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Phosphate-based localized high-concentration electrolytes (LHCE) feature high flame retardant and satisfactory cathodic stability for lithium metal batteries. However, stable cycling of those electrolytes at ultra-high upper cut-off voltages for long-term stability remains challenging. Herein, an ether-modified phosphate, diethyl (2-methoxy ethoxy) methylphosphonate (DMEP), is designed for high-voltage applications. The ether modification enhances the stability of the Li + -DMEP-FSI - coordination structure, promoting the formation of cation-anion aggregates (AGG) dominated solvation structure, which favors the generation of LiF-rich cathode electrolyte interphase layers compared to triethyl phosphate (TEP)-based LHCE. Consequently, cathode degradation, including transition-metal dissolution and electrode cracking, is well-suppressed. The LiNi 0.8 Co 0.1 Mn 0.1 O 2 (NCM811)||Li full cells using DMEP-based LHCEs show more than 90.7% capacity retention at an ultrahigh upper cut-off voltage of 4.7 V after 100 cycles. Notably, DMEP-LHCE exhibits enhanced safety than that of TEP-LHCE, suggesting its versatility and potential for next-generation lithium metal batteries., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are critical emerging pollutants that have attracted considerable attention. Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the most prevalent mycotoxins in cereal crops worldwide, arising severe health hazards to both humans and animals. Even if numerous researches argue in favor of a notorious influence of DON on the gut, the effects of dietary DON exposure on the ARG profile in poultry intestine remain obscure. In this study, two separate feeding experiments using Jing Tint 6 laying hens exposed to 4.5 or 9.0 mg/kg DON were performed to explore the impact of dietary DON exposure on the microbial community structure and the profiles of ARGs in the intestine via 16S rDNA sequencing and metagenomics sequencing, respectively. In addition, growth performance and intestinal barrier function were also determined to assess the feasibility of using DON-contaminated feedstuffs inappropriate for pigs' consumption in laying hens. Chronic ingestion of DON at 9.0 mg/kg did not alter zootechnical parameters. However, histomorphological impairments were observed in liver and jejunum. Additionally, metagenomic sequencing revealed that dietary DON exposure at 9.0 mg/kg level dramatically changed the gut microbial structure and shifted the ARG profile. The abundance of tetracycline ARG subtype in the layer cecum was decreased, whereas the abundance of vancomycin ARG subtype was increased upon DON exposure. Co-occurrence network analysis identified that Prevotella was the major ARG host in the intestine of laying hens. In summary, our findings demonstrated that DON-contaminated feedstuffs inappropriate for pigs' consumption should be prudently used in hen production, and shed new light on the interactions between mycotoxins and ARGs in the poultry intestine., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The simultaneous use of two or more drugs in clinical treatment may raise the risk of a drug-drug interaction (DDI). DDI prediction is very important to avoid adverse drug events in combination therapy. Recently, deep learning methods have been applied successfully to DDI prediction and improved prediction performance. However, there are still some problems with the present models, such as low accuracy due to information loss during molecular representation or incomplete drug feature mining during the training process. Aiming at these problems, this study proposes an accurate and simple framework named PTB-DDI for drug-drug interaction prediction. The PTB-DDI framework consists of four key modules: (1) ChemBerta tokenizer for molecular representation, (2) Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) to capture the bidirectional context-aware features of drugs, (3) Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) for mining the nonlinear relationship of drug features, and (4) interaction predictor to perform an affine transformation and final prediction. In addition, we investigate the effect of dual-mode on parameter-sharing and parameter-independent within the PTB-DDI framework. Furthermore, we conducted comprehensive experiments on the two real-world datasets (i.e., BIOSNAP and DrugBank) to evaluate PTB-DDI framework performance. The results show that our proposed framework has significant improvements over the baselines based on both datasets. Based on the BIOSNAP dataset, the AUC-ROC, PR-AUC, and F1 scores are 0.997, 0.995, and 0.984, respectively. These metrics are 0.896, 0.873, and 0.826 based on the DrugBank dataset. Then, we conduct the case studies on the three newly approved drugs by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2024 using the PTB-DDI framework in dual modes. The obtained results indicate that our proposed framework has advantages for predicting drug-drug interactions and that the dual modes of the framework complement each other. Furthermore, a free website is developed to enhance accessibility and user experience.

Sodium Danshensu (SDSS) is extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza and has many pharmacological effects. However, little is known about its effects on muscle fiber formation and metabolism. Here, we aimed to investigated the role and molecular mechanisms of SDSS in modulating the formation of skeletal muscle fiber. C2C12 cells were incubated in differentiation medium with or without SDSS for 4 days. C57BL/6 mice were orally administered SDSS by gavage once a day for 8 weeks. Grip strength, treadmill, muscle weight, western blotting, qPCR, immunofluorescence staining and H&E staining were performed. SDSS target proteins were searched through drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) and mass spectrometry analysis. Furthermore, molecular docking was carried out for Pyruvate kinase M1 (PKM1). The effect of PKM1 on myosin heavy chain ( MyHCs ) gene expression was verified by knockdown of PKM1 experiment. SDSS induced oxidative muscle fiber-related gene expression, and inhibited glycolytic fiber-related gene expression in C2C12 cells. Muscle mass, the percentage of slow oxidative fibers, succinic dehydrogenase activity, muscle endurance, glucose tolerance, and the expression of the MyHC1 and MyHC2a genes increased while MyHC2b expression, lactate dehydrogenase activity, and the percentage of glycolytic muscle fibers decreased in SDSS-treated mice. Mechanistically, SDSS bound to the pyruvate kinase PKM1 and significantly repressed its activity. PKM1 inhibited MyH C1 and MyHC2 a expression but promoted MyHC2b expression. SDSS also significantly attenuated the effects of PKM1 on muscle fiber-related gene expression in C2C12 cells. Our findings indicate that SDSS promotes muscle fiber transformation from the glycolytic type to the oxidative type by inhibiting PKM1 activity, which provide a new idea for treating muscle atrophy, muscle metabolism diseases and improving animal meat production., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhang, Wu, Li, Sui, Li, Fan, Yang, Liu, Liu, Wu and Li.)

Background: The escalating global prevalence of polypharmacy presents a growing challenge to public health. In light of this issue, the primary objective of our study was to investigate the status of polypharmacy and its association with clinical outcomes in a large sample of hospitalized older patients aged 65 years and over., Methods: A two-year prospective cohort study was carried out at six tertiary-level hospitals in China. Polypharmacy was defined as the prescription of 5 or more different medications daily, including over-the-counter and non-prescription medications. Baseline polypharmacy, multimorbidity, and other variables were collected when at admission, and 2-year outcomes were recorded by telephone follow-up. We used multivariate logistic regression analysis to examine the associations between polypharmacy and 2-year outcomes., Results: The overall response rate was 87.2% and 8713 participants were included in the final analysis. The mean age was 72.40 years (SD = 5.72), and women accounted for 42.2%. The prevalence of polypharmacy among older Chinese inpatients is 23.6%. After adjusting for age, sex, education, marriage status, body mass index, baseline frailty, handgrip strength, cognitive impairment, and the Charlson comorbidity index, polypharmacy is significantly associated with frailty aggravation (OR 1.432, 95% CI 1.258-1.631) and mortality (OR 1.365, 95% CI 1.174-1.592), while inversely associated with readmission (OR 0.870, 95% CI 0.764-0.989). Polypharmacy was associated with a 35.6% increase in the risk of falls (1.356, 95%CI 1.064-1.716). This association weakened after adjustment for multimorbidity to 27.3% (OR 1.273, 95%CI 0.992-1.622)., Conclusions: Polypharmacy was prevalent among older inpatients and was a risk factor for 2-year frailty aggravation and mortality. These results highlight the importance of optimizing medication use in older adults to minimize the risks associated with polypharmacy. Further research and implementing strategies are warranted to enhance the quality of care and safety for older individuals exposed to polypharmacy., Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1800017682, registered 09/08/2018., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The development of small molecule photosensitizers based on iridium complex is limited by the mismatch between therapeutic effect and systemic toxicity, as well as the incomplete understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying cell death induction. Herein, a small molecule iridium complex IrC with high photocytotoxicity is synthesized, with half maximal inhibitory concentration as low as 91 nm, demonstrating excellent anti-tumor, relief of splenomegaly, and negligible side effects. Starting from the factors of effective photosensitizers, the in-depth theoretical analysis on photon absorption efficiency, energy transfer level matching, and properties of the triplet excited state of IrC is conducted. This also elucidates the feasibility of generating the high singlet oxygen quantum yield. In addition, the death mechanism induced by IrC is focused, innovatively utilizing GPX4-overexpression and GPX4-knockout cells via CRISPR/Cas9 technique to comprehensively verify ferroptosis and its further molecular mechanism. The generation of ROS mediated by IrC, along with the direct inhibition of GPX4 and glutathione, synergistically increased cellular oxidative stress and the level of lipid peroxidation. This study provides an effective approach for small molecule complexes to induce GPX4-dependent ferroptosis at low-dose photodynamic therapy., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

6:2 fluorotelomer carboxylic acid (6:2 FTCA) is a perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) substitute, which is supposedly less accumulative and toxic than PFOA. However, 6:2 FTCA is structurally similar to PFOA, and there had already been reports about its toxicities comparable to PFOA. The aim of the current study is to assess potential effects of developmental exposure to 6:2 FTCA on the development of kidney in chicken embryo and to investigate underlying mechanism. Fertile chicken eggs were exposed to 1.25 mg/kg, 2.5 mg/kg or 5 mg/kg doses of 6:2 FTCA, or 2 mg/kg PFOA, then incubated to hatch. Serum and kidney of hatchling chickens were collected. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (Cre) levels were measured with commercially available kits. Morphology of kidney was assessed with histopathology. To further reveal molecular mechanism of observed endpoints, IGF signaling molecules were assessed in the kidney samples with qRT-PCR, results indicated that IGFBP3 is a potentially crucial molecule. Lentiviruses overexpressing or silencing IGFBP3 were designed and applied to enhance/suppress the expression of IGFBP3 in developing chicken embryo for further verification of its role in the observed effects. Disrupted nephron formation, in the manifestation of decreased glomeruli number/area and increased serum BUN/Cre levels, was observed in the animals developmentally exposed to 6:2 FTCA. Correspondingly, IGF signaling molecules (IGF1, IGF1R and IGFBP3) were affected by 6:2 FTCA exposure. Meanwhile, overexpression of IGFBP3 effectively alleviated such changes, while silencing of IGFBP3 mimicked observed effects. In conclusion, developmental exposure to 6:2 FTCA is associated with disrupted chicken embryo renal development, in which IGFBP3 seems to be a remarkable contributor, suggesting potential health risks for human and other species. Further risk assessments and mechanistic works are necessary., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Qixiao Jiang reports financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China. Yuxu Zhong reports financial support was provided by Logistics Scientific Research Plan. Junhua Yuan reports financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The lymphocyte-to-C-reactive protein (LCR) ratio, an immune-inflammatory marker, shows prognostic potential in various cancers. However, its utility in gastrointestinal malignancies remains uncertain due to inconsistent findings. This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesizes recent evidence to elucidate the association between LCR and prognosis in gastrointestinal cancer patients, aiming to clarify LCR's potential role as a prognostic biomarker., Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases up to May 2024 to evaluate the association between LCR and prognosis in gastrointestinal cancer patients. The main outcomes included overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and disease-free survival (DFS). We also analyzed secondary parameters such as geographical region, study duration, sample size, LCR threshold, and patient characteristics (age, gender, tumor location, and TNM stage)., Results: This meta-analysis of 21 cohort studies (n=9,131) finds a significant association between reduced LCR levels and poor prognosis in gastrointestinal cancer. Lower LCR levels were associated with worse overall survival (HR=2.01, 95% CI=1.75-2.31, P <0.001), recurrence-free survival (HR=1.90, 95% CI=1.32-2.76, P <0.001), and disease-free survival (HR=1.76, 95% CI=1.45-2.13, P <0.001). Subgroup analyses by cancer type, timing, and LCR threshold consistently confirmed this relationship ( P <0.05)., Conclusion: LCR may serve as a prognostic marker in gastrointestinal cancer patients, with lower LCR levels associated with poorer prognosis. However, more high-quality studies are needed to validate these findings, considering the limitations of the current evidence., Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42023486858., Competing Interests: The authors declare the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Liu, Zhang, An, Wang, Zheng and Wei.)

Background: Central venous occlusion (CVO) is difficult to treat with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty because the guidewire cannot pass through the occluded segments. In this study, we devised a new method for establishing an extra-anatomic bypass between the right subclavian vein and the superior vena cava via a covered stent to treat whole-segment occlusion of the right brachiocephalic vein (BCV) with calcification., Case Presentation: We present the case of a 58-year-old female patient who complained of right arm swelling present for 1.5 years. Twelve years prior, the patient began hemodialysis because chronic glomerulonephritis had progressed to end-stage renal disease. During the first 3 years, a right internal jugular vein (IJV)-tunneled cuffed catheter was used as the dialysis access, and the catheter was replaced once. A left arteriovenous fistula (AVF) was subsequently established. Owing to occlusion of the left AVF, a new fistula was established on the right upper extremity 1.5 years prior to this visit. Angiography of the right upper extremity revealed complete occlusion of the right BCV and IJV with calcification. Because of the failure to pass the guidewire across the lesion, we established an extra-anatomic bypass between the right subclavian vein and the superior vena cava with a covered stent. Angiography confirmed the patency of whole vascular access system. After 3 months of follow-up, the patient's AVF function and the bypass patency were satisfactory., Conclusions: As a new alternative for the treatment of long, angled CVO with or without calcification, a covered stent can be used to establish an extravascular bypass between central veins., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Secure multi-party computation of Chebyshev distance represents a crucial method for confidential distance measurement, holding significant theoretical and practical implications. Especially within electronic archival management systems, secure computation of Chebyshev distance is employed for similarity measurement, classification, and clustering of sensitive archival information, thereby enhancing the security of sensitive archival queries and sharing. This paper proposes a secure protocol for computing Chebyshev distance under a semi-honest model, leveraging the additive homomorphic properties of the NTRU cryptosystem and a vector encoding method. This protocol transforms the confidential computation of Chebyshev distance into the inner product of confidential computation vectors, as demonstrated through the model paradigm validating its security under the semi-honest model. Addressing potential malicious participant scenarios, a secure protocol for computing Chebyshev distance under a malicious model is introduced, utilizing cryptographic tools such as digital commitments and mutual decryption methods. The security of this protocol under the malicious model is affirmed using the real/ideal model paradigm. Theoretical analysis and experimental simulations demonstrate the efficiency and practical applicability of the proposed schemes., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Anthracyclines have significantly improved the survival of children with malignant tumors, but the associated cardiotoxicity, an effect now under the purview of pediatric cardio-oncology, due to its cumulative and irreversible effects on the heart, limits their clinical application. A systematic screening and risk stratification approach provides the opportunity for early identification and intervention to mitigate, reverse, or prevent myocardial injury, remodeling, and dysfunction associated with anthracyclines. This review summarizes the risk factors, surveillance indexes, and preventive strategies of anthracycline-related cardiotoxicity to improve the safety and efficacy of anthracyclines.

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the primary reason for cancer-related deaths globally. Tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) is an organized collection of immune cells acquired in non-physiological, non-lymphoid tissues. High expression of TLS in tumor tissues is generally associated with better prognosis. This research aimed to investigate the prognostic and clinicopathological significance of TLS in patients with NSCLC., Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted based on Pubmed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases to identify eligible studies published up to December 8, 2023. The prognostic significance and clinicopathological value of TLS in NSCLC were evaluated by calculating the combined hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Following that, additional analyses, including subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis, were conducted., Results: This meta-analysis evaluated the prognostic and clinicopathological significance of TLS in 10 studies involving 1,451 patients with NSCLC. The results revealed that the high levels of TLS were strongly associated with better overall survival (OS) (HR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.35-0.66, p < 0.001), disease-free survival (DFS)/recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.24-0.54, p < 0.001), and disease-specific survival (DSS) (HR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.30-0.68, p < 0.001) in NSCLC patients. In addition, the increased expression of TLS was closely related to the Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) stage of tumors (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.51-1.00, p < 0.05) and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.17-0.62, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: The results revealed that highly expressed TLS is closely associated with a better prognosis in NSCLC patients. TLS may serve as a novel biomarker to predict the prognosis of NSCLC patients and guide the clinical treatment decisions., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The upconversion luminescence (UCL) in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II) is highly attractive due to its excellent performance in high-resolution bioimaging, anticounterfeiting, and temperature sensing. However, upconvertion nanoparticles (UCNPs) are normally emitted in visible light, potentially impacting the imaging quality. Here, a monochromatic Er 3+ -rich (NaErF 4 :x%Yb@NaYF 4 ) nanoparticles with excitation at 1532 nm and emission at 978 nm is proposed, both situated in the NIR-II region. The proper proportion of Yb 3+ ions doping has a positive effect on the NIR-II emission, by enhancing the cross relaxation efficiency and accelerating the energy transfer rate. Owing to the interaction between the Er 3+ and Yb 3+ is inhibited at low temperatures, the UCL emission intensities at visible and NIR-II regions show opposite trend with temperature changing, which establishes a fitting formula to derive temperature from the luminous intensity ratio, promoting the potential application of UCL in NIR-II regions for the temperature sensing., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

A stable isotope dilution-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method based on a low-temperature derivatization strategy with 3-nitrophenylhydrazine (3-NPH) was developed for the determination of six volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in serum, urine, and feces. Ice acetonitrile was used to precipitate proteins and extract the target analytes. The extract was derivatized with 3-NPH methanol solution at 4 °C. BEH C8 (1.7 μm, 2.1 × 100 mm) column was used for chromatographic separation, and acetonitrile-water (both containing 0.01 % formic acid) were used as the mobile phase with a gradient elution of 10 min. Electrospray ionization source (ESI) in negative ion multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode were used for analyte detection. The regression coefficients R 2 of the calibration curves for the six VFAs were in the range of 0.9963-0.9994, and the LOQs were in the range of 0.02-0.5 μg mL -1 , with the recoveries in the range of 85.3-104.3 %, and the intra- and inter-day precision in the range of 1.8-9.1 %. The method is simple, accurate and reliable, and has been applied in the sensitive determination of VFAs in complex biological samples., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aim: To explore the global burden of pancreatic cancer (PC) from 1990 to 2019, evaluate independent effects of age, period, and cohort on the incidence of PC, and predict the incidence of PC in the next decade., Methods: Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. We calculated the age-standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALY) rate, age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR), age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), and age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR) of PC. Joinpoint Poisson regression analysis was performed to identify the temporal trends in the incidence of PC. Then, a two-factor model was constructed using the Poisson log-linear model, and a three-factor model was constructed using the intrinsic estimator (IE) method to estimate the independent effects of age, period, and cohort on the incidence of PC. Finally, the Bayesian age-period-cohort (BAPC) model was also used to predict the age-standardized global incidence rate of PC and age-standardized new PC cases from 2020 to 2030., Results: Overall, the DALY rate, ASMR, ASIR, and ASPR all increased from 1990 to 2019. The ASIR in males increased from 6 per 100,000 in 1990 to 7.5 per 100,000 in 2019 and was predicted to rise to 8.2 per 100,000 by 2030. Meanwhile, the ASIR in females rose from 4.5 per 100,000 in 1990 to 5.7 per 100,000 in 2019 and was predicted to rise to 6.3 per 100,000 by 2030. The age effect on the incidence of PC showed sharp increasing trends from 40 to 79 years. The period effect continuously increased with advancing periods, but the cohort effect showed substantial decreasing trends., Conclusions: The age and period effect on the incidence of PC presented increasing trends, while the cohort effect showed decreasing trends. All indicators of the global burden of PC are increasing in both males and females, and the ASIR is predicted to rise at an alarming rate by 2030. Thus, timely screening and intervention are recommended, especially for earlier birth cohorts at high risk., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Obesity and obesity-related metabolic disorders are global epidemics that occur when there is chronic energy intake exceeding energy expenditure. Growing evidence suggests that healthy dietary patterns not only decrease the risk of obesity but also influence the composition and function of the gut microbiota. Numerous studies manifest that the development of obesity is associated with gut microbiota. One promising supplementation strategy is modulating gut microbiota composition by dietary patterns to combat obesity. In this review, we discuss the changes of gut microbiota in obesity and obesity-related metabolic disorders, with a particular emphasis on the impact of dietary components on gut microbiota and how common food patterns can intervene in gut microbiota to prevent obesity. While there is promise in intervening with the gut microbiota to combat obesity through the regulation of dietary patterns, numerous key questions remain unanswered. In this review, we critically review the associations between dietary patterns, gut microbes, and obesity, aiming to contribute to the further development and application of dietary patterns against obesity in humans., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Lou, Li, Luo, Lei, Liu, Liu, Gao, Xu and Liu.)

Jujubae Fructus, the fruit of Ziziphus jujuba Mill has been used as one of the medicine food homology species for thousands of years in China. Studies have shown that the active ingredients of Jujubae Fructus have a variety of biological effects, but its role in the aging process still lacks knowledge. Here, we investigated the effect of Jujubae Fructus extract (JE) on Caenorhabditis elegans lifespan and its potential mechanism. The lifespan of C. elegans treated with JE was signifificantly increased in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, JE treatment prolonged the reproductive period and increased normal activity during aging in C. elegans. Similarly, JE supplementation also enhanced the resistance to heat and oxidative stress in C. elegans. Furthermore, the mutant worms' lifespan assays demonstrated that JE requires daf-16 to prolong lifespan. DAF-16::GFP analysis of TJ356 showed that JE treatment translocates DAF-16::GFP to nucleus in transgenic worms. By analyzing the downstream of daf-16, we identify that JE may regulate sod3 downstream of daf-16. Mutant worms' lifespan and transgenic reporter gene expression assays revealed that increasing SOD-3 expression was critical for extending longevity in C. elegans with JE therapy. Collectively, these data indicate that JE may have an important role in C. elegans longevity that is dependent on DAF-16 and SOD-3., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Flavonoids are crucial medicinal active ingredients in Ginkgo biloba L. However, the effect of protein post-translational modifications on flavonoid biosynthesis remains poorly explored. Lysine acetylation, a reversible post-translational modification, plays a crucial role in metabolic regulation. This study aims to investigate the potential role of acetylation in G. biloba flavonoid biosynthesis. Through comprehensive analysis of transcriptomes, metabolomes, proteomes and acetylated proteins in different tissues, a total of 11,788 lysine acetylation sites were identified on 4324 acetylated proteins, including 89 acetylation sites on 23 proteins. Additionally, 128 types of differentially accumulated flavonoids were identified among tissues, and a dataset of differentially expressed genes related to the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway was constructed. Twelve (CHI, C3H1, ANR, DFR, CCoAOMT1, F3H1, F3H2, CCoAOMT2, C3H2, HCT, F3'5'H and FG2) acetylated proteins that might be involved in flavonoid biosynthesis were identified. Specifically, we found that the modification levels of CCoAOMT1 and F3'5'H sites correlated with the catalytic production of homoeriodictyol and dihydromyricetin, respectively. Inhibitors of lysine deacetylase (trichostatin A) impacted total flavonoid content in different tissues and increased flavonoid levels in G. biloba roots. Treatment with trichostatin A revealed that expression levels of GbF3'5'H and GbCCoAOMT1 in stems and leaves aligned with total flavonoid content variations, while in roots, expression levels of GbC3H2 and GbFG2 corresponded to total flavonoid content changes. Collectively, these findings reveal for the first time the important role of acetylation in flavonoid biosynthesis., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permission@oup.com.)

Aqueous non-metallic ion batteries have attracted much attention in recent years owing to their fast kinetics, long cycle life, and low manufacture cost. Organic compounds with flexible structural designability are promising electrode materials for aqueous non-metallic ion batteries. In this review, the recent progress of organic electrode materials is systematically summarized for aqueous non-metallic ion batteries with the focus on the interaction between non-metallic ion charge carriers and organic electrode host materials. Both the cations (proton, ammonium ion, and methyl viologen ions) and anions (chloridion, sulfate ion, perchlorate ion, trifluoromethanesulfonate and trifluoromethanesulfonimide ion) storage are discussed. Moreover, the design strategies toward improving the comprehensive performance of organic electrode materials in aqueous non-metallic ion batteries will be summarized. More organic electrode materials with new reaction mechanisms need to be explored to meet the diverse demands of aqueous non-metallic ion batteries with different charge carriers in the future. This review provides insights into developing high-performance organic electrodes for aqueous non-metallic ion batteries., (© 2023 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The rapid advancement of photodynamic therapy (PDT) antibacterial materials has led to promising alternatives to antibiotics for treating bacterial infections. However, antibacterial drugs have poor light absorption and utilization rates, which limits their practical application. Constructing two-dimensional (2D) heterojunctions from materials with matching photophysical properties has emerged as a highly effective strategy for achieving high-efficiency photo-antibacterial performance. Here, we designed and prepared an atom co-sharing Bi/Bi 4 O 5 Br 2 nanosheet heterojunction by a simple in situ reduction. This heterojunction material combines outstanding biocompatibility with excellent bactericidal efficiency, which exceeded 90 % against Escherichia coli (a Gram-negative bacterium) and Staphylococcus aureus (a Gram-positive bacterium) under visible light irradiation, around nine-fold higher than that with pure Bi 4 O 5 Br 2 nanosheets. The results suggest that localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of shared Bi atoms on the Bi 4 O 5 Br 2 nanosheets promotes light utilization and the separation and transfer of photo-generated charges, thus producing more abundant reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can partake in the PDT antibacterial effect. Our study underscores the potential utility of LSPR-enhanced Bi-based nanosheet heterojunctions for safe and efficient PDT to combat bacterial infections., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Terpene trilactones (TTLs) are important secondary metabolites in ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba); however, their biosynthesis gene regulatory network remains unclear. Here, we isolated a G. biloba ethylene response factor 4 (GbERF4) involved in TTL synthesis. Overexpression of GbERF4 in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) significantly increased terpenoid content and upregulated the expression of key enzyme genes (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase [HMGR], 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase [HMGS], 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase [DXR], 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase [DXS], acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase [AACT], and geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase [GGPPS]) in the terpenoid pathway in tobacco, suggesting that GbERF4 functions in regulating the synthesis of terpenoids. The expression pattern analysis and previous microRNA (miRNA) sequencing showed that gb-miR160 negatively regulates the biosynthesis of TTLs. Transgenic experiments showed that overexpression of gb-miR160 could significantly inhibit the accumulation of terpenoids in tobacco. Targeted inhibition and dual-luciferase reporter assays confirmed that gb-miR160 targets and negatively regulates GbERF4. Transient overexpression of GbERF4 increased TTL content in G. biloba, and further transcriptome analysis revealed that DXS, HMGS, CYPs, and transcription factor genes were upregulated. In addition, yeast 1-hybrid and dual-luciferase reporter assays showed that GbERF4 could bind to the promoters of the HMGS1, AACT1, DXS1, levopimaradiene synthase (LPS2), and GGPPS2 genes in the TTL biosynthesis pathway and activate their expression. In summary, this study investigated the molecular mechanism of the gb-miR160-GbERF4 regulatory module in regulating the biosynthesis of TTLs. It provides information for enriching the understanding of the regulatory network of TTL biosynthesis and offers important gene resources for the genetic improvement of G. biloba with high contents of TTLs., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement. The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

(1) Background: Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are a series of unique organ-specific inflammatory toxicities observed in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing PD-1 inhibition combination therapy. The specific underlying mechanisms remain unclear. (2) Methods: We recruited 71 patients with HCC undergoing PD-1 inhibition combination therapy. These patients were then divided into two groups based on irAE occurrence: 34 had irAEs and 37 did not. Using Olink proteomics, we analyzed the aberrant inflammation-related proteins (IRPs) in these patient groups. For single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis, we collected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from two representative patients at the pretreatment, irAE occurrence, and resolution stages. (3) Results: Our study revealed distinct plasma protein signatures in HCC patients experiencing irAEs after PD-1 inhibition combination therapy. We clarified the relationship between monocyte activation and irAEs, identified a strongly associated CD14-MC-CCL3 monocyte subset, and explored the role of the IFN-γ signaling pathway in monocyte activation during irAEs. (4) Conclusions: The activation of monocytes induced by the IFN-γ signaling pathway is an important mechanism underlying the occurrence of irAEs in HCC patients receiving PD-1 inhibition combination therapy.

Background: Aging has been implicated in many chronic inflammatory diseases, including periodontitis. Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease caused by long-term irritation of the periodontal tissues by the plaque biofilm on the surface of the teeth. However, only a few bibliometric analyses have systematically studied this field to date. This work sought to visualize research hot spots and trends in aging associated with periodontitis from 2002 to 2023 through bibliometric approaches., Methods: Graphpad prism v8.0.2 was used to analyse and plot annual papers, national publication trends and national publication heat maps. In addition, CtieSpace (6.1.6R (64-bit) Advanced Edition) and VOSviewer (version 1.6.18) were used to analyse these data and visualize the scientific knowledge graph., Results: The number of documents related to aging associated with periodontitis has steadily increased over 21 years. With six of the top ten institutions in terms of publications coming from the US, the US is a major driver of research in this area. journal of periodontology is the most published journal in the field. Tonetti MS is the most prolific authors and co-cited authors in the field. Journal of Periodontology and Journal of Clinical Periodontology are the most popular journals in the field with the largest literature. Periodontitis, Alzheimer's disease, and peri-implantitis are current hot topics and trends in the field. Inflammation, biomarkers, oxidative stress cytokines are current research hotspots in this field., Conclusion: Our research found that global publications regarding research on aging associated with periodontitis increased dramatically and were expected to continue increasing. Inflammation and aging, and the relationship between periodontitis and systemic diseases, are topics worthy of attention., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Liu and Li.)

Aqueous batteries, with the advantages of high safety and low cost, are highly promising for large-scale energy storage. However, freezing of the aqueous electrolyte limits the low-temperature operation. Here, we propose and achieve a highly dispersed solvation structure in the electrolyte by coupling nonaggregated Cl - anions, which reduces the water cluster size and prevents the solidification of the aqueous electrolyte until -136.3 °C. The low-temperature LiCl electrolyte exhibits a high ionic conductivity (1.0 mS cm -1 ) at -80 °C and enables a stable low-temperature Ag/AgCl reference electrode at -50 °C. Moreover, the polyaniline-based battery can work at an extremely low temperature of -100 °C and shows superior cycling performance of 4000 cycles at -40 °C with 95.7% capacity retention. This work elucidates the correlation between the anion effect and the thermodynamic transition of the electrolyte, offering a novel approach for designing low-temperature electrolytes.

The gut microbiota are known to play an important role in host health and disease. Alterations in the gut microbiota composition can disrupt the stability of the gut ecosystem, which may result in noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCCDs). Remodeling the gut microbiota through personalized nutrition is a novel therapeutic avenue for both disease control and prevention. However, whether there are commonly used gut microbiota-targeted diets and how gut microbiota-diet interactions combat NCCDs and improve health remain questions to be addressed. Lactoferrin (LF), which is broadly used in dietary supplements, acts not only as an antimicrobial in the defense against enteropathogenic bacteria but also as a prebiotic to propagate certain probiotics. Thus, LF-induced gut microbiota alterations can be harnessed to induce changes in host physiology, and the underpinnings of their relationships and mechanisms are beginning to unravel in studies involving humans and animal models.

Cardiac microtissues provide a promising platform for disease modeling and developmental studies, which require the close monitoring of the multimodal excitation-contraction dynamics. However, no existing assessing tool can track these multimodal dynamics across the live tissue. We develop a tissue-like mesh bioelectronic system to track these multimodal dynamics. The mesh system has tissue-level softness and cell-level dimensions to enable stable embedment in the tissue. It is integrated with an array of graphene sensors, which uniquely converges both bioelectrical and biomechanical sensing functionalities in one device. The system achieves stable tracking of the excitation-contraction dynamics across the tissue and throughout the developmental process, offering comprehensive assessments for tissue maturation, drug effects, and disease modeling. It holds the promise to provide more accurate quantification of the functional, developmental, and pathophysiological states in cardiac tissues, creating an instrumental tool for improving tissue engineering and studies., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Terpenoids are the main active components in the Zanthoxylum armatum leaves, which have extensive medicinal value. The Z. armatum leaf is the main by-product in the Z. armatum industry. However, the transcription factors involved in the biosynthesis of terpenoids are rarely reported. This study was performed to identify and classify the APETALA2/ethylene-responsive factor (AP2/ERF) gene family of Z. armatum. The chromosome distribution, gene structure, conserved motifs, and cis-acting elements of the promoter of the species were also comprehensively analyzed. A total of 214 ZaAP2/ERFs were identified. From the obtained transcriptome and terpenoid content data, four candidate ZaAP2/ERFs involved in the biosynthesis of terpenoids were selected via correlation and weighted gene co-expression network analysis. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using 13 AP2/ERFs related to the biosynthesis of terpenoids in other plants. ZaERF063 and ZaERF166 showed close evolutionary relationships with the ERFs in other plant species and shared a high AP2-domain sequence similarity with the two closest AP2/ERF proteins, namelySmERF8 from Salvia miltiorrhiza and AaERF4 from Artemisia annua. Further investigation into the effects of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment on the content of terpenoids in Z. armatum leaves revealed that MeJA significantly induced the upregulation of ZaERF166 and led to a significant increase in the terpenoids content in Z. armatum leaves, indicating that ZaERF166 might be involved in the accumulation of terpenoids of Z. armatum. Results will be beneficial for the functional characterization of AP2/ERFs in Z. armatum and establishment of the theoretical foundation to increase the production of terpenoids via the manipulation of the regulatory elements and strengthen the development and utilization of Z. armatum leaves., (© 2023 The Authors. The Plant Genome published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Crop Science Society of America.)

Phthalates are commonly used as plasticizers. Numerous studies have focused on endocrine, reproductive, and developmental toxicity of phthalates exposure to male organisms. In recent years, some studies looking into the aging effects of phthalates exposure in D. melanogaster showed discrepant results. In this study, we compared the different concentrations of Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) for acute and chronic treatment for different gender D. melanogaster and explored the potential mechanism of DEHP and DINP exposure. The results showed that acute exposure to DEHP or DINP at a high dose significantly decreased the lifespan of female and male D. melanogaster under HFD stress. Chronic exposure significantly decreased the lifespan of flies in all exposure groups except for the low-dose DINP exposure female group. Among them, in the normal feeding group, we found that female flies seemed to be more resistant to DEHP or DINP exposure. Meanwhile, the locomotion ability and fertility of flies exhibited a dose-dependent decline. Furthermore, phthalates did not significantly reduce the lifespan or health status of akt and foxo mutant flies in the mutant fly assays, and real-time quantitative-PCR (q-PCR) data revealed akt and foxo significant change with 10 μM DEHP or DINP treatment. This suggests that akt and foxo played a role in the process by which DEHP and DINP caused age-related declines in D. melanogaster., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Air humidity is a vast, sustainable reservoir of energy that, unlike solar and wind, is continuously available. However, previously described technologies for harvesting energy from air humidity are either not continuous or require unique material synthesis or processing, which has stymied scalability and broad deployment. Here, a generic effect for continuous energy harvesting from air humidity is reported, which can be applied to a broad range of inorganic, organic, and biological materials. The common feature of these materials is that they are engineered with appropriate nanopores to allow air water to pass through and undergo dynamic adsorption-desorption exchange at the porous interface, resulting in surface charging. The top exposed interface experiences this dynamic interaction more than the bottom sealed interface in a thin-film device structure, yielding a spontaneous and sustained charging gradient for continuous electric output. Analyses of material properties and electric outputs lead to a "leaky capacitor" model that can describe how electricity is harvested and predict current behaviors consistent with experiments. Predictions from the model guide the fabrication of devices made from heterogeneous junctions of different materials to further expand the device category. The work opens a wide door for the broad exploration of sustainable electricity from air., (© 2023 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Rechargeable aqueous batteries are potential systems for large-scale energy storage due to their high safety and low cost. However, developing aqueous batteries with high sustainability, affordability, and reversibility is urgent and challenging. Here we report an amphoteric aluminum hydroxyacetate (AlAc(OH) 2 ) electrolyte with the ability of bipolar ionization of H + and OH - , which facilitates the redox reactions at both the anthraquinone (AQ) anode and nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH) 2 ) cathode. The bipolar ionization ability of the AlAc(OH) 2 (H 2 O) 3 solvation structure results from the strong polarization ability of Al 3+ and OH - . The H + /OH - dissociation ability with a dissociation constant of 5.0/3.0 is stronger than that of water (14.0), which boosts the simultaneous stable redox reactions of electrodes. Specifically, H + uptake prevents the AQ anode from the formation of an ionic bond, suppressing the electrode dissolution, whereas OH - provides the local alkaline environment for the stable conversion reaction of the Ni(OH) 2 cathode. The AQ anode in the designed AQ||Ni(OH) 2 battery delivers a discharge capacity of 243.9 mAh g -1 and a capacity retention of 78.2% after 300 cycles with high reversibility. Moreover, a pouch cell with a discharge capacity of 0.90 Ah was assembled, exhibiting an energy density of 44.7 Wh kg -1 based on the total mass of the battery. This work significantly widens the types of aqueous batteries and represents a design philosophy of bipolar electrolytes and distinct electrochemical reactions with H + and OH - .

Anthropogenic emissions are recognized as significant contributors to atmospheric soluble iron (Fe) in recent years, which may affect marine primary productivity, especially in Fe-limited areas. However, the contribution of different emission sources to Fe in marine aerosol has been primarily estimated by modeling approaches. Quantifying anthropogenic Fe based on field measurements remains a great challenge. In this study, online multi-element measurements and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) were combined for the first time to quantify sources of atmospheric Fe and soluble Fe in the Northwest Pacific during a cruise in spring 2015. Fe concentration in 624 atmospheric PM 2.5 samples measured online was 74.58 ± 90.87 ng/m 3 . The PMF results showed anthropogenic activities, including industrial coal combustion, biomass burning, and maritime transport, were important in this region, contributing 31.4 % of atmospheric Fe on average. In addition, anthropogenic Fe concentration resolved by PMF was comparable to the simulation results of the CMAQ (Community Multiscale Air Quality) and GEOS-Chem (Goddard Earth Observing System-Chemical transport) models, with better correlation to CMAQ (r = 0.76) than GEOS-Chem (r = 0.26). This study developed a new method to estimate atmospheric soluble Fe, which integrates Fe source apportionment results and Fe solubility from different sources. Soluble Fe concentration was estimated as 3.93 ± 5.14 ng/m 3 , of which 87.0 % was attributed to anthropogenic emissions. Notably, ship emission alone contributed 27.5 % of soluble Fe, though its contribution to total Fe was only 2.2 %. Finally, the total deposition fluxes of atmospheric Fe (37.11 ± 38.43 μg/m 2 /day) and soluble Fe (1.85 ± 2.13 μg/m 2 /day) were estimated. This study developed a new methodology for quantifying contribution of anthropogenic emissions to Fe in marine aerosol, which could greatly help the assessment of impacts of human activities on marine environment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Bacillus velezensis B31 is tolerant to fusaric acid, exhibits antagonism against Fusarium oxysporum , and has an excellent control effect on tomato fusarium wilt. Here, we present the complete genome sequence of B31, which contains 4,056,755 bp DNA with a G + C ratio of 46.39%. The genome has 3,838 protein-coding genes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rho GTPase activating protein 18 (ARHGAP18), a member of the RhoGAP gene family that increases GTP hydrolysis and inhibits RhoGTPase, was recently discovered to play a role in the development of breast cancer. However, its exact biological role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. In our present study, we comprehensively assessed ARHGAP18 expression and its correlation with the prognostic value of cancer patients in databases. Cell proliferation and colony formation assays were employed to monitor cell growth. Luciferase reporter assay, Chromatin immunoprecipitation qPCR (ChIP-qPCR), immunofluorescence were performed for mechanism research. The expression of genes and proteins was detected by real-time PCR and western blotting. According to the findings of this research, ARHGAP18 protein levels are increased in HCC tissues compared to adjacent nontumor tissues, and ARHGAP18 overexpression is associated with poor survival. The results of a gain- and loss-of-function experiment with HCC cells in vitro demonstrated that ARHGAP18 stimulated cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Mechanistically, we found that the transcription factor GATA binding protein 1 (GATA1) could bind to the ARHGAP18 promoter and facilitate ARHGAP18 expression. Further studies revealed that the effects of ARHGAP18 silencing on HCCLM3 and Bel-7402 cells were blocked by GATA1 overexpression. In conclusion, GATA1-mediated ARHGAP18 up-regulation plays an important role in HCC tumorigenesis and might be a potential therapeutic target for HCC., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

This study aims to assess the role of methotrexate-related gene polymorphisms in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) during high-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) therapy and to explore their effects on serum metabolites before and after HD-MTX treatment. The MTHFR 677C>T, MTHFR 1298A>C, ABCB1 3435C>T, and GSTP1 313A>G genotypes of 189 children with ALL who received chemotherapy with the CCCG-ALL-2020 regimen from January 2020 to April 2023 were analyzed, and toxic effects were reported according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE, version 5.0). Fasting peripheral blood serum samples were collected from 27 children before and after HD-MTX treatment, and plasma metabolites were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The results of univariate and multivariate analyses showed that MTHFR 677C>T and ABCB1 3435 C>T gene polymorphisms were associated with the delayed MTX clearance (P < 0.05) and lower platelet count after treatment in children with MTHFR 677 mutation compared with wild-type ones (P < 0.05), and pure mutations in ABCB1 3435 were associated with higher serum creatinine levels (P < 0.05). No significant association was identified between MTHFR 677C>T, MTHFR 1298A>C, ABCB1 3435 C>T, and GSTP1 313A>G genes and hepatotoxicity or nephrotoxicity (P > 0.05). However, the serum metabolomic analysis indicated that the presence of the MTHFR 677C > T gene polymorphism could potentially contribute to delayed MTX clearance by influencing L-phenylalanine metabolism, leading to the occurrence of related toxic side effects., Conclusion: MTHFR 677C>T and ABCB1 3435 C>T predicted the risk of delayed MTX clearance during HD-MTX treatment in children with ALL. Serum L-phenylalanine levels were significantly elevated after HD-MTX treatment in children with the MTHFR 677C>T mutation gene., Trial Registration: This study was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR2000035264; registration: 2020/08/05; https://www.chictr.org.cn/ )., What Is Known: • MTX-related genes play an important role in MTX pharmacokinetics and toxicity, but results from different studies are inconsistent and the mechanisms involved are not clear., What Is New: • Characteristics, prognosis, polymorphisms of MTX-related genes, and metabolite changes were comprehensively evaluated in children treated with HD-MTX chemotherapy. • Analysis revealed that both heterozygous and pure mutations in MTHFR 677C>T resulted in a significantly increased risk of delayed MTX clearance, and that L-phenylalanine has the potential to serve as a predictive marker for the metabolic effects of the MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

As integral components of the immune microenvironment, tissue resident macrophages (TRMs) represent a self-renewing and long-lived cell population that plays crucial roles in maintaining homeostasis, promoting tissue remodeling after damage, defending against inflammation and even orchestrating cancer progression. However, the exact functions and roles of TRMs in cancer are not yet well understood. TRMs exhibit either pro-tumorigenic or anti-tumorigenic effects by engaging in phagocytosis and secreting diverse cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors to modulate the adaptive immune system. The life-span, turnover kinetics and monocyte replenishment of TRMs vary among different organs, adding to the complexity and controversial findings in TRMs studies. Considering the complexity of tissue associated macrophage origin, macrophages targeting strategy of each ontogeny should be carefully evaluated. Consequently, acquiring a comprehensive understanding of TRMs' origin, function, homeostasis, characteristics, and their roles in cancer for each specific organ holds significant research value. In this review, we aim to provide an outline of homeostasis and characteristics of resident macrophages in the lung, liver, brain, skin and intestinal, as well as their roles in modulating primary and metastatic cancer, which may inform and serve the future design of targeted therapies., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Swept laser based on the acousto-optic deflector (AOD) is a promising swept source in optical coherence tomography (OCT) applications for its high wavenumber linear sweep without mechanical motion. However, the poor coherence length and the elongated cavity of the laser imposed limitations on the acquisition of high-quality images with adequate imaging depth and high imaging speed. In this Letter, we demonstrate a compact high-speed wavenumber linear swept laser based on AOD using Doppler shift compensation, achieving a high linearity of Pearson's R of 0.999991, a duty cycle of ∼100%, an extended coherence length of 5.7 mm, an output power of 18 mW, and excellent phase stability at a sweep speed of 500 kHz. OCT structural images with a system sensitivity of 103.2 dB and OCT angiography (OCTA) of human palm in vivo have been successfully performed, serving as a compelling demonstration of the excellent performance of this swept laser. We believe that the proposed laser will be of high potential in various clinical and industrial applications in the future.

A highly sensitive quantitative PCR (qPCR) method was developed for detection and quantification of Bacillus velezensis HMB26553 in cotton rhizosphere. The study aimed to develop a quantitative detection method for the strain HMB26553, and explore the relationship between its colonization of the cotton rhizosphere and its control effect. The whole genome sequence of strain HMB26553 was obtained by genome sequencing and a unique specific sequence pB-gene0026 on plasmid plaBV2 was identified by using high-throughput alignment against NCBI. Plasmid plaBV2 could be stably genetically inherited. Based on this sequence, specific primers for amplifying 106 bp and a minor groove binder (MGB) TaqMan probe for enhancing sensitivity were designed. The copy number of plaBV2 in strain HMB26553, which was 2, was confirmed by internal reference primers and the MGB TaqMan probe based on housekeeping gene gyrB. The established detection technique based on these primers and probes had high specificity and sensitivity compared to traditional plate counting method, with a detection limit of 1.5 copy genome. Using this method, the study discovered a likely correlation between the quantity of colonization in cotton rhizosphere and efficacy against cotton damping-off caused by Rhizoctonia after seed soaking and irrigation with strain HMB26553. Thus, this method provides scientific support for the rational application of strain HMB26553 in the future., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Systemic amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis, which is considered the second most common form of systemic amyloidosis usually takes place several years prior to the occurrence of chronic inflammation, generally involving the kidney. Activated HSF1, which alleviated unfolded protein response (UPR) or enhanced HSR, is the potential therapeutic target of many diseases. However, the effect of HSF1 on AA amyloidosis remains unclear. This study focused on evaluating effect of HSF1 on AA amyloidosis based on HSF1 knockout mice. As a result, aggravated amyloid deposits and renal dysfunction have been found in HSF1 knockout mice. In progressive AA amyloidosis, HSF1 deficiency enhances serum amyloid A production might to lead to severe AA amyloid deposition in mice, which may be related to deactivated unfolded protein response as well as enhanced inflammation. Thus, HSF1 plays a significant role on UPR related pathway impacting AA amyloid deposition, which can mitigate amyloidogenic proteins from aggregation pathologically and is the possible way for intervening with the pathology of systemic amyloid disorder. In conclusion, HSF1 could not only serve as a new target for AA amyloidosis treatment in the future, but HSF1 knockout mice also can be considered as a valuable novel animal model for renal AA amyloidosis.

A microbial fungicide developed from Bacillus subtilis NCD-2 has been registered for suppressing verticillium wilt in crops in China. Spores are the main ingredient of this fungicide and play a crucial role in suppressing plant disease. Therefore, increasing the number of spores of strain NCD-2 during fermentation is important for reducing the cost of the fungicide. In this study, five kinds of carbon sources were found to promote the metabolism of strain NCD-2 revealed via Biolog Phenotype MicroArray (PM) technology. L-arabinose showed the strongest ability to promote the growth and sporulation of strain NCD-2. L-arabinose increased the bacterial concentration and the sporulation efficiency of strain NCD-2 by 2.04 times and 1.99 times compared with D-glucose, respectively. Moreover, L-arabinose significantly decreased the autolysis of strain NCD-2. Genes associated with arabinose metabolism, sporulation, spore resistance to heat, and spore coat formation were significantly up-regulated, and genes associated with sporulation-delaying protein were significantly down-regulated under L-arabinose treatment. The deletion of msmX , which is involved in arabinose transport in the Bacillus genus, decreased growth and sporulation by 53.71% and 86.46% compared with wild-type strain NCD-2, respectively. Complementing the mutant strain by importing an intact msmX gene restored the strain's growth and sporulation.

SiGe/Si multilayer is the core structure of the active area of gate-all-around field-effect transistors and semiconductor quantum computing devices. In this paper, high-quality SiGe/Si multilayers have been grown by a reduced-pressure chemical vapor deposition system. The effects of temperature, pressure, interface processing (dichlorosilane (SiH 2 Cl 2 , DCS) and hydrogen chloride (HCl)) on improving the transition thickness of SiGe to Si interfaces were investigated. The interface quality was characterized by transmission electron microscopy/atomic force microscopy/high-resolution X-ray diffraction methods. It was observed that limiting the migration of Ge atoms in the interface was critical for optimizing a sharp interface, and the addition of DCS was found to decrease the interface transition thickness. The change of the interfacial transition layer is not significant in the short treatment time of HCl. When the processing time of HCl is increased, the internal interface is optimized to a certain extent but the corresponding film thickness is also reduced. This study provides technical support for the acquisition of an abrupt interface and will have a very favorable influence on the performance improvement of miniaturized devices in the future.

Realizing the simultaneous speedy detection of multiple mycotoxins in contaminated food and feed is of great practical importance in the domain of food manufacturing and security. Herein, a fluorescent aptamer sensor based on self-assembled DNA double-crossover was developed and used for effective simultaneous quantitative detection of aflatoxins M 1 and B 1 by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Fluorescent dye-modified aflatoxin M 1 and B 1 aptamers are selected as recognition elements and signal probes, and DNA double crosses are consistently locked by the aflatoxin aptamers, which results in a "turn-off" of the fluorescent signal. In the presence of AFM 1 and AFB 1 , the aptamer sequences are more inclined to form Apt-AFM 1 and Apt-AFB 1 complexes, and the fluorescent probes are released from the DNA double-crossing platform, leading to an enhanced fluorescent signal (Cy3: 568 nm; Cy5: 660 nm). Under the optimal conditions, the signal response of the constructed fluorescent aptamer sensor showed good linearity with the logarithm of AFM 1 and AFB 1 concentrations, with detection limits of 6.24 pg/mL and 9.0 pg/mL, and a wide linear range of 0.01-200 ng/mL and 0.01-150 ng/mL, respectively. In addition, the effect of potential interfering substances in real samples was analyzed, and the aptasensor presented a good interference immunity. Moreover, by modifying and designing aptamer probes, the sensor can be applied to high-throughput simultaneous screening of other analytes, providing a new approach for the development of fluorescent aptamer sensors., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The regenerative ability of the liver is essential for maintaining physiological functions and the injury repair process. The biological mechanisms that regulate liver regeneration remain poorly defined. These mechanisms are notable issues in clinical practice that affect the treatment of hepatic loss caused by hepatectomy, hepatic poisoning, or chronic viral infection. Increasing evidence shows that numerous growth factors, cytokines, and metabolic pathways influence the liver regenerative process. Of particular importance are cytokines and growth factors, which affect different stages of liver regeneration. In this review, we summarize the results obtained from studies that focused on the role of growth factors and cytokines in liver regeneration to reflect on the clinical implications and areas for further study.

The HLA-A*24:604 allele differs from HLA-A*24:02:01 by a single nucleotide in exon 3, at position 436., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

High recurrence and metastasis rates and poor prognoses are the major challenges of current cancer therapy. Mounting evidence suggests that cancer stem cells (CSCs) play an important role in cancer development, chemoradiotherapy resistance, recurrence, and metastasis. Therefore, targeted CSC therapy has become a new strategy for solving the problems of cancer metastasis and recurrence. Since the properties of CSCs are regulated by the specific tumour microenvironment, the so-called CSC niche, which targets crosstalk between CSCs and their niches, is vital in our pursuit of new therapeutic opportunities to prevent cancer from recurring. In this review, we aim to highlight the factors within the CSC niche that have important roles in regulating CSC properties, including the extracellular matrix (ECM), stromal cells (e.g., associated macrophages (TAMs), cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)), and physiological changes (e.g., inflammation, hypoxia, and angiogenesis). We also discuss recent progress regarding therapies targeting CSCs and their niche to elucidate developments of more effective therapeutic strategies to eliminate cancer., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Objective: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the most immunosuppressive tumour types. The tumour immune microenvironment (TIME) is largely driven by interactions between immune cells and heterogeneous tumour cells. Here, we aimed to investigate the mechanism of tumour cells in TIME formation and provide potential combination treatment strategies for PDAC patients based on genotypic heterogeneity., Design: Highly multiplexed imaging mass cytometry, RNA sequencing, mass cytometry by time of flight and multiplex immunofluorescence staining were performed to identify the pro-oncogenic proteins associated with low immune activation in PDAC. An in vitro coculture system, an orthotopic PDAC allograft tumour model, flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry were used to explore the biological functions of cysteine-rich intestinal protein 1 (CRIP1) in tumour progression and TIME formation. RNA sequencing, mass spectrometry and chromatin immunoprecipitation were subsequently conducted to investigate the underlying mechanisms of CRIP1., Results: Our results showed that CRIP1 was frequently upregulated in PDAC tissues with low immune activation. Elevated CRIP1 expression induced high levels of myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) infiltration and fostered an immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment. Mechanistically, we primarily showed that CRIP1 bound to nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB)/p65 and facilitated its nuclear translocation in an importin-dependent manner, leading to the transcriptional activation of CXCL1/5. PDAC-derived CXCL1/5 facilitated the chemotactic migration of MDSCs to drive immunosuppression. SX-682, an inhibitor of CXCR1/2, blocked tumour MDSC recruitment and enhanced T-cell activation. The combination of anti-PD-L1 therapy with SX-682 elicited increased CD8+T cell infiltration and potent antitumor activity in tumour-bearing mice with high CRIP1 expression., Conclusions: The CRIP1/NF-κB/CXCL axis is critical for triggering immune evasion and TIME formation in PDAC. Blockade of this signalling pathway prevents MDSC trafficking and thereby sensitises PDAC to immunotherapy., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

The flavoenzyme nicotine oxidoreductase (NicA2) is a promising injectable treatment to aid in the cessation of smoking, a behavior responsible for one in ten deaths worldwide. NicA2 acts by degrading nicotine in the bloodstream before it reaches the brain. Clinical use of NicA2 is limited by its poor catalytic activity in the absence of its natural electron acceptor CycN. Without CycN, NicA2 is instead oxidized slowly by dioxygen (O 2 ), necessitating unfeasibly large doses in a therapeutic setting. Here, we report a genetic selection strategy that directly links CycN-independent activity of NicA2 to growth of Pseudomonas putida S16. This selection enabled us to evolve NicA2 variants with substantial improvement in their rate of oxidation by O 2 . The encoded mutations cluster around a putative O 2 tunnel, increasing flexibility and accessibility to O 2 in this region. These mutations further confer desirable clinical properties. A variant form of NicA2 is tenfold more effective than the wild type at degrading nicotine in the bloodstream of rats., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Objective: This study investigates the feasibility of the indocyanine green-guided near-infrared fluorescence (ICG-NIRF) imaging technique in evaluating testicular blood flow during testicular torsion (TT) surgery in pediatric cases., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the eight pediatric patients with TT who underwent surgery in our hospital between February and July 2023. The intraoperative two-step method of ICG-NIRF imaging and testicular incision was used to evaluate the testicular blood flow, followed by a selection of different surgical methods. The removed testes were pathologically examined after surgery, and all patients were followed up 1 month after surgery to evaluate testicular blood flow using gray-scale ultrasound and color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI)., Results: Eight pediatric TT patients aged 1-16 years, with a median age of 11.5 years, were enrolled. Time from the onset ranged from 4 to 72 h (mean 26.13 ± 25.09 h). A total of eight testes were twisted, including four on the left side and four on the right side. The twisting direction of the testes was clockwise in four cases and counterclockwise in four cases. The rotation of torsion was 180°-1,080° (mean 472.5° ± 396°). There was no statistically significant difference in the imaging time between the four patients with testicular blood vessel imaging on both the torsional and normal sides ( P  > 0.05). The postoperative recovery was uneventful, with no complications during the follow-up period of 1 month. The postoperative histopathological results of three patients who underwent orchiectomy showed extensive hemorrhage, degeneration, and necrosis of the testicular tissue. Among the five patients who underwent orchiopexy, a gray-scale ultrasound and CDFI examinations showed uniform internal echo of the testes and normal blood flow signals in four patients. One patient with no testicular blood vessel imaging on the torsional side showed uneven internal echo of the testis and no blood flow signals., Conclusion: ICG-NIRF imaging is a feasible method to evaluate testicular blood flow during TT surgery. Testicular blood vessel imaging within 5 minutes after ICG injection might be the basis for testicular retention during TT surgery., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 Liu, Xu, Li and Bai.)

A smartphone-based sensitive, rapid, label-free and high-throughput detection platform for Escherichia coli O157:H7 was established. The specific recognition capability of this platform was dependent of the aptamer modified on the silica photonic microsphere (SPM), whose structural colour was utilized for the quantification of the target bacterium. Gold nanoparticles and silver staining technique were employed to improve the sensitivity of the detection platform. Such smartphone-based detection platform gave a wide linear detection range of 10 2  ∼ 10 8 CFU/mL with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 68 CFU/mL and high specificity for Escherichia coli O157:H7. Moreover, the recovery rates of the detection method were measured in the range of 99 ∼ 108% in the milk, pork and purified water samples. Furthermore, the developed detection platform did not require complex sample pretreatment and could be easily manipulated, displaying great application potential in the fields of food safety, environmental monitoring and disease diagnosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Growing volatile organic compound (VOC) emission will cause air pollution and further threaten human health. Activated carbon is widely applied to treatment of VOCs in virtue of lower cost and excellent adsorption ability. In this work, the adsorption capacity of polarity VOCs on activated carbon is improved by oxalic acid (H 2 C 2 O 4 ) hydrothermal modification. After 2 M H 2 C 2 O 4 modification, the adsorption capacity of 2-butanone rose from 312.60 to 345.98 mg/g, and the time reaching saturation adsorption became shorter. BET results showed that both the specific surface area and total pore volume of 2 M H 2 C 2 O 4 -modified activated carbon increased by 3.32% and 3.9%, respectively. Both FTIR and XPS characterization confirmed variation of the surface oxygen-containing functional groups (SOFGs), while quantitative analysis via Boehm titration showed the significant increase of total acidity (61.36%), particularly the carboxyl content increased by 96.28%. The results indicated modification process can not only change the pore structure but also the SOFGs of activated carbons. The dynamic adsorption curves conform to the Bangham kinetics model, indicating that the adsorption of 2-butanone on both activated carbon is controlled by the diffusion in the pore channel. The adsorption data was also modeled by the internal particle diffusion model, and the internal diffusion adsorption stage is the rate-controlling step. The stability before and after adsorption and the cycling performance were studied., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)