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Using the first-principles molecular dynamics simulations and CI-NEB calculations, we performed a systematic and comprehensive investigation on the chemical compatibility of various solvents (carbonate esters, aromatic solvents, ethers, carboxylic esters, water, DMSO and ionic liquids) and electrolytes (DMC-Al(OTF) 3 , DME-Al(OTF) 3 , GBL-Al(OTF) 3 , H 2 O-Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 , DMSO-Al(OTF) 3 , [EMIm] + Cl - -[AlCl 3 ] and urea-AlCl 3 ) with Mo 2 TiC 2 -based MXenes, evaluating their possible use as solvents, additives and electrolytes in aluminum-ion batteries (AIBs). Among the investigated solvents, carbonate ester (DMC), chain ether (DME), aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene), chain carboxylic ester (GBL), DMSO, ionic liquids ([EMIm] + Cl - , [DMPI] + Cl - and [BMP] + Cl - ) and urea showed very low reactivity towards both bare Mo 2 TiC 2 and Al-terminated structures (Mo 2 TiC 2 Al 2 and Mo 2 TiC 2 Al 6 monolayers), indicating their excellent chemical compatibility between these solvents and the MXene cathode. Besides the Mo 2 TiC 2 monolayer, a relatively low chemical reactivity was predicted for Al-terminated MXenes after their contact with almost all the solvents considered in this work, even with the relatively more reactive carbonate esters (PC and EC) and ethers (G2 and THF). The electrolytes DMC-Al(OTF) 3 and ionic liquid ([EMIm] + Cl - -AlCl 3 ) exhibited high chemical compatibility with Mo 2 TiC 2 -based MXenes and exhibited promising electrochemical reactivity at the interface between the electrolyte and electrode. Alternatively, either the decomposition of the electrolyte components or the low electrochemical reactivity of Al 3+ was observed in other electrolyte systems (DME-Al(OTF) 3 , GBL-Al(OTF) 3 , H 2 O-Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 , DMSO-Al(OTF) 3 and urea-AlCl 3 ), indicating poor reversibility and cyclic performance of AIBs.

Bone health problem is one of the important concomitant diseases of breast cancer (BC). This study aimed to investigate the bone health status of newly diagnosed female BC patients in China. A total of 636 newly diagnosed female BC patients and 268 women undergoing routine physical examinations (control group) were included. Bone mineral density and bone metabolism parameters were assessed. The association between BC and abnormal bone mass (ABM) was analyzed by logistic regression. We found that approximately 15.3% of BC patients presented with hypocalcemia after albumin adjustment. 25-OHVitD deficiency or insufficiency was observed in 92.3% of BC patients. ABM was identified in 63.2% of BC patients, comprising 36.4% with osteopenia and 26.8% with osteoporosis. ABM prevalence was significantly higher in BC patients under 40 years old (40.8%) compared to 8% in the age-matched control group. The severity of bone loss correlated with elevated bone turnover markers. Logistic regression analysis showed that a 5.5-fold and 3.4-fold increased risk of ABM and osteoporosis, respectively, in newly diagnosed BC patients versus the control group. All BC subtypes were associated with a markedly higher risk of ABM. Young BC patients (< 45 years) exhibited a nearly 9-fold higher risk of ABM compared to their age-matched counterparts. Vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency, osteopenia, and osteoporosis were highly prevalent among newly diagnosed female BC patients. Regardless of age and BC subtype, BC patients face a higher risk of ABM compared to those physical examination women, especially among the young., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval: This research was approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University and the study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent to participate: Due to the retrospective nature of the study, Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University waived the need of obtaining informed consent., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Epidemiology shows women have a higher incidence of osteoarthritis (OA) than men. However, there is not enough evidence to suggest a direct correlation between female reproductive factors and OA. Therefore, this study will employ Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to investigate whether there is a causal relationship between the 2. This study used a 2-sample MR analysis with single nucleotide polymorphisms significantly associated with female reproductive factors as instrumental variables (IV). We used inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger regression, weighted median method to infer a causal relationship between female reproductive factors and OA, Cochran Q heterogeneity test by IVW and MR-Egger method, MR PRESSO method and IVW-radial method to detect outliers, MR&#95;pleiotropy&#95;test function and MR PRESSO method for multivariate validity test, and calculation of F-value was used to assess the presence of weak IVs. Finally, the stability of the findings was assessed using the leave-one-out method. Our research shows that there is no reliable causal relationship between an increase in Age at menarche (years) (AAM) and Age at menopause (years) (AM) and OA, that an increase in Age first had sexual intercourse (years) (AFS) is associated with a decreased risk of knee OA and/or hip OA and hand OA, that an increase in Age at first live birth (years) (AFB) is associated with a decreased risk of knee OA and/or hip OA and knee OA, and that an increase in Number of live births (NOB) is associated with an increased risk of knee OA and/or hip OA. This study provides genetic support for an increase in AFS as a reduced knee OA and/or hip OA and hand OA risk factor, an increase in AFB as a reduced knee OA and/or hip OA and knee OA risk factor, and an increase in NOB as an increased knee OA and/or hip OA risk factor. Further studies are needed to elucidate the potential mechanisms underlying the causal associations between AFS, AFB, and NOB and site-specific OA., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2025 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Dry eye disease (DED) is closely associated with oxidative stress (OS), its high prevalence and the limitations of current treatments highlight the need for highly effective antioxidants. Chlorogenic acid (CGA) can upregulate the activity of antioxidant enzymes, hinder the process of lipid peroxidation, and exert potent antioxidant effects. In this study, we established an OS-induced DED mouse model to investigate the protective effect and mechanism of CGA against OS-induced DED. Three aspects were examined: oxidative damage, apoptosis, and autophagy. The results demonstrated that CGA improved ocular surface signs in DED mice, decreased inflammatory responses in the meibomian gland (MG), downregulated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA), inhibited apoptosis and autophagy, and regulated proteins related to the AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase)/ULK1 (UNC-51-like Kinase 1) signaling pathway in the MG of DED mice. These findings suggest that CGA can attenuate oxidative damage and inhibit related apoptosis and autophagy in the MG of DED mice by affecting the expression of proteins related to the AMPK/ULK1 signaling pathway., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest ☒ The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Xiaolei Yao 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 © 2025. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The electrochemical reduction of nitrate to ammonia offers an environmentally sustainable pathway for nitrogen fixation. However, achieving both efficiency and selectivity in nitrate reduction presents a formidable challenge, due to the involvement of sluggish multielectron transfer processes. Herein, the successful synthesis of spherical Cu₂O nanoparticles (s-Cu₂O) exhibiting significant compressive strain effects, achieved through a one-pot method using gelatin as a structural modifier, is reported. The s-Cu₂O catalyst demonstrates exceptional electrochemical performance for nitrate reduction reaction (NO 3 RR), achieving a Faradaic efficiency (FE NH3 ) of 95.07%, ammonia selectivity of 92.03%, a nitrate conversion rate of 97.77%, and a yield rate of 284.83 µmol h⁻¹ cm⁻ 2 at -0.8 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (vs. RHE) for ammonia production. Structural characterization and density functional theory calculations reveal that compressive strain plays a critical role in modulating the electronic structure of the catalyst, thereby activating the *NO intermediate in the potential determining step and effectively suppressing the hydrogen evolution reaction. Furthermore, it is implemented in a Zn-NO 3 - battery, and the test results indicate that the battery achieved a peak power density of 3.95 mW cm -2 at a potential of 0.129 V (vs Zn/Zn 2 ⁺), illustrating its excellent electrochemical and functional efficacy. This work introduces a novel strategy for the rational design of high-performance electrocatalysts through strain engineering, offering broad implications for energy-efficient ammonia synthesis, and sustainable nitrogen cycling., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Organic contaminants (OCs) are released into the environment through effluent discharges from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), posing risks to environment health. However, emissions from various source, particularly large-scale investigations across different industries, remain poorly understood. Based on both sampling and statistical data, this study estimates the emissions of 10 OCs, including perfluorooctane acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), 4-tert-octylphenol (4-t-OP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), di-iso-butyl phthalate (DIBP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and bisphenol A (BPA), from the effluents of 160 factories across 8 industries, 541 municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs), and 8 waste treatment plants (WTPs) in the upper Yangtze River Basin. A level III fugacity multimedia model was used to assess the impacts of these emissions on local watersheds. Among the 8 industries, paper production was the largest contributor, accounting for over 80% of total OC emissions, which amounted to 89.1 kg/yr. The contributions of domestic and industrial sources were 91.5% and 8.5%, respectively, underscoring the predominance of domestic sources in the release of the 10 OCs. PFOA emerged as the most dominant compound, with total emissions amounting to 4464 kg/yr from domestic sources and 170 kg/yr from industrial sources. The predicted concentrations of OCs in the receiving rivers closely aligned with values reported in existing literature, differing by no more than one order of magnitude. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive report on emissions from various sources in the upper Yangtze River Basin., 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 © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Carbon chain elongation offers a promising pathway for converting waste resources into caproate. However, challenges in yield and selectivity have limited its broader application. To address these limitations, anaerobically digested sludge-derived biochar (ADS-B) was incorporated into the carbon chain elongation process. The findings reveal that the addition of 20 g/L ADS-B resulted in the highest net caproate yield (6.5 g/L) and selectivity (61.1%). Further analysis highlighted that ADS-B's superior physicochemical properties enhanced the conversion of butyrate to caproate and facilitated the colonization of key microorganisms, such as Terrisporobacter and Clostridium, essential for caproate production. Additionally, a life cycle assessment indicated that ADS-B addition effectively reduced the environmental impact of caprate production, with additional potential for further mitigation through feedstock substitution. This study provides critical insights into the application of anaerobically digested sludge-derived biochar for enhancing carbon chain elongation, presenting an alternative approach for waste reutilization., 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 © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Esophageal cancer is a major malignancy with a high incidence and poor prognosis. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying its progression, particularly with respect to cell division and spindle orientation, we investigated the role of m6A modifications and the centrosomal protein CEP170. Using m6A-seq and RNA-seq of esophageal cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues, we identified significant alterations in m6A modifications and gene expression, highlighting the upregulation and m6A enrichment of CEP170 in tumor tissues. Functional assays, including cell cycle synchronization, qPCR, immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, coimmunoprecipitation, methylated RNA immunoprecipitation, and cell proliferation assays, demonstrated that CEP170 plays a critical role in mitotic progression and spindle orientation. m6A-seq and RNA-seq revealed significant alterations in m6A modifications and gene expression in esophageal cancer. CEP170 was upregulated and highly enriched in m6A modifications in tumor tissues. Functional assays revealed that CEP170 plays a critical role in proper mitotic progression and spindle orientation. Knockdown of CEP170 led to spindle misorientation and impaired the stability of astral microtubules. Additionally, CEP170 affected the localization of the dynein/dynactin motor complex in the cell cortex. METTL3 was upregulated in tumor tissues and regulated CEP170 expression. RNA-seq upon CEP170 depletion revealed that ASPM was significantly downregulated, indicating its involvement as a downstream target of CEP170 in regulating cell proliferation and mitosis. Our findings provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms by which CEP170 and m6A modifications regulate esophageal cancer progression, revealing that CEP170 is a potential therapeutic target., 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.)

The association between the human brain and gut microbiota, known as the "brain-gut-microbiota axis", is involved in the neuropathological mechanisms of schizophrenia (SZ); however, its association patterns and correlations with symptom severity and neurocognition are still largely unknown. In this study, 43 SZ patients and 55 normal controls (NCs) were included, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and gut microbiota data were acquired for each participant. First, the brain features of brain images and functional brain networks were computed from rs-fMRI data; the gut features of gut microbiota abundance and the gut microbiota network were computed from gut microbiota data. Second, we propose a novel methodology to construct an individual brain-gut microbiota network (BGMN) for each participant by combining the brain and gut features via multiple strategies. Third, discriminative models between SZ patients and NCs were built using the connectivity matrices of the BGMN as input features. Moreover, the correlations between the most discriminative features and the scores of symptom severity and neurocognition were analyzed in SZ patients. The results showed that the best discriminative model between SZ patients and NCs was achieved using the connectivity matrices of the BGMN when all the brain and gut features were integrated, with an accuracy of 0.90 and an area under the curve value of 0.97. The most discriminative features were related primarily to the genera Faecalibacterium and Collinsella, in which the genus Faecalibacterium was linked to the visual system and subcortical cortices and the genus Collinsella was linked to the default network and subcortical cortices. Furthermore, parts of the most discriminative features were significantly correlated with the scores of neurocognition in the SZ patients. The methodology for constructing individual BGMNs proposed in this study can help us reveal the associations between the brain and gut microbiota and understand the neuropathology of SZ., 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 © 2025. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Compute-in-memory based on resistive random-access memory has emerged as a promising technology for accelerating neural networks on edge devices. It can reduce frequent data transfers and improve energy efficiency. However, the nonvolatile nature of resistive memory raises concerns that stored weights can be easily extracted during computation. To address this challenge, we propose RePACK, a threefold data protection scheme that safeguards neural network input, weight, and structural information. It utilizes a bipartite-sort coding scheme to store data with a fully on-chip physical unclonable function. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of increasing enumeration complexity to 5.77 × 10 75 for a 128-column compute-in-memory core. We further implement and evaluate a RePACK computing system on a 40 nm resistive memory compute-in-memory chip. This work represents a step towards developing safe, robust, and efficient edge neural network accelerators. It potentially serves as the hardware infrastructure for edge devices in federated learning or other systems., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

A 42-year-old man experienced recurrent coronary artery spasm (CAS) secondary to eosinophilic asthma despite being on multiple medications. He underwent a successful unilateral stellate ganglion block followed by bilateral thoracoscopic sympathectomy, with no subsequent recurrence of CAS. These invasive therapies offer a potential treatment option for refractory CAS., Competing Interests: The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (© 2025 The Authors.)

Cardiac fibrosis characterized by aberrant activation of cardiac fibroblasts impairs cardiac contractile and diastolic functions, inducing the progression of the disease towards its terminal phase, resulting in the onset of heart failure. Therefore, the inhibition of cardiac fibrosis has become a promising treatment for cardiac diseases. The ovarian follicle-stimulating hormone folliculin (FLCN) plays a significant role in various biological processes, such as lysosome function, mitochondrial synthesis, angiogenesis, ciliogenesis and autophagy. Severe heart failure was observed in FLCN knockout mice. In this study, we investigated the role of FLCN in cardiac fibrosis and its potential mechanisms. The mice were subjected to transverse aortic constriction (TAC) surgery. Myocardial fibrosis developed in the mice 8 weeks after surgery. We showed that the protein and mRNA expression levels of FLCN were significantly decreased in TAC mice. Similar results were observed in primary mouse cardiac fibroblasts treated with Ang-II, an in vitro cardiac fibrosis model, suggesting that FLCN is involved in the pathological process of cardiac fibrosis. We demonstrated that overexpression of FLCN inhibited lysosome function in cardiac fibroblasts. Furthermore, overexpression of FLCN protected the heart from TAC-induced pathological cardiac fibrosis. We revealed that FLCN bound to the cPLA2 protein, increased its activity, regulated lysosomal function, and promoted membrane permeabilisation in cardiac fibroblasts during cardiac fibrosis. Knockdown of cPLA2 blocked the antifibrotic effect of FLCN in cardiac fibrosis. In addition, we found that the reduced expression of FLCN in cardiac fibrosis resulted from the modulation of YTHDF3-regulated m 6 A methylation of FLCN mRNA. The overexpression of YTHDF3 alleviated the production of collagens and improved cardiac structure and function in TAC mice. YTHDF3 inhibited proliferation and differentiation and regulated lysosomal function in mouse cardiac fibroblasts, whereas these effects were abolished by FLCN knockdown. We conclude that FLCN undergoes YTHDF3-regulated m 6 A modification and interacts with cPLA2 to improve lysosomal function in cardiac fibroblasts, highlighting its role in myocardial fibrosis therapy. These results suggest that FLCN and YTHDF3 could serve as potential therapeutic targets for cardiac fibroblast treatment., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics: This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of regulations of the experimental animal ethics committee of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University. The protocol was approved by the experimental animal ethics committee of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Pharmacological Society.)

Chirality induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect implies the relationship between chirality and magnetism, attracting extensive attention in the fields of physics, chemistry and biology. Since it was first discovered with photoemission method in 1999, the CISS effect has been investigated and measured by a variety of methods. Among different means of measurements, scanning probe microscopy (SPM) as a powerful tool to explore the CISS effect, can directly measure and present the spin filtering property of chiral molecules in electron transport. In this paper, we summarize the recent experiments on the CISS effect studied with scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy, analyzing the experimental setups and results, and delving into the underlying mechanisms. The present review offers a concise introduction to several chiral molecules which are investigated by SPM for the CISS effect, and a detailed exploration of various experimental techniques tailored to the unique adsorption structures of these molecules. The impact of molecular structure on spin selectivity and the profound implications of CISS are also demonstrated together with a concise overview of CISS theory. A conclusive synopsis and forward-looking perspectives on the investigation of the CISS effect in electron transport utilizing SPM techniques are presented., (© 2025 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.)

This work investigates the impact of rainfall on cellular communication links, leveraging smartphone-collected measurements. While existing studies primarily focus on line-of-sight (LoS) microwave propagation environments, this work explores the impact of rainfall on typical signal metrics over cellular links when the LoS path is not guaranteed. We examine both small-scale and large-scale variations in signal measurements across dry and rainy days, considering diverse locations and time windows. Through statistical and spectral analysis of a large dataset, we uncover novel insights into how rainfall influences cellular communication links. Specifically, we observe a consistent daily fluctuation pattern in key cellular metrics, such as the reference signal received quality. Additionally, spectral features of key mobile metrics show noticeable changes during rainfall events. These findings, consistent across three distinct locations, highlight the significant impact of rainfall on everyday cellular links. They also suggest that the widely available by-product signals from mobile phones could be leveraged for innovative rainfall-sensing applications.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The incidence and mortality of cerebrovascular diseases are increasing year by year. Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI) is common in patients with ischemic stroke. Naoxintong (NXT) is composed of a variety of Chinese medicines and has the ability to treat CIRI., Aim of the Study: The aim of this study is to investigate whether NXT regulates mitophagy in CIRI based on network pharmacology analysis and experimental validation., Materials and Methods: Oxygen and glucose deprivation/re-oxygenation (OGD/R, 2/22 h) model of PC12 cells and transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO, 2/22 h) model of rats were established. Pharmacodynamic indicators include neurological deficit score, 2,3,5-triphenyte-trazoliumchloride (TTC) staining, hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and cell viability. Network pharmacology was used to predict pharmacological mechanisms. Pharmacological mechanism indexes include transmission electron microscopy (TEM), drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS), cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA), immunohistochemistry (IHC), western blot (WB) and immunofluorescence (IF). Kevetrin (an agonists of p53) and pifithrin-α (an inhibitor of p53) used to detect the key role of p53 in mitophagy of NXT., Results: NXT (1% serum containing NXT and 110 mg/kg) improved the damage of OGD/R PC12 cells and tMCAO rats, and this protective effect was related to the anti-oxidation and ability to promote mitophagy of NXT. NXT and pifithrin-α increased the expression of promoting-mitophagy targets (PINK1, PRKN and LC3B) and inhibited the expression of inhibiting-mitophagy targets (p52) via restraining p53, and finally accelerated mitophagy caused by CIRI., Conclusion: This study demonstrates that NXT promotes mitophagy in CIRI through restraining p53 and promoting PINK1/PRKN in vivo and in vitro., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests. We wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome. All data were generated in-house, and no paper mill was used. All authors agree to be accountable for all aspects of work ensuring integrity and accuracy. All authors agree with the submission of this manuscript., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The detection of abnormal brain activity plays an important role in the early diagnosis and treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). Recent studies have shown that the decomposition of the electroencephalography (EEG) spectrum into periodic and aperiodic components is useful for identifying the drivers of electrophysiologic abnormalities and avoiding individual differences., Methods: This study aimed to elucidate the pathologic changes in individualized periodic and aperiodic activities and their relationships with the symptoms of MDD. EEG data in the eyes-closed resting state were continuously recorded from 97 first-episode and drug-naïve patients with MDD and 90 healthy control (HC) participants. Both periodic oscillations and aperiodic components were obtained via the "fitting oscillations and one-over f" (FOOOF) algorithm and then used to compute individualized spectral features., Results: MDD patients presented higher canonical alpha and beta band power but lower aperiodic-adjusted alpha and beta power. Furthermore, we found that alpha power was strongly correlated with the age of patients but not with disease symptoms. The aperiodic intercept was lower in the parietal‒occipital region and was positively correlated with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) score after accounting for age and sex. In the asymmetry analysis, alpha activity appeared asymmetrical only in the HC group, whereas aperiodic activity was symmetrical in both groups., Conclusions: The findings of this study provide insights into the role of abnormal neural spiking activity and impaired neuroplasticity in MDD progression and suggest that the aperiodic intercept in resting-state EEG may be a potential biomarker of MDD., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The methodology of machine learning with multi-omics data has been widely adopted in the discriminative analyses of schizophrenia, but most of these studies ignored the cooperative interactions and topological attributes of multi-omics networks. In this study, we constructed three types of brain graphs (BGs), three types of gut graphs (GGs), and nine types of brain-gut combined graphs (BGCGs) for each individual. We proposed a novel methodology of multi-omics graph convolutional network (MO-GCN) with an attention mechanism to construct a classification model by integrating all BGCGs. We also identified important brain and gut features using the Topk pooling layer and analyzed their correlations with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) scores. The results showed that the novel MO-GCN model using BGCGs outperformed the GCN models using either BGs or GGs. In particular, the accuracy of the best model by 5-fold cross-validation reached 84.0 %. Interpretability analysis revealed that the top 10 important brain features were primarily from the hippocampus, olfactory, fusiform and pallidum, which were involved in the brain systems of memory, learning and emotion. The top 10 important gut features were primarily from Dorea, Ruminococcus, Subdoligranulum and Clostridium, etc. Moreover, the important brain and gut features were significantly correlated with the PANSS and MCCB scores, respectively. In conclusion, the MO-GCN can effectively improve the classification performance and provide a potential gut microbiota-brain perspective for the understanding of schizophrenia., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest This work is original research and has not been previously published, nor is it under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. No conflict of interest exists in the submission of this manuscript, and the manuscript is approved by all authors for publication. All the authors listed have approved the enclosed manuscript., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Novel lipophilic cationic derivatives including quaternary ammonium salt and triphenylphosphine series were designed and synthesized using diosgenin (1) and sarsasapogenin (2) as substrates to improve the cytotoxicity and selectivity. Most of the derivatives showed higher cytotoxicity against all cancer cell lines tested, compound 13 exhibited the most superior activity against A549 cells with an IC 50 value of 0.95 μM, which was 34-fold of diosgenin. Preliminary cellular mechanism studies elucidated that compound 13 might arrest cell cycle at G0/G1 phase, trigger apoptosis via up-regulating the expression of Bax, down-regulating the expression of Bcl-2 and caspase-3, and induce an increase in the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in A549 cells. In addition, molecular docking analysis revealed that compound 13 could occupy the active site of p38α-MAPK well and interact to the surrounding amino acids by salt bridge and conjugation. These results suggested that compound 13 had the potential to serve as an antitumor lead agent, probably exert antitumor effect through mitochondrial pathway and p38α MAPK pathway., 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 © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Echocardiography can conveniently, rapidly, and economically evaluate the structure and function of the heart, and has important value in the diagnosis and evaluation of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). However, echocardiography still exhibits significant variability in image acquisition and diagnosis, with a heavy dependency on the operator's experience. Image quality affects disease diagnosis in the later stage, and even image quality assessment still has variability in human evaluation. This study aimed to develop an automated and real-time quality assessment system using deep learning (DL) techniques while decreasing the measurement error of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)., Methods: This study involved over 5,000 echocardiography datasets from 2,461 participants across 10 medical centers in China to build the model. A 5-point quality scoring system was used to assess the integrity, clarity, and alignment of anatomical structures in each echocardiogram view. Additionally, an innovative DL model was developed to autonomously detect these essential cardiac anatomical structures in real-time, subsequently providing quality score estimations and LVEF. A total of 175 participants from two distinct external medical centers were enrolled for model validation. This dataset was employed to assess the consistency and repeatability of quality score and ejection fraction (EF) measurements, and the assessments made by human experts were compared with those of our model., Results: The developed model demonstrated exceptional performance, achieving Intersection over Union (IoU) scores exceeding 0.8 for left ventricular (LV) segmentation, a mean average precision when IoU >0.5 (mAP50) of 0.91 for cardiac anatomical structures detection, and a 0.96±0.05 accuracy in view classification. The quality scores assessed by the model closely matched those of human experts, indicating strong agreement. The weighted average precision and weighted average recall scores fell within the range of 0.5 to 0.6. Notably, there was no statistically significant difference in LVEF assessments between human experts and our model (P=0.09), as demonstrated by an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) analysis of 0.821, reflecting high-level consistency. When assessing echocardiograms with high-quality scores, the model demonstrated a significantly closer alignment and a higher correlation coefficient with human experts (R=0.90±0.04)., Conclusions: This study demonstrates that artificial intelligence-assisted echocardiography scoring system aligns well with manual quality scoring. Through the supervision of real-time echocardiogram quality, the artificial intelligence model can assist doctors in providing more reproducible and consistent assessments of cardiac function., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://qims.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/qims-24-512/coif). Y.J. is from Shenzhen Yingzhichuangsi Technology Co., Ltd. C.C. is from Shenzhen MicroPort Xinsuanzi Medical Technology Co., Ltd. B.S. reports that this work was supported by the Commission of Science and Technology of Shenzhen (No. GJHZ20210705142204014). H.F. reports that this research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82371963), the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2023A1515011366), and the NSFC launching fund of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital (Nos. 8207070477 and 8227070211). The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2025 AME Publishing Company. All rights reserved.)

Additive manufacturing (AM) of magnetic materials has recently attracted increasing interest for various applications but is often limited by the high cost and supply chain risks of rare-earth-element (REE) magnetic precursors. Recent advances in nanomanufacturing have enabled the development of rare-earth-free (REF) magnetic materials, such as spinel ferrites, hexaferrites, MnAl, MnBi, Alnico, FePt, and iron oxides/nitrides, which offer promising alternatives for printing high-performance magnetic devices. This review provides a detailed overview of the latest developments in REF magnetic materials, covering both synthesis strategies of REF magnetic materials/nanomaterials and their integration into AM processes. We summarize the design and formulation of magnetic inks, emphasizing the unique properties of REF ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic systems and their adaptability to AM techniques like direct ink writing, inkjet printing, aerosol jet printing, and screen printing. Key advancements in materials chemistry, ink rheology, and device performance are discussed, highlighting how the structure of REF magnetic materials impacts device functionalities. This review concludes with a perspective on the pressing challenges and emerging opportunities in AM of REF magnetic inks. Through this review, we aim to offer insights into the structure-processing-property relationship of REF magnetic inks and guide the design of next-generation printable magnetic systems in a scalable, cost-effective, and sustainable manner.

The aqueous zinc ion battery emerges as the promising candidate applied in large-scale energy storage system. However, Zn anode suffers from the issues including Zn dendrite, Hydrogen evolution reaction and corrosion. These challenges are primarily derived from the instability of anode/electrolyte interface, which is associated with the interfacial charge density distribution. In this context, the recent advancements concentrating on the strategies and mechanisms to regulate charge density at the Zn anode/electrolyte interface are summarized. Different characterization techniques for charge density distribution have been analysed, which can be applied to assess the interfacial zinc ion transport. Additionally, the charge density regulations at the Zn anode/electrolyte interface are discussed, elucidating their roles in modulating electrostatic interactions, electric field, structure of solvated zinc ion and electric double layer, respectively. Finally, the perspectives and challenges on the further research are provided to establish the stable anode/electrolyte interface by focusing on charge density modifications, which is expected to facilitate the development of aqueous zinc ion battery., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Integrated stretchable devices, containing soft modules, rigid modules, and encapsulation modules, are of potential use in implantable bioelectronics and wearable devices. However, such systems often suffer from electrical deterioration due to debonding failure at the connection between rigid and soft modules induced by severe stress concentration, limiting their practical implementation. Here, we report a highly conductive and adhesive bilayer interface that can reliably connect soft-soft modules and soft-rigid modules together by simply pressing without conductive pastes. This interface configuration features a nanoscale styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) elastomer layer and a SEBS-liquid metal (LM) composite layer. The top SEBS layer enables a strong adhesion with different modules. The connections between soft-soft and soft-rigid modules can be stretched to high strains of 400% and 250%, respectively. Coupling electron tunneling through an ultrathin SEBS layer with LM particle networks in a SEBS-LM composite layer renders continuous pathways for electrical conductivity. Such a bilayer interface exhibits a strain-insensitive high conductivity (3.7 × 10 5 S m -1 ) over a wide strain range from 0 to 680%, which can be facilely fabricated in a self-organized manner by sedimentation of LM particles. We present a proof-of-concept demonstration of this bilayer interface as an electrode, interconnect, and self-solder for monitoring physiological signals.

Background: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with pharmacotherapy is a promising treatment method for depression. However, its treatment mechanism needs further research., Methods: This study recruited 38 healthy individuals (HC) and 52 patients with severe depression (MDD) and divided patients into two treatment groups: the rTMS combined antidepressant (rTMS+ADP) group and the single antidepressant (ADP) group. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to calculate the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to investigate the functional change after treatment., Result: The fALFF in the left DLPFC was significantly lower in the MDD group than that in the HC group (p < 0.05). In addition, fALFF values of the left DLPFC negatively correlated with HAMD-24 scores (r = -0.294, p = 0.005). After treatment, both MDD groups showed a significant decrease in HAMD-24 scores, with a response rate of 88.89 % and a remission rate of 62.96 % in the rTMS+ADP group, compared to 64 % response and 56 % remission rates in the ADP group. The fALFF values in patients' left DLPFC significantly reduced in the rTMS+ADP group (p < 0.05), but not in the ADP group., Limitations: Our study only focused on the treatment effect in the left DLPFC, without exploring the other brain regions or networks., Conclusions: This study emphasizes the significance of the left DLPFC in MDD treatment. However, combined left DLPFC rTMS with ADP causes deviation from the normal resting brain function of the left DLPFC, indicating that future research should explore targeted treatment methods to normalize the left DLPFC., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Solid oxide cells (SOCs) are promising energy-conversion devices due to their high efficiency under flexible operational modes. Yet, the sluggish kinetics of fuel electrodes remain a major obstacle to their practical applications. Since the electrochemically active region only extends a few micrometers, manipulating surface architecture is vital to endow highly efficient and stable fuel electrodes for SOCs. Herein, a simple selective etching method of nanosurface reconstruction is reported to achieve catalytically optimized hierarchical morphology for boosting the SOCs under different operational modes simultaneously. The selective etching can create many corrosion pits and exposure of more B-site active atoms in Sr 2 Co 0.4 Fe 1.2 Mo 0.4 O 6-δ fuel electrode, as well as promote the exsolution of CoFe alloy nanoparticles. An outstanding electrochemical performance of the fabricated cell with the power density increased by 1.47 times to 1.31 W cm -2 at fuel cell mode is demonstrated, while the current density reaches 1.85 A cm -2 under 1.6 V at CO 2 electrolysis mode (800 °C). This novel selective etching method in perovskite oxides provides an appealing strategy to fabricate hierarchical electrocatalysts for highly efficient and stable SOCs with broad implications for clean energy systems and CO 2 utilization., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Electronic systems and devices operating at significant power levels demand sophisticated solutions for heat dissipation. Although materials with high thermal conductivity hold promise for exceptional thermal transport across nano- and microscale interfaces under ideal conditions, their performance often falls short by several orders of magnitude in the complex thermal interfaces typical of real-world applications. This study introduces mechanochemistry-mediated colloidal liquid metals composed of Galinstan and aluminium nitride to bridge the practice-theory disparity. These colloids demonstrate thermal resistances of between 0.42 and 0.86 mm 2  K W -1 within actual thermal interfaces, outperforming leading thermal conductors by over an order of magnitude. This superior performance is attributed to the gradient heterointerface with efficient thermal transport across liquid-solid interfaces and the notable colloidal thixotropy. In practical devices, experimental results demonstrate their capacity to extract 2,760 W of heat from a 16 cm 2 thermal source when coupled with microchannel cooling, and can facilitate a 65% reduction in pump electricity consumption. This advancement in thermal interface technology offers a promising solution for efficient and sustainable cooling of devices operating at kilowatt levels., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Combined chemo-phototherapy has shown considerable advantages and potential in cancer treatment. For this purpose, self-assembled nanoparticles by gambogic acid (GA) and IR780 (referred to as GA-IR780 NPs) were prepared. Herein, GA, an active compound derived from Garcinia hanburyi Hook.f, was selected as a chemo-agent. IR780 was used as a photothermal agent as well as a photosensitizer, which could kill tumor cells via photothermal effect and photodynamic effect. The obtained GA-IR780 NPs were uniform spheres with particle size of ca. 50 nm. The drug loading efficiency of GA and IR780 was 38.42 % and 56.64 %, respectively. The GA-IR780 NPs exhibited excellent photothermal properties as well as photodynamic effect when irradiated by near infrared (NIR) light (808 nm, 2.0 W/cm 2 ). Moreover, the GA-IR780 NPs showed enhanced cytotoxicity with NIR light activation. Results of animal experiments showed that GA-IR780 NPs had the most significant tumor inhibition when irradiated by laser, and the results of H&E, Ki-67 and TUNEL staining confirmed that the GA-IR780 NPs+Laser group caused the most severe tumor tissue damage. The above results indicated that GA-mediated chemotherapy combining with IR780-based phototherapy could significantly improve the anti-tumor efficacy., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Kai Wu reports was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82204632). 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 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Patients with advanced metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) are refractory to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) 1,2 , partly because there are immunosuppressive myeloid cells in tumours 3,4 . However, the heterogeneity of myeloid cells has made them difficult to target, making blockade of the colony stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R) clinically ineffective. Here we use single-cell profiling on patient biopsies across the disease continuum and find that a distinct population of tumour-associated macrophages with elevated levels of SPP1 transcripts (SPP1 hi -TAMs) becomes enriched with the progression of prostate cancer to mCRPC. In syngeneic mouse modelling, an analogous macrophage population suppresses CD8 + T cell activity in vitro and promotes ICI resistance in vivo. Furthermore, Spp1 hi -TAMs are not responsive to anti-CSF1R antibody treatment. Pathway analysis identifies adenosine signalling as a potential mechanism for SPP1 hi -TAM-mediated immunotherapeutic resistance. Indeed, pharmacological inhibition of adenosine A2A receptors (A2ARs) significantly reverses Spp1 hi -TAM-mediated immunosuppression in CD8 + T cells in vitro and enhances CRPC responsiveness to programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockade in vivo. Consistent with preclinical results, inhibition of A2ARs using ciforadenant in combination with programmed death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockade using atezolizumab induces clinical responses in patients with mCRPC. Moreover, inhibiting A2ARs results in a significant decrease in SPP1 hi -TAM abundance in CRPC, indicating that this pathway is involved in both induction and downstream immunosuppression. Collectively, these findings establish SPP1 hi -TAMs as key mediators of ICI resistance in mCRPC through adenosine signalling, emphasizing their importance as both a therapeutic target and a potential biomarker for predicting treatment efficacy., Competing Interests: Competing interests: L.F. has received research support from Roche/Genentech, Abbvie, Bavarian Nordic, Bristol Myers Squibb, Dendreon, Janssen and Merck; has served on the scientific advisory boards of Actym, Astra Zeneca, Bioatla, Bristol Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, Immunogenesis, Innovent, Merck, Merck KGA, Nutcracker, RAPT, Senti, Sutro and Roche/Genentech; and reports ownership interest in Actym, BioAtla, ImmunoGenesis, Nutcracker, RAPT, Senti and Therapaint. R.A.M. is an employee of Corvus Pharmaceuticals. E.M.V.A. has received research support from Novartis, BMS and Sanofi, and served on the scientific advisory boards of Tango Therapeutics, Genome Medical, Genomic Life, Enara Bio, Manifold Bio, Monte Rosa, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, Riva Therapeutics and Serinus Bio. The remaining authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Bacterial infections pose a great threat to human health. Therefore, the development of new antibacterial agents or methods is in urgent need. In this study, we prepared polytannic acid (pTA)-coated PLGA nanoparticles decorated with Dermaseptin-PP (Der), an antimicrobial peptide (AMP), on the surface to obtain PLGA-pTA-Der. This nanoplatform could combine AMPs with photothermal treatment (PTT) mediated by pTA to achieve synergistic bacterial killing. The results of in vitro experiments showed that the PLGA-pTA-Der nanoparticles could eliminate nearly 99 % of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) upon near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation (2.0 W·cm -2 , 5 min), demonstrating excellent antibacterial properties. In addition, the results of atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed that PLGA-pTA-Der with laser irradiation can greatly destroy the mechanical integrity of the bacterial outer membrane. And the presence of Der could exacerbate the heat damage caused by the PLGA-pTA NPs to the bacteria, which is helpful to reduce the critical temperature required for bacteria killing by PTT. In vivo experiments showed that PLGA-pTA-Der nanoparticles with laser irradiation significantly accelerated the wound healing process and inhibited the growth of bacterial. Moreover, it can achieve a strong photothermal antibacterial effect at a mild temperature (<45℃) and does not cause any obvious thermal damage to the surrounding normal skin tissues. Results of immunofluorescence staining showed that the expression of CD31 (a marker of new blood vessel formation) was significantly higher in the PLGA-pTA-Der + laser group than other groups, while the pro-inflammatory molecule TNF-α was significantly lower, indicating that PLGA-pTA-Der nanoparticles accelerated wound healing by enhancing angiogenesis and reducing the inflammatory response. In conclusion, PLGA-pTA-Der nanoparticles was a promising antimicrobial nanoplatform for treating bacterial infections and promoting wound healing., 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.)

Background: The correlation between breast cancer and hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains inconclusive. This study aims to explore the serological status of HBV infection and past infection in different age groups of female breast cancer patients, patients with benign breast diseases, and individuals undergoing routine physical examinations., Methods: Serum data on HBV serological markers were collected and analyzed from 6072 female breast cancer patients first diagnosed from September 2012 to July 2020 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, along with 4019 women with benign breast diseases and 54,740 healthy females undergoing routine physical examinations in the same period. The data were stratified by age for comparison between groups., Results: The prevalence of HBV infection and past infection in the breast cancer group (7.9%, 55.1%) was higher than that in the benign breast disease group (6.5%, 39.1%) and the healthy females group(5.0%, 17.6%);the rate of only HBV surface antibody positivity (HBsAb ( +)) in the breast cancer group (10.3%) was lower than that in the benign breast disease group (26.9%) and the healthy females group (49.2%), with significant differences between the three groups (p < 0.05). Stratified by age, the prevalence of HBV infection in the breast cancer group (8%, 8.9%) and benign breast disease group (7.75%, 8.1%)was higher than that in the healthy females group (4.5%, 6.3%) in the 30-39 and 40-49 age group, respectively. The past infection rate of HBV in the breast cancer group (24.8%, 45.0%) was higher than that in the benign breast disease group (16.1%, 35.4%) in the ≤ 29 and 30-39 age group, respectively.. The past infection rate of HBV in the breast cancer group was higher than that in the healthy females group in all age groups, while the rate of only HBsAb ( +) in the breast cancer group was lower than that in the benign breast disease group and the routine physical examination group in all age groups., Conclusions: Breast cancer women and women with benign breast diseases have higher rates of hepatitis B virus infection and previous infections, with more significant differences among middle-aged women. Breast cancer women and women with benign breast diseases have lower rates of only HBsAb ( +) for HBV., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: All the authors declare that there is no actual or potential competing interests. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Every research procedure involving human participant was carried out according to the ethical standards of the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University and the Declaration of Helsinki. The informed consent was not obtained as this was a retrospective study., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Federación de Sociedades Españolas de Oncología (FESEO).)

Polymer dielectrics are essential for advanced electronics and electrical power systems, yet they suffer from low energy density (U e ) due to their low dielectric constant (K) and the inverse relationship between K and breakdown stength (E b ). Here a scalable approach utilizing the designed molecularly interpenetrating interfaces is presented to achieve all-organic dielectric polymers with high U e and charge-dischage efficiency (η). Distinctive intermolecular interactions and microstructural changes, as demonstrated experimentally and theoretically, are introduced by the molecularly interpenetrating interfaces, resulting in simultaneous improvements in dielectric responses and mechanical strength while inhibiting electrical conduction - outcomes unattainable in conventional layered polymers. Consequently, exceptional improvments in both K and E b are achieved, yielding a very high U e of 22.89 J cm -3 with η ≥ 90%, outperforming current layered polymer dielectrics. The bilayers can be easily fabricated into large-area films with high uniformity and outstanding capacitive stability (>500 000 cycles), offering a practical route to scalable high-U e polymer dielectrics for electrical energy storage., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of narrow-band imaging (NBI) in monitoring patients with head and neck carcinomas posttreatment and to compare it with that of white light endoscopy (WLE)., Data Sources: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science (WOS), Cochrane Library, China Biology Medicine disc (CBM disc), China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI), Wanfang Data, China Science and Technology Journal Database (CSTJ), Chinese Clinical Trial Register., Review Methods: Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), literature published before July 2024 was searched. Patients who underwent surgery, radiotherapy (RT), or chemo-RT for head and neck carcinomas with posttreatment follow-up using NBI were analyzed. The main outcomes were sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) for NBI and WLE in posttreatment follow-up., Results: The sensitivity, specificity, and DOR for NBI and WLE in posttreatment follow-up for head and neck carcinomas were 95% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 88%-98%), 96% (95% CI: 92%-98%), 433 (95% CI: 120-1560) and 72% (95% CI: 49%-87%), 72% (95% CI: 4%-99%), 7 (95% CI: 0-191). Additionally, the area under the curve (AUC) values for NBI and WLE were 0.99 (95% CI: 0.97-0.99) and 0.75 (95% CI: 0.71-0.79), respectively. The number of lesions and patients, treatment modality, follow-up time, disease, and endoscopic system might be sources of heterogeneity., Conclusion: Compared to WLE, NBI demonstrated superior diagnostic performance in follow-up patients with head and neck carcinoma posttreatment. NBI offers technical support and a clinical foundation for early detection of head and neck carcinoma recurrence., Level of Evidence: NA Laryngoscope, 135:34-44, 2025., (© 2024 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.)

Metal-alkynyls, an emerging class of functional metal-organic materials, have attracted widespread attention due to their fascinating properties and multifaceted potential applications, such as luminescence, nonlinear optics, liquid crystals, and catalysis. Despite considerable effort toward their synthesis, precise construction of complex metal-alkynyl structures with a high selectivity remains a great challenge. The rise of on-surface chemistry not only offers a route to realizing controlled synthesis of low-dimensional (LD) metal-alkynyls but also provides an opportunity for their in-depth investigations with advanced surface characterization techniques such as scanning tunneling microscopy. This Perspective presents an overview of some recent progress in precise on-surface synthesis of LD metal-alkynyls. Atomic-level explorations of chemical reactivities and electronic properties of surface-confined metal-alkynyls are then summarized to highlight their conjugated electronic states and rich chemistry.

Background: Williams-Beuren syndrome, Noonan syndrome, and Alagille syndrome are common types of genetic syndromes (GSs) characterized by distinct facial features, pulmonary stenosis, and delayed growth. In clinical practice, differentiating these three GSs remains a challenge. Facial gestalts serve as a diagnostic tool for recognizing Williams-Beuren syndrome, Noonan syndrome, and Alagille syndrome. Pretrained foundation models (PFMs) can be considered the foundation for small-scale tasks. By pretraining with a foundation model, we propose facial recognition models for identifying these syndromes., Methods: A total of 3297 (n = 1666) facial photos were obtained from children diagnosed with Williams-Beuren syndrome (n = 174), Noonan syndrome (n = 235), and Alagille syndrome (n = 51), and from children without GSs (n = 1206). The photos were randomly divided into five subsets, with each syndrome and non-GS equally and randomly distributed in each subset. The proportion of the training set and the test set was 4:1. The ResNet-100 architecture was employed as the backbone model. By pretraining with a foundation model, we constructed two face recognition models: one utilizing the ArcFace loss function, and the other employing the CosFace loss function. Additionally, we developed two models using the same architecture and loss function but without pretraining. The accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score of each model were evaluated. Finally, we compared the performance of the facial recognition models to that of five pediatricians., Results: Among the four models, ResNet-100 with a PFM and CosFace loss function achieved the best accuracy (84.8%). Of the same loss function, the performance of the PFMs significantly improved (from 78.5% to 84.5% for the ArcFace loss function, and from 79.8% to 84.8% for the CosFace loss function). With and without the PFM, the performance of the CosFace loss function models was similar to that of the ArcFace loss function models (79.8% vs 78.5% without PFM; 84.8% vs 84.5% with PFM). Among the five pediatricians, the highest accuracy (0.700) was achieved by the senior-most pediatrician with genetics training. The accuracy and F1 scores of the pediatricians were generally lower than those of the models., Conclusions: A facial recognition-based model has the potential to improve the identification of three common GSs with pulmonary stenosis. PFMs might be valuable for building screening models for facial recognition. Key messages What is already known on this topic:  Early identification of genetic syndromes (GSs) is crucial for the management and prognosis of children with pulmonary stenosis (PS). Facial phenotyping with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) often requires large-scale training data, limiting its usefulness for GSs. What this study adds:  We successfully built multi-classification models based on face recognition using a CNN to accurately identify three common PS-associated GSs. ResNet-100 with a pretrained foundation model (PFM) and CosFace loss function achieved the best accuracy (84.8%). Pretrained with the foundation model, the performance of the models significantly improved, although the impact of the type of loss function appeared to be minimal. How this study might affect research, practice, or policy:  A facial recognition-based model has the potential to improve the identification of GSs in children with PS. The PFM might be valuable for building identification models for facial detection., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: Metal implants play a vital role in orthopedic treatment and are widely used in fracture repair, joint replacement and spinal surgery. Although these implants often contain key elements such as chromium (Cr), their potential health effects, particularly their association with stroke risk, have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to evaluate the association between metallic implants and stroke., Methods: Using data from the 2015 to 2023 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 12,337 US adults, in which 3,699 participants reported having metal implants and 8,638 without. Implant-like., Results: Through logistic regression analysis, we revealed a significant positive association between metallic implants and stroke risk (adjusted OR = 1.458, 95%CI (1.130, 1.881), p  = 0.004). Further stratified analysis found that this positive association was more significant among older and less physically active participants., Conclusion: Findings suggest that metallic implants may be associated with an increased risk of stroke, but given the inherent limitations of cross-sectional studies, this study cannot establish causality., 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 Wu, Pang, Su and Lv.)

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lupus nephritis (LN) are debilitating autoimmune disorders characterized by pathological autoantibodies production and immune dysfunction, causing chronic inflammation and multi-organ damage. Despite current treatments with antimalarial drugs, glucocorticoids, immunosuppressants, and monoclonal antibodies, a definitive cure remains elusive, highlighting an urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies. Recent studies indicate that chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy has shown promising results in treating B-cell malignancies and may offer a significant breakthrough for non-malignant conditions like SLE. In this paper, we aim to provide an in-depth analysis of the advancements in CAR-T therapy for SLE, focusing on its potential to revolutionize treatment for this complex disease. We explore the fundamental mechanisms of CAR-T cell action, the rationale for its application in SLE, and the immunological underpinnings of the disease. We also summarize clinical data on the safety and efficacy of anti-CD19 and anti-B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) CAR-T cells in targeting B-cells in SLE. We discuss the clinical implications of these findings and the potential for CAR-T therapy to improve outcomes in severe or refractory SLE cases. The integration of CAR-T therapy into the SLE treatment paradigm presents a new horizon in autoimmunity research and clinical practice. This review underscores the need for continued exploration and optimization of CAR-T strategies to address the unmet needs of SLE patients., Competing Interests: Authors JiZ, BL, FS, XL, KW, YX, YZ, RL, HW, JoZ, XH were employed by OriCell Therapeutics Co. Ltd., (Copyright © 2024 Zhou, Lei, Shi, Luo, Wu, Xu, Zhang, Liu, Wang, Zhou and He.)

Prostaglandin D2 receptor 2 (DP2) is an important anti-inflammatory and antiallergic drug target. While inactive DP2 structures are known, its activation mechanisms and biased signaling remain unclear. Here, we report cryo-EM structures of an apo DP2-Gi complex, a DP2-Gi complex bound to the endogenous ligand Prostaglandin D 2 (PGD 2 ), and a DP2-Gi complex bound to indomethacin, an arrestin-biased ligand, at resolutions of 2.5 Å, 2.8Å, and 2.3 Å, respectively. These structures reveal a distinct binding pose of PGD 2 and indomethacin and provide key insights into receptor activation and transducer coupling. Combining the structural data with functional studies, we uncover the molecular basis for biased signaling of indomethacin toward β-arrestin over G proteins. Notably, a phospholipid binding site was identified at the DP2-G protein interface that modulates DP2-G protein interactions. Together, our functional and structural findings provide insights into DP2 activation, biased signaling, drug interactions, and lipid regulation, enabling rational design of safer antiallergy therapeutics targeting this key immune receptor., Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.

Collagen as the main structural component of the cornea exhibits unique and highly organized fibril lamellae, which contribute to the maintenance of corneal structure and transparency. Nevertheless, collagen assembly in vitro to create ideal artificial corneal substitutes with human cornea comparable thickness and optics is still limited. Here, glycerol as a regulator can reconcile collagen thickness, transparency, and permeability, a conflicting goal by current keratoprosthesis strategies. Structure analysis reveals that glycerol treatment induces collagen hydrogels to undergo a sequential three-step multiscale structural evolution: weakened collagen crystallization at the molecular level, followed by ordered and distanced microfibril packaging at the nanoscale, and ultimately lamellar structure as well as fibril diameter and spacing-dependent optics at a macroscopic level. Such ultrastructure is then stabilized by oxazolidine crosslinking to obtain a collagen-based artificial corneal substitute (Col-Gly-OX) with optimal integration of optical clarity, mechanical robustness, high permeability, manufacturability, easy preservation and in vitro biocompatibility. Further in vivo study demonstrates that Col-Gly-OX displays excellent tissue integration, epithelialization, and stromal remodeling in a rabbit lamellar keratectomy. Overall, this work illustrates the potential of glycerol regulator to mediate the multiscale structural organization of collagen, providing a green, simple and effective strategy for the development of bionic artificial cornea., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Recent advancements in artificial intelligence have led to increased adoption of machine learning in disease identification, particularly for challenging diagnoses like necrotizing fasciitis and Vibrio vulnificus infections. This shift is driven by the technology's efficiency, objectivity, and accuracy, offering potential solutions to longstanding diagnostic hurdles in clinical practice., Methods: This investigation incorporated 180 inpatients suffering from soft tissue infections. The participants were categorized into groups: cellulitis, non-Vibrio necrotizing fasciitis (NF), or V. Vulnificus NF. To predict the three relevant outcomes, we employed Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM) and 5-fold cross-validation methodologies for the development of a multi-class categorization model. Moreover, we applied the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) methodology to decipher the model's predictions., Results: The multi-classification model possesses substantial predictive capacity, with a weighted-average AUC of 0.86, sensitivity of 87.2%, specificity of 74.5%, NPV of 81.6%, and PPV of 85.4%. The model's calibration was assessed using the Brier score, yielding a weighted mean of 0.084. This low value demonstrates a strong correlation between predicted probabilities and actual outcomes, indicating high predictive accuracy and reliability in the model's forecasts., Conclusions: We effectively developed a multiclassification model aimed at forecasting the occurrence of cellulitis, non-Vibrio NF, or V. Vulnificus NF in patients suffering from soft tissue infection, and we further described the model's predictions using the SHAP algorithm., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2024 Chang and Wu.)

Interlayer excitons (IX), spatially separated electron-hole pair quasiparticles, can form in type-II van der Waals heterostructures (vdWH). To date, the most widely studied IX in hetero- and homobilayer transition metal dichalcogenides feature momentum-indirect and visible interlayer recombinations. However, momentum-direct IX emissions and interlayer absorptions, especially in the infrared, are crucial for excitonic devices but remain underexplored. In this work, we propose and construct a multilayer WSe 2 /InSe vdWH that hosts momentum-direct IX and manifests near-infrared interlayer absorptions at room temperature, verified by first-principles density functional theory calculations. We conduct power- and temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectroscopies and extract the IX binding energy to be 43 ± 5 meV. Furthermore, we manipulate the IX emission electrically via the Stark effect and tune its energy by 180 meV. Taking advantage of the direct interlayer absorption, we fabricate a near-infrared vdWH photodetector modulated by strong photogating effect, and achieve the optimal photoresponsivity, specific detectivity, and response time of 33 A W -1 , 1.8 × 10 10 Jones, and 3.7 μs at 1150 nm. In addition, we test the imaging capability of the photodetector by integrating it into a single-pixel imaging system. Our work showcases the possibility for constructing infrared-responsive vdWH that hosts momentum-direct IX for future excitonic devices of optoelectronic applications.

Ginsenoside Re was the major bioactive component found rich in Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer, which exerted excellent cardiovascular protection, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidation effects. The generation of unexpected degradation products (DPs) may influence the therapeutic effect of Re, or even bring toxic effects to patients. However, to date, only a few reports were available about the stability of Re. The present study aims to systematically investigate the degradation behaviors of Re under different stress conditions, including hydrolysis (acidic, basic, and neutral), oxidation, humidity, thermal, and photolytic (ultraviolet and visible light) conditions. A total of thirteen DPs were putatively identified, and among them, nine were discovered for the first time in our study. The results showed that Re was sensitive to exposure to acidic, basic, and oxidation conditions. It underwent a series of chemical degradation reactions, including deglycosylation, dehydration, addition, oxidation at the double bond, and isomerization under various stress conditions. Structural characterization of these DPs was carried out by UHPLC-DAD-CAD and LC-LTQ/Orbitrap. A plausible mechanism of their formation was proposed to support the structures of all DPs of Re. In silico toxicity prediction and metabolism behavior assessment were done by Derek Nexus and Meteor Nexus software. Re and DP-1 to DP-6 were predicted to possess potential skin irritation/corrosion toxicity. DP-11 and DP-12 bear the potential for carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, irritation, hepatotoxicity, and skin sensitization. The observation of these DPs updates our knowledge regarding the stability of Re, which provides valuable information for quality control and to choose suitable storage conditions.

Atropisomers with multiple stereogenic axes have attracted much attention due to their increasing significance in the fields of natural products, chiral materials, and drug discoveries. However, the catalytic stereoselective construction of axially chiral ring scaffolds with more than two axes on a single benzene ring remains a challenging task. Herein, we present an efficient method for synthesizing triaxially chiral polysubstituted naphthalene scaffolds via sequential Ni(II)-catalyzed Diels-Alder reaction of isobenzofurans and TfOH-promoted dehydrative aromatization reaction. Using 1,3-biarylisobenzofurans and β-aryl-substituted α,β-unsaturated N-acyl pyrazoles as modular reaction partners, a series of naphthalenes with 1,3,4-triaxes were synthesized with excellent enantioselectivities and diastereoselectivities. Furthermore, by attaching two pyrene chromophores to this novel triaxially chiral ring scaffold, a circularly polarized luminescence (CPL)-active dye exhibiting a remarkable luminescence dissymmetry factor (g lum =-0.019) and high fluorescence quantum efficiency (Ø FL =0.29) was obtained, highlighting the potential applications of atropisomers with multiple stereogenic axes in the design of chiroptical organic materials., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a major threat to male fertility and quality of life, and mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are a promising therapeutic option. However, therapeutic outcomes are compromised by low MSC retention and survival rates in corpus cavernosum tissue. Here, we developed an innovative magnetic soft microrobot comprising an ultrasoft hydrogel microsphere embedded with a magnetic nanoparticle chain for MSC delivery. This design also features phenylboronic acid groups for scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS). With a Young's modulus of less than 1 kPa, the ultrasoft microrobot adapts its shape within narrow blood vessels, ensuring a uniform distribution of MSCs within the corpus cavernosum. Our findings showed that compared with traditional MSC injections, the MSC delivery microrobot (MSC-Rob) significantly enhanced MSC retention and survival. In both rat and beagle ED models, MSC-Rob treatment accelerated the repair of corpus cavernosum tissue and restored erectile function. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) revealed that MSC-Rob treatment facilitates nerve and blood vessel regeneration in the corpus cavernosum by increasing the presence of regenerative macrophages. Overall, our MSC-Rob not only advances the clinical application of MSCs for ED therapy but also broadens the scope of microrobots for other cell therapies., Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.

This study demonstrates the controllable switching of skyrmion helicity using spin-orbit torque, enhanced by thermal effects. Electric current pulses applied to a [Pt/Co] 3 /Ru/[Co/Pt] 3 multilayer stripe drive skyrmions in a direction opposite to the current flow. Continuous pulsing results in an unexpected reversal of skyrmion motion. Micromagnetic simulations reveal that skyrmions in the upper and lower ferromagnetic layers exhibit distinct helicities, forming a hybrid synthetic skyrmion. The helicity switch of this hybrid structure accounts for the motion reversal. This study introduces innovative helicity control methods, advancing spintronic device applications, including data storage and quantum computing based on skyrmion helicity., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Malaria remains a major public health concern. The rapid spread of resistance to antimalarial drugs is a major challenge for malaria eradication. Timely and accurate molecular monitoring based on practical detection methods is a critical step toward malaria control and elimination. In this study, two rapid detection techniques, allele-specific PCR (AS‒PCR) and recombinase-aided amplification (RAA) combined with CRISPR/Cas12a, were established, optimized and assessed to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms in the Plasmodium falciparum exonuclease (Pfexo) gene related to suspected piperaquine resistance. Moreover, phosphorothioate and artificial mismatches were introduced into the allele-specific primers for AS‒PCR, and crRNA-mismatched bases were introduced into the RAA‒CRISPR/Cas12a assay because crRNAs designed according to conventional rules fail to discriminate genotypes. As a result, the detection limits of the AS‒PCR and RAA‒CRISPR/Cas12a assays were 10 4 copies/μL and 10 3 copies/μL, respectively. The detection threshold for dried blood spots was 100‒150 parasites/μL, with no cross-reactivity against other genotypes. The average cost of AS‒PCR is approximately $1 per test and takes 2-3 h, whereas that of the RAA‒CRISPR/Cas12a system is approximately $7 per test and takes 1 h or less. Therefore, we provide more options for testing single nucleotide polymorphisms in the Pfexo gene, considering economic conditions and the availability of instruments, equipment, and reagents, which can contribute to the molecular monitoring of antimalarial resistance., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The somatic cell count (SCC) and total plate count (TPC) are essential quality indicators for raw milk. Traditional detection methods require separate measurements and rely on complex, large-scale instruments or cultivation techniques, which are both time-consuming and laborious. To address these challenges, this study developed a novel method for the simultaneous detection of SCC and TPC in the same raw milk sample using the ATP bioluminescence assay. This method utilizes oxy-ethylated iso-nonyl phenol (Neonol-10) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) to selectively lyse somatic cells and microorganisms, respectively. This technique is straightforward to operate and can be completed within 2.5 h, with detection ranges of 1 × 10⁴ to 3 × 10⁶ cells/mL for SCC and 1 × 10⁵ to 5 × 10⁷ CFU/mL for TPC. Importantly, this technique meets the requirements of detection standards in China, European Union, Canada, United States, etc. For SCC or TPC in raw milk. Overall, this innovative approach does not rely on expensive equipment or facilities and the stepwise reagent addition procedure can be easily developed into an automated high-throughput system for rapid on-site testing of SCC and TPC in raw milk., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that may affect the work reported herein., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To address the clinical diagnostic value of CRISPR-Cas13a-based molecular technology for tuberculosis (TB)., Methods: The 189 suspected TB patients were simultaneously sent for acid-fast staining smear of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, MGIT 960 cultures, Xpert MTB/RIF assay, and CRISPR-Cas13a assay. Using the final clinical diagnosis as the gold standard, the TB and non-TB groups were determined, and the diagnostic values of the four assays and the combined test in TB were compared. Using MGIT 960 culture as the gold standard, the diagnostic value of CRISPR-Cas13a assay was explored in TB, and the concordance between the CRISPR-Cas13a assay and MGIT 960 culture was compared., Results: The 189 preliminary diagnosed patients with suspected TB were diagnosed, with 147 in the TB group and 42 in the non-TB group. Taking the final clinical diagnosis as the gold standard, the sensitivity, negative predictive value, and accuracy of CRISPR-Cas13a assay, MGIT 960 culture, and XpertMTB/RIF assay were higher than those of acid-fast staining smear; by comparing the area under the ROC curve, the diagnostic value of the CRISPR-Cas13a assay, MGIT 960 culture, and XpertMTB/RIF assay was superior to that of acid-fast staining smear (all P < 0.05). Using the MGIT 960 culture results as the gold standard, there was a moderate concordance between the CRISPR-Cas13a assay and the MGIT 960 culture (kappa = 0.666)., Conclusion: Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid CRISPR-Cas13a assay has high application value in the clinical diagnosis of TB and can be recommended for the initial screening of patients with suspected TB., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.)

Objective: To identify related factors that affect the ovarian reserve after laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy in patients with endometriomas., Study Design: It was a retrospective cohort study performed in a tertiary-care university hospital. A total of 409 patients with endometriomas underwent laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy between June 2014 and November 2021., Results: The demographic and operative data, including age, parity, body mass index, tumor size, operating time, and estimated blood loss were recorded. Serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels were recorded preoperatively, as well as 10 days (immediately) and 6 months after the procedure respectively. The decrease of serum AMH level at 6 months after the surgery were 0.7 ± 1.6 ng/mL (22.5 ± 57.1 %) in the unilateral group and 1.5 ± 2.1 ng/mL (48.3 ± 65.6 %) in the bilateral group. The reduction in the serum AMH level at 10 days and 6 months after the operation were significant compared to the baseline level. The bilateral group has a significantly lower serum AMH level than that of the unilateral group in terms of 10 days and 6 months after operation (p < 0.001). Baseline serum AMH level < 2 ng/mL have shown less reduction in both 10 days group and 6 months group with odds ratio (OR) 0.36 (p = 0.01) and OR 0.264 (p < 0.001) respectively. Neither patient's age nor tumor size contributed to the decline of ovarian reserve., Conclusions: Bilaterality and pre-operative serum AMH level are the two key factors that affect ovarian reserve after laparoscopic cystectomy., 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.)

Background: Gastrectomy is one of the main treatment modalities for gastric cancer (GC) and induces pathophysiological changes that significantly affect patients' postoperative recovery. In this study, we investigated the relationships between altered insulin resistance (IR), inflammation, and gut microbiota associated with gastrectomy., Patients and Methods: This study was a single-center prospective cohort investigation involving 60 patients with GC who underwent gastrectomy between May 2023 and April 2024. Monitoring encompassed IR, inflammation, and nutrition-related markers via blood assays, while gut microbiota analysis employed high-throughput sequencing, and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were examined through targeted metabolomics. The study is registered under the number ChiCTR2300075653., Results: The patients exhibited a significant increase in post-gastrectomy IR markers (P < 0.001), accompanied by elevated inflammation markers (P < 0.001), and also showed decreased nutrition-related indicators (P < 0.001). Notable alterations were observed in the gut microbiota, including reductions in Bifidobacterium and Faecalibacterium, an increase in Streptococcus, and a noteworthy decrease in fecal butyrate. Patients with postoperative IR exhibited poorer inflammation markers (P < 0.05), nutritional indicators (P < 0.05), and postoperative recovery parameters (P < 0.05). Furthermore, significant negative correlations were observed between IR and Bifidobacterium, Faecalibacterium, as well as butyrate., Conclusions: Patients with GC post-gastrectomy displayed heightened IR, exacerbated inflammation, and compromised nutritional status. Disturbed gut microbiota and reduced fecal butyrate were observed. Gut microbiota and metabolite butyrate production may be predictors of postoperative IR and short-term outcomes in patients with GC., (© 2024. Society of Surgical Oncology.)