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In this work, we develop a unique and efficient metamaterial device known as the "hydrodynamic evener," which can stabilize a flow field rapidly when a transition through channels with constrictions or expansions occurs. The hydrodynamic metadevice is designed from the theory of scattering cancelation for fluid flow in a porous medium. Its precise theoretical formulation furnishes it with an almost flawless capability to guarantee uniform flow, and thus we named it as the hydrodynamic evener. This hydrodynamic evener opens up new avenues for fluid manipulation and control across numerous industrial and scientific domains, including enhancing the design of microfluidic reactors and optimization of fluid flow in microfluidic devices and the structural design of various industrial equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with a coupled Hartree system with Hardy-Littlewood-Sobolev critical exponent { − Δ u + (V 1 (x) + λ 1) u = μ 1 (| x | − 4 ⁎ u 2) u + β (| x | − 4 ⁎ v 2) u , x ∈ R N , − Δ v + (V 2 (x) + λ 2) v = μ 2 (| x | − 4 ⁎ v 2) v + β (| x | − 4 ⁎ u 2) v , x ∈ R N , where N ≥ 5 , λ 1 , λ 2 ≥ 0 and λ 1 + λ 2 ≠ 0 , V 1 (x) , V 2 (x) ∈ L N 2 (R N) are nonnegative functions and μ 1 , μ 2 , β are positive constants. Such system arises from mathematical models in Bose-Einstein condensates theory and nonlinear optics. By variational methods combined with degree theory, we prove some results about the existence and multiplicity of high energy positive solutions under the hypothesis β > max ⁡ { μ 1 , μ 2 }. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementation of tunable digital and analog resistive switching (RS) behaviors for memristors is crucial toward their development in data storage and energy-efficient computations. Herein, the CsPbBr3 film-based RS memristors with different switching film thickness and adaptable electrodes are constructed, which are implemented by the solution processed method. All the constructed memristors demonstrate stable bipolar switching behaviors, and in special, the gradual analog RS behavior with multi-level conductance is observed for the thin memristor, making it as the promising artificial synapse. As a comparison, the thick memristor demonstrates digital abrupt RS behavior, accompanying with a high memory window (>103), which can be applied in data storage field. Furthermore, the evolution of conductive filaments, stemming from synergetic bromine vacancies and aluminum atoms, is proposed to clarify the distinguished dynamic changes in the RS process. This work provides an optimization strategy to tune RS behavior for CsPbBr3-based RS memristors and paves the way for both data storage and artificial synapse applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2D organic–inorganic layered halide perovskites have received tremendous interest as promising materials in electronics owing to their outstanding physical properties. However, the quantum confinement effect leads to the suppression of ion migration in the out‐of‐plane direction, restricting their applications in resistive switching (RS) memories with vertical structure. Herein, the 2D layered perovskite incorporated with TiO2 nanoparticles, denoted as TiO2–PEA2PbBr4, is employed, as the functional layers to construct RS memory devices with Al/TiO2–PEA2PbBr4/ITO structure. As compared to pure 2D layered perovskite counterparts without switching behaviors, the Al/TiO2–PEA2PbBr4/ITO memories demonstrate stable bipolar RS behaviors, along with striking characteristics, including the relatively centralized set/reset voltages, a large on/off ratio (≈102), and a long retention time (104 s). In addition, the devices also present the multilevel storage capability by controlling the compliance current. Moreover, the RS behaviors are attributable to the formation/rupture of synergy bromine and oxygen vacancy conductive filaments, owing to their migration/distribution of oxygen/bromine ions under electric fields. The oxide nanoparticles incorporation route provides an effective strategy for improving RS performance in 2D layered perovskite‐based RS memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reviews the emerging studies on the topic of Chinese immersion programs in the U.S. The effectiveness of Chinese immersion programs has been proved to have positive impacts on students' language proficiency, academic performance, and cognitive development. However, challenges in curriculum and instructions, behavior management, and cross-cultural communication have been limiting the performance of Chinese language immersion programs. To address these challenges, Chinese immersion teachers should be provided with preparations and training on the knowledge of designing multi-subject curriculum in the Chinese language, utilizing instructional strategies in immersion settings, and developing cross-cultural competency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modified BKP (mBKP) hierarchy is an important integrable hierarchy related with BKP hierarchy. Darboux transformation is a powerful method to obtain various solutions of integrable systems. But for mBKP hierarchy, it is usually very difficult to construct the corresponding Darboux transformations, since it has a more complicated constraint on the Lax operator, compared with the BKP hierarchy. In this paper, we use the fermionic approach to obtain the explicit Darboux transformation operators of the mBKP hierarchy starting from the changes in tau functions. Also we investigate the relations among these new Darboux transformation operators. It is usually very difficult to convert the changes in tau functions to the ones in the Lax operator, while here we provide one successful example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elastic materials have a wide range of applications in many industries, but their widespread use is often limited by small-scale production methods and the use of highly polluting chemical reagents. In this study, we drew inspiration from research on wood softening to develop an environmentally friendly and scalable approach for producing a new type of compressible wood material called CW from natural wood. To achieve this, we employed a top-down approach using a novel type of "ionic liquid" eutectic solvent (DES) that is cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and recyclable. After treatment with DES, the resulting CW demonstrated good elasticity and durable compressibility, which was achieved by removing some lignin and hemicellulose from the wood and thinning the cell walls, thereby creating a honeycomb structure that allows for sustained compression and rebound. However, we found that the wood treated with a single eutectic solvent showed some softening (CW-1), although there was still room for further improvement of its elasticity. To address this, we used a secondary treatment with sodium hydroxide alkali solution to produce a softer and more elastic wood (CW-2). We conducted a series of comparative analyses and performance tests on natural wood (NW) and CW, including microscopic imaging; determination of chemical composition, mechanical properties, and compressive stress effects; and laser confocal testing. The results show that the DES and sodium hydroxide alkali solution treatments effectively removed some lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose from the wood, resulting in the thinning of the cell walls and creating a more elastic material with a sustainable compression rebound rate of over 90%. The various properties of CW, including its elasticity, durability, and sustainability, provide great potential for its application in a range of fields, such as sensors, water purification, and directional tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple disease resistance (MDR) in maize has attracted increasing attention. However, the interplay between cell death and metabolite changes and their contributions to MDR remains elusive in maize. In this study, we identified a mutant named as lesion mimic 30 (les30) that showed 'suicidal' lesion formation in the absence of disease and had enhanced resistance to the fungal pathogen Curvularia lunata. Using map-based cloning, we identified the causal gene encoding pheophorbide a oxidase (PAO), which is known to be involved in chlorophyll degradation and MDR, and is encoded by LETHAL LEAF SPOT1 (LLS1). LLS1 was found to be induced by both biotic and abiotic stresses. Transcriptomics analysis showed that genes involved in defense responses and secondary metabolite biosynthesis were mildly activated in leaves of the les30 mutant without lesions, whilst they were strongly activated in leaves with lesions. In addition, in les30 leaves with lesions, there was overaccumulation of defense-associated phytohormones including jasmonic acid and salicylic acid, and of phytoalexins including phenylpropanoids, lignin, and flavonoids, suggesting that their biosynthesis was activated in a lesion-dependent manner. Taken together, our study implies the existence of an interactive amplification loop of interrupted chlorophyll degradation, cell death, expression of defense-related genes, and metabolite changes that results in suicidal lesion formation and MDR, and this has the potential to be exploited by genetic manipulation to improve maize disease resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a type of elliptic problem of Ambrosetti–Prodi type with the subcritical Sobolev exponent. Based on the local type of Pohozaev identities, we prove the uniqueness for multi-bump solutions constructed by Dancer and Yan [J. Differ. Equations 210, 317–351 (2005)]. As a consequence, we obtain the local uniqueness for the problem of Ambrosetti–Prodi type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an iron dependent regulatory cell death process driven by excessive lipid peroxides (LPO), ferroptosis is recognized as a powerful weapon for pancreatic cancer (PC) therapy. However, the tumor microenvironment (TME) with hypoxia and elevated glutathione (GSH) expression not only inhibits LPO production, but also induces glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) mediated LPO clearance, which greatly compromise the therapeutic outcomes of ferroptosis. To address these issues, herein, a novel triple-enhanced ferroptosis amplifier (denoted as Zal@HM-PTBC) is rationally designed. After intravenous injection, the overexpressed H 2 O 2 /GSH in TME induces the collapse of Zal@HM-PTBC and triggers the production of oxygen and reactive oxygen species (ROS), which synergistically amplify the degree of lipid peroxidation (broaden sources). Concurrently, GSH consumption because of the degradation of the hollow manganese dioxide (HM) significantly weakens the activity of GPX4, resulting in a decrease in LPO clearance (reduce expenditure). Moreover, the loading and site-directed release of zalcitabine further promotes autophagy-dependent LPO accumulation (enhance effectiveness). Both in vitro and in vivo results validated that the ferroptosis amplifier demonstrated superior specificity and favorable therapeutic responses. Overall, this triple-enhanced LPO accumulation strategy demonstrates the ability to facilitate the efficacy of ferroptosis, injecting vigorous vitality into the treatment of PC. [Display omitted] • Zal@HM-PTBC was designed to facilitate ferroptosis by triple-enhanced LPO accumulation strategy. • TME induced the collapse of Zal@HM-PTBC and triggered the production of O 2 /ROS , which synergistically amplify LPO level. • The degradation of Zal@HM-PTBC consumed GSH in TME and attenuated "detoxification effect" on LPO by inactivating of GPX4. • The release of zalcitabine effectively led to autophagy dependent LPO accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To build self-supervised foundation models for multicontrast MRI of the whole brain and evaluate their efficacy in assisting diagnosis of brain tumors.In this retrospective study, foundation models were developed using 57,621 enhanced head MRI scans through self-supervised learning with a pretext task of cross-contrast context restoration with two different content dropout schemes. Downstream classifiers were constructed based on the pretrained foundation models and fine-tuned for brain tumor detection, discrimination, and molecular status prediction. Metrics including accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the ROC curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the performance. Convolutional neural networks trained exclusively on downstream task data were employed for comparative analysis.The pretrained foundation models demonstrated their ability to extract effective representations from multicontrast whole-brain volumes. The best classifiers, endowed with pretrained weights, showed remarkable performance with accuracies of 94.9, 92.3, and 80.4%, and corresponding AUC values of 0.981, 0.972, and 0.852 on independent test datasets in brain tumor detection, discrimination, and molecular status prediction, respectively. The classifiers with pretrained weights outperformed the convolutional classifiers trained from scratch by approximately 10% in terms of accuracy and AUC across all tasks. The saliency regions in the correctly predicted cases are mainly clustered around the tumors. Classifiers derived from the two dropout schemes differed significantly only in the detection of brain tumors.Foundation models obtained from self-supervised learning have demonstrated encouraging potential for scalability and interpretability in downstream brain tumor-related tasks and hold promise for extension to neurological diseases with diffusely distributed lesions.The application of our proposed method to the prediction of key molecular status in gliomas is expected to improve treatment planning and patient outcomes. Additionally, the foundation model we developed could serve as a cornerstone for advancing AI applications in the diagnosis of brain-related diseases.Methods: To build self-supervised foundation models for multicontrast MRI of the whole brain and evaluate their efficacy in assisting diagnosis of brain tumors.In this retrospective study, foundation models were developed using 57,621 enhanced head MRI scans through self-supervised learning with a pretext task of cross-contrast context restoration with two different content dropout schemes. Downstream classifiers were constructed based on the pretrained foundation models and fine-tuned for brain tumor detection, discrimination, and molecular status prediction. Metrics including accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the ROC curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the performance. Convolutional neural networks trained exclusively on downstream task data were employed for comparative analysis.The pretrained foundation models demonstrated their ability to extract effective representations from multicontrast whole-brain volumes. The best classifiers, endowed with pretrained weights, showed remarkable performance with accuracies of 94.9, 92.3, and 80.4%, and corresponding AUC values of 0.981, 0.972, and 0.852 on independent test datasets in brain tumor detection, discrimination, and molecular status prediction, respectively. The classifiers with pretrained weights outperformed the convolutional classifiers trained from scratch by approximately 10% in terms of accuracy and AUC across all tasks. The saliency regions in the correctly predicted cases are mainly clustered around the tumors. Classifiers derived from the two dropout schemes differed significantly only in the detection of brain tumors.Foundation models obtained from self-supervised learning have demonstrated encouraging potential for scalability and interpretability in downstream brain tumor-related tasks and hold promise for extension to neurological diseases with diffusely distributed lesions.The application of our proposed method to the prediction of key molecular status in gliomas is expected to improve treatment planning and patient outcomes. Additionally, the foundation model we developed could serve as a cornerstone for advancing AI applications in the diagnosis of brain-related diseases.Results: To build self-supervised foundation models for multicontrast MRI of the whole brain and evaluate their efficacy in assisting diagnosis of brain tumors.In this retrospective study, foundation models were developed using 57,621 enhanced head MRI scans through self-supervised learning with a pretext task of cross-contrast context restoration with two different content dropout schemes. Downstream classifiers were constructed based on the pretrained foundation models and fine-tuned for brain tumor detection, discrimination, and molecular status prediction. Metrics including accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the ROC curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the performance. Convolutional neural networks trained exclusively on downstream task data were employed for comparative analysis.The pretrained foundation models demonstrated their ability to extract effective representations from multicontrast whole-brain volumes. The best classifiers, endowed with pretrained weights, showed remarkable performance with accuracies of 94.9, 92.3, and 80.4%, and corresponding AUC values of 0.981, 0.972, and 0.852 on independent test datasets in brain tumor detection, discrimination, and molecular status prediction, respectively. The classifiers with pretrained weights outperformed the convolutional classifiers trained from scratch by approximately 10% in terms of accuracy and AUC across all tasks. The saliency regions in the correctly predicted cases are mainly clustered around the tumors. Classifiers derived from the two dropout schemes differed significantly only in the detection of brain tumors.Foundation models obtained from self-supervised learning have demonstrated encouraging potential for scalability and interpretability in downstream brain tumor-related tasks and hold promise for extension to neurological diseases with diffusely distributed lesions.The application of our proposed method to the prediction of key molecular status in gliomas is expected to improve treatment planning and patient outcomes. Additionally, the foundation model we developed could serve as a cornerstone for advancing AI applications in the diagnosis of brain-related diseases.Conclusions: To build self-supervised foundation models for multicontrast MRI of the whole brain and evaluate their efficacy in assisting diagnosis of brain tumors.In this retrospective study, foundation models were developed using 57,621 enhanced head MRI scans through self-supervised learning with a pretext task of cross-contrast context restoration with two different content dropout schemes. Downstream classifiers were constructed based on the pretrained foundation models and fine-tuned for brain tumor detection, discrimination, and molecular status prediction. Metrics including accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the ROC curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the performance. Convolutional neural networks trained exclusively on downstream task data were employed for comparative analysis.The pretrained foundation models demonstrated their ability to extract effective representations from multicontrast whole-brain volumes. The best classifiers, endowed with pretrained weights, showed remarkable performance with accuracies of 94.9, 92.3, and 80.4%, and corresponding AUC values of 0.981, 0.972, and 0.852 on independent test datasets in brain tumor detection, discrimination, and molecular status prediction, respectively. The classifiers with pretrained weights outperformed the convolutional classifiers trained from scratch by approximately 10% in terms of accuracy and AUC across all tasks. The saliency regions in the correctly predicted cases are mainly clustered around the tumors. Classifiers derived from the two dropout schemes differed significantly only in the detection of brain tumors.Foundation models obtained from self-supervised learning have demonstrated encouraging potential for scalability and interpretability in downstream brain tumor-related tasks and hold promise for extension to neurological diseases with diffusely distributed lesions.The application of our proposed method to the prediction of key molecular status in gliomas is expected to improve treatment planning and patient outcomes. Additionally, the foundation model we developed could serve as a cornerstone for advancing AI applications in the diagnosis of brain-related diseases.Clinical relevance statement: To build self-supervised foundation models for multicontrast MRI of the whole brain and evaluate their efficacy in assisting diagnosis of brain tumors.In this retrospective study, foundation models were developed using 57,621 enhanced head MRI scans through self-supervised learning with a pretext task of cross-contrast context restoration with two different content dropout schemes. Downstream classifiers were constructed based on the pretrained foundation models and fine-tuned for brain tumor detection, discrimination, and molecular status prediction. Metrics including accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the ROC curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the performance. Convolutional neural networks trained exclusively on downstream task data were employed for comparative analysis.The pretrained foundation models demonstrated their ability to extract effective representations from multicontrast whole-brain volumes. The best classifiers, endowed with pretrained weights, showed remarkable performance with accuracies of 94.9, 92.3, and 80.4%, and corresponding AUC values of 0.981, 0.972, and 0.852 on independent test datasets in brain tumor detection, discrimination, and molecular status prediction, respectively. The classifiers with pretrained weights outperformed the convolutional classifiers trained from scratch by approximately 10% in terms of accuracy and AUC across all tasks. The saliency regions in the correctly predicted cases are mainly clustered around the tumors. Classifiers derived from the two dropout schemes differed significantly only in the detection of brain tumors.Foundation models obtained from self-supervised learning have demonstrated encouraging potential for scalability and interpretability in downstream brain tumor-related tasks and hold promise for extension to neurological diseases with diffusely distributed lesions.The application of our proposed method to the prediction of key molecular status in gliomas is expected to improve treatment planning and patient outcomes. Additionally, the foundation model we developed could serve as a cornerstone for advancing AI applications in the diagnosis of brain-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNA interference (RNAi), which can inhibit the expression or transcription of specific genes, is considered to be a revolutionary tool for mediating gene therapy. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) is an important therapeutic agent for RNAi. However, the clinical application of siRNA‐based gene silencing is still limited due to the easy degradation of siRNA during the circulation in the body and the difficulty in delivering siRNA to desired tissues and cells. The rapid development of nanotechnology provides new ideas for siRNA delivery and a large variety of nanocarriers have been designed to solve the problems of siRNA delivery including easy degradation, lack of targeting ability, poor internalization ability, easy to cause induction of immune response and so on. Here, this review introduces the mechanism of RNAi in gene therapy, then summarizes the developments on nanocarriers for siRNA delivery, and specially focuses on the functional modification strategies of nanocarriers to construct multifunctional siRNA delivery vectors. Lastly, the future development and challenges of siRNA delivery vector are discussed, along with the current application of siRNA in tumor treatment clinical trials. It is hoped that this review can provide useful information to help transform siRNA‐mediated gene therapy into clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a type of Kirchhoff problem as follows − (a + b ∫ R N | ∇ u | 2 ) Δ u = (1 + ε K (x)) u 2 ∗ − 1 , u > 0 , i n R N , where a, b>0 are given constants, ε > 0 is a small parameter and 2 ∗ = 2 N / (N − 2) , (N ≥ 3). We show that if K (x) has k critical points near which K (x) satisfies some expansion assumption, then by Lyapunov–Schmidt reduction method, we construct multi-peak solutions for ε > 0 small, which concentrate at the k critical points of K (x). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas), is a well‐known model organism for genetic studies and is also a well‐studied natural enemy used for pest control. It became an invasive species after being introduced to North America and Europe as a pest control agent. Though two genome assemblies for this insect have been previously reported, a high‐quality genome assembly at the chromosome level is still not available. Here, we obtained a new chromosome‐level genome assembly of H. axyridis by combining various sequencing technologies, namely Illumina short reads, PacBio long reads, 10X Genomics and Hi‐C. The chromosome‐level genome assembly is 423 Mb with a scaffold N50 of 45.92 Mb. Using Hi‐C data 1,897 scaffolds were anchored to eight chromosomes. A total of 730,068 repeat sequences were identified, making up 51.2% of the assembled genome. After masking these repeat sequences, we annotated 22,810 protein‐encoding genes. The X chromosome and Y‐linked scaffolds were also identified by resequencing male and female genomes and calculating the male to female coverage ratios. Two gene families associated with environmental adaptation, odorant receptor and cytochrome P450, were analysed and showed no obvious expansion in H. axyridis. We successfully constructed a putative biosynthesis pathway of harmonine, a defence compound in the haemolymph of H. axyridis, which is a key factor for H. axyridis strong immunity. The chromosome‐level genome assembly of H. axyridis is a helpful resource for studies of beetle biology and invasive biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: As 3‐OH‐containing steroids are prone to dehydration by conventional electrospray ionization, reducing detection sensitivity, Li ion adduction‐based ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC/MS/MS), developed to prevent dehydration and effectively detect 3‐OH steroids, was applied for profiling total and free steroids in urine. Methods: Free urinary steroids were isolated directly from urine by solid‐phase extraction (SPE) with 80% acetonitrile. The total steroids were prepared by enzymatic treatment of urine with a cocktail of sulfatase and glucronidase, protein precipitation, and separation with the above SPE. In order to detect as many steroid types as possible, UHPLC/MS/MS (Li method) with Li+ solution added after the column was used for analysis in addition to the conventional method of detecting protonated ions (H method). The 13 3‐OH steroids and the remaining 16 steroids were quantified by standard curves prepared using product ion transitions derived from [M + Li]+ and MH+, respectively. Results: Two groups of human urine, male and female urine, were analyzed. 3‐OH steroids could be detected with greater sensitivity using the Li method than the conventional method. The absolute amounts of each steroid were normalized based on creatinine levels. The difference between the male and female groups are clearly attributable to sex steroids. Conclusions: Twenty‐nine total steroids and 19 free steroids were identified in a limited volume (240 mL) of urine. Of these, 13 3‐OH steroids were better detected by Li+ adduction‐based UHPLC/MS/MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new catalyst family of Co-exchanged HZSM-5 zeolite for methane dehydroaromatization. • Exchanged Co(II) sites are active for controllably activating CH 4 into CH x rather than C. • Supported Co clusters on zeolite favors the CH 4 decomposition. • The idea of localization of Co2+ ions in zeolite with a special structure can be migrated to other metals like Ni, Fe, etc. A new catalyst family of Co-exchanged HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst without additional active metals was for the first time modeled for the non-oxidative conversion of methane toward aromatics, which provides an alternative and promising way to produce aromatics from huge methane resources compared with the traditional routes from coal and crude oil. The prepared catalyst contains a well-defined Co site in the HZSM-5 zeolite anchored at Brønsted acid sites and is much appropriate for activating C H bond in CH 4 for controllable formation of CH x species rather than coke. Over the Co-exchanged HZSM-5 catalyst, the maximum selectivity to total aromatics (mainly benzene and naphthalene) over 80% could be obtained. Compared to almost all non-Mo-based catalysts including V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu, Ga and W investigated in literature, the Co-exchanged catalysts exhibited several times higher TOF values (s−1). To corroborate the distinct Co speciation associated with the ion-exchanged catalyst and illustrate the structure–activity relationship of the well-modeled catalyst, a series of comparative activity experiments, various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques (ICP-AES, XRD, FT-IR, XPS, UV–Vis DR, and TEM) and chemical transient experiments (H 2 -TPR, CO-TPR, NH 3 -TPD) and DFT calculations were performed. The exchanged Co(II) species connected with zeolite framework are much stable in reductive gases and could not be reduced and carburized, which should be the active sites for appropriately activating CH 4 into CH x species available for subsequent aromatic formation. DFT calculations confirmed that these Co-exchanged sites required much higher energy for the dissociation of C H bond in CH 4 than supported Co clusters, suggesting that the formed CH x species have a low possibility of further cleavage of C H bonds and are stable for the subsequent aromatization reactions. The distinct Co locations and chemical states in HZSM-5 showing different catalytic behaviors has actually provided us a new insight into how to construct an active metal-zeolite catalyst for selective conversion of CH 4 to value-added chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The different chemical states and locations of Ni species in HZSM-5 result in different directions of CH4 reaction. Supported Ni clusters caused complete CH4 decomposition, while Ni-exchanged sites anchored at Brønsted acid sites, can appropriately activate CH4 into CHx species which are important precursors to produce aromatics. This study suggests a catalyst construction strategy for selective conversion of CH4 towards value-added chemicals by placing active metal at specific sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coke deposition on zeolites is the major cause for catalyst deactivation in many reactions. Understanding the coking behavior and characterizing coke deposition certainly help in designing an advanced coke-resistant catalyst. Compared with the amount and properties of coke in the spent catalyst, it is still difficult to differentiate the coke location on a zeolite. Herein, we built a simple but effective way to distinguish external and internal coke depositions on a metal-free and microsized HZSM-5 zeolite by the post-addition of Cr species onto the external surface of zeolite crystals and then employing traditional temperature-programmed oxidation (O2-TPO), which can be defined as catalyst-assisted TPO or CatA-TPO. The basic idea was that the added metal oxides (like Cr2O3) greatly lowered the coke-burning temperature in O2 and on the other hand only promoted the catalytic oxidization of the external coke on zeolite, but little influenced the burning behavior of the coke formed in zeolite channels, because the post-added metal oxides located only on the external surface of coked zeolite sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract A novel catalase-inorganic hybrid microflowers modified glassy carbon electrode was developed for amperometric detection of hydrogen peroxide. Highlights • A H 2 O 2 electrochemical detection platform was based on Cat-HMFs/GCE. • Cat-HMFs/GCE exhibited good sensitivity for the detection of H 2 O 2. • Cat-HMFs/GCE showed good storage stability for detecting H 2 O 2. Abstract A catalase-inorganic hybrid microflowers (Cat-HMFs) modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was fabricated for amperometric detection of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2). Cat-HMFs were prepared by the co-precipitation of catalase and copper phosphate crystals via sonochemistry. Cat-HMFs/GCE showed linear current responses under the H 2 O 2 concentration of 100 μM–10 mM, and the detection limit is 50 μM. After stored under ambient conditions for 30 days, Cat-HMFs/GCE still remained 92% of its initial activity, which demonstrates Cat-HMFs/GCE has excellent long-term stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the number of natural and synthesized compounds quickly increases, the management of compounds in large databases is becoming a challenging work. Especially for a compound that can be represented by several different graphs such as benzene can be drawn in single and double bonds, or aromatic bonds. These different graphs are the same for the chemists and are called equivalent chemical graphs or equivalent chemical structures herein (H atoms are found at more than one locations are not called equivalent chemical structures such as enol form and keto form). Researchers mostly hope that each group of equivalent chemical structures (represented by different graphs) could be denoted by the same value, and make them easy to be deal with. For this goal a highly discriminating index ATID (adjacent topology identification), which was derived from a graph theoretical index – 3-EAID, was suggested. In order to reduce the chance that the different compounds were mistaken for duplicate compounds, the uniqueness test of ATID was performed by over 60 million alkanes and over 19 million benzenoids with high similarity, and the results indicate that ATID possesses high discriminating ability. Finally, the ATID was successfully applied to retrieval of duplicate compounds in large databases. The results indicate that the ATID could be a valuable tool for chemical information administration. The ATID can give comparable results with InChI (International Chemical Identifier) dependent on atom number and derived from complicated rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experimental assignment of absolute configurations of chiral compounds is generally expensive and time consuming. Theoretical prediction of optical rotations can greatly assist in this endeavor. Herein a chemoinformatics exploration is reported to automatically distribute ionic liquids (IL) in a counterpropagation neural network incorporating a Kohonen layer for processing descriptors of cations, and five output layers to store optical rotations of ILs with five different anions. Cations were represented by chiral descriptors based on parities of the chiral centers assigned according to several steric and physicochemical atomic properties of the ligands. A data set with 106 chiral ionic liquids and their enantiomers was used covering a range of specific optical rotation between −147.3° and +147.3°. The obtained maps reveal relationships between the molecular structure of cations, the anions, and the optical rotation. The correct assignment of the sign of the specific optical rotations was achieved for 20 of the 22 pairs of enantiomers in an independent test set. CPG NNs estimated the value of the specific rotation with a RMS error of 22°, but more accurate predictions were obtained with a random forest that yielded a RMS error of 11°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the requirement of chiral compounds increases, the studies on asymmetric catalytic synthesis and separation are of interest. For these kinds of researches, identifications of chiral centers are often required. However, it's time-consuming, especially for the compounds with multiple chiral centers. Thus, a method to automatically identify chiral center based on highly selective atomic chiral index was suggested in this paper. At first, an atomic chiral index—aEAID was suggested based on molecular index EAID (one of the most highly discriminating indices). The uniqueness test of aEAID was performed by a virtual data set of 3,851,864 atoms, no degeneracy occurred. However, the uniqueness test was performed by NCI database of 3,814,521 atoms (NCI database were taken from the network), 12 pairs of degenerated atoms within 7 pairs of molecules were found. In order to improve the discriminating ability of aEAID, a distance factor was introduced into aEAID to generate a new highly selective atomic chiral index—d-aEAID. The two atomic data sets above were also used to test the uniqueness of the index—d-aEAID, and there was no degeneration. Furthermore, the two atomic indices, i.e., aEAID and d-aEAID, were applied to automatic identification of chiral centers for a total of more than 100,000 chiral compounds for three data sets (each compound possesses 1–38 chiral centers), and both atomic indices correctly identified all the chiral centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Y2O3 has attracted attention as the representative emerging candidate of a resistive switching (RS) medium in memristors due to its excellent electrical properties and good thermal stability. However, many challenges for Y2O3 film-based memristors remain to be resolved, particularly for the small switching window. Here, the doping engineering strategy is proposed, and in particular, the Mg doped amorphous Y2O3 film is adopted as the RS layer to construct memristors. The prepared Pt/Mg:Y2O3/Pt memristor exhibits a typical reproducible bipolar switching behavior with ultra-high HRS resistance and excellent switching window (>105), compared with the undoped counterparts (∼50). In addition, the multilevel storage capability is also achieved by controlling compliance current. Furthermore, the mechanisms and corresponding physical models for the striking RS characteristics for Pt/Mg:Y2O3/Pt memristors, stemming from the Mg dopant, are discussed and illustrated in detail. This work affords a deep understanding of RS mechanisms for Mg-doped Y2O3 film-based memristors and provides an effective strategy to enlarge the switching window for other transition metal oxide memristors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyano group modification has been demonstrated to be an effective approach to improve the photocatalytic performance of g-C 3 N 4 due to its ability to improve charge separation efficiency and enhance visible light response. So far, the commonly used methods for synthesizing cyano group modified g-C 3 N 4 (CCN) include multiple-step operations and are easy to cause corrosion of equipment and environmental pollution. In this paper, we developed a glass-induced method to prepare CCN, namely melamine/urea in a ceramic combustion boat covered with a glass slide was calcined and then CCN film/powder was generated on the glass slide. We found that this method is universal and irrespective of the raw material characteristics, and the content of cyano groups is related to the filling degree of the combustion boat. In addition, the CCN powder derived from the mixture of melamine and urea originally grown on the glass slide was very easy to detach from the glass slide due to its loose structure, and this powder exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity due to its large surface area and cyano group modification. This work puts forward an effective strategy to introduce cyano groups into g-C 3 N 4 , and it would open the sights for further glass-induced modification. [Display omitted] • Cyano group modified g-C 3 N 4 was prepared via a universal glass-induced method. • This method requires a closed reaction environment and a glass slide. • Cyano group modified g-C 3 N 4 powder was only generated on the glass slide. • Cyano group modified g-C 3 N 4 powder exhibited superior photocatalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid and efficient clean-up of viscous crude oil spills is still a global challenge due to its high viscous and poor flowability at room temperature. The hydrophobic/oleophilic absorbents with three-dimensional porous structure have been considered as a promising candidate to handle oil spills. However, they still have limited application in recovering the high viscous oil. Inspired by the viscosity of crude oil depended on the temperature, a solar-heated ink modified plant fiber sponge (PFS@GC) is fabricated via a simple and environmentally friendly physical foaming strategy combined with in-situ ink coating treatment. After wrapping by the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), the modified PFS@GC (PFS@GC@PDMS) exhibits excellent compressibility, high hydrophobic (141° in water contact angle), solar absorption (> 96.0%), and oil absorptive capacity (12.0–27.8 g/g). Benefiting from the favorable mechanical property and photothermal conversion capacity, PFS@GC@PDMS is demonstrated as a high-performance absorbent for crude oil clean-up and recovery. In addition, PFS@GC@PDMS can also be applied in a continuous absorption system for uninterrupted recovering of oil spills on the water surface. The proposed solar-heated absorbent design provides a new opportunity for exploring biomass in addressing large-scale oil spill disasters. [Display omitted] • An aqueous graphene-based is prepared to fabricate the solar-heated plant fiber sponge. • The sponges possess favorable mechanical property and photothermal conversion capacity. • The sponges are demonstrated as a high-performance absorbent for crude oil clean-up and recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of "Peak CO 2 emissions & Carbon neutrality", H 2 energy, as the green and clean energy, will make an important contribution to the carbon emission reduction and carbon neutralization. Bio-H 2 production from organic wastewater achieved not only pollutants removal, but also the H 2 energy recovery and carbon emission reduction. In this study, a maltose-preferring producer of Clostridium butyricum NH-02 was investigated for the potential and performance of bio-H 2 production from brewery wastewater in batch and semi-continuous fermentation. Appropriate initial pH 7.0 and organic loading of 21,173 mg/L chemical oxygen demand (COD) (2670 mg/L reducing sugar (RS)) stimulated the batch H 2 fermentation efficiency with a maximum H 2 yield of 1.89 mol-H 2 /mol-RS and cumulative H 2 production of 479.3 mL/L. Comparing to the batch fermentation, semi-continuous fermentation showed significant improvement in H 2 productivity and yield. The maximum cumulative H 2 yield of 5.21 mol-H 2 /mol-RS and production of 254.78 mL were obtained with the optimal hydraulic retention time (HRT) at 47 h after a 120 h fermentation. This study demonstrated the potential of H 2 production from brewery wastewater with C. butyricum , and a great improvement in H 2 production in semi-continuous fermentation. • Appropriate HRT prolongation leaded to a better bioenergy recovery from brewery wastewater. • H2 yield was significantly improved by suitable initial pH and COD of brewery wastewater. • C. butyricum NH-02 is an efficient candidate for bio-H2 recovery from brewery wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of mechanical enhancement of carbon nanotubes-polymer matrices, particularly, epoxy resin (EP), depends strongly on the interface interaction between constituents. Providing rough surface and chemical activity of CNTs is the effective way to reach that. To explore both approaches, in this study, unzipped CNTs (uCNTs) and drilled CNTs (dCNTs)were prepared by Hummers methods and chemical etching. The structure of uCNTs and dCNTs were characterized by FT-IR, TG and XPS. The Eu3+ complexes were anchored to CNTs, uCNTs, and dCNTs via strong interaction to form a stable "tenon" structure. That materials were found useful to fabricate the composite with EP. Our study reveals that the ultimate tensile and flexural strengths of Eu-dCNTs/EP increases by 161% and 226%, indicating that Eu-dCNTs improves significantly the mechanical properties of EP. The drilling treatment and the "tenon" structure of the Eu-dCNTs hybrid play a key role in improving the mechanical properties of EP. Fracture morphology and the strengthening mechanism were discussed. Our study shows an effectiveness of using dCNTs and uCNTs to fabricate luminescent polymer composites with enhanced properties. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measurement and early warning of real estate risk are important to prevent and defuse major financial risks, and they form a basis for high-quality development. This paper assessed the internal and external environments of the real estate market; constructed a real estate risk indicator system from the aspects of market level, real estate enterprises, policy factors and financial institutions; and implemented a PSO-SVM model to measure and warn of real estate risk. Empirical studies were conducted. The results show the following: (1) the synthetic real estate risk index well depicts the cyclical fluctuation of real estate risk in Beijing; (2) the warning model based on the PSO-SVM method exhibits better performance and higher warning accuracy than other models do. • The PSO-SVM model exhibits better performance than other models do. • The internal and external environments of the market are considered to establish the risk indicator system. • The synthetic index is in line with the risk situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unzipping of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been widely explored to obtain new nanocarbon structures with promising properties. In this work, we report that unzipping of CNTs according to the well-established modified Hummers method produces unzipped CNTs (uCNTs) that exhibit self-photoluminescence that depends on the diameter of pristine CNTs. The uCNTs were characterized using FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, XPS, and Raman spectroscopy indicating that unzipping is accompanied by the introduction of defects and oxygen-containing functional groups. The morphology of CNTs and uCNTs was determined by TEM showing longitude unzipping of CNTs. Our study shows that increasing the diameter of pristine CNTs results in decreasing the edge etching effect and decreasing the functionality of uCNTs. Based on the UV-Vis spectra, the band gap of uCNTs was calculated using the Kubelka–Munk function. The band gap of uCNTs increased with decreasing diameter of pristine CNTs. The uCNTs exhibited photoluminescence with a good emission in the visible light region. The uCNTs with the largest band gap and the highest oxygen content had the strongest fluorescence intensity. Moreover, different metal ions produced different degrees of fluorescence quenching for uCNT-15, which verified the self-photoluminescence of uCNTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conductive hydrogel is considered a promising wearable sensor material. Developing flexible conductive hydrogel sensors with stretchability, adhesion, and stability remains challenging. In this study, a transparent, self‐adhesive, antifreeze, anti‐UV, stretchable, conductive, and reusable hydrogel with polyacrylamide/glycerol/gelatin/tannic acid/Fe3+ (PGGT‐Fe3+) structure is successfully constructed through a simple one‐pot polymerization method. The PGGT‐Fe3+ hydrogel is composed of dual networks of polyacrylamide and gelatin for organic cross‐linking, using water/glycerol as the dispersion medium, and incorporates a viscous substance: tannic acid, and a conductive substance: metal ions (Fe3+). Due to the introduction of the abundant amino, carboxylic acid, and hydroxyl functional groups on gelatin and tannic acid, the PGGT‐Fe3+ hydrogel exhibits excellent and repeatable adhesion capabilities on various surfaces (including glass, metal, plastic, and pigskin) with maximum adhesion strength of 98 kPa when attached to pigskin. Furthermore, based on the stable conductive network and high conductivity, the hydrogel not only exhibits strain sensitivity, fast response, and stability but also can stably collect epidermal bio signals. In conclusion, this work provides a new approach to the design and development of next‐generation multifunctional conductive hydrogels and opens up vast possibilities for their applications in the flexible electronics field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effect of CO addition on Mo/HZSM-5-catalyzed MDA is re-evaluated at 1073 K. • CO improves the catalyst activity and stability in C 6 H 6 selectivity-stable stage. • CO addition has little improving effect on extending the catalyst lifetime. • CO in feed only functions to protect MoC x sites from being deactivated by coke. • CO plays no role in suppressing coke accumulation on acidic sites and Si sites. Addition of a small amount of CO into CH 4 feed was previously observed to remarkably improve the activity, stability and lifetime of Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst for methane non-oxidative dehydroaromatization (Ohnishi et al., J. Catal., 182 (1999) 92). However, at an elevated reaction temperature of 1073 K the present study shows that CO addition has little improving effect on extending the catalyst lifetime whereas it indeed helps increase the catalytic activity and stability of a 5%Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst in the benzene selectivity-stable period. The experimental data obtained at different CH 4 space velocities and different CO addition contents as well as DFT calculations based on CO dissociation on various sites all suggest that CO in CH 4 feed only functions to protect MoC x sites from being deactivated by coke deposition and plays no role in suppressing coke accumulation on acidic sites and/or Si sites inside the zeolite channels. Thus, it becomes obvious that at 1073 K the gradual narrowing and blocking by coking of zeolite channels, not the deactivation of Mo sites, mainly controls the catalytic stability and lifetime of Mo/HZSM-5. This work clarifies a key issue of designing a highly coke-resistant Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst lying in suppressing the formation of internal coke in the zeolite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A chemoinformatics method was applied to the assignment of absolute configurations and to the quantitative prediction of specific optical rotations using a data set of 88 chiral fluorinated molecules (44 pairs of enantiomers). Counterpropagation neural networks were explored for the classification of enantiomers as dextrorotatory or levorotatory. Regression models were trained using multilayer perceptrons (MLP), random forests (RF) or multilinear regressions (MLR), on the basis of physicochemical atomic stereo (PAS) descriptors. New descriptors were also derived considering the common structural features of the data set (cPAS descriptors), which enabled RF models to predict the whole data set with R = 0.964, mean absolute error (MAE) of 9.8° and root mean square error (RMSE) of 12.5° in leave-one-pair-out cross-validation experiments. The predictions for the 30 compounds measured in chloroform were obtained with R = 0.971, MAE = 9.1° and RMSE = 12.5°, which compares favorably with quantum chemistry calculations reported in the literature. Unlabelled Image • Counterpropagation neural networks classified enantiomers as dextro or levorotatory. • Machine learning algorithms predicted specific optical rotations (MAE = 9.8°). • Predictions compared favorably to quantum chemistry calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metabolic syndrome has become major health problems in recent decades, and natural compounds receive considerable attention in the management of metabolic syndrome. Among them, naringin is abundant in citrus fruits and tomatoes. Many studies have investigated the therapeutic effects of naringin in metabolic syndrome. This review discusses in vitro and in vivo studies on naringin and implications for clinical trials on metabolic syndrome such as diabetes mellitus, obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, dyslipidemia, and hypertension over the past decades, overviews the molecular mechanisms by which naringin targets metabolic syndrome, and analyzes possible correlations between the different mechanisms. This review provides a theoretical basis for the further application of naringin in the treatment of metabolic syndrome. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Atomically dispersed Fe-oxo species was recognized in the Fe-exchanged ZSM-5 by Mössbauer spectrum. • The Fe-oxo species are highly active and selective for conversion of CH 4 into aromatics. • Metallic Fe and Fe carbide (at least χ-Fe 5 C 2) in zeolite are favorable for CH 4 decomposition. • Divalent Fe salts like FeSO 4 is welcome for preparation of the Fe-exchanged zeolite catalyst. • Excess S residual in catalyst could greatly enhance CH 4 decomposition. Non-oxidative methane dehydroaromatization (MDA) provides a promising and efficient technology for the valorization of huge amount of CH 4 resources. Fe-based HZSM-5 zeolite as the second most researched catalyst system for MDA, however, commonly showed a much lower activity or/and selectivity for aromatics' formation, probably due to an unsuitable Fe phase in the zeolite. Different from the reported Fe/HZSM-5 catalysts by the traditional impregnation method with Fe(NO 3) 3 , a Fe/HZSM-5 catalyst was specially designed for the title reaction which was prepared by ion-exchange method with a stable, soluble and divalent Fe salt, i.e. , FeSO 4. Interestingly, the Fe2+-exchanged HZSM-5 catalyst can show an extremely higher aromatics formation activity with a maximum selectivity of 75–80% at a CH 4 conversion of about 15% than any other Fe3+-exchanged and Fe-impregnated HZSM-5 zeolite catalysts at 1073 K. With various characterizations (UV-vis, UV-Raman, CO-DRFIT, HADDF-STEM and, especially, 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy), atomically dispersed Fe-oxo species anchored at framework Al sites are recognized to be responsible for selectively activating CH 4 into CH x species available for aromatics' formation. By comparison, the common Fe/HZSM-5 catalysts prepared by impregnation method with Fe(NO 3) 3 had a large amount of reducible Fe 3 O 4 clusters on zeolite surface, and as they were reduced and carburized, the resulted metallic Fe and Fe carbide were both favorable for CH 4 decomposition only, probably due to their poor dispersion. Fortunately, the limited S residuals (about 0.05 wt%) in the Fe2+-exchanged HZSM-5 catalyst from FeSO 4 did not show its negative side on strongly promoting C–H cleavage. By comparison, the two impregnated Fe/HZSM-5 catalysts from FeSO 4 and Fe 2 (SO 4) 3 both showed a complete CH 4 decomposition due to considerable SO 4 2- remained. Thanks to the application of the ion-exchange method and FeSO 4 as Fe precursor, a highly active and selective Fe-based HZSM-5 catalyst has been successfully modeled and Fe-oxo species are recognized as new active sites for MDA, which may give us a new insight into constructing a catalyst with better catalytic performance for MDA and other reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of hydrogen refuelling stations worldwide has increased to over 700 due to the rapid development of green hydrogen energy. The risk assessment of hydrogen refuelling stations is indispensable to prevent accidents, and its foundation is accident scenarios screening. Although the integrated energy supply station containing fuels such as hydrogen, compressed natural gas (CNG), methanol eliminates the need for building hydrogen refuelling stations separately, the risk assessment for these complex systems has not been comprehensively studied. This paper proposes a scenario screening approach for identifying potential hazards in multi-fuel integrated energy supply stations. The risk of the processing unit was evaluated, and the leakage scenarios were pre-screened to identify credible leakage scenarios that adhere to the principle of maximum credibility by considering the frequency of occurrence and severity of consequences in two parts. Based upon acquired credible leakage scenarios, secondary screening of possible accident consequences was conducted by calculating the value of the credible factor to obtain the final maximum credible accident scenarios (MAS). Credible factors are derived from the accident probability, consequence severity, population density and asset density. By comparing the values of the credible factors, the accident scenarios with a low probability or low severity were eliminated, and the accident scenarios with the highest credible factors of each unit were retained as the MAS that require further consequence simulation analysis. The results offer a crucial foundation for the consequences and risk assessment of integrated energy supply stations. • Potential consequences of accidents caused by hydrogen and other fuel leaks. • Credible scenarios for fuel leaks are identified. • Maximum credible accident scenarios are determined. • Hydrogen compressor and associated piping are most susceptible to jet fires and explosions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: A novel light-dependent dominant lesion mimic mutant with enhanced multiple disease resistance was physiologically, biochemically, and genetically characterized; the causal gene was fine mapped to a 909 kb interval containing 38 genes. Identification of genes that confer multiple disease resistance (MDR) is crucial for the improvement of maize disease resistance. However, very limited genes are identified as MDR genes in maize. In this study, we characterized a dominant disease lesion mimics 8 (Les8) mutant that had chlorotic lesions on the leaves and showed enhanced resistance to both curvularia leaf spot and southern leaf blight. Major agronomic traits were not obviously altered, while decreased chlorophyll content was observed in the mutant, and the genetic effect of the Les8 mutation was stable in different genetic backgrounds. By BSR-seq analysis and map-based cloning, the LES8 gene was mapped into a 909 kb region containing 38 candidate genes on chromosome 9 wherein no lesion mimic or disease-resistance genes were previously reported. Using transcriptomics analysis, we found that genes involved in defense responses and secondary metabolite biosynthesis were enriched in the significantly up-regulated genes, while genes involved in photosynthesis and carbohydrate-related pathways were enriched in the significantly down-regulated genes in Les8. In addition, there was an overaccumulation of jasmonic acid and lignin but not salicylic acid in Les8. Taken together, this study revealed candidate genes and potential mechanism underlying Les8-conferred MDR in maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex determination and the regulation of sexual dimorphism are among the most fascinating topics in modern biology. As the most species-rich group of sexually reproducing organisms on Earth, insects have multiple sex determination systems. Though sex chromosomes and sex-biased genes are well-studied in dozens of insects, their gene sequences are scattered in various databases. Moreover, a shortage of annotation hinders the deep mining of these data. Here, we collected the chromosome-level sex chromosome data of 49 insect species, including 34 X chromosomes, 15 Z chromosomes, 5 W chromosomes and 2 Y chromosomes. We also obtained Y-linked contigs of four insects species— Anopheles gambiae, Drosophila innubila, Drosophila yakuba and Tribolium castaneum. The unannotated chromosome-level sex chromosomes were annotated using a standard pipeline, yielding a total of 123 030 protein-coding genes, 2 159 427 repeat sequences, 894 miRNAs, 1574 rRNAs, 5105 tRNAs, 395 snoRNAs (small nucleolar RNA), 54 snRNAs (small nuclear RNA) and 5959 other ncRNAs (non-coding RNA). In addition, 36 781 sex-biased genes were identified by analyzing 62 RNA-seq (RNA sequencing) datasets. Together with 5707 sex-biased genes from the Drosophila genus collected from the Sex-Associated Gene Database, we obtained a total of 42 488 sex-biased genes from 13 insect species. All these data were deposited into InSexBase, a new user-friendly database of insect sex chromosomes and sex-biased genes. Database URL: http://www.insect-genome.com/Sexdb/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) gene family is a gene family of transcription factors that plays essential roles in plant growth and development, secondary metabolism and response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore, a comprehensive knowledge of the bHLH gene family is paramount to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes and develop advanced technologies to manipulate the processes efficiently. Ginseng, Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, is a well-known medicinal herb; however, little is known about the bHLH genes (PgbHLH) in the species. Here, we identified 137 PgbHLH genes from Jilin ginseng cultivar, Damaya, widely cultivated in Jilin, China, of which 50 are newly identified by pan-genome analysis. These 137 PgbHLH genes were phylogenetically classified into 26 subfamilies, suggesting their sequence diversification. They are alternatively spliced into 366 transcripts in a 4-year-old plant and involved in 11 functional subcategories of the gene ontology, indicating their functional differentiation in ginseng. The expressions of the PgbHLH genes dramatically vary spatio-temporally and across 42 genotypes, but they are still somehow functionally correlated. Moreover, the PgbHLH gene family, at least some of its genes, is shown to have roles in plant response to the abiotic stress of saline. These results provide a new insight into the evolution and functional differentiation of the bHLH gene family in plants, new bHLH genes to the PgbHLH gene family, and saline stress-responsive genes for genetic improvement in ginseng and other plant species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the pelvic floor changes in primiparas with postpartum stress urinary incontinence (SUI) after vaginal delivery using pelvic floor MRI. Materials and methods: Fifty-two women were enrolled in the primiparous stress urinary incontinent (PSUI) group and 51 in the primiparous continent (PC) group. Thirty nulliparas were also recruited as the nulliparous control (NC) group. Levator ani muscle (LAM) injury, levator hiatus area (LHA), H-line, M-line, the distance from the bladder neck and cervix to the pubococcygeal line (B-PCL and U-PCL), levator plate angle, the anterior angle of the urethra, bladder neck descent, retrovesicourethral angle, functional urethral length, and a bladder neck funnel were evaluated on MRI images. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to explore anatomical predictors for SUI. Results: The primiparas in the PSUI group showed more obvious LAM injuries than in the PC groups (p = 0.001). LAM function assessment: the PSUI group had larger LHA and shorter B-PCL and U-PCL than the other groups during straining. Assessment of urethral mobility and function: the PSUI group had larger anterior angle of the urethra, bladder neck descent, retrovesicourethral angle, and shorter functional urethral length than the other two groups (all p < 0.05). Up to 88.5% of primiparas in the PSUI group showed bladder funnel (p < 0.001). The logistic regression analysis showed that retrovesicourethral angle, functional urethral length, and the presence of bladder funnel were significantly associated with postpartum SUI (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Increased retrovesicourethral angle, shortened functional urethral length, and the presence of bladder funnel may be anatomical predictors for SUI in the early postpartum period. Urethral sphincter dysfunction plays an essential role in developing postpartum SUI. Critical relevance statement: This study used several measurements to reflect the anatomical structure and functional changes of the pelvic floor to identify the best anatomical predictors associated with postpartum stress urinary incontinence (SUI), aiming to provide new insights into treatment strategies for postpartum SUI. Key points: • Increased retrovesicourethral angle, shortened functional urethral length, and the presence of bladder funnel are more commonly seen in primiparas with SUI. • The combination of retrovesicourethral angle, functional urethral length, and bladder funnel had the highest diagnostic performance in predicting postpartum SUI (AUC=0.947). • Urethral sphincter dysfunction may be the main pathophysiological foundation in SUI development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A practical method was developed for the convenient synthesis of isoxazole-fused tricyclic quinazoline alkaloids. This procedure accesses diverse isoxazole-fused tricyclic quinazoline alkaloids and their derivatives via intramolecular cycloaddition of methyl azaarenes with tert-butyl nitrite (TBN). In this method, TBN acts as the radical initiator and the source of N–O. Moreover, this protocol forms new C–N, C–C, and C–O bonds via sequence nitration and annulation in a one-pot process with broad substrate scope and functionalization of natural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspective of generalized technological progress, this study investigates the energy rebound effects on China's domestic overall and the country's various industries using 2005–2017 data. The results showed that the rebound effect of the domestic overall is driven mainly by the secondary sector. The domestic overall and high-energy-consuming industries decrease the rebound effects, whereas low-energy-consuming industries increase the rebound effects. As China's industrial structure does not lean toward high-energy-consuming industries, this implies that the Industrial Restructuring Initiative that began in the Chinese government's "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" has effectively slowed down the rebound effects of high-energy-consuming industries, and the feedback effect of self-reinforcement within the economic system was offset. The results also implied that energy efficiency policies should shift to low-energy-consuming industries; the rebound effects of the energy industries could be lessened, the energy efficiency of low-energy-consuming industries could be increased, and the industrial structure could be further optimized by implementing an appropriate pricing in electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since there are several limitations in cancer treatment for traditional chemotherapy, such as side effects, poor prognosis and drug resistance, developing new combined therapy is urgently needed. In this work, a biocompatible, simple and tumor microenvironment-responsive nanotheranostics (PCN-Oxpt/PEG) was built to favor the chemotherapy/ferroptosis/immunomodulation synergism in cancer. This nanotheranostics is constructed by modifying oxaliplatin prodrug and PEG on Fe(III) − porphyrin metal-organic frameworks (PCN(Fe) MOFs). After intravenous injection, the cloak of PEG leads to long circulation, and the Fe(III)-porphyrin MOFs enables dual-model guidance with fluorescence (FL) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Inside the tumor, the intracellular H 2 O 2 would be transferred into hydroxyl radicals (•OH) by iron ions released from MOFs, which could trigger the lethal ferroptosis to cancer cells. Meanwhile, oxaliplatin(II) transformed from the loaded oxaliplatin prodrug would result in the chemotherapy, as well as immunogenic cell death (ICD), and the prodrug strategy could also avoid the occurring of liver damage by the direct administration of oxaliplatin(II). It was noticed that the ferroptosis effect was enhanced by triple-assistance during the combined therapy, as followed: (1) glutathione (GSH) would be consumed in the process of oxaliplatin(II) generation from oxaliplatin prodrug; (2) the increased CD8+ T cells induced by ICD were able to produce interferon-γ (IFN-γ), which could inhibit the transport of cystine by tumor cells, and impair the activation of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4); (3) the amount of H 2 O 2 could be increased by the internalized oxaliplatin and thus further promote the Fenton reaction and ferroptosis. Both in vivo and in vitro results revealed that tumor growing was significantly inhibited by PCN-Oxpt/PEG, taken together, the concomitant of oxaliplatin-mediated chemotherapy and ICD with triple-enhanced ferroptosis offer great prospect in the clinical treatment of cancer. [Display omitted] • A novel nanoplatform (PCN-Oxpt/PEG) was designed for eliminating tumor with combined therapy. • The designed nanoplatform enables dual-model imaging (FL and MRI) to guide antitumor therapy. • Immunosuppressive tumor micro-environment could be remodeled by PCN-Oxpt/PEG, which would enhance ferroptosis efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The controllable stretchability of the composite fiber membrane was achieved. • The Janus fiber membrane features opposing optical-thermal properties on both sides. • Radiant cooling or heating temperature of different objects exceeds 15 °C. With the frequent occurrence of extreme climates, passive daytime radiant cooling (PDRC) and passive daytime radiant heating (PDRH) technologies are receiving more and more attention as green and sustainable ways to regulate temperature. Here we present a Janus composite porous fiber membrane (MXene@PVDF/TPU), prepared by controlling the ratio of two components, PVDF and TPU, in the electrospinning precursor solution, to regulate the optical, mechanical, and other properties of the fiber membrane. By spraying MXene on one side of the fiber membrane, we achieve radiative heating performance, while the side without MXene spraying exhibits radiative cooling performance. Switching between cooling and heating modes can be accomplished by simply flipping the composite fiber membrane. The cooling side of the fiber membrane has high solar reflectance (93.75 %) and mid-infrared emissivity (83.09 %), and can cool the ambient temperature up to 8.2 °C at noon. At the same time, the heating side of the fiber membrane has low reflectance (14.18 %) and mid-infrared emissivity (24.22 %), and can heat the environment up to 7.4 °C at noon. Besides, due to the electrical and thermal properties of MXene, the MXene@PVDF/TPU fiber membrane exhibits excellent Joule heating characteristics, which can effectively compensate for the PDRH. Switching between the modes of cooling and heating can be achieved by a simple flip of the composite fiber membrane, which is important to reduce carbon emissions to alleviate the energy crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • An alternating layered structure of CNT and GaInCu alloy (GCLA) is proposed. • Fibers with wrinkled GCLA layer show extremely high stretchability and conductivity. • Wrinkled GCLA layer enables fiber to achieve stable conductivity during stretching. • The GCLA structure can be patterned on hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrates. Liquid metal (LM) composites, known for their excellent conductivity and fluidity, hold great promise in the fields of printed electronics and wearable technology. However, their high surface tension and fluidity can lead to circuit instability, such as leakage during deformation, resulting in short circuits. Therefore, additional methods are necessary to enhance the stability of LM within composite material systems. In this paper, Carbon nanotube (CNT) was introduced as a transition layer to enhance the adhesion of gallium-indium-copper-alloy ink (GCLA) on different elastic substrates and to obtain interface fusion conductive layers. The modified GCLA conductive fibers achieved high conductivity (conductivity up to 3.13 × 105 S/m), ultra-stretchability (1580 % of ultra-large deformation, the resistance changes less than 3 Ω), and ultra-stability (within 200 % of large deformation, the change of resistance less than 1 Ω). In addition, we also demonstrated the operability of GCLA in forming patterns on hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrate surfaces and obtained conductive patterns through printing, transfer printing, and hand drawing, making it a promising candidate for flexible electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-cancer activity of 2-acetylpyrazinethiourea derivatives against NCI-H460, A549, HepG2 and HeLa cell lines was evaluated, with IC50 values ranging from 2.64 to 19.43 µM, among which N,N-diethyl-2-(1-(pyrazin-2-yl)ethylidene)hydrazinecarbothioamide (L4) showed the highest anti-cancer activity (IC50 = 2.64 ± 0.15 µM). L4 reacted with copper bromide, and consequently, Cu(II)-N,N-diethyl-2-(1-(pyrazin-2-yl)ethylidene)hydrazinecarbothioamide (4a) was formed and isolated. This complex was characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, and infrared spectroscopy. L4 is a tridentate ligand that forms a new mononuclear complex with Cu(II). X-Ray diffraction of single crystals showed that 4a crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system in the P-1 space group. The anti-lung cancer (A549) activity of 4a (IC50 = 0.35 ± 0.02 µM) was increased sevenfold compared with that of L4. The detection of anti-cancer mechanisms suggested that the cytotoxicity of 4a is due to its promotion of apoptosis of A549 cells and inhibition of cell cycle. The mechanism by which 4a promotes apoptosis involves a high level of reactive oxygen species, which causes a decrease in the mitochondrial membrane potential and the cleavage of caspase-7 and caspase-9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

m6A modification has been studied in tumors, but its role in host anti-tumor immune response and TAMs polarization remains unclear. The fatty acid oxidation (FAO) process of TAMs is also attracting attention. A co-culture model of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells and macrophages was used to simulate the tumor microenvironment. Expression changes of m6A demethylase genes FTO and ALKBH5 were screened. ALKBH5 was further investigated. Gain-of-function experiments were conducted to study ALKBH5's effects on macrophage M2 polarization, CRC cell viability, proliferation, migration, and more. Me-RIP and Actinomycin D assays were performed to study ALKBH5's influence on CPT1A, the FAO rate-limiting enzyme. AMP, ADP, and ATP content detection, OCR measurement, and ECAR measurement were used to explore ALKBH5's impact on macrophage FAO level. Rescue experiments validated ALKBH5's mechanistic role in macrophage M2 polarization and CRC malignant development. In co-culture, CRC cells enhance macrophage FAO and suppress m6A modification in M2 macrophages. ALKBH5 was selected as the gene for further investigation. ALKBH5 mediates CPT1A upregulation by removing m6A modification, promoting M2 macrophage polarization and facilitating CRC development. These findings indicate that ALKBH5 enhances fatty acid metabolism and M2 polarization of macrophages by upregulating CPT1A, thereby promoting CRC development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the potential association of cochlear clock genes (CRY1, CRY2, PER1, and PER2), the DNF gene (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), and the NTF3 gene (neurotrophin3) with susceptivity to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) among Chinese noise-exposed workers. Methods: A nested case–control study was performed with 2056 noise-exposed workers from a chemical fiber factory and an energy company who underwent occupational health examinations in 2019 as study subjects. Propensity score matching was conducted to screen cases and controls by matching sex, age, and the consumption of tobacco and alcohol. A total of 1269 participants were enrolled. Then, general information and noise exposure of the study subjects were obtained through a questionnaire survey and on-site noise detection. According to the results of audiological evaluations, the participants were divided into the case group (n = 432, high-frequency threshold shift > 25 dB) and the matched control group (n = 837, high-frequency threshold shift ≤ 25 dB) by propensity score matching. Genotyping for PER1 rs2253820 and rs2585405; PER2 rs56386336 and rs934945; CRY1 rs1056560 and rs3809236; CRY2 rs2292910 and rs6798; BDNF rs11030099, rs7124442 and rs6265; and NTF3 rs1805149 was conducted using the TaqMan-PCR technique. Results: In the dominant model and the co-dominant model, the distribution of PER1 rs2585405 genotypes between the case group and the control group was significantly different (P = 0.03, P = 0.01). The NIHL risk of the subjects with the GC genotype was 1.41 times the risk of those carrying the GG genotype (95% confidence interval (CI) of odds ratio (OR): 1.01–1.96), and the NIHL risk of the subjects with the CC genotype was 0.93 times the risk of those carrying the GG genotype (95%CI of OR: 0.71–1.21). After the noise exposure period and noise exposure intensities were stratified, in the co-dominant model, the adjusted OR values for noise intensities of ≤ 85 was 1.23 (95%CI: 0.99–1.53). In the dominant model, the adjusted OR values for noise exposure periods of ≤ 16 years and noise intensities of ≤ 85 were 1.88 (95%CI: 1.03–3.42) and 1.64 (95%CI: 1.12–2.38), respectively. Conclusion: The CC/CG genotype of rs2585405 in the PER1 gene was identified as a potential risk factor for NIHL in Chinese noise-exposed workers, and interaction between rs2585405 and high temperature was found to be associated with NIHL risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the potential association of cochlear clock genes (CRY1, CRY2, PER1, and PER2), the DNF gene (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), and the NTF3 gene (neurotrophin3) with susceptivity to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) among Chinese noise-exposed workers. Methods: A nested case–control study was performed with 2056 noise-exposed workers from a chemical fiber factory and an energy company who underwent occupational health examinations in 2019 as study subjects. Propensity score matching was conducted to screen cases and controls by matching sex, age, and the consumption of tobacco and alcohol. A total of 1269 participants were enrolled. Then, general information and noise exposure of the study subjects were obtained through a questionnaire survey and on-site noise detection. According to the results of audiological evaluations, the participants were divided into the case group (n = 432, high-frequency threshold shift > 25 dB) and the matched control group (n = 837, high-frequency threshold shift ≤ 25 dB) by propensity score matching. Genotyping for PER1 rs2253820 and rs2585405; PER2 rs56386336 and rs934945; CRY1 rs1056560 and rs3809236; CRY2 rs2292910 and rs6798; BDNF rs11030099, rs7124442 and rs6265; and NTF3 rs1805149 was conducted using the TaqMan-PCR technique. Results: In the dominant model and the co-dominant model, the distribution of PER1 rs2585405 genotypes between the case group and the control group was significantly different (P = 0.03, P = 0.01). The NIHL risk of the subjects with the GC genotype was 1.41 times the risk of those carrying the GG genotype (95% confidence interval (CI) of odds ratio (OR): 1.01–1.96), and the NIHL risk of the subjects with the CC genotype was 0.93 times the risk of those carrying the GG genotype (95%CI of OR: 0.71–1.21). After the noise exposure period and noise exposure intensities were stratified, in the co-dominant model, the adjusted OR values for noise intensities of ≤ 85 was 1.23 (95%CI: 0.99–1.53). In the dominant model, the adjusted OR values for noise exposure periods of ≤ 16 years and noise intensities of ≤ 85 were 1.88 (95%CI: 1.03–3.42) and 1.64 (95%CI: 1.12–2.38), respectively. Conclusion: The CC/CG genotype of rs2585405 in the PER1 gene was identified as a potential risk factor for NIHL in Chinese noise-exposed workers, and interaction between rs2585405 and high temperature was found to be associated with NIHL risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chemodynamic therapy (CDT), employing Fenton or Fenton-like catalysts to convert hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into toxic hydroxyl radicals (·OH) to kill cancer cells, holds great promise in tumor therapy due to its high selectivity. However, the therapeutic effect is significantly limited by insufficient intracellular H2O2 level in tumor cells. Fortunately, β-Lapachone (Lapa) that can exert H2O2-supplementing functionality under the catalysis of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (phosphate) NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) enzyme offers a new idea to solve this problem. However, extensive DNA damage caused by high levels of reactive oxygen species can trigger the "hyperactivation" of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), which results in the severe interruption of H2O2 supply and further the reduced efficacy of CDT. Herein, we report a self-amplified nanocatalytic system (ZIF67/Ola/Lapa) to co-deliver the PARP inhibitor Olaparib (Ola) and NQO1-bioactivatable drug Lapa for sustainable H2O2 production and augmented CDT ("1 + 1 + 1 > 3"). Results: The effective inhibition of PARP by Ola can synergize Lapa to enhance H2O2 formation due to the continuous NQO1 redox cycling. In turn, the high levels of H2O2 further react with Co2+ to produce the highly toxic ·OH by Fenton-like reaction, dramatically improving CDT. Both in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate the excellent antitumor activity of ZIF67/Ola/Lapa in NQO1 overexpressed MDA-MB-231 tumor cells. Importantly, the nanocomposite presents minimal systemic toxicity in normal tissues due to the low NQO1 expression. Conclusions: This design of nanocatalytic system offers a new paradigm for combing PARP inhibitor, NQO1-bioactivatable drug and Fenton-reagents to obtain sustained H2O2 generation for tumor-specific self-amplified CDT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]