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The practical application of hard carbon in sodium‐ion batteries is limited by insufficient reversible capacity and low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE), which are caused by the lack of active sites and unstable electrode/electrolyte interface. Herein, a biomass‐derived hard carbon material based on tea stems is proposed, which exhibits an ultrahigh ICE of 90.8%. This remarkable ICE is attributed to the presence of an inorganic‐rich, thin, and robust solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer. Furthermore, the material demonstrates excellent cycling stability, showing a capacity retention of 99.5% after 500 cycles at 280 mA g−1. Additionally, when it works as the anode material in a sodium‐ion full cell without presodiation, it reaches a high energy density of 212 Wh kg−1 and a superior stability, e.g., retaining 93.1 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles at 1 A g−1 with a capacity retention of 91.3%. The sodium storage capacity of this material is primarily attributed to a combined adsorption‐intercalation/filling effect as confirmed by in situ XRD and ex situ Raman analyses. These findings make this biomass‐derived hard carbon material a promising candidate for commercial application of sodium‐ion batteries, achieving high performance at low cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) has reemerged as a major public health concern, causing chikungunya fever with increasing cases and neurological complications. Methods: In the present study, we investigated a low-passage human isolate of the East/ Central/South African (ECSA) lineage of CHIKV strain LK(EH)CH6708, which exhibited a mix of small and large viral plaques. The small and large plaque variants were isolated and designated as CHIKV-SP and CHIKV-BP, respectively. CHIKV-SP and CHIKV-BP were characterized in vitro and in vivo to compare their virus production and virulence. Additionally, whole viral genome analysis and reverse genetics were employed to identify genomic virulence factors. Results: CHIKV-SP demonstrated lower virus production in mammalian cells and attenuated virulence in a murine model. On the other hand, CHIKV-BP induced higher pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, compromised the integrity of the blood–brain barrier, and led to astrocyte infection in mouse brains. Furthermore, the CHIKV-SP variant had limited transmission potential in Aedesalbopictus mosquitoes, likely due to restricted dissemination. Whole viral genome analysis revealed multiple genetic mutations in the CHIKV-SP variant, including a Glycine (G) to Arginine (R) mutation at position 55 in the viral E2 glycoprotein. Reverse genetics experiments confirmed that the E2-G55R mutation alone was sufficient to reduce virus production in vitro and virulence in mice. Conclusions: These findings highlight the attenuating effects of the E2-G55R mutation on CHIKV pathogenicity and neurovirulence and emphasize the importance of monitoring this mutation in natural infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Postoperative anemia is a risk factor for adverse surgical outcomes. Our study aimed to assess the role of intravenous iron and erythropoietin therapy for the rapid correction of anemia following orthopedic surgery. Methods: Patients undergoing elective orthopedic surgery were prospectively enrolled and randomly divided into three groups: Control (placebo), Group 1 (IV iron monotherapy), and Group 2 [combined IV iron and recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) therapy]. Blood tests were performed preoperative (baseline) and on postoperative days (PODs) 1, 3, and 7. Results: All groups demonstrated significantly lower hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations compared to baseline, with no significant inter-group differences in postoperative Hb concentrations (p > 0.05). Serum erythropoietin, ferritin, and vitamin B12 levels, and reticulocyte count increased beyond normal ranges in all groups. Significantly lower serum iron levels were observed postoperatively in all groups (p < 0.05). No significant inter-group differences in hepcidin level were observed (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Postoperative treatment with combined intravenous iron and rHuEPO was ineffective in correcting postoperative anemia among orthopedic surgery patients, besides achieving higher reticulocyte counts in the first week of surgery. No improvement in mobilization of storage iron was achieved with rHuEPO. We further suggest against vitamin B12 administration during the early postoperative period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rickettsia and Coxiella burnetii are zoonotic tick-borne pathogens that cause febrile illnesses in humans. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is a new technology used to diagnose infectious diseases. However, clinical experience with applying the test to rickettsioses and Q fever is relatively limited. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the diagnostic performance of mNGS in detecting Rickettsia and C. burnetii. We retrospectively studied patients with rickettsioses or Q fever between August 2021 and July 2022. Peripheral blood mNGS and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were performed for all patients. Clinical data were retrieved for analysis. Thirteen patients were included in this study (eleven confirmed cases and two suspected cases). Signs and symptoms included fever (13, 100%), rash (7, 53.8%), muscle soreness (5, 38.5%), headache (4, 30.8%), skin eschar (3, 23.1%), and disturbance of consciousness (2, 15.4%). In addition, eight patients (61.6%) had thrombocytopenia, ten (76.9%) had liver function impairment, and two (15.4%) had renal function impairment. The results of mNGS revealed seven patients with R. japonica (53.8%), five with C. burneti (38.5%), two with R. heilongjiangensis (15.4%), and one with R. honei (7.7%). PCR results were positive in 11 patients (84.6%). After receiving doxycycline-based treatment, 12 (92.3%) patients returned to a normal temperature within 72 h. All patients were discharged in better health. Therefore, mNGS can help diagnose Rickettsia and C. burnetii and shorten the diagnosis time, especially for patients with atypical clinical manifestations and unclear epidemiologic evidence of a tick bite or exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stool DNA (sDNA) tests and fecal immunochemical test (FIT) are used for the detection of colorectal cancer (CRC). Here we performed a novel evaluation using sDNA and FIT to assess their performance in CRC screening and monitoring in Hubei, China.Methods: Stool samples were collected from a high-risk population in Hubei, China (n = 359). sDNA tests and FIT were performed to test for KRAS mutations, NDRG4 and BMP3 methylation, and check hemoglobin levels. The methylation in BMP3 and NDRG4 genes was detected by TaqMan PCR method from human fecal samples. KRAS gene mutation in human fecal DNA was tested using TaqMan probe and amplification-refractory mutation system method. The colloid gold method was used for detection of hemoglobin in fecal samples. Finally, a novel evaluation by software was used to calculate the comprehensive value of the combined results for CRC detection and monitoring.Results: The sensitivity and specificity of the novel evaluation for early CRC (stage I and II), advanced adenoma (AA), and non-colon cancer neoplasm (NA) detection were 95.45% and 81.6%, 29.63% and 75.9%, and 23.08% and 75.17%, respectively. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of the combined value for the above diseases were 0.945 ± 0.015, 0.543 ± 0.055, and 0.547 ± 0.038, respectively. The levels of the novel evaluation were not significantly associated with the pathology and stage (P > 0.05). In 20 out of 22 CRC patients, the novel evaluation of sDNA and FIT had decreased below threshold (< 165) at after surgery.Discussion: The novel evaluation with sDNA test and FIT has increased sensitivity for screening of CRC and AA. The novel evaluation may have potential importance as an indicator of early CRC. Additionally, the dynamic changes of the comprehensive value after surgery were correlated with CRC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water, as an important part of ecosystems, is also an important topic in the field of remote sensing. Shadows and dense vegetation negatively affect most traditional methods used to extract water body information from remotely sensed images. As a result, extracting water body information with high precision from a wide range of remote sensing images which contain complex ground-based objects has proved difficult. In the present study, a method used for extracting water body information from remote sensing imagery considers the greenness and wetness of ground-based objects. Ground objects with varied water content and vegetation coverage have different characteristics in their greenness and wetness components obtained by the Tasseled Cap transformation (TCT). Multispectral information can be output as brightness, greenness, and wetness by Tasseled Cap transformation, which is widely used in satellite remote sensing images. Hence, a model used to extract water body information was constructed to weaken the influence of shadows and dense vegetation. Jiangsu and Anhui provinces are located along the Yangtze River, China, and were selected as the research area. The experiment used the wide-field-of-view (WFV) sensor onboard the Gaofen-1 satellite to acquire remotely sensed photos. The results showed that the contours and spatial extent of the water bodies extracted by the proposed method are highly consistent, and the influence of shadow and buildings is minimized; the method has a high Kappa coefficient (0.89), overall accuracy (92.72%), and user accuracy (88.04%). Thus, the method is useful in updating a geographical database of water bodies and in water resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium-sulfur batteries are promising for next-generation energy storage but face challenges such as the polysulfide shuttle effect, slow kinetics, and lithium dendrite growth. Here we report a novel approach utilizing two-dimensional carbon nanosheets for the encapsulation of sulfur and selenium materials. Furthermore, we employed a high-temperature selenization process to facilitate the ingress of a larger number of Se atoms into the mesopores and macropores of the two-dimensional carbon nanosheets, thereby providing comprehensive protection for Se within the carbon nanosheets. The cathode exhibits a high initial capacity of 1418 mAh/g at 0.1 C and low-capacity decay rates of 0.11 % for 500 cycles at 1 C, and 0.101 % for 400 cycles at 2 C, respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Density functional theory calculations (DFT) show that there is a strong adsorption effect between sulfur, selenium and the substrate material, which can inhibit the generation of shuttle effects. Our work provides a scalable and viable strategy for long-term lithium storage applications. Using a wet chemical synthesis method, we prepared a carbon precursor material with a two-dimensional sheet structure. Subsequently, it was complexed with selenium and used as a cathode material (CNSs-Se@S) for lithium-sulfur batteries. XPS and DFT calculations show that there is a strong adsorption effect between sulfur, selenium and the substrate material, which can inhibit the generation of shuttle effects. At the same time, the material combines the high conductivity of selenium and the high theoretical specific capacity of sulfur. Therefore, when using CNSs-Se@S as the cathode in lithium-sulfur batteries, the battery exhibits excellent electrochemical performance. [Display omitted] • The main highlights of this manuscript are as follows: • Sulfur-selenium electrode suppresses diffusion losses, enhances performance. • CNSs-Se@S inhibits shuttle effects via sulfur and selenium adsorption. • DFT and XPS revealed the mechanism of CNSs-Se@S inhibiting shuttle effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article "Tea-Derived Sustainable Materials," researchers discuss the development of hard carbon materials derived from tea for various applications, including energy, environment, and biomedicine. These materials have shown high performance and cycling stability due to their inorganic-rich, thin, and robust solid interface layer, as well as their adsorption-intercalation/filling effects. The researchers highlight the potential of these tea-derived materials for advanced commercial applications, offering a cost-effective and sustainable solution. The authors of the article are Qishan He, Huixin Chen, Xing Chen, Juanjuan Zheng, Lanfang Que, Fuda Yu, Junhui Zhao, Yiming Xie, Miaoliang Huang, Canzhong Lu, Jiashen Meng, and Xingcai Zhang. [Extracted from the article]

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen that is responsible for numerous large and geographical epidemics, causing millions of cases. However, there is no vaccine or therapeutics against CHIKV infection available. Interferon-alpha (IFN-α) has been shown to produce potent antiviral responses during viral infection. Herein we demonstrated the use of an adenovirus-vectored expressed mouse IFN-α (mDEF201) as a prophylactic and therapeutic treatment against CHIKV in vivo. 6-day-old BALB/c mice were pre- or post-treated intranasally with single dose of mDEF201 at 5 x 106 PFU per mouse and challenged with lethal dose of CHIKV. Complete survival protection was observed in mice upon a single dose of mDEF201 administration 1 days prior to virus challenge. Viral load in the serum and multiple organs were significantly reduced upon mDEF201 administration in a dose dependent manner as compare with adenovirus 5 vector placebo set. Histological analysis of the mice tissue revealed that mDEF201 could significantly reduce the tissue morphological abnormities, mainly infiltration of immune cells and muscle fibre necrosis caused by CHIKV infection. In addition, administration of mDEF201 at 6 hours post CHIKV challenge also showed promising inhibitory effect against viral replication and dissemination. In conclusion, single-dose of intranasal administration with mDEF201 as a prophylactic or therapeutic agent within 6 hours post CHIKV infection is highly protective against a lethal challenge of CHIKV in the murine model. Author summary: Chikungunya has emerged as one of the most important arbovirus diseases of global health significance. Over the last decade, millions of CHIKV infections have been reported in over 80 countries across several continents. However, there is no approved vaccines or specific therapeutics available, development of antiviral strategies against CHIKV infection has become a pressing issue. In this study, the authors examined using 6-day-old BALB/c mice as an animal model to study CHIKV infection. After shown the 6-day-old mice were permissive and susceptible to CHIKV infection, the authors also evaluated the effectiveness of adenovirus-vectored mouse IFN-α (mDEF201) against systemic and lethal challenge of CHIKV infection in 6-day-old BALB/c mice. Single-dose of mDEF201 can protect mice against a lethal challenge of CHIKV. The authors believe that mDEF201 has immense clinical potential as a single dose could protect individuals at high risks during an outbreak. In addition, mDEF201 could also potentially be used to treat CHIKV infections especially during the acute phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanostructured transition metal oxide anodes have attracted considerable attention for high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, their low rate capability and rapid capacity decline resulting from their low electronic conductivities and inevitable substantial volumetric changes prevent them from being commercialized as anodes for LIBs. Herein, we design a high-performance anode for LIBs consisting of a yolk–shell structured Fe2O3@C nanoring (NR) composite that comprises a NR-like Fe2O3 core entirely protected by a fine porous carbon (C) shell to overcome such obstacles. This advantageous yolk–shell structural design can buffer the significant volume variations of Fe2O3 cores without damaging the microstructure of the electrode. Thanks to the unique structural features, the as-built electrode shows a remarkable electrochemical performance, namely, a large specific capacity of 846 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 A g−1, a superior rate performance of 688 mA h g−1 at 4 A g−1, and a remarkable cycling life (300 cycles, 945 mA h g−1 at 4.0 A g−1). Hence, this electrode is much better than a pure Fe2O3 NR electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Functional Schiff base chelating groups (PCA) were covalently grafted onto the surface of magnetic graphene oxide (GO‐Fe3O4) via a facile silanization reaction under mild condition. The obtained GO‐Fe3O4‐PCA was further chelated with CuCl2 as an efficient, robust, and recyclable semi‐heterogeneous catalyst (GO‐Fe3O4‐CuCl2) for one‐pot three‐component KA2 coupling of ketones, amines, and alkynes. It exhibited environmentally benign, excellent magnetic separation performance, and higher catalytic activity than other commercially available copper sources. A series of propargylamines are prepared from cycloketones, cycloamines, and phenylacetylene in moderate to excellent yields under microwave (MW) irradiation (70–93%). Interestingly, the catalyst can be separated conveniently by a simple magnetic separation and reused at least four consecutive runs with a slight drop in the product yields. The semi‐heterogeneous property and excellent accessibility of GO‐Fe3O4‐CuCl2 might cause high catalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tacrine(10)-hupyridone (A10E) was designed as a dual-binding acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor from the modification of tacrine and a fragment of huperzine A. We have found that A10E effectively inhibited AChE in a mixed competitive manner, with an IC50 of 26.4 nM, which is more potent than those of tacrine and huperzine A. Most importantly, we have shown, for the first time that A10E attenuated scopolamine-induced cognitive impairments without affecting motor function in mice. A10E effectively attenuated impairments of learning and memory to a similar extent as donepezil, an inhibitor of AChE used for treating Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In addition, A10E significantly decreased AChE activity in the brain of mice, suggesting that A10E might cross the brain blood-barrier. Taken together, our results demonstrated that A10E, a designed dual-binding AChE inhibitor, could effectively reverse cognitive impairments, indicating that A10E might provide therapeutic efficacy for AD treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early detection and diagnosis of crop anomalies is crucial for enhancing crop yield and quality. Recently, the combination of machine learning and deep learning with hyperspectral images has significantly improved the efficiency of crop detection. However, acquiring a large amount of properly annotated hyperspectral data on stressed crops requires extensive biochemical experiments and specialized knowledge. This limitation poses a challenge to the construction of large-scale datasets for crop stress analysis. Meta-learning is a learning approach that is capable of learning to learn and can achieve high detection accuracy with limited training samples. In this paper, we introduce meta-learning to hyperspectral imaging and crop detection for the first time. In addition, we gathered 88 hyperspectral images of drought-stressed tomato plants and 68 images of freeze-stressed tomato plants. The data related to drought serve as the source domain, while the data related to frost damage serve as the target domain. Due to the difficulty of obtaining target domain data from real-world testing scenarios, only a limited amount of target domain data and source domain data are used for model training. The results indicated that meta-learning, with a minimum of eight target domain samples, achieved a detection accuracy of 69.57%, precision of 59.29%, recall of 66.32% and F 1 -score of 62.61% for classifying the severity of frost stress, surpassing other methods with a target domain sample size of 20. Moreover, for determining whether the plants were under stress, meta-learning, with a minimum of four target domain samples, achieved a detection accuracy of 89.1%, precision of 89.72%, recall of 93.08% and F 1 -score of 91.37% outperforming other methods at a target domain sample size of 20. The results show that meta-learning methods require significantly less data across different domains compared to other methods. The performance of meta-learning techniques thoroughly demonstrates the feasibility of rapidly detecting crop stress without the need for collecting a large amount of target stress data. This research alleviates the data annotation pressure for researchers and provides a foundation for detection personnel to anticipate and prevent potential large-scale stress damage to crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is associated with elderly patients undergoing surgery. However, pharmacological treatments for POCD are limited. In this study, we found that curcumin, an active compound derived from Curcuma longa, ameliorated the cognitive dysfunction following abdominal surgery in aged mice. Further, curcumin prevented surgery-induced anti-oxidant enzyme activity. Curcumin also increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-positive area and expression of pAkt in the brain, suggesting that curcumin activated BDNF signaling in aged mice. Furthermore, curcumin neutralized cholinergic dysfunction involving choline acetyltransferase expression induced by surgery. These results strongly suggested that curcumin prevented cognitive impairments via multiple targets, possibly by increasing the activity of anti-oxidant enzymes, activation of BDNF signaling, and neutralization of cholinergic dysfunction, concurrently. Based on these novel findings, curcumin might be a potential agent in POCD prophylaxis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A molecular diagnostic platform with DANP-anchored hairpin primer was developed and evaluated for the rapid and cost-effective detection of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) with high sensitivity and specificity. The molecule 2, 7-diamino-1, 8-naphthyridine (DANP) binds to a cytosine-bulge and emits fluorescence at 450 nm when it is excited by 400 nm light. Thus, by measuring the decline in fluorescence emitted from DANP—primer complexes after PCR reaction, we could monitor the PCR progress. By adapting this property of DANP, we have previously developed the first generation DANP-coupled hairpin RT-PCR assay. In the current study, we improved the assay performance by conjugating the DANP molecule covalently onto the hairpin primer to fix the DANP/primer ratio at 1:1; and adjusting the excitation emission wavelength to 365/430 nm to minimize the background signal and a ‘turn-on’ system is achieved. After optimizing the PCR cycle number to 30, we not only shortened the total assay turnaround time to 60 minutes, but also further reduced the background fluorescence. The detection limit of our assay was 0.001 PFU per reaction. The DANP-anchored hairpin primer, targeting nsP2 gene of CHIKV genome, is highly specific to CHIKV, having no cross-reactivity to a panel of other RNA viruses tested. In conclusion, we report here a molecular diagnostic assay that is sensitive, specific, rapid and cost effective for CHIKV detection and can be performed where no real time PCR instrumentation is required. Our results from patient samples indicated 93.62% sensitivity and 100% specificity of this method, ensuring that it can be a useful tool for rapid detection of CHIKV for outbreaks in many parts of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue virus (DENV) is the cause of dengue fever, infecting 390 million people worldwide per year. It is transmitted to humans through the bites of mosquitoes and could potentially develop severe symptoms. In spite of the rising social and economic impact inflicted by the disease on the global population, a conspicuous lack of efficacious therapeutics against DENV still persists. In this study, catechin, a natural polyphenol compound, was evaluated as a DENV infection inhibitor in vitro. Through time-course studies, catechin was shown to inhibit a post-entry stage of the DENV replication cycle. Further investigation revealed its role in affecting viral protein translation. Catechin inhibited the replication of all four DENV serotypes and chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Together, these results demonstrate the ability of catechin to inhibit DENV replication, hinting at its potential to be used as a starting scaffold for further development of antivirals against DENV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The self‐healing capability is highly desirable in semiconductors to develop advanced devices with improved stability and longevity. In this study, the automatic self‐healing in silicon nanowires is reported, which are one of the most important building blocks for high‐performance semiconductor nanodevices. A recovery of fracture strength (10.1%) on fractured silicon nanowires is achieved, which is demonstrated by in situ transmission electron microscopy tensile tests. The self‐healing mechanism and factors governing the self‐healing efficiency are revealed by a combination of atomic‐resolution characterizations and atomistic simulations. Spontaneous rebonding, atomic rearrangement, and van der Waals attraction are responsible for the self‐healing in silicon nanowires. Additionally, the self‐healing efficiency is affected by the fracture surface roughness, the nanowire size, the nanowire orientation, and the passivation of dangling bonds on fracture surfaces. These new findings shed light on the self‐healing mechanism of silicon nanowires and provide new insights into developing high‐lifetime and high‐security semiconductor devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is the major cause of early morbidity and mortality in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) recipients, but its mechanism remains not well understood. This study firstly compared dynamic change of Fas/Fas ligand (FasL) system in plasma and also in the surface of endothelial cell microparticles (EMPs) in aGVHD patients, pre-aGVHD patients (7, 14, 21 and 28 days after transplantation), non-aGVHD patients and normal controls. Plasma soluble FasL (sFasL) was detected by ELISA. Fas, FasL and EMPs were evaluated by Confocal microscopy and flow cytometric analysis respectively. Significantly higher levels of sFasL and EMPs were detected in the patients at the time of aGVHD attack. In addition, sFasL exhibited significant elevation but EMPs exhibited simultaneously decrease within the early phase (+21d) after allo-HSCT in pre-aGVHD group compared with non-aGVHD group. At +21d, there was a significant difference of sFasL and EMPs between pre-aGVHD group and non-aGVHD group. Moreover our present study firstly reported that EMPs expressed higher Fas antigen (Fas+-EMPs) in the patients with aGVHD. Therefore it can be inferred that EMPs may play protective roles through Fas in endothelial cell damage of aGVHD after allo-HSCT. This suggested monitoring EMPs and sFasL in the early phase after HSCT may be useful for the early diagnosis and forecast of aGVHD and it also provided new clues in understanding the pathogenesis of endothelial cell injury during aGVHD after allo-HSCT and meanwhile help identifying new drugs to circumvent it in clinic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Silicon nanowires (Si NWs) with copper-coating as high capacity and improved cycle-life anode for lithium-ion batteries have been successfully prepared by chemical vapor deposition and magnetron sputtering methods. The morphology, structure, composition as well as the electrochemical performance of copper-coated Si NWs is characterized in detail. The results indicate that the copper-coated Si NWs electrodes show an initial coulombic efficiency of 90.3% when cycling between 0.02V and 2.0V (versus Li/Li+) at a current density of 210mAg−1. The copper-coated Si NWs electrodes exhibit a capacity as high as 2700mAhg−1 at the first cycle. They also show a good capacity retention and excellent rate capability compared with pristine and carbon-coated Si NWs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Silicon nanowires (Si NWs) with and without carbon coating were successfully prepared by combination of chemical vapor deposition and thermal evaporation method. The morphologies, structures, and compositions of these nanomaterials were characterized in detail. Furthermore, the electrochemical performances of uncoated and carbon-coated Si NWs as anode materials were also studied. It shows that the carbon-coated Si NWs electrode has higher capacity, better cycle stability, and rate capability than the uncoated materials. For example, it delivers 3,702 and 3,082 mAh g−1 in the initial charge and discharge processes. When cycled between 0.02 and 2.0 V at a current density of 210 mA g−1, it yields a high coulombic efficiency of 83.2%. The discharge capacity still remains around 2,150 mAh g−1 after 30 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leachate from the landfill is a kind of organic wastewater that highly pollutes the water environment. Water polluted by landfill leachate has been found globally. Therefore, it is necessary to properly treat the leachate before the final discharge. Environmental policy, among other factors such as cost, often has critical impact on water and wastewater treatment technology adoption. In the present study, a comprehensive database of leachate treatment projects is compiled based on literature review and a survey of manager of leachate treatment companies, aimed to explore the impact of national policies on the adoption of treatment technologies. Results show that although China produces a large amount of leachate (0.53–0.75 million tons/day) and the operating cost is high (US$5.60 ± 2.05), the new standard issued in 2008 has higher requirements on wastewater discharge standard, which makes membrane technology, especially membrane bioreactor (MBR) + nanofiltration (NF)/reverse osmosis (RO) technology, widely used in China. This increasing employment of membrane technology to treat leachate in China is a direct result of the new leachate standard, which demonstrates that new environmental policy prevail the concern of treatment cost and advances the adoption of environment friendly technology. [Display omitted] • A real-world study of environmental policy impact on technology adoption. • Environmental policies impacts technology adoption for landfill leachate treatment. • Average production of leachate in China is 0.53–0.75 million tons/day. • Treatment cost in China is about US$5.60 ± 2.05/m3 leachate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigated Cdx2 and claudin-2 expression in pathological paraffin tissues of sinus ventriculi from gastroscopic biopsy to determine the correlation between the expressions of these 2 genes during gastric carcinogenesis by immunochemical ABC technique. Altogether, we analyzed 108 chronic superficial gastritis, 55 chronic atrophic gastritis, 109 intestinal-type metaplasia, 93 dysplasia and 52 gastric intestinal-type adenocarcinoma samples. Our results indicated that the percentage of Cdx2-positive cases was 0% (0/108) for chronic superficial gastritis, 0% (0/55) for chronic atrophic gastritis, 90.83% (99/109) for intestinal-type metaplasia, 51.61% (48/93) for dysplasia and 61.54% (32/52) for gastric intestinal-type adenocarcinoma, primarily expressed in the cell nucleus and partly in the cytoplasm (p < 0.05); interestingly, the percentage for the intestine-type metaplasia was markedly high. The percentage of claudin-2-positive cases was 0% (0/108) for chronic superficial gastritis, 0% (0/55) for chronic atrophic gastritis, 0% (0/109) for intestinal-type metaplasia, 35.48% (33/93) for dysplasia and 71.15% (37/52) for gastric intestinal-type adenocarcinoma, primarily in the cell membrane and gradually increased in the multistage process of gastric carcinogenesis (p < 0.05). Significant correlations were found between claudin-2 and Cdx2 protein expression in dysplasia and intestine-type adenocarcinoma (r = 0.112, p < 0.05). Thus, there may be a correlation between the expression of claudin-2 and Cdx2 in stages of dysplasia and cancer. Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The near singularity of the product-moment matrix of observed input-output data provides a quick way of checking the order of a linear system. However the technique used so far becomes insensitive when significant amounts of extraneous noise is present. A minimum-eigenvalue ratio test (MERT) is introduced based on the product-moment matrix and some prior knowledge about the system noise. It is used to overcome the problems both of insensitivity arising from system noise and of high computational expense. Both the theoretical analysis and simulation results show that it is a simple and efficient way to estimate the order of linear and some nonlinear time-series models prior to parameter identification. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) has been widely used in the diagnosis of infectious diseases. However, studies on Talaromyces marneffei detection using mNGS remain scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the diagnostic performance of mNGS in T. marneffei.Between March 2021 and June 2023, patients who were discharged with a final diagnosis of talaromycosis, or confirmed T. marneffei infection by mNGS, culture or pathological examination were included in the study. Culture and mNGS were performed simultaneously for all patients. Clinical data were retrieved for analysis.A total of 78 patients were enrolled, with 40 in the talaromycosis group and 38 in the suspected-talaromycosis group. In the talaromycosis group, mNGS showed a higher positivity rate(40/40, 100.0%) compared to culture(34/40, 85.0%)(P = 0.111). All patients in the suspected-talaromycosis group tested negative via culture, while mNGS yielded positive results. The T. marneffei reads in the talaromycosis group were significantly higher than in the suspected-talaromycosis group (4399 vs. 28, P < 0.001). In the suspected-talaromycosis group, of the four patients with low reads who did not receive antifungal therapy, one died and one lung lesion progressed; most patients(31/34, 91.2%) recovered after receiving appropriate antifungal therapy.mNGS proves to be a rapid and highly sensitive method for detecting T. marneffei. Higher reads of T. marneffei correspond to a higher likelihood of infection. However, cases with low reads necessitate a comprehensive approach, integrating clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, and imaging examinations to confirm T. marneffei infection.Methods: Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) has been widely used in the diagnosis of infectious diseases. However, studies on Talaromyces marneffei detection using mNGS remain scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the diagnostic performance of mNGS in T. marneffei.Between March 2021 and June 2023, patients who were discharged with a final diagnosis of talaromycosis, or confirmed T. marneffei infection by mNGS, culture or pathological examination were included in the study. Culture and mNGS were performed simultaneously for all patients. Clinical data were retrieved for analysis.A total of 78 patients were enrolled, with 40 in the talaromycosis group and 38 in the suspected-talaromycosis group. In the talaromycosis group, mNGS showed a higher positivity rate(40/40, 100.0%) compared to culture(34/40, 85.0%)(P = 0.111). All patients in the suspected-talaromycosis group tested negative via culture, while mNGS yielded positive results. The T. marneffei reads in the talaromycosis group were significantly higher than in the suspected-talaromycosis group (4399 vs. 28, P < 0.001). In the suspected-talaromycosis group, of the four patients with low reads who did not receive antifungal therapy, one died and one lung lesion progressed; most patients(31/34, 91.2%) recovered after receiving appropriate antifungal therapy.mNGS proves to be a rapid and highly sensitive method for detecting T. marneffei. Higher reads of T. marneffei correspond to a higher likelihood of infection. However, cases with low reads necessitate a comprehensive approach, integrating clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, and imaging examinations to confirm T. marneffei infection.Results: Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) has been widely used in the diagnosis of infectious diseases. However, studies on Talaromyces marneffei detection using mNGS remain scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the diagnostic performance of mNGS in T. marneffei.Between March 2021 and June 2023, patients who were discharged with a final diagnosis of talaromycosis, or confirmed T. marneffei infection by mNGS, culture or pathological examination were included in the study. Culture and mNGS were performed simultaneously for all patients. Clinical data were retrieved for analysis.A total of 78 patients were enrolled, with 40 in the talaromycosis group and 38 in the suspected-talaromycosis group. In the talaromycosis group, mNGS showed a higher positivity rate(40/40, 100.0%) compared to culture(34/40, 85.0%)(P = 0.111). All patients in the suspected-talaromycosis group tested negative via culture, while mNGS yielded positive results. The T. marneffei reads in the talaromycosis group were significantly higher than in the suspected-talaromycosis group (4399 vs. 28, P < 0.001). In the suspected-talaromycosis group, of the four patients with low reads who did not receive antifungal therapy, one died and one lung lesion progressed; most patients(31/34, 91.2%) recovered after receiving appropriate antifungal therapy.mNGS proves to be a rapid and highly sensitive method for detecting T. marneffei. Higher reads of T. marneffei correspond to a higher likelihood of infection. However, cases with low reads necessitate a comprehensive approach, integrating clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, and imaging examinations to confirm T. marneffei infection.Conclusion: Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) has been widely used in the diagnosis of infectious diseases. However, studies on Talaromyces marneffei detection using mNGS remain scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the diagnostic performance of mNGS in T. marneffei.Between March 2021 and June 2023, patients who were discharged with a final diagnosis of talaromycosis, or confirmed T. marneffei infection by mNGS, culture or pathological examination were included in the study. Culture and mNGS were performed simultaneously for all patients. Clinical data were retrieved for analysis.A total of 78 patients were enrolled, with 40 in the talaromycosis group and 38 in the suspected-talaromycosis group. In the talaromycosis group, mNGS showed a higher positivity rate(40/40, 100.0%) compared to culture(34/40, 85.0%)(P = 0.111). All patients in the suspected-talaromycosis group tested negative via culture, while mNGS yielded positive results. The T. marneffei reads in the talaromycosis group were significantly higher than in the suspected-talaromycosis group (4399 vs. 28, P < 0.001). In the suspected-talaromycosis group, of the four patients with low reads who did not receive antifungal therapy, one died and one lung lesion progressed; most patients(31/34, 91.2%) recovered after receiving appropriate antifungal therapy.mNGS proves to be a rapid and highly sensitive method for detecting T. marneffei. Higher reads of T. marneffei correspond to a higher likelihood of infection. However, cases with low reads necessitate a comprehensive approach, integrating clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, and imaging examinations to confirm T. marneffei infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to explore the application of computed tomography (CT) images in the diagnosis of gastric tumor under the intelligent reconstruction algorithm (IRA). 120 patients with gastric cancer were selected and all the patients underwent CT scanning, and CT images were analyzed based on the Feldkamp-Davis-Kress algorithm (FDK algorithm) to evaluate the imaging features of gastric lesions. According to biopsy or surgical pathology, the detection rate of CT images was calculated. The results showed that there were three pathological types of benign tumors (polyps, leiomyomas, and mesenchymomas) and three pathological types of malignant tumors (mesenchymomas, adenomas, and lymphomas). In addition, the detection rates of CT scans were different, reaching 94.2% on different orientations of the stomach, 90.7% of benign tumors, and 90.9% of malignant tumors, so the detection rate of different orientations was relatively high. CT images based on the FDK IRA could realize a high detection rate in diagnosis, accurately locate the lesion, and display the characteristics of the lesion and the metastasis of surrounding tissues; there were significant differences between benign and malignant gastric tumors in CT images, and the detection effect was obvious, which is worthy of clinical application and promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-situ texturing hollow carbon host by gas–solid interface reaction with high pore volume and Fe single atoms doping ensures the excellent cycling performance of HCS-Fe/Se cathode due to its accelerating solid-phase redox kinetics. [Display omitted] • In-situ texturing hollow carbon sphere by one-step reaction between SiO 2 and PTFE. • H 2 SeO 3 is an ideal Se resource for homogeneous Se-based cathode. • DRT analyses verify the solid-phase conversion mechanism of HCS-Fe/Se. • Excellent performances realized due to electrocatalytic effect of Fe single atoms. Se-based cathodes have caught tremendous attention owing to their comparable volumetric capacity and better electronic conductivity to S cathodes. However, its low utilization ratio and sluggish redox kinetics due to the high reaction barrier of solid-phase transformation from Se to Li 2 Se limit its practical application. Herein, an in-situ texturing hollow carbon host by gas–solid interface reaction anchored with Fe single-atomic catalyst is designed and prepared for advanced Li-Se batteries. This Se host presents high pore volume of 1.49 cm3 g−1, Fe single atom content of 1.53 wt%, and its specific structure protects single-atomic catalyst from the destructive reaction environment, thus balancing catalytic activity and durability. After Se loading by reduction of H 2 SeO 3 , this homogenous Se-based cathode delivers a superior rate capacity of 431.3 mA h g−1 at 4C, and great discharge capacity of 301.8 mA h g−1 after 1000 cycles at 10C, with high Li-ion diffusion coefficient and capacitance-contributed ratio. The distribution of relaxation times analysis verifies solid-phase transformation mechanism of this cathode and density functional theory calculations confirm the adsorption and bidirectionally catalysis effect of Fe single-atomic catalyst. This work provides a new strategy to prepare high-efficient Se cathode associated with non-noble metal single atoms for high-performance Li-Se batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel strategy in which palladium(II)-catalyzed tandem cyclization is used to obtain N-heterocyclic architectures containing a seven-membered ring has been developed and used to synthesize a series of derivatives. The reaction uses an eco-friendly mixed solvent (water : EtOH = 2 : 1) instead of DMSO and maintains a high yield (91%). Its potential application value and reaction mechanism have also been explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Fexuprazan is a novel potassium‐competitive acid blocker (P‐CAB). This study aimed to explore the noninferior efficacy and safety of fexuprazan to esomeprazole in treating erosive esophagitis (EE). Methods: This was a phase III, randomized, double‐blind multicenter study. Patients with endoscopically confirmed EE were randomized to receive fexuprazan 40 mg or esomeprazole 40 mg once a daily for 4–8 weeks. The healing rates of EE, symptom response, GERD‐health‐related quality life (GERD‐HRQL), and treatment‐emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were compared between fexuprazan group and esomeprazole group. Results: A total of 332 subjects were included in full analysis set (FAS) and 311 in per‐protocol set (PPS). The healing rates of fexuprazan and esomeprazole groups at 8 weeks were 88.5% (146/165) and 89.0% (145/163), respectively, in FAS and 97.3% (145/149) and 97.9% (143/146), respectively, in PPS. Noninferiority of fexuprazan compared with esomeprazole according to EE healing rates at 8 weeks was demonstrated in both FAS and PPS analysis. No significant difference was found between groups in EE healing rates at 4 weeks, symptom responses, and changes of GERD‐HRQL. The incidence of drug‐related AEs was 19.4% (32/165) in fexuprazan arm and 19.6% (32/163) in esomeprazole arm. Conclusion: This study demonstrated noninferior efficacy of fexuprazan to esomeprazole in treating EE. The incidence of TEAEs was similar between fexuprazan and esomeprazole. Trial registration number NCT05813561. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entropy is a universal concept across the physics of mixtures. While the role of entropy in other multicomponent materials has been appreciated, its effects in polymers and plastics have not. In this work, it is demonstrated that the seemingly small mixing entropy contributes to the miscibility and performance of polymer alloys. Experimental and modeling studies on over 30 polymer pairs reveal a strong correlation between entropy, morphology, and mechanical properties, while elucidating the mechanism behind: in polymer blends with weak interactions, entropy leads to homogeneously dispersed nanosized domains stabilized by highly entangled chains. This unique microstructure promotes uniform plastic deformation at the interface, thus improving the toughness of conventional brittle polymers by 1–2 orders of magnitude without sacrificing other properties, analogous to high‐entropy metallic alloys. The proposed strategy also applies to ternary polymer systems and copolymers, offering a new pathway toward the development of sustainable polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty(UPPP) is the most prevalent surgical treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, but postoperative pharyngeal pain may affect patient comfort. The enhanced recovery after surgery pathway has been proved beneficial to many types of surgery but not to UPPP yet. The aim of this pilot study was to preliminarily standrize an enhanced recovery after surgery protocol for UPPP, to assess whether it has positive effects on reducing postoperative pharyngeal pain and improving patient comfort, and to test its feasibility for an international multicentre study. Methods: This randomised controlled study analysed 116 patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) who were undergoing UPPP in a single tertiary care hospital. They were randomly divided according to treatment: the ERAS group (those who received ERAS treatment) and the control group (those who received traditional treatment). Ninety-five patients completed the assessment (ERAS group, 59 patients; control group, 36 patients). Pharyngeal pain and patient comfort were evaluated using a visual analogue scale (VAS) at 30 min and at 6, 12, 24 and 48 h after UPPP. Complications, hospitalisation duration, and hospital cost were recorded. Results: The VAS scores for resting pain and swallowing pain were significantly lower in the ERAS group than those in the control group at 30 min and at 6, 12, 24 and 48 h after surgery. Patient comfort was improved in the ERAS group. The hospitalisation duration and cost were comparable between the groups. The incidence of complications showed an increasing trend in the ERAS group. Conclusion: The ERAS protocol significantly relieved pharyngeal pain after UPPP and improved comfort in patients with OSA, which showed the prospect for an larger study. Meanwhile a potential increase of post-operative complications in the ERAS group should be noticed. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (23/09/2018, ChiCTR1800018537) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shear yield stress is an important parameter for the industrial application of magnetorheological (MR) fluids. A test equipment was designed and built to perform investigations on the behaviours of compression and shear after squeeze of MR fluids. Mathematical expression of magnetic flux density was further established. Furthermore, the magnetic field distribution of the test device based on two-coil mode and single-coil mode was simulated and compared using finite element analysis(ANSYS/Multiphysics). An experimental test system was fabricated and modified based on the final conditions and simulation results. The compression and shear after squeeze performances of MR fluids were tested. The results showed that a smaller initial gap distance or a larger compressive strain corresponds to a larger compressive stress under the same external magnetic field strength. The shear yield stress after the squeeze of MR fluids increases quickly with the increasing compression stress and the increasing magnetic flux density. This test equipment was thought to be suitable for studying the compression and shear after squeeze performances of MR fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Characteristics of blood coagulation and its relation to clinical outcomes in COVID‐19 patients are still rarely reported. We aimed to investigate the blood coagulation function and its influences on clinical outcomes of patients with syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection. Methods: A total of 71 severe patients with confirmed SARS‐CoV‐2 infection who were treated in Wuhan First Hospital from February 12 to March 20, 2020, were enrolled. The blood coagulation data in these patients and in 61 healthy controls were collected. The patients with COVID‐19 were divided into two groups: the aggravated group and the nonaggravated group, respectively, basing on whether the patients' conditions turned to critically ill or not after admission. Results: Compared with healthy controls, patients with COVID‐19 had significant performances with coagulation dysfunction, including dramatically elevated values of FIB, PT, APTT, INR, FDP, and D‐Dimers but markedly reduced AT value (P <.05). Importantly, more noteworthy coagulation disorders similar to the differences between patients and controls were found in the aggravated patients with conditions deterioration after admission than those in the nonaggravated patients without conditions deterioration (P <.05). Moreover, the aggravated patients possessed a longer hospital stay and a higher mortality compared with the nonaggravated patients (P <.001). The coagulation parameters of COVID‐19 patients were widely and closely related to the indexes of liver function and inflammation (P <.05), indicating the coagulation dysfunction of these patients may be caused by liver injury and inflammatory storm. Conclusion: Severe patients with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection often possess coagulation dysfunction on admission. A certain correlation exists in coagulation disorder and adverse clinical outcome among severe COVID‐19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on simple mixing and polymerization of a hydroxyl-containing derivative of perylene bisimide (PBI) and l-malic acid, here, we demonstrate a new type of dye-polymer conjugate, PBI-poly(α,β-malic acid) (PBI–PMA). Benefiting from the excellent water-solubility of weak polyanionic PMA structure and the high fluorescence of PBI, the PBI-PMA conjugates readily dissolve in water, displaying strong pH-dependent fluorescence with the highest intensity at pH 6. Due to the excellent biocompatibility of PMA, those conjugates showed low cytotoxicity on L929 cells. Using L929 and HeLa cells, we also confirmed that the PBI-PMA-labeled cells display intense fluorescence. Overall, the PBI-PMA conjugate demonstrates high potential as a cell labeling agent with its synthesis ease, good solubility in aqueous medium, low cytotoxicity, and high fluorescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The relationships between polymorphisms in interleukin-10 (IL-10) gene and the risk of viral hepatitis remain inconclusive. Therefore, the authors conducted so far the very first meta-analysis to robustly assess the relationships between polymorphisms in IL-10 gene and the risk of viral hepatitis by integrating the results of previous works. Methods: Medline, Embase, Wanfang, VIP and CNKI were searched throughly for eligible studies, and 76 genetic association studies were finally included in this meta-analysis. Results: We noticed that rs1800871 (− 819 C/T), rs1800872 (− 592 C/A) and rs1800896 (− 1082 G/A) polymorphisms were all significantly associated with the risk of viral hepatitis in Asians, whereas only rs1800896 (− 1082 G/A) polymorphism was significantly associated with the risk of viral hepatitis in Caucasians. In further analyses by disease subtypes, we noticed that the three investigated polymorphisms were all significantly associated with the risk of both HBV and HCV. Conclusions: This meta-analysis demonstrates that rs1800871 (− 819 C/T), rs1800872 (− 592 C/A) and rs1800896 (− 1082 G/A) polymorphisms may influence the risk of viral hepatitis in Asians, while only rs1800896 (− 1082 G/A) polymorphism may influence the risk of viral hepatitis in Caucasians. In further analyses by disease subtypes, we noticed that the three investigated polymorphisms may influence the risk of both HBV and HCV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Processing tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is rich in vitamins and lycopene, which is favored by consumers. In this study, near-infrared hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology (980–1660 nm) was used to detect the firmness, soluble solids, lycopene, and titratable acid content of processing tomatoes and to classify fruits at three maturity stages. Savitzky-Golay (SG) smoothing was used to reduce the noise of hyperspectral images. The average spectrum of the tomato fruit was extracted for model development. Random forest (RF), partial least squares (PLS), and recurrent neural network (RNN) were used to develop models for predicting the four quality attributes and identifying the maturity level. Results showed that the RNN model had a classification accuracy of 40% higher than RF and 17% higher than PLS. In the prediction of quality parameters, RNN models had the highest R2 value (>0.87), followed by PLS and RF models. Important wavelengths were identified by calculating its contribution values and were used to interpret the model. The results illustrated that near-infrared hyperspectral imaging technology combined with deep learning could effectively predict the quality and maturity of processing tomatoes. The work can provide a perspective on the application of HSI as a nondestructive testing approach for other agricultural products. • Use of hyperspectral imaging to predict multi-quality of processing tomatoes. • Use of hyperspectral imaging to classify maturity of processing tomatoes. • Comparison of recurrent neural networks with traditional machine learning methods. • Identification of important wavelengths in contributing to model performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection in human is associated with debilitating and persistent arthralgia and arthritis. Currently, there is no specific vaccine or effective antiviral available. Anti-CHIKV Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligomer (CPMO) was evaluated for its antiviral efficacy and cytotoxcity in human cells and neonate murine model. Two CPMOs were designed to block translation initiation of a highly conserved sequence in CHIKV non-structural and structural polyprotein, respectively. Pre-treatment of HeLa cells with CPMO1 signficantly suppressed CHIKV titre, CHIKV E2 protein expression and prevented CHIKV-induced CPE. CPMO1 activity was also CHIKV-specific as shown by the lack of cross-reactivity against SINV or DENV replication. When administered prophylactically in neonate mice, 15 μg/g CPMO1v conferred 100% survival against CHIKV disease. In parallel, these mice demonstrated significant reduction in viremia and viral load in various tissues. Immunohistological examination of skeletal muscles and liver of CPMO1v-treated mice also showed healthy tissue morphology, in contrast to evident manifestation of CHIKV pathogenesis in PBS- or scrambled sCPMO1v-treated groups. Taken together, our findings highlight for the first time that CPMO1v has strong protective effect against CHIKV infection. This warrants future development of morpholino as an alternative antiviral agent to address CHIKV infection in clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

via one-pot multicomponent azide-alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The self-healing mechanism and factors governing the self-healing efficiency are revealed by a combination of atomic-resolution characterizations and atomistic simulations. Keywords: in situ transmission electron microscopy; rebonding; self-healing; silicon nanowires; van der Waals attractions EN in situ transmission electron microscopy rebonding self-healing silicon nanowires van der Waals attractions 1 1 1 02/06/23 20230202 NES 230202 B Next-Generation Biodegradable Vascular Stents b In article number 2210053, Nan Jiang, Chun Tang, Yong Yang, Peiling Ke, and co-workers report the self-healing in silicon nanowires. In situ transmission electron microscopy, rebonding, self-healing, silicon nanowires, van der Waals attractions. [Extracted from the article]

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented medical and healthcare challenges worldwide. With the continual emergence and spread of new COVID-19 variants, four drug compound libraries were interrogated for their antiviral activities against SARS-CoV-2. Here, we show that the drug screen has resulted in 121 promising anti-SARS-CoV-2 compounds, of which seven were further shortlisted for hit validation: citicoline, pravastatin sodium, tenofovir alafenamide, imatinib mesylate, calcitriol, dexlansoprazole, and prochlorperazine dimaleate. In particular, the active form of vitamin D, calcitriol, exhibits strong potency against SARS-CoV-2 on cell-based assays and is shown to work by modulating the vitamin D receptor pathway to increase antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin expression. However, the weight, survival rate, physiological conditions, histological scoring, and virus titre between SARS-CoV-2 infected K18-hACE2 mice pre-treated or post-treated with calcitriol were negligible, indicating that the differential effects of calcitriol may be due to differences in vitamin D metabolism in mice and warrants future investigation using other animal models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main challenge in extracting coastal aquaculture ponds is how to weaken the influence of the "same-spectrum foreign objects" effect and how to improve the definition of the boundary and accuracy of the extraction results of coastal aquaculture ponds. In this study, a recognition model based on the U2-Net deep learning model using remote sensing images for extracting coastal aquaculture ponds has been constructed. Firstly, image preprocessing is performed to amplify the spectral features. Second, samples are produced by visual interpretation. Third, the U2-Net deep learning model is used to train and extract aquaculture ponds along the coastal region. Finally, post-processing is performed to optimize the extraction results of the model. This method was validated in experiments in the Zhoushan Archipelago, China. The experimental results show that the average F-measure of the method in the study for the four study cases reaches 0.93, and the average precision and average recall rate are 92.21% and 93.79%, which is suitable for extraction applications in aquaculture ponds along the coastal region. This study can quickly and accurately carry out the mapping of coastal aquaculture ponds and can provide technical support for marine resource management and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Keverprazan is a novel potassium‐competitive acid blocker (P‐CAB) with a strong acid‐suppressive capacity that may provide clinical benefit in acid‐related diseases. Aims: This study aimed to explore the non‐inferior efficacy and safety of keverprazan to lansoprazole in treating erosive oesophagitis (EO). Methods: This was a phase III, randomised, double‐blind multicentre study. Patients were randomised to receive keverprazan 20 mg once daily or lansoprazole 30 mg once daily for 4–8 weeks. EO healing rates and adverse events (AEs) were compared between the keverprazan group and the lansoprazole group. Results: A total of 238 patients comprised the full analysis set (FAS) while 221 patients comprised the per‐protocol set (PPS). For FAS analysis, the EO healing rates at week 8 were 95.8% (114/119) and 89.9% (107/119) for keverprazan and lansoprazole respectively. For PPS analysis, the EO healing rates at week 8 were 99.1% (110/111) and 92.7% (102/110) for keverprazan and lansoprazole respectively. Non‐inferiority of keverprazan compared with lansoprazole according to EO healing rates at 8 weeks was demonstrated in both FAS (difference: 5.8% [95% CI: −0.6% to 12.3%]; p = 0.081) and PPS (difference: 6.1% [95% CI: 1.1%–11.2%]; p = 0.018) analysis. Drug‐related AEs were reported in 34.5% (41/119) patients of the keverprazan group and 25.2% (30/119) patients of the lansoprazole group with no significant difference (p = 0.156). No severe AE happened in the keverprazan group. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the non‐inferior efficacy of keverprazan to lansoprazole in treating EO. The incidences of drug‐related AEs were comparable between keverprazan and lansoprazole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue infection poses a serious threat globally due to its recent rapid spread and rise in incidence. Currently, there is no approved vaccine or effective antiviral drug for dengue virus infection. In response to the urgent need for the development of an effective antiviral for dengue virus, the US Drug Collection library was screened in this study to identify compounds with anti-dengue activities. Lanatoside C, an FDA approved cardiac glycoside was identified as a candidate anti-dengue compound. Our data revealed that lanatoside C has an IC 50 of 0.19 μM for dengue virus infection in HuH-7 cells. Dose-dependent reduction in dengue viral RNA and viral proteins synthesis were also observed upon treatment with increasing concentrations of lanatoside C. Time of addition study indicated that lanatoside C inhibits the early processes of the dengue virus replication cycle. Furthermore, lanatoside C can effectively inhibit all four serotypes of dengue virus, flavivirus Kunjin, alphavirus Chikungunya and Sindbis virus as well as the human enterovirus 71. These findings suggest that lanatoside C possesses broad spectrum antiviral activity against several groups of positive-sense RNA viruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are few data on the epidemiology of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in South China. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of GERD symptoms in South China and to evaluate the impact on health-related quality of life. A face-to-face interview was carried out in South China using a validated Chinese version of the Reflux Disease Questionnaire to assess the prevalence of GERD symptoms. A randomly clustered sampling of permanent inhabitants aged 18 to 90 years was carried out under stratification of urban and suburban areas. The impact of GERD symptoms on health-related quality of life was evaluated using the Chinese version of SF-36. A total of 3338 residents (1468 M, 1870 F) were investigated. Mean age of the responders was 42.6±16.4 years; response rate was 95%. The prevalence of heartburn and/or acid eructation occurring at least weekly was 6.2%. The age- and gender-adjusted point prevalence of GERD symptoms in South China is 2.3% (95% CI, 1.8%, 2.8%) according to the definition in this study. There was no difference in prevalence between male (2.6%) and female (2.4%) subjects and there was no significant association between age and prevalence of GERD symptoms. Divorced/widowed/separated subjects (OR 4.61; 95% CI, 2.15%, 9.89%) and subjects with a heavy burden of work (OR 3.43, 95% CI, 1.72%, 6.84%) were significantly more likely to report GERD symptoms. As compared with the general population, subjects with GERD symptoms experienced considerable impairment in quality of life. The prevalence of GERD symptoms in South China was much lower than that reported in Western countries. GERD had a negative impact on quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new recursive estimate method for orders and coefficients of linear stochastic feedback control systems (CARMA model) under the assumption that the upper bounds of system orders are known. The strong consistency of the estimates for orders and coefficients is proved and the convergence rate of coefficient estimates to their true values is also obtained. The estimate algorithm is applied to adaptive tracking of the systems with unknown orders and unknown coefficients. The resulting closed-loop systems are then globally stable and the tracking sample mean square error is minimized as well. Simultaneously, the estimates of the adaptive tracking for orders and coefficients are also strongly consistent. The simulation results given here show that the new developed algorithms of both system identification and adaptive tracking are effective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The critical challenge of high-capacity Si anodes lies in its volume changes, which breaks the electronic network and induces unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Herein, take microscale porous Si (PS) for an example, hierarchical Al 2 O 3 /multilayer graphene (mG) shells are fabricated to address the above problems. The inner ceramic Al 2 O 3 (1 nm) shell can uniform the volume expansion and confine the PS to the void space. In addition, the outer cross-linked mG not only provides sufficient electronic pathways but also helps to form a uniform and condense SEI. The synergetic advantages of the enhanced mechanical integrity, the robust electronic network, and the stable SEI; enable the electrodes exhibit remarkable cycling stability, a 92% capacity retention of 1716 mAh g−1 at 0.2 A g−1 over 90 cycles and 966 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 after 600 cycles. This work provides new insights in addressing the electrode materials with large volume expansions. • Micrometer-sized porous Si particles synthesized by scalable Cu-assisted etching. • Atomic coated Al 2 O 3 catalyst enabling multilayer graphene growth. • Double shells are demonstrated to uniform the volume change. • Achieving stable solid electrolyte interphase by multilayer graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the issues of sluggish electronic transport and large volume variation of Fe 2 O 3 anode nanomaterials caused by repeated Li + insertion/extraction, herein we engineer an erythrocyte-like Fe 2 O 3 with thin mesoporous carbon into yolk-shell architectures, in which the erythrocyte-like Fe 2 O 3 is well confined inside the thin mesoporous carbon. In this design, the erythrocyte-like Fe 2 O 3 cores with high specific capacity together with the permeable thin carbon shells could not only greatly facilitate the fast diffusion for both ion and electron but also retain a thin and stable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer on its surface, resulting in excellent rate capability and cycling stability. Meanwhile, the hollow cavity between carbon shell and Fe 2 O 3 core provides extra free space for Fe 2 O 3 expansion, thus preserving the structural integrity. By virtue of their advantageous structural features, the elegant void-containing mesoporous carbon-encapsulated erythrocyte-like Fe 2 O 3 electrodes exhibit superior performance including large capacity, high rate capability and long cycle stability. More importantly, when coupled with commercial LiCoO 2 cathode, the assembled Li-ion full cell demonstrates a high reversible capacity of 615 mA h g −1 after 100 cycles at 1C with capacity retention of 83.4% as well as outstanding rate capability (675 mA h g −1 at 4C with capacity retention of 83% from 0.2C to 4C), demonstrating significant potential for future practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly( l -lactic acid) (PLLA) is a biocompatible polyester derived from renewable sources. It is desirable to reduce its brittleness and introduce antibacterial activity for biomedical applications by using graphene oxide (GO) as a structural and antibacterial agent. However, commonly used polymer/GO composite synthesis methods, such as physical mixing and covalent functionalization, either cause phase segregation or compromise the intrinsic properties of GO. Here, a novel approach is demonstrated to synthesize PLLA/GO films. First, perylene bisimides-containing PLLA (PBI-PLLA) was synthesized via ring-opening polymerization of l -lactide using a hydroxyl-derivate of perylene bisimides (PBI-OH) as the initiator. Next, PBI-PLLA was conjugated with GO via π-π stacking to form PLLA-conjugated GO (PLLA-c-GO). Last, PLLA/GO films were fabricated by simple solution casting of commercial PLLA and PLLA-c-GO dissolved in chloroform. Detailed characterization shows that GO retains its morphology and functional groups in PLLA-c-GO, which enables unique properties in the PLLA/GO films. The starting thermal degradation temperature of PLLA/GO films in N 2 increases to 313 °C comparing to commercial PLLA films at 293 °C. Their surface is more hydrophilic with the water contact angle of 53°. Their elongation at break improves significantly from 3% to 30% compared to commercial PLLA films, demonstrating much better flexibility. Most importantly, the PLLA/GO films show good antibacterial activity towards Escherichia coli ( E. coli ), Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ), and Bacillus subtiliscells ( B. subtilis ) cells with the bacterial colony number reduction by 80%. At the same time, they show low toxicity towards mammalian cells, such as L929 and macrophage cells. Overall, the novel PLLA/GO films demonstrate various beneficial characteristics for potential biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A facile methodology for novel cyclopeptide p53-MDM2 inhibitors with isoindo-linone synthesis has been developed based on photo-induced single electron transfer reaction (SET). • The effect of compound 1 on mitochondrial membrane potential and intracellular Ca2+ concentration have been studied extensively to evaluate the antitumor potential. • The molecular docking suggested that compound 1 presented stronger binding with MDM2 oncoprotein of liver cancer cells, and indicating that compound 1 is a potential inhibitor of MDM2 interactions. In this paper, two kinds of novel p53 cyclopeptides containing 1-Phe, 2-Trp, 3-Leu, 4-Leu/Pro residues and isoindolinone were synthesized by intramolecular photoinduced single electron transfer cyclization reactions, and their structures were confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and HR-MS. Comparison of bioactivity of compound 1 and 2 against HeLa, HepG-2, MDA-MB, MCF-7 and 4T1 cell lines by MTT assay, indicated moderate antiproliferative activity of compound 2 (4-Pro). Moreover, compound 1 (4-Leu) with isoindolinone fragments exhibited the strongest antiproliferative activity against HepG-2 cell line with an IC 50 of 9.54 μg/mL. The effect of compound 1 on mitochondrial membrane potential and intracellular Ca2+ concentration have been studied to evaluate the antitumor potential. The decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential and the increase of intracellular Ca2+ concentration indicated compound 1 had the excellent antitumor activity. Especially for compound 1 , the molecular docking suggested that 4-Leu residue and isoindolinone fragments presented stronger binding with MDM2 oncoprotein of liver cancer cells, which plays an important role in the stability of MDM2 ligands. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arthropod-borne virus responsible for recent epidemics in the Asia Pacific regions. A customized gene expression microarray of 18,760 transcripts known to target Aedes mosquito genome was used to identify host genes that are differentially regulated during the infectious entry process of CHIKV infection on C6/36 mosquito cells. Several genes such as epsin I (EPN1), epidermal growth factor receptor pathway substrate 15 (EPS15) and Huntingtin interacting protein I (HIP1) were identified to be differentially expressed during CHIKV infection and known to be involved in clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME). Transmission electron microscopy analyses further revealed the presence of CHIKV particles within invaginations of the plasma membrane, resembling clathrin-coated pits. Characterization of vesicles involved in the endocytic trafficking processes of CHIKV revealed the translocation of the virus particles to the early endosomes and subsequently to the late endosomes and lysosomes. Treatment with receptor-mediated endocytosis inhibitor, monodansylcadaverine and clathrin-associated drug inhibitors, chlorpromazine and dynasore inhibited CHIKV entry, whereas no inhibition was observed with caveolin-related drug inhibitors. Inhibition of CHIKV entry upon treatment with low-endosomal pH inhibitors indicated that low pH is essential for viral entry processes. CHIKV entry by clathrin-mediated endocytosis was validated via overexpression of a dominant-negative mutant of Eps15, in which infectious entry was reduced, while siRNA-based knockdown of genes associated with CME, low endosomal pH and RAB trafficking proteins exhibited significant levels of CHIKV inhibition. This study revealed, for the first time, that the infectious entry of CHIKV into mosquito cells is mediated by the clathrin-dependent endocytic pathway. Author Summary: Deciphering the much neglected aspects of cellular factors in contributing to the infectious entry of CHIKV into mosquito cells may enhance our understanding of the conservation or diversity of these host factors amongst mammalian and arthropod for successful CHIKV replication. The study revealed that the infectious entry of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) into mosquito cells is mediated by the clathrin-dependent endocytic pathway. A customized gene expression microarray known to target the Aedes mosquito genome was used to identify host genes that are differentially regulated upon CHIKV infection. A combination of bio-imaging studies and pharmacological inhibitors confirmed the involvement of clathrin-mediated endocytosis as well as the importance of low endosomal pH during CHIKV infectious entry. Furthermore, the clathrin heavy chain, Eps15, RAB5, RAB7 and vacuolar ATPase B are shown to be essential for the infectious entry process of CHIKV. This study aims to underline the importance of cellular factors, particularly those associated with clathrin-dependent endocytosis, in mediating the infectious entry of CHIKV into mosquito cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The alkynes provide a platform to obtain site-isolated and unsaturated metal sites for catalytic application. • The alkyne is firstly introduced into the UiO-66-type metal-organic frameworks (UiO-66-alkyne). • The catalytic site of Ni is incorporated into MOF-alkyne by bonding with terminal alkynyl groups. • Ni-UiO-66-alkyne shows excellent catalytic performance and the promising industrialization characteristics. Electron-donating groups in the robust MOF motif are able to provide an excellent catalytic platform, therefore obtaining site-isolated metal sites. In this study, the terminal alkyne is firstly introduced into UiO-66-type metal-organic frameworks (UiO-66-alkyne). Herein, to further study the application potential of this material, a covalently bonded nickel catalyst based on the alkynyl-tagged UiO-66-alkyne has been prepared and afforded us unprecedented highly dispersed and highly efficient catalytic active species. Meanwhile, this nickel-contained catalyst method for joining metals provided an alternative pathway regarding catalyst designing. With UiO-66-alkyne-Ni, the heterogeneous transformation of homogeneous catalysts is realized. Using benzaldehyde and malononitrile as starting materials, we were able to catalyze the Knoevenagel condensation within 45 min under room temperature with yield (> 99 %). Moreover, the recovery rate of the UiO-66-alkyne-Ni also outperformed previous MOFs in both small-scale and gram-level reactions, which shows UiO-66-alkyne-Ni is a potential contributor to the subsequent industrialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]