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Background: Acute gouty is caused by the excessive accumulation of Monosodium Urate (MSU) crystals within various parts of the body, which leads to a deterioration of the local microenvironment. This degradation is marked by elevated levels of uric acid (UA), increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, hypoxic conditions, an upsurge in pro-inflammatory mediators, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Results: In this study, we developed a multifunctional nanoparticle of polydopamine-platinum (PDA@Pt) to combat acute gout by leveraging mild hyperthermia to synergistically enhance UA degradation and anti-inflammatory effect. Herein, PDA acts as a foundational template that facilitates the growth of a Pt shell on the surface of its nanospheres, leading to the formation of the PDA@Pt nanomedicine. Within this therapeutic agent, the Pt nanoparticle catalyzes the decomposition of UA and actively breaks down endogenous hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to produce O2, which helps to alleviate hypoxic conditions. Concurrently, the PDA component possesses exceptional capacity for ROS scavenging. Most significantly, Both PDA and Pt shell exhibit absorption in the Near-Infrared-II (NIR-II) region, which not only endow PDA@Pt with superior photothermal conversion efficiency for effective photothermal therapy (PTT) but also substantially enhances the nanomedicine's capacity for UA degradation, O2 production and ROS scavenging enzymatic activities. This photothermally-enhanced approach effectively facilitates the repair of mitochondrial damage and downregulates the NF-κB signaling pathway to inhibit the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Conclusions: The multifunctional nanomedicine PDA@Pt exhibits exceptional efficacy in UA reduction and anti-inflammatory effects, presenting a promising potential therapeutic strategy for the management of acute gout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We systematically explored NO activation at metal/oxide interfaces by the combination of Sr3Ti2O7, Sr3Fe2O7, CeO2, anatase-TiO2, ZrO2, and γ-Al2O3 supports and the platinum-group metal cluster (Pd4, Pt4, and Rh4) using slab-model density functional theory calculations. These metal clusters can be strongly adsorbed at these metal oxide surfaces. The Pt4 and Rh4 clusters show larger adsorption energies than the Pd4 cluster, yet the γ-Al2O3(100) surface shows smaller adsorption energies than other metal oxide surfaces. One oxygen vacancy close to the metal cluster was constructed to evaluate the NO activation at those metal/oxide interfaces. The O atom of NO refills the oxygen vacancy after NO dissociation, while the N adatom is left on the metal cluster. The exothermic process was identified for the NO activation except for the Sr3Fe2O7 case, indicating the significant role of the interplay between the metal cluster and oxygen vacancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) has received considerable attention in the last decade since highly efficient near-infrared photoluminescence (PL) has been observed to be red-shifted compared with the intrinsic PL peak of pristine SWCNTs. The PL wavelength has been manipulated using arylation reactions with aryldiazonium salts and aryl halides. Additionally, simple oxidation and alkylation reactions have proven effective in extensively adjusting the PL wavelength, with the resulting PL efficiency varying based on the chosen reaction techniques and molecular structures. This review discusses the latest developments in tailoring the PL attributes of SWCNTs by oxidation and alkylation processes. (6,5) SWCNTs exhibit intrinsic emission at 980 nm, and the PL wavelength can be controlled in the range of 1100–1320 nm by chemical modification. In addition, recent developments in chiral separation techniques have increased our understanding of the control of the PL wavelength, extending to the selection of excitation and emission wavelengths, by chemical modification of SWCNTs with different chiral indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bitumen, which is widely used in various applications, is facing the challenge of being unsustainable. Many strategies are proposed to recycle or replace bitumen. However, most of them can not address the unsustainability of bitumen from the roots. On the other hand, sulfur exists widely on the earth as a kind of industrial waste despite its extensive applications. Herein, a series of bitumen‐like polymers from elemental sulfur is obtained through an inverse vulcanization reaction. The sulfur‐containing polymers exhibit self‐healing, non‐toxic, and adjustable properties depending on the working environment. Based on these features, the applications of sulfur‐containing polymers in self‐healing waterproof sealants, impact‐resistance or shock‐absorption devices, and non‐Newtonian speed bumps are demonstrated. With the method of synthesizing multifunctional bitumen‐like polymers from sulfur wastes, a feasible way is provided to solve simultaneously the challenging problem of bitumen's unsustainability as well as sulfur's utilization, with the advantages including easy massed‐fabrication, non‐toxicity, extremely low cost (≈2 cents per gram) and environment friendliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid and low-cost sequencing, as well as computer analysis, have facilitated the diagnosis of many genetic diseases, resulting in a substantial rise in the number of disease-associated genes. However, genetic diagnosis of many disorders remains problematic due to the lack of interpretation for many genetic variants, especially missenses, the infeasibility of high-throughput experiments on mammals, and the shortcomings of computational prediction technologies. Additionally, the available mutant databases are not well-utilized. Toward this end, we used Caenorhabditis elegans mutant resources to delineate the functions of eight missense variants (V444I, V517D, E610K, L732F, E817K, H873P, R1105K, and G1205E) and two stop codons (W937stop and Q1434stop), including several matching variants (MatchVar) with human in ciliopathy associated IFT-140 (also called CHE-11)//IFT140 (intraflagellar transport protein 140). Moreover, MatchVars carrying C. elegans mutants, including IFT-140(G680S) and IFT-140(P702A) for the human (G704S) (dbSNP: rs150745099) and P726A (dbSNP: rs1057518064 and a conflicting variation) were created using CRISPR/Cas9. IFT140 is a key component of IFT complex A (IFT-A), which is involved in the retrograde transport of IFT along cilia and the entrance of G protein-coupled receptors into cilia. Functional analysis of all 10 variants revealed that P702A and W937stop, but not others phenocopied the ciliary phenotypes (short cilia, IFT accumulations, mislocalization of membrane proteins, and cilia entry of nonciliary proteins) of the IFT-140 null mutant, indicating that both P702A and W937stop are phenotypic in C. elegans. Our functional data offered experimental support for interpreting human variants, by using ready-to-use mutants carrying MatchVars and generating MatchVars with CRISPR/Cas9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferroelectricity and band topology are hot topics in condensed matter physics, and the nonvolatile regulation of topological orders through ferroelectric properties is crucial for the design of next-generation miniature electronic devices. Here, using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate the coexistence of intrinsic ferroelectric and topological properties in two-dimensional (2D) In2TeS2. Interestingly, in single-layer In2TeS2, the spin flipping of chiral edge states occurs when the direction of ferroelectric polarization is reversed. While for In2TeS2 homobilayers, we find that the topological properties are stacking-dependent, and the ferroelectric order can be served as an effective means to achieve topological phase transition between trivial and nontrivial states. Our work not only shed light on the intrinsic 2D ferroelectric topological insulator but also put forward it as a promising candidate for high-efficiency and low-energy consumption electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, the bactericidal efficacy and mechanism of action of the combination of alkaline electrolyzed water (AlEW) and acidic electrolyzed water (AcEW) on Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm were investigated, in comparison with single AcEW or AlEW treatment. The mature P. aeruginosa biofilm was formed at 120 h of cultivation. The number of bacteria in the P. aeruginosa biofilm decreased by 7.87 and 2.51 Lg CFU/mL after single AcEW and single AlEW treatment for 8 min, while the sterilization rate reached 92.2% and 33.1%, respectively. The group of AcEW (7 min) co‐action with AlEW (1 min) had a P. aeruginosa sterilization rate of 85%. The AlEW (3 min) co‐action with AcEW (5 min) treatment showed the best bactericidal efficacy. With this treatment, the sterilization rate achieved 94.4%, and the extracellular protein, polysaccharide, and DNA were degraded with the ratios of 70.8%, 77.7%, and 70.5%, respectively. Thus, AlEW exhibited a major washing effect, which can destroy the biofilm structure of extracellular polymers to a certain extent, while AcEW displayed a significant bactericidal effect. These results suggest that the AlEW co‐action with AcEW treatment may be a promising candidate suitable for bacterial biofilm sterilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional (2D) metal-free half-metals, the embodiment of abundance ability and intrinsic completely spin-polarization, have attracted increasing interest in the fields of both scientific and technological aspects recently. Based on first-principles, we demonstrate that the metal-free honeycomb lattice of stoichiometry AsN2 exhibits unique electronic structure that results in the complete polarization of p-orbitals at the Fermi level, leading to intrinsic half-metallic behavior. In addition, the AsN2-based spin valve is evaluated by quantum transport simulations, which shows 100% magnetoresistance. Moreover, we find that this ferromagnetism is robust against various perturbations, including strain, carrier doping, electric field, and substrate. These findings provide important foundation for the future spintronics investigations and applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. Bronchopleural fistula (BPF) is a serious and life-threatening complication. Following the advent of interventional radiology, subsequent treatment methods for BPF have gradually diversified. Therefore, this article provides an overview of the present scenario of interventional treatment and research advancements pertaining to BPF. Methods. Relevant published studies on the interventional treatment of BPF were identified from the PubMed, Sci-Hub, Google Scholar, CNKI, VIP, and Wanfang databases. The included studies better reflect the current status of and progress in interventional treatments for BPF with representativeness, reliability, and timeliness. Studies with similar and repetitive conclusions were excluded. Results. There are many different interventional treatments for BPF that can be applied in cases of BPF with different fistula diameters. Conclusion. The application of interventional procedures for bronchopleural fistula has proven to be safe, efficacious, and minimally invasive. However, the establishment of comprehensive, standardized treatment guidelines necessitates further pertinent research to attain consensus within the medical community. The evolution of novel technologies, tools, techniques, and materials specifically tailored to the interventional management of bronchopleural fistula is anticipated to be the focal point of forthcoming investigations. These advancements present promising prospects for seamless translation into clinical practice and application, thereby potentially revolutionizing patient care in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Room‐temperature phosphorescence (RTP) polymers, whose emission can persist for a long period after photoexcitation, are of great importance for practical applications. Herein, dynamic covalent boronic ester linkages with internal B−N coordination are incorporated into a commercial epoxy matrix. The reversible dissociation of B−N bonds upon loading provides an efficient energy dissipation pathway for the epoxy network, while the rigid epoxy matrix can inhibit the quenching of triplet excitons in boronic esters. The obtained polymers exhibit enhanced mechanical toughness (12.26 MJ m−3), ultralong RTP (τ=540.4 ms), and shape memory behavior. Notably, there is no apparent decrease in the RTP property upon prolonged immersion in various solvents because the networks are robust. Moreover, the dynamic bonds endow the polymers with superior reprocessablity and recyclability. These novel properties have led to their potential application for information encryption and anti‐counterfeiting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Room‐temperature phosphorescence (RTP) polymers, whose emission can persist for a long period after photoexcitation, are of great importance for practical applications. Herein, dynamic covalent boronic ester linkages with internal B−N coordination are incorporated into a commercial epoxy matrix. The reversible dissociation of B−N bonds upon loading provides an efficient energy dissipation pathway for the epoxy network, while the rigid epoxy matrix can inhibit the quenching of triplet excitons in boronic esters. The obtained polymers exhibit enhanced mechanical toughness (12.26 MJ m−3), ultralong RTP (τ=540.4 ms), and shape memory behavior. Notably, there is no apparent decrease in the RTP property upon prolonged immersion in various solvents because the networks are robust. Moreover, the dynamic bonds endow the polymers with superior reprocessablity and recyclability. These novel properties have led to their potential application for information encryption and anti‐counterfeiting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quercetin (QR) has significant anti-respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) effects. However, its therapeutic mechanism has not been thoroughly explored. In this study, a lung inflammatory injury model caused by RSV was established in mice. Untargeted lung tissue metabolomics was used to identify differential metabolites and metabolic pathways. Network pharmacology was used to predict potential therapeutic targets of QR and analyze biological functions and pathways modulated by QR. By overlapping the results of the metabolomics and the network pharmacology analyses, the common targets of QR that were likely to be involved in the amelioration of RSV-induced lung inflammatory injury by QR were identified. Metabolomics analysis identified 52 differential metabolites and 244 corresponding targets, while network pharmacology analysis identified 126 potential targets of QR. By intersecting these 244 targets with the 126 targets, hypoxanthine–guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT1), thymidine phosphorylase (TYMP), lactoperoxidase (LPO), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and cytochrome P450 19A1 (CYP19A1) were identified as the common targets. The key targets, HPRT1, TYMP, LPO, and MPO, were components of purine metabolic pathways. The present study demonstrated that QR effectively ameliorated RSV-induced lung inflammatory injury in the established mouse model. Combining metabolomics and network pharmacology showed that the anti-RSV effect of QR was closely associated with purine metabolism pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an ever-evolving information technology environment, we will continue to evaluate our digital privacy practices to protect patient data according to health privacy regulations in our patients' jurisdictions. Dear Editor, On March 22, 2023, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced plans to modernize the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to strengthen accountability, equity, and performance in the transplant system.[1] A highlight of the press release was the need for data dashboards detailing organ retrieval, waitlist outcomes, transplants, and demographic information. 2016; 9 (6): 695 - 703. doi: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.116.002652 4 Akintoye E, Shin D, Alvarez P, Briasoulis A. State-level variation in waitlist mortality and transplant outcomes among patients listed for heart transplantation in the US from 2011 to 2016. [Extracted from the article]

Through silicon via technology is a promising and preferred way to realize the reliable interconnection for 3-D integrated circuit (3-D IC), which can transfer heat from multiple dies to the heat sink in vertical direction. In this paper, a new general model of the through-silicon via (TSV) is proposed to investigate the thermal performance of the 3-D IC. The heat transfer characteristics of conical-annular TSV are studied for the first time. The impacts of different sidewall inclination angles and insulating layer thicknesses of TSV on the heat dissipation of 3-D IC were compared and analyzed in detail. As expected, our proposed model is in good agreement with the results of the existing models, which shows that the proposed model considering the lateral heat transfer and TSV structures can predict the distribution of temperature more efficiently and accurately. Furthermore, it is found that conical-annular TSV has more excellent heat dissipation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light‐driven actuators are advantageous among various actuators because it enables remote, contactless, and localized manipulation without any complex equipment. However, most of them rely solely on the Marangoni effect which is slow in velocity and would be quenched in liquid with low surface tension force. Here, a dual‐mode actuator based on both the Marangoni effect and vapor jet flow is reported through the introduction of an excellent photothermal polymer crosslinked by Fe3+/catechol coordination bonds. The light‐driven ship not only realizes multimode motions such as forward, backward, rotation and obstacle crossing at the air/water interface, but also enables smart transportation and contactless delivery which has not been realized before. Moreover, the incorporation of photothermal conversion performance and self‐healing ability into near‐infrared photo‐responsive actuators at the molecular level can guarantee facile fabrication and prolong the service time of the light‐driven actuators which is the first dual‐mode light‐driven actuator with self‐healing ability. This work provides a new strategy for the structural design and application of the liquid/air interface light‐driven self‐propelled device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lysine 2-hydroxyisobutylation (Khib), which was first reported in 2014, has been shown to play vital roles in a myriad of biological processes including gene transcription, regulation of chromatin functions, purine metabolism, pentose phosphate pathway and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis. Identification of Khib sites in protein substrates represents an initial but crucial step in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying protein 2-hydroxyisobutylation. Experimental identification of Khib sites mainly depends on the combination of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. However, experimental approaches for identifying Khib sites are often time-consuming and expensive compared with computational approaches. Previous studies have shown that Khib sites may have distinct characteristics for different cell types of the same species. Several tools have been developed to identify Khib sites, which exhibit high diversity in their algorithms, encoding schemes and feature selection techniques. However, to date, there are no tools designed for predicting cell type-specific Khib sites. Therefore, it is highly desirable to develop an effective predictor for cell type-specific Khib site prediction. Inspired by the residual connection of ResNet, we develop a deep learning-based approach, termed ResNetKhib, which leverages both the one-dimensional convolution and transfer learning to enable and improve the prediction of cell type-specific 2-hydroxyisobutylation sites. ResNetKhib is capable of predicting Khib sites for four human cell types, mouse liver cell and three rice cell types. Its performance is benchmarked against the commonly used random forest (RF) predictor on both 10-fold cross-validation and independent tests. The results show that ResNetKhib achieves the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values ranging from 0.807 to 0.901, depending on the cell type and species, which performs better than RF-based predictors and other currently available Khib site prediction tools. We also implement an online web server of the proposed ResNetKhib algorithm together with all the curated datasets and trained model for the wider research community to use, which is publicly accessible at https://resnetkhib.erc.monash.edu/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer accounts for the vast majority of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and aberrant miRNA expression is commonly observed as the disease progresses. The current study aimed to determine the role of miR-4757-3p in the development of lung cancer. The real-time PCR test was performed to determine the expression of miR-4757-3p in lung cancer cell lines. miR-4757-3p was downregulated in A549 cells. CCK8 and transwell assays demonstrated that overexpression of miR-4757-3p significantly reduced A549 cell invasion and migration. Bioinformatic analysis by the TargetScan database predicted the possible targets of miR-4757-3p. A luciferase activity test was used to determine the direct relationship between miR-4757-3p, Wnt5a, and Wnt8b. The overexpression of miR-4757-3p drastically inhibited the expression of Wnt5a and Wnt8b. Furthermore, we discovered that silencing Wnt5a and Wnt8b significantly lowered β-catenin expression and hampered invasion and migration. Finally, miR-4757-3p inhibited lung cancer cell migration and invasion by inhibiting the activation of the Wnt signaling pathway. Our study provided evidence that miR-4757-3p could be developed as an indicator or an anticancer target in the clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abnormal platelet activation can lead to thrombosis in essential thrombocythemia (ET) and thus impact patient prognosis. Platelet activation-associated proteins are key molecules for platelet activation. However, it is unclear which proteins are most closely associated with the disease's prognosis. To determine which platelet activation-related proteins can be employed as ET patient prognosis predictors, we used label-free quantification (LFQ) and parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) technology and first determined the serum proteomic expression levels and the differential proteins of ET patients. Then, based on the IPSET (International Prognostic Score for ET), the differential protein associated with the prognostic score was found. To investigate potential processes affecting prognosis, the connection of this protein with prognostic markers, such as thrombotic history, age, white blood cell count, coagulation factors, and inflammatory factors, were further examined. The levels of platelet activation-related proteins GPIbα, SELP, PF4, MMP1, and FLNA were significantly higher in ET patients, according to LFQ and PRM analyses (p < 0.01). Based on regression analysis of the IPSET prognostic score, it is suggested that the SELP level was positively correlated with the prognostic score and prognostic risk factor analysis (p < 0.05). Further regression analysis of SELP with coagulation factors showed that antithrombin (AT-III) was negatively correlated with SELP levels (p < 0.05). Further regression analysis of the inflammatory factors with AT-III and SELP revealed that IL-10, IL-12P70, and IL-31 were negatively correlated with AT-III and SELP (p < 0.01). Platelet activation pathway-related proteins are expressed more frequently in ET patients, and serum SELP may be a prognostic marker for these individuals by encouraging leukocyte increase and inflammatory factor expression and causing aberrant coagulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of unstable structure and poor impedance matching of single metal-organic framework (MOF) can be avoided by sintering MOFs and melamine composites to fabricate carbon nanotubes-coated cobalt/carbon nanoparticles (Co@C/CNTs). By regulating the mixing ratio of MOF and melamine, different lengths and amount of carbon nanotubes coated porous cobalt/carbon polyhedrons can be obtained, and the catalytic capability of cobalt can be affected to obtain carbon with different degrees of graphitization. The appropriate ratio can change the dielectric magnetic parameters to optimize the impedance matching of the material. As the result, when the mixing ratio of ZIF-67 and melamine was 1:1, the product Co@C/CNTs/PVDF-1:1 shows the lowest reflection loss (−57.6 dB) at the filling amount of 15 wt% with the thickness of 3.01 mm. The effective absorbing bandwidth (EAB) could achieve 5.4 GHz from 12.6 GHz to 18.0 GHz under the filler loading of 10 wt% with the thickness of 2 mm. These results inaugurate a new avenue for obtaining excellent absorbing composites with lightweight, wide EAB and strong absorbing performance. [Display omitted] • Carbon nanotubes-coated cobalt/carbon nanoparticles (Co@C/CNTs) with excellent performance was successfully synthesized. • An excellent reflection loss (RL) of −57.6 dB with a low filler loading (15 wt%) and thin thickness (3.01 mm). • Effective absorption bandwidth (<−10 dB) can be up to 5.4 GHz under a single thickness (2.00 mm). • The synergistic effect between magnetic components and carbon-based show up good impedance matching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endohedral metal–metal-bonding fullerenes have recently emerged, in which encapsulated metals form a metal–metal bond. However, the physical reasons why some metal elements prefer to form metal–metal bonds inside fullerene are still unclear. Herein, we reported first-principles calculations on electronic structures, bonding properties, dynamics, and thermodynamic stabilities of endohedral metallofullerenes M2@C82 (M = Sc, Y, La, Lu). Multiple bonding analysis approaches unambiguously reveal the existence of one two-center two-electron σ covalent metal–metal bond in M2@C82 (M = Sc, Y, Lu); however, the La–La bonding interaction in La2@C82 is weaker and could not be categorized as one metal–metal covalent bond. The energy decomposition analysis on bonding interactions between an encapsulated metal dimer and fullerene cages suggested that there exist two electron-sharing bonds between a metal dimer and fullerene cages. The reasons why La2 prefers to donate electrons to fullerene cages rather than form a standard σ covalent metal–metal bond are mainly attributed to two following facts: La2 has a lower ionization potential, while the hybridization of ns, (n − 1)d, and np atomic orbitals in La2 is higher. Ab initio molecular dynamic simulations reveal that the M–M bond length at room temperature follows the trend of Sc < Lu < Y. The statistical thermodynamics calculations at different temperatures reveal that the experimentally observed endohedral metal–metal-bonding fullerenes M2@C82 have high concentrations in the endohedral fullerene formation temperature range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We aimed to elucidate the applicability of tumor organoids for inherent drug resistance of primary liver cancer (PLC) and mechanisms of acquired drug resistance. Methods: PLC tissues were used to establish organoids, organoid-derived xenograft (ODX) and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. Acquired drug resistance was induced in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) organoids. Gene expression profiling was performed by RNA-sequencing. Results: Fifty-two organoids were established from 153 PLC patients. Compared with establishing PDX models, establishing organoids of HCC showed a trend toward a higher success rate (29.0% vs. 23.7%) and took less time (13.0 ± 4.7 vs. 25.1 ± 5.4 days, p = 2.28 × 10−13). Larger tumors, vascular invasion, higher serum AFP levels, advanced stages and upregulation of stemness- and proliferation-related genes were significantly associated with the successful establishment of HCC organoids and PDX. Organoids and ODX recapitulated PLC histopathological features, but were enriched in more aggressive cell types. PLC organoids were mostly resistant to lenvatinib in vitro but sensitive to lenvatinib in ODX models. Stemness– and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)–related gene sets were found to be upregulated, whereas liver development– and liver specific molecule–related gene sets were downregulated in acquired sorafenib-resistant organoids. Targeting the mTOR signaling pathway was effective in treating acquired sorafenib-resistant HCC organoids, possibly via inducing phosphorylated S6 kinase. Genes upregulated in acquired sorafenib-resistant HCC organoids were associated with an unfavorable prognosis. Conclusions: HCC organoids perform better than PDX for drug screening. Acquired sorafenib resistance in organoids promotes HCC aggressiveness via facilitating stemness, retro-differentiation and EMT. Phosphorylated S6 kinase may be predictive for drug resistance in HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The tibial tubercle to trochlear groove (TT-TG) distance is currently considered as an indication for tibial tubercle osteotomy. While the influence of femoral condylar morphology on such measurement remains unclear. Methods: A total of 86 patients with patellar dislocation (PD) and 86 healthy individuals were enrolled. Femoral condylar morphology and the TT-TG distance measured by anatomical transepicondylar axis (TT-TGa), by surgical transepicondylar axis (TT-TGs), and by posterior condylar reference line (TT-TGp) were assessed by MRI. Unpaired t-test, Spearman, and Pearson correlation analysis were conducted. We determined the pathological value of the parameters and established a binary regression model. Results: The interclass correlation coefficients of all the TT-TG distances were greater than 0.75 in all types of trochlear dysplasia. The lateral/posterior femoral condyle was shorter and the medial/posterior condyle was longer in the study group (28.5 ± 3.3 and 35.2 ± 2.8, respectively) than in the control group (30.9 ± 2.7 and 33.5 ± 2.3, respectively). In the study group, the TT-TGp distance was greater than TT-TGs and TT-TGa distance (p < 0.001). The pathological value of the TT-TG distance was 13.0 mm. Each TT-TG distance revealed a significant OR with regard to PD. Conclusion: The TT-TGa, TT-TGs, and TT-TGp distance can be reliably measured by MRI even in patients with trochlear dysplasia. While the TT-TGp distance may overestimate the lateralization deformity of the tibial tubercle. Posterior femoral condylar dysplasia may be a reason for such overestimating. These findings have not been correlated to clinical outcomes and further studies are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing control strategies of DC solid-state transformer (DCSST) are based on DC distribution system, which is mainly concentrated on one side voltage stability control without considering the change of control objectives under different conditions. Thus, they are unsuitable for multiterminal and multisource DC microgrid. The coordinated control strategy of DCSST in multiterminal and multisource DC microgrid is studied in this paper. The DCSST circuit models based on the series–parallel structure of dual active full bridge converter are established, and the basic control modes are analyzed: control low voltage mode and control high voltage mode. Combined with the characteristics of DC bus voltage fluctuation and the operation conditions of DCSST, a unified coordinated control strategy is proposed. Experimental results show that the proposed control strategy can correctly identify the different power states of the two sides of the system, control the power exchange between the two sides of the system, and maintain the stable operation of the whole DC system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We designed and successfully fabricated rhodium nanorods. • Rhodium nanorods with dual enzyme-like performance verified with different methods. • Rhodium-based nanomaterials exhibited a potential application in biomedical field. The size and morphology of nanozymes is a critical strategy for adjusting the catalytic efficiency. In this work, rhodium nanorods (Rh NRs) are fabricated through a simple solvothermal method. Physical structure of samples were analyzed by Transmission Electron Microscope, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectra. The Rh NRs with an average size of 120 nm exhibits good photothermal effect as well as peroxidase-like and catalase-like activities under near infrared laser (NIR). In addition, cellluar experiments verifies that it could inhibit cancer cells growth. Thus, Rh NRs show a great potentials in the catalyze researches for biomedical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To research whether medial PTS, lateral PTS and MTD were different between the PCL injury group and the PCL intact group.Design: Retrospective case-control study, level of evidence III.Methods: Fifty patients with PCL rupture from 2015 to 2020 in our hospital, and 50 patients matched by age and sex with intact PCL were enrolled in our study. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the reliability of each parameter. The independent t-test was conducted to identify the differences in tibial morphometric characteristics between the PCL-injured and PCL-intact individuals, including the posterior tibial slope (PTS), meniscal slope (MS), medial tibial depth (MTD). A binary logistic regression model was established to evaluate the roles of those anatomic parameters of interest play in PCL injuries.Results: The interobserver reliability of each parameter showed excellent agreement. Significant differences in the medial (P = .023) and lateral (P = .009) PTS were found between the PCL-injured group (3.68 ± 2.70 and 4.55 ± 3.19, respectively) and the controls (5.00 ± 2.73 and 6.39 ± 3.29, respectively). And the MTD was 1.98 ± 0.64 mm in the PCL-injured group and 2.37 ± 0.55 mm in the control group (P = 0.007). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that smaller lateral PTS and MTD were directly associated with PCL injury, with an OR of 1.17 and OR of 3.14, respectively. The medial PTS was independent to PCL injures.Conclusion: Decreased lateral PTS and MTD were underlying anatomic risk factors for PCL injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron‐based adhesives have attracted considerable attention in recent years due to their strong adhesive behavior and reversible capacities. However, limited by the humidity sensitivity and poor dynamicity, it remains challenging for the boron‐based adhesive materials to realize strong and long‐term adhesion underwater. In this study, a novel boronic ester (BN‐6) with changeable ring strain induced by the heat‐responsive BN coordination bond is designed and synthesized. Due to the low strain of the six‐membered ring at ambient conditions and the high strain of the ten‐membered ring at elevated temperature, BN‐6 exhibits enhanced hydrolytic/thermal stabilities as well as dynamicity. The model dynamic crosslinking polymers containing BN‐6 linkages present significantly improved water‐resistance and recyclability. Specifically, based on the hydrolytically stable whilst kinetically active boronic ester linkage, a strong and recyclable adhesive material is successfully prepared. Long‐term adhesion performance under water and harsh conditions is realized on different substrates, with the maximum adhesion strength of 4.21 MPa. The report provides a novel chemical strategy for designing stable and dynamic boronic ester linkages and the synthesized adhesive has pioneered in the field of long‐term underwater application of boron‐based adhesives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in an unprecedented economic and societal impact. Developing simple and accurate testing methods for point-of-care (POC) diagnosis is crucial not only for the control of COVID-19, but also for better response to similar outbreaks in the future. In this work, we present a novel proof-of-concept of a microfluidic microwave sensing method for POC diagnosis of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This method relies on the antibody immobilized on the microwave sensor to selectively capture and concentrate the SARS-CoV-2 antigen or virus present in a buffer solution flowing through the sensor region in a microchannel. The capturing of the SARS-CoV-2 antigen or virus results in a change in the permittivity of the medium near the sensor region reflected by the resonance frequency shift which is used for detection. The use of microchannels offers precise control of the sample volume and the continuous flow nature also offers the potential to monitor the dynamic capturing process. The microwave-microfluidic device shows a good sensitivity of 0.1 ng ml−1 for the SARS-CoV-2 antigen and 4000 copies per ml for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The resonance frequency shift presents a linear relationship with the logarithm of antigen or virus concentration, respectively. This detection method is able to distinguish SARS-CoV-2 from the antigen of human CD4 and two human coronaviruses (MERS and HKU1), which presents a new pathway towards POC diagnosis of the COVID-19 at the community level. It presents the potential to detect other viruses by functionalizing the microwave sensor with respective antibodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural biomass is used for facile synthesis of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with high fluorescence, owing to its abundance, low cost, and eco-friendliness. In this study, a bottom-up hydrothermal method was used to prepare CQDs from water hyacinth (wh) at a constant temperature of 180 °C for 12 h. The synthesized wh-CQDs had uniform size, amorphous graphite structure, high water solubility (containing multiple hydroxyl and carboxyl groups on the surface), excitation light-dependent characteristics, and high photostability. The results showed that the aqueous solution of CQDs could detect Fe3+ rapidly, sensitively, and highly selectively with a detection limit of 0.084 μM in the linear range of 0–330 μM, which is much lower than the detection limit of 0.77 μM specified by the World Health Organization. More importantly, because the wh-CQDs were synthesized without any additives, they exhibited low toxicity to Klebsiella sp. cells even at high concentrations. Moreover, wh-CQDs emitted bright blue fluorescence in Klebsiella sp. cells, indicating its strong penetrating ability. Correspondingly, the fluorescent cell sorting results also revealed that the proportion of cell internalization reached 41.78%. In this study, wh-CQDs derived from natural biomass were used as high-performance fluorescent probes for Fe3+ detection and Klebsiella sp. imaging. This study is expected to have great significance for the application of biomass carbon spots in the field of cellular imaging and biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ag nanoparticles have attracted wide research interest due to their broad spectrum of antimicrobial activities. However, Ag nanoparticles are prone to aggregate, which decreases the accessible surface area and diminishes the antibacterial activity. Herein, a metal–organic framework with alkene-functional groups was constructed and postsynthetically modified with Ag(I) for antibacterial applications. The Ag@Zn-MOF exhibits high antibacterial activity toward E. coli and S. aureus, which reaches ∼100% bacterial reduction at a concentration as low as 25 μgMOF cm−3 (corresponding to 1.7 μgAg cm−3). These results demonstrated that Ag(I)-modified MOFs could act as effective antimicrobial agents with potential applications in food and healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hard carbon is expected to be a high-capacity anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, its Na+ storage performance, especially the low discharge capacity, remains a great challenge. Herein, the soft-hard carbon composite anodes with high degree of graphitization were synthesized via low-temperature pyrolysis (at only 900 °C) of Cobalt-catalyzed perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA-Co) and cotton, with subsequent removal of cobalt. The composite resulting from a 2:3 mass ratio of soft to hard carbon exhibits a good discharge capacity of 355.81 mAh g−1 at a current density of 50 mA g−1 and an enhanced initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 81.41%. The enhanced electrochemical storage performance of cotton is attributed to the introduction of PTCDA-Co, which creates low-defect graphitic layer, hierarchical porous channels, and carbon shielding coating on hard carbon. [Display omitted] • Highly graphitized carbon composite anodes synthesized from cotton carbon and PTCDA-Co at 900 °C. • PCo-HC 2–3 shows 355.81 mAh/g discharge capacity at 50 mA g−1 with ICE 81.41%. • The Na+ storage mechanism in PCo-HC 2–3 is an adsorption-insertion/filling mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dear Editors, I Cryptococcus neoformans i is an endemic encapsulated yeast found worldwide in soil, decaying wood, and bird excreta, which can lead to opportunistic infection in immunocompromised individuals.[1] In the solid-organ transplant population, the incidence of cryptococcosis is about 2.8%,[2] comprising 8% of invasive fungal infections.[3] Post-transplant, the median onset of cryptococcosis ranges from 16 to 21 months,[[1], [4]] but early infection less than 30 days after transplant is rare. Although candidiasis is the most common invasive fungal infection early after organ transplantation,[[3], [5]] this patient had environmental risk factors for cryptococcosis. Overall, as cryptococcosis is an uncommon infection, current transplant infectious disease guidelines do not recommend routine antifungal prophylaxis against I Cryptococcus i or routine screening of transplant recipients.[[1], [14]] Similarly, the initial empiric treatment of sepsis in transplant patients do not include the routine use of antifungal agents. Therefore, the patient likely acquired cryptococcosis after heart transplantation upon returning to his farm. [Extracted from the article]

In this study, the extract from Artabotrys hexapetalus showed strong antifungal activity against phytopathogenic fungi in vitro. Four unreported aporphine alkaloids, hexapetalusine A-D (1 – 4), were isolated from stems and roots of Artabotrys hexapetalus (L.f.) Bhandari, along with six known aporphine alkaloids (5 – 10). Their chemical structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis. The absolute configurations of 1 – 3 were determined using single-crystal X-ray diffractions and ECD calculations. Hexapetalusine A-C (1 – 3) were special amidic isomers. Additionally, all isolated compounds were evaluated for their antifungal activity against four phytopathogenic fungi in vitro. Hexapetalusine D (4) exhibited weak antifungal activity against Curvularia lunata. Liriodenine (5) displayed significant antifungal activity against Fusarium proliferatum and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum , which is obviously better than positive control nystatin, suggesting that it had great potential to be developed into an effective and eco-friendly fungicide. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Co-catalyzed remote hydroboration and alkene isomerization of allylic siloxanes were realized by a ligand-controlled strategy. The remote hydroboration with dcype provided borylethers, while xantphos favored the formation of silyl enol ethers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atomically precise silver clusters with tunable photoluminescence (PL) properties have attracted extensive attention due to their great value for basic science and future applications. Here, we report that the addition of a sulfido template into a triangular thiolated silver cluster [Ag11(iPrS)9(dppb)3]·2CF3SO3·CH3OH (Ag11, dppb = 1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane), which is emissive at 660 nm under ambient conditions, produced another silver cluster [S@Ag15(sBuS)12(dppb)3]·CF3SO3·H2O (Ag15) that displays 716 nm emission with a 56 nm redshift aided by the ligand sec-butyl mercaptan. The sulfido template, which affects the geometrical and electronic structures, results in a redshift of Ag11 room-temperature PL as a result of opening up the template-to-metal charge transfer (TMCT) and disturbing the electronic transition between the metal core and ligands at the periphery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Female sex workers (FSW) are highly susceptible to chlamydia and gonorrhea infection. However, there is limited literature examining their testing uptake to date. This study aimed to assess the uptake and determinants of chlamydia and gonorrhea testing among FSW in Southern China.Methods: A cross-sectional study with convenience sampling was performed in five cities in Southern China. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, sexual behaviors, chlamydia and gonorrhea testing, and the utilization of health care services from participants were collected through face-to-face interviews. Univariate and multivariable logistic regressions were used to determine factors associated with chlamydia and gonorrhea testing, respectively.Results: Overall, 1207 FSWs were recruited, with the mean age of 30.7 ± 6.8 years and an average number of clients of 7.0 (4.0-10.0) per week. 65.4% participants constantly used condoms with clients during the past month. Only 7.5 and 10.4% had been tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea in the last year, respectively. Multivariable analysis indicated that FSW who worked at low tiers (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) = 2.36, 95%CI:1.23-10.14), had more clients in the last month (aOR = 1.03, 95%CI:1.01-1.05), used condoms consistently (aOR = 1.79, 95%CI:1.12-2.86), had STD symptoms (aOR = 4.09,95%CI:2.62-6.40), had been tested for HIV (aOR = 5.16, 95%CI:3.21-8.30) or syphilis (aOR = 6.90, 95%CI:4.21-11.22) in the last year were more likely to have chlamydia testing. In addition, FSW who had more clients in the past month (aOR = 1.02,95%CI:1.00-1.04), had STD symptoms (aOR = 3.33, 95%CI:2.03-5.46), had been tested for HIV (aOR = 3.94, 95%CI:2.34-6.65) and syphilis (aOR = 3.27, 95%CI:1.96-5.46) in the last year were more likely to have gonorrhea testing.Conclusions: The testing rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea are low among Chinese FSW. Integrating chlamydia and gonorrhea testing into HIV testing promotion programs may help bridge the gap among FSW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) causes urogenital tract infections and is associated with reproductive morbidity. Although MG has been reported across many regions and population groups, it is not yet routinely tested for in China. Our study contributes to current research by reporting the prevalence and correlates of MG infection in patients attending a sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic in Guangdong from Jan 2017-May 2018.Methods: Urethral (from 489 men) and endo-cervical (from 189 women) samples, blood samples, and patient histories (via questionnaires) were collected. Doctors clinically diagnosed anogenital warts (GW) during the examination (n = 678). The presence of MG was evaluated using an in-house via polymerase chain reaction protocol. We also tested all participants for herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), syphilis and HIV. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to evaluate factors associated with MG.Results: MG was detected in 7.2% (49/678) of the patients (men, 7.4%; women, 6.9%). The MG positivity rate was 14.2% among symptomatic patients, and 5.6% for asymptomatic patients, respectively. Only 36.7% (18/49) Mg positive patients were symptomatic. Among the MG-infected patients, 10.2% were co-infected with CT, 6.1% with NG, 8.2% with HSV-2, 4.1% with syphilis and 22.4% with GW. Presentation with clinical symptoms was significantly associated with MG infection [OR = 2.52 (2.03-3.13)]. In our analysis, MG was not associated with other STIs.Conclusions: MG is a relatively common infection among individuals attending an STI clinic in Guangdong Province. Routine testing of symptomatic patients may be necessary, and more epidemiological studies are needed to provide evidence for future testing guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a massive impact on individuals globally. The Chinese government has formulated effective response measures, and medical personnel have been actively responding to challenges associated with the epidemic prevention and control strategies. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the implementation of a care transition pathway on patients that underwent joint replacement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was designed to evaluate the effect of implementing a care transition pathway for patients who underwent joint replacement during the COVID-19 pandemic in the orthopedic department of a tertiary care hospital in Beijing, China. Using a convenient sampling method, a total of 96 patients were selected. Of these, 51 patients who had undergone joint replacement in 2019 and received treatment via the routine nursing path were included in the control group. The remaining 45 patients who underwent joint replacement during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 and received therapy via the care transition pathway due to the implementation of epidemic prevention and control measures were included in the observation group. The quality of care transition was assessed by the Care Transition Measure (CTM), and patients were followed up 1 week after discharge. Results: The observation group was determined to have better general self-care preparation, written planning materials, doctor-patient communication, health monitoring, and quality of care transition than the control group. Conclusions: A care transition pathway was developed to provide patients with care while transitioning through periods of treatment. It improved the patient perceptions of nursing quality. The COVID-19 pandemic is a huge challenge for health professionals, but we have the ability to improve features of workflows to provide the best possible patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on carbon nanotube-attached diiron chelate compounds (labeled as CNT- f -1xdt) with the same PCNCP ligand but various dithiolate bridges show that the nature of dithiolate bridges can significantly influence on the electrocatalytic HER performances of hydrogenase-inspired hybrid catalysts in neutral aqueous solution. [Display omitted] • Novel diiron chelate precursors 1xdt (xdt = adt, odt, pdt) were prepared and characterized. • A new family of CNT-supported diiron molecular compounds CNT- f -1xdt was constructed and characterized. • Various dithiolate bridges of 1xdt for electrocatalytic HER performances of CNT- f -1xdt were studied. • Hybrid catalysts CNT- f -1adt are active and stable for electrocatalytic HER in neutral aqueous media. • Hybrid catalysts CNT- f -1adt with an adt bridge exhibits a higher HER activity in neutral aqueous media. In an effort to explore the effect of dithiolate bridges on the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performances of hydrogenase-inspired catalysts under fully aqueous condition, three new diphosphine-chelate diiron molecular compounds [Fe 2 (μ -xdt)(CO) 4 (k2 -(Ph 2 PCH 2) 2 N(CH 2 CH 2 OH)] (labeled as 1xdt , xdt = (SCH 2) 2 X, X = NPh (adt) vs. O (odt) vs. CH 2 (pdt)) with various dithiolate bridges (i.e. , xdt) were prepared and then are covalently attached onto carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to fabricate biomimetic CNT-attached hybrid catalysts labeling as CNT- f -1xdt. The intact structures of target catalysts CNT- f -1xdt have been evidenced through Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). Further, the electrochemical HER properties and stabilities of CNT- f -1xdt loaded onto glassy carbon electrode (GC) are studied and compared in 0.05 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH of 7.4) as neutral aqueous medium by using CV, linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and chronopotentiometry. In comparison with homologues CNT- f -1odt or CNT- f -1pdt containing odt or pdt bridges, the hybrid catalyst CNT- f -1adt bearing an adt bridge is found to have the better electrocatalytic HER activity and similar stability in 0.05 M PBS. This work is significant to develop a promising generation of CNT-attached electrode materials engineered with diiron-based molecular HER catalysts for water splitting into H 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The addition of MoO 3 in the Pt/ZrO 2 catalyst greatly improves the activity. • The Pt-MoO 3 /ZrO 2 catalysts are stable under dry and wet conditions. • The Pt-MoO 3 interfacial sites are responsible for the improved activity. • The Pt-MoO 3 interfacial sites have 40-fold higher intrinsic activity than the Pt surface atoms. • The presence of hydroxyl groups on MoO 3 accelerates the cleavage of the C-H bond. The addition of MoO 3 in Pt/ZrO 2 catalysts significantly improves the activities for propane combustion. The highest activity (a reaction rate of 845.4 mol s-1g Pt -1 and a turnover frequency (TOF) of 0.688 s−1 at 200 °C) was obtained on a Pt-1Mo/ZrO 2 catalyst (with 1 wt% Mo content), which is much higher than that on the bare Pt/ZrO 2 (a reaction rate of 42.4 mol s-1g Pt -1 and a TOF of 0.0186 s−1 at 200 °C). Such improvement is due to the generation of the Pt-MoO 3 interfacial sites, on which the cleavage of C-H bond and decomposition of the surface carbonates were accelerated. Moreover, the intrinsic activities of active Pt sites (TOF Pt) and Pt-MoO 3 interfacial sites (TOF Pt-MoO3) were clearly differentiated, namely, the interfacial sites possess ca. 40-fold higher activity than the Pt surface atoms (with TOF Pt-MoO3 of 0.731 s−1 at 200 °C versus TOF Pt of 0.0186 s−1) for Pt-1Mo/ZrO 2 catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coordination of 10‐electron diatomic ligands (BF, CO N2) to iron complexes Fe(CO)2(CNArTripp2)2 [ArTripp2=2,6‐(2,4,6‐(iso‐propyl)3C6H2)2C6H3] have been realized in experiments very recently (Science, 2019, 363, 1203–1205). Herein, the stability, electronic structures, and bonding properties of (E1E2)Fe‐(CO)2(CNArTripp2)2 (E1E2=BF, CO, N2, CN−, NO+) were studied using density functional (DFT) calculations. The ground state of all those molecules is singlet and the calculated geometries are in excellent agreement with the experimental values. The natural bond orbital analysis revealed that Fe is negatively charged while E1 possesses positive charges. By employing the energy decomposition analysis, the bonding nature of the E2E1–Fe(CO)2(CNArTripp2)2 bond was disclosed to be the classic dative bond E2E1→Fe(CO)2(CNArTripp2)2 rather than the electron‐sharing double bond. More interestingly, the bonding strength between BF and Fe(CO)2(CNArTripp2)2 is much stronger than that between CO (or N2) and Fe(CO)2(CNArTripp2)2, which is ascribed to the better σ‐donation and π back‐donations. However, the orbital interactions in CN−→Fe(CO)2(CNArTripp2)2 and NO+→Fe(CO)2(CNArTripp2)2 mainly come from σ‐donation and π back‐donation, respectively. The different contributions from σ donation and π donation for different ligands can be well explained by using the energy levels of E1E2 and Fe(CO)2(CNArTripp2)2 fragments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image restoration problem is often solved by minimizing a cost function which consists of data-fidelity terms and regularization terms. Half-quadratic regularization has the advantage that it can preserve image details well in the recovered images. In this paper, we consider solving the image restoration model which involves multiplicative half-quadratic regularization term. Newton method is employed to solve the nonlinear system of equations resulted from the optimization problem for image restoration. At each Newton iteration step, a linear system of equations with symmetric positive definite coefficient matrix arises. The preconditioned conjugate gradient method with the proposed modified block SSOR (symmetric successive over-relaxation) preconditioner is applied to solve this linear system of equations. The condition number of the preconditioned matrix is estimated and numerical experiments are also implemented for image restoration. Both theoretical and numerical results show that the modified block SSOR preconditioned PCG methods can greatly improve the computation efficiency when solving the multiplicative half-quadratic regularized image restoration problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNA post-transcriptional modifications play a crucial role in a myriad of biological processes and cellular functions. To date, more than 160 RNA modifications have been discovered; therefore, accurate identification of RNA-modification sites is fundamental for a better understanding of RNA-mediated biological functions and mechanisms. However, due to limitations in experimental methods, systematic identification of different types of RNA-modification sites remains a major challenge. Recently, more than 20 computational methods have been developed to identify RNA-modification sites in tandem with high-throughput experimental methods, with most of these capable of predicting only single types of RNA-modification sites. These methods show high diversity in their dataset size, data quality, core algorithms, features extracted and feature selection techniques and evaluation strategies. Therefore, there is an urgent need to revisit these methods and summarize their methodologies, in order to improve and further develop computational techniques to identify and characterize RNA-modification sites from the large amounts of sequence data. With this goal in mind, first, we provide a comprehensive survey on a large collection of 27 state-of-the-art approaches for predicting N1-methyladenosine and N6-methyladenosine sites. We cover a variety of important aspects that are crucial for the development of successful predictors, including the dataset quality, operating algorithms, sequence and genomic features, feature selection, model performance evaluation and software utility. In addition, we also provide our thoughts on potential strategies to improve the model performance. Second, we propose a computational approach called DeepPromise based on deep learning techniques for simultaneous prediction of N1-methyladenosine and N6-methyladenosine. To extract the sequence context surrounding the modification sites, three feature encodings, including enhanced nucleic acid composition, one-hot encoding, and RNA embedding, were used as the input to seven consecutive layers of convolutional neural networks (CNNs), respectively. Moreover, DeepPromise further combined the prediction score of the CNN-based models and achieved around 43% higher area under receiver-operating curve (AUROC) for m1A site prediction and 2–6% higher AUROC for m6A site prediction, respectively, when compared with several existing state-of-the-art approaches on the independent test. In-depth analyses of characteristic sequence motifs identified from the convolution-layer filters indicated that nucleotide presentation at proximal positions surrounding the modification sites contributed most to the classification, whereas those at distal positions also affected classification but to different extents. To maximize user convenience, a web server was developed as an implementation of DeepPromise and made publicly available at http://DeepPromise.erc.monash.edu/ , with the server accepting both RNA sequences and genomic sequences to allow prediction of two types of putative RNA-modification sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Phosphorylation of histidine residues plays crucial roles in signaling pathways and cell metabolism in prokaryotes such as bacteria. While evidence has emerged that protein histidine phosphorylation also occurs in more complex organisms, its role in mammalian cells has remained largely uncharted. Thus, it is highly desirable to develop computational tools that are able to identify histidine phosphorylation sites. Result: Here, we introduce PROSPECT that enables fast and accurate prediction of proteome-wide histidine phosphorylation substrates and sites. Our tool is based on a hybrid method that integrates the outputs of two convolutional neural network (CNN)-based classifiers and a random forest-based classifier. Three features, including the one-of-K coding, enhanced grouped amino acids content (EGAAC) and composition of k-spaced amino acid group pairs (CKSAAGP) encoding, were taken as the input to three classifiers, respectively. Our results show that it is able to accurately predict histidine phosphorylation sites from sequence information. Our PROSPECT web server is user-friendly and publicly available at http://PROSPECT.erc.monash.edu/. Conclusions: PROSPECT is superior than other pHis predictors in both the running speed and prediction accuracy and we anticipate that the PROSPECT webserver will become a popular tool for identifying the pHis sites in bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endohedral metal–metal-bonding fullerenes, in which encapsulated metals form covalent metal–metal bonds inside, are an emerging class of endohedral metallofullerenes. Herein, we reported quantum-chemical studies on the electronic structures, chemical bonding, and dynamic fluxionality behavior of endohedral metal–metal-bonding fullerenes Lu2@C2n (2n = 76–88). Multiple bonding analysis approaches, including molecular orbital analysis, the natural bond orbital analysis, electron localization function, adaptive natural density partitioning analysis, and quantum theory of atoms in molecules, have unambiguously revealed one two-center two-electron σ covalent bond between two Lu ions in fullerenes. Energy decomposition analysis with the natural orbitals for chemical valence method on the bonding nature between the encapsulated metal dimer and the fullerene cage suggested the existence of two covalent bonds between the metal dimer and fullerenes, giving rise to a covalent bonding nature between the metal dimer and fullerene cage and a formal charge model of [Lu2]2+@[C2n]2−. For Lu2@C76, the dynamic fluxionality behavior of the metal dimer Lu2 inside fullerene C76 has been revealed via locating the transition state with an energy barrier of 5 kcal/mol. Further energy decomposition analysis calculations indicate that the energy barrier is controlled by a series of terms, including the geometric deformation energy, electrostatic interaction, and orbital interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing materials capable of adapting their mechanical properties in response to external stimuli is the key to preventing failure and extending their service life. However, existing mechanically adaptive polymers are hindered by limitations such as inadequate load‐bearing capacity, difficulty in achieving reversible changes, high cost, and a lack of multiple responsiveness. Herein, we address these challenges using dynamic coordination bonds. A new type of mechanically adaptive material with both rate‐ and temperature‐responsiveness was developed. Owing to the stimuli‐responsiveness of the coordination equilibria, the prepared polymers, PBMBD‐Fe and PBMBD‐Co, exhibit mechanically adaptive properties, including temperature‐sensitive strength modulation and rate‐dependent impact hardening. Benefitting from the dynamic nature of the coordination bonds, the polymers exhibited impressive energy dissipation, damping capacity (loss factors of 1.15 and 2.09 at 1.0 Hz), self‐healing, and 3D printing abilities, offering durable and customizable impact resistance and protective performance. The development of impact‐resistant materials with comprehensive properties has potential applications in the sustainable and intelligent protection fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing materials capable of adapting their mechanical properties in response to external stimuli is the key to preventing failure and extending their service life. However, existing mechanically adaptive polymers are hindered by limitations such as inadequate load‐bearing capacity, difficulty in achieving reversible changes, high cost, and a lack of multiple responsiveness. Herein, we address these challenges using dynamic coordination bonds. A new type of mechanically adaptive material with both rate‐ and temperature‐responsiveness was developed. Owing to the stimuli‐responsiveness of the coordination equilibria, the prepared polymers, PBMBD‐Fe and PBMBD‐Co, exhibit mechanically adaptive properties, including temperature‐sensitive strength modulation and rate‐dependent impact hardening. Benefitting from the dynamic nature of the coordination bonds, the polymers exhibited impressive energy dissipation, damping capacity (loss factors of 1.15 and 2.09 at 1.0 Hz), self‐healing, and 3D printing abilities, offering durable and customizable impact resistance and protective performance. The development of impact‐resistant materials with comprehensive properties has potential applications in the sustainable and intelligent protection fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general efficient protocol was developed for the synthesis of carboxylic acids, esters, and amides through oxidation of alkynyl boronates, generated directly from terminal alkynes. This protocol represents the first example of C(sp)−B bond oxidation. This approach displays a broad substrate scope, including aryl and alkyl alkynes, and exhibits excellent functional group tolerance. Water, primary and secondary alcohols, and amines are suitable nucleophiles for this transformation. Notably, amino acids and peptides can be used as nucleophiles, providing an efficient method for the synthesis and modification of peptides. The practicability of this methodology was further highlighted by the preparation of pharmaceutical molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general efficient protocol was developed for the synthesis of carboxylic acids, esters, and amides through oxidation of alkynyl boronates, generated directly from terminal alkynes. This protocol represents the first example of C(sp)−B bond oxidation. This approach displays a broad substrate scope, including aryl and alkyl alkynes, and exhibits excellent functional group tolerance. Water, primary and secondary alcohols, and amines are suitable nucleophiles for this transformation. Notably, amino acids and peptides can be used as nucleophiles, providing an efficient method for the synthesis and modification of peptides. The practicability of this methodology was further highlighted by the preparation of pharmaceutical molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the explosive growth of biological sequences generated in the post-genomic era, one of the most challenging problems in bioinformatics and computational biology is to computationally characterize sequences, structures and functions in an efficient, accurate and high-throughput manner. A number of online web servers and stand-alone tools have been developed to address this to date; however, all these tools have their limitations and drawbacks in terms of their effectiveness, user-friendliness and capacity. Here, we present iLearn , a comprehensive and versatile Python-based toolkit, integrating the functionality of feature extraction, clustering, normalization, selection, dimensionality reduction, predictor construction, best descriptor/model selection, ensemble learning and results visualization for DNA, RNA and protein sequences. iLearn was designed for users that only want to upload their data set and select the functions they need calculated from it, while all necessary procedures and optimal settings are completed automatically by the software. iLearn includes a variety of descriptors for DNA, RNA and proteins, and four feature output formats are supported so as to facilitate direct output usage or communication with other computational tools. In total, iLearn encompasses 16 different types of feature clustering, selection, normalization and dimensionality reduction algorithms, and five commonly used machine-learning algorithms, thereby greatly facilitating feature analysis and predictor construction. iLearn is made freely available via an online web server and a stand-alone toolkit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]