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Purpose: This study aimed to develop and validate a post-operative delirium (POD) nomogram in a population of elderly patients undergoing elective orthopedic surgery. Patients and Methods: A predictive model was developed based on a training dataset of 474 elderly patients undergoing elective orthopedic surgery from March 2021 to May 2022. POD was identified using the Confusion Assessment Methods (CAM). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method was used to screen risk factors, and prediction models were created by combining the outcomes with logistic regression analysis. We employ bootstrap validation for internal validation to examine the model's repeatability. The results were validated using a prospective study on 153 patients operated on from January 2022 to May 2022 at another institution. Results: The predictors in the POD nomogram included age, the Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE), sleep disorder, neurological disorders, preoperative serum creatinine (Pre-SCR), and ASA classification. The c-index of the model was 0.928 (95% confidence interval 0.898 ~ 0.957) and the bootstrap validation still achieved a high c-index of 0.912. The c-index of the external validation was 0.921. The calibration curve for the diagnostic probability showed good agreement between prediction by nomogram and actual observation. Conclusion: By combining preoperative and intraoperative clinical risk factors, we created a POD risk nomogram to predict the probability of POD in elderly patients who undergo elective orthopedic surgery. It could be a tool for guiding individualized interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) can induce fertility and metabolism disorders, which may increase the prevalence of glucose metabolism disorders and cause health hazards to women and their offspring. We aim to evaluate the effect of maternal preconception glucose metabolism on neonatal birthweight in PCOS women undergoing IVF/ICSI cycles. We retrospectively analyzed 269 PCOS women who delivered 190 singletons and 79 twins via IVF/ICSI at a reproductive center. The effects of maternal preconception glucose metabolism indicators on singleton and twin birthweight were evaluated using generalized linear models and generalized estimate equations, respectively. The potential nonlinear associations were evaluated using generalized additive models. The analyses were further stratified by maternal preconception BMI and delivery mode to evaluate the possible interaction effects. Among PCOS women, maternal preconception fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and glycohemoglobin (HbA1c) had significant negative associations with singleton birthweight (all p for trends = 0.04). We also found an overweight-specific association between elevated maternal preconception 2 h plasma insulin (2hPI) and twin birthweight (p for interactions = 0.05) and a caesarean-specific association between maternal preconception HbA1c and singleton birthweight (p for interactions = 0.02) in PCOS women. Maternal preconception glucose metabolism may affect neonatal birthweight, suggesting the importance of preconception glucose and insulin management for PCOS women. Further large prospective cohorts and animal studies are needed to confirm these findings and investigate the potential mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inflammasome activation is an essential innate immune defense mechanism against Salmonella infections. Salmonella has developed multiple strategies to avoid or delay inflammasome activation, which may be required for long-term bacterial persistence. However, the mechanisms by which Salmonella evades host immune defenses are still not well understood. In this study, Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) random insertion transposon library was screened to identify the key factors that affect the inflammasome activation. The type I secretion system (T1SS) protein SiiD was demonstrated to repress the NLRP3 inflammasome activation during SE infection and was the first to reveal the antagonistic role of T1SS in the inflammasome pathway. SiiD was translocated into host cells and localized in the membrane fraction in a T1SS-dependent and partially T3SS-1-dependent way during SE infection. Subsequently, SiiD was demonstrated to significantly suppress the generation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS), thus repressing ASC oligomerization to form pyroptosomes, and impairing the NLRP3 dependent Caspase-1 activation and IL-1β secretion. Importantly, SiiD-deficient SE induced stronger gut inflammation in mice and displayed NLRP3-dependent attenuation of the virulence. SiiD-mediated inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activation significantly contributed to SE colonization in the infected mice. This study links bacterial T1SS regulation of mtROS-ASC signaling to NLRP3 inflammasome activation and reveals the essential role of T1SS in evading host immune responses. Author summary: Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) is a Gram-negative, non-host specific, facultative intracellular pathogen. SE infection is one of the most important global public health security problems. In recent years, SE has become the predominant serotype of Salmonella responsible for salmonellosis. Inflammasome activation plays an important role in the host immune defense against pathogen infections. However, the knowledge of the interactions between SE and inflammasomes is limited. How SE modulates inflammasome activation to evade host immune clearance and achieve persistent infection remains poorly understood. Our study demonstrates that bacterial T1SS protein SiiD is involved in the inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activation during SE infection. More importantly, we revealed the molecular mechanism by which SiiD depresses NLRP3 inflammasome signaling and subsequently promotes the virulence and colonization of SE in vivo. Our findings expand the understanding of the contribution of Salmonella T1SS in counteracting host immune responses mediated by the NLRP3 inflammasome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to linear accelerators, pulsed lasers have the characteristics of high efficiency, low cost, stable pulse output, and low environment interference for researching the transient dose rate effect (TDRE) on semiconductor devices. In this paper, pulsed laser radiation experiments are performed on a level-shifting transceiver. The experimental results are consistent with the results of the transient γ-ray radiation experiment, demonstrating the feasibility of using the pulsed laser in TDRE research on the level-shifting transceiver. This paper obtains theoretical and experimental conversion factors (CFs) through theoretical analysis and equivalency of the peak photocurrents, which are measured in pulsed laser and transient γ-ray radiation experiments. The CF results from the two approaches are within 7% of each other. In pulsed laser radiation experiments, an uncommon phenomenon is found. At the I/O (Input/Output) ports of the level-shifting transceiver, a trend of a positive photocurrent followed by a negative pulse is observed. A hypothesis is proposed that this photocurrent is produced by the turn-on and turn-off of the parasitic PNP (Positive-Negative-Positive) transistors in electrostatic discharge circuits at the level-shifting transceiver I/O ports. In addition, this hypothesis is verified by TCAD (Technology Computer Aided Design) simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the optimal endometrial preparation protocol for a frozen embryo transfer in patients with endometriosis. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Tertiary care academic medical center. Patient(s): One thousand four hundred thirteen patients with endometriosis who underwent oocyte aspiration from 2015 to 2020 and frozen embryo transfer from 2016 to 2020 and received natural cycle, hormone replacement treatment with or without GnRHa pretreatment endometrial preparation. Intervention(s): None. Main outcome measure(s): Clinical pregnancy rate, live birth rate, miscarriage rate, multiple pregnancy rate, biochemical pregnancy rate and ectopic pregnancy rate. Singleton live births were assessed for perinatal outcomes and obstetric complications. Result(s): There were no differences in clinical pregnancy outcomes or prenatal outcomes among the three commonly used endometrial preparation protocols for frozen embryo transfer cycles in patients with endometriosis. Results remained after screening variables using univariate logistic regression into multivariate logistic regression. No advantages or disadvantages were found among the three endometrial preparation protocols in patients with endometriosis. Conclusion(s): Natural cycle, hormone replacement cycle, or hormone replacement treatment with GnRHa pretreatment showed no superiority or inferiority in pregnancy and perinatal outcomes in patients with endometriosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have a high prevalence of hypertension but vary in blood pressure (BP) control, which may be partially explained by comorbid insomnia. We investigated the association of insomnia symptoms with uncontrolled BP and resistant hypertension (RH) in OSA patients. Between 2018 and 2021, hypertensive patients with OSA were enrolled. Information on demographic characteristics, insomnia symptoms, class of antihypertensive medications, BP control and sleep study data were collected. Controlled BP was defined as systolic BP < 140 mm Hg and diastolic BP < 90 mm Hg (BP standard); uncontrolled BP as above BP standard with use of 1–2 classes of antihypertensive medication; and RH as above BP standard with the use of ≥3 classes of antihypertensive medication (including a diuretic). Multinomial logistic regression models were fit to determine the association between insomnia symptoms and uncontrolled BP or RH (versus controlled BP) after multivariable adjustment. Among the analytic sample (n = 326), 64.1% of participants had uncontrolled BP and 15.6% had RH. OSA severity was associated with a higher odds of RH (OR, 2.92; 95% CI, 1.71–4.99). After adjustment for confounders including demographic characteristics, sedative hypnotics usage, sleepiness, OSA severity and quality of life, participants experiencing insomnia symptoms had a 3.0 times higher odds of RH. Insomnia was not associated with uncontrolled BP. Experiencing insomnia was associated with increased odds of RH in OSA patients. These results suggest that comorbid insomnia may contribute to inadequate BP control in OSA patients. • Experiencing insomnia is associated with increased odds of RH in OSA patients. • Insomnia is a modifiable risk in clinical management of RH comorbid OSA. • RH patients with COMISA may benefit from insomnia intervention combined with PAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the independent role of nasal obstruction on blood pressure (BP) control in patients with hypertension comorbid obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Subjects and methods: This cross-sectional study comprised of 326 newly diagnosed OSA comorbid hypertension patients from March 2018 to December 2021. Sixty-six patients have controlled hypertension, two hundred and nine with uncontrolled hypertension and fifty-one with resistant hypertension. Information on demographic characteristics, sleep data, hypertension status was collected. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine the odds ratios (OR). Results: Patients with nocturnal nasal congestion had more difficult to control blood pressure, with more numbers of antihypertensive drugs. They tended to have more severe OSA, lower nocturnal oxygen saturation and more severe sleepiness. Univariate analysis showed that nocturnal nasal congestion and Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) Scale scores were associated with uncontrolled BP. After adjusting for age, sex, smoking, alcohol use, OSA severity and CT90, multivariate logistic analysis models showed that nocturnal nasal congestion was independently associated with uncontrolled hypertension (OR = 2.09, p = 0.023). When analyzed more severe resistant hypertension, nocturnal nasal congestion showed a higher association (OR = 2.96, p = 0.014). Conclusion: This cross-sectional study demonstrated that the nocturnal nasal congestion was independently associated with uncontrolled BP. The use of nasal decongestants or nasal surgery may be a potential therapeutic target for resistant hypertension in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photonic spin–orbit (SO) coupling is an important physical mechanism leading to numerous interesting phenomena in the systems of microcavity photons and exciton-polaritons. We report the effect of SO coupling in a tunable open-access microcavity embedded with anisotropic active media. The SO coupling associated with the TE–TM splitting results in an emergent anisotropy, which further leads to fine energy splittings allowing clear observation of the full set of eigenstates, in sharp contrast with the isotropic situation which leads to the isotropic eigenstates of spin vortices. We show that the photonic potential can be engineered by playing with the relation between the emergent anisotropy and the cavity ellipticity. All the experimental results are well reproduced by the degenerate perturbation theory. Our results constitute a significant extension to the research field of microcavity spinoptronics, with potential applications in polarization control and optical property measurement of photonic devices and materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serum miR-501-3p and miR-455-3p are potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The combination of both microRNAs (miRNAs) is anticipated to improve AD diagnostic accuracy and provide stage information. In this work, simultaneous determination of both miRNAs was performed using a dual-signal DNA probe based on the fluorescent recovery of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and the sulfo-cyanine5 (Cy5) dye. Duplex specific nuclease was introduced to amplify the signals via a DNA degradation/RNA re-hybridization cycle. The dynamic ranges of the method were 0.01 to 4 pM for miR-501-3p and 0.01 to 5 pM for miR-455-3p. The accuracy of the method was confirmed by the recoveries of the miRNAs in spiked human serum and high correlation with measurements by the real-time quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The concentrations of the miRNAs were determined in serum from healthy donors and AD patients in preclinical and mild stages. Detailed t-test analysis revealed that despite of the poor correlations of independent miR-501-3p and miR-455-3p with AD progression, the concentration ratio of miR-501-3p to miR-455-3p was significantly correlated with AD diagnosis (p < 0.001 between preclinical AD and healthy control) and early progression (p < 0.001 between preclinical and mild-stage AD). A simple, sensitive method is reported for the simultaneous determination of the miRNAs in serum with high accuracy and shows that the concentration ratio of miR-501-3p to miR-455-3p is an effective blood index for early and in-stage diagnosis of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the transient dose rate effect (TDRE) of two types of level-shifting transceivers. Experimental results show that both transceivers have a high latch-up threshold. One uncommon phenomenon is found that there are photocurrents generated at the input ports for both transceivers when exposed to transient $\gamma $ radiation. Moreover, the polarity and amplitude of the photocurrents are related to the input voltage level. A hypothesis is proposed that this uncommon phenomenon is caused by the electrostatic discharge (ESD) circuits at the input ports and then it is successfully verified by TCAD simulations. The simulation results show that the vertical parasitic p-n-p transistor in pMOS of the ESD circuit could turn on under transient $\gamma $ radiation, and generate a positive photocurrent when the input port is configured to high-level voltage. On the contrary, when the input port is configured to low-level voltage, its lateral parasitic p-n-p transistor in pMOS could turn on and generate a negative photocurrent. The amplitude of the positive photocurrent is obviously larger than the negative photocurrent due to different gains of the parasitic transistors. Simulation results also show the number of pMOSs in n-well has significant impacts on the amplitude of photocurrents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: As the most abundant cell in the tumor microenvironment (TME), tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) drive tumor progress by inducing angiogenesis, fibrosis, invasion, metastasis, and immunosuppression, which makes these cells an important target for tumor treatment. Recently, the role of free mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has attracted increased attention in the regulation of immune cells in the TME. In this review, we first summarize the functional characteristics of macrophages in tumor progression. The release and regulation mechanisms of tumor cell-derived mtDNA in TME are also introduced. Then, the biological effects of endogenous and exogenous mtDNA on macrophages are discussed. Finally, we propose that the effect of mtDNA on macrophages is worthy of attention in the process of tumor treatment, especially in immunotherapy. Our review provides a systematic summary of the effects of mtDNA on the survival, function, and phenotypes of TAMs in the TME. As the richest immune cells in most tumor microenvironments (TMEs), tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play an important role in tumor development and treatment sensitivity. The phenotypes and functions of TAMs vary according to their sources and tumor progression. Different TAM phenotypes display distinct behaviors in terms of tumor immunity and are regulated by intracellular and exogenous molecules. Additionally, dysfunctional and oxidatively stressed mitochondrial-derived mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) plays an important role in remodeling the phenotypes and functions of TAMs. This article reviews the interactions between mtDNA and TAMs in the TME and further discusses the influence of their performance on tumor genesis and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate prediction of surface subsidence is a significant foundation for the damage assessment of coal seam mining and ecological environment reclamation in loess donga. However, conventional models are very problematic, and the reliability of prediction is usually low. Therefore, we propose a method for predicting surface subsidence of coal seam mining in loess donga that is based on the probability integration model, combined with the movement principle of rock and soil layers in the respective study area, and considering the influence of slope stability and additional mining slip on mining subsidence. The feasibility of our new method was verified by a case study in the N1114 working face of the Ningtiaota coal mine (China) that is situated in an area with abundant loess dongas. The results show that slope slippage is the source of error in the prediction of subsidence in loess donga. The prediction idea of "dividing the surface of loess donga into horizontal strata area and slope sub-area, and predicting the subsidence value of the two areas, respectively" is put forward. A method for predicting the subsidence value of two regions is established. First, based on the theory of probability integral and rock formation movement, the probability integral parameters of the horizontal stratum area are determined, and the subsidence basins in the area are superimposed and calculated. Secondly, according to the slope stability and slip principle, the additional displacement of subsidence in the slope area with mining instability coefficient Gcs > 0.87 is calculated. Finally, combined with the subsidence prediction results of the strata area and the slope sub-area, and the position of the slope, the accurate prediction of the surface subsidence in loess donga is realized. Our results show that the agreement between the curves predicted from our calculations and from the measured data are between 88.7–97.8%. The calculated error of the additional displacement of slope mining slip is between 1.0–9.8%. The excellent correlation between the modelled and measured data documents that our method provides, demonstrated a new efficient and valuable tool for the precise prediction of damages induced by mining of underground coal seams in loess donga. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CREB-regulated transcription coactivator 1 (CRTC1), a pivotal synaptonuclear messenger, regulates synaptic plasticity and transmission to prevent depression. Despite exhaustive investigations into CRTC1 mRNA reductions in the depressed mice, the regulatory mechanisms governing its transcription remain elusive. Consequently, exploring rapid but non-toxic CRTC1 inducers at the transcriptional level is important for resisting depression. Here, we demonstrate the potential of D-arabinose, a unique monosaccharide prevalent in edible-medicinal plants, to rapidly enter the brain and induce CRTC1 expression, thereby eliciting rapid-acting and persistent antidepressant responses in chronic restrain stress (CRS)-induced depressed mice. Mechanistically, D-arabinose induces the expressions of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and transcription factor EB (TFEB), thereby activating CRTC1 transcription. Notably, we elucidate the pivotal role of the acetyl-CoA synthetase short-chain family member 2 (ACSS2) as an obligatory mediator for PPARγ and TFEB to potentiate CRTC1 transcription. Furthermore, D-arabinose augments ACSS2-dependent CRTC1 transcription by activating AMPK through lysosomal AXIN-LKB1 pathway. Correspondingly, the hippocampal down-regulations of ACSS2, PPARγ or TFEB alone failed to reverse CRTC1 reductions in CRS-exposure mice, ultimately abolishing the anti-depressant efficacy of D-arabinose. In summary, our study unveils a previously unexplored role of D-arabinose in activating the ACSS2-PPARγ/TFEB-CRTC1 axis, presenting it as a promising avenue for the prevention and treatment of depression. [Display omitted] • D-arabinose reverses CRTC1 mRNA reductions to improve depressive-like behaviors. • PPARγ and TFEB act as novel transcription factors of CRTC1. • ACSS2 as an obligatory mediator to bridge PPARγ and TFEB in allowing CRTC1 transcription. • D-arabinose activates ACSS2-PPARγ/TFEB-CRTC1 axis to promote CRTC1 transcription. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, an increasing number of studies have reported that intestinal microbiota have an important effect on tumour immunity by affecting the tumour microenvironment (TME). The intestinal microbiota are closely associated with various immune cells, such as T lymphocytes, natural killer cells (NK cells) and macrophages. Some bacteria, such as Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) and Lactobacillus reuteri (L. reuteri), have been shown to improve the effect of tumour immunity. Furthermore, microbial imbalance, such as the increased abundance of Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) and Helicobacter hepaticus (H. hepaticus), generally causes tumour formation and progression. In addition, some microbiota also play important roles in tumour immunotherapy, especially PD‐L1‐related therapies. Therefore, what is the relationship between these processes and how do they affect each other? In this review, we summarize the interactions and corresponding mechanisms among the intestinal microbiota, immune system and TME to facilitate the research and development of new targeted drugs and provide new approaches to tumour therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent studies have consistently shown that AFC and serum AMH are good predictors of ovarian response and have shown strong correlations. However, it is not unusual for reproductive medicine specialists to encounter discordance between them. This is the first study to investigate the efficacies of the different COS protocols when the AFC and AMH levels are discordant. Based on the association between COS protocols and pregnancy outcomes, we attempt to explain the controversial results and clarify the predictive value of AMH and AFC in this context. Methods: 19,239 patients undergoing their first fresh in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles with GnRH antagonist protocols, GnRH-a long protocols or GnRH-a ultra-long protocols between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2019, were enrolled and then divided into four groups in accordance with the boundaries for the AFC and serum AMH level provided by the Poseidon Classification. Our study was divided into two parts. Firstly, we retrospectively compared the effects of the three COS protocols in patients with discordant AMH and AFC. Multivariate logistic regression models were conducted in a forward manner to exclude the influence of confounding factors. Afterward, to increase comparability between Group 2 (low AMH and normal AFC) and Group 3 (normal AMH and low AFC), propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was performed based on age, BMI, the number of embryos transferred, and COS protocol. IVF intermediate and reproductive outcomes were compared between Group 2 and Group 3. Results: For people with low AMH and normal AFC (Group 2), the number of total oocytes, clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), live birth rate (LBR) and cumulative live birth rate (CLBR) were significantly higher in GnRH-a ultra-long protocol compared with GnRH antagonist protocol. In multivariate logistic regression models, significant associations of COS protocol with fresh LBR and CPR were found after adjusting for age, BMI, AFC, AMH and the number of embryos transferred. Whereas, in patients with normal AMH and low AFC (Group 3), the number of total oocytes, CLBR, LBR and CPR were highest in the long GnRH-a protocol although there was no statistically significant difference. After PSM, the results showed that although oocytes yield and available embryos in patients with normal AMH and low AFC were significantly higher, there was no significant difference in reproductive outcomes between Group 2 and Group 3. Conclusions: We found that women with normal AFC and low AMH may benefit from the GnRH-a ultra-long protocol. Nevertheless, for women with normal AMH and low AFC, the long GnRH-a protocol seems to be associated with better clinical outcomes. Furthermore, after eliminating the confounding factors including the COS protocol, we found that AMH can only predict the number of oocytes but not the quality of oocytes when there was discordance between AFC and AMH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumours. The recurrence and metastasis of CRC seriously affect the survival rate of patients. Angiogenesis is an extremely important cause of tumour growth and metastasis. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been emerged as vital regulators for tumour progression. However, the regulatory role, clinical significance and underlying mechanisms still remain largely unknown. Methods: High-throughput sequencing was used to analyse differential circRNAs expression in tumour and non-tumour tissues of CRC. In situ hybridization (ISH) and qRT-PCR were used to determine the level of circ3823 in CRC tissues and serum samples. Then, functional experiments in vitro and in vivo were performed to investigate the effects of circ3823 on tumour growth, metastasis and angiogenesis in CRC. Sanger sequencing, RNase R and Actinomycin D assay were used to verify the ring structure of circ3823. Mechanistically, dual luciferase reporter assay, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and RNA pull-down experiments were performed to confirm the underlying mechanisms of circ3823. Results: Circ3823 was evidently highly expressed in CRC and high circ3823 expression predicted a worse prognosis of CRC patients. Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs) indicated that the expression of circ3823 in serum showed high sensitivity and specificity for detecting CRC which means circ3823 have the potential to be used as diagnostic biomarkers. Functional experiments in vitro and in vivo indicated that circ3823 promote CRC cell proliferation, metastasis and angiogenesis. Mechanism analysis showed that circ3823 act as a competing endogenous RNA of miR-30c-5p to relieve the repressive effect of miR-30c-5p on its target TCF7 which upregulates MYC and CCND1, and finally facilitates CRC progression. In addition, we found that N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification exists on circ3823. And the m6A modification is involved in regulating the degradation of circ3823. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that circ3823 promotes CRC growth, metastasis and angiogenesis through circ3823/miR-30c-5p/TCF7 axis and it may serve as a new diagnostic marker or target for treatment of CRC patients. In addition, m6A modification is involved in regulating the degradation of circ3823. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a technology to transform a petri dish into a microfluidic chip with a stem cell nest for stem cell niche engineering. A permanent magnet sphere is put in a 30 mm petri dish as an oscillator pump (O‐pump). An earphone‐sized actuator outside the petri dish receives the programmed audio signal from an MP3 player or a mobile phone to drive the in‐dish O‐pump for a microflow. There are guiding walls to form a wake area for the cell nest at the dish's center. The cell nest uses the wake to create a stable, ultraslow internal microcirculation flow. The retention half‐life of nanoparticles in the cell nest is 1419.8 ± 1.3 s. By setting the microfluidic program and supplementing five drops of the culture medium outside the cell nest every 2 d, the growth rate of embryonic stem cells in the cell nest during the 8 d automatic culture appears significantly optimized. The single clone area of embryonic stem cells increases from (3.57 ± 0.52) × 105 to (11.67 ± 1.33) × 105 µm2 after 2 d of the automatic culture and advances to (53.34 ± 8.37) × 105 µm2 after 4 d. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (TSC2) crucially suppresses Rheb activity to prevent mTORC1 activation. However, mutations in TSC genes lead to mTORC1 overactivation, thereby causing various developmental disorders and cancer. Therefore, the discovery of novel Rheb inhibitors is vital to prevent mTOR overactivation. Here, we reveals that the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-37d can bind to lysosomal Rheb and suppress its activity independent of TSC2, thereby preventing mTORC1 activation. The binding of IL-37d to Rheb switch-II subregion destabilizes the Rheb-mTOR and mTOR-S6K interactions, further halting mTORC1 signaling. Unlike TSC2, IL-37d is reduced under ethanol stimulation, which results in mitigating the suppression of lysosomal Rheb-mTORC1 activity. Consequently, the recombinant human IL-37d protein (rh-IL-37d) with a TAT peptide greatly improves alcohol-induced liver disorders by hindering Rheb-mTORC1 axis overactivation in a TSC2- independent manner. Together, IL-37d emerges as a novel Rheb suppressor independent of TSC2 to terminate mTORC1 activation and improve abnormal lipid metabolism in the liver. In this study, IL-37d has been evidenced to bind lysosomal Rheb and suppress its activation in mTORC1 independent of TSC2. In hepatocyte, IL-37d is responsively decreased by ethanol and the recombinant TAT-rh-IL-37d protein improves alcohol-induced liver disorders via Rheb-mTORC1 axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper qualitatively investigates the transient dose rate effect (TDRE) on clock resources of the JXCV5SX95T FPGA, including DLL (Delay Locked Loop), PLL (Phase Locked Loop), and GCB (General Clock Buffer). Our previous experimental results showed that the sensitivity of different clock resources in the JXCV5SX95T FPGA presents prominent discrepancies. In particular, all input/outputs (IOs) present a simultaneous glitch during irradiations. And, the DLL and PLL would appear special short interrupt failures in some cases. However, the experimental results lack a mechanism analysis. In order to investigate the intrinsic mechanisms and in particular to compare the sensitivity differences between the PLL and DLL circuits, corresponding TCAD and SPICE simulations are performed. Both relevant DLL and PLL circuits are established in the SPICE simulator. The radiation-induced photocurrents are calculated by TCAD, and introduced into SPICE simulations. First, with an ideal power supply, the radiation performances of the DLL and PLL are simulated, and the influence of two factors are analyzed, including the substrate size of the TCAD model and the charge pump type of the DLL and PLL. Second, typical non-ideal power supply and IO models are used in the simulations. Simulation results indicate that the short interrupt of the PLL and DLL in experiments should result from the relevant power regulators in the FPGA. Last, piecewise linear voltage sources are applied to simulate the noise on the power supply in experiments, and their influence on the PLL, DLL, IOs are analyzed. Simulation results show that the simultaneous glitch in experiments may be mainly from the power supply noise, and the radiation effect of IOs would also contribute to this failure to some degree. • This work qualitatively investigates the transient dose rate effect on clock resources of the JXCV5SX95T FPGA. • The simultaneous glitch in experiments may results from the noise on the power supplies. • The stability of power supplies in the FPGA should be the most important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TNF receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) is a signal transducer, which plays a pivotal role in triggering a variety of signalling cascades. Here, we cloned and identified the TRAF6 gene from the King pigeon. The open reading frame sequence of pigeon TRAF6 (piTRAF6) is 1638 bp long and encodes a 545 aa protein, including a low-complexity domain, RING finger, Zinc finger, coiled coil domain, and meprin and TRAF homology domain. The aa sequence of piTRAF6 shared a strong identity with that of other birds. PiTRAF6 transcripts were broadly expressed in all the tested tissues; piTRAF6 levels were the highest and lowest in the heart and stomach, respectively. Overexpression of piTRAF6 activated NF-κB in a dose-dependent manner and induced IFN-β expression. Upon piTRAF6 knockdown by small interfering RNAs, NF-κB activation was markedly inhibited in HEK293T cells. The expression of piTRAF6, as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines and antiviral molecules, were obviously increased after TLR ligand stimulation and Newcastle disease virus or Salmonella Pullorum inoculation. These results suggest that piTRAF6 may play a key immunoregulatory role in the innate immune response against viral and bacterial infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) is one of the major foodborne zoonotic pathogens of worldwide importance which can induce activation of NLRC4 and NLRP3 inflammasomes during infection. Given that the inflammasomes play an essential role in resisting bacterial infection, Salmonella has evolved various strategies to regulate activation of the inflammasome, most of which largely remain unclear. Results: A transposon mutant library in SE strain C50336 was screened for the identification of the potential factors that regulate inflammasome activation. We found that T3SS-associated genes invC, prgH, and spaN were required for inflammasome activation in vitro. Interestingly, C50336 strains with deletion or overexpression of Dam were both defective in activation of caspase-1, secretion of IL-1β and phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (Jnk). Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) results showed that most of the differentially expressed genes and enriched KEGG pathways between the C50336-VS-C50336Δdam and C50336-VS-C50336::dam groups overlapped, which includes multiple signaling pathways related to the inflammasome. C50336Δdam and C50336::dam were both found to be defective in suppressing the expression of several anti-inflammasome factors. Moreover, overexpression of Dam in macrophages by lentiviral infection could specifically enhance the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome independently via promoting the Jnk pathway. Conclusions: These data indicated that Dam was essential for modulating inflammasome activation during SE infection, there were complex and dynamic interplays between Dam and the inflammasome under different conditions. New insights were provided about the battle between SE and host innate immunological mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The plasmonic photocatalyst of Ag-Bi 2 WO 6 was employed to investigate the effect of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) on the visible-light photocatalytic activity. Generally, it is accepted that metal nanoparticles as electron traps on the surface of semiconductor photocatalyst can effectively inhibit the recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs, provide more active sites and thereby enhance the photocatalytic activity. Nevertheless, SPR effect confirmed in Ag-Bi 2 WO 6 plays an important role in the photoreaction enhancement in the meantime. In this case, a facile and more efficient method was introduced to synthesize Ag-Bi 2 WO 6 hetero-architecture on basis of an ascorbic-acid-assisted route. The results and analysis show that a optimize photocatalytic efficiency can be achieved by elaborately manipulating SPR effect. For instance, the highest photocatalytic efficiency of 96.46% after 150 min visible-light irradiation was obtained as the molar ratio of Bi 2 WO 6 :Ag is 10:2, which suggest that it would be a promising candidate for photo-catalysis application. Eventually, a possible mechanism for the formation of Ag-Bi 2 WO 6 hetero-architecture and its enhanced photocatalytic activity was proposed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Leu and Phe clearly inhibited the growth and MCs production in M. aeruginosa. • Leu and Phe increased the abundance of MCs variants with relevant structures. • Quotas of Chl-a, PC, and APC in M. aeruginosa reduced when exposed to amino acids. • The expression of pipX was upregulated while mcyD was downregulated when exposed to amino acids. Dissolved free amino acids are a significant component of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in natural waterbodies. The effects of four amino acids (glutamic acid, phenylalanine, leucine, and arginine) on the growth and microcystins (MCs) production of Microcystis aeruginosa were studied in batch culture. The profiles of five MCs variants and the expression levels of target genes involved in MCs biosynthesis and nitrogen metabolism were measured. When amino acids were used as the sole nitrogen source instead of nitrate at different levels (0.5, 2.0 and 8.0 mg/L based on N) in BG-11 medium, algal cell growth and intracellular MCs quotas were inhibited slightly by the treatments with glutamic acid and arginine. The treatments with phenylalanine and leucine, on the other hand, had a strong inhibitory effect on algal cell growth and MCs production. Moreover, the concentrations of Chlorophyll a , phycocyanin and allophycocyanin in cells cultured in glutamic acid, leucine and phenylalanine were lower than those in the control group with nitrate as nitrogen source. The existence of leucine or phenylalanine can lead to a significant increase in the relative abundance of MCs variants structured with the corresponding amino acids. The expression of microcystin-producing gene mcyD was downregulated while the gene pipX associated with nitrogen metabolism was upregulated during the cultivation of M. aeruginosa with amino acids as sole nitrogen source. M. aeruginosa undergoes significant alterations due to exogenous amino acids and exhibits advanced strategies for MCs production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vacuolar-type H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) critically controls phagosome acidification to promote pathogen digestion and clearance in macrophage. However, the specific subunits of V-ATPase have been evidenced to play contradictory functions in inflammatory cytokines generation and secretion exposure to external bacterial or LPS stimulation. Therefore, identifying the unique function of the separate subunit of V-ATPase is extremely important to regulate macrophage function. Here, we found that D -mannose, a C-2 epimer of glucose, suppressed ATP6V1B2 lysosomal translocation to inhibit V-ATPase activity in macrophages, thereby causing the scaffold protein axis inhibitor protein (AXIN) recruitment to lysosomal membrane and AMPK activation. Correspondingly, LPS-stimulated macrophage M1 polarization was significantly suppressed by D -mannose via down-regulating NF-κB signaling pathway in response to AMPK activation, while IL-4 induced macrophage M2 polarization were not affected. Furthermore, the failure of lysosomal localization of ATP6V1B2 caused by D -mannose also led to the acidification defects of lysosome. Therefore, D -mannose displayed a remarkable function in inhibiting macrophage phagocytosis and bacterial killing. Taken together, D -mannose acts a novel V-ATPase suppressor to attenuate macrophage inflammatory production but simultaneously prevent macrophage phagocytosis and bacterial killing. • D -mannose inhibits LPS-induced M1 polarization and inflammatory cytokines generation through activating AMPK. • D -mannose activates macrophage AMPK via recruiting AXIN-LKB1 complex to the lysosome membrane. • D -mannose suppresses ATP6V1B2 lysosomal translocation to impair macrophage phagocytosis and bacterial killing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell-to-cell communication must occur through molecular transport in the intercellular fluid space. Nanoparticles, such as exosomes, diffuse or move more slowly in fluids than small molecules. To find a microfluidic technology for real-time exosome experiments on intercellular communication between living cells, we use the microfluidic culture dish's quaternary ultra-slow microcirculation flow field to accumulate nanoparticles in a specific area. Taking stem cell–tumor cell interaction as an example, the ultra-slow microcirculatory flow field controls stem cell exosomes to interfere with tumor cells remotely. Under static coculture conditions (without microfluidics), the tumor cells near stem cells (<200 µm) show quick breaking through from its Matrigel drop to meet stem cells, but this 'breaking through' quickly disappears with increasing distance. In programmed ultra-slow microcirculation, stem cells induce tumor cells 5000 μm far at the site of exosome deposition (according to nanoparticle simulations). After 14 days of programmed coculture, the glomeration and migration of tumor cells were observed in the exosome deposition area. This example shows that the ultra-slow microcirculation of the microfluidic culture dish has good prospects in quantitative experiments to study exosome communication between living cells and drug development of cancer metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saxitoxin (STX) is a typical toxic guanidinium neurotoxin, one of the paralytic shellfish poisons (PSP), which poses a serious threat to human health. In this paper, a simple and sensitive SERS aptamer sensor (abbreviated as AuNP@4-NTP@SiO2) for the quantitative determination of STX was developed. Hairpin aptamers of saxitoxin are modified on magnetic beads and used as recognition elements. In the presence of STX, DNA ligase, and the rolling circle template (T1), a rolling circle amplification reaction was triggered to produce long single-stranded DNA containing repetitive sequences. The sequence can be hybridized with the SERS probe to realize the rapid detection of STX. Due to the inherent merits of its components, the obtained AuNP@4-NTP@SiO2 SERS aptamer sensor manifests excellent sensing performance for STX detection with a wide linear range from 2.0 × 10−10 mol L−1 to 5.0 × 10−4 mol L−1 and a lower detection limit of 1.2 × 10−11 mol L−1. This SERS sensor can provide a strategy for the micro-detection of other biological toxins by changing the aptamer sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transient dose rate effect (TDRE) on analog phase locked loop (PLL) is presented in this paper. New TDRE models of NMOS and PMOS are proposed through the combination of SPICE and Sentaurus TCAD, which improve a previous modeling method and especially incorporate the effects of the Length/Width ratio of transistors, resistance network of the substrate, and bias condition of contacts. The primary photocurrents in TDRE models, calculated by TCAD, are successfully fitted by double-exponential functions. Firstly, the TDRE of each PLL's sub-circuit is simulated. Then, the global effect of the PLL is simulated and the coupled relationship among sub-circuits is analyzed. Simulation results indicate that the current-based charge pump and voltage-controlled oscillator are sensitive to TDRE, and there is a significant coupled relationship between the two sub-circuits. On the contrary, the phase frequency detector shows low sensitivity to TDRE. Lastly, as two Radiation-Hardened-By-Design (RHBD) methods, using the voltage-based charge pump and using the voltage-controlled oscillator with a large drive current are proved to be effective in improving the TDRE of PLL. • This work presents the transient dose rate effect (TDRE) on analog phase locked loop (PLL). • New TDRE models of NMOS and PMOS improve a previous modeling method. • The current-charge pump and the voltage-controlled oscillator are the sensitive sub-circuits. • Two Radiation-Hardened-By-Design (RHDB) methods are proven to be effective in improving the TDRE of PLL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water-soluble amino acids have been confirmed as effective cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) materials. While their influence on the hygroscopicity of nitrates is still scarcely known. In this work, ammonium nitrate (AN) was mixed with glycine and alanine at various mole ratios to form internally mixed particles deposited onto a solid substrate, whose hygroscopic properties and phase states of ingredients were investigated using microscope and attenuated total reflection-Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). For mixed AN/amino acid particles with abundant inorganic, AN crystallizes at lower RH than that of pure AN, while deliquescence relative humidities (DRHs) were close to pure AN. On hydration, the mixture composed of bis(amino acid) nitrates and mono(amino acid) nitrates formed at 14.6–60.8% RH and 23.6%–60.0% RH for AN/glycine and AN/alanine particles, respectively. When the inorganic and organic components were mixed with equal mole ratio, gradual water uptake and release took place due to the hygroscopic interplay between components. In the mixed particles with abundant amino acids, glycine and alanine still kept solid at highest RH on hydration. Hydrogen bonding interaction should account for the mutual suppression on individual crystal formation. The present hygroscopic study would help people understanding cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) ability of amino acids in atmosphere. [Display omitted] • Addition of ammonium nitrate promotes the water-uptake of amino acid in mixture particles. • The amino acid nitrate was formed on hydration because intermolecular interaction in presence of little water. • The ammonium nitrate/amino acid mixed particles in equimolar ratio exhibited continuous water absorption and loss. • The amino acids inhibited the water uptake of ammonium nitrate. • The morphologies of the mixed particles depended on the chemical composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine the independent predictive role of nasal obstruction in resistant hypertension (RH) in uncontrolled hypertensive patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods: This prospective cohort study comprised of 236 OSA patients with uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) using 1 or 2 classes of antihypertensive drugs visiting Sleep Medicine Center from April 2021 to March 2022. Information on demographic characteristics, comorbidities, BP control and classes of antihypertensive medication, sleep-related symptoms, Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) Scale and sleep parameters was collected. RH incidence according to the BP control and classes of antihypertensive drugs data during the 5 month follow-up was collected. Results: After 5 month follow-up, 217 participants were included for final data analysis. Ninety-five subjects had nocturnal nasal obstruction with a higher proportion of RH (36.8% vs. 17.2%, p = 0.001) compared to those without nocturnal nasal obstruction. After adjustment for demographic characteristics, sleep-related symptoms and OSA severity, multinomial logistic regression models showed that nocturnal nasal obstruction (all ORs > 2.5, p < 0.05) or NOSE ≥ 8 (all ORs > 4.5, p < 0.05) was independently associated with a higher odds of RH. Nasal obstruction treatment improved NOSE score significantly, but did not reduce the incidence of RH significantly. Effective nasal obstruction treatment was associated with antihypertensive drugs reduction (OR 4.43; 95% CI 1.20–16.27). Conclusions: Nasal obstruction is an independent predictor of RH in uncontrolled hypertensive patients with OSA. In addition to the treatment of OSA, assessment and treatment of nasal obstruction should be considered in the management of uncontrolled hypertensive patients with OSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Utilizing population-based survey data in epidemiological research with a spatial perspective can integrate valuable context into the dynamics of HIV prevalence in West Africa. However, the situation in the Mano River Union (MRU) countries is largely unknown. This research aims to perform an ecological study to determine the HIV prevalence patterns in MRU. Methods: We analyzed Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and AIDS Indicator Survey (AIS) data on HIV prevalence in MRU from 2005 to 2020. We examined the country-specific, regional-specific and sex-specific ratios of respondents to profile the spatial–temporal heterogeneity of HIV prevalence and determine HIV hot spots. We employed Geodetector to measure the spatial stratified heterogeneity (SSH) of HIV prevalence for adult women and men. We assessed the comprehensive correct knowledge (CCK) about HIV/AIDS and HIV testing uptake by employing the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression to predict which combinations of CCKs can scale up the ratio of HIV testing uptake with sex-specific needs. Results: In our analysis, we leveraged data for 158,408 respondents from 11 surveys in the MRU. From 2005–2015, Cote d'Ivoire was the hot spot for HIV prevalence with a Gi_Bin score of 3, Z-Score 8.0–10.1 and P < 0.001. From 2016 to 2020, Guinea and Sierra Leone were hot spots for HIV prevalence with a Gi_Bin score of 2, Z-Score of 3.17 and P < 0.01. The SSH confirmed the significant differences in HIV prevalence at the national level strata, with a higher level for Cote d'Ivoire compared to other countries in both sexes with q-values of 0.61 and 0.40, respectively. Our LASSO model predicted different combinations of CCKs with sex-specific needs to improve HIV testing uptake. Conclusions: The spatial distribution of HIV prevalence in the MRU is skewed and the CCK about HIV/AIDS and HIV testing uptake are far below the threshold target set by UNAIDS for ending the epidemic in the sub-region. Geodetector detected statistically significant SSH within and between countries in the MRU. Our LASSO model predicted that different emphases should be implemented when popularizing the CCK about HIV/AIDS for adult women and men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the abstract and Section 2.6, titled The Embryonic Stem Cell (H9)-Cancer Cell (A549) Auto Coculture via a Programable Microfluidic Petri Dish, the values (3.57 ± 0.52) × 10 SP 5 sp , (11.67 ± 1.33) × 10 SP 5 sp , and (53.34 ± 8.37) × 10 SP 5 sp , should be reported as (3.57 ± 0.52) × 10 SP 4 sp , (11.67 ± 1.33) × 10 SP 4 sp , and (53.34 ± 8.37) × 10 SP 4 sp , respectively. Technol. i B 2021 b , I 6 i , 2100045 DOI: 10.1002/admt.202100045 In the originally published article, six instances of data published in this manuscript were misreported by a magnitude of ten. [Extracted from the article]

Keywords: cell nest; lab-on-a-chip; microenvironment; petri dish; stem cell niche EN cell nest lab-on-a-chip microenvironment petri dish stem cell niche 1 1 1 06/07/21 20210601 NES 210601 In article number 2100045, Xing Yue (Larry) Peng and co-workers develop microfluidic petri dishes that precisely control four ultra-slow micro circulations (<40 m s SP -1 sp ) in a 10 mm artificial stem cell niche. Stem Cell Nests: Design Artificial Stem Cell Nests for Stem Cell Niche in a Microfluidic Petri Dish Programmed by a Cell Phone (Adv. The microfluidic petri dishes need only a 1.8 mm magnet bead, an earplug-size actuator, and the ability to edit an MP3 song playlist to program the niche of an artificial cell nest. [Extracted from the article]

This paper presents the transient dose rate (TDR) effect of analog Delay Locked Loops (DLLs). The analog DLL circuits are built upon a previous design, and the typical photocurrents are calculated by the Sentaurus TCAD. Both single double-exponential and dual double-exponential functions are successfully introduced to fit the different photocurrent waveforms with change of the simulated nodes, which then are integrated into the SPICE models for later circuit simulations. Firstly, the radiation effect of individual sub-circuits (e.g. charge pump) and their coupling relationships are analyzed. The simulation results show that the current-charge pump as the most sensitive module can result in the biggest clock error, followed by the voltage-controlled delay line; although the global radiation effect of DLL (use current-charge pump) is almost the same with the individual current-charge pump exposed to the radiation, there are still some coupled relationships exhibiting among modules. Also, the simulation results are qualitatively consistent with previous experiment phenomena; further, it is demonstrated that the voltage-charge pump technique can be used effectively to improve the TDR effect of the charge pump; lastly, the effect of global photocurrents on the rail span collapse is indirectly considered through power analysis. However, it is found that this effect can be negligible due to the very small variation of power. • This work presents the transient dose rate (TDR) effect of analog Delay Locked Loops (DLLs). • The current-charge pump is the most sensitive module followed by the voltage-controlled delay line. • The voltage-charge pump technique can be used effectively to improve the TDR effect of the charge pump. • The global photocurrents can cause negligible effect on the rail span collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the transient dose rate effect (TDRE) on the system-in-package (SiP) SZ0501 experimentally. A specialized program is designed for TDRE tests. With the increase of dose rates, the failure features of the SiP are recorded. Photocurrents on each power supply line are also measured to assist in analyzing SiP failures. In addition, both enabled and disabled programmable read-only memory (PROM) cases are considered to compare their discrepancies. The experimental results show that high frequency (HF) signals in the SiP are much sensitive to TDRE. Also, the logical resource in its field-programmable gate array (FPGA) presents a higher sensitivity than the clock resource, which is a contrary finding to the previous results. Besides, it is found that there seems to be a micro latch-up window in the SiP. Moreover, this SiP demonstrates different TDRE for enabled PROM and disabled PROM cases, and it has an automatic reconfiguration process in the case of enabled PROM. These findings are followed by a detailed analysis and discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), widely used as flame retardants, easily enter the environment, thus posing environmental and health risks. Iron materials play a key role during the migration and transformation of PBDEs. This article reviews the processes and mechanisms of adsorption, degradation, and biological uptake and transformation of PBDEs affected by iron materials in the environment. Iron materials can effectively adsorb PBDEs through hydrophobic interactions, π-π interactions, hydrogen/halogen bonds, electrostatic interactions, coordination interactions, and pore filling interactions. In addition, they are beneficial for the photodegradation, reduction debromination, and advanced oxidation degradation and debromination of PBDEs. The iron material-microorganism coupling technology affects the uptake and transformation of PBDEs. In addition, iron materials can reduce the uptake of PBDEs in plants, affecting their bioavailability. The species, concentration, and size of iron materials affect plant physiology. Overall, iron materials play a bidirectional role in the biological uptake and transformation of PBDEs. It is necessary to strengthen the positive role of iron materials in reducing the environmental and health risks caused by PBDEs. This article provides innovative ideas for the rational use of iron materials in controlling the migration and transformation of PBDEs in the environment. [Display omitted] • The influence of iron materials on the fate of PBDEs was summarized. • The type and concentration of iron materials cause difference in the fate of PBDEs. • The idea of developing efficient and green iron materials was proposed. • The potential of iron materials reducing environment risk of PBDEs were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cu 2 (OH) 3 F/Cu 2 O composite catalyst was obtained by in-situ partial reduction of Cu 2 (OH) 3 F, which promoted the effective cycling of Cu2+/Cu+, inhibited the complexation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, and efficiently degraded tetracycline hydrochloride. [Display omitted] • Cu 2 (OH) 3 F/Cu 2 O heterojunction was successfully constructed by in-situ partial reduction method. • The n-p type heterojunction accelerates electron transport for efficient Cu+/Cu2+ cycling. • Cu 2 (OH) 3 F/Cu 2 O composites exhibit excellent catalytic activity and stability. Cu-based Fenton-like systems have demonstrated high effectiveness in the degradation of organic pollutants, however, challenges still exist to overcome the sluggish cycling of metal ions and fast activation of reactants. Herein, a novel n-p type Cu 2 (OH) 3 F/Cu 2 O photo-Fenton-like catalyst (CFC) was prepared with in-situ reduction of Cu 2 (OH) 3 F and applied for tetracycline hydrochloride degradation. Under optimized condition, the target catalyst (CFC-5) showed excellent activity, achieving a degradation efficiency of approximately 99.93 % in 30 min. The reaction rate constant with CFC-5 was 4.10 and 3.26 times higher than that of Cu 2 (OH) 3 F and Cu 2 O, respectively. Moreover, the Cu 2 (OH) 3 F/Cu 2 O catalyst exhibited highly cycling stability and broad applicability. The results illustrate that construction of Cu 2 (OH) 3 F/Cu 2 O composites facilitates the charge separation and enhances Cu2+/Cu+ cycling, which benefits the generation of highly oxidizing active species and thus significantly improved the degradation efficiency. Besides, this study offers a versatile method to construct inexpensive and efficient photo-Fenton-like heterojunction catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioinspired nanochannel-based sensors have elicited significant interest because of their excellent sensing performance, and robust mechanical and tunable chemical properties. However, the existing designs face limitations due to material constraints, which hamper broader application possibilities. Herein, a heteromembrane system composed of a periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) layer with three-dimensional (3D) network nanochannels is constructed for glutathione (GSH) detection. The unique hierarchical pore architecture provides a large surface area, abundant reaction sites and plentiful interconnected pathways for rapid ionic transport, contributing to efficient and sensitive detection. Moreover, the thioether groups in nanochannels can be selectively cleaved by GSH to generate hydrophilic thiol groups. Benefiting from the increased hydrophilic surface, the proposed sensor achieves efficient GSH detection with a detection limit of 1.2 μM by monitoring the transmembrane ionic current and shows good recovery ranges in fetal bovine serum sample detection. This work paves an avenue for designing and fabricating nanofluidic sensing systems for practical and biosensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although nitrates and amino acids are ubiquitous in the atmosphere, the interactions of amino acids with nitrates on the hygroscopicity of aerosols are still not clear. We studied the hygroscopic properties and compositional evolution of three atmospherically relevant species, sodium nitrate (NaNO 3), glycine and L-alanine (alanine). The investigations on the NaNO 3 , glycine, alanine and their internally NaNO 3 /amino acid mixed particles with molar ratios of 3:1, 1:1 and 1:3 were conducted using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The mixed NaNO 3 /glycine droplets with molar ratios of 3:1, 1:1 and 1:3 exhibited efflorescence transition at 52.3%, 62.6% and 63.2%RH, respectively. For the NaNO 3 /alanine mixed systems with molar ratios of 3:1, 1:1 and 1:3, the efflorescence relative humidity (ERH) was measured to be 50.2%, 59.8% and 69.3%, respectively. These results suggested that in each of the systems studied the addition of amino acids to aerosols could promote the crystallization of mixed droplets. However, the higher deliquescence relative humidity (DRH) with increased fraction of glycine for the mixed NaNO 3 /glycine (3:1, 79.2%RH; 1:1, 86.3%RH; 1:3, 86.5%RH) also indicated that glycine could inhibit the deliquescence phase transition of mixed systems. In the case of NaNO 3 /alanine systems, the DRH for 3:1 and 1:3 mixed particles was 78.2% and 82.7% while no deliquescence transition occurred for the 1:1 mixed particles. The hygroscopic properties of mixed NaNO 3 /amino acids droplets were modified due to the formed amino acid-NaNO 3 complex salts from the interactions of amino acids with NaNO 3 in aerosols during dehydration process. The discrepancies in water content for the mixed NaNO 3 /amino acids with molar ratios of 1:1 and 1:3 between dehydration and hydration processes at high RH could be attributed to the crystallization of amino acid-NaNO 3 complex salts during dehydration and the residual amino acids. • The chemical composition evolution of NaNO 3 /amino acid was investigated. • The amino acid-NaNO 3 complex salts can be formed. • The water content decreases after a dehydration-hydration process. • Amino acids promote the crystallization of droplets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have been widely studied and applied in the field of optoelectronic materials. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2) has garnered significant attention in contemporary discussions and received a lot of interest in battery, catalytic, energy storage and terahertz applications because of its inherent and thickness-dependent adjustable band gap and rich properties as molybdenite. Compared with other 2D materials, MoS 2 show large layers spacing, high ion retention capacity, low resistivity, high electrochemical activity, and high stability, exhibiting extensive use in the lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Due to the excellent ionic conductivity and larger theoretical specific capacity, MoS 2 can also be used as electrode materials in the supercapacitor. Besides, the nano-structure MoS 2 and the nanocomposite MoS 2 show a higher performance than the pure MoS 2 , which is the current hotspot. In this review, the synthesis method and the structure of MoS 2 are introduced, followed by the recent advances in the energy storage applications in the LIBs, SIBs and supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid and accurate estimation of a material's stab-resistance performance is important for the design of personal protective clothing. In this work, the stab-resistance performance was investigated and compared on five commercially used polymers—PA (polyamide) 6, PA11, PA12, PC (polycarbonate), and PE (polyethylene)—by conducting impact tests as described in the GA 68-2008 National Standard. The relationship between the penetration depth and impact energy was studied. Rockwell hardness tests, shear strength tests, and 3D tomography observations were performed to characterize the response mechanisms of the five polymers. The process of a knife impacting a substrate was described and verified. It was revealed that the surface hardness and shear strength were the key mechanical properties that affected the overall stab-resistance performance. A theoretical model was proposed, which combined the mechanical properties to quantitatively predict the material's response behavior under a knife impact, and it was validated with a prediction error between 5% and 20%. The results can be used in the selection process of stab-resistant candidates and predicting the knife-penetration performances of different materials under various impact energies. Unlabelled Image • The knife impact process was characterized as cavitation, penetration, and perforation. • The relationship between the critical plate thickness and impact energy on different polymers were characterized. • The surface hardness and shear strength were key mechanical properties that affected the overall stab-resist performance. • A theoretical model to rapidly predict the stab-resist performance of polymers was established and verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TNF receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) is an adaptor protein and an E3 ubiquitin ligase mediating multiple cell signaling pathway activation in a context-dependent manner. TRAF6 plays critical roles in innate immune response and regulates function of antigen-presenting cells. Here, we cloned the goose TRAF6 (goTRAF6) gene from a healthy Yangzhou great white goose (Anser anser), which had a typical TRAF structure and shared a high-sequence identity with TRAF6 of other birds. Quantitative real-time PCR revealed that goTRAF6 mRNA was broadly expressed in all the studied tissues, with highest expression in the heart and pectoral muscle. Overexpression of goTRAF6 caused NF-κB activation in a dose-dependent manner and substantially upregulated IFN-β expression in HEK293T cells. Following Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligand stimulation of goose peripheral blood mononuclear cells, goTRAF6 and downstream inflammatory cytokine mRNA levels considerably up-regulated, especially at early stages. Salmonella Enteritidis challenge caused overexpression of goTRAF6 and cytokine mRNA in all the examined organs. These findings demonstrated that goTRAF6 played a substantial role in TLR-TRAF6 signaling cascade, and further contributed to the antibacterial-responses in host. • The structural and functional characteristics of the goTRAF6 gene were conserved and resembled those of other birds. • GoTRAF6 mRNA was broadly expressed in all goose tissues examined, especially in heart and muscle. • Triggering goTRAF6 led to robust up-regulation of NF-κB activation and IFN-β expression. • The expression of goTRAF6 and cytokines were significantly up-regulated in goose PBMCs after TLR ligands stimulation. • The mRNA levels of goTRAF6 and cytokines were increased in all examined organs after Salmonella Enteritidis challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The similar material of collapsible loess is the basis and premise of the experimental study on the surface movement and deformation law of coal seam mining in collapsible loess-covered areas. The orthogonal experiment is used to make up similar material with different proportions using river sand and barite powder as aggregate, clay and gypsum as cementing material, and diatomite as adjusting material. The reasonable proportion of similar material in collapsible loess is studied by using range analysis, similar simulation, and field measurement. The results show that the content of diatomite plays a leading role in the collapsibility coefficient of similar material, and the collapsibility coefficient is positively correlated with the content of diatomite; moisture content is the main control of the cohesion of the material, and cohesion is negatively correlated with the moisture content; the ratio of bone-to-glue has the most significant effect on the internal friction angle, and the internal friction angle is positively correlated with the ratio of bone-to-glue. The reasonable ratio of the similar material in collapsible loess is 8 : 2 of the ratio of bone-to-glue, the ratio of clay-to-gypsum is 9 : 1, the barite powder content is 6%, the diatomite content is 23%, and the moisture content is 13%, and the mechanical parameters of the collapsible loess are 5.3%–6.3% different from the target value of similar material through laboratory tests, which can meet the experimental requirements. It is verified by a similar simulation experiment that the maximum surface subsidence value and the surface fracture width in the simulation results are 6.9% and 7.8% different from the field measured results, indicating a high degree of agreement. The results of the study have important references and guiding significance for the preparation of similar material with similar models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper ions (Cu2+), as a crucial trace element, play a vital role in living organisms. Thus, the detection of Cu2+ is of great significance for disease prevention and diagnosis. Nanochannel devices with an excellent nanoconfinement effect show great potential in recognizing and detecting Cu2+ ions. However, these devices often require complicated modification and treatment, which not only damages the membrane structure, but also induces nonspecific, low-sensitivity and non-repeatable detection. Herein, a 2D MXene–carboxymethyl chitosan (MXene/CMC) freestanding membrane with ordered lamellar channels was developed by a super-assembly strategy. The introduction of CMC provides abundant space charges, improving the nanoconfinement effect of the nanochannel. Importantly, the CMC can chelate with Cu2+ ions, endowing the MXene/CMC with the ability to detect Cu2+. The formation of CMC–Cu2+ complexes decreases the space charges, leading to a discernible variation in the current signal. Therefore, MXene/CMC can achieve highly sensitive and stable Cu2+ detection based on the characteristics of nanochannel composition. The linear response range for Cu2+ detection is 10−9 to 10−5 M with a low detection limit of 0.095 nM. Notably, MXene/CMC was successfully applied for Cu2+ detection in real water and fetal bovine serum samples. This work provides a simple, highly sensitive and stable detection platform based on the properties of the nanochannel composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cheap, small, convenient, reliable, and durable lab‐on‐a‐chip is needed for various scenarios in practical applications. The authors hope to use the chip only after plugging in a mobile phone. An ideal micropump design is obtained by simplifying the micropump theory, reducing the micropump to 1 mm (oscillator pump, O‐pump), the external device (actuator) to 5 mm, and the power to 10 mW. This system costs ≈$10 and can work in harsh fluid environments (such as animal cell culture) for an extended period (a few months of testing). An MP3 player drives two O‐pumps by a programmable playlist. The O‐pump is a permanent magnet positive sphere in an open fluid space, which is not easy to block and rolls freely without wear. Only controlled by the magnetic field, the O‐pump avoids interference from the current, electric field, and chemical activity. The fluid is driven by a vibrating motion, in open or sealed channels, with no unique materials and no other equipment. The debris, bubbles, and fibers in the blood viscosity fluid do not affect the pump's function. The system can be applied in different scenarios, such as the automatic cultivation of stem cells or point‐of‐care devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pre-metastatic niche is a microenvironment prepared for the colonization of circulating tumor cells in specific organs. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles with a variety of biological functions. Exosomes play an irreplaceable role in the development of pre-metastatic niches, and mainly function as communication medium. In this review, we analyzed the effects of exosomes on pre-metastatic niches from various perspectives, including inflammation, immune response, angiogenesis, organotropism, matrix remodeling and biomarker expression. In particular, exosomes express programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and cause the immune escape of tumor cells. The immunomodulatory effects of exosomes and their potential in liquid diagnosis have drawn our attention. The potential value of exosomes and pre-metastatic niches will be realized in the field of immunity therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasingly widespread application of CMOS image sensors (CIS) in radiation environments, such as aerospace, their radiation effects have gained attention. This paper investigates single-event transient (SET) caused by the proton direct ionization on CIS, combining both experimental and simulation methods. The proton beam energy used in the experiment is 12 MeV, with a flux up to 3.5 × 108 p/(cm2 s). Due to the periodicity of the proton beam, the CIS output displays a phenomenon of alternating brightness and darkness. When the proton beam flux is low, numerous SET bright spots with different outputs are observed. To comprehensively analyze these experimental phenomena, a typical three-dimensional 4T pinned photodiode model is constructed in TCAD, and relevant SET simulation is carried out. The results indicate that incident position, incident time, and the number of incident protons significantly affect the output of SET-generated bright spots, which are key factors contributing to the different bright spots observed in the experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transient γ-radiation and laser-simulated experiments were carried out to investigate the transient dose rate effect (TDRE) in SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) for the first time. The results indicate that IBM43RF0100 SiGe HBTs experience a significant sensitivity of TDRE. For the laser-simulated experiment, the duration of transient current and charge collection are matched well with that of transient γ-radiation. The amplitude of transient photocurrent induced by the lower energy order of μJ approaches the transient photocurrent induced by transient γ-radiation. It is demonstrated that laser-simulated experiments are a candidate and a convenient method to evaluate the TDRE response of SiGe HBTs, which avoids serious electromagnetic interference in the transient γ-radiation environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Gallinarum biovar Gallinarum (S. Gallinarum) and biovar Pullorum (S. Pullorum) are gram-negative bacteria, members of the most important infectious pathogens, and have caused common problems in the poultry industry, especially in the developing countries. O- and H-antigen specific anti-sera are commonly for slide and tube agglutination tests to identify Salmonella serovars. However, it is both labor intensive and time consuming, so there is an urgent need for a new technique for the rapid detection of the major Salmonella serovars. In this study, we developed a 1-step PCR assay to identify the serovar Gallinarum. This PCR-based assay was based on the SPUL_2693 gene, which was located in SPI-19 and found by comparing the genomes of the S. Pullorum and S. Gallinarum in the whole data of NCBI. The specificity of this gene was evaluated by bioinformatics analysis, and the results showed that the SPUL_2693 gene exists in all serovar Gallinarum. The specificity and sensitivity of this PCR assay were evaluated in our study. The developed PCR assay was able to distinguish the serovar Gallinarum from 27 different Salmonella serovars and 5 different non- Salmonella pathogens. The minimum limit of genomic DNA of S. Pullorum for PCR detection was 2.143 pg/μL, and the minimum limit number of cells was 6 CFU. This PCR assay was also applied to analyze Salmonella strains isolated from a chicken farm in this study. The PCR assay properly identified the serovar Gallinarum from other Salmonella serovars, and the results were in agreement with the results of a traditional serotyping assay. In general, the newly developed PCR-based assay can be used to accurately judge the presence of the serovar Gallinarum and can be combined with traditional serotyping assays, especially in the case of large quantities of samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy is a crucial innate immune response that clears pathogens intracellularly. Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S.E) has emerged as one of the most important food-borne pathogens. Here, we reported that dTDP-4-dehydro-β-ւ-rhamnose reductase (RfbD) was able to enhance bacterial colonization in vivo and in vitro by regulating autophagy. We screened the transposon mutant library of Salmonella Enteritidis strain Z11 by High-Content Analysis System, found that rfbD gene has an effect on autophagy. The Z11Δ rfbD -infected group showed greater expression of LC3-II than the Z11-infected group in HeLa, RAW264.7, and J774A.1 cells. Overall, the survival of Z11Δ rfbD in RAW264.7 cells was reduced after 8 h of infection compared to that of the Z11 wild-type strain. In addition, we observed that inhibition of autophagic flux significantly increased the survival of Z11Δ rfbD in RAW264.7 cells. Mice infection experiments revealed that Z11Δ rfbD virulence was significantly reduced, and bacterial load was reduced in the liver and cecum in mice model, and LC3-II expression was significantly increased. These findings indicate an important role of Salmonella Enteritidis protein as a strategy to suppress autophagy and provides new ideas for manipulating autophagy as a novel strategy to treat infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some inflammatory lesions coexist with comedones.3 Also, Panmontha et al.4 identified a mutation of PEN-2 in familial comedones that have the same causative gene as HS. In this study, we identified a novel frameshift mutation in the NCSTN gene expanding the mutation spectrum of -secretase genes2 that may provide information for future studies on correlations between genotype-phenotype in HS. Dear Editor, Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, recurrent, inflammatory skin disease that is characterized by painful inflammatory nodules, abscesses, and sinuses in the intertriginous areas of the body, most commonly the axillary, inguinal, and anogenital regions.1 The pathogenesis of HS is largely unknown, and genetic mutations play a role in some patients with familial HS.2 Here, we report a novel frameshift mutation of the NCSTN gene in a Chinese HS family with familial comedones as the main clinical manifestation. [Extracted from the article]