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Background: Sjogren syndrome (SS) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease and its pathogenesis often involves the participation of numerous immune cells and inflammatory factors. Despite increased researches and studies recently focusing on this area, it remains to be fully elucidated. We decide to incorporate genetic insight into investigation of the causal link between various immune cells, inflammatory factors and pathogenesis of Sjogren syndrome (SS). Methods: Our study leveraged the genetic variants of multi-omics statistics extracted from genome-wide association study (GWAS), the University of Bristol and the FinnGen study. We performed a bidirectional Mendelian randomization and mediation study based on randomly allocated instrumental variables to infer causality, followed by external validation with UK Biobank data and Bayesian colocalization. Results: We demonstrated that an elevated level of CD27 on IgD + CD24 + B cell, a subset of B cells expressing both IgD and CD24, was associated with a higher risk of SS (OR = 1.119, 95% CI: 1.061–1.179, P < 0.001), while CD3 on CD45RA + CD4 + Treg was a protective factor (OR = 0.917, 95%CI: 0.877–0.959, P < 0.001). Results of meta-analysis and colocalization further supported the significant results identified in the primary analysis. A total of 4 inflammatory cytokines and 7 circulating proteins exhibited potential causal relationships with SS despite no significant result achieved after FDR correction. Finally, results of mediation analysis indicated that CD40L receptor levels had significant mediating effects (β = 0.0314, 95% CI: 0.0004–0.0624, P = 0.0471) at a mediation proportion of 28% (95% CI: 0.364%-55.6%) in causal relationship between CD27 on IgD + CD24 + B cell and SS. Conclusions: By providing a novel genetic insight into unveiling the roles of autoimmunity and inflammation in Sjogren syndrome, our findings may potentially lead to identifying new clinical biomarkers for disease monitoring and therapeutic targets that offer more effective alternatives for treating this condition. Therefore, our study may provide valuable evidence for future clinical intervention and targeted immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yb-doped lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have attracted significant attention due to their outstanding optical properties. However, scaling up the synthesis remains a practical challenge. Here, we present a scalable method for producing monodispersed Yb3+:CsPbCl3 NCs by simply heating up mixed reactants. The particle size and Yb3+ doping concentration of the produced CsPbCl3 NCs can be effectively controlled. The resulting NCs exhibit exciton and Yb3+ emissions, both can be fine-tuned by modifying the annealing temperature and duration. Unlike classical size evolution modes, we revealed that the monodispersity was attributed to a two-step nucleation and digestive ripening process. With the capability to yield over ten grams of high-quality Yb3+:CsPbCl3 NCs, our work may suggest a synthetic approach for a wide range of applications and demonstrates an alternative mechanism for forming monodispersed perovskite NCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrasound can activate nano/microparticles to induce reactive oxygen species (ROS). The advantages of deep penetration and precise spatiotemporal control are demonstrated for multiple applications, such as sonodynamic therapy, chemical industry, and environmental treatment. Meanwhile, a toolbox of inorganic particles is developed to enhance ROS production via cavitation enhancement, sonoluminescence, and piezocatalytic effect. Nonetheless, sophisticated influences of ultrasonic parameters hamper further exploration of novel sonosensitized materials. In this perspective, the influential parameters in different mechanisms are reviewed, emphasizing the relationship between ultrasound frequency and catalytic activity, and outlooks are provided on the study of inorganic sonosensitizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses China's Agricultural Product Processing Industry under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Topics include China's aim to strengthen the safety research on agricultural products processing industry and provide scientific system support to various stakeholders to develop global industries.

The effects of the rolling temperature on nanocrystalline phases and tensile properties of nanocrystalline/microcrystalline 316L stainless steel, that is, fabricated by the aluminothermic reaction method are investigated in this study. The rolling experiments are first performed at 1073 K with 40% and then with a 70% thickness reduction at the temperatures of 1073, 973, and 873 K. X‐Ray Diffraction (XRD) and SEM are used to analyze the evolution of the phases, and the microstructure is characterized using TEM. When the rolling temperature is 1073 K, the initial nano‐grains disappears gradually with the increasing rate of thickness reduction and are followed by the formation of the new sub‐micro grain phase. While the elongation increase to 24% monotonically, the strength of the steels initially increases and then decreases. When the rolling temperature decreases to 873 K, 316L stainless steels obtain a typical bimodal structure and achieve a super balance of high strength and considerable ductility (σ0.2 = 702 MPa, EL. = 20%). The nano‐grain fraction of approximately 50% is the optimized structure for bimodal grain size 316L stainless steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the electron transport layer of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the photoanode is an important component that affects photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE). The commonly used material titanium dioxide (TiO2) is difficult to prepare as nanostructures with large specific surface area, which affects dye loading and electrolyte diffusion. Herein, TiO2 nanofibers and ZnO-TiO2 composite nanofibers with different molar ratios are synthesized by electrospinning technology. The above nanofibers are coated on photoanodes by the doctor blade method to assemble DSSCs. The influence of the composite ratio of ZnO-TiO2 composite nanofibers on the photoelectric performance of the assembled DSSCs is explored. The ZnO-TiO2 composite nanofibers with a molar ratio of 1 : 2 have large specific surface area and porosity and have the smallest charge transfer resistance at the photoanode-electrolyte interface. The PCE of the nanofiber-modified DSSCs reaches a maximum of 3.66%, which is 56% higher than that of the TiO2 nanofiber-modified DSSCs. The photovoltaic parameters such as open circuit voltage (VOC), current density (JSC), and fill factor (FF) are 0.58 V, 10.36 mA/cm2, and 0.61, respectively. Proper compounding of zinc oxide (ZnO) can not only make the nanofibers absorb more dyes and enhance the light-harvesting ability but also improve the diffusion of the electrolyte and enhance the electron transport, thus successfully improving the power conversion efficiency of DSSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitamin D binding protein (VDBP) is a potential biomarker of major depressive disorder (MDD). This study demonstrates for the first time that VDBP is highly expressed in core emotion-related brain regions of mice susceptible to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). Specifically, the overexpression of microglia (MG)-derived VDBP in the prelimbic leads to depression-like behavior and aggravates CUMS-induced depressive phenotypes in mice, whereas conditional knockout of MG-derived VDBP can reverse both neuronal damage and depression-like behaviors. Mechanistically, the binding of MG-derived VDBP with the neuronal receptor megalin mediates the downstream SRC signaling pathway, leading to neuronal and synaptic damage and depression-like behaviors. These events may be caused by biased activation of inhibitory neurons and excitatory-inhibitory imbalance. Importantly, this study has effectively identified MG-derived VDBP as a pivotal mediator in the interplay between microglia and neurons via its interaction with the neuronal receptor megalin and intricate downstream impacts on neuronal functions, thus offering a promising therapeutic target for MDD., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Objective: To investigate the current status of methotrexate (MTX) application in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients., Methods: The clinical and laboratory data of RA patients who attended in the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of Peking University Third Hospital from January 1, 2022 to November 31, 2023 were collected retrospectively. In order to figure out the relationship between MTX use and RA disease control, we recorded information including the starting dose, maximum dose, current dose, reasons of discontinuation of MTX, etc . The t test, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test, Fisher' s exact probability and multivariable Logistic regression were used for analysis., Results: A total of 239 RA patients were enrolled, including 201 females and 38 males with a mean age of (54.5±14.3) years. Among them, 101 patients reached the therapeutic target [clinical remission or low disease activity assessed by 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28)-erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)], accounting for 42.2% of the RA patients. Twenty-six patients met the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) definition of difficult-to-treat (D2T) RA, accounting for 10.9% of RA patients. The proportion of the RA patients who had ever used MTX was 84. 1%, and those who were currently on it accounted for only 39.7%. The MTX dose was generally low, with a starting dose of (9.5±3.0) mg/week, the maximum dose of 15.0 (10.0, 15.0) mg/week, and the current dose being (12.4±2.7) mg/week. The most common reasons for MTX dose reduction or discontinuation were adverse reactions, mainly including abnormalities of hepatic function, gastrointestinal discomfort, leucopenia, etc. Those who were currently on MTX had a higher rate of treatment to target (52.6% vs. 35.4%, P> 0.05), lower disease activity score (DAS28-ESR, 3.6±1.8 vs. 4.2±1.8, P < 0.05), and fewer tender joint counts (4.8±8.3 vs. 8.6±10.4, P < 0.05) as compared with those who were not taking the drug, while swollen joint count, pain visual analog score and patient' s global score, C-reactive protein (CRP) level and ESR level were not significantly different between the two groups. Compared with those who did not reach the target of treatment, those who did had a higher rate of current MTX application (48.5% vs. 33.3%, P < 0.05), but the history of MTX did not differ between the two groups (84.2% vs. 84.1%, P >0.05). The maximum dose of MTX (median 15.0 mg/week vs. 13.7 mg/week, P >0.05) and the current dose [(12.9±2.5) mg/week vs. (11.8±2.8) mg/week, P >0.05] was higher in those who achieved the target, while the starting dose [(9.6±2.8) mg/week vs. (9.5±3.1) mg/week, P >0.05] and the rate of prior MTX (84.2% vs. 83.3%, P >0.05) was comparable between the two groups. The D2T RA patients had a higher rate of previous MTX use (96.2% vs. 82.6%, P < 0.05) and a higher starting dose [(11.6±4.3) mg/week vs. (9.8±2.7) mg/week, P >0.05], while the maximum dose (median 12.5 mg/week vs. 15.0 mg/week, P >0.05) and the current dose were both lower [(11.6±3.2) mg/week vs. (12.5±2.6) mg/week, P >0.05] than the non-D2T RA patients., Conclusion: The proportion of regular use of MTX among RA patients was low and the dose was generally small. The RA patients with regular use of MTX had a higher rate of achieving treatment target and lower disease activity. Those who achieved the target had a higher rate of current MTX use, higher maximum and current doses than those who did not. The D2T RA patients had lower maximum and current doses of MTX than the non-D2T RA patients. Therefore, increasing the usage and dosage of MTX in RA patients may help to improve the rate of achieving treatment targets.

Day-night photocatalysts that can persistently generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) after ceasing light attracted intensive attention in diverse fields. However, current strategies of combining a photocatalyst and an energy storage material can hardly fulfill the demands, especially in size. We herein present a one-phase sub-5 nm day-night photocatalyst via simply doping Nd, Tm, or Er into YVO 4 :Eu 3+ nanoparticles, efficiently producing ROS in both day and night modes. We demonstrate that the rare earth ions acted as a ROS generator, and Eu 3+ and defects contributed to the long persistency. Furthermore, the ultrasmall size led to remarkable bacterial uptake and bactericidal efficacy. Our finding suggests an alternative mechanism of day-night photocatalysts that could be ultrasmall and thus may shed light on disinfection and other applications.