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CAR T-cell therapy has remarkably succeeded in treating lymphoblastic leukemia. However, its success in AML remains elusive due to the risk of on-target off-tumor toxicity to hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) and insufficient T-cell persistence and longevity. Using a SynNotch circuit, we generated a high-precision "IF-THEN" gated logical circuit against the combination of CD33 and CD123 AML antigens and demonstrated anti-tumor efficacy against AML cell lines and patient-derived xenografts. Unlike constitutively expressed CD123 CAR-T cells, those expressed through the CD33 SynNotch circuit could preserve HSPCs and lower the risk of on-target off-tumor hematopoietic toxicity. These gated CAR-T cells exhibited lower expression of exhaustion markers (PD1, Tim3, LAG3, and CD39), higher frequency of memory T cells (CD62L+CD45RA+), and enhanced expansion. While targeting AML, the moderated circuit CAR signal also helped to mitigate cytokine release syndrome, potentially addressing one of the ongoing challenges in CAR-T immunotherapy.

Rationale: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a critical condition associated with cognitive impairments, including dementia. This study is aimed to construct a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)-microRNA (miRNA)-messenger RNA (mRNA) network based on bioinformatics analysis and explore molecular mechanisms underlying post-TBI dementia., Methods: GSE104687 and GSE205661 datasets were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus database. Molecular Signatures Database (MSigDB) was used to search oxidative stress-, metabolism- and immune-related genes as the target gene datasets. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes were carried out for functional annotation and enrichment analysis. A TBI mouse model was built to validate the expression of NF2, PLXNA2, NCBP2 and U2SURP in brain tissues., Results: A total of 7 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) and 191 DEmRNAs were obtained. Subsequent to differential expression (DE) analysis, a lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network was established. Notably, 13 key DEmRNAs were identified, potentially playing pivotal roles in the pathogenesis of TBI-induced dementia. By comparing the target gene datasets with 13 DEmRNAs, we identified 4 target genes that overlap with the 13 DEGmRNAs, namely NF2, PLXNA2, NCBP2 and U2SURP. Functional enrichment analysis highlighted the involvement of neuronal projections in the dementia-enriched cluster, while the protective cluster showed associations with protein synthesis and ubiquitination pathways. Importantly, we explored potential drug interventions based on interactions with the above 4 target genes. Additionally, drug interaction prediction showed that NF2 could interact with SELUMETINIB, EVEROLIMUS and TEMSIROLIMUS., Conclusion: Our study provides insights into the complex regulatory networks underlying post-TBI dementia and suggests a potential role for three classes of drugs in managing dementia symptoms in TBI-induced dementia., Competing Interests: Declarations Institutional review board statement All experimental procedures were conducted in compliance with the Guidelines for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health, and approved by the ethical committee of our hospital (approval number: JNRM-2023-DW-062). Informed consent Not applicable. Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no competing interest., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Altermagnetism (AM), a newly discovered magnetic state, ingeniously integrates the properties of ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism, representing a significant breakthrough in the field of magnetic materials. Despite experimental verification of some typical AM materials, such as MnTe and MnTe_{2}, the pursuit of AM materials that feature larger spin splitting and higher transition temperature is still essential. Here, our research focuses on CrSb, which possesses Néel temperature of up to 700 K and giant spin splitting near the Fermi level (E_{F}). Utilizing high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations, we meticulously map the three-dimensional electronic structure of CrSb. Our photoemission spectroscopic results on both (0001) and (101[over ¯]0) cleavages of CrSb collaboratively reveal unprecedented details on AM-induced band splitting, and subsequently pin down its unique bulk g-wave symmetry through quantitative analysis of the angular and photon-energy dependence of spin splitting. Moreover, the observed spin splitting reaches the magnitude of 0.93 eV near E_{F}, the most substantial among all confirmed AM materials. This Letter not only validates the nature of CrSb as a prototype g-wave-like AM material but also underscores its pivotal role in pioneering applications in spintronics.

Wastewater purification has evolved into a global problem in the face of increasing scarcity of freshwater resources. Photocatalysis technology possesses prominent advantages in treating pollutants in water because of its low cost and mild reaction conditions, which provides an effective way to treat multiple pollutants and reduce membrane fouling. Herein, we combine photocatalysis technology with filtration technology via in situ reduction Bi 0 with Bi 2 SiO 5 strategy incorporating a carbonized wood filter to synthesize carbon/Bi 2 SiO 5 @Bi bi-functional composite. Thus, simultaneous filtration and photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B and tetracycline were achieved. After filtrating for 30 min, the degradation rate of RhB and TC were 94.23 % and 81.39 %, respectively. Especially, the flux of RhB and TC were up to 2162.16 L m -2  h -1 and 1811.32 L m -2  h -1 . In addition, the composite filter also has good recyclability and reusability, after 5 cycles, the degradation efficiency of RhB remains at 91 %. This study utilized photocatalytic technology combined with membrane filtration technology to successfully solve the contradiction between catalytic efficiency and water flux, which realized rapid and dynamic removal of organic pollutants from water. Besides, the use of carbonized wood-based materials provides a potential biomass technology for the preparation of bifunctional photocatalytic filters., 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.)

Rationale: This study compared 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT, 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT, and contrast-enhanced MRI (CE-MRI) for glioma imaging, classification, and recurrence detection and explored PET parameters and molecular pathological profiles. Methods: Between June 2020 and June 2024, we prospectively enrolled patients with space-occupying lesions in the brain or previously treated gliomas. All patients underwent sequential CE-MRI, 68 Ga-FAPI-46, and 18 F-FDG PET/CT. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed based on a reference standard, and PET parameters were analysed for correlations with WHO grading and molecular characteristics. Results: Forty-eight patients (median age, 51 years; 32 men) with 40 confirmed gliomas were enrolled. For primary tumour diagnosis, the sensitivity of 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT was equivalent to CE-MRI (95% vs. 100%, P = 0.99) and 18 F-FDG PET/CT (95% vs. 77%, P = 0.13). 68 Ga-FAPI-46 uptake was higher in grade IV than in grade I-II gliomas (5.03 vs. 1.14, P = 0.02). 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT showed significantly higher maximum standardized uptake value and tumour-to-background ratio (TBR) in recurrent tumours than in treatment-related changes and demonstrated favourable sensitivity and specificity for detecting recurrent gliomas, though not significantly superior to 18 F-FDG PET/CT (sensitivity: 100% vs. 85%, P = 0.48; specificity: 100% vs. 80%, P = 0.99) and CE-MRI (sensitivity: 100% vs. 100%, P = NA; specificity: 100% vs. 40%, P = 0.25). Glial fibrillary acidic protein-mutant gliomas exhibited higher 68 Ga-FAPI-46 uptake than wild-type gliomas. Conclusion: 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT outperformed 18 F-FDG and CE-MRI in diagnosing glioma recurrence, although the results were not statistically significant. For primary glioma diagnosis, 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT, despite having a better TBR, did not surpass 18 F-FDG PET/CT and CE-MRI in terms of sensitivity and specificity. However, 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT is superior to 18 F-FDG for visualizing and classifying gliomas., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

The Ruddlesden-Popper (R-P) bilayer nickelate, La 3 Ni 2 O 7 , was recently found to show signatures of high-temperature superconductivity (HTSC) at pressures above 14 GPa (ref.  1 ). Subsequent investigations achieved zero resistance in single-crystalline and polycrystalline samples under hydrostatic pressure conditions 2-4 . Yet, obvious diamagnetic signals, the other hallmark of superconductors, are still lacking owing to the filamentary nature with low superconducting volume fraction 2,4,5 . The presence of a new 1313 polymorph and competing R-P phases obscured proper identification of the phase for HTSC 6-9 . Thus, achieving bulk HTSC and identifying the phase at play are the most prominent tasks. Here we address these issues in the praseodymium (Pr)-doped La 2 PrNi 2 O 7 polycrystalline samples. We find that substitutions of Pr for La effectively inhibit the intergrowth of different R-P phases, resulting in a nearly pure bilayer structure. For La 2 PrNi 2 O 7 , pressure-induced orthorhombic to tetragonal structural transition takes place at P c  ≈ 11 GPa, above which HTSC emerges gradually on further compression. The superconducting transition temperatures at 18-20 GPa reach T c onset = 82.5 K and T c zero = 60 K , which are the highest values, to our knowledge, among known nickelate superconductors. Importantly, bulk HTSC was testified by detecting clear diamagnetic signals below about 75 K with appreciable superconducting shielding volume fractions at a pressure of above 15 GPa. Our results not only resolve the existing controversies but also provide directions for exploring bulk HTSC in the bilayer nickelates., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

The gradual rise of personal healthcare awareness is accelerating the deployment of wearable sensors, whose ability of acquiring physiological vital signs depends on sensing materials. MXenes have distinct chemical and physical superiorities over other 2D nanomaterials for wearable sensors. This review presents a comprehensive summary of the latest advancements in MXenes-based materials for wearable physical sensors. It begins with an introduction to special structural features of MXenes for sensing performance, followed by an in-depth exploration of versatile functionalities. A detailed description of different sensing mechanisms is also included to illustrate the contribution of MXenes to the sensing performance and its improvement. In addition, the real-world applications of MXenes-based physical sensors for monitoring different physiological signs are included as well. The remaining challenges of MXenes-based materials for wearable physical sensors and their promising opportunities are finally narrated, in conjunction with a prospective for future development.

Background: Interferon stimulated exonuclease gene 20 (ISG20) has been reported to be correlated with macrophage infiltration in glioblastoma (GBM) in previous bioinformatics-based studies. This study explores the exact effect of ISG20 on macrophage polarization in GBM., Methods: ISG20 expression in GBM tissues and cells was determined by RT-qPCR and/or immunohistochemistry. GBM cells were co-cultured with M0 macrophages (PMA-stimulated THP-1 cells) in vitro, followed by flow cytometry and ELISA to analyze the M2 polarization of macrophages. Fluorescence-contained GBM cells were intracranially injected into nude mice along with M0 macrophages to generate orthotopic xenograft tumor models. Upstream regulator of ISG20 was predicted using bioinformatics. Loss- or gain-of-function assays of Fos like 2 (FOSL2) and ISG20 were performed in GBM cells. DNA methylation level of FOSL2 was analyzed by bisulfite sequencing analysis., Results: ISG20 was found highly expressed in GBM tissues and cells. ISG20 silencing in GBM cells decreased CD206 and CD163 levels in the co-cultured macrophages and reduced secretion of IL-10 and TGF-β. It also enhanced survival of nude mice bearing xenograft tumors, blocked tumor growth, and suppressed M2 polarization of macrophages in vivo. FOSL2, highly expressed in GBM, bound to the ISG20 promoter to activate its transcription. FOSL2 silencing similarly blocked M2 polarization of macrophages, which was negated by ISG20 overexpression. The high FOSL2 expression in GBM was attributed to DNA hypomethylation., Conclusion: This study demonstrates that FOSL2 is highly expressed in GBM due to DNA hypomethylation. It activates transcription of ISG20, thus promoting M2 polarization of macrophages and GBM development., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the performance of large language models (LLMs) in the task of abstract screening in systematic review and meta-analysis studies, exploring their effectiveness, efficiency, and potential integration into existing human expert-based workflows., Methods: We developed automation scripts in Python to interact with the APIs of several LLM tools, including ChatGPT v4.0, ChatGPT v3.5, Google PaLM 2, and Meta Llama 2, and latest tools including ChatGPT v4.0 turbo, ChatGPT v3.5 turbo, Google Gemini 1.0 pro, Meta Llama 3, and Claude 3. This study focused on three databases of abstracts and used them as benchmarks to evaluate the performance of these LLM tools in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy. The results of the LLM tools were compared to human-curated inclusion decisions, gold standard for systematic review and meta-analysis studies., Results: Different LLM tools had varying abilities in abstract screening. Chat GPT v4.0 demonstrated remarkable performance, with balanced sensitivity and specificity, and overall accuracy consistently reaching or exceeding 90%, indicating a high potential for LLMs in abstract screening tasks. The study found that LLMs could provide reliable results with minimal human effort and thus serve as a cost-effective and efficient alternative to traditional abstract screening methods., Conclusion: While LLM tools are not yet ready to completely replace human experts in abstract screening, they show great promise in revolutionizing the process. They can serve as autonomous AI reviewers, contribute to collaborative workflows with human experts, and integrate with hybrid approaches to develop custom tools for increased efficiency. As technology continues to advance, LLMs are poised to play an increasingly important role in abstract screening, reshaping the workflow of systematic review and meta-analysis studies., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Exogenous photoacoustic contrast agents such as gold nanoparticles are widely utilized in photoacoustic imaging. Enhancing the photoacoustic performance of gold nanoparticles is pivotal for improving the quality and expanding the application scope of photoacoustic imaging. In this work, the photothermal and photoacoustic responses of gold nanospheres surrounded by water excited with a pulsed laser are obtained via a two-temperature model. The interplay between pulse duration and interface thermal resistance and its effect on the photothermal and photoacoustic performances are uncovered quantitatively. The results reveal that, as the pulse duration decreases, increasing the interfacial thermal conductivity can substantially enhance heat transfer between the gold nanosphere and the surrounding water. However, this approach does not effectively enhance the photoacoustic performance. Interestingly, when increasing the thermal conductivity, it was found that there is an optimal pulse duration within the range of 10 ps-10 ns. Employing an incident pulse laser with this optimal pulse duration can maximize the enhancement of the photoacoustic signal.

Paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity (PSH) is a common clinical feature secondary to ischemic stroke (IS), but its mechanism is poorly understood. We aimed to investigate the role of H 2 S in the pathogenesis of PSH. IS patients were divided into malignant (MCI) and non-malignant cerebral infarction (NMCI) group. IS in rats was induced by the right middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). H 2 S donor (NaHS) or inhibitor (aminooxy-acetic acid, AOAA) were microinjected into the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Compared with the NMCI group, patients in the MCI group showed PSH, including tachycardia, hypertension, and more plasma norepinephrine (NE) that was positively correlated with levels of creatine kinase, glutamate transaminase, and creatinine respectively. The 1-year survival rate of patients with high plasma NE levels was lower. The hypothalamus of rats with MCAO showed increased activity, especially in the PVN region. The levels of H 2 S in PVN of the rats with MCAO were reduced, while the blood pressure and renal sympathetic discharge were increased, which could be ameliorated by NaHS and exacerbated by AOAA. NaHS completely reduced the disulfide bond of NMDAR1 in PC12 cells. The inhibition of NMDAR by MK-801 microinjected in PVN of rats with MCAO also could lower blood pressure and renal sympathetic discharge. In conclusion, PSH may be associated with disease progression and survival in patients with IS. Decreased levels of H 2 S in PVN were involved in regulating sympathetic efferent activity after cerebral infarction. Our results might provide a new strategy and target for the prevention and treatment of PSH., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Japanese Society of Hypertension.)

Background and Objectives: To explore the risk factors for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and to establish a non-invasive tool for the screening of NAFLD in an older adult population., Methods and Study Design: A total of 131,161 participants were included in this cross-sectional study. Participants were randomly divided into training and validation sets (7:3). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method was used to screen risk factors. Multivariate logistic regression was employed to develop a nomogram, which was made available online. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, calibration plots, and decision curve analysis were used to validate the discrimination, calibration, and clinical practicability of the nomogram. Sex and age subgroup analyses were conducted to further validate the reliability of the model., Results: Nine variables were identified for inclusion in the nomogram (age, sex, waist circumference, body mass index, exercise frequency, systolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, alanine aminotransferase, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values were 0.793 and 0.790 for the training set and the validation set, respectively. The calibration plots and decision curve analyses showed good calibration and clinical utility. Subgroup analyses demonstrated consistent discriminatory ability in different sex and age subgroups., Conclusions: This study established and validated a new nomogram model for evaluating the risk of NAFLD among older adults. The nomogram had good discriminatory performance and is a non-invasive and convenient tool for the screening of NAFLD in older adults., Competing Interests: TThe authors have no conflicts of interest to declare

The vibration and radiation noise characteristics of the gear transmission system are different under different traction conditions, and the gear modification optimization scheme based on a single working condition is not suitable for the operating environment under all working conditions. To modify the traction gear of a high-speed EMU, an optimized design scheme for noise reduction under multiple working conditions is proposed. A modification plan of the tooth direction in conjunction with the tooth shape was devised using a parametric model of the EMU's traction gear transmission system. The radiation noise of the gear transmission system after modification was solved using the acoustic boundary element method under different working conditions. A gear noise prediction model based on the random forest was proposed, and a gear modification parameter combination was constructed to minimize radiation noise. Then, the optimal design scheme of multi-condition modification combination parameters is obtained with the weight of the running time and acoustic contribution under different working conditions. The grey correlation degree evaluation model is established to verify that the multi-condition modification optimization design method can make the traction gear of EMU obtain satisfactory transmission performance and noise reduction effect under different working conditions., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Tang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Electromagnetic interference shielding (EMI SE) modules are the core component of modern electronics. However, the traditional metal-based SE modules always take up indispensable three-dimensional space inside electronics, posing a major obstacle to the integration of electronics. The innovation of integrating 3D-printed conformal shielding (c-SE) modules with packaging materials onto core electronics offers infinite possibilities to satisfy ideal SE function without occupying additional space. Herein, the 3D printable carbon-based inks with various proportions of graphene and carbon nanotube nanoparticles are well-formulated by manipulating their rheological peculiarity. Accordingly, the free-constructed architectures with arbitrarily-customized structure and multifunctionality are created via 3D printing. In particular, the SE performance of 3D-printed frame is up to 61.4 dB, simultaneously accompanied with an ultralight architecture of 0.076 g cm -3 and a superhigh specific shielding of 802.4 dB cm 3  g -1 . Moreover, as a proof-of-concept, the 3D-printed c-SE module is in situ integrated into core electronics, successfully replacing the traditional metal-based module to afford multiple functions for electromagnetic compatibility and thermal dissipation. Thus, this scientific innovation completely makes up the blank for assembling carbon-based c-SE modules and sheds a brilliant light on developing the next generation of high-performance shielding materials with arbitrarily-customized structure for integrated electronics., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The cluster magnet Nb 3 Cl 8 consists of Nb 3 trimmers that form an emergent S = 1/2 two-dimensional triangular layers, which are bonded by weak van der Waals interactions. Recent studies show that its room-temperature electronic state can be well described as a single-band Mott insulator. However, the magnetic ground state is non-magnetic due to a structural transition below about 100 K. Here we show that there exists a thickness threshold below which the structural transition will not happen. For a bulk crystal, a small fraction of the sample maintains the high-temperature structure at low temperatures and such remnant gives rise to linear-temperature dependence of the specific heat at very low temperatures. This is further confirmed by the measurements on ground powder sample or c -axis pressed single crystals, which prohibits the formation of the non-magnetic state. Moreover, the intrinsic magnetic susceptibility also tends to be constant with decreasing temperature. Our results suggest that Nb 3 Cl 8 with the high-temperature structure may host a quantum-spin-liquid ground state with spinon Fermi surfaces, which can be achieved by making the thickness of a sample smaller than a certain threshold., (© 2024 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

The collection and storage of renewable, sustainable and clean energy including wind, solar, and tidal energy has attracted considerable attention because of its promising potential to replace fossil energy sources. Advanced energy-storage materials are the core component for energy harvesters, affording the high-efficiency conversion of these new-style energy sources. Herein, originated from nature, a series of all-wood-derived carbon-assisted phase change materials (PCMs) were purposed by incorporating carbon dots-modified polyethylene glycol matrix into carbon skeletons via a vacuum-impregnation strategy. The resultant PCMs possessed desired anti-leakage capability and superior thermophysical behaviors. In particular, the optimum sample posed high latent heat (131.5 J/g) and well thermal stability, where the corresponding enthalpy still reserved 90 % over 100 heating/cooling cycles. More importantly, the as-fabricated thermal-energy harvester presented prominent capability to strorage and release multiple forms of thermal energy, as well as high-efficiency solar-energy utilization, corresponding to a photothermal conversion efficiency of 88 % in simulated sunlight irradiation, far exceeding some reported PCMs. Overall, with the introduction of wood-derived carbon dots and carbon skeletons, the assembled all-wood-derived carbon-assisted PCMs afforded trinity advantages on thermal performance, cycling stability, and energy conversion efficiency, which provide a promising potential for the practical application in thermal-energy harvesters., 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.)

Background: The effects of serum uric acid (SUA) on clinical outcomes in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) are unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of SUA levels with clinical outcomes of AKI patients., Methods: The data of AKI patients hospitalized in the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University were retrospectively reviewed. Multivariable logistic regression was utilized to assess the association between SUA levels and the clinical outcomes of AKI patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was applied to assess the predictive ability of SUA levels for in-hospital mortality in patients with AKI., Results: A total of 4,646 AKI patients were eligible for study inclusion. In multivariable analysis, after adjustment for various confounding factors in the fully adjusted model, a higher SUA level was found to be associated with increased in-hospital mortality of AKI patients with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.72 (95% CI, 1.21-2.33, p  = 0.005) for the SUA level >5.1-6.9 mg/dl group and 2.75 (95% CI, 1.78-4.26, p  < 0.001) for the SUA level >6.9 mg/dl group compared with the reference group (SUA ≤3.6 mg/dl). In the ROC analysis, the area under the curve (AUC) of SUA was 0.65 with a sensitivity of 51% and a specificity of 73%., Conclusions: An elevated SUA level is associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality in patients with AKI, and it appears to be an independent prognostic marker for these patients.

Background: For the distinct immune/inflammatory responses from Omicron variant infection, this study aimed to investigate the diagnostic efficacy of systemic inflammatory indicators and the clinical efficacy of corticosteroids on the in-hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients., Methods: Under a retrospective cohort study, 1081 COVID-19 patients were recruited from Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University between November 16, 2022 and January 30, 2023. We chose neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), CRP-to-lymphocyte ratio (CLR), and CRP-to-albumin ratio (CAR) as the systemic inflammatory indicators. Receiver operating curve (ROC) and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to determine the diagnostic efficacy of systemic inflammatory indicators and the association between systemic inflammatory indicators and in-hospital mortality., Results: Among 684 patients included in analysis, 96 died during hospitalization. NLR, CLR and CAR performed well (with an area under the curve (AUC) greater than 0.75) in discriminating in-hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients. The severe status of systemic inflammation, with optimal cut-off value derived from ROC analysis, significantly associated higher risk of in-hospital mortality (OR = 3.81 for NLR ≥ 6.131; OR = 3.76 for CLR ≥ 45.455; OR = 5.10 for CAR ≥ 1.436). Corticosteroids use within 72 hours of admission increased the in-hospital mortality 2.88-fold for COVID-19 patients. In the subgroup of patients with severe systemic inflammation, corticosteroids increased the risk of in-hospital mortality (OR = 2.11 for NLR, p = 0.055; OR = 2.94 for CLR, p = 0.005; OR = 2.31 for CAR, p = 0.036)., Conclusion: Systemic inflammatory indicators had good diagnostic performance for in-hospital mortality. Patients with severe systemic inflammatory status should not receive corticosteroid treatment and further studies are warranted for confirmation., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2023 Cao et al.)

Immunotherapy as a strategy to deal with cancer is increasingly being used clinically, especially in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aim to create an immunotherapy-related signature that can play a role in predicting HCC patients' survival and therapeutic outcomes. Immunotherapy-related genes were discovered first. Clinical information and gene expression data were extracted from GSE140901. By a series of bioinformatics methods to analyze, overlapping genes were used to build an immunotherapy-related signature that could contribute to predict both the prognosis of people with hepatocellular carcinoma and responder to immune checkpoint blockade therapy of them in TCGA database. Differences of the two groups in immune cell subpopulations were then compared. Furthermore, A nomogram was constructed, based on the immunotherapy-related signature and clinicopathological features, and proved to be highly predictive. Finally, immunohistochemistry assays were performed in HCC tissue and normal tissue adjacent tumors to verify the differences of the four genes expression. As a result of this study, a prognostic protein profile associated with immunotherapy had been created, which could be applied to predict patients' response to immunotherapy and may provide a new perspective as clinicians focus on non-apoptotic treatment for patients with HCC., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Both warming and grazing already affect the reproductive phenology of alpine plants. However, their effects have mostly been studied in isolation, and their interaction is still unclear. In this study, an asymmetric warming (average + 1.2 °C during daytime and + 1.7 °C during nighttime and + 1.5 °C during summer and + 2.0 °C during winter) with moderate grazing experiment was conducted for four years to determine their individual and interactive effects on the onsets and durations of reproductive phenophases for fifteen alpine plant species on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Individual warming and grazing simultaneously advanced the average start dates and ending dates of budding, flowering and fruiting by 5.3-6.2 days, and further resulted in smaller effects on their durations for most plant species. The interactions between warming and grazing on them varied with plant species and year, which advanced by average 12.1 days for all plant species. The effects of grazing on the temperature sensitivity of the start dates of reproductive phenophases (average by -8.5 days °C -1 ) were greater than that of warming alone (average by -3.4 days °C -1 ) and warming with grazing (average by -5.5 days °C -1 ) for most of the alpine plant species. There were significant effects of the previous phenological events on subsequent reproductive phenophases. Therefore, our results suggested that both warming and grazing advanced reproductive phenophases through altered soil temperature and soil moisture and carry-over effects of previous phenological events on subsequent phenological events. Warming reduced the temperature sensitivity of the start dates of reproductive phenophases to grazing, suggesting that it depressed strength of selection pressure of grazing on the onsets of reproductive phenology in alpine plants., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we 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.)

To achieve the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in Shaanxi, the high energy consuming manufacturing industry (HMI), as an important contributor, is a key link and important channel for energy conservation. In this paper, the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method is applied to determine the driving factors of carbon emissions from the aspects of economy, energy and society, and the contribution of these factors was analyzed. Meanwhile, the improved sparrow search algorithm is used to optimize Elman neural network (ENN) to construct a new hybrid prediction model. Finally, three different development scenarios are designed using scenario analysis method to explore the potential of HMI in Shaanxi Province to achieve carbon peak in the future. The results show that: (1) The biggest promoting factor is industrial structure, and the biggest inhibiting factor is energy intensity among the drivers of carbon emissions, which are analyzed effectively in HMI using the LMDI method. (2) Compared with other neural network models, the proposed hybrid prediction model has higher accuracy and better stability in predicting industrial carbon emissions, it is more suitable for simulating the carbon peaking process of HMI. (3) Only in the coordinated development scenario, the HMI in Shaanxi is likely to achieve the carbon peak in 2030, and the carbon emission curve of the other two scenarios has not reached the peak. Then, according to the results of scenario analysis, specific and evaluable suggestions on carbon emission reduction for HMI in Shaanxi are put forward, such as optimizing energy and industrial structure and making full use of innovative resources of Shaanxi characteristic units.

Towards the difficulties of traditional processing technology in loading high-concentration functional fillers to realize the target electromagnetic interference shielding (EMI SE) performance, and constructing the arbitrary-designated architectures for serving advanced electronics, this work innovatively formulated a functional multi-walled carbon nanotubes@cellulose nanofibers (MWCNT@OCNF) ink for direct ink writing (DIW) 3D printing, which not only possessed high freedom on the proportion of functional particles, but also imparted to the ideal rheological performance for 3D printing. Based on the pre-programmed printing trajectories, a series of porous scaffolds featuring exceptional functionalities were architected. Particularly for the electromagnetic waves (EMWs) shielding behaviors, the optimized one with "full-mismatched" architecture posed the ultralight structure (0.11 g/cm 3 ) and superior SE performance (43.5 dB) in the X-band frequency region. More encouragingly, the 3D-printed scaffold with hierarchical pores possessed the ideal electromagnetic compatibility on EMWs signal, where the radiation intensity generated by EMWs signal fluctuated in a step pattern in 0 and 1500 μT/cm 2 as loading and unloading scaffolds. Overall, this study paved a novel path for the formulation of functional inks to print lightweight, multi-structure, and high-efficiency EMI SE scaffolds for the next-generation shielding elements., 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.)

Anhui Province locates in the Yangtze River Delta region. The spatial difference between the north and the south is significant, and the air quality is improved over time. Studying the spatial and temporal changes of air pollution and its influencing factors for the coordinated control of air pollutants in the Yangtze River Delta region is significant. This study used the annual and monthly average data of six pollutants, PM 2.5 , PM 10 , O 3 , NO 2 , SO 2 , and CO, in Anhui Province and various cities from 2015 to 2021 and analyzed the spatiotemporal change characteristics using Excel and GIS software. Meanwhile, this paper used the SPSS correlation analysis method to analyze the correlation between pollutants and meteorological factors and analyzed the impact of economic development and environmental protection policies. The results are shown below. (1) The concentrations of SO 2 , NO 2 , and CO showed an overall downward trend at an interannual level. Meanwhile, the concentrations of PM 10 and PM 2.5 first increased slowly before 2017 and then declined, while the concentrations of O 3 increased significantly before 2018 and then declined slowly. On a monthly scale, O 3 presented an M-shaped change, while the other five pollutants basically presented a U-shaped change mode. The top monthly pollutants in each city followed the order of PM 2.5 , O 3 , PM 10 , and NO 2 . (2) PM 2.5 and PM 10 showed apparent characteristics of high concentrations in the north and low concentrations in the south in space. There were no significant differences in NO 2 , SO 2 , and CO pollution between the north and the south in space, and the differences in spatial pollution among cities were reduced significantly. (3) Five pollutants (SO 2 , NO 2 , PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and CO) except O 3 were positively correlated, and the degree of correlation was correlated, strongly correlated, and above. However, five pollutants were negatively correlated with O 3 . The temperature had the most significant impact of negative correlation on five pollutants except for O 3 . The sunshine duration had the most significant impact on O 3 . (4) Economic growth and environmental protection policies in Anhui Province have positively affected environmental governance., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes are favored for their excellent properties. However, the inherent strong hydrophobicity of PVDF membranes limits their development in the field of water treatment. The objective of this study was to improve the performance of PVDF membranes using the self-polymerization, strong adhesion properties, and biocompatible effects of dopamine (DA). The PVDF/DA membrane modification conditions were simulated and optimized using response surface methodology (RSM), and the experimental design was used to investigate three main parameters. The results showed that the DA solution concentration of 1.65 g/L, the coating time of 4.5 h, the post-treatment temperature of 25°C, the contact angle decreased from 69° to 33.9°, and the pure water flux on the PVDF/DA membrane was higher than that on the original membrane. The absolute value of the relative error between the actual and predicted values is only 3.36 %. In the MBR parallel comparison test, compared with the PVDF/DA membrane, the total amount of extracellular polymers (EPS) of the PVDF membrane increased by 1.46 times and the polysaccharide increased by 1.56 times, which further showed that the PVDF/DA modified membrane had the excellent anti-pollution ability. Through Alpha diversity analysis, the biodiversity detected on PVDF/DA membranes was higher than that of PVDF membranes, which further proved its good bio-adhesion ability. These findings could offer a reference for the hydrophilicity, antifouling, and stability of PVDF/DA membranes, which would establish the foundation for the comprehensive applications in MBR., 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 © 2023 Li, Zhang, Sun, Sun and Wang.)

Leaf senescence is the final stage in the life cycle of leaves and is critical to plants' fitness as well as to ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling. To date, most understanding about the responses of leaf senescence to environmental changes has derived from research in forests, but the topic has been relatively neglected, especially under grazing conditions, in natural grasslands. We conducted a 3-year manipulative asymmetric warming with moderate grazing experiment to explore the responses of leaf senescence of five main species in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We found that warming prolonged leaf longevity through earlier leaf-out and later leaf senescence, and grazing prolonged it through a greater advance in leaf-out than first leaf coloration for all plants. Warming did not affect leaf nitrogen (N) content or N resorption efficiency (NRE), but grazing increased N content in coloring leaves for P. anserine and P. nivea and decreased NRE for K. humilis, P. anserine under no-warming, and for P. nivea under warming. The interactive effects of warming and grazing on leaf phenology and leaf traits depended on species identity and year. There were positive relationships between leaf-out and leaf senescence mainly derived from grazing, and positive relationships between NRE from old leaves and leaf senescence for three out of five plant species. Therefore, our results indicated that earlier leaf-out could result in earlier leaf senescence only under grazing, but depending on plant species. Delayed leaf coloring increased NRE from old leaves for some plant species measured under warming and grazing. Our results suggested that alpine plants may develop strategies to adapt to warming and grazing to assimilate more carbon through prolonged leaf longevity rather than increased NRE through earlier leaf coloring in the alpine meadow., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There are no conflicts of interest for all authors., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Herein, a series of carbon dot composites (CDC) with full-color and long-lived room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) are prepared by a simple solid-phase one-step method from a single non-conjugated and non-aromatic carbon source. The RTP emission wavelength can be adjusted from 462 to 623 nm by changing the feeding ratio and reaction temperature. The luminescent lifetime and quantum yield of a green emissive CDC (AB-CDC-3) reach 1.1 s and 39%, respectively, because of the close interaction between carbon dots and inorganic matrix. Due to the existence of multiple luminescent centers, these CDC exhibit excitation wavelength-dependent RTP and a white emission when excited at a specific wavelength. A single-component afterglow luminescent diode based on AB-CDC-4 shows a high-quality white emission with CIE of (0.30, 0.33) and color-rendering index of 88. Based on the unique photophysical properties of the composites, they exhibit huge application potential in the field of multilevel anti-counterfeiting, fingerprint identification, and optoelectronic devices., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The 5-year recurrence rate of thermal ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is high, and whether this treatment strategy induces systemic immune response remains elusive. This study aimed to investigate the effects of thermal ablation on HCC patients' cytokine profiles and to explore the correlation of cytokine profiles with tumor recurrence after ablation. A total of 22 HCC patients were included in this prospective study. The levels of 27 cytokines in the peripheral blood of HCC patients were measured before ablation (baseline), week 1, and week 4 after ablation using a Bio-Plex Pro Human Cytokine 27-plex Assay kit. Cytokines showed different dynamic changing trends after ablation treatment. It was found that the level of IL-6 was significantly elevated at week 1 and returned to the baseline level at week 4 after ablation. The level of IL-10 was slightly reduced at week 1 and significantly decreased at week 4. The levels of MCP-1, macrophage inflammatory protein-1β (MIP-1β), and TNF-α were similarly reduced at week 1 and increased at week 4. The levels of IL-17, platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB), and regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) showed little to no change at week 1 while an observable increase at week 4. Patients with a high IL-10 level (2.99 pg/ml) at baseline and low levels of TNF-α (20.4 pg/ml), PDGF-BB (107.78 pg/ml), and RANTES (2303.94 pg/ml) at week 4 were at risk of tumor recurrence during 1-year follow-up. The results suggested that thermal ablation activated systemic immune responses by changing the levels of cytokines. The results also demonstrated that measurement of IL-10 at baseline, TNF-α, PDGF-BB, and RANTES at week 4 after ablation might predict the risk of tumor recurrence.

Background: Ablative therapy is a recommended treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) not only for its effective eradication of tumors, but also for its induction of host immunity. However, the high 5-year recurrence rate after ablation underlines the poor understanding of the antitumor immunity response. Here, we investigated the effects of thermal ablation on antitumor immunity., Methods: We analyzed the dynamics of tumor-associated antigen (TAA)-specific immune responses and changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cell phenotype in patients with HCC before and after tumor ablation. We used the IFN-γ ELISPOT assay and immunophenotyping by flow cytometry to evaluate the effects of ablation on host immunity. The correlation between the T cell response and disease outcome was explored to uncover the efficacy of the immune response in inhibiting HCC recurrence., Results: Different TAA-specific T cell responses were identified among patients before and after ablation. One week after ablation, there was an improved immune state, with a switch from the dominance of an AFP-specific T cell response to that of a SMNMS-specific T cell response, which was correlated with better survival. Furthermore, an improvement in immune status was accompanied by a lower level of PD1+ and Tim3+ T cells in CD8+ T cells. Although this functional state was not durable, there was a higher degree of AFP-specific T cell responses at 4-weeks post-ablation. Furthermore, T cells presented a more exhausted phenotype at 4-weeks post-ablation than at the 1-week timepoint., Conclusions: Ablation elicits a transient antitumor immune response in patients with HCC by changing the profile of the T cell response and the expression of immune checkpoint molecules, which correlated with longer recurrence-free survival of patients with HCC., 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 © 2022 Zang, Zhao, Liu, Li, Qin, Zhang, Sun, Wang, Ma, Zhao, Sun, Guo, Yuan, Dong and Zhang.)

Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) preparation in an integrated fractionation manner is expected to solve the problems of low yield and environmental impact in the traditional process. An integrated fractionation strategy for NCC production from wood was developed through catalytic biomass fractionation, the partial dissolution of cellulose-rich materials (CRMs) in aqueous tetrabutylphosphonium hydroxide, and short-term ultrasonication. The presented process could tolerate a high CRM lignin content of 21.2 wt % and provide a high NCC yield of 76.6 wt % (34.3 wt % of the original biomass). The increase in the CRM lignin content decreased the NCC yield, facilitated the crystal transition of NCC from cellulose I to cellulose II, and showed no apparent effects on the NCC morphology. A partial/selective dissolution mechanism is proposed for the presented strategy. This study provided a promising efficient fractionation-based method toward comprehensive and high-value utilization of lignocellulosic biomass through effective delignification and high-yield NCC production., Competing Interests: 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., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Background and Aims: Associations of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and serum uric acid (SUA) with metabolic syndrome (MetS) remain controversial. We aimed to explore individual and combined effects of ALT and SUA on MetS in community residents., Methods and Results: A population-based cross-sectional survey involving randomly selected Chinese adults aged 35-74 years was conducted in 2009 in Qingdao, China, and 4642 participants were included in the current study. Based on a combination of SUA and ALT levels in the tertile, subjects were grouped into Group 1-9. The individual and combined relations of SUA and ALT to MetS were analyzed by logistic regression models. The prevalence of MetS was 28.50% in males and 22.30% in females. ALT and SUA were independently associated with MetS and ORs (95% CIs) were 1.55 (1.42-1.70) and 1.92 (1.72-2.14), respectively, after adjusting for potential confounders. With the elevation of ALT and SUA levels, the risk of developing MetS increased. Compared to Group 1, ORs (95% CIs) of combined ALT and SUA for MetS were 2.21 (1.70-2.88), 4.02 (3.10-5.21), 2.19 (1.62-2.97), 2.53 (1.91-3.34), 4.69 (3.60-6.12), 1.76 (1.17-2.64), 3.65 (2.63-5.06) and 7.15 (5.41-9.46) in Group 2-9, respectively., Conclusions: ALT and SUA were both related to MetS independently. Combined elevation of ALT and SUA levels could increase the risk of MetS and its components than an elevation in SUA and ALT alone. Therefore, measures should be taken to lower SUA and ALT levels to reduce the risk of having MetS., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2022 The Italian Diabetes Society, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A highly sensitive hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) gas-sensing network based on intracavity absorption is designed and experimentally verified. The capacity of the multichannel sensing network is expanded by time division multiplexing and wavelength division multiplexing technology. The voltage gradient method is employed in the wavelength scanning process of Fabry-Perot (F-P) filter to enhance the detection efficiency up to six times. The proposed sensing network has 16 sensing points. Experimental results show that the minimum detection limit (MDL) of this sensing system is 25.91 ppm and 26.85 ppm at the acetylene gas absorption peaks of 1530.371 nm and 1531.588 nm, respectively. As far as we know, it is the first time to obtain an intracavity sensing network via the application of an optical switch and DWDM at the same time. The sensing network can be used for high-capacity, low-concentration dangerous gas detection. It has great potential in environmental monitoring, industrial manufacturing, safety inspection and similar occasions.

Previous studies have suggested that the sodium alginate (SA) is beneficial for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), while the potential mechanisms are largely unknown. The present study aimed to clarify the effects and potential mechanisms of SA in preventing NAFLD via the gut−liver axis. Thirty-two male Sprague−Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: normal control group (NC); high-fat diet group (HFD); HFD with 50 mg/kg/d sodium alginate group (LSA); HFD with 150 mg/kg/d sodium alginate group (HSA). After 16 weeks, the rats were scarified to collect blood and tissues. The results indicated that SA significantly reduced their body weight, hepatic steatosis, serum triglyceride (TG), alanine transaminase (ALT) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) levels and increased serum high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels in comparison with HFD group (p < 0.05). The elevated mRNA and protein expression of genes related to the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4)/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB)/nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammatory signaling pathway in the liver of HFD-fed rats was notably suppressed by SA. In terms of the gut microbiota, the LSA group showed a significantly higher fecal abundance of Oscillospiraceae&#95;UCG&#95;005, Butyricicoccaceae&#95;UCG&#95;009 and Colidextribacter compared with the HFD group (p < 0.05). The rats in the HSA group had a higher abundance of unclassified&#95;Lachnospiraceae, Colidextribacter and Oscillibacter compared with the HFD-associated gut community (p < 0.05). In addition, rats treated with SA showed a significant increase in fecal short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) levels and a decline in serum lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels compared with the HFD group (p < 0.05). Moreover, the modulated bacteria and microbial metabolites were notably correlated with the amelioration of NAFLD-related indices and activation of the hepatic TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway. In conclusion, SA prevented NAFLD and the potential mechanism was related to the modulation of the gut−liver axis.

The vanadium-based kagome superconductor CsV 3 Sb 5 has attracted tremendous attention due to its unexcepted anomalous Hall effect (AHE), charge density waves (CDWs), nematicity, and a pseudogap pair density wave (PDW) coexisting with unconventional strong-coupling superconductivity. The origins of CDWs, unconventional superconductivity, and their correlation with different electronic states in this kagome system are of great significance, but so far, are still under debate. Chemical doping in the kagome layer provides one of the most direct ways to reveal the intrinsic physics, but remains unexplored. Here, we report, for the first time, the synthesis of Ti-substituted CsV 3 Sb 5 single crystals and its rich phase diagram mapping the evolution of intertwining electronic states. The Ti atoms directly substitute for V in the kagome layers. CsV 3- x Ti x Sb 5 shows two distinct superconductivity phases upon substitution. The Ti slightly-substituted phase displays an unconventional V-shaped superconductivity gap, coexisting with weakening CDW, PDW, AHE, and nematicity. The Ti highly-substituted phase has a U-shaped superconductivity gap concomitant with a short-range rotation symmetry breaking CDW, while long-range CDW, twofold symmetry of in-plane resistivity, AHE, and PDW are absent. Furthermore, we also demonstrate the chemical substitution of V atoms with other elements such as Cr and Nb, showing a different modulation on the superconductivity phases and CDWs. These findings open up a way to synthesise a new family of doped CsV 3 Sb 5 materials, and further represent a new platform for tuning the different correlated electronic states and superconducting pairing in kagome superconductors., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Science China Press. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

R V 6 Sn 6 ( R = Sc, Y, or rare earth) is a new family of kagome metals that have a similar vanadium structural motif as A V 3 Sb 5 ( A = K, Rb, Cs) compounds. Unlike A V 3 Sb 5 , ScV 6 Sn 6 is the only compound among the series of R V 6 Sn 6 that displays a charge density wave (CDW) order at ambient pressure, yet it shows no superconductivity (SC) at low temperatures. Here, we perform a high-pressure transport study on the ScV 6 Sn 6 single crystal to track the evolutions of the CDW transition and to explore possible SC. In contrast to A V 3 Sb 5 compounds, the CDW order of ScV 6 Sn 6 can be suppressed completely by a pressure of about 2.4 GPa, but no SC is detected down to 40 mK at 2.35 GPa and 1.5 K up to 11 GPa. Moreover, we observed that the resistivity anomaly around the CDW transition undergoes an obvious change at ~2.04 GPa before it vanishes completely. The present work highlights a distinct relationship between CDW and SC in ScV 6 Sn 6 in comparison with the well-studied A V 3 Sb 5 .

Despite a variety of studies on the tropical cyclone (TC) response to climate change, few of them have examined the projected damages of future TCs. Here we quantify the impact of anthropogenic warming on TC-induced damages in the late twenty-first century along the coasts of Southeast China based on convection-permitting TC simulations and machine-learning-based damage models. We found that if the area's 10 super typhoons between 2013 and 2019 were to occur at the end of the century under the high emissions RCP8.5 scenario, they would have on average a 12% ± 4% increase in landfall intensity, 25% ± 23% increase in precipitation, and 128% ± 70% increase in economic losses, compared to historical simulations. We also found a significant increase in the full risk profile. The estimated typhoon loss with a 50-year return period for Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and Hainan (four most typhoon-prone provinces among the seven provinces in the region) would increase by 71%, 170%, 20%, and 85%, respectively, towards the end of the century even under the lower emissions RCP4.5 pathway. Our findings imply the need to design effective local hazard mitigation measures to reduce future typhoon risks., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with cancer cells under endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has a poor prognosis. This study is aimed at discovering credible biomarkers for predicting the prognosis of HCC based on ER stress-related genes (ERSRGs). We constructed a novel four-ERSRG prognostic risk model, including PON1, AGR2, SSR2, and TMCC1, through a series of bioinformatic approaches, which can accurately predict survival outcomes in HCC patients. Higher risk scores were linked to later grade, recurrence, advanced TNM stage, later T stage, and HBV infection. In addition, 20 fresh frozen tumors and normal tissues from HCC patients were collected and used to validate the genes expressed in the signature by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemical (IHC) assays. Moreover, we found the ER stress-related signature could reflect the infiltration levels of different immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and forecast the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment. Finally, we created a nomogram incorporating this ER stress-related signature. In conclusion, our constructed four-gene risk model associated with ER stress can accurately predict survival outcomes in HCC patients, and the model's risk score is associated with the poor clinical classification., Competing Interests: All authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Genhao Zhang and Jianping Sun.)

The effects of early thiamine use on clinical outcomes in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) are unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between early thiamine administration and clinical outcomes in critically ill patients with AKI. The data of critically ill patients with AKI within 48 h after ICU admission were extracted from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III (MIMIC III) database. PSM was used to match patients early receiving thiamine treatment to those not early receiving thiamine treatment. The association between early thiamine use and in-hospital mortality due to AKI was determined using a logistic regression model. A total of 15 066 AKI patients were eligible for study inclusion. After propensity score matching (PSM), 734 pairs of patients who did and did not receive thiamine treatment in the early stage were established. Early thiamine use was associated with lower in-hospital mortality (OR 0·65; 95 % CI 0·49, 0·87; P < 0·001) and 90-d mortality (OR 0·58; 95 % CI 0·45, 0·74; P < 0·001), and it was also associated with the recovery of renal function (OR 1·26; 95 % CI 1·17, 1·36; P < 0·001). In the subgroup analysis, early thiamine administration was associated with lower in-hospital mortality in patients with stages 1 to 2 AKI. Early thiamine use was associated with improved short-term survival in critically ill patients with AKI. It was possible beneficial role in patients with stages 1 to 2 AKI according to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes criteria.

Increased intracellular toxicity due to an imbalance in copper homeostasis caused by copper ion accumulation could regulate the rate of cancer cell growth and proliferation. The goal of this study was to create a novel Cuproptosis-related lncRNA signature that may be utilized to predict survival and immunotherapy in HCC patients. Cuproptosis-associated lncRNAs and differentially expressed lncRNAs between HCC tumor tissue and normal tissue were discovered first. By LASSO-Cox analysis, the overlapping lncRNAs were then utilized to build a Cuproptosis-associated lncRNA signature, which might be used to predict patient prognosis and responsiveness to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. Differences in the infiltration of immune cell subpopulations between high and low-risk score subgroups were also analyzed. Moreover, a nomogram based on the Cuproptosis-associated lncRNA signature and clinical features was developed and demonstrated to have good predictive potential. Finally, qRT-PCR was performed in HerpG2 and MHCC-97H cell lines to explore whether these lncRNAs were indeed involved in the process of Cuproptosis. In summary, we created a prognostic lncRNA profile linked to Cuproptosis to forecast response to immunotherapy, which may provide a new potential non-apoptotic therapeutic perspective for HCC patients., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Two population-based cross-sectional surveys involving randomly selected Chinese adults aged 35-74 years were conducted in Qingdao, China in 2006 and 2009. Nine thousand fifty-five subjects from the two surveys were grouped into four birth groups of fetal/infant exposed (born between 1 January 1959 and 31 December 1962), childhood exposed (born between 1 January 1950 and 31 December 1958), adolescence exposed (born between 1 January 1942 and 31 December 1949) and the unexposed (born before 1941 and after 1963). Multivariate logistic regression models were used to calculate the OR and 95 % CI of hyperuricaemia in different exposed groups. Overall, famine exposure in the fetal/infant period, childhood and adolescence was not associated with adulthood hyperuricaemia (all P > 0·05). In females, childhood exposed group (OR = 1·59, 95 % CI 1·25, 2·02) and adolescence exposed group (OR = 1·74, 95 % CI 1·30, 2·33) both had higher risks to have hyperuricaemia in adult. However, this difference was not found in fetal/infant exposed group. In males, no significant relation was observed in any famine exposed group (all P > 0·05). Exposure to famine in childhood and adolescence is associated with an increased risk of hyperuricaemia for adulthood of females, but not in males. Adequate nutrition during early life appears to be beneficial to prevent hyperuricaemia of adult females.

This study aims to determine whether toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-mediated inflammation in rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) causes sympathetic overactivity leading to preeclampsia (PE) and if TLR4 inhibition with hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) would reduce PE severity. Thirty patients with PE and 30 pregnant controls were involved. PE in rats was induced through deoxycorticosterone acetate and normal saline. NaHS (donor of H 2 S), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (TLR4 agonist), and TAK-242 (TLR4 inhibitor) were injected in lateral cerebral ventricle to investigate their effect on microglia-mediated inflammation in RVLM, sympathetic activation, and PE symptoms. In patients with PE, plasma levels of NE, TNF-α, and interleukin-1β were high compared with those of controls, whereas levels of H 2 S were low. Rats with PE showed an increased amount of renal sympathetic nerve activity and plasma levels of NE, with decreased H 2 S levels in RVLM. Microglia-mediated inflammation was observed in the RVLM of PE rats. Central infusion of LPS in pregnant rats induced microglia-mediated inflammation, sympathetic nervous tension, and PE-like symptoms, whereas TAK-242 reduced PE symptoms. NaHS treatment lessened microglia-mediated inflammation in the RVLM, sympathetic tension, and symptoms of PE both in PE rats and LPS-treating pregnant rats.These results suggest that inflammation in the RVLM caused by microglial activation might contribute to the progression of PE via an overactive sympathetic system. H 2 S could reduce PE via inhibiting inflammation in the RVLM. These results might provide a new target for the treatment of PE., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

Pot experiments were conducted to evaluate plant contribution during remediation of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)-contaminated soil of Dagang Oilfield by Fire Phoenix (a mixture of Festuca L.). The results showed that Fire Phoenix could grow in soil contaminated by high and low concentrations of PAHs. After being planted for 150 days, the total removal rate of six PAHs in the high and low PAH concentrations was 80.36% and 79.79%, significantly higher than the 58.79% and 53.29% of the unplanted control group, respectively. Thus, Fire Phoenix can effectively repair the soil contaminated by different concentrations of PAHs. In high concentrations of PAHs, the results indicated a positive linear relationship between PAH absorption in tissues of Fire Phoenix and the growth time in the early stage. In contrast, the contents of PAHs were just slightly increased in the late period of plant growth. The main factor for the dissipation of PAHs was plant-promoted biodegradation (99.04%-99.93%), suggesting a low contribution of PAH uptake and transformation (0.07%-0.96%). The results revealed that Fire Phoenix did not remove the PAHs in the soil by accumulation but promoted PAH dissipation in the soil by stimulating the microbial metabolism in the rhizosphere., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

We report the path from the charge density wave (CDW)-bearing superconductor CuIr 2 Te 4 to the metal insulator transition (MIT)-bearing compound CuIr 2 S 4 by chemical alloying with the gradual substitution of S for Te. The evolution of structural and physical properties of the CuIr 2 Te 4- x S x (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 4) polycrystalline system is systemically examined. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) results imply CuIr 2 Te 4- x S x (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.5) crystallizes in a NiAs defected trigonal structure, whereas it adapts to the cubic spinel structure for 3.6 ⩽ x ⩽ 4 and it is a mixed phase in the doping range of 0.5 < x < 3.6. Unexpectedly, the resistivity and magnetization measurements reveal that small-concentration S substitution for Te can suppress the CDW transition, but it reappears around x = 0.2, and the CDW transition temperature enhances clearly as x augments for 0.2 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.5. Besides, the superconducting critical temperature ( T c ) first increases with S doping content and then decreases after reaching a maximum T c = 2.82 K for CuIr 2 Te 3.85 S 0.15 . MIT order has been observed in the spinel region (3.6 ⩽ x ⩽ 4) associated with T MI increasing with x increasing. Finally, the rich electronic phase diagram of temperature versus x for this CuIr 2 Te 4- x S x system is assembled, where the superconducting dome is associated with the suppression and re-emergence of CDW as well as MIT states at the end upon sulfur substitution in the CuIr 2 Te 4- x S x chalcogenides., (© 2022 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

We report the crystal structure, charge-density-wave (CDW), superconductivity (SC), and ferromagnetism (FM) in CuIr 2- x Cr x Te 4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 2) chalcogenides. Powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD) results reveal that the CuIr 2- x Cr x Te 4 series are distinguished between two structural types and three different regions: (i) layered trigonal structure region, (ii) mixed phase regions, and (iii) spinel structure region. Besides, Cr substitution for Ir site results in rich physical properties including the collapse of CDW, the formation of dome-shaped like SC, and the emergence of magnetism. Cr doping slightly elevates the superconducting critical temperature ( T sc ) to its highest T sc = 2.9 K around x = 0.06. As x increases from 0.3 to 0.4, the ferromagnetic Curie temperature ( T c ) increases from 175 to 260 K. However, the T c remains unchanged in the spinel range of 1.9 ≤ x ≤ 2. This finding provides a comprehensive material platform for investigating the interplay between CDW, SC, and FM multipartite quantum states.

The plants Feicai ( Sedum aizoon L.) and dandelion( Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz.) have good salt tolerance, and can improve soil quality and the micro-ecological environment. Coastal saline-soil plots planted with S. aizoon and T. mongolicum and bare plots were used to explore their effects on the microbial community structure of coastal saline soil. The diversity and function of soil bacterial communities were analyzed using Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology. The results showed that the α-diversity of soil bacterial communities were higher in planted than in bare plots, in the following order: T. mongolicum plot > S. aizoon plot > bare plot. The soil bacterial communities also changed after planting S. aizoon and T. mongolicum . The LDA effect size analysis showed that there were 37 indicator species among the three plot types. Correlation analysis of environmental factors showed that EC, AP, and OM were the main factors influencing bacterial community composition in this coastal saline soil. The PICRUSt functional prediction showed that the numbers of metabolic functions of bacterial communities were in the following order: T. mongolicum plot > S. aizoon plot > bare plot. The results provide a theoretical basis and plant species for developing salt-tolerant bacterial resources and phytoremediation of coastal saline soil.

Background and Objectives: To identify the main dietary patterns of adults and investigate the cross-sectional associations of these dietary patterns with prediabetes and undiagnosed or diagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM) in Qingdao, China., Methods and Study Design: This study included 4,457 participants who were administered the semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Dietary patterns were identified through principal component analysis (PCA). Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the associations of each pattern with the risks of prediabetes and undiagnosed or diagnosed DM., Results: PCA revealed two major dietary patterns. The Fruits-Vegetables and Poultry-Seafood patterns were not significantly associated with the risk of prediabetes in either crude or adjusted models (all p>0.05). The highest quartile of the Fruits-Vegetables pattern was significantly associated with decreased risks of undiagnosed DM (crude: OR=0.55, 95% CI: 0.41-0.72; Model 1: OR=0.61, 95% CI: 0.46-0.81; Model 2: OR=0.57, 95% CI: 0.42-0.77; Model 3: OR=0.56, 95% CI: 0.41-0.76) and diagnosed DM (crude: OR=0.51, 95% Cl: 0.34-0.75; Model 1: OR=0.59, 95% CI: 0.39-0.88; Model 2: OR=0.60, 95% CI: 0.39-0.93; Model 3: OR=0.59, 95% CI: 0.38-0.91) compared with the lowest quartile in crude and adjusted models. The Poultry-Seafood pattern was not significantly associated with the risk of undiagnosed or diagnosed DM in crude or adjusted models (all p>0.05)., Conclusions: The Fruits-Vegetables pattern was associated with a decreased risk of undiagnosed or diagnosed DM.

Background and Objectives: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major global public health problem. Vitamin C (VC) can improve metabolic dysfunctions associated with T2DM. To establish an association between T2DM and VC metabolism, it is necessary to investigate the biological mechanisms of T2DM and VC. Therefore, the aim of this study was to elucidate the underlying pathways and co-expression networks in T2DM and VC using bioinformatics analysis., Methods and Study Design: Data on 15 microarrays about T2DM were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and analyzed for genes using the GEO2R online tool. VC- metabolism associated genes were obtained from the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) about T2DM and VC metabolism were identified using the jvenn online software. GO annotation and KEGG pathways for DEGs were enriched using DAVID. STRING and Cytoscape were used to construct PPI network and to predict the interaction relationships between T2DM-associated and VC- metabolism associated DEGs., Results: We identified 160 DEGs about T2DM and VC from the GEO and CTD. GO, KEGG and PPI network analysis suggested that DEGs might participate in crucial biological processes and pathways, such as negative regulation of apoptotic process, removal of superoxide radicals, and PERK-mediated unfolded protein response, insulin resistance, the TNF signaling pathway, and the FoxO signaling pathway., Conclusions: These findings could significantly improve the understanding of the mechanisms underlying impact of VC on T2DM. However, further research is needed to validate our findings.

Background: Aberrant methylation of CpG sites served as an epigenetic marker for building diagnostic, prognostic, and recurrence models for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: Using Illumina 450K and EPIC Beadchip, we identified 34 CpG sites in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) DNA that were differentially methylated in early HCC versus HBV-related liver diseases (HBVLD). We employed multiplex bisulfite sequencing (MBS) based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) to measure methylation of 34 CpG sites in PBMC DNA from 654 patients that were divided into a training set ( n = 442) and a test set ( n = 212). Using the training set, we selected and built a six-CpG-scorer (namely, cg14171514, cg07721852, cg05166871, cg18087306, cg05213896, and cg18772205), applying least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression. We performed multivariable analyses of four candidate risk predictors (namely, six-CpG-scorer, age, sex, and AFP level), using 20 times imputation of missing data, non-linearly transformed, and backwards feature selection with logistic regression. The final model's regression coefficients were calculated according to "Rubin's Rules". The diagnostic accuracy of the model was internally validated with a 10,000 bootstrap validation dataset and then applied to the test set for validation., Results: The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of the model was 0.81 (95% CI, 0.77-0.85) and it showed good calibration and decision curve analysis. Using enhanced bootstrap validation, adjusted C-statistics and adjusted Brier score were 0.809 and 0.199, respectively. The model also showed an AUROC value of 0.84 (95% CI 0.79-0.88) of diagnosis for early HCC in the test set., Conclusions: Our model based on the six-CpG-scorer was a reliable diagnosis tool for early HCC from HBVLD. The usage of the MBS method can realize large-scale detection of CpG sites in clinical diagnosis of early HCC and benefit the majority of patients., 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 © 2021 Li, Song, Qin, Li, Jiang, Ren, Zang, Sun, Zhao and Zhang.)

Changes in ecological processes over time in ambient treatments are often larger than the responses to manipulative treatments in climate change experiments. However, the impacts of human-driven environmental changes on the stability of natural grasslands have been typically assessed by comparing differences between manipulative plots and reference plots. Little is known about whether or how ambient climate regulates the effects of manipulative treatments and their underlying mechanisms. We collected two datasets, one a 36-year long-term observational dataset from 1983 to 2018, and the other a 10-year manipulative asymmetric warming and grazing experiment using infrared heaters with moderate grazing from 2006 to 2015 in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. The 36-year observational dataset shows that there was a nonlinear response of community stability to ambient temperature with a positive relationship between them due to an increase in ambient temperature in the first 25 years and then a decrease in ambient temperature thereafter. Warming and grazing decreased community stability with experiment duration through an increase in legume cover and a decrease in species asynchrony, which was due to the decreasing background temperature through time during the 10-year experiment period. Moreover, the temperature sensitivity of community stability was higher under the ambient treatment than under the manipulative treatments. Therefore, our results suggested that ambient climate may control the directional trend of community stability while manipulative treatments may determine the temperature sensitivity of the response of community stability to climate relative to the ambient treatment. Our study emphasizes the importance of the context dependency of the response of community stability to human-driven environmental changes., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Cancer-testis antigens (CTAs) and tumour-associated antigens (TAAs) are frequently expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the role of tumour-antigen-specific T cell immunity in HCC progression is poorly defined. We characterized CTA- and TAA-specific T cell responses in different HCC stages and investigated their alterations during HCC progression., Methods: Fifty-eight HCC patients, 15 liver cirrhosis patients, 15 chronic hepatitis B patients and 10 heathy controls were enrolled in total. IFN-γ ELSPOT using CTAs, including MAGE-A1, MAGE-A3, NY-ESO-1, and SSX2, and two TAAs, SALL4 and AFP, was performed to characterize the T-cell immune response in the enrolled individuals. The functional phenotype of T cells and the responsive T cell populations were analyzed using short-term T-cell culture., Results: T cell responses against CTAs and TAAs were specific to HCC. In early-stage HCC patients, the SALL4-specific response was the strongest, followed by MAGE-A3, NY-ESO-1, MAGE-A1 and SSX2. One-year recurrence-free survival after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization plus radiofrequency ablation treatment suggested the protective role of CTA-specific responses. The four CTA- and SALL4-specific T cell responses decreased with the progression of HCC, while the AFP-specific T cell response increased. A higher proportion of CD4+ T cells specific to CTA/SALL4 was observed than AFP-specific T cell responses., Conclusions: The IFN-γ ELISPOT assay characterized distinct profiles of tumour-antigen-specific T cell responses in HCC patients. CTA- and SALL4-specific T cell responses may be important for controlling HCC in the early stage, whereas AFP-specific T cell responses might be a signature of malignant tumour status in the advanced stage. The application of immunotherapy at an early stage of HCC development should be considered., (© 2021. The Author(s).)