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Evolution depends upon genetic variations that influence physiology. As defined in a genetic screen, phenotypic performance may be enhanced or degraded by such mutations. We set out to detect mutations that influence motor function, including motor learning. Thus, we tested the motor effects of 36,444 non‐synonymous coding/splicing mutations induced in the germline of C57BL/6J mice with N‐ethyl–N‐nitrosourea by measuring changes in the performance of repetitive rotarod trials while blinded to genotype. Automated meiotic mapping was used to implicate individual mutations in causation. In total, 32,726 mice bearing all the variant alleles were screened. This was complemented with the simultaneous testing of 1408 normal mice for reference. In total, 16.3% of autosomal genes were thus rendered detectably hypomorphic or nullified by mutations in homozygosity and motor tested in at least three mice. This approach allowed us to identify superperformance mutations in Rif1, Tk1, Fan1 and Mn1. These genes are primarily related, among other less well‐characterized functions, to nucleic acid biology. We also associated distinct motor learning patterns with groups of functionally related genes. These functional sets included, preferentially, histone H3 methyltransferase activity for mice that learnt at an accelerated rate relative to the remaining mutant mice. The results allow for an estimation of the fraction of mutations that can modify a behaviour influential for evolution such as locomotion. They may also enable, once the loci are further validated and the mechanisms elucidated, the harnessing of the activity of the newly identified genes to enhance motor ability or to counterbalance disability or disease. Key points: We studied the effect of chemically induced random mutations on mouse motor performance.An array of mutations influenced the rate of motor learning.DNA regulation genes predominated among these mutant loci.Several mutations in unsuspected genes led to superperformance.Assuming little‐biased mutagenicity, the results allow for an estimation of the probability for any spontaneous mutation to influence a behaviour such as motor learning and ultimate performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a neurodegenerative disease that progresses rapidly and has a poor prognosis. This study aimed to assess the value of video oculomotor evaluation (VOE) in the differential diagnosis of MSA and Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods: In total, 28 patients with MSA, 31 patients with PD, and 30 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy controls (HC) were screened and included in this study. The evaluation consisted of a gaze‐holding test, smooth pursuit eye movement (SPEM), random saccade, and optokinetic nystagmus (OKN). Results: The MSA and PD groups had more abnormalities and decreased SPEM gain than the HC group (64.29%, 35.48%, 10%, p <.001). The SPEM gain in the MSA group was significantly lower than that in the PD group at specific frequencies. Patients with MSA and PD showed prolonged latencies in all saccade directions compared with those with HC. However, the two diseases had no significant differences in the saccade parameters. The OKN gain gradually decreased from the HC to the PD and the MSA groups (p <.05). Compared with the PD group, the gain in the MSA group was further decreased in the OKN test at 30°/s (Left, p =.010; Right p =.016). Receiver operating characteristic curves showed that the combination of oculomotor parameters with age and course of disease could aid in the differential diagnosis of patients with MSA and PD, with a sensitivity of 89.29% and a specificity of 70.97%. Conclusions: The combination of oculomotor parameters and clinical data may aid in the differential diagnosis of MSA and PD. Furthermore, VOE is vital in the identification of neurodegenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional transition metal sulfides possess high intrinsic catalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) during water splitting but are restricted by their low conductivity and unattractive stability in alkaline electrolytes. Herein, newly designed CoS2/MoS2 nanosheets with enriched heterointerfaces synthesized by the combination of hydrothermal and vulcanization methods showed great promise as a highly efficient OER electrocatalyst. Owing to the fast vulcanization process, some heterometallic sulfide nanoparticles get distributed on the nanosheets, thus forming a nanoparticle-nanosheet bridging structure. The rich heterogeneous interface between CoS2 and MoS2 regulates the electronic structure and provides sufficient electrochemical active sites, thus forming a fast channel conducive to electron transport and ensuring high OER activity. Besides, the rough heterostructured surface enhances hydrophilicity, which promotes the decomposition of H2O and decreases the energy barrier of intermediate reactions, leading to fast electrochemical kinetics. Benefiting from the structural merits, the optimized CoS2/MoS2-1 : 1 nanosheets exhibit a low overpotential of 283 mV at 10 mA cm−2, a small Tafel slope of 105.32 mV dec−1 and long-term durability for the OER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article pursues the robust consensus for linear discrete‐time multi‐agent systems with unknown dynamics and random uncertain channels. Stochastic multiplicative uncertainties depending on relative states of agents inevitably appear in the signal transmission channels. To handle these uncertainties, the distributed robust controllers are designed. Before designing this robust controller, the optimal control problem of a single‐agent system is considered first. Based on the technology of adaptive dynamic programming, a model‐free off‐policy algorithm is proposed to solve the optimal controller for every agent with fully unknown system dynamics. According to the theory of mean square stability, it is revealed that the distributed robust controller can be obtained by using the optimal controller of the single‐agent system and other related parameters without relying on the dynamic information of the systems. Besides, the relationship between uncertainty and the robust controller is described by a sufficient condition. Finally, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis, a numerical example is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] In mixed Sn-Pb perovskites, the synergistic properties of tin (Sn) and lead (Pb) are leveraged, effectively combining the merits of Pb-based perovskites while simultaneously reducing Pb-associated toxicity. However, the propensity for Sn to undergo facile oxidation from Sn2+ to Sn4+ poses a significant challenge to the stability of these mixed perovskites, limiting their advancement. This study proposes an innovative acetic acid (HAc)-driven synthesis approach to obtain a stable chain-like MAPb 0.5 Sn 0.5 Br 3 nano-assembly. Leveraging the acidic properties of HAc serves a dual purpose. Primarily, it curtails the oxidation of Sn2+ to Sn4+. Secondly, it orchestrates nanocrystals (NCs) into a more uniform and ordered chain-like assembly, a consequence of hydrogen bonding and coordination interactions facilitated by the HAc. Additionally, HAc demonstrates its capability to passivate MAPb 0.5 Sn 0.5 Br 3 surface through coordination bonding with unsaturated sites (i.e., Sn2+ or Pb2+), thus effectively compensating for bromide vacancies. Introducing HAc during the synthesis process yields perovskite NCs with enhanced thermal resilience, optical and water stability. Drawing upon the different stimulus responses of synthesized perovskite NCs when exposed to external environment, the optical anti-counterfeiting labels are prepared. The findings provide a potent strategy for augmenting the stability of perovskite NCs, suggesting their potential applicability in anti-counterfeiting endeavors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how and when illegitimate tasks are related to employee cyberloafing with meaningful work and appreciative leadership. Participants were 289 employees of a Chinese energy firm (female = 59.5%; bachelor's degree = 75.8%; mean age = 30.86 years, SD = 6.99 years). Employees completed the following surveys: Bern Illegitimate Task Scale, The Work and Meaning Inventory, Personal Recognition Scale, and the Cyberloafing scale. Following a moderated mediating model, results revealed that a higher level of illegitimate tasks were associated with more cyberloafing, but that meaningful work mediated the relationship and led to less cyberloafing. Appreciative leadership served as a moderator of the association between illegitimate tasks and meaningful work, so that employees with a low level of appreciation from their supervisors perceive less meaning in their work when faced with illegitimate tasks, and so tend to engage in more non-work-related cyber activities. The results of this study contribute to the evidence on work productivity strategies for reducing workplace illegitimate tasks and cyberloafing, offering valuable insights that can guide managers in mitigating employee cyberloafing behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high content of water is needed in traditional thermoplastic starch (TPS) processing to plasticize the starch and facilitate the processing, which leads to relatively low strength and modulus of the products and causes the issue of product aging partially due to the gradual water loss over time. In this work, based on the results from our previous study on lignin and cellulose nanofibril-reinforced TPS composites, a low content of citric acid (<0.5 wt%) was used to replace all the added water in the prior study (∼20 wt%). Citric acid demonstrated a much stronger viscosity-reducing effect than water and enabled composite processing at a very low acid content. The resultant nanocomposites exhibited much higher strength and modulus than those containing 20 wt% water as the processing aid. Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) results showed strong interactions between the polar groups of starch and other ingredients. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) photos indicated the disappearance of the two-phase "sea-island" morphology, suggesting the strong compatibilization effect of the acid. To lower the cost of the nanocomposites, we further replaced the starch and zein (an expensive biopolymer) components in the original composites with low-cost cornmeal. The new nanocomposites with cornmeal as the major ingredient exhibited similar processability and mechanical properties. With its low cost and high properties, this new type of agricultural byproduct-based nanocomposites is expected to be a promising material to replace synthetic polymers in many applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lost circulation is a critical issue in drilling. This work reports the investigations on shape memory epoxy polymers (SMEPs) with high switching temperatures, and good thermal, mechanical and shape memory properties for plugging in deep drilling. The SMEPs are produced by curing diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and castor oil glycidyl ether (COGE) with a flexible poly(oxypropylene) diamine (D230) and a rigid 4, 4′ ‐diaminodiphenyl methane (DDM). Increasing D230 contents or using COGE, glass transition temperature (Tg, 93–163 °C, DMA analyses) and crosslink density of SMEPs are reduced, shape recovery rate is increased, while tensile strength, elongation at break and impact strength are improved. Further, shape memory epoxy syntactic foams (SMEFs) with high‐temperature adhesion are developed by introducing polymer microspheres into SMEPs. The SMEFs have compression ratio of 52–58%, and expansion ratio of 100% by adding 2% wt. microspheres. They retain the Tg and thermal stability of SMEPs, and show a delayed, slower recovery than SMEPs. Long fracture plugging experiments exhibit that a pressure‐bearing capability of 8.99–9.81 MPa is achieved with SMEFs in sealing fracture slots at a high temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, optical diffractive deep neural networks (D2NNs) have shown unprecedented superiority in terms of processing speed and power consumption. However, in the microwave band, complicated classification based on D2NN needs further investigation, which may accelerate the artificial intelligent tasks and simplify systems. Here, a three‐layer D2NN is constructed for handwritten digit classification in the microwave frequency. The excited electromagnetic wave, which passes through the metal plane engraved with different digit patterns as the input, will focus on the target plane at designated focal points through the D2NN platform. A detector array is deployed to collect the target plane energy for direct digit classification. Each layer of the proposed D2NN is composed of 1024 phase modulating meta‐units, and the phase distribution is generated through the stochastic gradient descent algorithm applied on the dataset. The network realizes an accuracy rate of 90% in numeric simulations, together with a 100% accuracy rate on the eighteen fabricated samples on the built‐up platform. The average focal efficiency reaches 18.7% and 11.7% in the simulation and experiment, respectively. The system can be seen as an alternative method for seamless in situ monitoring of security checks and near‐field sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phase distribution and organic spacer cations play pivotal roles in determining the emission performance and stability of perovskite quantum wells (QWs). Here, we propose a universal molecular regulation strategy to tailor phase distribution and enhance the stability of CsPbBr3 QWs. The capability of sterically hindered ligands with formidable surface binding groups is underscored in directing CsPbBr3 growth and refining phase distribution. With trimethylamine modified boron dipyrromethene (BDP‐TMA) ligand as a representative, the BDP‐TMA driven can precisely control phase distribution and passivate defects of CsPbBr3. Notably, BDP‐TMA acts as a co‐spacer organic entity in obtained BDP‐TMA‐CsPbBr3, facilitating efficient singlet energy transfer and tailoring the luminescence to produce a distinctive bluish‐white emission. The BDP‐TMA‐CsPbBr3 demonstrates significant phase stability under water exposure, light irradiation, and moderate temperature. Interestingly, BDP‐TMA‐CsPbBr3 exhibits the thermally‐induced dynamic fluorescence control at elevated temperatures, which can be achieved feasible for advanced information encryption. This discovery paves the way for the exploration of perovskite QWs in applications like temperature sensing, anti‐counterfeiting, and other advanced optical smart technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phase distribution and organic spacer cations play pivotal roles in determining the emission performance and stability of perovskite quantum wells (QWs). Here, we propose a universal molecular regulation strategy to tailor phase distribution and enhance the stability of CsPbBr3 QWs. The capability of sterically hindered ligands with formidable surface binding groups is underscored in directing CsPbBr3 growth and refining phase distribution. With trimethylamine modified boron dipyrromethene (BDP‐TMA) ligand as a representative, the BDP‐TMA driven can precisely control phase distribution and passivate defects of CsPbBr3. Notably, BDP‐TMA acts as a co‐spacer organic entity in obtained BDP‐TMA‐CsPbBr3, facilitating efficient singlet energy transfer and tailoring the luminescence to produce a distinctive bluish‐white emission. The BDP‐TMA‐CsPbBr3 demonstrates significant phase stability under water exposure, light irradiation, and moderate temperature. Interestingly, BDP‐TMA‐CsPbBr3 exhibits the thermally‐induced dynamic fluorescence control at elevated temperatures, which can be achieved feasible for advanced information encryption. This discovery paves the way for the exploration of perovskite QWs in applications like temperature sensing, anti‐counterfeiting, and other advanced optical smart technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its ability to adapt to a variety of electromagnetic (EM) environments, the sensing‐enabled metasurface has garnered significant attention. However, large‐scale EM‐field sensing to obtain more information is still very challenging. Here, an adaptive information metasurface is proposed to enable intelligent sensing and wave manipulating simultaneously or more specifically, to realize intelligent target localization and beam tracking adaptively. The metasurface is composed of an array of meta‐atoms, and each is loaded with two PIN diodes and a sensing‐channel structure, for polarization‐insensitive and programmable beamforming and sensing. By controlling the state of the PIN diode, the proposed meta‐atom has 1‐bit phase response in the designed frequency band, while the sensing loss keeps higher than ‐10 dB for both "ON" and "OFF" states. Hence there is nearly no interaction between the beamforming and sensing modes. Experiments are conducted to show multiple functions of the metasurface, including intelligent target sensing and self‐adaptive beamforming, and the measured results are in good agreement with the numerical simulations and theoretical calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To tackle the issue of inferior rate capability and cycle stability for MnO-based materials as a lithium-ion battery (LIB) anode, robust reduced graphene oxide (rGO) protected porous MnO nanoplates were constructed to relieve the pulverization and gradual aggregation during the conversion process. Such rGO protection and porous characteristics endowed MnO–rGO with excellent cycle stability and enhanced charge transfer kinetics. At 100 mA g−1, it exhibited superior rate capability as high as 1398.5 mA h g−1 and delivered a specific capacity of 726 mA h g−1 even at a current density of 1000 mA g−1. The porous MnO–rGO based cell exhibited thermal runaway at 204 °C, while the commercial graphite-based cell experienced thermal runaway at 197 °C, which demonstrated better safety performance. This facile method provides an efficient and low-cost approach to synthesizing rGO wrapped porous transition metal oxides electrodes for LIB applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonlinearity manipulation based on electromagnetic (EM) metasurfaces has always been a hot topic, which is an important part of communication and radar systems. However, most of the existing transmission metasurfaces are mainly focused on linear processing on the incident EM waves. In this article, a reprogrammable nonlinear transmission metasurface is proposed for spatial waves using active power amplifiers. An ultrathin and compact metasurface is designed, fabricated, and measured, to achieve reprogrammable functions on the nonlinear transmissions. For EM incidence, the metasurface can not only amplify the magnification of small signals, but also control high‐energy signals nonlinearly, whose magnification is determined by different bias voltages. The simulation and experimental results show good consistency, which verifies the feasibility of the proposed method. This work can find potential applications in signal gain compression and construction of nonlinear units of diffractive deep neural networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To lower the sintering temperature and improve the mechanical properties of aluminum titanate (AT, Al2TiO5) flexible ceramics, γ‐Al2O3 is employed to partially replace the α‐Al2O3 as the starting powder. The results show that the addition of γ‐Al2O3 is sufficient to promote the reaction, improve the flexibility, raise the strength, and accelerate the grain growth of AT flexible ceramics when sintered at 1300°C. With that, the combination of optimum fracture strength (∼33.52 MPa) and high flexibility (∼1.05%) is obtained when the addition of γ‐Al2O3 is 20 wt.%. As compared to the virgin, the optimization of 21.67% in fracture strength and 176% in strain can be obtained. It is believed that the increase of crack deflection and branching should take the responsibility. However, the mechanical strength degrades with the increase of sintering temperature, which is caused by the grain defects that reduce the bearing capacity of AT grains and lead to the grain fracture model transition. In addition, the effect of γ‐Al2O3 content on AT grain growth transfers from promotion to inhibition with the increase of sintering temperature. The main reason is that the growth of the nanocrystals at AT grain boundary causes the uneven distribution of the intermediate phase, leading to the roughening transition of the boundary and hence reducing the grain growth rate. On these bases, the grain growth mechanism that dominates by grain boundary is proposed. It is believed that the discovery of this study will provide a new grain growth model and the reference for solving the abnormal grain growth or grain growth stagnation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the problem of influential spreader identification in complex networks has attracted extensive attention as its fundamental role in social network analysis, rumor controlling, viral marketing and other related fields. Centrality measures that consider different scales of neighborhood are commonly utilized for ranking node influence. The 2-hop neighborhood of the target node is deemed a suitable evaluation metric. However, as the network scale expands, only considering 2-hop neighborhood is overly restrictive. Furthermore, the interconnections among nodes are often disregarded. In this article, a new method named Limited Spreading Domain (LSD) is proposed to identify influential spreaders. LSD defines the target node's 2-hop neighborhood as basic domain and takes the neighbors who are 3–6 hops away from target node as extended domain. The influence of target node is modeled as diffusion along the paths with limited length in basic domain and extended domain. A series of experiments are conducted in eight real complex networks and results demonstrate that LSD outperforms common centralities in terms of accuracy, stability,distinguishability and scalability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] The demand of microwave absorption materials (MAMs) with unique morphologies and electromagnetic (EM) balance has become necessary in recent years. Due to the ease of synthesis and tunable structure, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are widely used for this special MAMs. In this study, a new three-dimensional hybrid MOF is proposed that is co-doped with six equally branched star morphologies. The Co-C composite has the same six-branched morphology as that of the precursor. When the EM wave is incident, this special structure makes it easier for the EM wave to enter the material vertically due to the expansion of the incident surface, which is effective in adjusting the transmission path of the electron and the reflection and distribution of the EM wave. Because of the special morphology and magneto-dielectric synergy, the Co-C composite shows a minimum reflection loss (R Lmin) of −48.5 dB at 11.0 GHz at an absorption thickness of 3.0 mm, with a microwave absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 6.1 GHz. This research provides a practical guidance for preparing the MAMs of special star structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reported data for Lu, Hf mass fractions and 176Hf/177Hf isotopic ratios of mafic‐ultramafic rock reference materials (RMs) are rare at present, hampering the comparison of data quality between difference laboratories. Herein, we measured the Lu and Hf mass fractions and the 176Hf/177Hf isotopic ratios of ten mafic‐ultramafic rock RMs, including OKUM (komatiite), WPR‐1 (serpentinised peridotite), NIM‐N (norite), NIM‐P (pyroxenite), UB‐N (serpentinised peridotite), JP‐1 (peridotite), NIM‐D (dunite), MUH‐1 (serpentinised harzburgite), HARZ01 (harzburgite), DTS‐2b (dunite), which contain extremely low amounts of Lu and Hf (Lu, 2–150 ng g−1; Hf, 5–500 ng g−1). All measurements were conducted on a Neptune Plus multi‐collector inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometer employing an Aridus II desolvator inlet system and Jet sample/X skimmer cone configuration. The following RMs, OKUM, WPR‐1, UB‐N, JP‐1, NIM‐D, HARZ01 and DTS‐2b, have 176Hf/177Hf precision of less than 60 ppm (2s) at test portions of 0.06 to 0.3 g, and are good ultramafic RMs for Lu‐Hf systems. In contrast, significant Hf mass fraction and isotopic variability were observed in NIM‐N, NIM‐P and MUH‐1 at test portion masses of 0.1 to 0.3 g. Collectively, our study provides a new database that can be used by the geochemical community for evaluating the Lu‐Hf system of mafic‐ultramafic rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political discourse can be considered as consisting of conflictual discourse and cooperative discourse in view of the relationship between power entities. From the perspective of spatial conceptualization in cognitive discourse analysis, cooperative discourse is supposed to be different from conflictual one in terms of the spatial representation, with Chilton's Discourse Space Theory, which mainly conceptualizes space as an inside/outside dichotomy, only accounting for the latter instead of the former. This paper attempts to further apply Chilton's three-dimensional model to involve the alternative way of spatial conceptualization with different kind of construals and to compare the differences of the two types of political discourse in the construction of discourse space. Taking the speeches by two state leaders for the purposes of cooperation and accusation respectively as the cases in point, this paper concludes that cooperative discourse displays an outward-extensive discourse space representation as opposed to the inward-contractive discourse space representation of conflictual discourse. This study contributes to expand the scope of discourse space analysis, which is primarily for antagonistic relations only, to incorporate cooperative relations with an extended application of DST based on alternative ways of spatial conceptualization and an elaboration on the dynamics of its three dimensions, and hence to shed some lights on political discourse studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the impetus of wireless communications, metamaterials have attracted considerable attention due to their superior merits of free manipulation of electromagnetic waves and easy integration. However, most efforts to date are mainly focused on the modulation of wave information or recognition of wave intensity, while the frequency detection is rarely explored. Here, a spoof localized surface plasmon (SLSP) structure is proposed to realize reconfigurable frequency detections. By switching the bias voltage applied to the varactor, the resonance frequency of SLSP can be controlled dynamically from 1.95 to 2.35 GHz. The SLSP‐based waveguide has a relatively high quality factor due to the strongly localized field confinement. Reconfigurable frequency detection is demonstrated experimentally by monitoring the output voltage of the introduced detector. The measured and simulated results are in good agreement. This work will hold promising applications in wireless communication and sensing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital coding metasurfaces composed of subwavelength meta-atoms can flexibly control electromagnetic waves to achieve holography, which has great potential in millimeter-wave imaging systems and data storage. In this paper, we propose a 3-bit reflective digital coding metasurface. The incident linearly polarized waves can be transformed into cross-polarized components with distinct phase responses by adjusting the rotational and open angles of the coding elements. The 3-bit phase performance can be retained over a wide bandwidth from 12 to 18 GHz by simultaneously changing the rotational and open angles. Based on the proposed broadband metasurface, broadband holography is successfully demonstrated with the optimization of a modified Gerchberg–Saxton algorithm. As a proof of concept, five schemes with different holograms integrating the letters "S," "E," "U," "X," and "Z" are simulated from 12 to 18 GHz. Good simulation results validate the performance of the proposed broadband holography, showing a relative bandwidth of 40%. Two prototypes superposing the holograms of letters "U" and "X" are fabricated and measured in a near-field microwave anechoic chamber. The experimental results corroborate well with simulated results, further supporting the demonstration. We believe that the proposed broadband holography based on the digital coding metasurface paves a way to wideband applications for microwave imaging, information processing, and holographic data storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Gd-doped ultrasmall CeO2 contrast agent was prepared with high longitudinal relaxivity (r1 = 10.1 mM−1 s−1, 7.0 T) through rationally regulating the crystallinity and surface coatings, providing a new paradigm for optimizing MRI performance. Moreover, responsive photoacoustic imaging (PAI) was established via tumor microenvironment-triggered oxidation, affording dual-modal imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with special morphologies provide the geometric morphology and composition basis for the construction of platforms with excellent catalytic activity. In this work, cobalt–cerium composite oxide hollow dodecahedrons (Co/Cex-COHDs) with controllable morphology and tunable composition are successfully prepared via a high-temperature pyrolysis strategy using Co/Ce-MOFs as self-sacrificial templates. The construction of the hollow structure can expose a larger surface area to provide abundant active sites and pores to facilitate the diffusion of substances. The formation and optimization of phase interface between Co3O4 and CeO2 regulate the electronic structure of the catalytic site and form a fast channel favorable to electron transport, thereby enhancing the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution activity. Based on the above advantages, the optimized Co/Ce0.2-COHDs obtained an enhanced oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface incident solar radiation (Rs) plays an important role in climate change on Earth. Recently, the use of satellite-retrieved datasets to obtain global-scale Rs with high spatial and temporal resolutions has become an indispensable tool for research in related fields. Many studies were carried out for Rs evaluation based on the monthly satellite retrievals; however, few evaluations have been performed on their diurnal variation in Rs. This study used independently widely distributed ground-based data from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) to evaluate hourly Rs from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System Synoptic (CERES) SYN1deg–1Hour product through a detrended standardization process. Furthermore, we explored the influence of cloud cover and aerosols on the diurnal variation in Rs. We found that CERES-retrieved Rs performs better at midday than at 7:00–9:00 and 15:00–17:00. For spatial distribution, CERES-retrieved Rs performs better over the continent than over the island/coast and polar regions. The Bias, MAB and RMSE in CERES-retrieved Rs under clear-sky conditions are rather small, although the correlation coefficients are slightly lower than those under overcast-sky conditions from 9:00 to 15:00. In addition, the range in Rs bias caused by cloud cover is 1.97–5.38%, which is significantly larger than 0.31–2.52% by AOD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continental seas are facing rapid environmental shifts, but how biogenic dimethylated sulfur compounds, including dimethylsulfide (DMS), dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), will respond to these environmental changes remains poorly understood. Here we investigated the effects of nutrient input, ocean acidification, and dust deposition on the phytoplankton community and organic sulfur cycle in the East China Sea. Nutrient input promoted phytoplankton growth and increased the concentrations of DMS, DMSP, and DMSO. With sufficient nutrients, especially nitrate, the dissolved DMSP degradation was inhibited, and the bacterial DMSP‐cleavage pathway (inferred by dddP gene abundance) was enhanced, causing increased DMS production. The sensitivity of phytoplankton biomass and DMS to ocean acidification varied with different initial nutrient levels, demonstrating insensitivity under eutrophic conditions and negative responses under nutrient‐limited conditions. The ocean acidification promoted the dissolved DMSP degradation and bacterial DMSP‐demethylation pathway (inferred by dmdA gene abundance) and weakened the DMS production, causing the decreases of DMS and DMSP. The nutrient from dust deposition (2 mg L−1) was identified as the key factor in enhancing phytoplankton biomass and the organic sulfur compounds concentrations, but trace metals input from dust deposition had no significant effect. This study has identified environmental drivers and suppressors of phytoplankton and biogenic dimethylated sulfur compounds in a changing marine environment, which will enable the effective modeling of future climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The damage modes of Al2TiO5 flexible ceramics (AT) with microcracks strengthened were studied by machine leaning for damage mode identification. Results show that the optimal number of clusters increases from 3 to 4 with the increase of ZrO2 content. Meanwhile, the concentrated region of cluster with the same label gradually shifts to the direction of low amplitude with increase of ZrO2. In addition, the quantity of cluster is easy saturated since the AT grain boundary microcracks are strengthened by the formation of ZrTiO4. For achieving the automatic identification of different damage modes, support vector machine based on Kennard‐stone training set selection was used to distinguish the damage modes of other samples in the same sample set. Almost the same evolution trend of corresponding clusters in new samples and training samples proves high efficiencies of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential public spaces are closely intertwined with residents' lives as the outdoor thermal environment significantly influences the comfort and safety of outdoor activities. However, in modern designs, factors such as forms, aesthetics and functionalities often take precedence, resulting in the neglect of the microclimate of the settlement's public spaces. In this paper, we established a workflow of "parametric simulation-performance simulation-genetic optimization". By employing the octopus genetic algorithm tool, we conducted experiments on a typical model and set objectives to optimize the winter sunshine duration as well as the thermal comfort during the summer and winter. The results indicated that the average value of the UTCI was optimized for both the summer and winter. This study concludes that altering the layout of public spaces is beneficial for the outdoor microclimate. Additionally, the presence of evenly distributed open node spaces throughout the settlement can improve ventilation in all areas while also protecting it against the winter cold and the dissipation of summer heat. Moreover, it is advisable to position larger public spaces, such as plazas, in the south or southeast. The number of public spaces should gradually decrease in size from the southeast to northwest as this prevents excessive cold winds from traversing in the settlement during the winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to develop cornmeal-based thermoplastic composites by using corn starch and zein (the two major components of cornmeal) as the matrix and lignin as the compatibilizer, while cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) served as the reinforcement. The research examined the individual effects of lignin and CNFs on the mechanical properties of the composites. Two parts of lignin decreased the domain size of the blend and increased the strength and modulus by 31% and 44%, respectively. Six parts of CNFs led to a 137% and 399% increase in strength and modulus, respectively. The addition of two parts of powder lignin and six parts of CNFs resulted in the largest increases in strength (236%) and modulus (510%), suggesting a strong synergy between lignin and CNFs in reinforcing the corn-based thermoplastic. This study differentiates itself from previous research on thermoplastic starch composites by using a starch/zein blend as the matrix instead of pure starch. It demonstrates a novel method for producing cornmeal-based thermoplastics with significantly enhanced mechanical properties by separately controlling the contents of lignin and CNFs and optimizing the formulations to achieve desired composite properties. Furthermore, the research revealed the strong compatibilizing effect of lignin on the starch/zein blend. The results obtained in this research could facilitate the direct use of low-cost cornmeal as a feedstock for producing sustainable materials which could find application in the packaging and household plastic industries, among others. Graphical Abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enzymatic cascade reactions in confined microenvironments play important roles in cellular chemical transformation. Controlling enzymatic efficiency and eliminating substrate interference in cascade reactions is of great significance. To this end, a vesicle composed of poly(styrene‐maleic anhydride‐N‐isopropylacrylamide)(P(S−M−NIP)) and functionalized with 1,2‐bis(10,12‐ tricosadiynoyl)‐sn‐glycero‐3‐phosphocholine (DC89PC) was designed herein. Based on the thermo‐sensitive property of P(S−M−NIP) and the photo‐responsive property of DC89PC, a serial of dual‐stimuli‐responsive nanoreactors was constructed via enzymes encapsulation to tune their enzymolysis efficiencies. A kinetics study of the glucose oxidase‐encapsulated nanoreactor indicated that its enzymolysis velocity increased 2.1‐ and 1.6‐fold under heating and the ultraviolet (UV)‐light irradiation, respectively. Consequently, an enzymatic cascade reaction in the proposed enzyme reactor encapsulated with β‐galactosidase and glucose oxidase was investigated. The results revealed a 2.9‐fold enhancement in enzymolysis efficiency by changing the ambient temperature under UV irradiation. The dual‐stimuli‐responsive polymer vesicles could also eliminate H2O2 interference during the enzymatic cascade reaction. The vesicles demonstrated potential for switch‐membrane‐permeability, while, the confined microenvironment played a key role in regulating the reactions upon the temperature change and the presence of UV light. Our synthetic multi‐organelle‐like system provides a new way to mimic the control of cascade reaction catalytic processes by programming the "open/close" sates of the nanocapsules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminium titanate (Al 2 TiO 5 , AT) flexible ceramics were prepared from Al 2 O 3 –TiO 2 powder system with MgO and Fe 2 O 3 as additives through solid-state method. The effects of addition level of MgO and Fe 2 O 3 on phase compositions, sintering behavior, microstructure and fracture properties of AT flexible ceramics were systematically investigated. The experimental results show that the introduction of additives can promote the formation of AT and improve the densification by forming solid solution. The addition of MgO could effectively refine AT grains since the formed MgAl 2 O 4 spinel grains could pin at the AT grain boundary and inhibit the growth of AT grains. Conversely, the addition of Fe 2 O 3 could promote the AT grain growth. And the simultaneous addition of MgO and Fe 2 O 3 is beneficial to develop elongated rod-like AT grains. With that, the improved fracture properties can be obtained. Due to pining effect of spinel and better densification, the flexural strength of modified AT flexible ceramics is about 34 times higher than that of virgin. In addition, thanks to the microcracked structure and high grain aspect ratio, events of crack deflection, crack branching, grains pull-out and grains bridging are more likely to occur, leading to an increase in the flexibility by about 133%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute myeloid leukemia is the most common acute leukemia in adults, the barrier of refractory and drug resistance has yet to be conquered in the clinical. Abnormal gene expression and epigenetic changes play an important role in pathogenesis and treatment. A super-enhancer is an epigenetic modifier that promotes pro-tumor genes and drug resistance by activating oncogene transcription. Multi-omics integrative analysis identifies the super-enhancer-associated gene CAPG and its high expression level was correlated with poor prognosis in AML. CAPG is a cytoskeleton protein but has an unclear function in AML. Here we show the molecular function of CAPG in regulating NF-κB signaling pathway by proteomic and epigenomic analysis. Knockdown of Capg in the AML murine model resulted in exhausted AML cells and prolonged survival of AML mice. In conclusion, SEs-associated gene CAPG can contributes to AML progression through NF-κB. Super-enhancers associated gene CAPG (Capping actin protein, gelsolin-like) regulates Nf-κB signaling in acute myeloid leukemia in a MLL-AF9 mouse model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auxetic honeycomb has unique mechanical properties such as good energy absorption capacity, tensile strength and fracture toughness, etc. Therefore, honeycomb with a negative Poisson's ratio is used widely in medical, biological, aerospace and other fields. This honeycomb has large deformations in energy absorption and vibration reduction. It is very important to study the nonlinear constitutive of the honeycomb structure. Therefore, this paper establishes the nonlinear constitutive relationship of the auxetic honeycomb structure under large deformations. This constitutive relation includes the in-plane stress, in-plane strain, Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of the negative Poisson's ratio honeycomb. The finite element model of the negative Poisson's ratio honeycomb cells is established, and the calculated results of finite element model are compared with that of the theoretical calculation results. On this basis, the influence of the geometric parameters on the mechanical properties of the structure is studied. The results of this paper will provide a theoretical basis for the further study of the auxetic honeycomb sandwich structure and provide a basis for the engineering application of honeycomb structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metasurfaces exhibit some extraordinary phenomena, resulting in their wide applications in controlling electromagnetic (EM) waves. Recently, the introduction of digital coding metasurfaces has greatly improved the design and broadened the application scope of metasurfaces. However, in most previous studies, the control of EM waves was achieved based on the phase distribution. Here, we present 2-bit amplitude-modulated coding metasurfaces based on optically transparent indium tin oxide films in the microwave frequency regime. The proposed coding metasurfaces are composed of coding unit cells with multiring structures with specific coding sequences, allowing the dramatic control of reflected amplitudes under the normal incidence while keeping other states unchanged. Using this method, almost continuous amplitude modulation can be easily realized with different coding sequences without the need to redesign the structure. The results of simulations and experiments show precise agreement, thereby validating the feasibility of our design. In addition, the optical transparency of the metasurface indicates its promise in a variety of microwave and visible-light applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, land alkalinization affecting agricultural development. Considering the increasingly serious effects of alkaline stress on agriculture and environment, phytoremediation may be an efficient way to addressed land alkalinization. Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is a saline‐alkaline‐tolerant crop and bioenergy crop. However, the molecular mechanism of alkaline response on broomcorn millet remains large gap. To explore the alkaline stress on broomcorn millet and the mitigation of 24‐epicastasterone (BR), the effects of CK (nutrient solution only), CB (nutrient solution + 0.5 mg L−1 BR), AS (alkaline stress), and AB (alkaline stress + 0.5 mg L−1 BR) on TA289 (alkaline‐tolerant) and SA223 (alkaline‐sensitive) were investigated. Alkaline stress enhanced reactive oxygen species and membrane lipid peroxidation. BR boosted antioxidant enzyme activities to reduce oxidative stress. Simultaneously, BR attenuated Na+ toxicity and maintained ion homeostasis. Additionally, BR significantly maintained the physiological structure and photosynthetic properties. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were applied to further evaluate the effect of BR on photosynthetic and antioxidant defense. The results showed that BR significantly reduced the transcriptional responses of photosynthesis and antioxidant defense and promoted the accumulation of effective metabolites such as biliverdin, l‐glutamate, and phosphoric acid. Taken together, BR application can significantly alleviate the damage of alkaline stress to broomcorn millet by altering transcriptional expression and metabolite accumulation and is a simple and effective strategy to alleviate alkaline stress. This study reveals the molecular mechanism of BR to enhance photosynthetic capacity and antioxidant defense of broomcorn millet under alkaline stress, which provides theoretical support for the cultivation of bioenergy crops on alkaline lands and the breeding of alkaline‐tolerant bioenergy varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A stacked ensemble learning model is developed to predict the modal parameters of space grid steel structures under environmental effects. Potential damage is detected via statistical analysis of the prediction residuals. For this purpose, five standalone heterogeneous machine learning models were trained for predicting natural frequencies; each model used the principal components of the environmental data as input parameters. Next, a stacked ensemble learner was built using the outputs of the five standalone models as its inputs. Finally, a damage indicator combining the predicted residuals of multiple orders of natural frequencies is proposed and statistically analyzed for accurate damage detection. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, a space grid model was created in the field environment and measured for a period. Dynamic and environmental data were collected, such as ambient temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, and structural surface temperature. An automated procedure of the covariance-driven stochastic subspace identification method was conducted to identify bulk mode. The environmental dependence of the natural frequencies, damping ratios, and vibration modes was analyzed. Then, the method was validated based on short-term monitoring data from the baseline health state and unknown future states. The results show that the natural frequencies and damping ratios of space grid structures fluctuate significantly on a daily basis due to environmental influences. Stacked ensemble learning utilizes predictions from multiple heterogeneous models to produce a better predictive model. The statistical analysis of the prediction residuals by ensemble learning effectively removes the environmental influences, allowing for timely structural damage detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fracture field and permeability distribution model of comprehensive working face goaf was integrated upon the theoretical examination to investigate the fracture field distribution law of goaf and gas migration and accumulation characteristics, and this model has been applied to the mathematical model of gas migration and accumulation in goaf. The ANSYS FLUENT numerical simulation software was used to obtain the characteristics of gas migration and accumulation in goaf and its influencing factors and analyze the applicability of solving the features of gas migration and proliferation using the porosity model of layer division in goaf. The results were as follows: the porosity around the caving zone was a little big, whereas the porosity in the middle was a little small. The porosity was almost equal along the inclination and strike in a symmetrical distribution. The porosity occurred at the fracture zone with an "O" shape. As the gob layer height increased, the porosity tended to be small. The maximum value of the porosity of the goaf would shrink to the middle of the goaf with the increase of gob layer height. The gas mass fraction along the goaf inclination showed the growth characteristics of "exponential function", the gas mass fraction along the goaf strike on the air inlet side showed the growth characteristics of "Boltzmann function", and the gas mass fraction along the goaf strike on the air outlet roadway side manifested the growth characteristics of "linear function". The main influencing factors were air leakage speed, negative pressure, and porosity distribution. The distribution model of porosity and permeability of different layers of gob can more accurately simulate the characteristics of gas migration and storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early noninvasive screening and regression therapy for vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques remain challenging. In this study, it is aimed to develop a new approach for the active targeting of atherosclerotic plaques with nano‐agents to aid imaging and treatment. Biocompatible hyaluronic acid (HA)‐guided cerasomes are generated to selectively target CD44‐positive cells within the plaque in in vitro studies and in vivo testing in Apoe−/− mice. Rosuvastatin (RST) is encapsulated in the HA‐guided cerasome nano‐formulation to produce HA‐CC‐RST, which results in significant plaque regression as compared to treatment with the free drug. Moreover, gadodiamide‐loaded HA‐CC enhances magnetic resonance images of vulnerable plaques, thereby attaining the goal of improved simultaneous treatment and imaging. Transcriptomic analysis confirms plaque regression with HA‐CC–RST treatment, which potentially benefits from the anti‐inflammatory effect of RST. In summary, a safe and efficient nano‐formulation for the targeted delivery of active agents to atherosclerotic plaques is developed and may be applicable to other diagnostic and therapeutic agents for atherosclerosis treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the robust optimal output regulation problem for the constrained uncertain nonlinear systems. A two‐step design framework is proposed to overcome the difficulties brought by uncertainties, constraint and performance optimization. First, the feedforward controller is designed by the internal model principle, and the robust output regulation problem is transformed into the robust stabilization problem. Then, the optimal control problem with input saturation is further considered in the robust feedback controller design process. With the help of a non‐quadratic cost functional, actor‐critic algorithm and robust redesign technique are brought together to design the constrained robust optimal feedback controller. Finally, stability analysis based on Lyapunov method shows that all the signals of the closed‐loop system remain bounded, and the tracking error is uniformly ultimately bounded with arbitrarily small ultimate bound. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury (CI/RI) is a severe problem in patients with cerebral ischemia. The current study explored the influences of circular (circ)-Gucy1a2 on neuronal apoptosis and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in the brain tissue of CI/RI mice. Forty-eight mice were randomized into the sham group, transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) group, lentivirus negative control (LV-NC) group, and LV-Gucy1a2 group. Mice were first injected with lentivirus loaded with LV-Gucy1a2 or LV-NC via lateral ventricle, followed by the establishment of CI/RI models 2 weeks later. Twenty-four hours after CI/RI, the neurological impairment of mice was assessed using a 6-point scoring system. The cerebral infarct volume and brain histopathological changes were determined in CI/RI mice through histological staining. In vitro, pcDNA3.1-NC and pcDNA3.1-Gucy1a2 were transfected into mouse primary cortical neurons for 48 hours, followed by the establishment of oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) models. The levels of circ-Gucy1a2 in mouse brain tissues and neurons were examined using RT-qPCR. Neuronal proliferation and apoptosis, MMP loss, and oxidative stress (OS)-related indexes in neurons were detected using CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry, JC-1 staining, and H2DFFDA staining. CI/RI mouse models and OGD/R cell models were successfully established. After CI/RI, neurons in mice were impaired and the cerebral infarction volume was increased. circ-Gucy1a2 was poorly expressed in CI/RI mouse brain tissues. Overexpression of circ-Gucy1a2 increased OGD/R-induced neuronal proliferation and mitigated apoptosis, MMP loss, and OS. Overall, circ-Gucy1a2 was down-regulated in brain tissues of CI/RI mice, and overexpression of circ-Gucy1a2 can protect mice from CI/RI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Congenital cranial dysinnervation disorders (CCDDs) are a group of diseases with high clinical and genetic heterogeneity. Clinical examinations combined with Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and whole exome sequencing (WES) were performed to reveal the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics in a cohort of Chinese CCDDs patients. Results: A total of 122 CCDDs patients from 96 families were enrolled. All patients showed restrictive eye movements, and 46 patients from 46 families (47.9%, 46/96) were accompanied by multiple congenital malformations. Multi-positional high-resolution MRI was performed in 94 patients from 88 families, of which, all patients had hypoplasia of the cranial nerves except HGPPS patients and 15 patients from 15 families (17.0%,15/88) were accompanied by other craniocerebral malformations. WES was performed in 122 CCDDs patients. Ten pathogenic variants were detected in KIF21A, TUBB3, and CHN1 genes in 43 families. Three variants were unreported, including KIF21A (c.1064T > C, p.F355S), TUBB3 (c.232T > A, p.S78T) and CHN1 (c.650A > G, p.H217R). Of the 43 probands harboring pathogenic variants, 42 were diagnosed with Congenital Fibrosis of Extraocular Muscles (CFEOM) and one was Duane Retraction Syndrome (DRS). No definite pathogenic variants in known candidate genes of CCDDs were found in sporadic DRS, Möbius Syndrome (MBS) and Horizontal Gaze Palsy with Progressive Scoliosis (HGPPS) patients. The CFEOM patients harboring R380C, E410K and R262H variants in TUBB3 gene and F355S variant in KIF21A gene exhibited syndromic phenotypes. Conclusions: This study broadened the phenotypic and genotypic spectrums of CCDDs, and it was the largest clinical and genetic investigation for CCDDs patients from China. KIF21A and TUBB3 were the common pathogenic genes in Chinese CFEOM. MRI coupled with WES can provide a supportive diagnosis in patients with clinically suspected CCDDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although various papers have reported on the clinical performance of cup retention with cementation of a new liner and bone grafting in the management of well-fixed cups with polyethylene wear and periacetabular osteolysis after total hip arthroplasty (THA), no systematic review of this topic has been published to date. Methods: Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane Library were searched for articles published from January 1999 to January 2019 using "osteolysis" AND "well-fixed", "osteolysis" AND "retro-acetabular", "bone graft" AND ("retention" OR "retained" OR "stable") AND "cup", and "cemented liner" AND "well-fixed". Results: Nine articles were selected for review (186 cases, 76.1 months mean follow-up). The overall revision rate was 11.3% (21 hips) most commonly due to aseptic loosening (9/186 hips), dislocation (8/186 hips), and liner wear progression (2/186 cases). The reported square size of osteolytic lesions ranged from a mean of 465.84 mm2 to a max of 4,770 mm2. Almost all reported lesions treated with bone grafts resolved or did not progress 97% (72/74). All studies indicated improved pain and functional scores at follow-up. Conclusion: Cementation of a new liner with periacetabular bone grafting provides an alternative option to isolated liner exchange and cup revision for the management of periacetabular osteolysis in well-fixed cups with a disrupted locking mechanism or unavailable exchange liner. Further higher quality studies are required in order to examine if the use of highly cross-linked polyethylene, highly porous-coated cups, hydroxyapatite-coated cups, and small-diameter cups influence the clinical outcome of liner cementation in well-fixed cups with periacetabular osteolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article developed a new method to described the set of stabilizing PID control. The method is based on D‐parameterization with natural description of the set. It was found that the stability crossing surface is a ruled surface that is completely determined by a curve known as discriminant. The discriminant is divided into sectors at the cusps. Corresponding to the sectors, the stability crossing surface is divided into positive and negative patches. A systematic study is conducted to identify the regions with a fixed number of right half‐plane characteristic roots. The crossing directions of characteristic roots for positive patches and negative patches are also studied. As a result, a systematic method is developed to identify the regions of PID parameter such that the system is stabilized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On‐site hydrogen peroxide production through electrocatalytic and photocatalytic oxygen reduction reactions has recently attracted broad research interest. However, practical applications have thus far been plagued by the low activity and the requirement of complex equipment. Here, inspired by the process of biological hydrogen peroxide synthesis catalyzed by enzymes, we report a Pt‐Au alloy to mimic the catalytic function of natural formate oxidase for hydrogen peroxide synthesis through aerobic oxidation of formic acid. The mass activity of the Pt‐Au alloy is three times higher than that of formate oxidase. Density functional theory calculations revealed that the efficient dehydrogenation of formic acid and the high selectivity of the subsequent reduction of oxygen to hydrogen peroxide account for the high hydrogen peroxide productivity. In addition, the formic acid aqueous solution provides an acidic environment, which is conducive to the utilization of the in situ generated hydrogen peroxide for oxidation reactions, including C−H bond oxidation and sterilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On‐site hydrogen peroxide production through electrocatalytic and photocatalytic oxygen reduction reactions has recently attracted broad research interest. However, practical applications have thus far been plagued by the low activity and the requirement of complex equipment. Here, inspired by the process of biological hydrogen peroxide synthesis catalyzed by enzymes, we report a Pt‐Au alloy to mimic the catalytic function of natural formate oxidase for hydrogen peroxide synthesis through aerobic oxidation of formic acid. The mass activity of the Pt‐Au alloy is three times higher than that of formate oxidase. Density functional theory calculations revealed that the efficient dehydrogenation of formic acid and the high selectivity of the subsequent reduction of oxygen to hydrogen peroxide account for the high hydrogen peroxide productivity. In addition, the formic acid aqueous solution provides an acidic environment, which is conducive to the utilization of the in situ generated hydrogen peroxide for oxidation reactions, including C−H bond oxidation and sterilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass rapid pyrolysis technology is easy to implement in continuous production and industrial application, and has become one of the leading technologies in the field of world renewable energy development. Agricultural and forestry waste is an important resource of renewable energy in China. In general, abandoned leaves in forest areas cause serious waste of resources. Its utilization may help to settle the problems of energy deficiency and environment pollution. In this study, Aesculus chinensis Bunge leaves (A. Bunge) are used as the research object to study the pyrolysis and extract. The results showed that there are a lot of bioactive components in A. Bunge leaves extract, including acetamide, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, R-limonene, d-mannose, and dihydroxyacetone. The active components of A. Bunge leaves supply scientific evidence for the exploration and exploitation of this plant. The pyrolysis products of A. Bunge leaves are rich in organic acids, aldehydes, and ketones, which means that A. Bunge leaves can be used as a crude material for the manufacturing of bio-oil or bio-fuel. The pyrolysis products include batilol, pregnenolone, benzoic acid, butyrolactone, and propanoic acid, which can be used in biological medicine, chemical crude materials, and industrial raw material reagents. Therefore, A. Bunge leaves can be used as a good crude material for bio-oil or biofuel production. Combining A. Bunge leaves and fast pyrolysis methods can effectively solve the problem of forestry and agricultural residues in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is a hallmark of arterial diseases, especially in arterial restenosis after angioplasty or stent placement. VSMCs reprogram their metabolism to meet the increased requirements of lipids, proteins, and nucleotides for their proliferation. De novo purine synthesis is one of critical pathways for nucleotide synthesis. However, its role in proliferation of VSMCs in these arterial diseases has not been defined.Methods: De novo purine synthesis in proliferative VSMCs was evaluated by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The expression of ATIC (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase/inosine monophosphate cyclohydrolase), the critical bifunctional enzyme in the last 2 steps of the de novo purine synthesis pathway, was assessed in VSMCs of proliferative arterial neointima. Global and VSMC-specific knockout of Atic mice were generated and used for examining the role of ATIC-associated purine metabolism in the formation of arterial neointima and atherosclerotic lesions.Results: In this study, we found that de novo purine synthesis was increased in proliferative VSMCs. Upregulated purine synthesis genes, including ATIC, were observed in the neointima of the injured vessels and atherosclerotic lesions both in mice and humans. Global or specific knockout of Atic in VSMCs inhibited cell proliferation, attenuating the arterial neointima in models of mouse atherosclerosis and arterial restenosis.Conclusions: These results reveal that de novo purine synthesis plays an important role in VSMC proliferation in arterial disease. These findings suggest that targeting ATIC is a promising therapeutic approach to combat arterial diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We systematically retrospected and analyzed the general characteristics of ophthalmic drug clinical trials (CTs) registered in China from January 2014 to December 2021. Methods: Data were retrieved from the Drug Trial Registration and Information Publication Platform and then standardized and statistically classified using bibliometric analysis. Results: We identified 201 drug CTs for eye diseases, including 24 international multicenter trials. The number of drug CTs for eye diseases has considerably increased since 2017 in parallel with new policies to encourage innovation in drugs and medical devices in China. The drug types consist of biologicals (48.26%), chemicals (45.77%), and traditional Chinese medicine/natural medicines (5.97%). The main indications were age-related macular degeneration (AMD; n = 47, 23.38%), macular edema (n = 32, 15.92%), and diabetic retinopathy (n = 19, 9.45%). The trials included those in phase I (n = 67, 33.33%), phase II (n = 33, 16.42%), and phase III (n = 72, 35.82%). The phase I trials comprised 24 innovative drug treatments for AMD and 6 novel drug treatments for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders, with 39 biologicals and 27 chemicals. The trials mostly followed a randomized (84.08%) or masked (67.16%) design, with 90.37% of the latter being double-masked trials. Conclusion: Research and development of ophthalmic drugs have substantially increased in recent years and are influenced by regulatory policies. Among these drugs, biologicals for AMD are the most prevalent, followed by biologicals for macular edema. Randomized double-masked research designs are often used and represent high-quality evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The carbon-based all-inorganic perovskite battery with FTO/In 2 S 3 /CsPbIBr 2 /C 60 /CuSCN/C structure was designed and simulated. • The addition of C 60 buffer layer structure effectively enhanced the spectral response range. • Suitable inter-interface band regulation engineering enhances the effective migration of photogenerated carriers. • Great efficiency and excellent stability of devices at high temperature. The CsPbIBr 2 material has obvious benefits in balancing the high efficiency and stability of carbon-based all-inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSC). However, the wide band gap of 2.08 eV and the serious carrier recombination between the interfaces limit the optical collection and carrier migration. In this work, based on the matching band structure of C 60 and CsPbIBr 2 , the structure of FTO/In 2 S 3 /CsPbIBr 2 /C 60 /CuSCN/C is constructed in SCAPS-1D numerical analog quasi-software. The effect of C 60 buffer layer structure on the properties of carbon-based all-inorganic CsPbIBr 2 PSC was studied. It is found that the existence of the buffer layer increases the quantum efficiency of the device, and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) increases from 7.24 % to 10.01 %. In addition, in order to further enhance the carrier migration and reduce carrier recombination between the interfaces, this simulation achieved the highest PCE of 14.16 % by improving the band offset and optimizing the energy barrier structure between FTO/In 2 S 3 and C 60 /CuSCN interfaces. To further study the change in device performance under a high-temperature working environment, this work set the temperature range to 300–400 K. It is found that when the working temperature is 340 K, the PCE and FF are 14.02 % and 70.66 %, respectively, which shows the high efficiency and stability of carbon-based inorganic CsPbIBr 2 PSC. Hence, this work will provide an effective strategy for the manufacture of carbon-based all-inorganic PSC with high efficiency and long-term stability in a high-temperature environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tetracycline (TC) is hard to degrade and is usually present in the aqueous environment due to abuse. It is necessary to find effective treatment methods for TC pollution. In this work, Iron pyrophosphate doped carbon (Fe2P2O7@C) was successfully synthesized for activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for TC removal. The effects of Fe2P2O7@C dosage, PMS concentration, initial pH, initial TC concentration, and coexisting anions on TC degradation were investigated. The efficiency of TC removal in the Fe2P2O7@C/PMS system was improved to 89.8%, higher than PMS oxidation alone and adsorption of Fe2P2O7@C alone, indicating that Fe2P2O7@C can successfully activate PMS. The presence of NO3−, and SO42− slightly inhibited the removal of TC, while CO32− and HPO42− promoted the degradation of TC. The results of the cycling experiments showed that Fe2P2O7@C has good stability during the repeated activation of PMS. The results of scavenging experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis identified the reactive oxygen species and demonstrated that free radical and non-free radical pathways play a synergistic role in this system, with the role of superoxide radicals and singlet oxygen dominating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. Gastric cancer(GC)is one of the deadliest digestive tract tumors worldwide，existing studies suggest that dysregulated expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) plays an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of GC. This study aimed to investigate the expression, biological function, and downstream mechanism of miR-34c-5p in GC, provide new targets for gastric cancer diagnosis and treatment. Methods. The expression of miR-34c-5p in GC tissues and cell lines was examined by RT-qPCR. Cell wound healing, transwell and cell cloning assays were used to detect the effect of miR-34c-5p on the migration and invasion abilities, respectively, of GC cells. Western blot was performed to detect the expression of related proteins. Bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the binding of MAP2K1 to miR-34c-5p and the targeting relationship was confirmed by dual luciferase reporter assay. Results. The expression level of miR-34c-5p was significantly decreased in GC tissues and cell lines. miR-34c-5p overexpression inhibited migration, invasion, and colony formation of gastric cancer cells, the related protein E-cadherin expression was significantly increased and N-cadherin, vimentin, and PCNA expression were significantly decreased, while miR-34c-5p knockdown exerted the opposite effects. In addition, the targeting relationship between miR-34c-5p and MAP2K1 was predicted and confirmed, and further confirmed by rescue experiments that MAP2K1 alleviated the inhibitory effect of miR-34c-5p in GC. Conclusion. MiR-34c-5p is lowly expressed in GC, and it can target MAP2K1 to exert inhibitory effects on GC proliferation, invasion, and migration. These findings provide a promising biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]