung nodules in clinical practice.

Self-enhanced electrochemiluminescence (ECL) can be achieved via the confinement of coreactants and ECL emitters in a single nanostructure. This strategy has been used for the design of anodic ECL systems with amine compounds as coreactants. In this work, a novel confinement system was proposed by codoping positively charged ECL emitter tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) (Ru(bpy) 3 2+ ) and negatively charged coreactant peroxydisulfate (S 2 O 8 2- ) in silica nanoparticles. The codoping process could be performed by introducing S 2 O 8 2- in cationic poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) to form PDDA@S 2 O 8 2- and then encapsulating it and Ru(bpy) 3 2+ in the Triton X-100 vesicle followed by the hydrolysis of tetraethyl ortosilicate, surface modification, and demulsification. The obtained RuSSNs exhibited good homogeneity, excellent monodispersity, acceptable biocompatibility, and 2.9-fold stronger ECL emission than Ru(bpy) 3 2+ -doped silica nanoparticles at an equal amount of nanoparticles in the presence of 0.1 M K 2 S 2 O 8 . Thus, an in situ self-sensitized cathodic ECL imaging method was designed for the monitoring of glycoprotein on living cell membranes. This work provides a new way for the modification, enhancement, and application of nano-ECL emitters in biological analysis.

The optical remote sensing techniques are promising for the real-time detection, and identification of different types of hazardous biological materials. However, the received fluorescent spectra from a remote distance suffer from the atmospheric attenuation effect upon the spectral shape. To investigate the influence of atmospheric attenuation on characterizing, and classifying biological agents, the laboratory-measured fluorescence data of fourteen proteins combined with the atmospheric transmission factors of the MODTRAN model were conducted with different detection ranges. The multivariate analysis techniques of principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and the predictors of Random Forest and XGBoost were employed to assess the separability and distinguishability of different spectra recorded. The results showed that the spectral-shift effect on attenuated spectra varied as a function of the detection range, the atmospheric visibility, and the spectral distribution. According to the PCA and LDA analysis, the distribution of decomposed factors changed in the spectral explanatory power with the increasing attenuation effect, which was consistent with the hierarchical clustering results. Random Forest exhibited higher performance in classifying protein samples than that of XGBoost, while the two methods performed similarly in identifying harmful and harmless subgroups of proteins. Fewer subgroups decreased the sensitivity of the classification accuracy to the attenuation effect. Our analysis demonstrated that combining atmospheric transport models to build a fluorescence spectral database is essential for fast identification between spectra, and reduced classification criteria could facilitate the compatibility of spectral database and classification algorithms.

Introduction: Emotional labor is an important research area, but four key gaps remain regarding outcomes of nonwork strains, explanatory frameworks beyond the conservation of resources theory, adoption of person-centered approaches, and subjects of performers., Methods: By surveying 183 Chinese dance students, we employed cluster analysis to examine the adoption of emotional labor strategies (ie, surface acting, deep acting, and expression of naturally felt emotions) and to explore the outcomes on work strain (ie, emotional exhaustion and reduced flow experience) and nonwork strain (ie, depression and anxiety) with introducing the allostatic load theory as an analytical basis., Results: Four types of emotional workers were identified, namely, flexible regulators (33.33%), authentic regulators (15.85%), display rules compliers (39.34%), and non-regulators (11.48%). Authentic regulators had the lowest emotional exhaustion. Non-regulators had the lowest flow. No differences emerged in depression or anxiety across clusters., Discussion: Findings partially align with past research showing risks of surface acting in terms of emotional exhaustion. However, all three strategies enhanced flow states. Moreover, dancers' work strains did not extend to psychological problems, unlike other professions. Possible explanations include training in emotional regulation and flow states in performing. Practical implications exist for training emotional regulation and fostering flow at work., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2023 Liu et al.)

Midgut receptors play a critical role in the specificity of Cry toxins for individual insect species. Cadherin proteins are essential putative receptors of Cry1A toxins in lepidopteran larvae. Cry2A family members share common binding sites in Helicoverpa armigera, and one of them, Cry2Aa, has been widely reported to interact with midgut cadherin. Here, we studied the binding interaction and functional role of H. armigera cadherin in the mechanism of Cry2Ab toxicity. A region spanning from cadherin repeat 6 (CR6) to the membrane-proximal region (MPR) of cadherin protein was produced as six overlapping peptides to identify the specific binding regions of Cry2Ab. Binding assays showed that Cry2Ab binds nonspecifically to peptides containing CR7 and CR11 regions in a denatured state but binds specifically only to CR7-containing peptides in the native state. The peptides CR6-11 and CR6-8 were transiently expressed in Sf9 cells to assess the functional role of cadherin. Cytotoxicity assays showed that Cry2Ab is not toxic to the cells expressing any of the cadherin peptides. However, ABCA2-expressing cells showed high sensitivity to Cry2Ab toxin. Neither increased nor decreased sensitivity to Cry2Ab was observed when the peptide CR6-11 was coexpressed with the ABCA2 gene in Sf9 cells. Instead, treating ABCA2-expressing cells with a mixture of Cry2Ab and CR6-8 peptides resulted in significantly reduced cell death compared with treatment with Cry2Ab alone. Moreover, silencing of the cadherin gene in H. armigera larvae showed no significant effect on Cry2Ab toxicity, in contrast to the reduced mortality in ABCA2-silenced larvae. IMPORTANCE To improve the efficiency of production of a single toxin in crops and to delay the evolution of insect resistance to the toxin, the second generation of Bt cotton, expressing Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab, was introduced. Understanding the mode action of the Cry proteins in the insect midgut and the mechanisms insects use to overcome these toxins plays a crucial role in developing measures to counter them. Extensive studies have been conducted on the receptors of Cry1A toxins, but relatively little has been done about those of Cry2Ab. By showing the nonfunctional binding of cadherin protein with Cry2Ab, we have furthered the understanding of Cry2Ab receptors., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Extensive researches have linked air pollutants with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and respiratory diseases (RD), however, there is limited evidence on causal effects of air pollutants on morbidity of CVD or RD with comorbidities, particularly diabetes mellitus in elder patients. We included hospital admissions for CVD or RD among elder (≥65 years) diabetic patients between 2014 and 2019 in Beijing. A time-stratified case-crossover design based on negative-control exposure was used to assess causal associations of short-term exposure to air pollutants with CVD and RD among diabetic patients with the maximum lag of 7 days. A random forest regression model was used to calculate the contribution magnitude of air pollutants. A total of 493,046 hospital admissions were recorded. Per 10 μg/m 3 uptick in PM 1 , PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 , NO 2 , O 3 , and 1 mg/m 3 in CO was associated with 0.29 (0.05, 0.53), 0.14 (0.02, 0.26), 0.06 (0.00, 0.12), 0.36 (0.01, 0.70), 0.21 (0.02, 0.40), -0.08 (-0.25, 0.09), and 4.59 (0.56, 8.61) causal effect estimator for admission of CVD among diabetic patients, corresponding to 0.12 (0.05, 0.18), 0.09 (0.05, 0.13), 0.05, 0.23 (0.06, 0.41), 0.10 (0.02, 0.19), -0.04 (-0.06, -0.01), and 3.91(1.81, 6.01) causal effect estimator for RD among diabetic patients. The effect of gaseous pollutants was higher than particulate pollutants in random forest model. Short-term exposure to air pollution was causally associated with increased admission of CVD and RD among elder diabetic patients. Gaseous pollutants had a greater contribution to CVD and RD among elder diabetic patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest relevant to this study., (© 2023 The Authors. GeoHealth published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Geophysical Union.)

Polymer dots (Pdots) have emerged as a type of attractive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emitter. However, the low ECL efficiency severely limits their practicability. In this work, we develop a sensitive ECL biosensing strategy for the detection of human papilloma virus subtype (HPV-16) DNA by using target-activated CRISPR/Cas12a to regulate the binding of Pdots-DNA to biosensor and local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect of electrochemically deposited Au nanoparticles (depAuNPs) to enhance the ECL emission of Pdots bound on biosensor. The biosensor is prepared by simply assembling hairpin DNA on depAuNPs modified electrode. In the presence of target DNA, the designed specific CRISPR/Cas12a can be activated to digest single-stranded assistant DNA, which decreases the amount of hairpin DNA opened by assistant DNA to bind Pdots-DNA on the biosensor surface, thus reduces the ECL emission. The integration of target DNA-triggered catalysis and the LSPR effect of depAuNPs greatly improves the sensitivity of ECL analysis. Using HPV-16 DNA as a target model, the proposed method shows a limit of detection (LOD) of 3.2 fM at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 and a detectable concentration range of 5.0 fM to 50 pM. The high sensitivity, excellent selectivity, good testing stability, and acceptable fabrication reproducibility of the designed ECL biosensing strategy demonstrate its potential application in DNA bioanalysis.

Accelerating the charge transfer between electroactive species and the electrode is always a hot topic. Here, we report a finding of Ru(bpy) 3 3+ diffusion-induced acceleration of charge transfer from Ru(bpy) 3 2+ -doped silica nanoparticles (RDSNs) to the electrode via electrochemiluminescence (ECL) imaging at a single nanoparticle scale. Ru(bpy) 3 2+ in the electrolyte can act as an enhancer of RDSN ECL emission in the presence of coreactant tripropylamine, which amplifies the RDSN ECL by 478 times at 10 μM free Ru(bpy) 3 2+ . According to percolation theory, the diffusion of electro-generated Ru(bpy) 3 3+ near a single RDSN brings much quicker charge transfer to the electrode than electron hopping in RDSN, which is demonstrated by spatial and temporal interaction imaging of the RDSN and the Ru(III) diffusion layer. Taking advantage of this new mechanism, a real-time ECL imaging method has been constructed to monitor the rapid change of cell permeability during surfactant treatment.

Reduced insecticide spray in crop fields due to the widespread adoption of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops has favored the population increases of mirid bugs. Cry51Aa proteins are new types of Bt proteins that belong to aerolysin-like β pore-forming proteins with insecticidal activity against hemipteran and coleopteran pests. Here, we studied the activity of Bt Cry51Aa1 and Cry51Aa2 against Apolygus lucorum , an emerging pest in cotton, and their mechanism of action. Cry51Aa1 exhibited almost 5-fold higher toxicity than Cry51Aa2 with LC 50 of 11.87 and 61.34 μg/mL, respectively. Protoxins could be activated both in vitro, by trypsin and midgut contents, and in vivo, by A. lucorum midgut. Both Cry51Aa protoxins were processed in two steps, producing pre-activated (∼30 kDa) and final activated (∼25-28 kDa) proteins. Cry51Aa proteins bound to a 25 kDa midgut protein, and Cry51Aa2 showed 2 times higher binding affinity than Cry51Aa1. Incubating Cry51Aa proteins with midgut homogenate resulted in toxin oligomers of 150-200 kDa. Our findings provide a theoretical basis for using Cry51Aa proteins to control A. lucorum and a better understanding of their mode of action.

Nannocystins are a family of 21-membered cyclodepsipeptides with excellent anticancer activity. However, their macrocyclic architecture poses a significant challenge to structure modification. Herein, this issue is addressed by leveraging the strategy of post-macrocyclization diversification. In particular, a novel serine-incorporating nannocystin was designed so that its appending hydroxyl group could diversify into a wide variety of side chain analogues. Such effort facilitated not only structure-activity correlation at the subdomain of interest, but also the development of a macrocyclic coumarin-labeled fluorescence probe. Uptake experiments indicated good cell permeability of the probe, and endoplasmic reticulum was identified as its subcellular localization site., Competing Interests: A patent was filed on behalf of Nankai University., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Macroautophagy/autophagy is critically involved in the process of salivary gland (SG) diseases such as xerostomia, which has a serious impact on quality of life. KRT14 + progenitor cells are found to be the main progenitors for maintaining the ductal homeostasis of the submandibular SGs. In this study, we investigated the role of ATG5 in SG KRT14 + cells in mice and humans. Human labial salivary glands (LSG) from primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) and non-pSS patients (normal), and submandibular glands (SMG) from Atg5 flox/flox ; Krt14-Cre (cKO) mice were used. ATG5 + KRT14 + and p62 + KRT14 + cells were detected by immunofluorescence staining in LSG. TUNEL, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, and western blot were performed to detect cell death in SMG. Saliva was collected in 12-week-old (12 W) and 32-week-old (32 W) mice, then the concentration of calcium and buffering capacity were detected to analyze the function of SG. We found that LSG from pSS patients showed increased p62 and decreased ATG5 in KRT14 + cells. We further revealed that in 32 W, (1) the function of salivary glands was significantly impaired in cKO mice, (2) cell death increased in cKO mice, but cl-Caspase 3 was not significantly changed, and (3) cleaved gasdermin D increased and was highly expressed in KRT14 + cells of cKO mice. After applying a pyroptosis inhibitor to 32 W mice, the reduced saliva flow rate was rescued. In addition, pyroptosis was also found in KRT14 + cells of pSS patients. Collectively, our results indicate that Atg5 deficiency would induce pyroptosis in mice SG, which could lead to functional impairments of SG., (© 2022 Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.)

Background: Arterial stiffness, glycemic control and blood pressure are risk factors of macrovascular complications in type 2 diabetes. This study aimed to investigate the combined association of arterial stiffness, glycemic control and hypertension status with the occurrence of diabetic macrovascular complication., Methods: A total of 1870 patients of diabetes were enrolled from Beijing Health Management Cohort between 2008 and 2018 as baseline, and then followed for macrovascular complication onset. We proposed a composite risk score (0-4) by arterial stiffness severity, pool glycemic control and hypertension status. Cox model was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI)., Results: The mean age (SD) of this population was 59.90 (12.29) years. During a median follow-up of 4.0 years, 359 (19.2%) patients developed macrovascular complication. Compared to the normal arterial stiffness and good glycemic control group, patients with severe arterial stiffness and pool glycemic control had the highest risk of macrovascular complications (HR: 2.73; 95% CI: 1.42-5.25). Similarly, those of severe arterial stiffness and hypertension had the highest risk (HR: 2.69; 95% CI: 1.61-4.50). Patients of the composite score > 2 had a significantly increased risk of macrovascular complication., Conclusion: This study suggested the clinical importance of combined evaluation of arterial stiffness, glycemic control and hypertension status for the risk stratification and management of macrovascular complication of type 2 diabetes., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is generally emitted via radiative transition of singlet or triplet excited state (S 1 or T 1 ). Herein, an ECL mechanism with the transitions of both S 1 and T 1 of black phosphorus quantum dots (BPQDs) is found, and an arginine (Arg) modification strategy is proposed to passivate the surface oxidation defects of BPQDs, which could modulate the excited states for enhancing the ECL efficiency of BPQDs. The Arg modification leads to greater spatial overlap of highest and lowest occupied molecular orbitals, and spectral shift of radiative transitions, and improves the stability of anion radical of BPQDs. To verify the application of the proposed mechanism, it is used to construct a sensitive method for conveniently evaluating the inhibiting efficiency of cyclo-arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-d-tyrosine-lysine to cell surface integrin by using Arg containing peptide modified BPQDs as signal tag. The dual excited states mediated ECL emitters provide a paradigm for adjustable ECL generation and extend the application of ECL analysis., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

A signal-amplified electrochemiluminescent (ECL) sensor chip was developed for sensitive analysis of procalcitonin (PCT). Herein, we first prepared a self-enhanced luminophore, which enhanced ECL responses through intramolecular reactions. Second, Au-Pd bimetallic nanocrystals and mixed-valence Ce-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) were introduced as co-reaction promoters to facilitate the reduction of dissolved O 2 . Based on the synergistic catalysis of Au and Pd, the spontaneous cyclic reaction of Ce(III)/Ce(IV), and the high electrochemical active surface area of Ce(III, IV) MOF, a large number of superoxide anion radicals (O 2 •- ) and hydroxyl radicals (OH • ) were produced. Therefore, the luminescence efficiency of N -(aminobutyl)- N -(ethylisoluminol)-dissolved O 2 (ABEI-O 2 ) systems were greatly improved, providing a new prospect for the application of dissolved O 2 in ECL analysis. In addition, the affinity peptide ligands were used for the directional connection of antibodies to provide protection for the bioactivity of the proposed sensor. Finally, the microfluidic technology was applied to ECL analysis to integrate the three-electrode detection system into the self-assembled microfluidic chip, which realized the automation and portability of the detection process. The developed sensor showed high sensitivity for PCT detection with a detection limit of 3.46 fg/mL, which possessed positive significance for the clinical diagnosis of sepsis.

A novel dual-mode microfluidic sensing platform based on CuO nanozymes as a photoelectrochemical (PEC)-fluorescent (FL) multifunctional signal label was developed for ultrasensitive neuron specific enolase (NSE) detection. Herein, ZnO/Au/AgSbS 2 hybrids, possessing excellent PEC properties, were first exploited as a sensing matrix to provide a stable photocurrent. The controlled synthesis of photoactive ZnO nanoflowers (NFs) was successfully conducted using a microfluidic reactor in the scale of seconds. Furthermore, the photocurrent of ZnO NFs decorated by Au and AgSbS 2 nanoparticles significantly improved, owing to the local surface plasma resonance effect of Au and matching band structure between ZnO and AgSbS 2 . A strategy of catalytic oxidation ascorbic acid (AA) by CuO nanozymes was proposed to quench the PEC signals and initiate FL signals. CuO nanoparticles growing on conductive carbon spheres (CuO@CSs) as secondary antibodies' labels could efficiently catalyze the oxidation of AA to achieve a PEC "signal-off" state. Then, the produced dehydroascorbic acid reacting with o -phenylenediamine opportunely generated a strong FL signal. Importantly, wide linear ranges of 0.0001-150 ng/mL for the PEC technique and 0.001-150 ng/mL for the FL method with a low detection limit of 0.028 and 0.25 pg/mL, respectively, could guarantee the sensitive detection of NSE.

Age has been found to be one of the main risk factors for the severity and outcome of COVID-19. However, differences in SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody responses among COVID-19 patients of different age groups remain largely unknown. In this study, we analyzed the IgG/IgM responses to 21 SARS-CoV-2 proteins and 197 peptides that fully cover the spike protein against 731 sera collected from 731 COVID-19 patients aged from 1 to We show that there is no overall difference in SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses in COVID-19 patients in the 4 age groups. By antibody response landscape maps, we find that the IgG response profiles of SARS-CoV-2 proteins are positively correlated with age. The S protein linear epitope map shows that the immunogenicity of the S-protein peptides is related to peptide sequence, disease severity and age of the COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, the enrichment analysis indicates that low S1 IgG responses are enriched in patients aged <50 and high S1 IgG responses are enriched in mild COVID-19 patients aged >60. In addition, high responses of non-structural/accessory proteins are enriched in severe COVID-19 patients aged >70. These results suggest the distinct immune response of IgG/IgM to each SARS-CoV-2 protein in patients of different age, which may facilitate a deeper understanding of the immune responses in COVID-19 patients.

Private science and technology enterprises are the main force in building a high-level innovative province in Zhejiang, and are also the driving force for the province's high-quality integration into the Yangtze River Delta. At present, the integration of private science and technology enterprises in Zhejiang into the Yangtze River Delta has problems such as low integration ratio, high integration difficulty, low integration level, and insufficient integration confidence. The causes of the problem mainly include the concept bottlenecks and capacity limitations of private technology companies, the institutional dilemma of cooperation between regional governments and regional business environment synergy is not high, the role of non-governmental organizations is not fully developed. To create a powerful engine that drives private technology enterprises to deeply participate in the development of the Yangtze River Delta, it should be built and strengthened from the perspective of the main role of enterprises themselves, the role of government guidance, industry associations, and other non-governmental organizations to play the role of service coordination and supervision., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Xiaomin Yin and Siqi Yu.)

Background: The association between visceral adiposity index (VAI) and diabetic complications has been reported in cross-sectional studies, while the effect of VAI on complication development remains unclear. This study aims to evaluate the longitudinal association of VAI and Chinese VAI (CVAI) with the incidence of diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy using a Chinese cohort., Methods: A total of 8 948 participants with type 2 diabetes from Beijing Health Management Cohort were enrolled during 2013-2014, and followed until December 31, 2019. Nephropathy was confirmed by urine albumin/creatinine ratio and estimated glomerular filtration rate; retinopathy was diagnosed using fundus photograph., Results: The mean (SD) age was 53.35 (14.66) years, and 6 154 (68.8%) were men. During a median follow-up of 4.82 years, 467 participants developed nephropathy and 90 participants developed retinopathy. One-SD increase in VAI and CVAI levels were significantly associated with an increased risk of nephropathy, and the adjusted hazard ratios (HR) were 1.127 (95% CI 1.050-1.210) and 1.165 (95% CI 1.003-1.353), respectively. On contrary, VAI and CVAI level were not associated with retinopathy after adjusting confounding factors., Conclusion: VAI and CVAI are independently associated with the development of nephropathy, but not retinopathy in Chinese adults with diabetes., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Intermediate-band semiconductors perform functions similar to natural photosynthesis by combining two photons to achieve a higher electron excitation. In this study, a strategy was developed to prepare a high oxygen-doped CeF 3 (CeF 3 -O) nanomaterial that exhibits photocatalytic activity under visible/NIR light for the first time. The homogeneous doping oxygen atoms were verified to efficiently modify the band structure of CeF 3 . DFT calculation predicted the formation of an intermediate band within CeF 3 upon homogeneous doping of O at interstitial sites. The interaction between F and O atoms generates an intermediate band, which divides the total bandgap of CeF 3 -O into two sub-bandgaps at about 1.7 eV and 2.9 eV, enabling CeF 3 -O photocatalysis under visible light and NIR light. Reflectance spectra evidenced that the same bandgaps exist. The photocatalytic activities of CeF 3 -O were tested by wavelength-controlled light. The rate constants of TC-HCl photodegrading under visible/NIR light are 12.85 × 10 -3 min -1 and 1.28 × 10 -3 min -1 , respectively. The two-step electron transfer was also obviously confirmed in visible-light photocatalysis. In conclusion, the high oxygen doping builds a more applicable band structure of CeF 3 -O for photocatalytic performance, charge transfer and special light response for visible/NIR light., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The fabrication of heterojunctions or homojunctions between semiconductors is a controllable strategy to facilitate charge separation in photocatalysis. The homophase junctions exhibit atomic-level contact for the fast-speed charge transfer via inducing the built-in electric fields. Herein, a new concept of TiO 2 quasi-core-shell homophase junction induced by a Ti 3+ concentration difference for remarkably enhancing photocatalytic activity is proposed. Nano anatase TiO 2 quasi-core-shell homophase junctions are constructed between the interior with high Ti 3+ concentration (quasi-core) and the surface with no detected Ti 3+ (quasi-shell). Diverse Ti 3+ concentration differences are obtained via regulating the mass ratio of the Ti source. The nano anatase TiO 2 quasi-core-shell homophase junctions exhibit improved photocatalytic hydrogen evolution compared with commercial anatase nanoparticles. To be specific, the maximum hydrogen evolution rate of 50.02 mmol/h/g is 25.4 times superior to that of commercial anatase nanoparticles under solar illumination. Besides, the photocatalytic activity remains stable (H 2 evolution rate of 49.21 mmol/h/g, activity loss of <2%) after five cycles of catalytic test. The promoted photocatalytic activities are ascribed to the constitution of a built-in electrical field between the quasi-shell and quasi-core induced by the band bending, which accelerates the spatial charge separation and suppresses the recombination of carriers. Moreover, the atomic-level contact at the homophase junction interface provides smooth channels for carrier transfer, resulting in more effective separation and transfer of photogenerated electrons and holes. The synthesis of nano anatase TiO 2 quasi-core-shell homophase junctions provides new insights into the efficient separation and transfer of photogenerated carriers for photocatalytic applications.

Objective: To investigate the changes in the membrane properties and synaptic stability of the rat retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) during postnatal development., Methods: Whole-cell patch-clamp technique was used to record the action potentials (AP) and miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSC) of SD rat RGCs at postnatal days 7, 14 and 40. The active and passive membrane properties and the synaptic stability (measured by the amplitude, frequency, rise time and decay time of mEPSC) of the RGCs were analyzed using Patchmaster software., Results: Comparison of the RGCs in SD rats across different postnatal ages revealed significant changes in the electrophysiological characteristics of the RGCs during postnatal development. The discharge rate was significantly greater while the AP half-peak width was significantly smaller at postnatal day 15 (P15) than at P7 ( P &lt; 0.01), but were both similar between P15 and P40 ( P =0.086); in terms of the passive membrane properties, the membrane time constant gradually decreased during the development. The frequency of mEPSCs increased significantly over time during postnatal development ( P &lt; 0.01), but was similar between P15 and P40 rats., Conclusions: In SD rats, the membrane properties and synaptic stability of the RGCs undergo alterations following a specific pattern, which highlights a critical period where distinct changes occur in the electrophysiological characteristics of RGCs, followed by gradual stabilization over time. Such changes in the electrophysiological characteristics represent the basic characteristics of RGCs for visual signal processing, and understanding of this mechanism may provide insights into the exact role of the RGC in visual information processing.

In this paper, an ultrasensitive electrochemical immunosensor was developed for the detection of tumor specific growth factor (TSGF). Reduced graphene oxide-tetraethylene pentamine (rGO-TEPA) was used to modify the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Meanwhile, Ag@CeO2 nanocomposite was synthesized and applied as secondary-antibody (Ab2) labels for the fabrication of the immunosensor. The amperometric response of the immunosensor for the reduction of H2O2 was recorded. Simultaneously, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Cyclic voltammetry (CV) were used to characterize the fabrication process of the immunosensor. The anti-TSGF primary antibody (Ab1) was immobilized onto the rGO-TEPA modified GCE via cross-linking with glutaraldehyde (GA). And then the TSGF antigen and Ab2-Ag@CeO2 were modified onto the electrode surface in sequence. Under the optimal conditions, the immunosensor exhibited a wide linear range (0.500-100pg/mL), a low detection limit (0.2pg/mL), good reproducibility, acceptable selectivity and excellent stability. The proposed sensing strategy may provide a potential application in the detection of other cancer biomarkers., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We report herein a practical method for taming Langlois' reagent CF3 SO2 Na to generate CuSCF3 by a triphenylphospine-mediated deoxygenative reduction process. This chemistry highlights a novel utilization of the inherent CF3 S skeleton of Langlois' reagent as a CF3 S feedstock under mild conditions. The CuSCF3 intermediate generated by this protocol can react with a wide array of supporting ligands to furnish several air-stable [LCu(SCF3 )] complexes as valuable trifluoromethylthiolating agents. In addition, the CuSCF3 intermediate can be directly employed for the trifluoromethylthiolation of (hetero)aryl iodides with operational simplicity and atomic efficiency., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)