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Abstract Severe urban air pollution in China is driven by a synergistic conversion of SO2, NOx, and NH3 into fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Field studies indicated NO2 as an important oxidizer to SO2 in polluted atmospheres with low photochemical reactivity, but this rapid reaction cannot be explained by the aqueous reactive nitrogen chemistry in acidic urban aerosols. Here, using an aerosol optical tweezer and Raman spectroscopy, we show that the multiphase SO2 oxidation by NO2 is accelerated for two-order-of-magnitude by a copper catalyst. This reaction occurs on aerosol surfaces, is independent of pH between 3 and 5, and produces sulfate by a rate of up to 10 µg m-3 air hr-1 when reactive copper reaches a millimolar concentration in aerosol water – typical of severe haze events in North China Plain. Since copper and NO2 are companion emitters in air pollution, they can act synergistically in converting SO2 into sulfate in China’s haze. more...

BackgroundLimited information is available regarding the relative risks of cancer-specific mortality and noncancer-specific mortality among long-term survivors with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).MethodsIn this retrospective study, nationwide data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (1992-2020) were utilized. The Accelerated Failure Time Model was applied to calculate Survival Time Ratios (TR), with the primary focus on mortality resulting from DTC. The competing risks model was employed to investigate the relative risks of various outcomes in DTC patients with a survival duration of 5 years or more.ResultsIn our cohort, 279 patients succumbed to DTC, while 748 died from other diseases. Notably, in DTC cohorts, noncancer-specific mortality rates were consistently higher than DTC-specific mortality rates across different age groups and genders. The risk of DTC and noncancer-specific mortality varied based on the TNM stage. With more advanced disease stages, the risk of DTC and other cancer-specific mortality gradually increased. The cumulative mortality from other cancer-specific causes was consistently the lowest.ConclusionsIn long-term surviving DTC patients, noncancer-specific mortality outweighed DTC-specific mortality irrespective of age and gender. For stage I and II patients, increased attention should be directed toward noncancer-specific mortality in postoperative follow-ups. Conversely, for stage III and IV patients, greater consideration should be given to DTC-related causes of death. In addition, for stage III and IV DTC patients, the risk of death from other cancers was significantly higher than for stages I and II. more...

Drought usually affects the normal functioning of grassland ecosystems. Due to sustained global warming, the frequency and intensity of drought have significantly increased, leading to greater impacts on many aspects of grassland ecosystem functions, such as soil moisture, vegetation physiological structure and ecosystem community structure. Ecosystem stability dimension can help us better understand the changes induced by drought occurred within ecosystems. Using the Normalized Vegetation Index (NDVI), climate and biodiversity data, we quantified resistance, resilience and temporal stability of grassland ecosystems under long term drought in northern China and calculated the ecosystem stability dimension based on the correlation between the three stability indicators. The results indicated that Qinghai Tibet Plateau and Inner Mongolian Plateau showed strong resistance to drought, while Loess Plateau region presented rapid recovery after drought. The resistance, compared to resilience and temporal stability, exhibited stronger sensitivity to drought in space. Drought promoted the transformation of grassland ecosystems into multidimensional structures. The reduction of aboveground biomass caused by frequent droughts accelerated the transformation in grassland ecosystems. Our findings provide the new insights for guiding the response mechanism of drought on grassland ecosystems. more...

Abstract Assembly ubiquitously occurs in nature and gives birth to numerous functional biomaterials and sophisticated organisms. In this work, chiral hydrogen-bonded organic-inorganic frameworks (HOIFs) are synthesized via biomimicking the self-assembly process from amino acids to proteins. Enjoying the homohelical configurations analogous to α-helix, the HOIFs exhibit remarkable chiroptical activity including the chiral fluorescence (g lum = 1.7 × 10−3) that is untouched among the previously reported hydrogen-bonded frameworks. Benefitting from the dynamic feature of hydrogen bonding, HOIFs enable enantio-discrimination of chiral aliphatic substrates with imperceivable steric discrepancy based on fluorescent change. Moreover, the disassembled HOIFs after recognition applications are capable of being facilely regenerated and self-purified via aprotic solvent-induced reassembly, leading to at least three consecutive cycles without losing the enantioselectivity. The underlying mechanism of chirality bias is decoded by the experimental isothermal titration calorimetry together with theoretic simulation. more...

Abstract Three previously undescribed compounds, cordycicadione (1), cordycicadin F (2), and 7-hydroxybassiatin (3), were isolated from the cultures of Cordyceps cicadae JXCH1, an entomopathogenic fungus. Their structures and relative configurations were elucidated primarily by NMR spectroscopic analysis. The absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were determined by ECD calculations. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction method was adopted to determine the absolute configuration of 3. Compound 2 is a polycyclic polyketide with an unusual enol ether moiety and a spiro ring. The compounds obtained in this study were subjected to screening their inhibition against the proliferation of the human lung cancer cell line A549 and the production of nitric oxide in murine macrophages RAW264.7. Graphical Abstract more...

Abstract Estimation of energy partitioning at leaf scale, such as fluorescence yield (ΦF) and photochemical yield (ΦP), is crucial to tracking vegetation gross primary productivity (GPP) at global scale. Nitrogen is an important participant in the process of light capture, electron transfer, and carboxylation in vegetation photosynthesis. However, the quantitative relationship between leaf nitrogen allocation and leaf energy partitioning remains unexplored. Here, a field experiment was established to explore growth stage variations in energy partitioning and nitrogen allocation at leaf scale using active fluorescence detection and photosynthetic gas exchange method in rice in the subtropical region of China. We observed a strongly positive correlation between the investment proportion of leaf nitrogen in photosynthetic system and ΦF during the vegetative growth stage. There were significant differences in leaf energy partitioning, leaf nitrogen allocation, and the relationship between ΦF and ΦP before and after flowering. Furthermore, flowering weakened the correlation between the investment proportion of leaf nitrogen in photosynthetic system and ΦF. These findings highlight the crucial role of phenological factors in exploring seasonal photosynthetic dynamics and carbon fixation of ecosystems. more...

Thorium, as an important radioactive element, is widely present in nature, and its accompanying environmental pollution is also serious. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) are commonly found on the surface of microbial bodies and have strong adsorption capacity for metal ions. In this study, four methods were used to extract EPS from indigenous bacteria of rare earth tailings and to determine the best extraction method. The extracted EPS was applied to treat Th4+, and the changes in functional groups and composition of EPS were investigated. The results showed that the ultrasonic method was more efficient than other methods. The best removal efficiency was observed at pH 3.5, Th4+ concentration of 20 mg/L, and EPS dosage of 30 mL at 25 °C. After 9 h, the adsorption process reached equilibrium with a maximum removal efficiency of 75.93% and a maximum theoretical adsorption capacity of 25.96 mg/g. The Th4+ removal process was consistent with the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms and the kinetic data were consistent with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, which is mainly based on chemisorption. Amide I and amide II of proteins, C–H from aliphatic, as well as O–H and C = O from carboxylic acid play important roles in the adsorption process. HIGHLIGHTS EPS are extracted from indigenous bacteria of rare earth tailings and it has better polysaccharide content than other EPS extracted from other materials.; Application of EPS to the treatment of Th4+ exhibited better adsorption effects.; The functional groups of EPS play important role in the adsorption of Th4+.; more...

Indium phosphide (InP) quantum‐dot light‐emitting diodes (QLEDs) are considered as one of the most promising candidates for emerging displays owing to their good luminous performance and environmentally friendly properties. The operation of green InP QLEDs relies on the radiative recombination of electrically generated excitons, as in most QLEDs; however, the electrons injected into green InP QLEDs can easily pass through the quantum‐dot (QD) layer, resulting in a carrier imbalance and low external quantum efficiency (EQE). Herein, the mechanism of electron leakage in green InP QLEDs is revealed. Based on comparative experiments and simulations of the carrier concentration distribution, the path of electron leakage is determined and it is found that the root cause is the large Fermi energy difference between green InP QDs and indium tin oxide (ITO). To solve this problem, an ultrathin LiF layer is applied to modify the work function of the ITO, which simultaneously hinders electron leakage and enhances hole injection. Benefiting from a more balanced carrier injection, the maximum EQE of green InP QLEDs improves from 4.70% to 9.14%. In these findings, a universal mechanism is provided for hindering electron leakage in green InP QLEDs, indicating the feasibility of developing highly efficient green InP QLEDs. more...

Lattice structures with bistability can maintain additional equilibrium states after external loads are removed. While conventional bistable structures typically realize compression and torsional bistabilities under compression and twisting loads, this paper introduces a new design of bistable structures that exhibit torsional bistability under uniaxial compression. The proposed structure is composed of two co-axis polygonal prisms connected by struts. Torsional bistability is achieved by opposite rotations of two co-axial polygonal prisms under compression, which result in snap-through instabilities in the connecting struts. An analytical model and numerical simulations demonstrate that dual-material design for the inclined and connecting struts is required to induce bistability. A parameter study is conducted to illustrate the effect of the volume fractions of soft material in struts and the modulus ratios between two materials on bistability characteristics. One such design is practically fabricated by multi-material 3D printing, and experiments are conducted to demonstrate the existence of the second equilibrium state. Furthermore, a lattice structure is designed by periodically arraying the unit structures, which exhibit multiple stable states due to existence a sequence of bistable states arising in a layer-by-layer manner. This compression-torsion bistability breaks the restriction on the direction of the bistable deformation and the applied load, and provides inspiration for novel functional designs in the areas of logic gates and deformation control. more...

Abstract Ecosystem stability represents the ability of the ecosystem to maintain and restore its functions. The indicators of ecosystem stability include temporal stability, resistance, and resilience, which are crucial parameters to predict the basic functions of the earth under global change. However, the correlation between the indicators of ecosystem stability and the dimensions of ecosystem stability at global scale remains unclear. Here, we quantified the global dimensions of ecosystem stability using moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) enhanced vegetation index (EVI) data from 2001 to 2018 as well as climate variables and land standard species richness data. We revealed a strong positive correlation between temporal stability and resistance and no correlation between resistance and resilience at global scale. The dimension of ecosystem stability changed along the gradients of latitude or altitude. The dimensions of ecosystem stability were different among biomes, showing the lowest in the evergreen broad‐leaved forest (EBF) and the highest in the grassland (GRA). Climate factors were strongly associated with the changes in dimensions of ecosystem stability at global scale. These findings highlight the crucial role of dimensions in exploring ecosystem stability, potentially eliminating contradictions in the ecosystem service mechanism of the earth. more...

Bombyx batryticatus is derived from the dried larva of Bombyx mori Linnaeus infected by Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuillant. Raw Bombyx batryticatus should be stir-fried before oral administration due to its irritation to the gastrointestinal tract. Nevertheless, it is still an arduous task to uncover the intrinsic mechanism of Bombyx batryticatus processing. In this study, we collected two types of Bombyx batryticatus, one being stir-fried and the other serving as a control. Then, an informative approach, which integrated matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) with chemometrics analysis, was established to screen processing-associated markers and reveal in situ spatial distribution patterns of protein-related metabolites. After optimization of experimental conditions, 21 ions were initially detected from Bombyx batryticatus, including amino acids and peptides. In addition, 15 differential markers were screened by orthogonal projection to potential structure discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), which were localized and visualized in the transverse section of Bombyx batryticatus by MSI. Eventually, it can be demonstrated that the stir-frying process reduces toxicity while potentially boosting specific biological activities of Bombyx batryticatus. In summary, the established strategy could not only clarify the chemical transformation of protein-related metabolites from Bombyx batryticatus before and after frying with wheat bran, but also reveal the significance of Chinese medicine processing technology. more...

Alkaline extraction is an important process in the integrated biorefining of leafy biomass to obtain protein, but the resulting alkaline protein extract (APE11 alkaline protein extract: APE.) may have poor emulsification properties for food applications. In this study, the components in the APE fractionations obtained by size exclusion chromatography were determined. The emulsification properties of APE were determined using oil/water with a ratio of 7:3. Whey protein and soybean protein isolate were used as controls while enzymes were used to improve APE's emulsification properties. The results showed that the APE could be divided into three fractions with protein content of 83, 56, and 34%. Carbohydrates mainly derived from homogalacturonan pectin were mostly in Fraction 2, while Fraction 3 consisted of peptides, oligosaccharides, and free polyphenols. The APE had similar emulsification capacity and emulsification stability as those of whey protein and soybean isolate. The emulsion made by the APE had a creaming index of 92% with emulsification activity index value of 44 m2 g−1, and these numbers could retain after storing at 25 °C for 15 days. The emulsification properties of the APE can be further improved by carbohydrate degradation. With the use of Viscozyme® L, the emulsification activity index value of treated APE was increased by 60%, and then still retained at 67 m2 g−1 after storing for 15 days. Treated by either pepsin or alkaline protease, the emulsification properties of APE were decreased, suggesting the key role of protein in APE for emulsification. more...

Colloidal quantum dots are promising for next-generation displays, yet the technology to realise high-resolution and uniform patterning is still scarce. Here, the authors report full-colour QD large area patterning by combining photolithography and selective electrophoretic deposition technique. more...

Powerful gradient-free topology optimization methods are needed for structural design concerning complex responses. In this paper, a novel gradient-free optimization method is proposed by integrating the material-field series expansion topological parameterization and the deep neural networks, providing two-fold advances: firstly, it generally reduces the massive topological design variables to fewer than 200, while keeps the capability to represent relative complex 3D topologies and clear boundaries; secondly, by constructing a sequential neural network surrogate model, it sufficiently explores the reduced design space and is capable of handling multi-peak and discontinuous optimization problems. The effectiveness of this method is illustrated via several design problems, among which the optimized material effective bulk modulus achieves 98% of the H-S bound and the highly-nonlinear peak weld stress in a phone dropping process is decreased by 16.59%. This method reduces the computational time by 1–4 orders of magnitude compared with the coarse-mesh-based gradient-free methods, and it is the first time to successfully conduct gradient-free 3D topology optimization with thousands of finite elements. The method’s ease of implementation and compatibility with various simulation software, brings topology optimization into complex industrial applications and proves that gradient-free technology represents an effective optimization benchmark for improving structural performance. more...

Abstract The development of in situ growth methods for the fabrication of high‐quality perovskite single‐crystal thin films (SCTFs) directly on hole‐transport layers (HTLs) to boost the performance of optoelectronic devices is critically important. However, the fabrication of large‐area high‐quality SCTFs with thin thickness still remains a significant challenge due to the elusive growth mechanism of this process. In this work, the influence of three key factors on in situ growth of high‐quality large‐size MAPbBr3 SCTFs on HTLs is investigated. An optimal “sweet spot” is determined: low interface energy between the precursor solution and substrate, a slow heating rate, and a moderate precursor solution concentration. As a result, the as‐obtained perovskite SCTFs with a thickness of 540 nm achieve a record area to thickness ratio of 1.94 × 104 mm, a record X‐ray diffraction peak full width at half maximum of 0.017°, and an ultralong carrier lifetime of 1552 ns. These characteristics enable the as‐obtained perovskite SCTFs to exhibit a record carrier mobility of 141 cm2 V−1 s−1 and good long‐term structural stability over 360 days. more...

Stretchable electronics, overcoming mismatch between rigid circuit and soft biology and withstanding overstretching before electrical/mechanical failure, enables attractive and prominent applications which are impossible for conventional electronics. Transfer printing and strain isolation techniques play important roles in fabricating and using of stretchable electronics. In this manuscript, driven by stiffness modulation and topology optimization, an easy-to-implement, reversible and scalable transfer printing with programmable adhesion switchability through only mechanical stimulus, and a strain isolation significantly reducing strain and effectively shielding active electronics from extreme elongation are proposed. The related performance and mechanism are respectively investigated through physical experiment and theoretical model. This study can be exploited as design guideline for stretchable electronics. more...

In order to build green mines, goaf is often filled, supported, and sealed with a high-water material to eliminate a series of environmental problems and safety hazards caused by goaf. In this study, ordinary Portland cement, sulphoaluminate cement, and alkali-activated cement were used as binders to prepare full-tailings high-water materials for filling, with various water-to-cement ratios. The compressive strength development of consolidated tungsten tailings specimens prepared with various curing binders was observed, and the influence of various water–cement ratios on the strength development was analyzed. The environmental impact of mine backfill materials was assessed according to the life cycle theory (LCA), and these mine backfill materials were prepared by using various binders. The results show that when the water-to-binder ratio is 3, the strength of alkali-activated cement can reach 3 MPa at 28 days; at that ratio, the microstructure of alkali-activated cement is more compact. Through LCA analysis, the environmental load of alkali-activated cement is shown to be significantly lower than that of either Portland cement or sulphoaluminate cement; the LCA results show that the primary energy consumption using alkali-activated cement is reduced from the Portland and sulphoaluminate cements by 1319.32 MJ and 945 kg, respectively. These unusual reduction percentages are achieved because the production of alkali-activated cement by LCA does not have any negative environmental impact—the production of alkali-activated cement, with its primary component being industrial byproduct slag, so that the use of alkali-activated cement in tailings’ consolidation has a positive environmental impact. more...

Nitrite and sulfite play important roles in human health and environmental science, so it is desired to develop a facile and efficient method to evaluate NO2- and SO32- concentrations. In this article, the use of green alternatives with the potential of multi-functionality has been synthesized to detect nitrite and sulfite based on fluorescent probe. The carbon dots (CDs) with starch as only raw materials show fluorescence turn “on-off-on” response towards NO2- and SO32- with the limits of detection of 0.425 and 0.243 μМ, respectively. Once nitrite was present in the solution, the fluorescence of CDs was quenched rapidly due to the charge transfer. When sulfite was introduced, the quenching fluorescence of CDs was effectively recovered because of the redox reaction between NO2- and SO32-, and thus providing a new way for NO2- and SO32- detection. Owing to their excellent analytical characteristics and low cytotoxicity, the “on-off-on” sensor was successfully employed for intracellular bioimaging of NO2- and SO32-. more...

Poisson’s ratio is an important property defining the relationship between lateral and longitudinal deformations. While most conventional materials have positive Poisson’s ratios, auxetic metamaterials exhibit negative Poisson’s ratios and will contract laterally under vertical compression and expand laterally under vertical tension. In this study, we develop a new type of mechanical metamaterial, which always undergoes lateral expansion regardless of the sign of the uniaxial load. The unit cell configuration is presented by combining a re-entrant negative Poisson’s ratio structure and a hexagonal structure. A new stiffness- and deformation mode-switching mechanism is realized by exploiting contact nonlinearity in the unit cell configuration design. This novel metamaterial can exhibit positive, negative and zero Poisson’s ratios under different loading directions. Its mechanical properties are verified through numerical simulations and experimental tests. The unit cell configuration is also extended to 3D metamaterials and metastructures. This study demonstrates that certain desired mechanical properties can be achieved by introducing contact nonlinearity and deformation mode switching into metamaterial design. more...

Anti-counterfeiting technologies should ideally be unclonable, yet simple to fabricate and decode. Here, the authors develop an inkjet-printable and unclonable security label based on random patterning of quantum dot inks, and accompany it with an artificial intelligence decoding mechanism capable of authenticating the patterns. more...

In order to solve various security risks faced by image privacy protection, we propose a 3D cuboid image encryption scheme based on message-encoded controlled alternate quantum walks. Firstly, we calculated the initial parameters of the quantum system and performed a one-dimensional quantum walk to generate a probability distribution sequence. Secondly, we encoded the sequence into a quaternary message using multiple sets of encoded messages to control the alternate quantum walk model, generating a 3D probability amplitude matrix and 3D probability distribution matrix to obtain the 3D quantum hash sequence through the 3D probability distribution matrix. Then, the image was divided into blocks and integrated into a cuboid. The image cuboid was scrambled between layers using the probability value sequence, and the 3D probability distribution matrix was used to complete the scrambling of the cross-section between layers. Finally, we converted each pixel value of the scrambled cuboid into a binary cube and controlled it to perform the rotation operation through the 3D probability magnitude matrix, then used the 3D quantum hash sequence to XOR the obtained cuboid image and tilted it to obtain the final encrypted image. The simulation results show that the image encryption scheme can resist various typical attacks and has good security performance. more...

The chloride ion is an essential ion in organisms, which plays an important role in maintaining normal cell functions. It is involved in many cell activities, such as cell proliferation, cell excitability regulation, immune response, and volume regulation. Accurate detection of the chloride ion can balance its concentration in vivo, which is of great significance. In this study, we developed a green fluorescent carbon quantum dot to detect chloride concentration through the “off–on” mechanism. First, the fluorescence of carbon dots is quenched by the complex of sulfhydryl and silver ions on the surface of carbon dots. Then, the addition of chloride ions pulls away the silver ions and restores the fluorescence. The fluorescence recovery is linearly related to the concentration of chloride ions, and the limit of detection is 2.817 μM, which is much lower than those of other reported chloride probes. Besides, cell and zebrafish experiments confirmed the biosafety and biocompatibility of the carbon dots, which provided a possibility for further applications in bioimaging in vivo. more...

Light-weight cellular materials with periodic repetitive microstructures are widely used in various fields due to their superior mechanical/multi-physical performances. As the microstructural design problem is known to have multiple local minima, most gradient-based topology optimization methods significantly depend on the initial guess of the microstructural geometry, thus requiring the designer’s experiences. This paper presents an effective gradient-free framework for periodic microstructure design, which exhibits powerful global searching capabilities and requires no sensitivity information. The proposed framework combines the material-field series-expansion (MFSE) topology representation of periodic microstructures and the sequential Kriging-based optimization algorithm. The MFSE method decouples the topological representation from the finite element discretization, and describes a relatively complex microstructural topology with high-quality boundary description using a greatly reduced number of design variables. Based on the Kriging surrogate model, a solution scheme is suggested to solve material microstructural topology optimization successively in a sequence of sub-optimization problems with self-adaptive design spaces. With the present gradient-free optimization method, high-performance cellular materials that approach the H-S upper bound with porosities from 0.2 to 0.6, or that achieve negative Poisson’s ratios of -0.94 in the principal directions for materials with square symmetry, are obtained without prior knowledge of the optimum microstructural topology. more...

This work demonstrated color-conversion layers of red and green quantum dots color filter for full-color display arrays. Ligands exchange using (3-glycidyloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane with epoxy functional groups to treat QDs in the liquid phase was performed for photolithography use. The combination of ligands of QDs with photo-initiator played a protective role on QDs. Moreover, the pixel size of green QDCF can be reduced to 50 μm, and a high optical density (OD) of 1.2 is realized. more...

Group IV Nanowires have strong potential for several biomedical applications. However, to date their use remains limited because many are synthesised using heavy metal seeds and functionalised using organic ligands to make the materials water dispersible. This can result in unpredicted toxic side effects for mammalian cells cultured on the wires. Here, we describe an approach to make seedless and ligand free Germanium nanowires water dispersible using glutamic acid, a natural occurring amino acid that alleviates the environmental and health hazards associated with traditional functionalisation materials. We analysed the treated material extensively using Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), High resolution-TEM, and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Using a series of state of the art biochemical and morphological assays, together with a series of complimentary and synergistic cellular and molecular approaches, we show that the water dispersible germanium nanowires are non-toxic and are biocompatible. We monitored the behaviour of the cells growing on the treated germanium nanowires using a real time impedance based platform (xCELLigence) which revealed that the treated germanium nanowires promote cell adhesion and cell proliferation which we believe is as a result of the presence of an etched surface giving rise to a collagen like structure and an oxide layer. Furthermore this study is the first to evaluate the associated effect of Germanium nanowires on mammalian cells. Our studies highlight the potential use of water dispersible Germanium Nanowires in biological platforms that encourage anchorage-dependent cell growth. more...

Background: The rise of antibiotic-resistant pathogens has intensified the search for novel antimicrobial agents. This study aimed to isolate Streptomyces kanamyceticus from local soil samples and evaluate its antimicrobial properties, along with optimizing the production of bioactive compounds. Methods: Soil samples were collected from local regions, processed, and analysed for Streptomyces strains isolation using morphological characteristics and molecular identification through 16S rRNA gene PCR assay. Antimicrobial activity was assessed against Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus , Bacillus subtilis , and Candida albicans using the double-layer method, while Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values were determined. The extracted compounds underwent Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis for functional group identification. Optimization of bioactive compound production was performed using a Central Composite Design (CCD) coupled with Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR). Results: A total of 25 distinct Streptomyces strains were isolated, with seven confirmed as S. kanamyceticus. These strains exhibited antimicrobial activity, with inhibition zones reaching 30 mm and MIC values between 20 and 70 µg/mL. The extraction yielded 150-200 mL of bioactive compounds. Optimization studies revealed that a medium containing 10 g/L glucose and 10 g/L glycine max meal maximized antibiotic production. Conclusion: This study confirmed that S. kanamyceticus is a promising source of novel antibiotics. The combination of microbial isolation, antimicrobial testing, and statistical optimization successfully enhanced the production of bioactive compounds, contributing to the search for effective antimicrobial agents against resistant pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This study presents an innovative home energy management system (HEMS) that incorporates PV, WTs, and hybrid backup storage systems, including a hydrogen storage system (HSS), a battery energy storage system (BESS), and electric vehicles (EVs) with vehicle-to-home (V2H) technology. The research, conducted in Liaoning Province, China, evaluates the performance of the HEMS under various demand response (DR) scenarios, aiming to enhance resilience, efficiency, and energy independence in green buildings. Four DR scenarios were analyzed: No DR, 20% DR, 30% DR, and 40% DR. The findings indicate that implementing DR programs significantly reduces peak load and operating costs. The 40% DR scenario achieved the lowest cumulative operating cost of $749.09, reflecting a 2.34% reduction compared with the $767.07 cost in the No DR scenario. The integration of backup systems, particularly batteries and fuel cells (FCs), effectively managed energy supply, ensuring continuous power availability. The system maintained a low loss of power supply probability (LPSP), indicating high reliability. Advanced optimization techniques, particularly the reptile search algorithm (RSA), are crucial in enhancing system performance and efficiency. These results underscore the potential of hybrid backup storage systems with V2H technology to enhance energy independence and sustainability in residential energy management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Aiming to decrease the recurrence of tumors and achieve patient satisfaction, the elicitation of immunotherapy and its integrated synergistic employment is a bright new direction in oncotherapy, yet an emergently challenging task. In particular, tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) regulation though light-induced photodynamic and photothermal therapy (PDT and PTT) is regarded as a powerful approach, which focuses on the systemic immune system instead of the tumor itself. Herein, this study reports an acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen), named TPA-2CN, which was applied as a photosensitizer (PS) and photothermal agent (PTA). Attributed to its A-D-A structure and AIE properties, TPA-2CN exhibits a high molar absorption coefficient and acts as a perfect template in regulating radiative and nonradiative transitions, which mainly utilize excited energy. The generation of type I reactive oxygen promoted its application in hypoxic tumor sites and the combination of hyperpyrexia forcefully induces macrophages to polarize towards the immune response M1 phenotype. In in vitro and in vivo, the successful reversion and reprogramming of the immune microenvironment was impressively proved. This method optimally concentrated immune therapy, PDT and PTT as one and exhibited excellent synergistic therapeutic effects with good biosafety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...