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Medical tourism is a policy area with obvious policy connotations. Drawing on public policy theories and frameworks to explore the development of medical tourism policies can give an understanding of the future development trends of the medical tourism industry. This research uses public policy research methods and analyzes the characteristics of China’s medical tourism policy texts from three perspectives: structural characteristics, evolution stages, and development process. This analysis comprehensively and scientifically reflects the status of China’s medical tourism policy. This research has shed some light on the theory and practice of medical tourism development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructing crystalline covalent organic frameworks (COF) robust 3D reusable macroscopic objects exposing more adsorption sites with high water flux for use as a filter is an unresolved challenge. A simple scalable procedure is shown for making a robust, highly compressible 3D crystalline COF nanowire interconnected porous open‐cell sponge. The compressive strength and Young's modulus (80% strain) of the sponge are 175 and 238 kPa, respectively. The sponge can withstand multiple compression‐release cycles and a load of 2800 times its weight without collapsing. As an exemplary application, the use of a COF sponge in the selective removal and separation of cationic model dye from a mixture of dyes in water by adsorption and filtration with >99% efficiency is shown. Depending on the dye concentration, the dye removal time can be as short as 2 min, and dye adsorption efficiency can be as high as 653 mg g−1 (COF in the sponge). During filtration, the sponges as filters show a high water flux of 2355 L h−1 m−2 under ambient conditions and maintain their performance for many cycles. The lightweight, reusability, and efficiency make present sponges sustainable materials as adsorbents and filters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical tourism has witnessed a phenomenal developed pace in recent years, but academic efforts continue to center on a western context and fail to shed light on other emerging medical tourism destinations. This study adopts a hybrid review approach to map out the evolution of Chinese medical tourism studies. A total of 183 articles published in both Chinese and international journals from 2000 to 2020 have been collected to delineate the evolution of Chinese medical tourism research in different dimensions (e.g., publication year, published journals, etc.); analyze the popular research topics of this domain under different disciplinary lens and further identify the research gaps. Findings suggest that existing studies are marketing-oriented and lack robust underpinning of empirical work with appropriate theories. Future research agenda for both researchers and practioners are provided in terms of the facilitation of different stakeholders' cooperation, understanding of diaspora medical tourists, and the development of traditional Chinese medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunosenescence is the degeneration of immunological organs and cells due to aging. Some plants and fungi may have anti-aging benefits through regulating immunosenescence. In this study, mice were fed with two dietary supplement products: Zeng Jian Health Tonic (ZJ) contains extracts from Lentinula edodes, Poria cocos, Tremella fuciformis, cassia seed, Flammulina velutipes, Fructus lycii, chrysanthemum, and mulberry. Zhen Yuan Capsule (ZY) contains extracts from Ganoderma lucidum, Semen cuscutae, Poria cocos, Schisandra chinensis, Codonopsis pilosula, and Atractylodes macrocephala. In addition, the immune organ index, immune cell functions, inflammatory cytokines, and antioxidant enzyme activities were evaluated. The combination of ZJ and ZY could restore the function of lymphocytes and NK cells; decrease the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1α, IL-1β, and GM-CSF; increase the level of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-5; and enhance superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities. Therefore, combining ZJ with ZY has anti-aging effects on elderly mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self‐standing metal‐organic framework (MOF) membranes open up several application areas where their use in the powder form is either not possible or non‐sustainable. Most MOF membranes are prepared as a thin layer either on a supporting substrate or used as a composite membrane with additional supporting material. In this work, we present the preparation procedure for making highly stable, easy‐to‐handle, reusable, efficient pure MOF membranes (UiO‐66‐SO3H and UiO‐66‐NH2 membranes; thickness 240±12 μm and 265±10 μm, respectively) with hollow fiber morphology and their use in cascade reactions in one‐pot catalyzed by incompatible acid‐base in tea‐bag‐type concept. The catalytic performance of the catalyst membranes was tested by reacting benzaldehyde dimethyl acetal with three active methylene compounds. The membranes exhibited excellent catalytic activity in cascade reactions in one pot (the yield of the product was as high as 99.9 %) and can be reutilized up to 15 times without any significant loss in activity. Stable pure MOF membranes, as shown in this work, would be of interest for several other applications beyond catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the large number of online courses currently available, learners may have difficulty choosing the appropriate course, so online education institutions have launched a free trial marketing approach. The factors influencing learners’ continuous usage of online courses in the mode of course trial have become a prominent and meaningful topic. Online education platforms have also introduced a series of virtual management services for online learning through online communication media, but their effectiveness has not been fully studied. Based on the updated DeLone and McLean information systems success model (D&M model), this study investigated the impact of the online course content and learning platform on learners’ continuous usage of online courses and the mediating mechanism, as well as explored the moderating role of virtual management. The empirical study (N = 371) showed that online course content matching (demand matching, ability matching) and perceived learning platform characteristics (perceived vividness, perceived ease of use) positively influenced continuous usage through satisfaction, and virtual management had a significant inverted U-shaped moderating effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heterogeneous gold(I)-catalyzed oxidative ring expansion of alkynyl quinols has been achieved by using a benzyldiphenylphosphine-modified MCM-41-immobilized gold(I) complex [MCM-41–BnPh2P–AuNTf2] as the catalyst and 8-methylquinoline N-oxide as the oxidant under mild reaction conditions, yielding a variety of functionalized tropone derivatives in good to excellent yields. Extension of this methodology allows for facile construction of other seven- or six-membered ring systems including dibenzotropones, dibenzooxepines, phenanthrenes, and quinolin-2(1H)-ones. This new heterogeneous gold(I) complex can be readily recovered through a simple filtration process and recycled at least eight times without any apparent decrease in catalytic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Intranasal RBD subunit vaccine induced a potent humoral response against SARS-CoV-2. • Intranasal RBD subunit vaccine induced a significant mucosal immunity. • A non-invasive intranasal vaccine is a promising strategy for SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The emergence of the global Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic underscores the importance of the rapid development of a non-invasive vaccine that can be easily administered. A vaccine administered by nasal delivery is endowed with such characteristics against respiratory viruses. In this study, we generated a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD)-based subunit vaccine. Mice were immunized via intranasal inoculation, microneedle-intradermal injection, or intramuscular injection, after which the RBD-specific immune responses were compared. Results showed that when administrated intranasally, the vaccine elicited a robust systemic humoral immunity with high titers of IgG antibodies and neutralizing antibodies as well as a significant mucosal immunity. Besides, antigen-specific T cell responses were also analyzed. These results indicated that the non-invasive intranasal administration should be explored for the future SARS-CoV-2 vaccine design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterogeneous tandem cyclization of 2-alkynylbenzamides with ammonium acetate is achieved in acetonitrile at 85 °C using a magnetic nanoparticles-immobilized bipy-gold(III) complex and AgSbF6 as catalysts to afford a variety of 1-aminoisoquinoline derivatives in moderate to high yields. This heterogeneous gold catalyst can be easily recovered from the reaction mixture by simply applying an external magnetic field and can be recycled at least seven times without any apparent loss of catalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apatinib has been demonstrated to be effective and safe among patients with gastric cancer failing after at least two lines chemotherapy. This study aimed to evaluate its effectiveness and safety of low‐dose apatinib for the treatment of gastric cancer in real‐world practice. We performed a prospective, multicenter observation study in a real‐world setting. Patients with advanced gastric cancer more than 18 years old were eligible and received low‐dose apatinib (500 mg or 250mg per day) therapy. The median progression‐free survival (PFS), median overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and safety were assessed. Between September 2017 and April 2019, a total of 747 patients were enrolled. The mPFS was 5.56 months (95% CI 4.47‐6.28), and mOS was 7.5 months (95% CI 6.74‐8.88). Four patients achieved complete response, 47 achieved partial response, and 374 patients achieved stable disease. The ORR was 6.83% and DCR was 56.89%. In addition, multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that hand‐foot syndrome was one independent predictor for PFS and OS. The most common adverse events (AEs) at any grade were hypertension (36.55%), proteinuria (10.26%), hand‐foot syndrome (33.53%), fatigue (24.9%), anemia (57.35%), leukopenia (44.49%), thrombocytopenia (34.21%), and neutropenia (53.33%). Grade 3‐4 AEs with incidences of 5% or greater were anemia (13.97%), thrombocytopenia (7.14%), and neutropenia (6.67%). No treatment‐related death was observed during the treatment of apatinib. The prospective study suggested that low‐dose apatinib was an effective regimen for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer with tolerable or controlled toxicity in real world. Trial registration: NCT03333967. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heterogeneous gold(I)-catalyzed highly para -selective C(sp2)–H bond alkylation of benzene derivatives with α-aryl-α-diazoesters possessing electron-withdrawing substituents on the aryl rings are achieved. The reactions proceed under mild conditions in good to excellent yields by using an MCM-41-anchored diphenylphosphine gold(I) complex [MCM-41-PPh2-AuOTf] as a recyclable catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

g-C3N4 has been widely investigated in photocatalytic water splitting, even though they still suffer low specific surface area and high carrier recombination. Here Co-doped g-C3N4 (Co–C3N4) has been successfully synthesized under an argon atmosphere to 550 °C for 4 h via pyrolysis of an organic–inorganic hybrid precursor which was pre-prepared through the hydrothermal procedure. The Co–C3N4 possesses a higher specific surface area of 82 m2/g, which is 16.4 times as high as that of the bulk g-C3N4. On the other hand, the in situ Co doping can extend the light absorption region to visible light and greatly improve the charge transfer rate. Both the changes in surface area and optical property are beneficial to the photocatalytic reaction. The Co–C3N4 photocatalyst with the optimal ratio of cyanuric acid to melamine for 1:40 exhibited an excellent H2 production rate of 741.6 µmol g−1 h−1 under Xe lamp irradiation. The possible formation mechanism of tubular Co–C3N4 is proposed. Meanwhile, designing unique organic–inorganic hybrid structures may open up a new way for excellent photocatalytic water splitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excess nitrate (NO3−) in water mainly comes from agricultural fertilization and industrial wastewater, which breaks the nitrogen balance and poses a serious threat to the environment and human health. Driven by renewable energy, the electrocatalytic NO3− reduction to ammonia (NH3) (ENO3RA) is an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology. Due to its special structure, copper (Cu) is currently one of the best catalysts for ENO3RA, but the reaction mechanism and the structure–activity relationships of catalysts are still not clear enough. In‐situ characterization is a powerful tool to gain insight into the reaction process. This review introduces several types of in‐situ techniques such as in‐situ XAS, in‐situ FTIR and in‐situ DEMS, summarizes five pathways for converting *NO as the key intermediate to NH3 during ENO3RA on Cu‐based catalysts. The research progress of Cu‐based electrocatalysts in recent years is sorted out from the aspects of composition and structure, and the catalytic mechanisms are discussed with the help of in‐situ characterization technologies. This review would be of help to provide reference characterization methods for exploring the mechanism and the design of electrocatalysts for ENO3RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has a high agricultural output and is a significant carbon emitter; thus, reducing carbon emissions in the agricultural sector is crucial for achieving carbon neutrality. To address this, China implemented the National Agricultural Sustainable Development Experimental Demonstration Zone policy in 2018, in which reducing agricultural carbon emissions (ACE) is a subject of concern. We explore the impact of the policy on agricultural carbon emissions reduction (ACER) using the propensity score matching and differences-in-differences (PSM-DID) methods with a series of robustness tests based on the panel data of prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2020. The results indicate that: (1) the policy significantly reduces carbon emissions and impacts carbon emission sources, with the results passing the robustness tests. (2) According to the mechanism test, agricultural financial support mediates carbon emissions reduction, and the policy reduces these emissions by decreasing the intensity of fiscal support. (3) The heterogeneity analysis illustrates that the carbon emissions reduction effect is more evident in cities with a small urban-rural income gap and a high proportion of agricultural output value. Finally, we provide suggestions to reduce carbon emissions from the perspective of national and local governments. This paper is particularly relevant for achieving sustainable agriculture development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochemical reduction of nitrate to ammonia (ERNA) is a new process to recycle nitrogen resource from nitrate polluted wastewater. Nevertheless, how to optimize active sites on electrode to improve activity is a key challenge. Here, we proposed that building interfacial electric field could enhance ERNA. XPS analysis, DFT calculations and in-situ electrochemical measurements confirmed that high Fermi level of Cu (1.09 eV) and low valence band maximum of CoO (−0.23 eV) formed interfacial electric field in CoO/Cu electrode to transfer electron from Cu to CoO, resulting in positively charged Cu (+0.01 eV) increase nitrate adsorption, whereas negatively charged CoO (−0.007 eV) decrease NO adsorption, improving removal and selectivity greatly for boosting ERNA. Eventually, CoO/Cu foam (Co/Cu ratio of 3.05) achieved the highest ammonia yield of 4.3 mg cm−2 h−1 with faradic efficiency of 96.7 %, surpassing Cu foam (1.2 mg cm−2 h−1) and CoO/Ni foam (1.3 mg cm−2 h−1) electrodes. [Display omitted] • Building interfacial electric filed to adjust charge of active sites on CoO/Cu electrode. • Cu foam of positive charge increased NO 3 − adsorption for improving nitrate removal. • CoO of negative charge decreased NO adsorption for increasing selectivity. • CoO/Cu foam attained ammonia yield of 4.3 mg cm-2 h-1 with faradic efficiency of 96.7 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Consumers associate natural imagery in the food's visual background with health. • Natural imagery leads to positive product attitudes through health associations. • The above effect is described as the "health metaphor effect." • This effect is present in healthy products. • This effect is stronger when food imagery shows a processed (vs. raw) state. Prior studies have primarily concentrated on the role of food imagery, which depicts the food itself or its ingredients, in conveying food messages, with less emphasis on background imagery. Background imagery, which often carries symbolic or metaphorical meanings through the depiction of food-related and non-food-related subjects, also serves as a vital medium for communicating food messages. This study investigates the role of natural imagery, a type of background imagery, in transmitting health-related attributes of food. This study employed an implicit association test (IAT) alongside three scenario experiments. The findings demonstrate that natural imagery triggers a health association with food, leading to a favorable product attitude, referred to as the "health metaphor effect." Subsequently, the boundary conditions for this effect were examined, revealing its presence in healthy product categories as opposed to unhealthy ones. Building upon these findings, the study also assessed the influence of food imagery in food visuals on the role of natural imagery. The result indicates that, for healthy foods, the health metaphor effect is more pronounced when the food imagery is depicted in a processed (vs. raw) state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chain-like PtCu nanowires were successfully synthesized in the absence of any templates or surfactants by a facile chemical co-reaction approach. The resulting PtCu nanowires were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrochemical techniques. Utilized as electrocatalysts, the PtCu nanowires exhibit superior catalytic activity toward both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) compared to commercially carbon-supported platinum (Pt/C-JM) catalyst, indicating their potential applications in fuel cell. In addition, the effect of the relative distribution of PtCu and PtCu 3 alloy phases coexisting in PtCu nanowires catalysts on the ORR activity was also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of dwarfing genes in wheat breeding has reduced plant height, improved lodging resistance and increased the harvest index. The effects of dwarf genes Rht4 and Rht4 + Rht8 on early vigor, morphology and grain yield traits in bread wheat were evaluated using the F 4 , F 5 and F 6 dwarf lines derived from Chinese wheat cultivars Xifeng20 and Jinmai47 (with Rht8 ) with Burt ert 937 ( Rht4 donor) in three crop seasons under rainfed conditions. The results showed that Rht4 did not affect coleoptile length but increased maximum length, total length and surface area of roots, while root diameter was reduced. Compared with their tall parents, plant height was reduced by 8.8–15.3% and 7.4–17.7% in the Rht4 and Rht4 + Rht8 dwarf lines, respectively. The length and diameter of the internodes other than the peduncle was significantly reduced. The length, width and area of flag leaf were not affected in the Rht4 + Rht8 dwarf lines but were increased in the Rht4 dwarf lines. Grain number per spike was reduced in the Rht4 and Rht4 + Rht8 dwarf lines. Finally, the 1000–kernal weight, aboveground biomass and grain yield were also reduced in the Rht4 dwarf lines, while they were increased in the Rht4 + Rht8 dwarf lines. These results revealed that the dwarfing gene Rht4 had moderate effects on plant height and the combinations of Rht4 and Rht8 could reduce plant height to a desirable level and improve yield-related traits in the rainfed cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteochondral defects cannot be adequately self-repaired due to the presence of the sophisticated hierarchical structure and the lack of blood supply in cartilage. Thus, one of the major challenges remaining in this field is the structural design of a biomimetic scaffold that satisfies the specific requirements for osteochondral repair. To address this hurdle, a bio-inspired multilayer osteochondral scaffold that consisted of the poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and the hydroxyapatite (HA)/PCL microspheres, was constructed via selective laser sintering (SLS) technique. The SLS-derived scaffolds exhibited an excellent biocompatibility to support cell adhesion and proliferation in vitro . The repair effect was evaluated by implanting the acellular multilayer scaffolds into osteochondral defects of a rabbit model. Our findings demonstrated that the multilayer scaffolds were able to induce articular cartilage formation by accelerating the early subchondral bone regeneration, and the newly formed tissues could well integrate with the native tissues. Consequently, the current study not only achieves osteochondral repair, but also suggests a promising strategy for the fabrication of bio-inspired multilayer scaffolds with well-designed architecture and gradient composition via SLS technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To clinically evaluate a type of patented automated anesthesia cart in medication administrations in anesthesia.Materials and Methods: This was a prospectively randomized open label clinical trial. In 10 designated operating suits in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, in China. 1066 cases originated from 10,812 medication administrations in anesthesia were randomized. 78 registered anesthesiologists managed the medication. The patients received medication administrations in anesthesia with either an automated or a conventional manual cart. American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, sex, duration of anesthesia and surgical specialty, errors in administration of medications (incorrect medication given (substitution), medication not given (omission) and drug recordings errors"), compliance and satisfaction were recorded.Results: The total error rate was 7.3% with the automated anesthesia carts (1 in 14 administrations) and 11.9% with conventional manual carts (1 in 8 administrations). Automated anesthesia carts significantly reduced the drug recording error rate compared to conventional manual carts (P<0.01). However, no significant difference of substitution or errors omission errors was found between groups of automated anesthesia carts and conventional manual carts. The anesthesiologists' compliance with the automated anesthesia carts was unsatisfactory, and all the errors in medication recordings with the automated anesthesia carts were due to the incorrect use of the carts. Most of the participating anesthesiologists preferred the automated anesthesia carts (P<0.05).Conclusions: The utilization of automated anesthesia carts reduced the drug recording errors in medication administrations of anesthesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The objective of the study was to observe the efficacy and safety of pulsatile administration of high-dose gefitinib or erlotinib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC) with secondary drug resistance to standard doses of tyrosine kinase inhibitor ( TKI) treatment. Materials and methods We recruited 42 NSCLC patients from our hospital, between August 2014 and December 2015, who had experienced drug resistance after one year of conventional treatment with gefitinib or erlotinib. The gefitinib group (29 patients) received one dose of 1000 mg gefitinib every four days. The erlotinib group (13 patients) received one dose of 450 mg erlotinib every three days. Treatments continued until disease progression according to Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors 1.1 or development of intolerable toxicity. Results Median progression-free survival ( PFS) was 30 months (gefitinib vs. erlotinib: 31 vs. 24 months; P > 0.05). After high-dose pulsatile administration, eight patients achieved a partial response ( PR), 11 had stable disease ( SD), and 23 had progressive disease ( PD; relative risk 19.0%; disease control rate 45.2%; median PFS six months). Patients were categorized based on epidermal growth factor receptor gene mutation: exon 19 (no patients achieved complete response [ CR], 4 PR, 6 SD, and 17 PD) and exon 21 mutation groups (no patients achieved CR, 4 PR, 5 SD, and 6 PD). Conclusion High-dose TKI pulsatile treatment is safe, efficient, and can improve prognoses for certain patients with advanced NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A silanization process was employed to transfer hydrophobic quantum dots (QDs) prepared via an organic route at high temperature into water phase. The QDs were further coated with a thin organic SiO shell to form QDs@SiO composite nanoparticles by ligand exchange or remaining initial organic ligands on the surface. In this study, QDs with different ligands, either trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) or oleic acid (OA), were employed to investigate the effects of ligands on the reverse micelles in preparing QDs@SiO nanoparticles. In the preparing process, hydrophobic QDs were silanized by partially hydrolyzed tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). For TOPO-capped CdSe QDs, surface TOPO ligands were completely replaced by partially hydrolyzed TEOS. As for OA-capped CdSe/CdZnS QDs, surface OA ligands were partially replaced. It was found that the ligand exchange drastically reduced the photoluminescence (PL) efficiency of CdSe QDs. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity studies of QDs@SiO have been carried out in detail. The results indicate that CdSe/CdZnS QDs@SiO composite nanoparticles exhibit lower cytotoxicity compared with CdSe QDs@SiO, because the SiO shell and remained OA ligand layer can effectively prevent the leakage of toxic Cd ions. Meanwhile, it was found that these CdSe/CdZnS QDs@SiO nanocomposites could keep excellent PL properties even for 24 h incubating with Siha cells, which indicating that our prepared composite nanoparticles are potentially applicable for cell imaging in biological systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fabrication of bulk biomaterials with controlled structures and excellent properties is increasingly important in tissue engineering, but remains a major challenge in the current stage. Herein we used selective laser sintering (SLS) to construct a series of three-dimensional (3D) bone scaffolds with uniform multi-scaled porosity, moderate mechanical properties as well as good biocompatibility. As starting architectural units for SLS, the pure microspheres of polycaprolactone (PCL) and the composite microspheres of PCL and hydroxyapatite (HA) were firstly synthesized via a modified solvent evaporation method, respectively. Our findings showed that the as-prepared microspheres exhibited the uniform size and monodispersity. Moreover, the microsphere-based 3D scaffolds generated by SLS technique showed a multi-scaled porous structure, and adequate mechanical features. Both in vitro and in vivo evaluations further demonstrated that the resultant SLS-derived scaffolds can not only manipulate multiple stem cell behaviors including promoting cell adhesion, supporting cell proliferation and inducing cell differentiation in vitro , but also showed an excellent histocompatibility and induced the vascularization of newly formed tissue in vivo . Consequently, our current study suggests a feasible and effective protocol for fabricating new biomimetic bone biomaterials via SLS technique, also paves a new way for other bulk biomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rht8 is the only GA-responsive dwarfing gene used in wheat grown in rainfed or irrigation-limited areas. To assess an alternative dwarfing gene, the effects of GA-responsive dwarfing gene Rht13 on plant height and some agronomic traits were compared with Rht8 in this study. The four homozygous genotypes of the F 2 individuals, F 2:3 and F 3:4 lines derived from the cross between Jinmai47 ( Rht8 ) and Magnif M1 ( Rht13 ) were used to evaluate and compare the effects of Rht13 and Rht8. The coleoptile length and seedling root characteristics was conducted under laboratory conditions, while plant height and various yield components were evaluated in field environments in northwest China. Rht13 significantly shortened the length of all internodes (except the basal internode) and reduced final plant height by 30.3% (30.1 cm) on average, while Rht8 mainly reduced peduncle length alone to obtain a plant stature shortened by only 15.7% (16.0 cm). The greater effect of Rht13 on plant height resulted in the distance from spike to flag leaf ligule being decreased by 97.7%. The effect of Rht13 was even greater when combined with Rht8 (104.9%), such that the spikes failed to fully emerge from the flag leaf sheath. Compared with tall genotypes, coleoptile length and seedling root characteristics were not significantly affected by either Rht13 or Rht8 , which might favor the utilization of Rht13 or Rht13 + Rht8 in rainfed and irrigation-limited areas. Fewer grains spike −1 were observed in lines with Rht13 alone (18.2%) and with both dwarfing genes ( Rht13 + Rht8 , 18.9%), whereas there was no significant difference between the lines with Rht8 alone and tall lines. Rht13 and Rht8 reduced biomass plant −1 by 27.9% and 25.2% and grain yield plant −1 by 29.0% and 17.4%, respectively. Rht13 did not affect 1000-kernel weight and harvest index whereas Rht8 significantly increased 1000-kernel weight and harvest index. In the rainfed winter wheat environment encountered in northwest China, Rht13 reduced grain number spike −1 significantly. This effect may be due to the very short distance from spike to flag leaf ligule. This undesirable effect may be improved through selection. If so, then there is potential for using Rht13 in wheat improvement in rainfed and irrigation-limited areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important component of the travel experience, tourists' emotional experience plays a key role in tourists' satisfaction and behavioral intentions. This research starts from two perspectives of on-site emotional experience and memory emotional experience and combines the emotional profile with the individual's spatial and temporal activities to understand the individual's travel experience more deeply. This study takes the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum as a case study, obtains multi-source research data through offline field investigation and online web crawlers, and explores tourists' emotional experiences from two perspectives of on-site emotion and memory emotion. This study draws the emotional map of tourists in the scenic area based on the characteristics of the types of emotional experience and the law of time and space in the scenic area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonium as the major reduction intermediate has always been the limitation of nitrate reduction by cathodic reduction or nano zero-valent iron (nZVI). In this work, we report the electrochemical nitrate removal by magnetically immobilized nZVI anode on RuO 2 –IrO 2 /Ti plate with ammonia-oxidizing function. This system shows maximum nitrate removal efficiency of 94.6% and nitrogen selectivity up to 72.8% at pH of 3.0, and it has also high nitrate removal efficiency (90.2%) and nitrogen selectivity (70.6%) near neutral medium (pH = 6). As the increase of the applied anodic potentials, both nitrate removal efficiency (from 27.2% to 94.6%) and nitrogen selectivity (70.4%–72.8%) increase. The incorpration of RuO 2 –IrO 2 /Ti plate with ammonia-oxidizing function on the nZVI anode enhances the nitrate reduction. The dosage of nZVI on RuO 2 –IrO 2 /Ti plate (from 0.2 g to 0.6 g) has a slight effect (the variance is no more than 10.0%) on the removal performance. Cyclic voltammetry, Tafel analysis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were further used to investigate the reaction mechanisms occurring on the nZVI surfaces in terms of CV curve area, corrosion voltage, corrosion current density and charge-transfer resistance. In conclusion, high nitrate removal performance of magnetically immobilized nZVI anode coupled with RuO 2 –IrO 2 /Ti plate may guide the design of improved electrochemical reduction by nZVI-based anode for practical nitrate remediation. [Display omitted] • Electrochemical nitrate removal was performed on nZVI/RuO 2 –IrO 2 /Ti anode. • High nitrate removal efficiency and nitrogen selectivity was achieved near neutral medium. • Electro-denitrification activity and N 2 selectivity was evaluated under different parameters. • The mechanisms were proposed based on physiochemical and electrochemical properties of anode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy has been proved to be a promising therapy for drug-resistant cancers. In this study, we report, for the first time, a novel two-fold interpenetration pillar-layered metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) material, using BODIPY-derivate bipyridine as linker and Photosensitizer (PS), named BBP-MOFs, was successfully synthesized to serve as a drug carrier and Photodynamic agent simultaneously. The BBP-MOFs could generate singlet oxygen (1O 2) to perform PDT under 660 nm light irradiation, in the meantime, the anticancer drugs doxorubicin (DOX) could be loaded for chemotherapy. The results showed that BBP-MOFs exhibited a high drug loading content of 49.7% a controlled drug release and ideal biocompatibility. This DOX loaded BBP-MOFs was readily taken up by HeLa cells, and high levels of 1O 2 were generated under light irradiation. This work provided strong evidence for BBP-MOFs as a promising new anticancer drug carrier and PDT candidate, the PDT and chemotherapy combined synergistic therapy revealed high therapeutic efficacy for cancer cells. • A novel two-fold interpenetration pillar-layered metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) material. • The combination of DOX-mediated chemotherapy and BBP-MOFs-based PDT. • BBP-MOFs exhibited a high drug loading and ideal biocompatibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind power technology is developing rapidly in China. Especially in the north of China, decentralized wind power (DWP) has developed rapidly. However, wind curtailment exceeds 4% of the gross generation, which has become an important obstacle restricting the development of DWP in 2019. Technical schemes are effective solutions to promote decentralized wind power consumption (DWPC). Moreover, there are few economic analyses of DWP projects with key technologies. This paper summarizes the typical technical schemes and analyzes the economy of a DWP grid-connected project with typical technical schemes by combining methods of the net present value (NPV) and real options (RO). It appears that the DWP project can be profitable with an NPV of about CNY 4.3721 million and an option value of CNY 16.6022 million in the case of a feed-in tariff of 0.34 CNY/kWh. Feed-in tariff and equipment investment costs are the most relevant parameters for economic feasibility according to the sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, 30.73 million kWh connects to the Mengxi grid each year. The project has an annual maximum CO2 emission reduction of about 31 thousand tons and an SO2 of about 0.1 thousand tons. In addition, it also realizes fine social benefits, including the support of local residents and the improvement of local new urbanization levels. Finally, this paper puts forward policy suggestions for the development of DWP mainly from an economic point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifunctional chitosan-based nanoparticles were designed and synthesized by photosensitizer (PS) AZA-BODIPY grafting water-soluble chitosan as nanoshells and then loaded drug methotrexate (MTX) into the nanoshells, which generated chemotherapy, photothermal therapy (PTT), photodynamic therapy (PDT) and imaging into one system for synergistic therapy in vitro. The nanoshells in this designed nanostructure can serve as drug carriers to increase solubility, reduce toxicity and enhance the efficacy of synergistic PTT and PDT. Cell-viability indicated the low toxicity and safety of chitosan-based AZA-BODIPY nanoshells as carrier materials and the low-drug dosage of chitosan-based nanoparticles (half-maximal inhibitory concentration, IC 50 = 34.5 μg/mL) is lower than that of pure drug MTX (IC 50 = 56.9 μg/mL). Under light irradiation, photothermal temperature and MTT studies show that nanoparticles produce reactive oxygen species and exhibit photothermal conversion efficiency (38.3%). Thus, this study provides a multifunctional nanoparticle with chemotherapy, photothermal, photodynamic and imaging, synergistic therapy and diagnose for cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A heterogeneous gold(I)-catalyzed regioselective hydration of propargyl acetates has been developed that proceeds smoothly in 1,4-dioxane at room temperature in the presence of 1 mol% diphenylphosphine-modified MCM-41-anchored gold(I) complex [Ph 2 P-MCM-41-AuSbF 6 as catalyst and provides an efficient and practical approach for the synthesis of a variety of α-acyloxy methyl ketones with high atom economy, good to excellent yield, and high functional group tolerance. This new immobilized gold(I) catalyst can readily be obtained by a simple preparative procedure from commercially available reagents, and recovered via a filtration process and reused at least seven times without apparent loss of activity. Image 1 • The heterogeneous Ph 2 P-MCM-41-AuSbF 6 complex was first prepared. • This gold(I) catalyst showed the same catalytic activity as Ph 3 PAuCl/AgSbF 6 system. • The reaction generated a variety of α-acyloxy methyl ketones in high yields. • The gold(I) catalyst can be recycled up to 8 times with almost consistent activity. • Our catalytic system provides a new and practical route to α-acyloxy methyl ketones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone tissue engineering utilizes three critical elements – cells, scaffolds, and bioactive factors – to recapitulate the bone tissue microenvironment, inducing the formation of new bone. Recent advances in materials development have enabled the production of scaffolds that more effectively mimic the hierarchical features of bone matrix, ranging from molecular composition to nano/micro-scale biochemical and physical features. This review summarizes recent advances within the field in utilizing these features of native bone to guide the hierarchical design of materials and scaffolds. Biomimetic strategies discussed in this review cover several levels of hierarchical design, including the development of element-doped compositions of bioceramics, the usage of molecular templates for in vitro biomineralization at the nanoscale, the fabrication of biomimetic scaffold architecture at the micro- and nanoscale, and the application of external physical stimuli at the macroscale to regulate bone growth. Developments at each level are discussed with an emphasis on their in vitro and in vivo outcomes in promoting osteogenic tissue development. Ultimately, these hierarchically designed scaffolds can complement or even replace the usage of cells and biological elements, which present clinical and regulatory barriers to translation. As the field progresses ever closer to clinical translation, the creation of viable therapies will thus benefit from further development of hierarchically designed materials and scaffolds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Angiogenesis plays a pivotal role in tissue development and regeneration, but few safe and efficient pro-angiogenic factors are available for long-term clinical therapy. Although stem cell-derived exosomes exhibit excellent biocompatibility and considerable pro-angiogenic capacity, their low yield extremely limits their clinical potential. Exosome-mimetics (EMs) employ similar features to exosomes and can be produced in a higher yield. In this study, the HY-EMs were produced to enhance in vitro and in vivo pro-angiogenic ability from hypoxia-preconditioned bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) using a serial extrusion method. The yield of EMs was over 10 times greater than that of exosomes. Furthermore, compared with the EMs group, the tube number of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in vitro doubled in the HY-EMs treated group, and the number of blood vessels increased by 186% in subcutaneously implanted scaffold with HY-EMs. More importantly, the HY-EMs effectively promoted vascularized osteogenesis in a critical-sized cranial defect model, with the new bone volume and vessel number in regenerated bone increased to 120% and 175%, respectively. Consequently, our current work provides a promising strategy to customize and mass-produce functional EMs for vascularized osteogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cadonilimab is a bispecific antibody that simultaneously targets programmed cell death receptor-1 and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4. This study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of cadonilimab plus anlotinib for the first-line treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without sensitizing EGFR/ALK/ROS1 mutations. Methods: Patients received cadonilimab 15 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg every three weeks (Q3W) plus anlotinib at doses of 10 or 12 mg once daily for two weeks on a one-week-off schedule. The primary endpoints included safety and objective response rate (ORR). Results: Sixty-nine treatment-naïve patients received cadonilimab 15 mg/kg Q3W combination (n = 49) and 10 mg/kg Q3W combination (n = 20). Treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were reported in 48 (98.0%) and 19 (95.0%) patients, with grade ≥3 TRAEs occurring in 29 (59.2%) and five (25.0%) patients, respectively. TRAEs leading to cadonilimab discontinuation occurred in eight (16.3%) and one (5.0%) patients in the cadonilimab 15 mg/kg Q3W and 10 mg/kg Q3W dosing groups. The confirmed ORRs were 51.0% (25/49) and 60.0% (12/20) accordingly. Conclusions: Cadonilimab 10 mg/kg Q3W plus anlotinib showed manageable safety and promising efficacy as a first-line chemo-free treatment for advanced NSCLC. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04646330. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major depressive disorder (MDD) with a history of childhood maltreatment represents a highly prevalent clinical phenotype. Previous studies have demonstrated functional alterations of the thalamus among MDD. However, no study has investigated the static and dynamic changes in functional connectivity (FC) within thalamic subregions among MDD with childhood maltreatment. This study included four groups: MDD with childhood maltreatment (n = 48), MDD without childhood maltreatment (n = 30), healthy controls with childhood maltreatment (n = 57), and healthy controls without childhood maltreatment (n = 46). Sixteen thalamic subregions were selected as seed to investigate group-differences in dynamic FC (dFC) and static FC (sFC). Correlation analyses were performed to assess the associations between abnormal FC and maltreatment severity. Eventually, moderation analyses were employed to explore the moderating role of abnormal FC in the relationship between maltreatment and depressive severity. MDD with childhood maltreatment exhibit abnormal thalamic subregions FC compared to MDD without childhood maltreatment, characterized by abnormalities with the sFC of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, with the dFC of the calcarine, middle cingulate cortex, precuneus cortex and superior temporal gyrus. Furthermore, sFC with the rostral anterior cingulate cortex and dFC with the middle cingulate cortex were correlated with the severity of maltreatment. Additionally, dFC with the superior temporal gyrus moderates the relationship between maltreatment and depression severity. The cross-sectional designs fail to infer causality. Our findings support thalamic dysfunction as neurobiological features of childhood maltreatment as well as vulnerability to MDD. • Integrated analysis of dynamic (dFC) and static functional connectivity (sFC) • Aberrant dFC and sFC of the thalamus were identified in MDD with maltreatment. • Aberrant FC was observed in cingulate, calcarine, precuneus and temporal gyrus. • FC of the thalamus and cingulate cortex correlated with maltreatment severity. • dFC with the superior temporal gyrus was modulator of MDD and maltreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Camrelizumab (a programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitor) and apatinib (an angiogenesis inhibitor) are considered as potential treatments for advanced lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of second-line camrelizumab combined with apatinib and chemotherapy (albumin-bound paclitaxel, docetaxel, or pemetrexed) in patients with advanced LUAD. Twenty-nine patients with advanced LUAD underwent second-line camrelizumab combined with apatinib and chemotherapy were enrolled in this prospective, open-label, multicentric study. Follow-up with a median duration of 18.0 months was conducted. There were 0 (0.0 %), 11 (37.9 %), 14 (48.4 %), and 3 (10.3 %) patients achieving complete response, partial response, stable disease, and progressive disease, respectively. Meanwhile, treatment response was not evaluated in 1 (3.4 %) patient. The objective response and disease control rates were 37.9 % and 86.3 %, respectively. In terms of survival, the median (95 % confidence interval) progression-free survival (PFS) was 11.1 (5.2–17.0) months, with 1-year and 2-year PFS rates of 40.4 % and 20.5 %, respectively. The median overall survival (OS) was not reached; the 1-year and 2-year OS rates were 72.0 % and 64.8 %, respectively. Current treatment cycles ≥ 8 were associated with better PFS and OS (both P < 0.001). In addition, 21 (72.4 %) patients experienced at least one treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE), which was mostly of grade I and II. The most commonly occurring TEAE was leukopenia (17.2 %), liver dysfunction (17.2 %), hypothyroidism (13.8 %), hand-foot syndrome (13.8 %), and thrombocytopenia (13.8 %). Second-line camrelizumab combined apatinib and chemotherapy might serve as a potential treatment with acceptable safety in patients with advanced LUAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peripheral blood immunomarkers are associated with prognosis in patients with solid tumors receiving chemotherapy or immunotherapy. In this study, the associations of circulating neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and platelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (PLR), as well as their dynamic changes were investigated in relation to the efficacy of immunotherapy in patients with primary liver cancer. Methods: Comparisons were made between NLR, MLR, and PLR among individuals exhibiting disease control (defined as the best response of partial response [PR] or stable disease [SD]) and those with progressive disease (PD). Additionally, disease control rate (DCR), overall survival (OS), and progression‐free survival (PFS) were compared between individuals with different NLR, MLR, and PLR levels before initiating palliative immunotherapy. Furthermore, comparisons were made between patients with different alterations in the ratios at the second cycle of immunotherapy compared to baseline. These analyses were performed using univariate and multivariate approaches. A total of 119 Chinese patients with liver cancer who underwent immunotherapy were included in this study, which focused on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Results: In cases with HCC (n = 104), the cutoffs of NLR, MLR, and PLR to differentiate treatment responders from nonresponders were 3.38, 0.28, and 227.18, respectively. Patients with the best response of PR or SD had significantly lower NLR and MLR. Patients with NLR <3.38 and those with MLR <0.28 significantly had longer OS and PFS than their counterparts, and those with PLR <227.18 had significantly longer PFS, both in overall patients and in various patient subgroups. Lower NLR, MLR, or PLR was associated with earlier BCLC stage, fewer metastatic sites, less frequent extrahepatic metastasis, or better performance status. For individuals who had an unfavorable baseline NLR ≥3.38, MLR ≥0.28, or a favorable baseline PLR <227.18 prior to first immunotherapy, a decrease in NLR, MLR, or PLR at Cycle 2 of immunotherapy was significantly associated with a higher DCR. Conclusions: Among patients with HCC who received immunotherapy, lower NLR, and MLR at baseline in overall patients were significantly associated with better disease control and more favorable survival outcomes (both OS and PFS), and lower PLR was significantly associated with longer PFS. The findings of this research may offer useful hints foranoptimized selection of patients with liver cancer who may benefit more from immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood neglect is a high risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the effects of childhood neglect on regional brain activity and corresponding functional connectivity in MDD patients and healthy populations remains unclear. Regional homogeneity, amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), fractional ALFF, degree centrality, and voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity were extensively calculated to explore intraregional brain activity in MDD patients with childhood neglect and in healthy populations with childhood neglect. Functional connectivity analysis was then performed using regions showing abnormal brain activity in regional homogeneity/ALFF/fractional ALFF/degree centrality/voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity analysis as seed. Partial correlation analysis and moderating effect analysis were used to explore the relationship between childhood neglect, abnormal brain activity, and MDD severity. We found decreased brain function in the inferior parietal lobe and cuneus in MDD patients with childhood neglect. In addition, we detected that childhood neglect was significant associated with abnormal cuneus brain activity in MDD patients and that abnormal cuneus brain activity moderated the relationship between childhood neglect and MDD severity. In contrast, higher brain function was observed in the inferior parietal lobe and cuneus in healthy populations with childhood neglect. Our results provide new evidence for the identification of neural biomarkers in MDD patients with childhood neglect. More importantly, we identify brain activity characteristics of resilience in healthy populations with childhood neglect, providing more clues to identify neurobiological markers of resilience to depression after suffering childhood neglect. • MDD patients with childhood neglect showed reduced brain function in inferior parietal lobe and cuneus. • Healthy individuals with neglect showed enhanced cuneus and inferior parietal lobe function. • Higher brain function was observed in the inferior parietal lobe and cuneus in healthy populations with childhood neglect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Clade 2.3.2.1 AIVs were isolated from the wild and domestic bird interface around Qinghai Lake. • Clade 2.3.2.1c strains were reassortants with multiple subtypes. • Isolates efficiently replicate in A549 and MDCK cell lines. • Isolates were highly lethal to chickens and mice. During 2012-2015, six H5N1 avian influenza viruses were isolated from domestic birds and the environment around Qinghai Lake. Phylogenetic analysis of HA genes revealed that A/chicken/Gansu/XG2/2012 (CK/GS/XG2/12) belonged to clade 2.3.2.1a, while A/environment/Qinghai/1/2013 (EN/QH/1/13), A/chicken/Qinghai/QH1/2015 (CK/QH/QH1/15), A/chicken/Qinghai/QH2/2015 (CK/QH/QH2/15), A/chicken/Qinghai/QH3/2015 (CK/QH/QH3/15), and A/goose/Qinghai/QH6/2015 (GS/QH/QH6/15) belonged to clade 2.3.2.1c. Further analysis of the internal genes of the isolates found that the PB2 gene of EN/QH/1/13 had 99.6% nucleotide identity with that of A/tiger/Jiangsu/1/2013 (H5N1), which clustered into an independent branch with PB2 from multiple subtypes. PB2, PB1, and M genes of CK/QH/QH3/15 were from H9N2, suggesting it was a reassortant of H5N1 and H9N2. Animal studies of three selected viruses revealed that CK/GS/XG2/12, EN/QH/1/13, and CK/QH/QH3/15 were highly lethal to chickens, with intravenous pathogenicity indexes (IVPIs) of 2.97, 2.81, and 3.00, respectively, and systemically replicated in chickens. In a mouse study, three selected H5N1 viruses were highly pathogenic to mice and readily replicated in the lungs, nasal turbinates, kidneys, spleens, and brains. Therefore, isolates in this study appear to be novel reassortants that were circulating at the interface of wild and domestic birds around Qinghai Lake and are lethal to chickens and mice. These data suggest that more extensive surveillance should be implemented, and matched vaccines should be chosen for the domestic birds in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biophysical cues of the cellular microenvironment tremendously influence cell behavior by mechanotransduction. However, it is still unclear how cells sense and transduce the mechanical signals from 3D geometry to regulate cell function. Here, the mechanotransduction of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) triggered by 3D micropatterns and its effect on the paracrine of MSCs are systematically investigated. Our findings show that 3D micropattern force could influence the spatial reorganization of the cytoskeleton, leading to different local forces which mediate nucleus alteration such as orientation, morphology, expression of Lamin A/C and chromatin condensation. Specifically, in the triangular prism and cuboid micropatterns, the ordered F-actin fibers are distributed over and fully transmit compressive forces to the nucleus, which results in nuclear flattening and stretching of nuclear pores, thus enhancing the nuclear import of YES-associated protein (YAP). Furthermore, the activation of YAP significantly enhances the paracrine of MSCs and upregulates the secretion of angiogenic growth factors. In contrast, the fewer compressive forces on the nucleus in cylinder and cube micropatterns cause less YAP entering the nucleus. The skin repair experiment provides the first in vivo evidence that enhanced MSCs paracrine by 3D geometry significantly promotes tissue regeneration. The current study contributes to understanding the in-depth mechanisms of mechanical signals affecting cell function and provides inspiration for innovative design of biomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite tremendous progress has been achieved in the past two decades, the lack of high-performance catalysts suitable for long-term operation remains a great challenge in realizing the commercial application of direct methanol fuel cell technology. Here, we reported a simple approach for one-pot synthesis of PtCu alloy nanoframes along with their exciting electro-catalytic performance for methanol oxidation. PtCu alloys with highly-open nanoframe structures have been achieved in presence of a structure-directing agent like polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and reducing solvent like sodium borohydride. Such PtCu alloy nanoframes show tremendous improvement in the methanol electrooxidation with a highest mass activity of 1.64 A mg Pt −1 (much lower onset potential compared to Pt alone), which is believed to be much higher compared to that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst and most of the literature reports, indicating a better alloy formation and highly active sites created by highly open nanoframes structures. • PtCu nanoframes (NFs) were prepared successfully using PVP as a capping agent. • PtCu NFs display highly-open feature and good size uniformity. • The PtCu NFs catalysts show remarkably enhanced activity and durability for MOR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild relatives of wheat may possess useful traits or genes for efficient use of nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P). Forty-three wheat addition lines with alien chromosomes from Leymus, Agropyron, Hordeum, Psathyrostachys, Aegilops, and Secale cereale, along with their common parent Chinese Spring (CS) were cultured by hydroponics, and their phenotypic variation, N/P uptake and utilization efficiency were investigated at seedling stage. The phenotypic variation showed that N deficiency decreased plant height, shoot dry weight, and total dry weight, while increased root length, number of leaves, SPAD value, and root to shoot ratio (R/S); while P deficiency decreased all the measured traits except root dry weight and R/S. Aegilops longissima 2S and Aegilops searsii 4SS addition lines were identified as both N- and P-efficient germplasm, of which Ae. longissima 2S addition line showed significant increased N and P uptake efficiency than CS under all treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phototherapy is a new method to treat tumor, including photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT). However, the GSH in tumor cells could deplete ROS produced by photosensitizers, resulting in inadequate PDT. Isothiocyanate not only is a new type of anti-tumor drug, but also may combine with GSH, increasing the content of intracellular ROS and improving PDT effect. Here we synthesized a kind of water-soluble nanoparticles (BN NPs) parceling BODIPY-I-35 up with mPEG-ITC and lecithin. mPEG-ITC can react with GSH in tumor cells to reduce the consumption of ROS. BN NPs can be used as vectors to deliver drugs to tumor sites. Under 808 nm laser irradiation, BN NPs solution increased 13 °C within 10 min, indicating that BN NPs had superb photothermal performance. In vitro experiments, low dose BN NPs showed satisfactory PDT and PTT effects, and the cell viability of MCF-7 cell was only 13%. In vivo, BN NPs with excellent biocompatibility showed favorable phototherapy effect and tumor was effectively inhibited. Fluorescence imaging could present the long retention effect of BN NPs in tumor locations. In conclusion, the BN NPs showed the effect of enhancing phototherapy and provided a remarkable application prospect in the phototherapy of tumor cells. • A novel isothiocyanate derivative was synthesized. • The nanoparticles have good anti-tumor ability under laser irradiation. • The nanoparticles have good biological fluorescence imaging function. • The nanoparticles have good biosafety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer recurrence and metastasis after surgical resection is a vital reason of treatment failure. The modification of immune cells through implanted biomaterials is a promising postoperative immunotherapy. Herein, an injectable hydrogel scaffold loaded with engineered exosome mimetics that in vivo recruits and programs endogenous macrophages into M1 binding with anti‐CD47 antibody (M1‐aCD47 macrophages) for postoperative cancer immunotherapy is developed. Briefly, M1 macrophages‐derived exosome mimetics co‐modified with vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV‐G) and aCD47 (V‐M1EM‐aCD47) are encapsulated in injectable chitosan hydrogel. Such hydrogel recruits inherent macrophages in situ and releases V‐M1EM‐aCD47 that programs M2 to M1‐aCD47 macrophages. M1‐aCD47 macrophages own dual‐functions of tumor‐homing and enhanced phagocytosis. They can actively target to tumor cells for delivery of aCD47 that blocks the "don't eat me" signal, thereby promoting phagocytosis of macrophages to cancer cells. Furthermore, V‐M1EM‐aCD47 hydrogel implanted into resection site of 4T1 breast tumor inhibits tumor recurrence and metastasis by phagocytosis of M1‐aCD47 macrophages and T cell‐mediated immune responses. The findings demonstrate that biomaterials can be designed in vivo to program inherent macrophages, thereby activating the innate and adaptive immune systems for prevention of postoperative tumor recurrence and metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Administration of vaccines combined with the good management and strict biosecurity is an effective way for Newcastle disease (ND) control. However, vaccine failure is continuously reported in some countries mainly because the antigenic difference between the used vaccine and field strains even they are of one serotype. Therefore, development of antigen-matched ND vaccines is needed to improve the vaccine efficacy in birds. In this study, we introduced four site mutations, K1756A, D1881A, K1917A and E1954Q, respectively, into the large protein gene of the virulent genotype VII Newcastle disease virus (NDV) G7 strain using reverse genetics technology. Four rescued NDVs were sharply attenuated for the pathogenicity in chickens. One of these mutants, E1954Q, was further manipulated by replacing the F cleavage site sequence of typical velogenic strains with that of the LaSota vaccine, resulting in a new mutant, G7M. Biological characterization showed that G7M was safe and genetically stable after serial passages in embryos and chickens. Vaccination of chickens with G7M induced a progressive elevation of the homologous antibodies and markedly higher CD8 + T cell percentage, T cell proliferation and IFN-γ than LaSota. G7M conferred full protection against genotype VII NDV challenge, and more importantly, it effectively reduced the challenge virus replication and shedding in chickens. Together, our data suggest that G7M is a promising genotype VII vaccine candidate, and the novel attenuation approach designed in this study could be used to develop new antigen-matched NDV vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halide perovskites have attracted enormous attention as a novel optoelectronic material showing bright emission recently. In this paper, we chose CsPbX 3 nanocrystals (NCs) as an example to study the structural, morphological and optical properties. We have synthesized monodispersed colloidal inorganic cesium lead halide perovskites (CsPbX 3 , X = Cl, Br and I, or mixed lead halide CsPb(Cl/Br) 3 and CsPb(Br/I) 3 ) NCs with various morphologies and brightly luminescent properties. The emission wavelength of resulting CsPbX 3 NCs can be tuned from 440 nm to 696 nm by varying the amount of different PbX 2 (X = Cl, Br and I), while maintaining high quantum yields up to 95% and narrow emission spectra. The average lifetime of the NCs is several ns to hundred with changing the composition. The blinking of the NCs in terms of a binary (on/off) process is different from II-VI quantum dots. Interestingly, we find that CsPbBr 3 NCs to Cs 4 PbBr 6 NCs or a mixture of CsPbBr 3 NCs and Cs 4 PbBr 6 NCs were obtained by adjusting the amount of oleic acid (OA)-Cs precursor. The optical properties of these NCs have been controlled by varying their composition. Moreover, the injection speed of Cs-OA precursor enables the control of CsPbI 3 NCs with different morphology, which can be tuned from litter nanoparticles to uniform nanorods. This finding can serve as an ideal platform for the investigation of fundamental properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Approximately 80% of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) experience recurrence within five years after surgery. Currently, there is no standard protocol for the application of neoadjuvant therapy in HCC, but neoadjuvant immunotherapy has been shown to influence the survival of patients with other tumors. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the reported efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for resectable HCC. An overview of 9 studies showed neoadjuvant ICIs provide therapeutic benefits in terms of histopathological response in resectable HCC and were well tolerated. Resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has poor prognosis because of its high recurrence rate. Immunotherapy has been tried for neoadjuvant therapy as it has shown excellent performance in the treatment of advanced HCC. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the reported efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for resectable HCC. Electronic databases, including PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were systematically searched to identify published and ongoing studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant ICIs for resectable HCC up to October 2022. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Heterogeneity and subgroup analyses were performed, and data quality was assessed. The study was registered with PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42022371495). A total of 193 patients from 9 studies were included in this meta-analysis. The overall pathological complete response (pCR) rate was 12.9% (95%CI, 6.7–19.1%), and major pathological response (MPR) rate was 27.3% (95%CI, 15.1–39.4%), indicating a favorable association with neoadjuvant ICIs (pCR: OR = 0.17, p < 0.00001; MPR: OR = 0.38, p = 0.001). The pooled OR values for the incidence of grade 3 to 4 treatment-related adverse events and surgical delay rate were 0.26 and 0.05, respectively, which were significantly in favor of neoadjuvant ICIs (p < 0.0001; p < 0.00001, respectively). The subgroup analyses did not demonstrate superiority of one ICI over another ICI or combination therapy. The present study found that neoadjuvant ICIs were well tolerated by patients with resectable HCC and conferred therapeutic benefits in view of histopathological response results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Selenium-binding protein 1 (SELENBP1), a member of the selenium-containing protein family, plays an important role in malignant tumorigenesis and progression. However, it is currently lacking research about relationship between SELENBP1 and immunotherapy in colorectal cancer (CRC).Methods: We first analyzed the expression levels of SELENBP1 based on the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Oncomine andUALCAN. Chisq.test, Fisher.test, Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test and logistic regression were used to analyze the relationship of clinical characteristics with SELENBP1 expression. Then Gene ontology/ Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (GO/KEGG), Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) enrichment analysis to clarify bio-processes and signaling pathways. The cBioPortal was used to perform analysis of mutation sites, types, etc. of SELENBP1. In addition, the correlation of SELENBP1 gene with tumor immune infiltration and prognosis was analyzed using ssGSEA, ESTIMATE, tumor immune dysfunction and rejection (TIDE) algorithm and Kaplan-Meier (KM) Plotter database. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blotting (WB) were used to validate the expression of SELENBP1 in CRC samples and matched normal tissues. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was further performed to detect the expression of SELENBP1 in CRC samples and matched normal tissues.Results: We found that SELENBP1 expression was lower in CRC compared to normal colorectal tissue and was associated with poor prognosis. The aggressiveness of CRC increased with decreased SELENBP1 expression. Enrichment analysis showed that the SELENBP1 gene was significantly enriched in several pathways, such as programmed death 1 (PD-1) signaling, signaling by interleukins, TCR signaling, collagen degradation, costimulation by the CD28 family. Decreased expression of SELENBP1 was associated with DNA methylation and mutation. Immune infiltration analysis identified that SELENBP1 expression was closely related to various immune cells and immune chemokines/receptors. With increasing SELENBP1 expression, immune and stromal components in the tumor microenvironment were significantly decreased. SELENBP1 expression in CRC patients affects patient prognosis by influencing tumor immune infiltration. Beside this, SELENBP1 expression is closely related to the sensitivity of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.Conclusions: Survival analysis as well as enrichment and immunoassay results suggest that SELENBP1 can be considered as a promising prognostic biomarker for CRC. SELENBP1 expression is closely associated with immune infiltration and immunotherapy. Collectively, our study provided useful information on the oncogenic role of SELENBP1, contributing to further exploring the underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TiO 2 nanobelts with uniform morphology were prepared via a hydrothermal method, and subsequent sulfuric acid treatment procedure was needed for the coarse surface. A nanocomposite of highly dispersed Ag 2 O nanoparticles on TiO 2 nanobelts was designed with a wet-chemical deposition precipitation method. As-prepared samples were systematically characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence spectra. The photocatalytic performance was investigated under UV light toward degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye aqueous solution. Compared with the pure TiO 2 nanobelts, the Ag 2 O/TiO 2 nanobelts represented a quick degradation rate for MO dye, and the best photocatalytic activity was obtained when the molar ratio value of Ag 2 O and TiO 2 was 0.17. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could give the credit to the formation of heterostructure between Ag 2 O nanoparticles and TiO 2 nanobelts, in which the Ag 2 O nanoparticles acted as electron capture agent to promote the separation of photoinduced electrons and holes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]