Search

Currently, precious metal group materials are known as the efficient and widely used oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts. The exorbitant prices and scarcity of the precious metals have stimulated scale exploration of alternative non-precious metal catalysts with low-cost and high performance. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are a promising precursor to prepare cost-effective and high-performance catalysts because they possess abundant micropores and nitrogen self-doping after pyrolysis, which can accelerate the electron transfer and serve as active sites for efficient OER. Herein, we developed a new highly active NiFeMn-layered double hydroxide (NFM LDH) based electrocatalyst for OER. Through building NFM hydroxide/oxyhydroxide heterojunction and incorporation of conductive graphene, the prepared NFM LDH-based electrocatalyst delivers a low overpotential of 338 mV at current density of 10 mA cm−2 with a small Tafel slope of 67 mV dec−1, which are superior to those of commercial RuO2 catalyst for OER. The LDH/OOH heterojunction involves strong interfacial coupling, which modulates the local electronic environment and boosts the kinetics of charge transfer. In addition, the high valence Fe3+ and Mn3+ species formed after NaOH treatment provide more active sites and promote the Ni2+ to higher oxidation states during the O2 evolution. Moreover, graphene contributes a lot to the reduction of charge transfer resistance. The combining effects have greatly enhanced the catalytic ability for OER, demonstrating that the synthesized NFM LDH/OOH heterojunction with graphene linkage can be practically applied as a high-performance electrocatalyst for oxygen production via water splitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical Abstract of Analysis of Microstructure Uncertainty Propagation in Fibrous Composites Empowered by Physics-Informed, Semi-supervised Machine Learning. [Display omitted] The advancements in multi-scale computational analysis of fiber reinforced composites have led to the possibility of predicting important material properties based on their microstructure characteristics. Nevertheless, major challenges remain. The fiber distributions feature inherent randomness, which naturally leads to variations in properties such as transverse strength. This in turn undermines the significance of deterministic analysis to guide manufacturing optimization. Direct Monte Carlo simulation for uncertainty analysis is computationally insurmountable, as a single run of finite element simulation is already costly. While several surrogate modeling techniques leveraging supervised learning have been explored, it is commonly recognized that the efficacy of these surrogate models hinges upon the size of training dataset. In this research we establish a semi-supervised learning framework that can produce highly accurate emulation results with much reduced size of labeled training dataset. A random fiber packing algorithm is employed to sample the representative volume element (RVE) images that are subsequently fed to the finite element analysis to generate the ground-truth labeled data used in the training of neural network. To reduce the ground-truth labeling cost while maintaining the deep learning capacity. we employ the pseudo labeling technique where the base model is initially trained on a small set of ground truth labeled data and then used to generate credible pseudo-labels for a larger pool of unlabeled data. The model is subsequently retrained on this augmented dataset with adjusted weights and biases to reflect the varying confidence in the label sources. This framework is successfully employed in the analysis of microstructure uncertainty propagation in fibrous composites. The proposed approach efficiently leverages patterns from both unlabeled and limited labeled samples to predict transverse strength for varied RVE samples, matching the efficacy of a fully supervised model trained with 1,000 ground truth labels while simultaneously slashing labeling efforts by 72%. This framework can be extended to uncertainty propagation analysis using microstructure characteristics of other materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the ever-increasing industrial activity, humans and the environment suffer from deteriorating air quality, making the long-term monitoring of air particle indicators essential. The advances in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer the potential to utilize UAVs for various forms of monitoring, of which air quality data acquisition is one. Nevertheless, most current UAV-based air monitoring suffers from a low payload, short endurance, and limited range, as they are primarily dependent on rotary aerial vehicles. In contrast, a fixed-wing UAV may be a better alternative. Additionally, one of the most critical modules for 3D profiling of a UAV system is path planning, as it directly impacts the final results of the spatial coverage and temporal efficiency. Therefore, this work focused on developing 3D coverage path planning based upon current commercial ground control software, where the method mainly depends on the Boustrophedon and Dubins paths. Furthermore, a user interface was also designed for easy accessibility, which provides a generalized tool module that links up the proposed algorithm, the ground control software, and the flight controller. Simulations were conducted to assess the proposed methods. The result showed that the proposed methods outperformed the existing coverage paths generated by ground control software, as it showed a better coverage rate with a sampling density of 50 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the main heat source, surrounding rock heat dissipation is a very important factor in the prediction of mine climate conditions, especially in deep high-temperature mines. To reveal the heat control mechanism of surrounding rocks due to the thermal insulation of deep roadways, a mathematical model of the surrounding rocks around deep roadways with heat insulation was established with the finite element method, and a corresponding calculation program was developed. A series of results were determined to show how setting an insulation layer could affect the distribution law of the temperature field within and around tunnels. Therefore, rules of the variation in wall temperature and temperature gradient with thermal conductivity coefficients were obtained within and around tunnels. The heat release capacity of the surrounding rocks of the roadways is significantly reduced after introducing a thermal insulation layer into the roadway design under different schemes; these design schemes were determined by further engineering example analysis. It was found that the heat insulation layer design can cool the surrounding rocks of deep mine roadways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study describes a novel technology referred to as reciprocal two single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) probe-mediated isothermal amplification (TPIA) that enables target nucleic acid detection. TPIA extends the ssDNA probe A into ultralong ssDNA products with tandem repeats of hairpin and ssDNA probe B to form double-stranded DNA hairpins of varying lengths via continuously repeated polymerization and displacement. The entire TPIA process was supervised in real time with the assistance of fluorescence techniques. By exploiting this new mechanism, the system can be used as an autocephalous module to provide a versatile tool for a biosensing program. The ssDNA probe B was relationally designed to form a stem-loop structure (HP), which can only unwind through specific recognition by the target nucleic acid. The HP stem region was then exposed and HP was rearranged to serve as the ssDNA probe B in the TPIA system after HP unfolding. The novel design strategy was exploited to specifically assay different target microRNAs (miR-21 and miR-221) with a low limit of detection on the 10 and 1 fM level, respectively. This method has great potential for nucleic acid detection in biomedical research and clinical diagnosis by rationally redesigning the template. • A simple and novel isothermal amplification technology was established. • It's a simple nucleic acid diagnostic system. • This novel strategy can be used to specifically different target microRNA. • This biosensor had acceptable reproducibility in the complicated matrix samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eocene Pinghu Formation in the Xihu Depression of the East China Sea Shelf preserves mixed‐process deltaic deposits and contains a large number of thin coal seams. This study improves the prediction of coal seam occurrences based on facies distribution and stratigraphic architecture models of deltaic deposits, using core and wireline log datasets. Sedimentological analysis reveals four facies associations, which represent delta plain (including distributary channels and interdistributary bays), delta front, prodelta and tidal flat. These facies associations reflect and preserve the interaction of fluvial and marine processes. Delta‐plain and delta‐front deposits record progressively greater tidal influences when traced southward. Well‐log correlations show that coal‐forming mires on the tide‐influenced lower delta plain were relatively favourable for peat accumulation because the stability of the tidal channels led to a stable platform for peat accumulation on the lower delta plain. The temporal and spatial distribution of coal seams is a function of both autogenic and allogenic responses to forcing. Increased probability of frequent changes in subsidence rates and sea‐level in an active tectonic setting and erosion by channels resulted in thin single‐layer coal seams (mostly 0.5 to 1.0 m). Autogenic processes (for example, delta growth and delta lobe switching) played a significant role in the areal distribution, lateral variation in thickness (ranging from 3 to 71 m) and large cumulative thicknesses (up to 71 m) of coal seams. A general vertical decrease in coal seam thickness likely records a cooling palaeoclimate during deposition of the Pinghu Formation. By comparing delta plain processes to favourable environments of peat accumulation in modern systems with favourable mineralogical, chemical and physical conditions, it can be concluded that: (i) relatively few and discontinuous coal seams developed on the tide‐dominated delta plain generated; (ii) laterally discontinuous and ribbon‐shaped coal seams developed in tide‐influenced deltas; whereas (iii) coal seams formed in river‐dominated deltaic environments have better lateral continuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus (PHEV) is a typical neurotropic betacoronavirus causing digestive disease and/or neurological dysfunction in neonatal pigs. Actin filaments have been identified to implicate in PHEV invasion, but the effects of viral infection on microtubules (MTs) cytoskeleton are unknown. Here, we observed that PHEV infection induced MT depolymerization and was accompanied by the disappearance of microtubule organizing centers. Depolymerization of MTs induced by nocodazole significantly inhibited viral RNA replication, but over-polymerization of MTs induced by paclitaxel did not substantially affect PHEV infection. The expression of histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), an important regulator of MT acetylation, progressively increased during PHEV infection. Tramstatin A could alter HDAC6 deacetylase activity to enhance the acetylation of the substrate α-tubulin and MT polymerization, but does not increase PHEV proliferation. These findings suggest that PHEV could subvert host MT cytoskeleton to facilitate infection, and that MT depolymerization negatively affects viral replication independently of HDAC6 activity. • PHEV infection induces cellular cytoskeletal rearrangement. • MTs depolymerization inhibits PHEV RNA replication. • HDAC6 regulates the acetylation of substrate α-tubulin, but not participate in PHEV proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health is an essential dimension of healthy aging. The number and severity of disabled elderly in China show an increasing tendency year by year. Due to their impaired ability of daily activities, reduced social participation and reduced self-care ability, they are more prone to depression and anxiety. We included 2131 individuals aged 65 and older from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS 2017–2018). We used the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale-7 (GAD-7) to assess depression and anxiety, respectively. The structure of depressive and anxiety symptoms was characterized using "Expected Influence" and "Bridge Expected Influence" as centrality indices in the symptom network. Network stability was tested using a case-dropping bootstrap procedure. Finally, a Network Comparison Test (NCT) was conducted to examine whether network characteristics differed by gender. Network analysis revealed that nodes CESD3 (Felt sadness), GAD2 (Uncontrollable worry), and GAD4 (Trouble relaxing) were the primary symptoms of the anxiety-depression network. Anxiety and depression were united by the symptoms of CESD9 (Could not get going), GAD1 (Nervousness or anxiety), CESD10 (Sleep quality), and GAD4 (Trouble relaxing). Additionally, Gender did not significantly affect the network structure. Central symptoms (e.g., felt sadness, uncontrollable worry and trouble relaxing) and key bridge symptoms (e.g., could not get going, nervousness and anxiety) in the depressive and anxiety symptoms network may be used as potential targets for intervention among disabled elderly who is at risk for or suffer from depressive and anxiety symptoms. • Network analysis was used to study the relationship between anxiety and depression symptoms in disabled elderly people. • The core symptoms and bridge symptoms of anxiety and depression in disabled elderly were identified. • It provides theoretical basis for the targeted psychological intervention of disabled elderly in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Based on the rapid advances in sequencing technology and the widespread use of bioinformatics tools, the study performed a multi-omics analysis of the core circadian clock genes ARNTL (also known as BMAL1), CLOCK, CRY1, CRY2, NR1D1, PER1, PER2, PER3, and RORA through public databases. • Multi-omics analysis was performed to answer how core circadian clock genes regulate ovarian cancer, including methylation levels, tumor microenvironment, drug resistance, immune infiltration, and functional enrichment analysis of each gene in ovarian cancer tissues. • We have demonstrated that most circadian clock genes are dysregulated and strongly correlated with the prognosis of ovarian cancer patients. Furthermore, our results may provide novel insights for the potential selection of immunotherapeutic targets. Ovarian cancer (OV) is one of the most common female malignancies with high morbidity and mortality, but its mechanism is not fully understood. The circadian clock is involved in the regulation of the immune system and the tumor microenvironment, regulating biological processes and behaviors in multiple ways. Circadian rhythm disorders are considered a risk factor for tumorigenesis. Multi-omics analysis was performed to comprehensively illustrate the roles of circadian clock genes in OV, we found that most of circadian clock genes undergo epigenetic alterations in OV and are strongly correlated with overall and progression-free patient survival. These clock genes are mainly involved in the inhibition of Apoptosis pathway, Cell Cycle pathway and DNA Damage Response pathway, as well as the activation of RAS/MAPK pathway and RTK pathway. Drug sensitivity model indicate that the expression of core clock genes may associate with drug resistance. Further, immune infiltrates analysis shows that different mutant forms of core genes can not only suppress immune infiltration, but also affect clinical outcome of ovarian cancer patients. Overall, our results may provide novel insights for the potential selection of immunotherapeutic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen is regarded to be one of the most promising renewable and clean energy sources. Finding a highly efficient and cost-effective catalyst to generate hydrogen via water splitting has become a research hotspot. Two-dimensional materials with exotic structural and electronic properties have been considered as economical alternatives. In this work, 2D SnSe films with high quality of crystallinity were grown on a mica substrate via molecular beam epitaxy. The electronic property of the prepared SnSe thin films can be easily and accurately tuned in situ by three orders of magnitude through the controllable compensation of Sn atoms. The prepared film normally exhibited p-type conduction due to the deficiency of Sn in the film during its growth. First-principle calculations explained that Sn vacancies can introduce additional reactive sites for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and enhance the HER performance by accelerating electron migration and promoting continuous hydrogen generation, which was mirrored by the reduced Gibbs free energy by a factor of 2.3 as compared with the pure SnSe film. The results pave the way for synthesized 2D SnSe thin films in the applications of hydrogen production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We firstly found link of IL-1R1 / IL-1RN SNPs to OP risk in Chinese Han population. • IL-1R1 rs3917225 (OR = 1.40, p = 0.007) had a higher risk for OP occurrence. • IL-1RN rs17042888 (OR = 0.55, p = 0.016) was associated with a lower risk for OP. • Risk association of these SNPs with OP risk might be related to age, sex and BMI. • IL-1R1 / IL-1RN SNPs were associated with T scores of the lumbar spine or total hip. Osteoporosis (OP) is a common inflammatory disease. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of IL-1R1 and IL-1RN polymorphisms on OP predisposition among the Chinese Han population. Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL-1R1 and IL-1RN were genotyped using the Agena MassARRAY platform in 594 OP patients and 599 age- and sex- matched healthy controls. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) analysis was used to analyze SNP-SNP interaction. The correlations of genotypes with clinical variables were evaluated using analysis of covariance (ANOVA). Overall, IL-1R1 rs3917225 (OR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.10–1.80, p = 0.007) was associated with a higher risk for OP, while IL-1RN rs17042888 (OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.34–0.90, p = 0.016) was associated with a lower risk. Specifically, the risk association between these polymorphisms and OP risk might be related to age, sex and BMI. Furthermore, rs10490571, rs17042888, rs3181052 and rs452204 were associated with the T scores of the lumbar spine or total hip. This study is the first to find that rs10490571, rs956730 and rs3917225 in IL-1R1 and rs17042888 in IL-1RN may be genetic contributors to OP susceptibility among the Chinese Han population. Our findings increase the understanding of the role of IL-1R1 and IL-1RN in the genetic etiology of osteoporosis. Nevertheless, these results should be confirmed in larger cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coal‐bearing series of the Eocene Pinghu Formation is one of the focused reservoir exploration in the Xihu Sag. This study conducted a cyclostratigraphy time series analysis using natural gamma‐ray (GR) logging data from four boreholes of the Xihu Sag. The spectral analysis shows a good match with the La2004 orbital solution. The sedimentation duration calculated by the astronomical age models spans at least 4.31–5.94 Myr, with an average sedimentation rate of 13.47–18.57 cm/kyr. The Pinghu Formation is subdivided into 1 second‐order, 3 third‐order and 14 fourth‐order sequences within seismic, well logging and 405 kyr‐long cycles constraints. Based on available age‐control data, the Pinghu Formation is corresponding to the middle‐late Eocene. The floating astronomical timescale of XH‐3 borehole now provides a new age constraint for the Pinghu Formation. There are four shorter‐term (<2 Myr) regional sea‐level cycles in the Pinghu Formation, which are similar to the calibrated global sea‐level fluctuations. Inconsistencies between reconstructed sea‐level curve by sedimentary noise modelling and true sea level inferred from lithology and sequence reveal various sources of noise in the sedimentary record. Variations in the distribution and thickness of coal seams in the Pinghu Formation appear to be a stratigraphic response to astronomical and non‐astronomical forcing such as regional tectonicssm and facies changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work combines hydrophobic and heat-absorbing materials to solve the problem of water and frost resistance in industrial and domestic scenarios in harsh environments. Here, highly hydrophobic and fast endothermic (HHFE) surfaces were prepared by applying candle soot (nanocarbon) as the template, slides as the carrier and nano-TiO2 as a backbone and a connecting layer. The resulting HHFE surface exhibited a coral-like porous structure, which is beneficial to hydrophobic performance. The contact angle between the water droplet and the glass with the HHFE coating was about 120°, thus implying that the prepared HHFE surface with a TiO2 skeleton layer has excellent hydrophobicity. The hydrophobic mechanism of the HHFE surface can be explained by the Cassie–Baxter model. Infrared thermography and thermometry were used to record the thermal capacity and heat-absorbing rate of the HHFE surface. The temperature of the glass covered with the HHFE coating rose from 16°C to 38°C within 5 minutes, which is 46.2% higher in capacity and 2.2 times faster in rate than ordinary glass under the same solar irradiation. The resulting HHFE thin film consists of nanocarbon materials, and nano-TiO2 particles were hydrophobic and good heat absorbers. They have great potential for anti-freezing and water-proofing applications, especially in harsh environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quorum sensing (QS) mediates the coordination of population-based behavior in bacteria, which is highly involved in the formation of bacterial biofilms and virulence of bacteria in vivo. Therefore, an inhibition of QS and biofilm growth is of therapeutic interest. This study exhibited the an auto-inducer molecule (AI-2) activity as the most important component of the QS system was positively correlated with the growth and biofilm formation of S. epidermidis strains. In addition, TASA and matrine have a capacity to inhibit AI-2 in three S. epidermidis strains compared to the control (p < 0.01). This result indicated TASA and matrine can also decrease AI-2 activity in the biofilm of S. epidermidis (p < 0.05). By comparison, TASA was more effective than ceftazidime and matrine to inhibit the AI-2 activity in biofilm S.epidermidis reference strain ATCC35984 (p < 0.05). This result indicated potentials of TCM compounds TASA and matrine in prevention of biofilm formation in Staphylococcus epidermidis infections. Image 1 • H1-The AI-2 activity was positive correlated with the growth and biofilm formation of Staphylococcus epidermidis. • H2-TASA and Matrine can inhibit AI-2 activity and the formation of biofilm. • H3-TASA and matrine can also decrease AI-2 activity in the biofilm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Blood transfusion and previous stroke history are two independent risk factors of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in stroke patients. Whether the potential interaction of transfusion history and previous stroke history is associated with a greater risk of VTE remains unclear. This study aims to explore whether the combination of transfusion history and previous stroke history increases the risk of VTE among Chinese stroke patients. Methods: A total of 1525 participants from the prospective Stroke Cohort of Henan Province were enrolled in our study. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to explore the associations among transfusion history, previous stroke history and VTE. The interaction was evaluated on both multiplicative and additive scales. The odds ratio (95% CI), relative excess risk of interaction (RERI), attributable proportion (AP), and synergy index (S) of interaction terms were used to examine multiplicative and additive interactions. Finally, we divided our population into two subgroups by National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score and re-evaluated the interaction effect in both scales. Results: A total of 281 (18.4%) participants of 1525 complicated with VTE. Transfusion and previous stroke history were associated with an increased risk of VTE in our cohort. In the multiplicative scale, the combination of transfusion and previous stroke history was statistically significant on VTE in both unadjusted and adjusted models (P<0.05). For the additive scale, the RERI shrank to 7.016 (95% CI: 1.489 ~ 18.165), with the AP of 0.650 (95% CI: 0.204 ~ 0.797) and the S of 3.529 (95% CI: 1.415 ~ 8.579) after adjusting for covariates, indicating a supra-additive effect. In subgroups, the interaction effect between transfusion history and previous stroke history was pronouncedly associated with the increased risk of VTE in patients with NIHSS score > 5 points (P<0.05). Conclusions: Our results suggest that there may be a potential synergistic interaction between transfusion history and previous stroke history on the risk of VTE. Besides, the percentage of VTE incidence explained by interaction increased with the severity of stroke. Our findings will provide valuable evidence for thromboprophylaxis in Chinese stroke patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic technology is currently the most promising technology for environmental pollution control. The preparation of photocatalysts with excellent properties is the core of the development of photocatalytic technology. TiO2 can form a heterojunction with g-C3N4, which can effectively inhibit the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, improve the mobility of photogenerated carriers, and thus improve the photocatalytic performance. In this study, NaCl was used as a template, and the loose and porous g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunction composite photocatalysts were prepared by the template method. Compared to the pure g-C3N4 prepared by the conventional thermal polycondensation method and TiO2, the g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunction composite photocatalysts prepared in this study exhibited a greatly increased specific surface area, an improved light absorption performance, a significantly suppressed recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. Furthermore, the g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunction composite photocatalysts exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance. In this study, NaCl was used as a template, and the loose and porous g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunction composite photocatalysts were prepared by the template method. Compared to the pure g-C3N4 prepared by the conventional thermal polycondensation method and TiO2, the g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunction composite photocatalysts prepared in this study exhibited a greatly increased specific surface area, an improved light absorption performance, a significantly suppressed recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. Furthermore, the g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunction composite photocatalysts exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Observational studies suggest birth weight and childhood obesity are closely associated with age at menarche. However, the relationships between them are currently inconsistent and it remains elusive whether such associations are causal. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate whether there existed causal relationships between birth weight, childhood obesity and age at menarche. Design, Patients and Measurements: A two‐sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study. The standard inverse variance weighted MR analyses were adopted to evaluate the causal effects of birth weight (n = 143,677), childhood body mass index (BMI) (n = 39,620) on age at menarche (n = 182,416) with summary statistics from large‐scale genome‐wide association studies (GWASs). Meanwhile, we validated our MR results with some sensitivity analyses including maximum likelihood, weighted‐median and MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier methods. Results: The present study showed that each one standard deviation (1‐SD) lower birth weight was predicted to result in a 0.1479 years earlier of age at menarche (β =.1479, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.0422–0.2535; p = 0.0061). We also found that genetically predicted 1‐SD increase in childhood BMI was causally associated with early age at menarche (β = −.3966, 95% CI = −0.5294 to −0.2639; p = 4.73E−09). Conclusions: Our MR study suggests the causal effect of lower birth weight and higher childhood BMI on the increased risk of earlier menarche. It may be the opportune time to carry out weight control intervention in prenatal and early childhood development periods to prevent early menarche onset, thus decreasing the future adverse consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood obesity remains one of the most important issues in global health, which is implicated in many chronic diseases. Converging evidence suggests that a higher body mass index during childhood (CBMI) is significantly associated with increased coronary artery disease (CAD) susceptibility in adulthood, which may partly arise from the shared genetic determination. Despite genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have successfully identified some loci associated with CBMI and CAD individually, the genetic overlap and common biological mechanism between them remains largely unexplored. Here, relying on the results from the two large-scale GWASs (n = 35,668 for CBMI and n = 547,261 for CAD), linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC) was used to estimate the genetic correlation of CBMI and CAD in the first step. Then, we applied different pleiotropy-informed methods including conditional false discovery rate (cFDR ) and genetic analysis incorporating pleiotropy and annotation (GPA) to detect potentially common loci for childhood obesity and CAD. By integrating the genetic information from the existing GWASs summary statistics, we found a significant positive genetic correlation ( r g = 0.127, p = 2E−4) and strong pleiotropic enrichment between CBMI and CAD (LRT = 79.352, p = 5.2E−19). Importantly, 28 loci were simultaneously discovered to be associated with CBMI, and 13 of them were identified as potentially pleiotropic loci by cFDR and GPA. Those corresponding pleiotropic genes were enriched in trait-associated gene ontology (GO) terms "amino sugar catabolic process", "regulation of fat cell differentiation" and "synaptic transmission". Overall, the findings of the pleiotropic loci will help to further elucidate the common molecular mechanisms underlying the association of childhood obesity and CAD, and provide a theoretical direction for early disease prevention and potential therapeutic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has demonstrated that the formation of composites of titanium dioxide (TiO2) with silver phosphate (Ag3PO4) through the construction of heterojunctions can expand its light absorption range and suppress the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, thereby improving the photocatalytic performance. However, this method offers only limited performance improvements, and the composite photocatalysts are costly due to the expensive Ag3PO4. In this study, Ti3C2 MXene, which has good hydrophilicity and excellent electrical conductivity, is first used to form Schottky junction composites with bronze TiO2 (TiO2(B)) via electrostatic self-assembly. Then, Ag3PO4 quantum dots were further formed on the surface of the TiO2(B)/Ti3C2 MXene by in situ self-growth, and Ag3PO4 formed heterojunctions and Schottky junctions with TiO2(B) and Ti3C2 MXene, respectively. Finally, a ternary composite photocatalyst TiO2(B)/Ti3C2 MXene/Ag3PO4 was jointly constructed by these functional junctions. Under the synergistic effect of these functional junctions, the mobility and fast separation performance of photogenerated electron–hole pairs of the composite photocatalyst were significantly improved, the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs was effectively suppressed, and the light absorption performance was enhanced. As a result, the composite photocatalyst exhibited excellent photocatalytic performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stroke is a complex disease with multiple etiologies. Numerous studies suggest an established association between obesity and stroke, which may partly arise from the shared genetic components between the two phenotypes. Despite genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified some loci associated with stroke and obesity individually, the estimated genetic variability explained by these loci is limited (especially for stroke) and the pleiotropic loci between them are largely unknown. In this study, we jointly applied the pleiotropy-informed conditional false discovery rate (cFDR) method and the genetic analysis incorporating pleiotropy and annotation (GPA) method on summary statistics of two large GWASs to detect the genetic overlap between stroke (n = 446,696) and obesity (n = 681,275). Stratified Q–Q and fold-enrichment plots showed strong pleiotropic enrichment between the two phenotypes. With cFDR < 0.05 and fdr.GPA < 0.2, we identified 24 (16 novel) stroke-associated SNPs and 12 (10 novel) of them to be potentially pleiotropic SNPs for both phenotypes. The corresponding genes were enriched in trait-associated gene ontology (GO) terms "brain development" and "negative regulation of transport". In conclusion, our study demonstrated the feasibility and effectivity of the two pleiotropic methods which successfully improved the genetic discovery by incorporating related GWAS datasets and validated the genetic intercommunity between stroke and obesity. The identification of pleiotropic loci may provide us any new insights into potential genetic and etiology mechanism between them for the further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidative stress is a hallmark of many cancers. Probiotics with antioxidant properties have been found to alleviate oxidative stress. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum ZJ316 (L. plantarum ZJ316) is an exceptional strain that shows excellent hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) tolerance, sensitivity to the seven antibiotics (ampicillin, gentamicin, kanamycin, erythromycin, glycine, tetracycline and chloramphenicol) recommended by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and exhibits good cell hydrophobicity and Caco-2 adhesion ability, but its antioxidant mechanism is unclear. This study showed that L. plantarum ZJ316 can withstand 2.5mmol/L H 2 O 2 and both its intact cells and fermentation supernatant exhibit strong free radical scavenging ability. Furthermore, cell homogenate and fermented supernatant (ZJ316 FS) of L. plantarum ZJ316 performed higher activity of antioxidant enzymes. In addition, the mRNA level of antioxidant genes in L. plantarum ZJ316 regulated cell redox homeostasis in an orderly manner, demonstrating the antioxidant mechanism of L. plantarum ZJ316 at the transcriptional level. In summary, L. plantarum ZJ316 has good adhesion and antioxidant properties, no hemolytic activity and no drug resistance transfer, indicating that L. plantarum ZJ316 holds the potential to be utilized as a redox modulator probiotic in functional foods. • L. plantarum ZJ316 has excellent H 2 O 2 tolerance, good cell hydrophobicity and Caco-2 adhesion ability. • L. plantarum ZJ316 has no hemolytic activity and no drug resistance transfer. • L. plantarum ZJ316 performed remarkable efficacy in scavenging diverse types of free radicals. • L. plantarum ZJ316 has high antioxidant enzyme activity, such as SOD and GSH-Px. • L. plantarum ZJ316 antioxidant genes orderly regulated cell redox homeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic degradation, as an emerging method to control environmental pollution, is considered one of the most promising environmental purification technologies. As Tibet is a region with some of the strongest solar radiation in China and even in the world, it is extremely rich in solar energy resources, which is ideal for applying photocatalytic technology to its ecological environment protection and governance. In this study, Na2Ti3O7 nanobelts were prepared via a hydrothermal method and converted to TiO2∙xH2O ion exchange, which was followed by high-temperature calcination to prepare TiO2(B) nanobelts ("B" in TiO2(B) means "Bronze phase"). A simple in situ method was used to generate Ag3PO4 particles on the surface of the TiO2 nanobelts to construct a Ag3PO4/TiO2(B) heterojunction composite photocatalyst. By generating Ag3PO4 nanoparticles on the surface of the TiO2(B) nanobelts to construct heterojunctions, the light absorption range of the photocatalyst was successfully extended from UV (ultraviolet) to the visible region. Furthermore, the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs in the catalyst was inhibited by the construction of the heterojunctions, thus greatly enhancing its light quantum efficiency. Therefore, the prepared Ag3PO4/TiO2(B) heterojunction composite photocatalyst greatly outperformed the TiO2(B) nanobelt in terms of photocatalytic degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bi2Se3 possesses a two-dimensional layered rhombohedral crystal structure, where the quintuple layers (QLs) are covalently bonded within the layers but weakly held together by van der Waals forces between the adjacent QLs. It is also pointed out that Bi2Se3 is a topological insulator, making it a promising candidate for a wide range of electronic and optoelectronic applications. In this study, we investigate the growth of high-quality Bi2Se3 thin films on mica by the molecular beam epitaxy technique. The films exhibited a layered structure and highly c-axis-preferred growth orientation with an XRD rocking curve full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 0.088°, clearly demonstrating excellent crystallinity for the Bi2Se3 deposited on the mica substrate. The growth mechanism was studied by using an interface model associated with the coincidence site lattice unit (CSLU) developed for van der Waals epitaxies. This high (001) texture favors electron transport in the material. Hall measurements revealed a mobility of 726 cm2/(Vs) at room temperature and up to 1469 cm2/(Vs) at 12 K. The results illustrate excellent electron mobility arising from the superior crystallinity of the films with significant implications for applications in conducting electrodes in optoelectronic devices on flexible substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, an economical and easy-to-use microcapsule array fabricated by ice printing technique has been realized for ultrasensitive fluorescence quantification of copper ions employing functional nucleic acid strategy. With ice printing, the detection reagents are sealed by polystyrene (PS) film isolation and photopolymer, which guarantees a stable and contamination-free environment for functional nucleic acid reaction. Our microcapsule arrays have shown long-term stability (20 days) under −20 °C storage in frozen form before use. During the Cu2+ on-site detection, 1 μL sample is simply injected into the thawy microcapsule by a microliter syringe under room temperature, and after 20 minutes the fluorescence result can be obtained by an LED transilluminator. This method can realize the detection limit to 100 nM (100 fmol/μL) with high specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]