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Background: Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has emerged as a useful biomarker for cancer detection and prognosis. In this study, we developed a strategy for developing a highly specific multiplex qPCR assay to detect methylated ctDNA in the blood of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and investigated the potential use for the detection and prognosis of CRC., Methods: Bisulfite conversion and amplicon sequencing were used to confirm potential CRC-specific DNA methylation markers. The selected DNA methylation candidates were validated by qMSP. The six best-performing markers were used to develop a new single-tube multiplex quantitative methylation-specific PCR assay (mqMSP). The mqMSP assay was applied to analyze plasma samples from 114 CRC patients, 47 patients with advanced adenoma, 45 patients with benign polyps, and 57 healthy controls. The clinical performance of the assay and associations with clinical outcomes were assessed., Results: Six DNA methylation biomarkers were confirmed to be specifically hypermethylated in CRC tumor tissues. The newly developed mqMSP assay detected CRC with extremely high specificity (specificity of 98.2 %, with sensitivity of 67.5 %). The detection rate of ctDNA was significantly correlated with tumor size and clinical stage, with ctDNA methylation levels in the blood markedly increased with larger tumor size, poor differentiation, and advanced stage. Moreover, high preoperative methylated ctDNA level was associated with worse recurrence-free survival and overall survival., Conclusion: We provided a strategy for identification of multiple highly-specific DNA methylation markers for designing multiplex DNA methylation assays for liquid biopsies of CRC. The newly developed assay has potential for CRC early detection, and prognosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest DZ, JL, CD, and SJ have filed a patent for the relevant markers and assays., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The preparation of polyolefins with high polar monomer contents (above 20 mol %) has long been a challenge. Half-titanocenes (Cp')[HCN(Ar)] 2 BOTiCl 2 bearing bulky electron-donating N-heterocyclic boryloxy ligands have been designed and synthesized. The complexes (Cp*)[HCN(Ar)] 2 BOTiCl 2 (2, Ar=2,6-iPr 2 C 6 H 3 ; 5, Ar=2,4,6-Me 3 C 6 H 2 ) supported by Cp* and the boryloxy ligands have been shown to efficiently catalyze the copolymerization of ethylene and long chain α-olefins. In particular, precatalyst 5 enabled the controlled synthesis of poly(ethylene-co-9-decen-1-ol) with unprecedented high polar monomer contents up to 32.1 mol % while maintaining the high catalytic activity. The structural analysis and DFT calculations disclosed that the bulky and strong electron-donating boryloxy ligands could effectively stabilize cationic active species. The mechanical studies on the hydroxyl-functionalized copolymers disclosed that they exhibited high strength and toughness because of the existence of hydrogen bonds in the polymer network., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Listeriosis is a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection. Prompt, appropriate antibiotic treatment is essential to save lives. We aimed to investigate antibiotic selection and listeriosis knowledge among health care providers. We first performed a retrospective study on patients with listeriosis who were treated in a hospital in China from January 2013 to March 2023. Patient characteristics and antibiotic selections were recorded. Antibiotics were classified as effective or ineffective based on the efficacy classifications listed in The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy (50 th edition). We then conducted a questionnaire survey of health care providers to investigate their listeriosis knowledge and practices between April 2023 to May 2023. Fifteen listeriosis patients were identified, with a case fatality rate of 26.7% (4/15). Empirical treatments assessed as effective antibiotics or ineffective antibiotics were given to 33.3% (5/15) and 66.7% (10/15) of the patients, respectively. After Listeria monocytogenes was identified, 40% (6/15) of the patients received an adjustment to their antibiotics, although 50% (3/6) patients still received ineffective antibiotics. The questionnaire survey of 77 participating health care providers showed that 32.9% (24/73) of the clinicians were unaware of the appropriate antibiotics for listeriosis. Most participants (83.1%, 64/77) would read the drug sensitivity report before selecting the antibiotics. The selection of effective antibiotics differed between the infectious diseases department and other departments ( p < 0.001), but did not differ between junior title and other titles ( p = 0.088). Most patients with listeriosis did not receive appropriate antibiotics, which might have accounted for the high fatality rate, and may have resulted from inadequate listeriosis knowledge. More education and correct reporting of drug sensitivity results are urgently needed.

The durability and flame retardancy of cotton fabrics have been the focus of long-term research. In this paper, a method for preparing flame retardants through the direct modification of biomass was proposed, and the durable flame retardant of homologous cottonseed meal modified biomass flame retardants for cotton fabrics was achieved through biomass composition analysis and modeling. In this study, a cottonseed meal-phosphoric acid-boric acid synergistic bio-based flame retardant (CPB) was synthesized and characterized. The results of XPS and scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that DC-CPB1 was mainly grafted on the superficial layer and surface of the fabric, and DC-CPB2 was mainly grafted on the surface of cotton fiber. In the vertical flammability test (VFT) and limiting oxygen index test (LOI), the LOI value of cotton fabric after 50 cycles of washing can reach up to 33.5 %, and the carbon damage length was reduced from 300 mm to a minimum of 69 mm, showing excellent flame-retardant performance and self-extinguishing ability. In the cone calorimetry test, the peak heat release rate (PHRR) was significantly reduced by 82.49 %, and the results of thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and thermogravimetry-infrared-mass (TG-IR-MS) test showed that CPB1 mainly had a gas phase. In contrast, CPB2 mainly had a condensed phase flame retardant mechanism. The mechanical properties of the cotton fabric remain good after treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Elastomer cure shrinkage during composite fabrication often induces wrinkling in conductive networks, significantly affecting the performance of flexible strain sensors, yet the specific roles of such wrinkles are not fully understood. Herein, a highly sensitive polydimethylsiloxane-filled graphene woven fabric (PDMS-f-GWF) strain sensor by optimizing the PDMS cure shrinkage through careful adjustment of the base-to-curing-agent ratio is developed. This sensor achieves a gauge factor of ∼700 at 25% strain, which is over 6 times higher than sensors using commercially formulated PDMS. This enhanced sensing performance is attributed to multiscale structural control of the graphene network, enabled by precisely tuned cure shrinkage of PDMS. Using in situ scanning electron microscopy, X-ray scattering, and Raman spectroscopy, an optimized PDMS base-to-curing-agent ratio of 10:0.8 is show that enables interconnected structural changes from atomic to macroscopic scales, including larger "real" strain within the graphene lattice, enhanced flattening of graphene wrinkles, and increased crack density. These findings highlight the critical role of elastomer shrinkage in modulating the multiscale structure of conductive networks, offering new insights into matrix engineering strategies that advance the sensing performance of elastomer-based flexible strain sensors., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Hole transport materials (HTMs) are essential for improving the stability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this study, we have designed and synthesized a novel organic small molecule HTM, cor-(DPA) 5 , characterized by a bowl-shaped core with symmetric five diphenylamine groups. Compared to already-known HTMs, the bowl-shaped and relatively compact structure of cor-(DPA) 5 facilitates intermolecular π-π interactions, promotes film formations, and enhances charge transport. Consequently, the cor-[DPA(2)] 5 HTM exhibits high charge mobility, exceptional hydrophobicity, and a significantly elevated glass transition temperature. Superior to previously reported HTMs such as spiro-OMeTAD and cor-OMePTPA, our newly synthesized cor-(DPA) 5 HTM is free from any ionic dopants. As a result, the dopant-free cor-[DPA(2)] 5 -based PSC demonstrates an impressive efficiency of 24.01 %, and exhibits outstanding operational stability. It retains 96 % after continuous exposure to 1 sun irradiation for 800 hours under MPP (maximum power point) tracking in ambient air. These findings present a structurally compact novel HTM and exemplify a new approach to the molecular design of HTM for the development of stable and effective PSCs., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Two Gram-stain-negative, motile, non-spore-forming, aerobic or facultative anaerobic and short rod-shaped bacterial strains, 25B02-3 T and BH-R2-4, were isolated from surface seawater collected from the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea, respectively. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of the two strains were identical. The phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that they were related to the genus Tistrella and shared 99.6 and 98.2% sequence similarity with T. bauzanensis BZ78 T and T. mobilis IAM 14872 T , respectively. Both 16S rRNA gene and genome sequence-based phylogenetic analyses showed that the two strains formed a monophyletic clade within the genus Tistrella , indicating that they may represent a novel species. The digital DNA‒DNA hybridization (dDDH) values and average nucleotide identities (ANI) between the two strains were 93 and 99%, respectively, indicating that they are different strains. The dDDH and ANI values between the two strains and the type strains of the genus Tistrella were 22.4-58.3% and 81.0-95.0%, respectively. These data clearly demonstrated that the two strains represent a separate genomic species of the genus Tistrella . The principal fatty acids were Sum In Feature 8 (C 18 : 1 c or C ω7 c), C 18 : 1 ω6 c), C 19 : 0 , Sum In Feature 2 (C ω aldehyde or unknown 10.928) and C c . The predominant respiratory quinone was Q-10, with a minor Q-9. The polar lipids included phosphatidylethanolamine, aminolipids and phospholipids. The genomic DNA G+C contents of strains 25B02-3 12 : 0 aldehyde or unknown 10.928) and C 16 : 0 . The predominant respiratory quinone was Q-10, with a minor Q-9. The polar lipids included phosphatidylethanolamine, aminolipids and phospholipids. The genomic DNA G+C contents of strains 25B02-3 T and BH-R2-4 were 67.3 mol% and 67.4 mol%, respectively. On the basis of the polyphasic evidence presented in this study, the two strains represent a novel species within the genus Tistrella , for which the name Tistrella arctica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 25B02-3 T (=MCCC 1A07333 T =KCTC 8340 T ).

An increasing number of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) have been linked to tumorigenesis. In this study, we used Mendelian randomization (MR) to identify a novel cancer susceptibility gene, Trimethylguanosine Synthase 1 (TGS1). TGS1-induced hypermethylation at the 5' end of human telomerase RNA (hTR) impedes hTR accumulation, decreasing telomerase assembly factor levels and thus limiting telomere elongation, a crucial factor in tumor progression. Despite its significant role in cancer development, the TGS1-cancer relationship requires further experimental validation and bioinformatics analysis. To bridge this knowledge gap, we performed a comprehensive pan-cancer study using MR to evaluate TGS1's involvement in cancer progression. Leveraging data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), we analyzed TGS1's role in 33 tumor types. The results indicated higher TGS1 expression in most tumors, with a significant correlation to patient prognosis. We also noted variations in TGS1 phosphorylation at different sites and a strong link between TGS1 expression and the infiltration of various immune cells. In addition, our enrichment analysis of TGS1-associated genes shed light on the molecular mechanisms involved. The study also highlighted TGS1's significant role in cellular apoptosis. Overall, our findings offer an in-depth analysis of TGS1's oncogenic roles across multiple tumor types and underscore its potential as an oncogene, biomarker, and gene therapy target in diverse cancers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The newly discovered LINC02532 is abnormally expressed in a variety of cancers and promotes cancer progression. The research proposed to discover the biological and molecular mechanisms of LINC02532 in breast cancer (BCa). In the resected BCa tissue samples and adjacent normal tissues, LINC02532, miR-541-3p, and High Mobility Group A1 (HMGA1) levels were determined. Cell function experiments were carried out on the premise of cell transfection with relevant plasmids. Based on that, the influence of LINC02532, miR-541-3p, and HMGA1 on MCF-7 cell activities (proliferation, migration, invasion, cell cycle, and apoptosis) was determined, as well as on EMT. Additionally, animal experiments were allowed to support cell experimental conclusions on LINC02532. Finally, the mechanistic network of LINC02532, miR-541-3p, and HMGA1 was identified. It was BCa tissues highly expressing LINC02532 and HMGA1, while lowly expressing miR-541-3p. Functionally, LINC02532 depletion repressed the activities and EMT process of MCF-7 cells. Silencing LINC02532 delayed tumor growth in mice. In terms of mechanism, LINC02532 mainly existed in the cytoplasm and could mediate HMGA1 expression by absorbing miR-541-3p. The findings offer new insights into the molecular mechanisms of LINC02532 in BCa and, more importantly, new strategies for the clinical treatment of BCa., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interests: Authors declared no conflict of interest. Ethical Approval: All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. All subjects was approved by Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University. And The animal experiment research protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University and performed in accordance with the “Guidelines for the care and use of experimental animals.”, (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

This study optimized the process of extracting protein from black garlic using an alkaline dissolution and acid precipitation method through response surface methodology. The optimal extraction conditions were determined as a solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:50, an extraction time of 100 min, an extraction temperature of 30 °C, and an alkaline extraction pH of 9.0. Under these optimized conditions, the actual black garlic protein (BGP) extraction yield was 12.10% ± 0.21%, and the isoelectric point of the obtained BGP was 3.1. Subsequently, this study extracted black garlic protein under optimal conditions and subjected it to enzymatic hydrolysis using different enzymes (trypsin, pepsin, and their mixed enzymes). The functional characteristics, antioxidant activity, and hypoglycemic activity of black garlic protein before and after enzymatic hydrolysis were compared. Among the hydrolysates, the pepsin hydrolysate (BGPH-P) had the smallest particle size (188.57 ± 1.93 nm) and the highest Zeta potential (-29.93 ± 0.42 mV). Scanning electron microscopy showed that BGPH-P had the smallest and most dispersed particles. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed that the dual enzymatic hydrolysis hydrolysate (BGPH-PT) exhibited the most stable structure. Compared to BGP, the hydrolysates demonstrated significantly improved solubility, water-holding capacity, and foaming ability ( p < 0.05), while their emulsifying activity, emulsion stability, DPPH radical scavenging capacity, and hypoglycemic activity decreased. In summary, the BGP extracted using the optimized process demonstrated good antioxidant and hypoglycemic activities, while its enzymatic hydrolysate BGPH-P exhibited excellent solubility, water-holding capacity, and emulsifying properties, providing valuable insights for the further development of black garlic protein and its hydrolysates.

Bone tissue is a biological composite material with a complex hierarchical structure that could continuously adjust its internal structure to adapt to the alterations in the external load environment. The fluid flow within bone is the main route of osteocyte metabolism, and the pore pressure as well as the fluid shear stress generated by it are important mechanical stimuli perceived by osteocytes. Owing to the irregular multiscale structure of bone tissue, the fluid stimulation that lacunar-canalicular network (LCN) in different regions of the tissue underwent remained unclear. In this study, we constructed a multiscale conduction model of fluid flow stimulus signals in bone tissue based on the poroelasticity theory. We analyzed the fluid flow behaviors at the macro-scale (whole bone tissue), macro-meso scale (periosteum, interstitial bone, osteon and endosteum), and micro-scale (lacunar-osteocyte-canalicular) levels. We explored how fluid stimulation at the tissue level correlated with that at the cellular level in cortical bone and characterized the distributions of the pore pressure, fluid velocity and fluid shear stress that the osteocytes experienced across the entire tissue structure. The results showed that the initial conditions of intramedullary pressure had a significant impact on the pore pressure of Haversian systems, but had a relatively small influence on the fluid velocity. The osteocyte which were located at different positions in the bone tissue received very distinct fluid stimuli. Osteocytes in the vicinity of the Haversian Canals experienced higher fluid shear stress stimulation. When the permeability of the LCN was within the range from 10 -21  m 2 to 10 -18  m 2 , the distribution of pressure, fluid velocity and fluid shear stress within the osteon near the periosteum and endosteum was significantly different from that in other parts of the bone. However, when the permeability was less than 10 -22  m 2 , such a difference did not exist. Particularly, the flow velocity at the lacunae was markedly higher than that in the canaliculi. Meanwhile, the pore pressure and fluid shear stress were conspicuously lower than those in the canaliculi. In this study, we considered the interconnections of different biofunctional units at different scales of bone tissue, construct a more complete multiscale model of bone tissue, and propose that osteocytes at different locations receive different fluid stimuli, which provides a reference for a deeper understanding of bone mechanotransduction., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No conflict of interest exits in the submission of this manuscript., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The paper proposes a multi-rigid-body system state identification method based on self-healing model in order to improve the accuracy and reliability of CNC machine tools. Firstly, considering the influence of the joint surface, the Lagrange method is used to establish the mechanical model of the multi-rigid-body system. We input acceleration information and use the second-order modulation function to complete the online real-time identification of the joint surface parameters, thereby establishing the self-healing mechanical model of the multi-rigid-body system. Then, the system state equation is established by Kalman filter method based on the self-healing mechanical model, and the full information identification of multi-rigid-body system is realized by using acceleration information as input. Finally, the VMC850 vertical machining center is taken as an example to verify that the above method has high accuracy. The online state identification method proposed in this paper can provide real-time data basis for machine tool accuracy compensation and health state estimation., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Coarse particles in filling slurry are the primary factor causing wear in filling elbow pipes, and the wear mechanism of these particles on the pipes is influenced by various factors. To study the erosion and wear mechanism of elbow pipes caused by coarse particles, the motion state of coarse particles under different curvature radii, coarse particle gradations, and pipe diameters was investigated using a simulation method based on the coupling of Fluent and EDEM software, grounded in theories of fluid mechanics, rheology, and solid-liquid two-phase flow. The study explored the impact patterns and locations of wear induced by coarse particles on filling elbow pipes. The analysis results indicate that increasing the curvature radius leads to more punctate wear at the elbow and upstream wear. Increasing the proportion of finer particles in the coarse particle gradation forms a better cushioning layer and reduces erosion wear. Enlarging the pipe diameter shifts the high-low concentration boundary of coarse particles towards the elbow outlet and reduces erosion wear. The research findings provide significant references for optimizing coarse particle gradation and preventing pipe wear., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Typhoid fever is a human-specific disease caused by subspecies of Salmonella enterica (Salmonella Typhi). It spreads through ingestion of contaminated food or water and is diagnosed through blood culture or bone marrow culture. It typically presents as an intestinal infection, with a few patients developing severe disseminated infections. Here, we report a rare case of purulent pericarditis secondary to S. Typhi infection. A 67-year-old elderly male suffered from recurrent fever, diarrhea, and abdominal pain for 7 days. Initial blood and stool cultures were positive for Salmonella, and a follow-up blood culture confirmed S. Typhi. Magnetic resonance imaging showed pericardial abscess and hepatic abscess. After pericardiocentesis, the pericardial fluid culture grew S. Typhi, confirming the diagnosis of pericardial abscess secondary to S. Typhi infection. After percutaneous drainage of the pericardial abscess and administration of effective antibiotics, the patient's symptoms improved significantly. He subsequently recovered and was discharged from the hospital. During follow-up, there were no further recurrences. Disseminated infection secondary to Salmonella Typhi is extremely rare but can lead to serious life-threatening conditions. Our patient was found to have pericardial abscess caused by S. Typhi. Effective and adequate antibiotics, along with pericardial abscess drainage, can improve symptoms, assist in diagnosis, and enhance quality of life.

To achieve high accuracy and effectiveness in sensing and modulating neural activity, efficient charge-transfer biointerfaces and a high spatiotemporal resolution are required. Ultrathin bioelectrode arrays exhibiting mechanical compliance with biological tissues offer such biointerfaces. However, their thinness often leads to a lack of mechano-electrical stability or sufficiently high electrochemical capacitance, thus deteriorating their overall performance. Here, we report ultrathin (∼115 nm) bioelectrode arrays that simultaneously enable ultraconformability, mechano-electrical stability and high electrochemical performance. These arrays show high opto-electrical conductivity (2060 S cm -1 @88% transparency), mechanical stretchability (110% strain), and excellent electrochemical properties (24.5 mC cm -2 charge storage capacity and 3.5 times lower interfacial impedance than commercial electrodes). The improved mechano-electrical and electrochemical performance is attributed to the synergistic interactions within the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS)/graphene oxide (GO) interpenetrating network (PGIN), where π-π and hydrogen bonding interactions improve conductive pathways between PEDOT chains and enhance the charge-transfer mobility. This ultrathin bioelectrode is compatible with photolithography processing and provides spatiotemporally precise signal mapping capabilities for sensing and modulating neuromuscular activity. By capturing weak multichannel facial electromyography signals and applying machine learning algorithms, we achieve high accuracy in silent speech recognition. Moreover, the high transparency of the bioelectrode allows simultaneous recording of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) signals, facilitating dual-mode brain activity analysis with both high temporal and high spatial resolution.

Objective: We assessed the predictive value of blood neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) in predicting the onset of acute kidney injury (AKI) in sepsis patients in the intensive care unit (ICU)., Methods: In this retrospective analysis, we examined the medical records of sepsis patients admitted to the ICU. After ICU admission, blood samples were taken at 0 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the concentrations of serum creatinine, NGAL, and IL-18 were determined., Results: This study comprised a total of 197 participants, 104 of whom had AKI and 93 of whom did not. Blood concentrations of NGAL and IL-18 increased prior to serum creatinine levels. Between 6-48 hours after ICU administration, NGAL and IL-18 levels in the AKI group were considerably higher than those in the non-AKI group, and creatinine levels between the two groups were significantly different after 48 hours. Based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, the area under the curve of NGAL and IL-18 for predicting AKI was 0.781 and 0.883, respectively., Conclusion: Blood NGAL and IL-18 are potential biomarkers for the early prediction of AKI in sepsis patients in the ICU., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interests to disclose., (© 2024 Liu et al.)

Background: Based on triglyceride, body mass index (BMI), alanine aminotransferase/ aspartate aminotransferase ratio, fasting blood glucose, the ZJU index is proven to be a novel and effective parameter for screening NAFLD in Chinese. This study aims to evaluate the correlation between ZJU values and the risk of developing gallstones., Methods: The data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database during the period from 2017 to 2020 were analyzed in this cross-sectional study. And 6155 participants were included to assess the correlation between the ZJU index and the formation of gallstones through multivariate logistic regression, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, subgroup analysis, and restricted cubic spline regression (RCS) analyses., Results: In this population-based study, 6155 participants aged 18 years and older were included, among which, 671 had gallstones. Logistic regression and RCS regression analyses indicated a significant positive non-linearly correlation between the ZJU index and the prevalence of gallstones (OR = 1.044, 95% CI: 1.032, 1.056), with an inflection point of 40.6. Subgroup analysis further revealed a stronger correlation between the risk of developing gallstones and the ZJU index in females. ROC analysis indicated that the ZJU index (AUC = 0.653) can serve as a more robust predictor for developing gallstones compared to traditional indices, with a sensitivity of 55.9%, a specificity of 67.1% and a cutoff of 43.4., Conclusion: This study provides evidence that elevated the ZJU index is correlated with an increased risk of developing gallstones., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The National Center for Health Statistics Ethics Review Board has approved the implementation of NHANES, and every participant signed informed consent. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Clinical trial number: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In order to realize high-performance bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) all-polymer solar cells, achieving appropriate aggregation and moderate miscibility of the polymer blends is one critical factor. Herein, this study designs and synthesizes two new polymer acceptors (P A s), namely PYF and PYF-Cl, containing benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b'] difuran (BDF) moiety with/without chlorine atoms on the thiophene side groups. Thanks to the preferred planar structure and high electronegativity of the BDF units, the resultant P A s generate strong intermolecular interactions and π-π stacking in both the neat and blend films. At the same time, the BDF moieties flanked with bulky 2D side groups increase intermolecular space and restrain the excessive entanglement of polymer chains for developed heterojunction miscibility attributes. Consequently, appropriate polymer crystallinity and moderate miscibility between P A s and polymer donor (P D ) contribute to harmonious blending morphologies. Eventually, the PM6:PYF-based solar cells achieve an optimal efficiency of 11.82%. More encouragingly, the PYF serves as an efficient guest acceptor and realizes an improved efficiency of 17.05% in the PM6:PYIT:PYF ternary systems, which is much higher than that of the host system (15.87%). This study highlights the importance of BDF moiety in designing new P A s for high-performance all-polymer solar cells., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

In contrast to mammalian cells, bacterial cells lack mRNA polyadenylated tails, presenting a hurdle in isolating mRNA amidst the prevalent rRNA during single-cell RNA-seq. This study introduces a novel method, ribosomal RNA-derived cDNA depletion (RiboD), seamlessly integrated into the PETRI-seq technique, yielding RiboD-PETRI. This innovative approach offers a cost-effective, equipment-free, and high-throughput solution for bacterial single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). By efficiently eliminating rRNA reads and substantially enhancing mRNA detection rates (up to 92%), our method enables precise exploration of bacterial population heterogeneity. Applying RiboD-PETRI to investigate biofilm heterogeneity, distinctive subpopulations marked by unique genes within biofilms were successfully identified. Notably, PdeI, a marker for the cell-surface attachment subpopulation, was observed to elevate cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP) levels, promoting persister cell formation. Thus, we address a persistent challenge in bacterial single-cell RNA-seq regarding rRNA abundance, exemplifying the utility of this method in exploring biofilm heterogeneity. Our method effectively tackles a long-standing issue in bacterial scRNA-seq: the overwhelming abundance of rRNA. This advancement significantly enhances our ability to investigate the intricate heterogeneity within biofilms at unprecedented resolution., Competing Interests: XY, HL, CW, CH, WZ, CG, YP No competing interests declared, (© 2024, Yan, Liao et al.)

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death globally. The 3D fusion of coronary X-ray angiography (XA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides complementary information to appreciate coronary anatomy and plaque morphology. This significantly improve CAD diagnosis and prognosis by enabling precise hemodynamic and computational physiology assessments. The challenges of fusion lie in the potential misalignment caused by the foreshortening effect in XA and non-uniform acquisition of OCT pullback. Moreover, the need for reconstructions of major bifurcations is technically demanding. This paper proposed an automated 3D fusion framework AutoFOX, which consists of deep learning model TransCAN for 3D vessel alignment. The 3D vessel contours are processed as sequential data, whose features are extracted and integrated with bifurcation information to enhance alignment via a multi-task fashion. TransCAN shows the highest alignment accuracy among all methods with a mean alignment error of 0.99 ± 0.81 mm along the vascular sequence, and only 0.82 ± 0.69 mm at key anatomical positions. The proposed AutoFOX framework uniquely employs an advanced side branch lumen reconstruction algorithm to enhance the assessment of bifurcation lesions. A multi-center dataset is utilized for independent external validation, using the paired 3D coronary computer tomography angiography (CTA) as the reference standard. Novel morphological metrics are proposed to evaluate the fusion accuracy. Our experiments show that the fusion model generated by AutoFOX exhibits high morphological consistency with CTA. AutoFOX framework enables automatic and comprehensive assessment of CAD, especially for the accurate assessment of bifurcation stenosis, which is of clinical value to guiding procedure and optimization., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: S Tu is the co-founder of Pulse Medical, reports research grants and consultancy from Pulse Medical. All other authors report no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Collagen, recognized as a fundamental protein present in biological tissues and structures, plays a crucial role in maintaining organ structure and tissue integrity. Microbial collagenases are specific for the degradation of collagen. The specific three-stranded helix region of natural collagen can be identified and hydrolyzed by microbial collagenases under physiological conditions, producing collagen peptides with high physiological activity. This article describes microbial collagenases, providing an introduction to the structure, physiological characteristics, factors affecting enzyme activity, and hydrolysis mechanisms of various classes of these enzymes. Microbial collagenase is the most widely used class of collagenase and plays an important role in all aspects of human life, and various applications of microbial collagenases in food industry, healthcare and environmental protection will be addressed in this review. In addition to its beneficial functions, microbial collagenase can exist as a virulence factor for pathogenic bacteria, and enhanced research on its structure and mechanism of action will help us to investigate more effective inhibitors as well as therapeutic agents and tools for the treatment of the corresponding diseases. Finally, this review critically analyses existing challenges and outlines prospects for future advancements in the field.

Elevated lipid metabolism is one of hallmarks of malignant tumors. Lipids not only serve as essential structural components of biological membranes but also provide energy and substrates for the proliferation of cancer cells and tumor growth. Cancer cells meet their lipid needs by coordinating the processes of lipid absorption, synthesis, transport, storage, and catabolism. As research in this area continues to deepen, numerous new discoveries have emerged, making it crucial for scientists to stay informed about the developments of cancer lipid metabolism. In this review, we first discuss relevant concepts and theories or assumptions that help us understand the lipid metabolism and -based cancer therapies. We then systematically summarize the latest advancements in lipid metabolism including new mechanisms, novel targets, and up-to-date pre-clinical and clinical investigations of anti-cancer treatment with lipid metabolism targeted drugs. Finally, we emphasize emerging research directions and therapeutic strategies, and discuss future prospective and emerging challenges. This review aims to provide the latest insights and guidance for research in the field of cancer lipid metabolism., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The author declared there is no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Buildings, especially installed windows, account for a large proportion of global energy consumption. The research trend of smart windows leans towards multi-functional integration, concurrently achieving solar modulation and thermal management. However, sometimes a one-time performance switch cannot meet demands, making the design of multi-gradient adjustable smart windows particularly important. The combination of the temperature-responsive optical properties of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), the high specific heat capability of water (sensible heat storage) and the solid-liquid phase transition of κ-carrageenan (latent heat storage) is proposed first and can be used to prepare the thermo-responsive hydrogel and multi-gradient energy-saving smart window with thermo-response and multimodal thermal energy storage (MGES smart window) quickly without long-term polymerization. The MGES smart window has excellent solar modulation capability (Δ T lum = 82.72% and Δ T sol = 68.65%) together with outstanding specific heat absorption ability ( c = 4.2 kJ kg -1 K -1 ), showing superior energy saving and conserving performance. In demonstrations, the MGES smart windows can reduce the surface and indoor temperature by more than 15 °C and 10.6 °C compared with normal windows. Simulations suggest that they can cut off 45.1% of building energy consumption. To sum up, the MGES smart windows realize multi-aspect adjustment of energy, opening up a new avenue for green buildings.H = 1.23 kJ kg -1 ), showing superior energy saving and conserving performance. In demonstrations, the MGES smart windows can reduce the surface and indoor temperature by more than 15 °C and 10.6 °C compared with normal windows. Simulations suggest that they can cut off 45.1% of building energy consumption. To sum up, the MGES smart windows realize multi-aspect adjustment of energy, opening up a new avenue for green buildings.

Transport of organic matter (OM) occurs widely in the form of animal and plant detritus in global oceans, playing a crucial role in global carbon cycling. While wood- and whale-falls have been extensively studied, the in situ process of OM remineralization by microorganisms remains poorly understood particularly in pelagic regions on a global scale. Here, enrichment experiments with animal tissue or plant detritus were carried out in three deep seas for 4-12 months using the deep-sea in situ incubators. We then performed community composition analyses as well as metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses. The results revealed strikingly similar microbial assemblages responsible for decomposing animal and plant detritus. Genes encoding peptidases and glucoside hydrolases were highly abundant and actively transcribed in OM enrichments, which confirmed the roles of these enriched microbial assemblages in organic decomposition. Marinifilaceae , Desulfocapsaceae , Spirochaetaceae , and o- Peptostreptococcales were found to potentially contribute to nitrogen fixation. These core bacteria, acting as cosmopolitan anaerobes in decomposing fast-sinking particulate OM, may have been underestimated in terms of their role in deep-sea microbial-mediated biogeochemical cycles during conventional sampling and diversity survey., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© Crown copyright 2024.)

With the continuous exploitation of global mineral resources, backfill technology for gob areas has become a crucial aspect of mine safety and sustainable development. As a primary method of gob area backfill, slurry backfill directly relates its flow properties and filling height to the efficiency and safety of mine extraction. To enhance the flow properties of the slurry and increase its filling height, a research study on the flow and deposition characteristics of a gas-containing filling slurry was conducted using a combination of theoretical analysis, laboratory experiments, and field tests. Experiments on the gas content were conducted using a concrete gas content tester, rheological property experiments were performed using a paddle rheometer, slump flow tests were carried out using a slump cone, and slurry deposition experiments were conducted using gob area similarity models. Analysis of viscosity characteristics revealed that the slurry gas content increased with the addition of air-entraining agents and the yield stress of the slurry decreased by 49.27% with an increase in the gas content at the same mix ratio, resulting in a 48% reduction in slurry viscosity. By analyzing the mechanism of gas phase enhancement on slurry flow, it was found that the anionic strength of bubbles generated by adding air-entraining agents was greater than the anionic strength within the slurry, changing the original particle arrangement and disrupting the tailings flocculation, thereby increasing the distance between floccules and enhancing the slurry's fluidity. Based on field tests, a semiindustrial flow and deposition experimental platform was established based on similarity theory, which found that the settlement rate of filling slurry with air-entraining agents decreased, improving the expansion ratio. This research is of significant importance for improving the effectiveness of the slurry backfill., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

This study aimed to explore the effects of different brining times on the sensory, physicochemical properties, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of marinated grass carp (MGC). The results showed that different brining time changed the sensory quality, color and texture. The moisture content increased significantly with the extension of brining time, while the salt content, protein content, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and total volatile basic‑nitrogen (TVB-N) decreased ( p <  0.05). Free amino acids indicated that sweet amino acids significantly decreased, but bitter and umami amino acids increased. E -nose and E-tongue could clearly distinguish different MGC samples, and gas chromatography ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) identified a total of 72 VOCs. Among them, 11 key VOCs were screened based on the variable importance of predicted component value (VIP) and relative odor activity value (ROAV), and they showed a high correlation with MGC quality. This study provides a theoretical foundation for enhancing the quality and improving the flavor of MGC., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Desilication in alkaline medium has been widely used in construction of hierarchical zeolites for industrially relevant catalytic processes. The built of hierarchy in zeolites, especially with low aluminum stability or high Si/Al ratio, often suffers from uncontrolled destruction of zeolitic framework, accompanied by a significant loss of microporous domains and intrinsic acidity after desilication. Here, we report a novel and simple methodology for preparation of hierarchical zeolites with highly complete framework and minimum sacrifice of microporosity and acidity. The pre-impregnated amines in zeolite micropores act as inner pore-directing agents (iPDAs), largely protecting the zeolitic framework and moderating the silicon extraction during the alkaline treatment. The resulting hierarchical zeolites exhibit high crystallinity, tunable hierarchy, stable framework, and well-preserved acidity, endowing them with significantly improved mass transport properties and enhanced activities in catalytic conversion of methanol or furfural., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Objectives: To identify instruments assessing the activity and participation of children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and analyze the quality and current level of evidence regarding their measurement properties., Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in January 2023 on PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Chinese Biomedical Databases, Wanfang and China National Knowledge Infrastructure to identify psychometric studies of instruments used to assess activity and participation in children with DCD. The selection process involved 2 independent reviewers who assessed the quality and level of evidence for each instrument using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist., Results: The search yielded 4221 references, of which 96 studies with 28 standardized clinical tests or questionnaires were included. According to the COSMIN criteria, most instruments had sufficient (68 %) or indeterminate (20 %) ratings in terms of their measurement properties. The quality of evidence was mainly high (59 %) or moderate (12 %), as per the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. The Movement Assessment Battery-second Edition was recommended for assessing motor activities (criterion A) based on moderate- to high-quality evidence showing satisfactory ratings for most measurement properties. The Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire-Revised and its Little extension were recommended to provide information on daily activity limitations (criterion B) supported by sufficient measurement properties with moderate- to high-quality evidence. The standardized clinical tests DCDDaily, Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder, Performance Fitness Battery, and the DCDDaily-Questionnaire and Motor Observation Questionnaire for Teachers received acceptable ratings and evidence but had limitations requiring further investigation. More evidence was required for the remaining standardized tests and questionnaires., Conclusion: Various assessment scales have been identified and a clinical decision map has been developed based on their measurement properties and quality of evidence. The clinical decision map provides easily understandable information that helps in selecting evidence-based instruments for research and clinical practice in children with DCD., Registration: The protocol of this review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022327251)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: Medical image segmentation is crucial for improving healthcare outcomes. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been widely applied in medical image analysis; however, their inherent inductive biases limit their ability to capture global contextual information. Vision transformer (ViT) architectures address this limitation by leveraging attention mechanisms to model global relationships; however, they typically require large-scale datasets for effective training, which is challenging in the field of medical imaging due to limited data availability. This study aimed to integrate the advantages of CNN and ViT architectures to improve segmentation performance on small-scale medical image datasets., Methods: In this study, we established a U-shaped network architecture based on a Transformer-assisted convolutional neural network (TAC-UNet). The TAC-UNet is primarily composed of a hybrid structure integrating CNN and Transformer components. Specifically, the hybrid architecture follows a dual-path design in which the Transformer branch continuously conveys global contextual information to the CNN backbone. This allows the CNN backbone to enhance its global perception while building on the local features it extracts, thereby improving its ability to comprehend complex image structures. A channel cross-attention (CCA) module is also incorporated as a bridge between the encoder and decoder to better reconcile the semantic discrepancies between them., Results: Detailed experiments on three public datasets were conducted. Specifically, our model was trained on 30 images from the Multi-organ Nucleus Segmentation (MoNuSeg) training dataset, 85 images from the Gland Segmentation (GlaS) training dataset, and 551 images from the Computer Vision Center Colorectal Cancer-Clinic Database (CVC-ClinicDB) dataset. We evaluated the performance of our model on the corresponding test sets. Our TAC-UNet achieved the best Dice scores (80.36%, 90.70%, and 91.81% on the MoNuSeg, GlaS, and CVC-ClinicDB datasets, respectively) of all the models. Compared to other CNN-based, Transformer-based, and hybrid methods, the TAC-UNet demonstrated significantly superior segmentation performance., Conclusions: Our TAC-UNet model showed advanced segmentation performance on small-scale medical image datasets. The detailed experimental results showed the effectiveness of the method. Our model's code is available at: https://github.com/hejlhello/TAC-UNet., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://qims.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/qims-24-1229/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 AME Publishing Company. All rights reserved.)

In order to disintegrate nuclear fuel rods in the grid connection structure, a 10 kW fiber laser was used to cut a stainless steel simulation component with four layers of 3 mm thick plates and 12 mm gaps. The slit width is regarded as an important indicator to evaluate the cutting quality of the four-layer stainless steel plate. The results showed that good laser cutting quality can be successfully achieved under the proper process parameters. The widths of the cut seams of the four layers of grating after cutting were 1.25, 1.65, 1.80, and 1.92 mm. As the auxiliary gas pressure decreased layer by layer, the metal melting pool for the first two plates was mainly destroyed by the auxiliary gas. The cutting quality was good, and the slit area was mainly austenite with the presence of some ferrite. The third- and fourth-layer plates almost had no gas flow to assist blowing off, so the cut surface was an uneven melting pit, the cutting quality was poor, and the cut seam area ferrite content was higher than the upper plate cut seam area. At the same time, due to the lack of airflow cooling of the bottom plate, high laser energy, and long heating time, grain coarsening occurred, while grain deformation and a large number of dislocations existed. It can provide process support and technical guidance for the disintegration of nuclear fuel rods.

Background: The nature of immunotherapy has rendered it a focal point in the management of glioblastoma (GBM). This bibliometric analysis aimed to analyze the top 100 most cited articles about immunotherapy for GBM to expand the knowledge of research related to this therapeutic approach., Methods: The retrieval of the top 100 articles on "Immunotherapy AND Glioblastoma" was performed using the Web of Science Core Collection database. Relevant details were extracted for bibliometric analysis, and to gain insights, a comparison was made between older and newer articles. Categorical data underwent analysis utilizing Pearson's chi-square test, while continuous data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test., Results: The top 100 articles were distributed across the years 2000 to 2021, with the number of citations ranging from 135 to 1058. Among these articles, publications peaked in 2017 and 2018 (n = 12), and the most common country of correspondence was the USA (n = 73). Clinical Cancer Research was the most cited journal, and authors SAMPSON JH and LIM M had the highest number of papers (n = 6). Newer articles had significantly higher citation rates (p < 0.01), more authors (p < 0.05), more institutes (p < 0.01), and more collaborations between institutions (p < 0.01). Subspecialties showed a trend of more "TME" (1% vs 7%, p = 0.05945) in the before and after group comparison, although this difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05)., Conclusion: The study of the top 100 cited articles on immunotherapy for GBM shows that researchers are actively working together to develop novel approaches to GBM immunotherapy. The high citations, leading countries, journals, and authors, along with evolving research characteristics, indicate a field with great interest and potential. Immunotherapy holds significant promise in GBM treatment., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

We reported herein a visible light mediated de Mayo-type reaction between 1,3-diketones and BCB. The reaction proceeds through a [2π+2σ] cycloaddition and retro-aldol sequence, producing cis-difunctionalized cyclobutanes in high yields with good regio- and diastereoselectivity., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the primary type of lung cancer with the leading cause of fatalities from cancer, and the effective treatment is minimal. Altingia chinensis is a medicinal plant utilized as a traditional folk remedy to alleviate rheumatism, punch injury and paralysis. APE is the petroleum ether extract from A. Chinensis, whose antitumor effects are rarely studied., Purpose: To explore the antitumor effects of APE on NSCLC and its molecular mechanism., Methods: LLC and H1299 cells were used to explore the anticancer effect of APE on NSCLC in vitro. MTT assay and colony formation were employed to evaluate cell viability. Flow cytometry was used to evaluate apoptosis. Wound healing and transwell were employed to evaluate cell migration and invasive capacity. Meanwhile, an LLC tumor-bearing C57BL/6J mice model was established for assessing the anticancer effect of APE on NSCLC in vivo. H&E staining was used to assess histopathology. TUNEL assay was performed to assess apoptosis in tumor tissue. Network pharmacology, CESTA, and kinase assay were employed to analyze potential molecular mechanisms. Western blots were performed to detect proteins involved in apoptosis, EMT, and the PI3K/Akt pathway., Results: This is the first investigation to identify APE's antitumor potential in both NSCLC cells and tumor-bearing mice models. Significantly, APE dose-dependently decreased cell viability and caused morphological changes both in LLC and H1299 cells. Furthermore, APE (31.25, 62.5, and 125 μg/ml) induced apoptosis in NSCLC cells, as demonstrated by increased Annexin V-FITC/PI-stained cells, the cleaved-caspase 3 levels, and the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Additionally, APE suppressed cell migration and invasion by the increase of E-cadherin expression and the downregulation of vimentin, implying that APE inhibited cell metastasis via attenuation of EMT. Importantly, intragastric administration of 100 mg/kg APE significantly inhibited tumor growth without apparent side effects. TUNEL assay confirmed the apoptosis in tumor tissue. Western blots validated the alteration of EMT and apoptotic markers in tumor tissue, which matched the in vitro findings. Moreover, APE directly bound to PI3Kα and inhibited its activity, leading to inhibition of the PI3K-Akt pathway., Conclusion: Overall, APE exhibits anti-tumor effects on NSCLC via induction of apoptosis, attenuation of EMT, and its mechanism involves the suppression of the PI3K/Akt pathway. Our study offers new insights for the identification of novel drug development for NSCLC., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

The effects of different dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) associated with distinct iron conditions (iron deficient (dFe), ferric ions (Fe 3+ ), and colloidal iron (CFe)) on algal growth and arsenate (As(V)) metabolism were systematically evaluated and compared in Microcystis aeruginosa. Two chemical forms of DOP (D-glucose-6-phosphate (GP) and phytic acid (PA)), as well as dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP), were employed as distinct phosphorus environments. The results revealed that As(V) metabolism of M. aeruginosa was more influenced by different phosphorus forms than by different iron conditions. Conversely, the release of microcystins in the media was found to be significantly more affected by the different phosphorus forms than by the iron conditions. Moreover, DOP was observed to promote arsenic (As) biotransformation, particularly the efflux of methylated As from a single algal cell, whereas DIP was found to primarily facilitate As(V) accumulation in algae. The total As metabolism amount per algal cell under PA was observed to be five times that observed under DIP and GP. The influence of iron conditions on the synthesis of algal metabolites was notable, as evidenced by the metabolites identified in algae of aliphatic (δ 1.28-1.68), humic acid-like and aromatic protein-like substances through 1 H-NMR spectra and three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy analysis. This impact was particularly notable at Fe 3+ conditions, due to the role of Fe 3+ as a micronutrient with highly bioavailable forms, which enhanced the synthesis of organic compounds in algae and promoted algal growth. Consequently, Fe 3+ could inhibit As accumulation under DIP but promote it under DOP. The obtained results facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the combined role of different phosphorus forms and iron conditions in algal bloom outbreaks and As(V) metabolism., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Single-atom-catalysts (SACs) with atomically dispersed sites on carbon substrates have attained great advancements in electrocatalysis regarding maximum atomic utilization, unique chemical properties, and high catalytic performance. Precisely regulating the electronic structure of single-atom sites offers a rational strategy to optimize reaction processes associated with the activation of reactive intermediates with enhanced electrocatalytic activities of SACs. Although several approaches are proposed in terms of charge transfer, band structure, orbital occupancy, and the spin state, the principles for how electronic structure controls the intrinsic electrocatalytic activity of SACs have not been sufficiently investigated. Herein, strategies for regulating the electronic structure of carbon-based SACs are first summarized, including nonmetal heteroatom doping, coordination number regulating, defect engineering, strain designing, and dual-metal-sites scheming. Second, the impacts of electronic structure on the activation behaviors of reactive intermediates and the electrocatalytic activities of water splitting, oxygen reduction reaction, and CO 2 /N 2 electroreduction reactions are thoroughly discussed. The electronic structure-performance relationships are meticulously understood by combining key characterization techniques with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Finally, a conclusion of this paper and insights into the challenges and future prospects in this field are proposed. This review highlights the understanding of electronic structure-correlated electrocatalytic activity for SACs and guides their progress in electrochemical applications., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) effectively improves lipid levels in patients with autoimmune diseases. This study aimed to examine the effect of HCQ on lipid profiles in patients with immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy (IgAN) and determine whether alterations in lipid profiles can predict the efficacy of HCQ., Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 77 patients, and the total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TC/HDL-C) decline rate after 3 months of HCQ treatment was selected as a predictor based on receiver operating curve analysis. Patients were then divided into low and high TC/HDL-C decline rate groups based on the optimal cutoff value. The Cox proportional hazard model and Kaplan-Meier curve were used to evaluate the value of the TC/HDL-C decline rate in predicting the efficacy of HCQ in patients with IgAN., Results: Patients in the high TC/HDL-C decline rate group with ≥50% decrease in proteinuria from baseline experienced a significant improvement during the follow-up. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that a high TC/HDL-C decline rate was strongly associated with a higher proteinuria reduction rate in patients with IgAN. Furthermore, multivariate Cox analysis indicated that a higher reduction in the TC/HDL-C ratio (hazard ratio: 2.314; 95% confidence interval: 1.234-4.340; p  = 0.009) was an independent predictive indicator for achieving ≥50% reduction in proteinuria with HCQ therapy in IgAN., Conclusion: HCQ effectively improves lipid profiles in patients with IgAN, and an early decrease in the TC/HDL-C ratio serves as a predictor of better outcomes in patients treated with HCQ.

Iron Dextran is a widely used iron oxide compound to treat iron-deficiency anemia patients in the clinic. Similar to other iron oxide compounds such as Ferumoxytol, it can also be used off-label as an intravascular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent due to its strong iron-induced T2 and T2* shortening effects. In this study, we seek to evaluate the feasibility of using Iron Dextran enhanced multi-echo susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) MRI at 7T to image arterial and venous blood vessels in the human brain. Phantom experiments were performed to measure the r2* relaxivity for Iron Dextran in blood, based on which the SWI sequence was optimized. Pre- and post-infusion MR images were acquired in human subjects from which maps of arteries and veins were extracted. The post-contrast SWI images showed enhanced susceptibility difference between blood and the surrounding tissue in both arteries and veins. Our results showed that the proposed Iron Dextran enhanced multi-echo SWI approach allowed the visualization of blood vessels with diameters down to ~100 μm, including small blood vessels supplying and draining small brain structures such as the hippocampus. We conclude that Iron Dextran can be an alternative iron-based MRI contrast agent for blood vessel imaging in the human brain., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Conclusion: There were significant differences between Vwat and Vbis and between Kt/Vwat and Kt/Vbis. Kt/Vwat may underestimate small-solute dialysis adequacy in most cases. Kt/Vbis instead of Kt/Vwat could be accounted for in creating individualized dialysis prescriptions if the patient has no obvious clinical symptoms.

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the improvements in pulmonary ventilation following a sitting position in ventilated ARDS patients using electrical impedance tomography., Methodology: A total of 17 patients with ARDS under mechanical ventilation participated in this study, including 8 with moderate ARDS and 9 with severe ARDS. Each patient was initially placed in the supine position (S1), transitioned to sitting position (SP) for 30 min, and then returned to the supine position (S2). Patients were monitored for each period, with parameters recorded., Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcome included the spatial distribution parameters of EIT, regional of interest (ROI), end-expiratory lung impedance (ΔEELI), and parameters of respiratory mechanics., Results: Compared to S1, the SP significantly altered the distribution in ROI1 (11.29 ± 4.70 vs 14.88 ± 5.00 %, p = 0.003) and ROI2 (35.59 ± 8.99 vs 44.65 ± 6.97 %, p ＜ 0.001), showing reductions, while ROI3 (39.71 ± 11.49 vs 33.06 ± 6.34 %, p = 0.009), ROI4 (13.35 ± 8.76 vs 7.24 ± 5.23 %, p ＜ 0.001), along with peak inspiratory pressure (29.24 ± 3.96 vs 27.71 ± 4.00 cmH 2 O, p = 0.036), showed increases. ΔEELI decreased significantly ventrally (168.3 (40.33 - 189.5), p ＜ 0.0001) and increased significantly dorsally (461.7 (297.5 - 683.7), p ＜ 0.0001). The PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio saw significant improvement in S2 compared to S1 after 30 min in the seated position (108 (73 - 130) vs 96 (57 - 129) mmHg, p = 0.03)., Conclusions: The sitting position is associated with enhanced compliance, improved oxygenation, and more homogenous ventilation in patients with ventilated ARDS compared to the supine position., Implications for Clinical Practice: It is important to know the impact of postural changes on patient pulmonary ventilation in order to standardize safe practices in critically ill patients. It may be helpful in the management among ventilated patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Despite the advancements in treatment strategies, the long-term survival of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still pessimistic. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of hepatocellular carcinoma may offer substantial benefits for patients. Our previous research has revealed that Hornerin promoted HCC progression by regulating the AKT signaling pathway. To investigate the upstream regulatory mechanism, the results from RNA Immunoprecipitation and RNA pull-down indicated that the specific region of circIPP2A2 interacted with Hornerin. Additionally, patients with circIPP2A2 upregulation exhibited a poorer survival outcome following surgery compared to the cases with downregulated circIPP2A2. After the structure verification of circIPP2A2, loss-of-function studies using a lentiviral vector revealed that circIPP2A2 downregulation significantly inhibited HCC tumorigenesis and progression both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, the m7G-MeRIP results demonstrated significant enrichment of circIPP2A2. Subsequent studies validated that METTL1 influenced the stability of circIPP2A2 and its binding affinity with Hornerin. Immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence indicated that circIPP2A2 served as a molecular scaffold to facilitate Hornerin to interact with PI3K. In conclusion, our findings reveal that circIPP2A2, regulated by N7-methylguanosine modification, promotes malignant behaviors in HCC by serving as a molecular scaffold in modulating the Hornerin/PI3K/AKT/GSK3β axis. Targeting circIPP2A2 may be a promising therapeutic strategy for patients with HCC., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was approved by the ethical committee of Zhujiang Hospital and Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. Informed consent was obtained from all patients. The animal experimental protocols were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Zhujiang Hospital (LAEC-2023-031). All methods were carried out in accordance with the relevant ethical guidelines and regulations., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) show great promise for enhancing food safety and extending shelf life, but traditional screening methods are complex and costly. To address these issues, we developed a deep learning-based prediction pipeline to identify potential AMPs from soil metagenomic data, achieving high accuracy (92.71 %) and precision (91.29 %). Based on model scoring, surface charge, and Hemopred and ToxinPred screenings, we identified nine candidate peptides. Peptide P4 (GTAWRWHYRARS) showed the best binding affinity to MrkH in molecular docking studies and was validated through molecular dynamics simulations. The chemically synthesized P4 demonstrated significant antimicrobial activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus, indicating its potential as an effective alternative to traditional food antimicrobial agents. This study highlights the effectiveness of our integrated prediction pipeline for discovering new AMPs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aimed to compare the coagulation and platelet parameters in women with spontaneous premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) with those in age-matched controls., Methods: This case-control study recruited 202 women with POI and 202 age-matched women with benign gynecological diseases as controls. Coagulation parameters, including prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen, and platelet parameters, including platelet count (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), plateletcrit (PCT), and platelet distribution width (PDW), were compared between women with POI and controls. Factors associated with coagulation and platelet parameters were also analyzed in women with POI., Results: In women with POI, higher fibrinogen levels and PDW, lower PLT, MPV, and PCT levels, and shorter TT were observed (p < 0.001). Linear regression analysis further revealed that women with POI were more likely to exhibit increased serum fibrinogen levels (β = 0.465, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.366-0.564) and PDW (β = 0.340, 95% CI 0.300-0.379), decreased TT (β = -1.101, 95% CI -1.233--0.969), PLT (β = -50.985, 95% CI -65.087--36.882), MPV (β = -1.498, 95% CI -1.875 to -1.120), PCT levels (β = -0.084, 95% CI -0.095--0.973). Additionally, follicle-stimulating hormone levels were positively associated with fibrinogen levels in women with POI. There were no statistically significant differences in PT, INR, and APTT between women with POI and controls., Conclusions: Women with POI exhibited decreased platelet numbers, abnormal platelet morphology, and elevated fibrinogen concentrations, potentially implicating POI's etiopathogenesis or contributing to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in women with POI. No coagulation abnormalities were observed in women with POI., (© 2024 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.)

Critical-sized bone defects present a formidable challenge in tissue engineering, necessitating innovative approaches that integrate osteogenesis and angiogenesis for effective repair. Inspired by the hierarchical porous structure of natural bone, this study introduces a novel method for the scalable production of ultra-long, copper-doped hydroxyapatite (Cu-HAp) fibers, utilizing the rapid gelation properties of guar gum (GG) under controlled conditions. These fibers serve as foundational units to fabricate three-dimensional porous scaffolds with a biomimetic hierarchical architecture. The scaffolds exhibit a broad pore size distribution (1-500 μm) and abundant nanoporous features, mimicking the native bone extracellular matrix. Physicochemical characterization and in vitro assays demonstrated that the copper doping significantly enhanced osteogenic and angiogenic activities, with optimized concentrations (0.8 % and 1.2 % Cu) facilitating the upregulation of osteogenesis-related genes and proteins, as well as promoting endothelial cell proliferation. In vivo studies further confirmed the scaffolds' efficacy, with the 1.2Cu-HAp group showing a remarkable increase in bone regeneration (bone volume/total volume ratio: 35.7 ± 1.87 %) within the defect site. This research offers a promising strategy for the rapid fabrication of multifunctional scaffolds that not only support bone tissue repair but also actively accelerate the healing process through enhanced vascularization., Competing Interests: We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled., (© 2024 The Authors.)

The preparation of ethylene from ethane, a main component of shale gas, has become an important process of the petrochemical industry, using ethane steam cracking at high temperatures (>900 °C), which is a highly energy intensive industry. Here, direct dehydrogenation of ethane is engineered electrochemically to produce ethylene and hydrogen in a proton-conducting electrolysis cell, achieving over 50% ethane conversion and 90.42% ethylene selectivity at 700 °C. On the basis of constructing NiCu bimetallic alloy nano-catalyst on the surface of perovskite Sr 3 Fe 2 O 7 , Hafnium (Hf) element is doped in the bulk phase to improve proton conductivity, establish triple conductivity, and achieve efficient directional conversion of ethane. The carbon dioxide reduction reaction at the cathode is further coupled, resulting in a higher conversion of ethane on the anode side and the production of syngas on the cathode side. This electrochemical reaction process provides a choice for the clean production of high value-added small molecule chemical products., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Channel encroachment intensifies competition among channels and changes the relationships within the supply chain. This study examines the manufacturer's agency channel encroachment decision and its impact when it has already operated a platform reselling channel and a retailer channel on the platform. Equilibrium results reveal that the manufacturer's agency channel encroachment triggers a competition effect, leading to a reduction in market demand for both the platform's reselling channel and the retailer's channel, as a larger share of the market shifts toward the manufacturer's agency channel. To compensate for the losses in sales experienced by the platform and retailer, the manufacturer lowers the wholesale price. The manufacturer consistently benefits from channel encroachment and a Pareto improvement region exists, allowing all supply chain participants to improve their profits. The model is extended to consider sequential decision-making and asymmetric substitution. In comparison, under sequential decision-making, the manufacturer tends to focus more on the competitive effects of channel encroachment, leading to a reduction in channel sales. However, this approach only enhances the manufacturer's agency profit when the retailer's substitution capability is relatively strong. The manufacturer faces greater competitive pressure from the retailer under asymmetric channel substitution. Although the manufacturer increases the wholesale price and adjusts sales across channels according to the competitive situation, its profits are always lower than in the symmetric substitution case. The presence of a Pareto improvement region in the extended model confirms the robustness of our findings., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Heat stress constitutes a serious threat to sesame ( Sesamum indicum L.). Root development during seed germination plays an essential role in plant growth and development. Nevertheless, the regulatory mechanisms underlying heat stress remain poorly understood. In this study, two sesame varieties differing in leaf heat tolerance (Zheng Taizhi 3 (heat-tolerant) and SP19 (heat-sensitive)) have been employed to investigate the impact of heat stress on root growth during germination. The results showed that heat stress significantly reduced the radicle length by 35.71% and 67.02% in Zheng Taizhi 3 and SP19, respectively, while germination rates remained unchanged. In addition, heat stress induced oxidative stress, as evidenced by increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and reduced indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) content, accompanied by enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities, including those of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT), and the abscisic acid (ABA) content significantly increased in both varieties. However, the oxidation resistance in the roots of Zheng Taizhi 3 was enhanced compared to that of SP19 under heat stress, while IAA production was maintained and ABA content was reduced. A comparative transcriptome analysis identified 6164 and 6933 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in Zheng Taizhi 3 and SP19, respectively, with 4346 overlapping DEGs. These DEGs included those related to stress tolerance, such as heat-shock proteins (HSPs), the antioxidant defense system, hormone signal transduction, and the biosynthetic pathway of phenylpropanoid. These findings provide insights into the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying the adaptation of sesame to heat stress, which could inform breeding strategies for developing heat-tolerant sesame varieties.

Objective: Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a remarkable challenge despite considerable advancements in its treatment, due to its high recurrence rate, metastasis, drug resistance, and heterogeneity. Molecular targets that can effectively inhibit CRC growth must be identified to address these challenges. Therefore, we aim to reveal the regulatory effect of ribosomal protein L22-like 1 (RPL22L1) on the proliferation and apoptosis of CRC cells and its potential mechanism., Material and Methods: We detected the expression of RPL22L1 from the Cancer Genome Atlas, Gene Expression Omnibus and UALCAN databases. The effects of RPL22L1 on CRC growth and migration were determined by knocking down RPL22L1 in human CRC cell lines and those on the cell cycle and apoptosis using flow cytometry. The influence of RPL22L1 knockdown on xenograft tumor growth was verified in vivo . The potential RPL22L1 mechanisms in promoting cancer were predicted with RNA sequencing (RNAseq). The molecular mechanism of enhanced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in RPL22L1 knockdown was revealed using real-time reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and Western blotting., Results: The present study reveals a considerable upregulation of RPL22L1 expression in CRC as well as in diverse tumor tissues, and most cells within the CRC tumor microenvironment (TME) demonstrate RPL22L1 expression. Notably, this elevated expression level of RPL22L1 exhibits a strong association with an unfavorable prognosis among patients diagnosed with CRC ( P < 0.05). Furthermore, the association between RPL22L1 expression and the CRC TME index did not exhibit statistical significance ( P > 0.05). However, RPL22L1 knockdown experiments revealed a substantial suppression of growth and migratory capacities in CRC cells RKO and HCT116 ( P < 0.05). Flow cytometry analysis exhibited that on RPL22L1 knockdown, a remarkable arrest of the G1 and S phases of the cell cycle ( P < 0.05) occurred. In addition, a remarkable elevation in the level of cell apoptosis was observed ( P < 0.001). RNAseq exhibited that cell cycle, DNA replication, and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1pathway were inhibited after RPL22L1 knockdown, whereas the apoptosis pathway was activated ( P < 0.05). Validation through RT-qPCR and western blot analysis also corroborated the downregulation of P70S6K, MCM3, MCM7, GADD45B, WEE1, and MKI67 expression levels, following RPL22L1 knockdown ( P < 0.05). Consequent rescue experiments offered supportive evidence, indicating the involvement of the mTOR pathway in mediating the influence of RPL22L1 on the promotion of cell cycle progression. Moreover, in vivo assays involving tumor-bearing mice exhibited that diminished RPL22L1 levels led to arrested CRC growth ( P < 0.05)., Conclusion: These findings support RPL22L1 as a possible prognostic and therapeutic target in CRC, providing novel insights into the development of anticancer medications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Scientific Scholar.)

Spiking neural networks (SNNs) have garnered significant attention owing to their adeptness in processing temporal information, low power consumption, and enhanced biological plausibility. Despite these advantages, the development of efficient and high-performing learning algorithms for SNNs remains a formidable challenge. Techniques such as artificial neural network (ANN)-to-SNN conversion can convert ANNs to SNNs with minimal performance loss, but they necessitate prolonged simulations to approximate rate coding accurately. Conversely, the direct training of SNNs using spike-based backpropagation (BP), such as surrogate gradient approximation, is more flexible and widely adopted. Nevertheless, our research revealed that the shape of the surrogate gradient function profoundly influences the training and inference accuracy of SNNs. Importantly, we identified that the shape of the surrogate gradient function significantly affects the final training accuracy. The shape of the surrogate gradient function is typically manually selected before training and remains static throughout the training process. In this article, we introduce a novel k-based leaky integrate-and-fire (KLIF) spiking neural model. KLIF, featuring a learnable parameter, enables the dynamic adjustment of the height and width of the effective surrogate gradient near threshold during training. Our proposed model undergoes evaluation on static CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100 data sets, as well as neuromorphic CIFAR10-DVS and DVS128-Gesture data sets. Experimental results demonstrate that KLIF outperforms the leaky Integrate-and-Fire (LIF) model across multiple data sets and network architectures. The superior performance of KLIF positions it as a viable replacement for the essential role of LIF in SNNs across diverse tasks., (© 2024 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.)