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Renewable energy driven electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction (CO2RR) to alcohols provides an effective pathway for achieving carbon neutrality and sustainable development. However, it is challenging to convert CO2 into ethanol due to the sluggish C−C coupling and complex 12 electron/proton transferred process, which has been achieved mainly on Cu catalysts but with poor selectivity. Herein, In2O3 catalysts were doped with small amount of Pd and exhibited high activity for CO2RR to ethanol with a high Faradaic efficiency (50.7 %) at low overpotential. The introduction of Pd promotes the transformation of reaction products from formic acid to ethanol by modulating the binding strength of *CO intermediates. The in‐situ ATR‐SEIRAS and DFT calculations proved that the formation of Pd−O−In could modulate the binding strength of *CO and enhanced its coverage, thus facilitating C−C coupling step towards ethanol. This study may provide a new strategy to the generation of high value‐added products from CO2 over Non‐Cu‐based catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excellent shape stability of thermally expanded metamaterials and the good bandgap properties of acoustic metamaterials have a wide range of promising applications in aerospace and sensors. Here, a bi-material-directional honeycomb metamaterial (BHM) with tunable coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and bandgap properties is proposed. The theoretical analysis and numerical simulations are employed to reveal the thermal deformation mechanism of the BHM. In addition, the analytical expression of the effective Young's modulus is established by considering both tensile and bending deformation. Based on the Bloch theorem, the band structures of the BHM are calculated by the finite element method. Parameter analysis confirms that the CTE and bandgap of the BHM can be simultaneously regulated and drastically adjusted by changing the geometric parameters and material combinations. Meanwhile, the coupling relationship of the effective CTE, Young's modulus, and total effective bandgap width are investigated. The results show that the BHM can have tunable CTE function and large total effective bandgap width by selecting suitable parameters while satisfying stiffness requirements. This study achieves a dual objective of specific CTE properties and bandgap design through rational material selection and shape design, which makes the metamaterials have better tunability and multifunctionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of the polyclad genus Prosthiostomum is described from the intertidal zone of the South China Sea, Huidong, China, based on morphological and molecular analyses. Prosthiostomum huidongense sp. nov. is characterized by i) few marginal eyes scattered between the marginal band and the cerebral eyes; ii) sucker located at two-thirds of the body length, being removed from the female gonopore by twice the distance between the male and female gonopores; iii) shallow male atrium with slightly ruffled inner wall, positioned approximately perpendicular to the body wall. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on 28S rDNA sequence showed that the new species was nested in a clade composed of Prosthiostomum species. The uncorrected p-distance of COI between P. huidongense sp. nov. and other Prosthiostomum species ranged from 20.3 to 24.3%, and the high genetic divergence further supports P. huidongense as a new species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revealing the genetic basis for stress-resistant traits in extremophile plants will yield important information for crop improvement. Zygophyllum xanthoxylum, an extant species of the ancient Mediterranean, is a succulent xerophyte that can maintain a favorable water status under desert habitats; however, the genetic basis of this adaptive trait is poorly understood. Furthermore, the phylogenetic position of Zygophyllales, to which Z. xanthoxylum belongs, remains controversial. In this study, we sequenced and assembled the chromosome-level genome of Z. xanthoxylum. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Zygophyllales and Myrtales form a separated taxon as a sister to the clade comprising fabids and malvids, clarifying the phylogenetic position of Zygophyllales at whole-genome scale. Analysis of genomic and transcriptomic data revealed multiple critical mechanisms underlying the efficient osmotic adjustment using Na+ and K+ as "cheap" osmolytes that Z. xanthoxylum has evolved through the expansion and synchronized expression of genes encoding key transporters/channels and their regulators involved in Na+/K+ uptake, transport, and compartmentation. It is worth noting that ZxCNGC1;1 (cyclic nucleotide-gated channels) and ZxCNGC1;2 constituted a previously undiscovered energy-saving pathway for Na+ uptake. Meanwhile, the core genes involved in biosynthesis of cuticular wax also featured an expansion and upregulated expression, contributing to the water retention capacity of Z. xanthoxylum under desert environments. Overall, these findings boost the understanding of evolutionary relationships of eudicots, illustrate the unique water retention mechanism in the succulent xerophyte that is distinct from glycophyte, and thus provide valuable genetic resources for the improvement of stress tolerance in crops and insights into the remediation of sodic lands. Genomic analysis of a desert plant reveals the phylogeny of Zygophyllales and provides elite genes for crop improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We apply the generalised Komar method proposed in [] to Taub-NUT-AdS spacetime in the theory of Einstein gravity plus a cosmological constant. Based on a generalised closed 2-form, we derive the total mass and NUT charge of the Taub-NUT-AdS spacetime. Together with other thermodynamic quantities calculated through standard method, we conform the first law and Smarr relation. Then, we consider charged AdS NUT spacetimes in Einstein–Maxwell theory with a cosmological constant, and show that the generalised Komar method works, too. We obtain all the thermodynamic quantities, and the first law and Smarr relation are checked to be satisfied automatically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of Bacteroides on liver lipid metabolism in laying hens with fatty liver hemorrhage syndrome (FLHS) induced by high-energy and low-protein diet. Eighty 210-day-old Dawu Jinfeng laying hens weighing (1.5±0.2) kg were randomly divided into four groups with five replicates in each group and four hens in each replicate. The control group (Group C) was fed with basal diet, the model group (Group M) was fed with high energy and low protein (HELP) diet, the low dose Bacteroides group (Group BL) was fed with HELP diet + 1 x 109 CFU/mL Bacteroides, and the high dose Bacteroides group (Group BH) was fed with HELP diet + 1 x 1011 CFU/mL Bacteroides. The trial period was 70 days. The results showed that compared with Group C, the liver of Group M was greasy, brittle and fragile, with a large number of fat vacuoles and red-stained fat droplets, the liver index and abdominal fat rate increased significantly (P<0.05), and the serum TG, TC, LDL-C concentrations and AST, ALT activities increased significantly (P<0.05), while HDL-C concentration decreased significantly (P<0.05). Compared with Group M, Group BL and Group BH showed significant improvement in liver fat vacuoles and red stained lipid droplets in laying hens, the liver index significantly decreased (P<0.05), the levels of serum TG, TC, LDL-C, as well as the activities of AST and ALT, were significantly reduced (P<0.05), while the levels of HDL-C were significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with Group BH, serum TG, TC concentrations and AST activity in BL group decreased significantly (P<0.05), while HDL-C concentration increased significantly (P<0.05). Study shows that Bacteroides can improve lipid metabolism disorder and liver function damage caused by FLHS. Bacteroides with 1 x 109 CFU/mL is more effective in regulating liver lipid metabolism in FLHS laying hens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore the predictive potential of intratumoral and multiregion peritumoral radiomics features extracted from multiparametric MRI for predicting pathological differentiation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Methods: A total of 265 patients with 277 HCCs (training cohort n = 193, validation cohort n = 84) who underwent preoperative MRI were retrospectively analyzed. The risk factors identified through stepwise regression analysis were utilized to construct a clinical model. Radiomics models based on MRI (arterial phase, portal venous phase, delayed phase) across various regions (entire tumor, Peri_5mm, Peri_10mm, Peri_20mm) were developed using the LASSO approach. The features obtained from the intratumoral region and the optimal peritumoral region were combined to design the IntraPeri fusion model. Model performance was assessed using the area under the curve (AUC). Results: Larger size, non-smooth margins, and mosaic architecture were risk factors for poorly differentiated HCC (pHCC). The clinical model achieved AUCs of 0.77 and 0.73 in the training and validation cohorts, respectively, while the intratumoral model achieved corresponding AUC values of 0.92 and 0.82. The Peri_10mm model demonstrated superior performance to the Peri_5mm and Peri_20mm models, with AUC values of 0.87 vs. 0.84 vs. 0.73 in the training cohort and 0.80 vs. 0.77 vs. 0.68 in the validation cohort, respectively. The IntraPeri model exhibited remarkable AUC values of 0.95 and 0.86 in predicting pHCC in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Conclusions: Our study highlights the potential of a multiparametric MRI-based radiomic model that integrates intratumoral and peritumoral features as a tool for predicting HCC differentiation. Critical relevance statement: Both clinical and multiparametric MRI-based radiomic models, particularly the intratumoral radiomic model, are non-invasive tools for predicting HCC differentiation. Importantly, the IntraPeri fusion model exhibited remarkable predictiveness for individualized HCC differentiation. Key points: • Both the intratumoral radiomics model and clinical features were useful for predicting HCC differentiation. • The Peri_10mm radiomics model demonstrated better diagnostic ability than other peritumoral region-based models. • The IntraPeri radiomics fusion model outperformed the other models for predicting HCC differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Molybdenum carbide materials with unique electronic structures have received special attention as water-splitting catalysts, but their structural stability in the alkaline water electrolysis process is not satisfactory. This study reports an in situ pyrolysis method for preparing NiMo-based metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived chain-mail oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts and bamboo-like N-doped carbon nanotube (NCNT)-encapsulated Ni-doped MoC nanoparticles (NiMoC-NCNTs). The NCNTs can provide chain mail shells to protect the inner highly reactive Ni-doped MoC cores from electrochemical corrosion by the alkaline electrolyte and regulate their catalytic properties through charge redistribution. Benefiting from high N -doping with abundant pyridinic moieties and abundant active sites of the periodic bamboo-like nodes, the as-prepared NiMoC-NCNTs display an outstanding activity for the OER with an overpotential of 310 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and a superior long-term stability of 50 h. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the excellent electrocatalytic activity of NiMoC-NCNTs comes from the electron transfer from NiMoC nanoparticles to NCNTs, resulting in a decrease in the local work function at the carbon surface and optimized free efficiencies of OER intermediates on C sites. This work provides an effective approach to improve the structural stability of fragile catalysts by equipping them with carbon-based chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 13C isotope composition (δ13C) of leaf dry matter is a useful tool for physiological and ecological studies. However, how post-photosynthetic fractionation associated with respiration and carbon export influences δ13C remains uncertain. We investigated the effects of post-photosynthetic fractionation on δ13C of mature leaves of Cleistogenes squarrosa , a perennial C4 grass, in controlled experiments with different levels of vapour pressure deficit and nitrogen supply. With increasing leaf age class, the 12C/13C fractionation of leaf organic matter relative to the δ13C of atmosphere CO2 (ΔDM) increased while that of cellulose (Δcel) was almost constant. The divergence between ΔDM and Δcel increased with leaf age class, with a maximum value of 1.6‰, indicating the accumulation of post-photosynthetic fractionation. Applying a new mass balance model that accounts for respiration and export of photosynthates, we found an apparent 12C/13C fractionation associated with carbon export of –0.5‰ to –1.0‰. Different ΔDM among leaves, pseudostems, daughter tillers, and roots indicate that post-photosynthetic fractionation happens at the whole-plant level. Compared with ΔDM of old leaves, ΔDM of young leaves and Δcel are more reliable proxies for predicting physiological parameters due to the lower sensitivity to post-photosynthetic fractionation and the similar sensitivity in responses to environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of the continuous progress of China's agricultural reform, the development of characteristic agriculture is an important field of agricultural development in the country and even the world. Yunnan has unique advantages in geography, location, climate, and human resources, and has unique conditions for the development of agriculture with plateau characteristic. However, the sustainable development of agriculture with plateau characteristic is affected and restricted by many factors. How to promote the sustainable development of agriculture with plateau characteristic is an important research topic, and it is also the main purpose of this study. Therefore, through literature analysis and investigation, this study studies the advantages and disadvantages, development status, main problems, countermeasures and suggestions, macro development direction, and theoretical research methods of characteristic agriculture in the Yunnan plateau. This paper analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the Decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and the Adversarial Interpretation Structure Modeling Method (AISM) and proposes to combine the two models to make up for each other and improve the accuracy of model analysis. On this basis, a set of identification and evaluation systems of factors affecting the sustainable development of agriculture with plateau characteristic is established, which can comprehensively and accurately identify and evaluate various influencing factors, and provide a scientific basis for the sustainable development of agriculture with plateau characteristic. Finally, combined with the relevant statistical data of Yunnan Province from 2009 to 2020 and many results calculated by the model, the factors affecting the sustainable development of agriculture with plateau characteristic were comprehensively analyzed. The results show that transportation, environment, and insurance support factors are the root factors that affect the sustainable development of agriculture with plateau characteristic, while the regional economy, scientific and technological support, and the development of agricultural enterprises are of high importance. Financial support, the level of agricultural mechanization, the quality of labor, and other factors can not be ignored. Finally, according to the results of the analysis, the corresponding policy recommendations are put forward to provide a reference for the sustainable development of plateau characteristic agriculture in Yunnan Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Room‐temperature liquid metals (RTLMs) have excellent shape reconfiguration capabilities, which make them ideal for flexible electrodes, sensors, and energy devices. However, due to the high surface tension and weak adhesion of RTLM, the types of printing substrates, patterning, and recovery processes are limited. It is essential to develop advanced encapsulation techniques for the patterning of RTLMs. Lignin has great potential for promotion as nanodispersants and nanocarriers because of its abundant hydroxyl groups and good self‐assembly properties. In this work, a green and facile encapsulation method using industrial lignin is reported for stable, uniform, and reproducible patterning of eutectic gallium–indium (EGaIn). Lignin‐encapsulated EGaIn particles exhibit good stability and can be patterned on the surface of various substrates with a simple ballpoint pen. The electrical resistance of the conductive tracks shows little change under bending and twisting (720°) conditions. More importantly, the lignin‐encapsulated system can be easily dissolved and regenerated, which is also supported by molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations. 96.9% of the EGaIn can be recovered from the system. These characteristics make it very environmentally friendly throughout the preparation process and find applications in flexible sensors, transient circuits, and many other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• NSC-EVs alleviate CORT-induced neuronal injury in depression rats. • NSC-EVs reduce CORT-induced PC12 cell apoptosis. • EVs reduce CORT-induced apoptosis by carrying miR-16-5p into PC12 cells. • miR-16-5p reduces CORT-induced PC12 cell apoptosis by targeting MYB. • NSC-EVs alleviate neuronal injury in depression rats via the miR-16-5p/MYB axis. Depression is a common mental illness. Neural stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (NSC-EVs) are involved in repairing neuronal injury. We estimated the mechanism of miR-16-5p in depression rats. EVs were extracted from NSCs. The depression rat model was established by corticosterone (CORT) induction and treated with NSC-EVs. The depression behavioral/pathological changes in rats were assessed using forced swimming test, open field test, sucrose consumption test and western blotting. The neuronal apoptosis in hippocampal tissue were detected. CORT-induced PC12 cell model was established. EV uptake by PC12 cells was measured and PC12 cell apoptosis was detected. The downstream targets of miR-16-5p were predicted and verified. The expressions of miR-16-5p and MYB in rats, PC12 cells, and EVs were measured. Functional rescue experiments were conducted to verify the role of miR-16-5p and MYB in PC12 cell apoptosis. CORT induction increased neuronal apoptosis in hippocampal tissue and induced depression-like behaviors in rats, while NSC-EV treatment improved depression-like behaviors and apoptosis in rats. In PC12 cells, NSC-EVs decreased CORT-induced PC12 cell apoptosis. NSC-EVs carried miR-16-5p into PC12 cells. miR-16-5p knockdown in EVs partially reversed the inhibitory effects of NSC-EVs on CORT-induced PC12 cell apoptosis. miR-16-5p targeted to inhibit MYB to repress CORT-induced PC12 cell apoptosis. In vivo experiments further verified that NSC-EVs reduced neuronal injury in CORT-induced depression rats via the miR-16-5p/MYB axis. NSC-EVs-mediated alleviation on neuronal injury by carrying miR-16-5p to target MYB was highly likely one of the mechanisms by which NSC-EVs mediated miR-16-5p in neuroprotection of depression rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing particulate emissions from diesel engines pose a significant challenge in developing countries due to increasingly stringent regulations for both new and older vehicles. While employing wall-flow filters have proven effective for new vehicles, older vehicles necessitate alternative approaches to particulate filtration without complex modifications. Partial flow filters exhibit advantages in such scenarios, characterized by their lack of external components, simplified design, minimal maintenance demands, and resilience to misfuelling. The present study mainly focuses on the evaluation of a partial flow diesel particulate filter (P-DPF) installed on a diesel direct injection compression ignition engine, operating on commercial biodiesel blends, specifically B10 and B20. According to the combustion analyses, the combustion pressure, temperature, and the heat release rate increased with the kinetic energy inside the residual gas molecules due to installation of the P-DPF system. This also resulted in higher indicated power as well as indicated thermal efficiency. However, brake-specific fuel consumption and brake-specific energy consumption, exhibited only a marginal increase, while brake thermal efficiency experienced a slight decrease of 0.65% in the case of B10 and 0.74% for B20 after the installation of the P-DPF system due to the friction loss by the filter backpressure. Furthermore, an incremental increase in exhaust backpressure was observed, ranging from 0.2 kPa at 1000 rpm and 56 Nm to 2.25 kPa at 2000 rpm and 140 Nm. An analysis of emissions limits showed a notable 65% reduction in soot emissions. Comparative analyses were conducted to assess the impact of P-DPF installation on a diesel engine without any manual changes. Ultimately, the partial flow filter (P-DPF) emerges as an effective initial measure in mitigating particulate matter emissions, particularly when employed in a retrofit exhaust after-treatment system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a multifunctional metasurface are studied based on Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) and photosensitive silicon. The study explores various functionalities such as refractive index sensing, slow light, optical switch, and optical energy flux sensing measurement. When the photosensitive silicon is not excited, the response of the metasurface is EIT, creating a transparent window, thereby achieving refractive index sensing and slow light effect. Upon excitation of the photosensitive silicon, it functions as a light-controlled switch. The conductivity of the photosensitive silicon determines the transmittance of the front valley, indicating the state of the switch (closed or open). Furthermore, by correlating different electrical conductivity values with the corresponding transmittance, the device enables the measurement of light flux. This design has potential applications in slow light devices, as well as in fields such as biomolecular recognition, environmental monitoring, and optical energy calculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic cell exoskeletons created from abiotic materials have attracted interest in materials science and biotechnology, as they can regulate cell behavior and create new functionalities. Here, a facile strategy is reported to mimic microalgal sporulation with on‐demand germination and locomotion via responsive metal–phenolic networks (MPNs). Specifically, MPNs with tunable thickness and composition are deposited on the surface of microalgae cells via one‐step coordination, without any loss of cell viability or intrinsic cell photosynthetic properties. The MPN coating keeps the cells in a dormant state, but can be disassembled on‐demand in response to environmental pH or chemical stimulus, thereby reviving the microalgae within 1 min. Moreover, the artificial sporulation of microalgae resulted in resistance to environmental stresses (e.g., metal ions and antibiotics) akin to the function of natural sporulation. This strategy can regulate the life cycle of complex cells, providing a synthetic strategy for designing hybrid microorganisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A holographic tensor metasurface (HTM) is proposed from the energy perspective to achieve flexible regulations of polarization and energy distributions for simultaneous transmissions of power and information. A dual‐polarization receiving metasurface with high isolation is also proposed to enable simultaneous receptions of power and information. Based on the two metasurfaces, a novel system for simultaneous wireless information and power transmissions (SWIPT) is established, which can transmit microwave powers and information signals by flexibly regulating the electromagnetic waves in different polarizations. The proposed HTM can generate non‐diffraction Bessel beams of two polarizations to keep high‐power transfer efficiency in an environment with obstacles. A rectifier circuit is designed with a wide dynamic range to integrate with the receiving metasurface to capture the strong powers and weak signals simultaneously. The effect of different modulations on the rectification efficiency of microwave‐to‐DC and the performance of the SWIPT system are analyzed. The SWIPT system is verified by experiments to realize simultaneous transmissions of information and powers by only using the metasurfaces, which is beneficial to integrate the wireless sensor networks, communication modules, and artificial intelligence algorithms to build up smart cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to identify Artemis as a predictive biomarker for guiding preoperative chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer. The resection specimens were collected from 50 patients with rectal cancer who underwent preoperative chemoradiotherapy. Artemis expression in biopsy tissues was evaluated using immunohistochemical staining according to the percentage of positively stained cells combined with staining intensity. Among the 50 patients, 36 (72%) had a weakly positive Artemis protein expression, 10 (20%) had a moderately positive expression, and 4 (8%) showed a strongly positive expression. The criteria of magnetic resonance imaging tumor regression grade (mrTRG) and pathological rectal cancer regression grade (RCRG) were used to assess the tumor response to chemoradiotherapy. Correlation analysis shows that there is a significant negative correlation between high Artemis immunoscore and treatment response (r = −0.532, p < 0.001). The results imply that high Artemis expression was associated with poor treatment response. Our study suggested a potential role of Artemis as a predictive biomarker of the tumor response to preoperative chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was conducted to study the effect of corn stalk leaves and pith on the growth performance, nutrient apparent digestibility, and serum biochemical indexes of mutton sheep. Thirty healthy ewes weighing (30.0 ± 3.0) kg were randomly divided into two groups according to the principle of similar body weight, with three replicates in each group and five ewes in each replicate. The sheep in the control group were fed a corn straw as the roughage, the sheep in the experimental group were fed corn stalk leaves and pith as the roughage, and the sheep in the experimental group and the control group were fed the same concentrate. The pre-trial period was 10 days and the formal trial period was 90 days. The results showed that compared with the control group, the average daily gain of the experimental group increased by 10.58%, the average daily dry matter intake increased by 1.01%, and the feed to gain ratio decreased by 8.66%. The apparent digestibility rates of dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, calcium, and phosphorus in the experimental group were 6.52%, 8.69%, 9.43%, 8.17%, 8.43%, 5.87%, and 6.51% higher than those in the control group, respectively. Compared with the control group, the total protein content, globulin content, and alkaline phosphatase activity in the serum of sheep in the experimental group increased by 3.41%, 10.70%, and 12.42%, respectively, and the urea nitrogen content decreased by 5.00%. The concentrations of serum immunoglobulin A, immunoglobulin M, immunoglobulin G, complement C3, and complement C4 in the experimental group were 5.89%, 7.90%, 7.58%, 6.95%, and 2.66% higher than those in the control group, respectively. The experiment o indicates that compared with the whole corn stalk, corn stalk leaves and pith are a kind or high quality roughage herbivorous livestock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To quantify the results of superficial parotidectomy (SP) and partial SP (PSP) for benign parotid tumours using a systematic evaluation method. Methods: A systematic search of English and Chinese databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China Knowledge Network, Wanfang and Vipshop) was conducted to include studies comparing the treatment outcomes of SP with PSP. Results: Twenty-three qualified, high-quality studies involving 2844 patients were included in this study. The results of this study showed that compared to the SP surgical approach, the PSP surgical approach reduced the occurrence of temporary facial palsy (OR = 0.33; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.26–0.41), permanent facial palsy (OR = 0.28; 95% CI 0.16–0.52) and Frey syndrome (OR = 0.36; 95% CI 0.23–0.56) in patients after surgery, and the surgery operative time was reduced by approximately 27.35 min (95% CI − 39.66, − 15.04). However, the effects of PSP versus SP on salivary fistula (OR = 0.70; 95% CI 0.40–1.24), sialocele (OR = 1.48; 95% CI 0.78–2.83), haematoma (OR = 0.34; 95% CI 0.11–1.01) and tumour recurrence rate (OR = 1.41; 95% CI 0.48–4.20) were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Compared with SP, PSP has a lower postoperative complication rate and significantly shorter operative time, suggesting that it could be used as an alternative to SP in the treatment of benign parotid tumours with the right indications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Immunosenescence occurs as people age, leading to an increased incidence of age-related diseases. The number of senescent T cells also rises with age. T cell senescence and immune response dysfunction can result in a decline in immune function, especially in anti-tumor immune responses. Metformin has been shown to have various beneficial effects on health, such as lowering blood sugar levels, reducing the risk of cancer development, and slowing down the aging process. However, the immunomodulatory effects of metformin on senescent T cells still need to be investigated. Methods: PBMCs isolation from different age population (n = 88); Flow Cytometry is applied to determine the phenotypic characterization of senescent T lymphocytes; intracellular staining is applied to determine the function of senescent T cells; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) is employed to test the telomerase concentration. The RNA-seq analysis of gene expression associated with T cell senescence. Results: The middle-aged group had the highest proportion of senescent T cells. We found that metformin could decrease the number of CD8 + senescent T cells. Metformin affects the secretion of SASP, inhibiting the secretion of IFN-γ in CD8 + senescent T cells. Furthermore, metformin treatment restrained the production of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 in lymphocytes. Metformin had minimal effects on Granzyme B secretion in senescent T cells, but it promoted the production of TNF-α in senescent T cells. Additionally, metformin increased the concentration of telomerase and the frequency of undifferentiated T cells. The results of RNA-seq showed that metformin promoted the expression of genes related to stemness and telomerase activity, while inhibiting the expression of DNA damage-associated genes. Conclusion: Our findings reveal that metformin could inhibit T cell senescence in terms of cell number, effector function, telomerase content and gene expression in middle-aged individuals, which may serve as a promising approach for preventing age-related diseases in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the physiological changes of serum homocysteine (Hcy) levels and to establish trimester-specific reference intervals of serum Hcy levels for Chinese pregnant women. According to the guideline of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) C28-A3 document, 476 healthy women were recruited in West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University from January 2021 to October 2021. Among them, 120 were non-pregnant, 118 were in the first trimester, 120 were in the second and 118 were in the third trimester of gestation. The enzymatic cycling method was performed to detect serum Hcy levels. Non-parametric percentiles (2.5th percentile and 97.5th percentile) were calculated to establish the reference intervals for non-pregnant women and pregnant women in different trimester of gestation. There was a significant statistical difference for serum Hcy levels between non-pregnant women and pregnant women (p < 0.05), and serum Hcy levels in the first, second, and third trimesters of gestation were statistically different (p < 0.05). The trimester-specific reference intervals of serum Hcy levels were 4.35 ∼ 10.16 μmol/L, 3.38 ∼ 8.60 μmol/L, and 3.75 ∼ 11.17 μmol/L for pregnant women in the first, second, and third trimester of gestation, respectively. Compared to non-pregnant women, serum Hcy levels physiologically decreased after pregnancy, and the physiological changes in serum Hcy levels during pregnancy were also found. Establishing trimester-specific reference intervals of serum Hcy levels for pregnant women was valuable for clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst will determine the mass distributions of hydrogen‐powered clean technologies, while still faces grand challenges. In this work, a synergistic ligand modulation plus Co doping strategy is applied to 1T−MoS2 catalyst via CoMo‐metal‐organic frameworks precursors, boosting the HER catalytic activity and durability of 1T−MoS2. Confirmed by Cs corrected transmission electron microscope and X‐ray absorption spectroscopy, the polydentate 1,2‐bis(4‐pyridyl)ethane ligand can stably link with two‐dimensional 1T−MoS2 layers through cobalt sites to expand interlayer spacing of MoS2 (Co−1T−MoS2‐bpe), which promotes active site exposure, accelerates water dissociation, and optimizes the adsorption and desorption of H in alkaline HER processes. Theoretical calculations indicate the promotions in the electronic structure of 1T−MoS2 originate in the formation of three‐dimensional metal‐organic constructs by linking π‐conjugated ligand, which weakens the hybridization between Mo‐3d and S‐2p orbitals, and in turn makes S‐2p orbital more suitable for hybridization with H‐1s orbital. Therefore, Co−1T−MoS2‐bpe exhibits excellent stability and exceedingly low overpotential for alkaline HER (118 mV at 10 mA cm−2). In addition, integrated into an anion‐exchange membrane water electrolyzer, Co−1T−MoS2‐bpe is much superior to the Pt/C catalyst at the large current densities. This study provides a feasible ligand modulation strategy for designs of two‐dimensional catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst will determine the mass distributions of hydrogen‐powered clean technologies, while still faces grand challenges. In this work, a synergistic ligand modulation plus Co doping strategy is applied to 1T−MoS2 catalyst via CoMo‐metal‐organic frameworks precursors, boosting the HER catalytic activity and durability of 1T−MoS2. Confirmed by Cs corrected transmission electron microscope and X‐ray absorption spectroscopy, the polydentate 1,2‐bis(4‐pyridyl)ethane ligand can stably link with two‐dimensional 1T−MoS2 layers through cobalt sites to expand interlayer spacing of MoS2 (Co−1T−MoS2‐bpe), which promotes active site exposure, accelerates water dissociation, and optimizes the adsorption and desorption of H in alkaline HER processes. Theoretical calculations indicate the promotions in the electronic structure of 1T−MoS2 originate in the formation of three‐dimensional metal‐organic constructs by linking π‐conjugated ligand, which weakens the hybridization between Mo‐3d and S‐2p orbitals, and in turn makes S‐2p orbital more suitable for hybridization with H‐1s orbital. Therefore, Co−1T−MoS2‐bpe exhibits excellent stability and exceedingly low overpotential for alkaline HER (118 mV at 10 mA cm−2). In addition, integrated into an anion‐exchange membrane water electrolyzer, Co−1T−MoS2‐bpe is much superior to the Pt/C catalyst at the large current densities. This study provides a feasible ligand modulation strategy for designs of two‐dimensional catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycolytic reprogramming is one of the most important features of cancer and plays an integral role in the progression of cancer. In cancer cells, changes in glucose metabolism meet the needs of self-proliferation, angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, metastasis, and also affect the immune escape, prognosis evaluation and therapeutic effect of cancer. The n6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification of RNA is widespread in eukaryotic cells. Dynamic and reversible m6A modifications are widely involved in the regulation of cancer stem cell renewal and differentiation, tumor therapy resistance, tumor microenvironment, tumor immune escape, and tumor metabolism. Lately, more and more evidences show that m6A modification can affect the glycolysis process of tumors in a variety of ways to regulate the biological behavior of tumors. In this review, we discussed the role of glycolysis in tumor genesis and development, and elaborated in detail the profound impact of m6A modification on different tumor by regulating glycolysis. We believe that m6A modified glycolysis has great significance and potential for tumor treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we use hash match of invariants under fixed pair length and local compatibility check of positions or normal vectors to improve the efficiency of two-point normal set (2PNS) point cloud registration algorithm. On the one hand, we use the key value formed by the invariants of base point pairs of fixed length to construct and retrieve the hash table to realize the matching of base point pairs in the two point clouds to be registered to speed up the extraction of candidate transformation matrices. On the other hand, the time consumed in the verification phase is reduced by checking the compatibility between the positions or normal vectors of the corresponding points in the specific areas of the two point clouds under the transformation from the candidate matrix. Through these two improvements, the algorithm significantly reduces the time spent in the point cloud registration algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a typical lead-free antiferroelectric material, silver niobate has attracted much attention in recent years due to its excellent performance in energy storage. In this work, based on a spherical aberration–corrected STEM-high angle annular dark field technique, the sites of each cation column of pure silver niobate and Ta-doped silver niobate were quantitatively obtained. Besides conventional antiferroelectric displacements along the ±[1−10]c directions, B-site ions were found to also deviate along ±[001]c directions and form many local off-centering nanoregions, which may induce weak ferroelectricity, just like polar nanoregions in relaxed ferroelectrics. Such results will further increase our understanding of silver niobate in the microscopic view and may help explain some unsolved questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationally constructing and manipulating the in situ formed catalytically active surface of catalysts remains a tremendous challenge for a highly efficient water electrolysis. Herein, an anion and cation co‐induced strategy is presented to modulate in situ catalyst dissolution‐redeposition and to achieve the directional reconstruction of Zn and S co‐doped Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 on iron foams (Zn,S‐Fe2O3‐Fe3O4/IF), for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Benefiting from Zn, S co‐doping and the presence of Fe3O4, a directionally reconstructed surface is obtained. The Fe2O3 in the Zn,S‐Fe2O3‐Fe3O4/IF is directionally reconstructed into FeOOH (Zn,S‐Fe3O4‐FeOOH/IF), in which the S leaching promotes the Fe dissolution and the Zn co‐deposition regulates the activity of the obtained FeOOH. Moreover, the presence of Fe3O4 provides a stable site for FeOOH deposition, and thus causes more FeOOH active components to be formed. Directionally reconstructed Zn,S‐Fe3O4‐FeOOH/IF outperformes many state‐of‐the‐art OER catalysts and demonstrates a remarkable stability. The experimental and density functional theory (DFT) calculation results show that the introduction of Zn‐doped FeOOH with abundant oxygen vacancies through directional reconstruction has activated lattice O atoms, facilitating the OER process on the heterojunction surface following the lattice oxygen mechanism (LOM) pathway. This work makes a stride in co‐induced strategy modulating directional reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A binary catalyst ZIF-67@CoFe LDH with an S-scheme heterojunction mechanism and a framework structure is designed by a physical hybrid process. On the one hand, in situ irradiation X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed that the internal electric field drove the photogenerated electrons in ZIF-67 to move towards CoFe LDH, forming an S-scheme heterojunction of ZIF-67@CoFe LDH, which greatly accelerates the separation of photo-generated carriers. On the other hand, the unique framework structure of ZIF-67 provides a large number of aiming points for the CoFe LDH nanorod clusters, effectively preventing the aggregation of CoFe LDH nanorod clusters. When CoFe LDH is aimed at the ZIF-67 surface, the unique 3D/2D structure of ZIF-67@CoFe LDH facilitates the mass transfer properties between ZIF-67 and CoFe LDH and enhances the absorption of visible light. In other words, the unique framework structure of ZIF-67 acts as a "scaffold", which not only allows for a uniform dispersion of CoFe LDH, but also facilitates a stable loading of CoFe LDH onto the ZIF-67 surface. As a result, the binary catalyst exhibits excellent hydrogen evolution activity and stability. Under 5W (λ ≥ 420 nm) LED illumination, ZCF-15 (586.2 μmol g−1h−1) showed the best hydrogen evolution activity, which is 3.04 times higher than that of ZIF-67 (193 μmol g−1h−1) and CoFe LDH (192.7 μmol g−1h−1), respectively. After 25 h of cycling experiments, ZCF-15 still had 76% of the original amount of hydrogen evolution. • A binary catalyst ZIF-67@CoFe LDH with an S-scheme heterojunction is designed. • The unique 3D/2D structure of ZIF-67@CoFe LDH promotes the transfer performance between ZIF-67 and CoFe LDH. • The effective charge transfer mechanism of the S-scheme heterojunction ZIF-67@CoFe LDH is demonstrated by in situ XPS. • ZIF-67@CoFe LDH S-scheme heterojunction shows high hydrogen evolution activity and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zingiberales includes eight families and more than 2600 species, with many species having important economic and ecological value. However, the backbone phylogenetic relationships of Zingiberales still remain controversial, as demonstrated in previous studies, and molecular dating based on chloroplast genomes has not been comprehensively studied for the whole order. Herein, 22 complete chloroplast genomes from 21 species in Zingiberales were sequenced, assembled, and analyzed. These 22 genomes displayed typical quadripartite structures, which ranged from 161,303 bp to 163,979 bp in length and contained 111–112 different genes. The genome structures, gene contents, simple sequence repeats, long repeats, and codon usage were highly conserved, with slight differences among these genomes. Further comparative analysis of the 111 complete chloroplast genomes of Zingiberales, including 22 newly sequenced ones and the remaining ones from the national center for biotechnology information (NCBI) database, identified three highly divergent regions comprising ccsA, psaC, and psaC-ndhE. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference phylogenetic analyses based on chloroplast genome sequences found identical topological structures and identified a strongly supported backbone of phylogenetic relationships. Cannaceae was sister to Marantaceae, forming a clade that was collectively sister to the clade of (Costaceae, Zingiberaceae) with strong support (bootstrap (BS) = 100%, and posterior probability (PP) = 0.99–1.0); Heliconiaceae was sister to the clade of (Lowiaceae, Strelitziaceae), then collectively sister to Musaceae with strong support (BS = 94–100%, and PP = 0.93–1.0); the clade of ((Cannaceae, Marantaceae), (Costaceae, Zingiberaceae)) was sister to the clade of (Musaceae, (Heliconiaceae, (Lowiaceae, Strelitziaceae))) with robust support (BS = 100%, and PP = 1.0). The results of divergence time estimation of Zingiberales indicated that the crown node of Zingiberales occurred approximately 85.0 Mya (95% highest posterior density (HPD) = 81.6–89.3 million years ago (Mya)), with major family-level lineages becoming from 46.8 to 80.5 Mya. These findings proved that chloroplast genomes could contribute to the study of phylogenetic relationships and molecular dating in Zingiberales, as well as provide potential molecular markers for further taxonomic and phylogenetic studies of Zingiberales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance the load‐bearing capacity and energy absorption capacity of the honeycomb, three kinds of star‐rhombus honeycombs (SRHs) are proposed by adding rhombic parts to the traditional star‐shaped honeycomb (TSH). The quasi‐static crushing responses of SRHs, including deformation mechanism, crushing stress, specific energy absorption (SEA), and Poisson's ratio, are studied based on the finite‐element (FE) method. The introduction of rhombic parts increases the number of plastic hinges, resulting in significantly higher crushing stress and SEA of the SRHs than that of the TSH. Among the SRHs, SRH‐A has the largest energy absorption, and the SEA value of SRH‐A is 98.2% higher than TSH. Then, parametric studies including wall thickness, cell wall angle, and spacing length between the vertices of the star‐shaped part and the rhombic part are carried out. The wall thickness and cell wall angle have the greatest influence on the crushing response of SRHs. Crushing stress and Poisson's ratio of SRHs can be adjusted by changing the wall thickness of the rhombic part. The configurations and geometric parameters of the rhombic part determine the Poisson's ratio of SRHs. This study provides effective guidance for designing star‐shaped honeycombs with enhanced load‐bearing capacity and energy absorption capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A slightly asymmetrical electrode pair configuration was employed on the 304 SS to promote the possible preferential pitting propagation on one electrode, while the other was relatively quiet. The pitting propagation kinetics was analyzed based on the estimated anodic current according to an allocation model as validated by the microscopic examination. The quasi-stable propagation mode was revealed due to its kinetic feature in between the metastable and the stable pitting, which resulted in a serious of dispersive pits gathered around some weak sites of the passive film. The proposed electrochemical noise signal collection device as well as the signal processing method may be beneficial for the understanding of the real pit propagation at free potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cross Bay link (CBL) bridge is a 1 km sea crossing that forms the centrepiece of the new east–west express highway link in Hong Kong. This £250 million project features an iconic 200 m span butterfly double-arch bridge and a series of concrete box girder spans supported on specially sculpted V-piers and large piled foundations. This paper describes the innovative construction methods adopted for building the bridge safely and efficiently in an extremely challenging marine environment, a process that relied on the extensive use of design for manufacture and assembly solutions, with most of the bridge elements above the sea level being prefabricated or precast off site. This includes the construction of the 10 000 t steel arch bridge, which was fully prefabricated near Shanghai, then transported to Hong Kong by a semi-submersible barge, and eventually erected onto the piers using the float-over method. In addition, most of the concrete decks, piers and the pile cap shells were precast off site and then lifted into position on site. This project holds a number of engineering records in Hong Kong, including the longest arch bridge, the first-time adoption of S690QL high-strength steel for major bridge elements and the largest scale implementation of the float-over erection method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycaprolactone-based polyurethane coated urea ( PCU1 'PCU2 'PCU3) with 4 '6 and 8 coating materials were prepared by using biodegradable polycaprolactone polyol. In order to explore the controUed release properties' the coatings structure' nutrient release rate and longevity of polycaprolactone- based polyurethane coated urea were determined by using scanning electron microscopy' static pure water incubation method and soil incubation method. The results showed that the surface of the coated urea was covered with polycaprolactone-based polyurethane coating' and created a physical barrier' so that coated urea had better nutrient controlled release effect. With the increase of the amount of coating material the longevity of coated urea was prolonged. The longevity of PCU1 'PCU2 and PCU3 were 31.60'86.65 d' and 260. 11 d in static pure water' respectively. The nutrient release pattern of polycaprolactone-based polyurethane coated urea in static pure water and rubber plantation soil are similarity' but the soil incuba¬tion method significantly shorted the longevity of PCU3 ' the longevity of PCU3 in soil was 206.54 d' which was 53.57 d shorter than that in static pure water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cucurbits are a diverse plant family that includes economically important crops, such as cucumber, watermelon, melon, and pumpkin. Knowledge of the roles that long terminal repeat retrotransposons (LTR-RTs) have played in diversification of cucurbit species is limited; to add to understanding of the roles of LTR-RTs, we assessed their distributions in four cucurbit species. We identified 381, 578, 1086, and 623 intact LTR-RTs in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. var. sativus cv. Chinese Long), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus subsp. vulgaris cv. 97103), melon (Cucumis melo cv. DHL92), and Cucurbita (Cucurbita moschata var. Rifu), respectively. Among these LTR-RTs, the Ale clade of the Copia superfamily was the most abundant in all the four cucurbit species. Insertion time and copy number analysis revealed that an LTR-RT burst occurred approximately 2 million years ago in cucumber, watermelon, melon, and Cucurbita, and may have contributed to their genome size variation. Phylogenetic and nucleotide polymorphism analyses suggested that most LTR-RTs were formed after species diversification. Analysis of gene insertions by LTR-RTs revealed that the most frequent insertions were of Ale and Tekay and that genes related to dietary fiber synthesis were the most commonly affected by LTR-RTs in Cucurbita. These results increase our understanding of LTR-RTs and their roles in genome evolution and trait characterization in cucurbits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycolytic reprogramming is one of the most important features of cancer and plays an integral role in the progression of cancer. In cancer cells, changes in glucose metabolism meet the needs of self-proliferation, angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, metastasis, and also affect the immune escape, prognosis evaluation and therapeutic effect of cancer. The n6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification of RNA is widespread in eukaryotic cells. Dynamic and reversible m6A modifications are widely involved in the regulation of cancer stem cell renewal and differentiation, tumor therapy resistance, tumor microenvironment, tumor immune escape, and tumor metabolism. Lately, more and more evidences show that m6A modification can affect the glycolysis process of tumors in a variety of ways to regulate the biological behavior of tumors. In this review, we discussed the role of glycolysis in tumor genesis and development, and elaborated in detail the profound impact of m6A modification on different tumor by regulating glycolysis. We believe that m6A modified glycolysis has great significance and potential for tumor treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the efficacy and safety of posterior atlantoaxial fusion (AAF) with C1-2 pedicle screw fixation for atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD) in pediatric patients with mucopolysaccharidosis IVA (MPS IVA). This study included 21 pediatric patients with MPS IVA who underwent posterior AAF with C1-2 pedicle screw fixation. Anatomical parameters of the C1 and C2 pedicle were measured on preoperative computed tomography (CT). The American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) scale was used to evaluate the neurological status. The fusion and accuracy of pedicle screw was assessed on postoperative CT. Demographic, radiation dose, bone density, surgical, and clinical data were recorded. Patients reviewed included 21 patients younger than 16 years with an average age of 7.4 ± 4.2 years and an average of 20.9 ± 7.7 months follow-up. Fixation of 83 C1 and C2 pedicle screws was performed successfully and 96.3% of them were identified as being safe. One patient developed postoperative transient disturbance of consciousness and one developed fetal airway obstruction and died about 1 month after the surgery. Out of the remaining20 patients, fusion was achieved, symptoms were improved, and no other serious surgical complications were observed at the latest follow-up. Posterior AAF with C1-2 pedicle screw fixation is effective and safe for AAD in pediatric patients with MPS IVA. However, the procedure is technically demanding and should be performed by experienced surgeons with strict multidisciplinary consultations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To investigate the efficacy and safety of endoscopic electrocoagulation haemostasis via a percutaneous transhepatic approach for the treatment of grade IV haemorrhagic cystitis (HC) after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in children. Methods: The clinical data of 14 children with severe HC, who were admitted to Hebei Yanda Hospital between July 2017 and January 2020, were analysed retrospectively. There were nine males and five females, with an average age of 8.6 years (range: 3 to 13 years). After an average of 39.6 (7 to 96) days of conservative treatment in the hospital's haematology department, the bladders of all patients were filled with blood clots. A small 2-cm incision was made in the suprapubic area to enter the bladder and quickly clear the blood clots, and a percutaneous transhepatic approach to electrocoagulation and haemostasis was performed. Results: In the 14 children, a total of 16 operations were performed, with an average operation time of 97.1 (31 to 150) min, an average blood clot of 128.1 (80 to 460) mL and an average intraoperative blood loss of 31.9 (20 to 50) mL. There were three cases of postoperative bladder spasm remission after conservative treatment. During the follow-up period of 1 to 31 months, one patient improved after one operation, 11 patients were cured after one operation, and two patients were cured after recurrent haemostasis by secondary electrocoagulation, four of whom died of postoperative non-surgical blood-related diseases and severe lung infections. Conclusion: Percutaneous electrocoagulation haemostasis can quickly remove blood clots in the bladders of children after allo-HSCT with grade IV HC. It is a safe and effective minimally invasive treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) are an emerging class of promising therapeutic modalities that selectively degrade intracellular proteins of interest by hijacking the ubiquitin‐proteasome system. However, the lack of techniques to efficiently transport these degraders to targeted cells and consequently the potential toxicity of PROTACs limit their clinical applications. Here, a strategy of nanoengineered PROTACs, that is, Nano‐PROTACs, is reported, which improves the bioavailability of PROTACs and maximizes their capacity to therapeutically degrade intracellular oncogenic proteins for tumor therapy. The Nano‐PROTACs are developed by encapsulating PROTACs in glutathione (GSH)‐responsive poly(disulfide amide) polymeric (PDSA) nanoparticles and show that ARV@PDSA Nano‐PROTAC, nanoengineered BRD4 degrader ARV‐771, improves BRD4 protein degradation and decreases the downstream oncogene c‐Myc expression. Benefiting from the GSH‐scavenging ability to amply the c‐Myc‐related ferroptosis and cell cycle arrest, this ARV@PDSA Nano‐PROTACs strategy shows superior anti‐tumor efficacy with a low dose administration and good biocompatibility in vivo. The findings reveal the potential of the Nano‐PROTACs strategy to treat a broad range of diseases by dismantling associated pathogenic proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NIR-II fluorescence imaging is one powerful tool of molecular imaging, which shows a promising future in cancer early diagnosis and image-guided therapy. The advancements of molecular imaging probes would be conducive to the enhancement in the contrast and fidelity of cancer imaging. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a biomarker widely used for cancer theranostics, and we herein developed a novel EGFR-targeting NIR-II fluorescent probe CH1055-PEG1k-GE11 utilizing CH1055 as a core to couple with EGFR-targeting peptides GE11 via a mild crosslinking strategy. The results suggested that CH1055-PEG1k-GE11 possessed enhanced EGFR-targeting capability in vitro and achieved high contrast imaging of EGFR-highly expressing tumors in vivo. During the 24 h imaging after intravenous injection, CH1055-PEG1k-GE11 enabled a tumor-to-background ratio substantially surpassing the Rose criterion of 5 since 1 h postinjection (p.i.) and reached the highest value of 12.89 at 2 h p.i. Moreover, this probe was partially renal-clearable and exhibited favorable biocompatibility based on the results of cell viability and hematoxylin and eosin assays. Based on the above facts, CH1055-PEG1k-GE11 may have promising application prospects in the imaging of tumors with a high EGFR-expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grape is an economically important crop but recalcitrant to Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation and in vitro regeneration. Here, we have developed a protocol for transient transformation of grapes by investigating the effects of explant pre-culture and duration of vacuum infiltration on transformation efficiency. Using sliced grape berries of "Shine-Muscat" (Vitis labrusca × Vitis vinifera) between the end of fruit expansion phase and the mature stage as explants, we firstly compared the effect of pre-culture explants into a susceptible state (incubation on Murashige and Skoog (MS) agar plate in the dark at 25 ± 1 °C for 48 h) with no pre-culture and then tested different vacuum infiltration times on transformation efficiency using β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter system. Pre-culture increased the susceptibility of explants to the agrobacteria infection and increased transient transformation efficiency as assessed by histochemical GUS activity, with intense blue coloration compared with the faint staining observed in the non-susceptible explants. Using a Circulating Water Vacuum Pump system to facilitate agrobacteria entry into berry cells, we tested vacuum durations of 5, 10, and 15 min and observed that transformation efficiency increased with vacuum duration of infiltration. These results were confirmed by relative gene expression of GUS transgene as assessed by RT-qPCR and GUS activity assay. To further confirm the usefulness of our protocol, we transiently transformed grape berries with the hydrogen peroxide sensor gene VvHPCA3, and this was confirmed by gene expression analysis as well as increased sensitivity of the explants to hydrogen peroxide treatment. Overall, this study has resulted in a simple but efficient transient transformation protocol for grape berries and would be a valuable tool for the rapid testing of gene function and the study of key regulatory networks in this important crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma (SEF) is a rare soft tissue tumour subtype, and those arising from the spine are even rarer. To the best of our knowledge, only 3 cases with the spine as the primary site of SEF have been previously reported. We report a 61-year-old female who presented with backache and bilateral leg numbness for 3 years, worsened over the last three months. Pathological fracture of the L1 vertebra was detected, and soft tissue density in the spinal canal and left vertebral body margin was also seen on contrast CT. She underwent tumour resection via a posterior approach, decompression, bone grafting, fusion, and internal fixation. Histology confirmed the diagnosis of SEF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discriminative canonical correlation analysis (DCCA) is a powerful supervised feature extraction technique for two sets of multivariate data, which has wide applications in pattern recognition. DCCA consists of two parts: (i) mean-centering that subtracts the sample mean from the sample and (ii) solving the generalized eigenvalue problem. The cost of DCCA is expensive when dealing with a large number of high-dimensional samples. To solve this problem, here we propose a quantum DCCA algorithm. Specifically, we devise an efficient method to compute the mean of all samples and then use block-Hamiltonian simulation and quantum phase estimation to solve the generalized eigenvalue problem. Our algorithm achieves a polynomial speedup in the dimension of samples under certain conditions over its classical counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Recent studies have revealed the change of molecular subtypes in breast cancer (BC) after neoadjuvant therapy (NAT). This study aims to construct a non-invasive model for predicting molecular subtype alteration in breast cancer after NAT. Methods: Eighty-two estrogen receptor (ER)–negative/ human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–negative or ER-low-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer patients who underwent NAT and completed baseline MRI were retrospectively recruited between July 2010 and November 2020. Subtype alteration was observed in 21 cases after NAT. A 2D-DenseUNet machine-learning model was built to perform automatic segmentation of breast cancer. 851 radiomic features were extracted from each MRI sequence (T2-weighted imaging, ADC, DCE, and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging), both in the manual and auto-segmentation masks. All samples were divided into a training set (n = 66) and a test set (n = 16). XGBoost model with 5-fold cross-validation was performed to predict molecular subtype alterations in breast cancer patients after NAT. The predictive ability of these models was subsequently evaluated by the AUC of the ROC curve, sensitivity, and specificity. Results: A model consisting of three radiomics features from the manual segmentation of multi-sequence MRI achieved favorable predictive efficacy in identifying molecular subtype alteration in BC after NAT (cross-validation set: AUC = 0.908, independent test set: AUC = 0.864); whereas an automatic segmentation approach of BC lesions on the DCE sequence produced good segmentation results (Dice similarity coefficient = 0.720). Conclusions: A machine learning model based on baseline MRI is proven useful for predicting molecular subtype alterations in breast cancer after NAT. Key Points: • Machine learning models using MRI-based radiomics signature have the ability to predict molecular subtype alterations in breast cancer after neoadjuvant therapy, which subsequently affect treatment protocols. • The application of deep learning in the automatic segmentation of breast cancer lesions from MRI images shows the potential to replace manual segmentation.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Plant cells usually sustain a stable membrane potential due to influx and/or efflux of charged ions across plasma membrane. With the growth and development of plants, different tissues and cells undergo systemic or local programmed decline. Whether the membrane potential of plasma membrane could report senescence signal of plant tissues and cells is unclear. Results: We applied a maneuverable transmembrane potential (TMP) detection method with patch-clamp setup to examine the senescence signal of leaf tissue cells in situ over the whole life cycle in Arabidopsis thaliana. The data showed that the TMPs of plant tissues and cells were varied at different growth stages, and the change of TMP was higher at the vegetative growth stage than at the reproductive stage of plant growth. The distinct change of TMP was detectable between the normal and the senescent tissues and cells in several plant species. Moreover, diverse abiotic stimuli, such as heat stress, hyperpolarized the TMP in a short time, followed by depolarized membrane potential with the senescence occurring. We further examined the TMP of plant chloroplasts, which also indicates the senescence signal in organelles. Conclusions: This convenient TMP detection method can report the senescence signal of plant tissues and cells, and can also indicate the potential of plant tolerance to environmental stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The emergence of multidrug resistance among enterococci makes effective treatment of enterococcal infections more challenging. Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) are vulnerable to oral trauma and lesions as they feast on bamboo. Enterococci may contaminate such oral lesions and cause infection necessitating treatment with antibiotics. However, few studies have focused on the virulence and drug resistance of oral-derived enterococci, including Enterococcus faecium, in giant pandas. In this study, we analyzed the prevalence of 8 virulence genes and 14 drug resistance genes in E. faecium isolates isolated from saliva samples of giant pandas held in captivity in China and examined the antimicrobial drug susceptibility patterns of the E. faecium isolates. Results: Twenty-eight isolates of E. faecium were successfully isolated from the saliva samples. Four virulence genes were detected, with the acm gene showing the highest prevalence (89%). The cylA, cpd, esp, and hyl genes were not detected. The isolated E. faecium isolates possessed strong resistance to a variety of drugs; however, they were sensitive to high concentrations of aminoglycosides. The resistance rates to vancomycin, linezolid, and nitrofurantoin were higher than those previously revealed by similar studies in China and other countries. Conclusions: The findings of the present study indicate the drugs of choice for treatment of oral E. faecium infection in the giant panda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphdiyne (GDY), a new two‐dimensional carbon isomer material, has received much attention due to its excellent properties, but has been less applied in the field of photocatalytic hydrogen production. Different from the conventional method, in this paper, GDY−CuI binary heterojunctions are prepared by the one‐pot method, and then GDY−CuI is combined with different morphologies of NiCoLDH (NiCoLDH‐F and NiCoLDH‐R; LDH=layered double hydroxide) through morphology modulation to form NiCoLDH−CuI−GDY double S‐scheme heterojunction catalysts. On the one hand, NiCoLDH could provide sufficient anchor sites for GDY−CuI, which is conducive to the separation and transport of electrons at the contact interface and provides abundant reaction sites for the hydrogen precipitation reaction. NiCoLDH in the form of nanorods is more stable and provides more active sites for hydrogen precipitation than NiCoLDH in the form of nanoflowers. On the other hand, the construction of double S‐scheme heterojunctions can promote electron transfer and exhibit strong redox ability in photocatalytic reactions, so the hydrogen precipitation activity is enhanced. Most importantly, both NiCoLDH‐F−CuI−GDY (12.09 μmol ⋅ h−1) and NiCoLDH‐R−CuI−GDY (13.47 μmol ⋅ h−1) exhibited excellent hydrogen precipitation activity. This experiment provides a new strategy for the construction of an efficient and environmentally friendly multicatalytic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] It is an effective way to improve the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity by constructing a unique structure and tuning the morphology of catalysts. On the one hand, ZIF-67 was used as a precursor to prepare Co 3 O 4 derivatives with different morphologies [Co 3 O 4 (Porous Polyhedron) and Co 3 O 4 db (Hollow Double-Shelled Polyhedron)]. The hollow polyhedron have the advantages of large specifie surface area, low density, stable three-dimensional spatial structure and excellent electron transport channels, which provide great advantages for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity in photocatalytic reactions. On the flip side, p-type Co 3 O 4 polyhedron and n -type Zn 0.5 Cd 0.5 S nanoparticles are successfully coupled to construct a p-n heterojunction, which accelerated the transfer and separation of electrons and holes, thus enhancing the photocatalytic hydrogen production efficiency. Therefore, the composite catalyst (Zn 0.5 Cd 0.5 S-Co 3 O 4 db-20 %) exhibits excellent hydrogen evolution activity (33885 μmol·h−1·g−1), which is 9.17 times that of pure Zn 0.5 Cd 0.5 S (3695 μmol·h−1·g−1) and 1.21 times that of Zn 0.5 Cd 0.5 S-Co 3 O 4 -20 % (27903 μmol·h−1·g−1). This work provides a new idea for tuning the photocatalytic morphology to enhance the hydrogen evolution activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An indole-related molecules have been considered as the potential fluorescent probes for biological and electrochemical sensing. However, most of the indole probes have been usually used in a single detection mode. Indolium probes that enable accurate detection in complex environments are rarely reported. Here, four novel indole derivatives including the phenyl group substituted with different functional moieties were designed on the basis of the donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) concept. These derivatives exhibit positive solvatochromism owing to their varied molecular conformations upon contacting to various solvents and the different HOMO-LUMO gaps caused by the difference in electronic push-pull capability of the substituents. Their solid-state fluorescence emissions and multiple chromisms are observed due to the inherent twisted geometries and aggregation modes. In addition, these derivatives show dramatic color and fluorescence responses due to the protonation of the nitrogen and oxygen containing groups, and thus novel colorimetric pH sensors, fluorescent papers and logic gates have been designed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: DOX-PLGA@CM employs the whole set of membrane molecules of a brain-homing metastatic breast cancer cell optimized through a natural selection process. Thus, the hetero and multivalent effects of these molecules greatly facilitate the nanoparticle crossing the blood-brain barrier. Attributed to the homotypic effect of the nanocarrier, DOX-PLGA@CM shows stronger anticancer efficacy than free DOX for its parenteral cells. DOX-PLGA@CM effectively reaches the metastatic tumor lesions in the brain, and slows down the progression of brain metastatic breast cancer.Early-stage brain metastasis of breast cancer (BMBC), due to the existence of an intact blood–brain barrier (BBB), is one of the deadliest neurologic complications. To improve the efficacy of chemotherapy for BMBC, a Trojan horse strategy-based nanocarrier has been developed by integrating the cell membrane of a brain-homing cancer cell and a polymeric drug depot. With the camouflage of a MDA-MB-231/Br cell membrane, doxorubicin-loaded poly (D, L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticle (DOX-PLGA@CM) shows enhanced cellular uptake and boosted killing potency for MDA-MB-231/Br cells. Furthermore, DOX-PLGA@CM is equipped with naturally selected molecules for BBB penetration, as evidenced by its boosted capacity in entering the brain of both healthy and early-stage BMBC mouse models. Consequently, DOX-PLGA@CM effectively reaches the metastatic tumor lesions in the brain, slows down cancer progression, reduces tumor burden, and extends the survival time for the BMBC animal. Furthermore, the simplicity and easy scale-up of the design opens a new window for the treatment of BMBC and other brain metastatic cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In multi-objective bilevel optimisation problems, the upper-level performance of different lower-level optimal solutions may be very different, even though they belong to the same lower-level problem. It may lead to poor optimisation results. Therefore, the lower-level search should search lower-level non-dominated solutions that are also non-dominated in the upper-level objective space. In this paper, we use two populations in the lower-level search. The first population maintains non-dominance and diversity in the lower-level objective space and provides the second population with convergence pressure from the lower level. The second population selects the upper-level non-dominated solutions that are not dominated by the first population in the lower-level objective space, which make the second population maintain the non-dominance at both upper and lower levels. Besides, to improve the search efficiency, we set up the upper-level mating pool to generate the upper-level vectors of offsprings near the upper-level vectors of the better individuals in the current population. To balance convergence and diversity, the selection operator of a decomposition based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is adopted. The proposed algorithm has been evaluated on a set of benchmark problems and a real-world optimisation problem. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is efficient and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]