Search

In this study, a novel virus isolated from Nigrospora oryzae, tentatively named "Nigrospora oryzae mycovirus 1" (NoMyV1), was identified. NoMyV1 has a non-segmented dsRNA genome that is 2891 bp in length and contains two non-overlapping open reading frames (ORF1 and 2). ORF1 encodes a protein with sequence similarity to the putative capsid proteins or hypothetical proteins of other unclassified viruses, while ORF2 encodes an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Sequence comparisons showed that NoMyV1 was most similar to Penicillium janczewskii Beauveria bassiana-like virus 1 (PjBblV1), with 76.12% amino acid sequence identity in the RdRp. In a phylogenetic analysis based on RdRp sequences, NoMyV1 was found to cluster with several other unclassified viruses for which a new genus, "Unirnavirus", which is distinct from the family Partitiviridae, has been proposed. Thus, we conclude that NoMyV1 is a novel member of the proposed genus "Unirnavirus"., Competing Interests: Declarations Ethical approval This article does not contain any studies with animals or human participants performed by any of the authors. Conflict of interest The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Spontaneous thought is a universal, complex, and heterogeneous cognitive activity that significantly impacts mental activity and strongly correlates with mental disorders., Methods: Utilizing the think-aloud method, we captured spontaneous thoughts during rest from 38 diagnosed with depression, alongside 36 healthy controls and 137 healthy individuals. Through a comprehensive assessment of various dimensions of thought content, we compared thought content between individuals with depression and healthy controls, and between healthy women and men. Finally, we employed natural language processing (NLP) to develop regression models for multidimensional content assessment and a classification model to differentiate between individuals with and without depression., Results: Compared to healthy controls, individuals with depression had more internally oriented and less externally oriented spontaneous thoughts. They focused more on themselves and negative things, and less on positive things, experiencing higher levels of negative emotions and lower levels of positive emotions. Besides, we found that compared to healthy men, healthy women's spontaneous thoughts focus more on interoception, the self, past events, and negative events, and they experience higher levels of negative emotions. Meanwhile, we identified the potential application of the think-aloud method to collect spontaneous thoughts and integrate NLP in the field of depression., Conclusions: This study offers direct insights into the stream of thought during individuals' resting state, revealing differences between individuals with depression and healthy controls, as well as sex differences in the content of spontaneous thoughts. It enhances our understanding of spontaneous thought and offers a new perspective for preventing, diagnosing, and treating depression., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All the authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Amyloid β peptide (Aβ) induces neurodegeneration in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD), resulting in neuroinflammation, oxidative damage, and mitochondrial impaired function. These reactions were closely associated with the pathological changes of brain microglia. Therefore, it was crucial to investigate the precise process of neuroinflammation induced by Aβ in microglia and discover therapies to alleviate its harmful consequences. This study evaluated the toxicity detection of primary microglia generated by Aβ42 ADDL. identification of inflammatory markers, measurement of ROS, and assessment of mitochondrial energy metabolism, mitochondrial membrane potential damage and mitochondrial ROS to evaluate the reparative properties of natural small molecule compounds Gallic acid and Loganic acid on primary mouse microglia. The findings indicated that Gallic acid and Loganic acid exhibited diverse reparative effects on impaired microglia. Thus, it can be provisionally predicted that Aβ42 ADDL affects microglia and promotes modifications in the NF-кB signaling pathway. Gallic acid and Loganic acid were expected to initially restore the NF-кB signaling pathway, leading to a reduction in M1-microglia and an elevation in M2-microglia, thereby decreasing various inflammatory factors and increasing anti-inflammatory factors. The mitochondrial metabolism, mitochondrial membrane potential, and mitochondrial ROS of primary microglia were restored, leading to a reduction in neuroinflammation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Lithium-based rechargeable dual-ion batteries (DIBs) based on graphite anode-cathode combinations have received much attention due to their high resource abundance and low cost. Currently, the practical realization of the batteries is hindered by easy oxidation of the electrolyte at the cathode interface, and solvent co-intercalation at the anode-electrolyte interface. Configuration of a "solvent-in-salt" electrolyte with a high concentration of Li salt is expected to stabilize the electrolyte chemistry versus both electrodes, yet inevitably reduces the mobility of the solvated working ions and increases the cost of the electrolyte. Herein, we propose to build a localized high-concentration electrolyte by adding hydrofluoroether as the diluent to reduce the salt content while improving the solvation structure, allowing more anions to enter the inner solvation sheath. The new electrolyte helps to form uniform and thin interfaces, with elevated contents of inorganic fluorides, on both electrodes, which effectively suppress electrolyte oxidation at the cathode and optimize electrolyte-electrode compatibility at the anode while facilitating charge transfer across the interface. Consequently, the DIBs with graphite as anode and cathode operate for 3000 cycles and retain a high-capacity retention of 95.7 %, highlighting the importance of stable interfacial chemistry in boosting the electrochemical performance of DIBs., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The inherent properties of exposed facets of iron minerals played key roles in heterogeneous reactions at the mineral interface, and the addition of co-catalysts has been elucidated to further enhance the reactions for contaminants degradation. Here, synergistic Fenton-like catalytic reactivity of different hematite dominant exposed facets ({001}, {012}, {100}, and {113}) with nano boron carbide (B 4 C) was revealed. In 5 h, as compared with the cumulative •OH in the B 4 C/H 2 O 2 system (96.9 μM), while that in the {001}/B 4 C/H 2 O 2 system was decreased by 19.6%, those in the {012}/B 4 C/H 2 O 2 , {100}/B 4 C/H 2 O 2 , and {113}/B 4 C/H 2 O 2 systems were increased by 53.8%, 75.9%, and 84.0%, respectively. Significantly, {113}/B 4 C/H 2 O 2 system exhibited strong capability for degradation of a broad spectrum of organic pollutants, including typical phenol, endocrine disruptor (bisphenol A), antibiotic (sulfanilamide), dyes (Rhodamine B and methylene blue), and pesticide (atrazine). During the Fenton-like reactions, higher synergy factor, Fe(III)/Fe(II) cycling rate, and amount of Fe-O-B bond in the {113}/B 4 C/H 2 O 2 system were shown than those in other systems, thus exhibiting its desirable catalytic performance for •OH production and pollutants oxidation. Iron species and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses indicated that B-B bond and interfacial suboxide boron (e.g., B-O) could provide electrons to facilitate Fe(III) reduction for boosting the Fe(III)/Fe(II) cycling. Density functional theory (DFT) results demonstrated the formation of Fe-O-B bond on hematite {113}, {100}, and {012} facets, which were beneficial to the breakage of O-O bond of bound H 2 O 2 molecule and thus improved the generation of •OH. This study emphasized the essential role of B 4 C in developing tailored hematite facets as a contaminant remediation substrate, and provided important insights into the design of efficient heterogeneous Fenton-like systems., 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. ☐ The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:, (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Garciyunnanol A (1), an unprecedented 1,2-seco-bicyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinol (BPAP) possessing a unique 6/6/6 tricyclic core, was characterized from Garcinia yunnanensis together with 16 BPAPs, including eight new compounds (garciyunnanols B-I, 2-9). Biogenetically, the bicyclo[3.3.1]nonane-2,4,9-trione moiety of 12 reconstructed the bicyclic δ-lactone core of 2 through Norrish type Ⅰ cleavage and cyclization, followed by a cyclization of two side chains to form an intriguing 6/6/6 tricyclic core of 1. Their structures were elucidated through analysis of spectroscopic data, calculation and comparison of ECD spectra. Bioactivity evaluation manifested that compounds 1, 2, 5, 6 and 14 demonstrated superior inhibition of NO production compared to the positive control dexamethasone. Notably, compound 5 exhibited a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on NO production, with an IC 50 value of 0.25 ± 0.87 µM. Furthermore, experiments involving ELISA, Western blotting, and immunofluorescence staining revealed that 5 effectively reduced the secretion of interleukin-1β in LPS plus nigericin-stimulated THP-1 macrophages by inhibiting the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome., 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 Inc.)

Background: Peptic ulcer is a common gastrointestinal disease, and psychological intervention has an important influence on its occurrence and development., Aim: To investigate the effect of psychological nursing intervention on the anxiety level and quality of life of patients with gastrointestinal peptic ulcers., Methods: Two groups of patients with peptic ulcer were selected from January to December 2012, with 60 cases in each group, and psychological nursing intervention and routine treatment were respectively performed. Psychological nursing interventions include cognitive behavioral therapy, psychological support and relaxation training. Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and quality of life questionnaire were used to evaluate the anxiety level and quality of life of patients before, during and after treatment., Results: The SAS scores of the experimental group significantly decreased over the course of treatment, from 52.3 before treatment to 30.5 after treatment, while SAS scores of the control group did not change significantly. Meanwhile, the experimental group's quality of life score (SF-36) significantly improved over the course of treatment, from 65.2 to 85.2, while the control group remained stable. Further analysis showed that sex and age had no significant influence on the effect of psychotherapy. Both men and women, young and old, showed similar trends in anxiety relief and improved quality of life after treatment., Conclusion: Psychological nursing-based intervention program has a positive effect on the anxiety level and quality of life of patients with gastrointestinal peptic ulcer., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to report., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Food contamination has emerged as a significant global health concern, posing substantial challenges to the food industry. Bacteria are the primary cause of foodborne diseases. Consequently, it is crucial to develop accurate and efficient sensing platforms to detect foodborne bacteria in food products. Among various detection methods, biosensors have emerged as a promising solution due to their portability, affordability, simplicity, selectivity, sensitivity, and rapidity. Electrospun nanofibers have gained increasing popularity in enhancing biosensor performance. These nanofibers possess a distinctive three-dimensional structure, providing a large surface area and ease of preparation. This review provides an overview of the electrospinning technique, nanofibers and nanofiber-based biosensors. It also explores their mechanisms and applications in the detection of foodborne bacteria such as Salmonella , Listeria monocytogenes ( L. monocytogenes ), Escherichia coli ( E. coli ), Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) and Pseudomonas putida ( P. putida ).

There is a lack of quantitative methodology for the sustainability assessment based on field data in the process of innovative technology development for groundwater remediation. This study developed a quantitative assessment framework, a model based on the life cycle assessment integrated with best management practices (LCA-BMPs), to evaluate the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of in-situ electrical resistance heating coupled with steam enhanced extraction (ERH-SEE), an innovative technology being demonstrated in the field. The results indicated that ERH-SEE offered better environmental sustainability performance compared to ERH only, with a reduction in carbon emissions by 52.6 %. ERH-SEE also significantly reduces human toxicity, resource consumption, and ecosystem impacts under the same remediation scenarios. The further assessment indicated that if taking the renewable energy share in energy structure in different countries into consideration, higher shares of renewable energy used in energy supplies can substantially reduce the environmental footprint of the studied scenarios. The economic sustainability assessment results showed that ERH-SEE was more sustainable than ERH only, as it reduces direct economic costs by 35.7 % and provides higher levels of worker employment. Regarding the social sustainability, ERH-SEE involved more complex operational procedures and presented more health risk exposure scenarios compared to ERH only, resulting in slightly more pronounced worker safety issues. Based on the final normalized results, the overall sustainability results of ERH-SEE and ERH only were 78.4 and 61.5, respectively, demonstrating that the sustainability performance of ERH-SEE was better than ERH only. It can be concluded that the application of ERH-SEE in groundwater remediation where significant heterogeneities occur in subsurface can increase the sustainability in developing countries, due to the lower percentage in renewable electricity in the energy supply. This study provided new insights into the technology development for the remediation of soil and groundwater contamination., 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 Ltd.)

Objective: High serum estrogen concentrations after controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) and fresh embryo transfers are associated with the increased risk of pregnancy complications resulting from aberrant placentation. Uterine natural killer (uNK) cells are important for establishment of pregnancy and normal placentation. It has been found that the proliferation and function of uNK cells are compromised by COH. However, the underlying role of high concentration of estrogen following COH in the abnormalities of uNK cells is poorly understood., Methods: Expression of cytokines and immunophenotype study of uNK was performed by flow cytometry analysis. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to quantify RNA expression; Western blot was performed to quantify protein levels., Results: The secretion level of pro-angiogenic factors in uNK cells is significantly reduced by co-culture with decidual stromal cells (DSCs) induced by high estrogen. It was discovered that COH and supraphysiologic levels of estrogen downregulated IL-11 in decidual tissue of mice. Additionally, we found that the downregulation of IL-11 is a major factor contributing to the downregulation of VEGF and PLGF in uNK cells. Moreover, we found that uNK cells may acquire IL-11Rα sequentially during differentiation and that only a portion of uNK cells are IL-11Rα positive. Lastly, we discovered that IL-11 may regulate VEGF and PLGF secretion in uNK cells via the ERK signaling pathway., Conclusion: These results suggested the downregulation of IL-11 expression in DSCs caused by high estrogen levels affects the secretion of pro-angiogenic factors in uNK cells, which provided an explanation for the pregnancy complications caused by COH., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Antibiotics can easily enter the water environment through direct or indirect approach, causing environmental pollution and endangering the health of organisms. Therefore, development of highly efficient adsorbent materials to adsorb and remove antibiotics is necessary. Here, cobalt oxide and nickel oxide are uniformly and tightly bonded on the surface of porous boron nitride fibers (PBNFs-NiCo), increasing the number of functional groups (B-O and N-H) and hydrogen bond receptors within PBNFs. The total pore volume and specific surface area of resulting PBNFs-NiCo can reach up to 0.48 cm 3 g -1 and 720.3 m 2 g -1 , respectively. Encouraged by the unique micromorphology and chemical composition mentioned above, PBNFs-NiCo exhibits excellent ceftriaxone sodium (CS) adsorption ability, showing the adsorption capacity and removal efficiency up to 410.9 mg g -1 and 96.5%, respectively. Chemical adsorption plays an important role in their adsorption behavior, abiding by Langmuir adsorption theory and pseudo-second-order kinetic equation. Importantly, PBNFs-NiCo exhibits fascinating adsorption effects in surroundings with pH ranging from 4 to 6, 25 °C and varying salt concentrations. This work would establish a practical and feasible foundation for the practical application of PBNFs-NiCo for CS adsorption in aqueous solution., (© 2024 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.)

Smoking is prevalent among people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and it increases morbidity and mortality in this population. However, due to ethical constraints, there is limited information on the effects of smoking on susceptibility to HIV infection. To investigate whether smoking is associated with an increased susceptibility to HIV infection, we conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study using summary statistics from genome-wide association studies of individuals of European ancestry who have ever smoked (n = 99,996) and have HIV (n = 412,130). The random-effects inverse-variance weighted estimation method was used as the study's primary approach, with the MR-Egger regression and the weighted-median method as complementary approaches. Using 100 single-nucleotide polymorphisms of genome-wide significance as instrumental variables for smoking, we observed a significant association between smoking and HIV infection (odds ratio 5.790, 95% confidence interval [1.785, 18.787], and p = 0.003). Comparable results were obtained using the weighted-median method. Our findings implied that smoking is probably associated with increased susceptibility to HIV infection. Given the exploratory nature of this study, further research is needed to confirm this relationship.

The helical structure is often the key factor for forming and enhancing chiroptical properties, such as circular dichroism (CD) and circular polarized luminescence (CPL) effects. However, no matter whether helical molecules or helical aggregates, they usually display modest chiroptical signals, which limits their practical applications. Herein, chiral tetraphenylethylene (TPE) bimacrocycles prepared in almost quantitative yield show strong and repeatable CD signals up to more than 7000 mdeg, which is very rare for general organic compounds, besides emitting very strong CPL light with an absolute g lum value up to 6.2 × 10 -2 . It is found that the superhelices formed by self-inclusion between the cavity and outward cyclohexyl ring of TPE bimacrocycles in crystal state are the key factor for highly enhanced chiroptical effect, and the self-inclusion superhelices in assemblies are confirmed by High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM), Powder X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FT-IR) data. Furthermore, the chiral TPE bimacrocycle shows great potential in chiral recognition and chiral analysis not only for chiral acids but also for chiral amines, chiral amino acids, and neutral chiral alcohol. Using self-inclusion helical nanocrystals of chiral macrocycles, this work provides a new strategy for chiroptical materials with excellent chiroptical properties., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Bulk hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) ceramics with structural integrity, high-temperature resistance and low expansion rate are expected for multifunctional applications in extreme conditions. However, due to its sluggish self-diffusion and intrinsic inertness, it remains a great challenge to overcome high-energy barrier for h-BN powder sintering. Herein, a cross-linking and pressureless-welding strategy is reported to produce bulk boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) ceramics with well-crystalized and dense B-N covalent-welding frameworks. The essence of this synthesis strategy lies in the construction of >B─O─H 2 C─H 2 C─H 2 N:→B< bond bridge connection structure among hydroxyl functionalized BNNSs (BNNSs-OH) using bifunctional monoethanolamine (MEA) as cross-linker through esterification and intermolecular-coordination reactions. The prepared BNNSs-interlaced ceramics have densities not less than 1.2 g cm -3 , and exhibit exceptional mechanical robustness and resiliency, excellent thermomechanical stability, ultra-low linear thermal expansion coefficient of 0.06 ppm °C -1 , and high thermal diffusion coefficient of 4.76 mm 2  s -1 at 25 °C and 3.72 mm 2  s -1 at 450 °C. This research not only reduces the free energy barrier from h-BN particles to bulk ceramics through facile multi-step physicochemical reaction, but also stimulates further exploration of multifunctional applications for bulk h-BN ceramics over a wide temperature range., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Fluorescent solvatochromic dyes that are sensitive to the nature of local microenvironmental, have been explored as probes in applications ranging from the imaging biomolecules to understanding of basic biomolecule functions. To expand the scope of fluorescent solvatochromic dyes for G-quadruplex (G4) DNA structures, and to illustrate the relationship between structure and properties, three newly designed D-π-A type fluorescent dyes were synthesized by introducing diarylimidazole to carbazole skeleton linked to benzene, furan or thiophene π-conjugated bridge and connected with pyridinium acceptor, respectively. Their structural characteristics, optical properties, and G4 DNA binding properties were discussed in detail. In general, the incorporation of furan and thiophene as π-conjugated bridges leads the better conjugation and molecular coplanarity with more efficient intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) effect compared with benzene bridge. The fluorescence intensities induced upon interaction were found that TP-6 with thiophene π-conjugated bridge had the strongest response toward G4 DNAs. In addition, the application of this dye as a fluorescent agent for living cell imaging was also demonstrated., 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.)

An immunoassay method based on penicillin-binding protein (PBP) was developed for the quantitative determination of 10 kinds of beta-lactam antibiotics (BLAs). First, two kinds of PBPs, which are named PBP1a and PBP2x, were expressed and purified, and they were characterized by SDS-PAGE and western blotting analysis. Then, the binding activity of PBP1a and PBP2x to template BLAs, cefquinome (CEFQ) and ampicillin (AMP), was determined. The effect of the buffer solution system, e.g., pH, ion concentration, and organic solvent, on the immune interaction efficiency between PBPs and BLAs was also evaluated. In the end, the PBP-based immunoassay method was developed and validated for the detection of 10 kinds of BLAs. Under optimal conditions, PBPs exhibited high binding affinity to BLAs. In addition, this method showed a high sensitivity for the detection of 10 kinds of BLAs with the limits of detection from 0.21 to 9.12 ng/mL, which are much lower than their corresponding maximum residual limit of European Union (4-100 ng/mL). Moreover, the developed PBP-immunoassay was employed for BLA detection from milk samples, and satisfactory recoveries (68.9-101.3 %) were obtained., 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 Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The systemic inflammatory response index (SIRI), served as a novel inflammatory biomarker, is the synthesis of neutrophils, monocytes and lymphocytes., Aims: We hypothesized that SIRI has predictive value for contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) and long-term mortality in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)., Methods: We retrospectively observed 5685 patients undergoing elective PCI from January 2012 to December 2018. Venous blood samples were collected to obtain the experimental data on the day of admission or the morning of the next day. SIRI = neutrophil count × monocyte count/lymphocyte count. CA-AKI was defined as an increase of 50% or 0.3 mg/dl in SCr from baseline within 48 h after contrast exposure., Results: The incidence of CA-AKI was 6.1% ( n  = 352). The best cutoff value of SIRI for predicting CA-AKI was 1.39, with a sensitivity of 52.3% and a specificity of 67.3%. [AUC: 0.620, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.590-0.651, p  < 0.001]. After adjusting for potential confounders, multivariate analysis showed that the high SIRI group (SIRI > 1.39) was a strong independent predictor of CA-AKI in patients undergoing elective PCI compared with the low SIRI group (SIRI ≤ 1.39) (odds ratio = 1.642, 95% CI: 1.274-2.116, p <  0.001). Additionally, COX regression analysis showed that SIRI > 1.39 was significantly associated with long-term mortality at a median follow-up of 2.8 years. [Hazard ratio (HR)=1.448, 95%CI: 1.188-1.765; p  < 0.001]. Besides, Kaplan-Meier survival curve also indicated that the cumulative rate of mortality was considerably higher in the high SIRI group., Conclusions: High levels of SIRI are independent predictors of CA-AKI and long-term mortality in patients undergoing elective PCI.

Macrocycle-to-macrocycle conversion is an effective strategy to construct new macrocyclic arenes with specific structures. Herein, a new class of chiral macrocyclic arene, namely, octopus[5]arenes (Oc5s), cannot be synthesized by the direct approach from the corresponding chiral monomers but can be successfully achieved by a macrocycle-to-macrocycle conversion strategy utilizing racemic pagoda[5]arenes as the starting materials. It was found that enantiomeric Oc5s showed fixed conformations and stable chiral structures and exhibited significant chiral recognition toward chiral diamines.

Previous studies in small samples have identified inconsistent cortical abnormalities in major depressive disorder (MDD). Despite genetic influences on MDD and the brain, it is unclear how genetic risk for MDD is translated into spatially patterned cortical vulnerability. Here, we initially examined voxel-wise differences in cortical function and structure using the largest multi-modal MRI data from 1660 MDD patients and 1341 controls. Combined with the Allen Human Brain Atlas, we then adopted transcription-neuroimaging spatial correlation and the newly developed ensemble-based gene category enrichment analysis to identify gene categories with expression related to cortical changes in MDD. Results showed that patients had relatively circumscribed impairments in local functional properties and broadly distributed disruptions in global functional connectivity, consistently characterized by hyper-function in associative areas and hypo-function in primary regions. Moreover, the local functional alterations were correlated with genes enriched for biological functions related to MDD in general (e.g., endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitogen-activated protein kinase, histone acetylation, and DNA methylation); and the global functional connectivity changes were associated with not only MDD-general, but also brain-relevant genes (e.g., neuron, synapse, axon, glial cell, and neurotransmitters). Our findings may provide important insights into the transcriptomic signatures of regional cortical vulnerability to MDD., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The fermionic Hubbard model (FHM) 1 describes a wide range of physical phenomena resulting from strong electron-electron correlations, including conjectured mechanisms for unconventional superconductivity. Resolving its low-temperature physics is, however, challenging theoretically or numerically. Ultracold fermions in optical lattices 2,3 provide a clean and well-controlled platform offering a path to simulate the FHM. Doping the antiferromagnetic ground state of a FHM simulator at half-filling is expected to yield various exotic phases, including stripe order 4 , pseudogap 5 , and d-wave superfluid 6 , offering valuable insights into high-temperature superconductivity 7-9 . Although the observation of antiferromagnetic correlations over short 10 and extended distances 11 has been obtained, the antiferromagnetic phase has yet to be realized as it requires sufficiently low temperatures in a large and uniform quantum simulator. Here we report the observation of the antiferromagnetic phase transition in a three-dimensional fermionic Hubbard system comprising lithium-6 atoms in a uniform optical lattice with approximately 800,000 sites. When the interaction strength, temperature and doping concentration are finely tuned to approach their respective critical values, a sharp increase in the spin structure factor is observed. These observations can be well described by a power-law divergence, with a critical exponent of 1.396 from the Heisenberg universality class 12 . At half-filling and with optimal interaction strength, the measured spin structure factor reaches 123(8), signifying the establishment of an antiferromagnetic phase. Our results provide opportunities for exploring the low-temperature phase diagram of the FHM., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Brucellosis is a zoonosis caused by Brucella, which poses a great threat to human health and animal husbandry. Pathogen surveillance is an important measure to prevent brucellosis, but the traditional method is time-consuming and not suitable for field applications. In this study, a recombinase polymerase amplification-SYBR Green I (RPAS) assay was developed for the rapid and visualized detection of Brucella in the field by targeting BCSP31 gene, a conserved marker. The method was highly specific without any cross-reactivity with other common bacteria and its detection limit was 2.14 × 10 4  CFU/mL or g of Brucella at 40 °C for 20 min. It obviates the need for costly instrumentation and exhibits robustness towards background interference in serum, meat, and milk samples. In summary, the RPAS assay is a rapid, visually intuitive, and user-friendly detection that is highly suitable for use in resource-limited settings. Its simplicity and ease of use enable swift on-site detection of Brucella, thereby facilitating timely implementation of preventive measures., (© 2023. Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i.)

Background: Intravenous infusion is a common method of drug administration in clinical practice. Errors in any aspect of the infusion process, from the verification of medical orders, preparation of the drug solution, to infusion by nursing staff, may cause adverse infusion events., Aim: To analyzed the value of improving nursing measures and enhancing nursing management to reduce the occurrence of adverse events in pediatric infusion., Methods: The clinical data of 130 children who received an infusion in the pediatric department of our hospital from May 2020 to May 2021 were analyzed and divided into two groups according to the differences in nursing measures and nursing management: 65 patients in the control group received conventional nursing and nursing management interventions, while 65 patients in the observation group received improved nursing measure interventions and enhanced nursing management. The occurrence of adverse events, compliance of children, satisfaction of children's families, and complaints regarding the transfusion treatment were recorded in both groups., Results: The incidence of fluid extravasation and infusion set dislodgement in the observation group were 3.08% and 1.54%, respectively, which were significantly lower than 12.31% and 13.85% in the control group ( P < 0.05), while repeated punctures and medication addition errors in the observation group were 3.08% and 0.00%, respectively, which were lower than 9.23% and 3.08% in the control group, but there was no significant difference ( P > 0.05). The compliance rate of children in the observation group was 98.46% (64/65), which was significantly higher than 87.69% (57/65) in the control group, and the satisfaction rate of children's families was 96.92% (63/65), which was significantly higher than 86.15% (56/65) in the control group ( P < 0.05). The observation group did not receive any complaints from the child's family, whereas the control group received four complaints, two of which were due to the crying of the child caused by repeated punctures, one due to the poor attitude of the nurse, and one due to medication addition errors, with a cumulative complaint rate of 6.15%. The cumulative complaint rate of the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group ( P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Improving nursing measures and enhancing nursing management can reduce the incidence of fluid extravasation and infusion set dislodgement in pediatric patients, improve children's compliance and satisfaction of their families, and reduce family complaints., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cr(VI) is a carcinogen with proven mutagenic and genotoxic effects. The effects of the depositional environment (e.g., paleoweathering, paleoclimate, and paleoredox condition) on Cr enrichment in non-ultramafic aquifer solids are unclear. In this study, we presented the sedimentary characteristics of a borehole from a typical non-ultramafic aquifer with high Cr groundwater in Jingbian, central Ordos Basin, China. Chromium was enriched in the K 1 h sandstone aquifer, especially at depths of 400-500 m, with the highest value of mass transport coefficient (τ Al,Cr ) up to 92.13% and τ Al,Fe up to 33.5%. The provenance of aquifer Cr was predominantly intermediate and felsic igneous rocks with a mafic rock mixture. This mafic source was inferred from Cr-rich granodiorite and mafic/ultramafic rocks in the Yinshan (Daqingshan-Wulashan) Block, northern Ordos Basin. The Cr-rich aquifer in K 1 h was developed due to a moderate chemical index of alteration (CIA) (mean, 56.7) under relatively warm and humid paleoclimate, as evidenced by high CIA-temperature (CIA-Temp) (mean, 6.79 °C) and paleoclimatic index values (mean, 0.40). Fe-Mn redox cycling in the oxic to suboxic environments contributed to aquifer Cr accumulation. Using path analysis, we identified that paleoclimate created favorable weathering conditions and enrichment of Fe contributed to the formation of high-Cr aquifers. The study reveals the formation of positive Cr anomalies in non-ultramafic aquifers, which is the potential source of groundwater Cr, and highlights the effects of depositional factors on Cr accumulation during aquifer deposition or early diagenesis. It can provide new insights into the natural processes of high-Cr sediments occurring in non-ultramafic aquifers., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) combined with adjuvant chemotherapy on myelosuppression for colorectal cancer (CRC) patients using network meta-analysis (NMA)., Methods: Literature searches in both international (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library) and Chinese (China Science and Technology Journal Database, Wanfang Data, China National Knowledge Infrastructure) databases for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were conducted from inception until October 10, 2022. We included RCTs of patients who received CHM combined with chemotherapy, including FOLFOX, XELOX, FOLFIRI, and other relevant regimens in the CHM treatment group. The outcomes included the incidence of myelosuppression, leukopenia, hemoglobin reduction, and thrombocytopenia. Two reviewers independently screened the databases, extracted the data, and assessed the risk of bias and credibility of evidence. RevMan 5.4.1 software and STATA 14.0 were used to perform the NMA., Results: A total of 31 RCTs were included, published from 2008 to 2021 in Chinese. Among these, 2,314 participants comparing the following 9 CHMs were identified: Shengbai Recipe (SBR), Bazhen Decoction (BZD), Jianpi Jiedu Recipe (JJR), Jianpi Recipe (JR), Compound Cantharis Capsule (CCC), Zaofan Pill (ZFP), Guilu Erxian Gel (GL), Buzhong Tiaogan Decoction (BZ), and Qiamagu Capsule (QM). The results of NMA found an indirect comparison. Based on the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA), the ZFP+ chemotherapy group had the lowest incidence of myelosuppression, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.08 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01, 0.76], whereas the GL+ chemotherapy group had the lowest incidence of leukopenia, hemoglobin reduction, and thrombocytopenia, with an OR of 5.25 (95% CI: 2.41, 11.43), 4.66 (95% CI: 2.23, 9.72), and 0.27 (95% CI: 0.13, 0.54), respectively. Moreover, BZD + chemotherapy could alleviate leukopenia, hemoglobin reduction, and thrombocytopenia (P<0.01). Pairwise comparison showed that there was no difference in the efficacy among the 8 CHMs+ chemotherapy group. The comparison and adjustment funnel plot indicated that small-study effect had no impact on these outcomes., Conclusions: This NMA provided evidence to support that patients with CRC benefit from receiving different combination of CHM chemotherapies. Among these, GL plus chemotherapy and BZD plus chemotherapy were the more effective for myelosuppression in patients; however, as the qualtiy of evidence is insufficient, further research is needed. (PROSPERO, No. CRD42022369025)., (© 2023. The Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: Limited treatment options exist for unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), with systemic chemotherapy (SC) serving as the primary approach. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of first-line hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) in combination with lenvatinib and PD-(L)1 inhibitors (HLP) compared to SC combined with PD-(L)1 inhibitors (SCP) or SC alone in treating unresectable ICC., Methods: Patient with unresectable ICC who underwent first-line treatment with HLP, SCP or SC from January 2016 to December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The study evaluated and compared efficacy and safety outcomes across the three treatment groups., Results: The study comprised 42, 49, and 50 patients in the HLP, SCP, and SC groups, respectively. Median progression-free survival (PFS) times were 30.0, 10.2, and 6.5 months for HLP, SCP, and SC groups. While the SC group had a median overall survival (OS) time of 21.8 months, the HLP and SCP groups hadn't reached median OS. The HLP group demonstrated significantly superior PFS (p < 0.001) and OS (p = 0.014) compared to the others. Moreover, the HLP group exhibited the highest objective response rate (ORR) at 50.0% and the highest disease control rate (DCR) at 88.1%, surpassing the SC group (ORR, 6.0%; DCR, 52.0%) and SCP group (ORR, 18.4%; DCR, 73.5%) (p < 0.05). Generally, the HLP group reported fewer grades 3-4 adverse events (AEs) compared with others., Conclusion: In contrast to systemic chemotherapy with or without PD-(L)1 inhibitors, the triple combination therapy incorporating HAIC, lenvatinib, and PD-(L)1 inhibitors showcased favorable survival benefits and manageable adverse events for unresectable ICC., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: The adhesive properties of vitiligo melanocytes have decreased under oxidative stress., cytoskeleton proteins can control cell adhesion. Paeoniflorin (PF) was proved to resist hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 )-induced oxidative stress in melanocytes via nuclear factorE2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) pathway., Objectives: This study was to investigate whether PF exerts anti-oxidative effect through influencing cytoskeleton markers or potential signaling pathway., Methods: Human Oxidative Stress Plus array was used to identify the differentially expressed genes between H 2 O 2  + PF group and H 2 O 2 only group, in PIG1 and PIG3V melanocyte cell lines respectively. Western blotting was used to verify the PCR array results and to test the protein expression levels of cytoskeleton markers including Ras homolog family member A (RhoA), Rho-associated kinase 1 (ROCK1) and antioxidative marker Nrf2. Small interfering RNA was used to knock down PDZ and LIM domain 1 (PDLIM1)., Results: PF increased the expressions of PDLIM1, RhoA and ROCK1 in H 2 O 2 -induced PIG1, in contrast, decreased the expressions of PDLIM1 and ROCK1 in H 2 O 2 -induced PIG3V. Knockdown of PDLIM1 increased the expressions of RhoA and Nrf2 in PF-pretreated H 2 O 2 -induced PIG1, and ROCK1 and Nrf2 in PF-pretreated H 2 O 2 -induced PIG3V., Conclusions: PF regulates RhoA/ROCK1 and Nrf2 pathways in PDLIM1-dependent or independent manners in H 2 O 2 -induced melanocytes. In PIG1, PF promotes PDLIM1 to inhibit RhoA/ROCK1 pathway or activates Nrf2/HO-1 pathway, separately. In PIG3V, PF directly downregulates ROCK1 in PDLIM1-independent manner or upregulates Nrf2 dependent of PDLIM1., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

A novel photoelectrochemical sensor, employing an S-scheme heterojunction of phthalocyanine and TiO 2 nanoparticles, has been developed to enable highly sensitive determination of glutathione. By integrating the favorable stability, environmental benignity, and electronic properties of the TiO 2 matrix with the unique photoactivity of phthalocyanine species, the designed sensor presents a substantial linear dynamic range and a low detection limit for the quantification of glutathione. The sensitivity is attributed to efficient charge transfer and separation across the staggered heterojunction energy levels, which generates measurable photocurrent signals. Systematic variation of phthalocyanine content reveals an optimal composition that balances light harvesting capacity and electron-hole recombination rates. The incorporation of phosphotungstic acid (PTA) in sample preparation effectively minimizes interference from compounds like L-cysteine and others. Consequently, this leads to an improvement in accuracy through the reduction of impurity levels. Appreciable photocurrent enhancements are observed upon introduction of both oxidized and reduced glutathione at the optimized composite photoanode. Coupled with advantageous features of photoelectrochemical transduction such as simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and resistance to fouling, this sensor holds great promise for practical applications in complex biological media., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

Grime's competitive, stress-tolerant, ruderal (CSR) theory predicts a shift in plant communities from ruderal to stress-tolerant strategies during secondary succession. However, this fundamental tenet lacks empirical validation using long-term continuous successional data. Utilizing a 60-year longitudinal data of old-field succession, we investigated the community-level dynamics of plant strategies over time. Our findings reveal that while plant communities generally transitioned from ruderal to stress-tolerant strategies during succession, initial abandonment conditions crucially shaped early successional strategies, leading to varied strategy trajectories across different fields. Furthermore, we found a notable divergence in the CSR strategies of alien and native species over succession. Initially, alien and native species exhibited similar ruderal strategies, but in later stages, alien species exhibited higher ruderal and lower stress tolerance compared to native species. Overall, our findings underscore the applicability of Grime's predictions regarding temporal shifts in CSR strategies depending on both initial community conditions and species origin., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

HSA (human serum albumin), a most abundant protein in blood serum, plays a key role in maintaining human health. Abnormal HSA level is correlated with many diseases, and thus has been used as an essential biomarker for therapeutic monitoring and biomedical diagnosis. Development of small-molecule fluorescent probes allowing the selective and sensitive recognition of HSA in in vitro and in vivo is of fundamental importance in basic biological research as well as medical diagnosis. Herein, we reported a series of new synthesized fluorescent dyes containing D-π-A constitution, which exhibited different optical properties in solution and solid state. Among them, dye M-H-SO 3 with a hydrophilic sulfonate group at electron-acceptor part displayed selectivity for discrimination of HSA from BSA and other enzymes. Upon binding of dye M-H-SO 3 with HSA, a significant fluorescence enhancement with a turn-on ratio about 96-fold was triggered. The detection limit was estimated to be ∼ 40 nM. Studies on the interaction mechanism revealed that dye M-H-SO 3 could bind to site III of HSA with a 1:1 binding stoichiometry. Furthermore, dye M-H-SO 3 has been applied to determine HSA in real urine samples with good recoveries, which provided a useful method for HSA analysis in biological fluids., 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 Inc. All rights reserved.)

Lithium metal is the ultimate anode material for pursuing the increased energy density of rechargeable batteries. However, fatal dendrites growth and huge volume change seriously hinder the practical application of lithium metal batteries (LMBs). In this work, a lithium host that preinstalled CoSe nanoparticles on vertical carbon vascular tissues (VCVT/CoSe) is designed and fabricated to resolve these issues, which provides sufficient Li plating space with a robust framework, enabling dendrite-free Li deposition. Their inherent N sites coupled with the in situ formed lithiophilic Co sites loaded at the interface of VCVT not only anchor the initial Li nucleation seeds but also accelerate the Li + transport kinetics. Meanwhile, the Li 2 Se originated from the CoSe conversion contributes to constructing a stable solid-electrolyte interphase with high ionic conductivity. This optimized Li/VCVT/CoSe composite anode exhibits a prominent long-term cycling stability over 3000 h with a high areal capacity of 10 mAh cm -2 . When paired with a commercial nickel-rich LiNi 0.83 Co 0.12 Mn 0.05 O 2 cathode, the full-cell presents substantially enhanced cycling performance with 81.7% capacity retention after 300 cycles at 0.2 C. Thus, this work reveals the critical role of guiding Li deposition behavior to maintain homogeneous Li morphology and pave the way to stable LMBs., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Acanthopanax senticosus (AS) is a geo-authentic crude medicinal plant that grows in China, Korea, Russia, and Japan. AS contains bioactive compounds such as eleutherosides, polysaccharides, and flavonoids. It is also a key traditional herb in the Red List of Chinese Species. AS is mainly distributed in Northeast China, specifically in Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning provinces. Its active compounds contribute to significant biological activities, including neuroprotective, antioxidant, anti-fatigue, and antitumor effects. However, the extraction methods of active compounds are complex, the extraction efficiency is poor, and the structure-activity relationship is unclear. This study focused on the nutrients in AS, including protein, carbohydrates, and lipids. Particularly, the active ingredients (eleutherosides, polysaccharides, and flavonoids) in AS and their extraction and purification methods were analyzed and summarized. The biological activities of extracts have been reviewed, and the mechanisms of anti-oxidation, antitumor, anti-inflammation, and other activities are introduced in detail. The applications of AS in various domains, such as health foods, medicines, and animal dietary supplements, are then reported. Compared with other extraction methods, ultrasonic or microwave extraction improves efficiency, yet they can damage structures. Challenges arise in the recovery of solvents and in achieving extraction efficiency when using green solvents, such as deep eutectic solvents. Improvements can be made by combining extraction methods and controlling conditions (power, temperature, and time). Bioactive molecules and related activities are exposited clearly. The applications of AS have not been widely popularized, and the corresponding functions require further development., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhang, Guan, Zhu, Wang, Gao, Li, Yan, Ji, Zhou, Yao and Li.)

Background: Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of heart failure. Dual oxidase 1 (DUOX1) might be important in heart failure development through its mediating role in oxidative stress. This study was designed to evaluate the potential role of DUOX1 in heart failure., Materials and Methods: AC16 cells were treated with 2 µmol/L of doxorubicin (DOX) for 12, 24, and 48 h to construct a heart failure model. DUOX1 overexpression and silencing in AC16 cell were established. DUOX1 expression was detected by Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blot. Pyroptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were measured by flow cytometry., Results: Increased DUOX1 expression levels were observed after DOX treatment for 24 h in AC16 cells. DUOX1 silencing inhibited DOX-induced pyroptosis and ROS production. The release of IL-1β, IL-18, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and expression levels of pyroptosis-related proteins were also decreased. DUOX1 overexpression increased pyroptosis, ROS production, IL-1β, IL-18, and LDH release, and pyroptosis-related protein expression. N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) significantly reversed DUOX1-induced pyroptosis, ROS, and related factors., Conclusion: These results suggest that DUOX1-derived genotoxicity could promote heart failure development. In the process, oxidative stress and pyroptosis may be involved in the regulation of DUOX1 in heart failure., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Monitored natural attenuation (MNA) of chlorinated ethenes (CEs) has proven to be a cost-effective and environment-friendly approach for groundwater remediation. In this study, the complete dechlorination of CEs with formation of ethene under natural conditions, were observed at two CE-contaminated sites, including a pesticide manufacturing facility (PMF) and a fluorochemical plant (FCP), particularly in the deeply weathered bedrock aquifer at the FCP site. Additionally, a higher abundance of CE-degrading bacteria was identified with heightened dechlorination activities at the PMF site, compared to the FCP site. The reductive dehalogenase genes and Dhc 16 S rRNA gene were prevalent at both sites, even in groundwater where no CE dechlorination was observed. vcrA and bvcA was responsible for the complete dechlorination at the PMF and FCP site, respectively, indicating the distinct contributions of functional microbial species at each site. The correlation analyses suggested that Sediminibacterium has the potential to achieve the complete dechlorination at the FCP site. Moreover, the profiles of CE-degrading bacteria suggested that dechlorination occurred under Fe 3+ /sulfate-reducing and nitrate-reducing conditions at the PMF and FCP site, respectively. Overall these findings provided multi-lines of evidence on the diverse mechanisms of CE-dechlorination under natural conditions, which can provide valuable guidance for MNA strategies implementation., 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.)

The reaction of ubiquitous clay is related to the global cycle of the key metals, but the relationship between the Li occurrence interface and the sedimentation in the Li cycle remains unclear. We investigated the atomic interface arrangement of Li-montmorillonite (Li-Mt) during low-temperature water-rock reactions and Li migration. The results show that, in Cl-rich systems, deprotonation and exposure of Na adsorption sites cause Li enrichment and O pairing, which lead to the weakening of the shielding effect of Mt on anions and the formation of a Mt-Li-Cl atomically interfacial arrangement. Only up to 20.3% of the Li is contained in the atomic interface of Li-Mt. In F-rich system, the dehydroxylation of F paired with Al in octahedral sites causes Li accumulation via local crystallization of LiF, and co-complexation of F and Li forms a Mt(Al)-F-Li atomic interface, in which up to 46.8% of the Li is enriched by the Mt. The participation of F and Cl in the complexation intensifies lattice collapse of the Li-Mt edge. The sedimentation velocity decreases with the smaller particle size affected by the Li loading. Lithium leached from igneous rocks serves as the marine Li source, which contributes up to 99.8% and 99.5% of the Li in Cl- and F-rich systems, respectively. The response of Mt(OH) to Li migration with a time accumulating effect may make an important regulatory of oceanic pH by either acidification or alkalization.

Pressure ulcers are persistent skin lesions that have substantial detrimental effects on the physical well-being of patients. Moreover, their psychological ramifications for both patients and their caregivers are becoming more widely acknowledged. This research was conducted to examine the psychological ramifications of pressure ulcers and ascertain efficacious approaches to mitigate these effects and improve overall well-being. A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2022 to December 2023 across tertiary care centres located in Beijing. The cohort consisted of 431 participants, which included primary caregivers and patients who were diagnosed with pressure ulcers. The data were gathered through the utilization of structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. These methods encompassed demographic details, clinical characteristics and validated scales that assessed psychological parameters, including quality of life, anxiety, stress and depression. The research exposed substantial psychological toll on both individuals receiving care and those providing care, with caregivers enduring diminished quality of life and elevated levels of anxiety, depression and stress (p < 0.05). A significant positive correlation was identified between the degree of psychological distress and severity of pressure ulcers (p < 0.05). Both location of the ulcer and duration of care were substantial contributors to the psychological burden (p < 0.05). In spite of the apparent necessity, a significant proportion of the participants refrained from obtaining psychological counselling. The results underscored the significant psychological ramifications of pressure ulcers for both individuals receiving care and the caregivers. As a result, comprehensive care strategies that incorporate psychological assistance into the prescribed treatment plan are imperative. This research highlighted the criticality of implementing all-encompassing, interdisciplinary approaches to tackle the complex issues presented by pressure ulcers in an effort to enhance the general welfare of those influences., (© 2024 The Authors. International Wound Journal published by Medicalhelplines.com Inc and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The recycling of industrial solid by-products such as red mud (RM) has become an urgent priority, due to their large quantities and lack of reutilization methods can lead to resource wastage. In this work, RM was employed to fabricate green hydrochar (HC) to prepare zero-valent iron (ZVI) modified carbonous materials, and conventional iron salts (IS, FeCl 3 ) was applied as comparison, fabricated HC labeled as RM/HC and IS/HC, respectively. The physicochemical properties of these HC were comprehensively characterized. Further, hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) removal performance was assessed (375.66 and 337.19 mg/g for RM/HC and IS/HC, respectively). The influence of dosage and initial pH were evaluated, while isotherms, kinetics, and thermodynamics analysis were also conducted, to mimic the surface interactions. The stability and recyclability of adsorbents also verified, while the practical feasibility was assessed by bok choy-planting experiment. This work revealed that RM can be used as a high value and green fabricant for HC the effective removal of chromium contaminants from the wastewater., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: High density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) is considered as "good cholesterol". Recent evidence suggests that a high HDL-C level may increase the risk of poor outcomes in some populations., Purpose: To investigate the association between HDL-C levels and poor outcomes in patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)., Methods: Patients undergoing PCI during January 2012 and December 2018 were consecutively recruited and divided into three groups with different HDL-C levels: HDL-C ≤ 25 mg/dL, 25 < HDL-C ≤ 60 mg/dL, HDL-C > 60 mg/dL by the restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis and assessed for all-cause mortality (ACM). The association between HDL-C levels and poor outcomes was assessed by multivariable cox regression analysis., Results: The patients were followed with a median duration of 4 years. Of the 7284 participants, 727 all-cause deaths and 334 cardiovascular deaths occurred. A V-shaped association of HDL-C with the prognosis was observed, patients with either excessively low or high HDL-C levels reporting a higher risk than those with midrange values. After adjustment for confounding factors, the former exhibited a higher cumulative rate of ACM and cardiovascular mortality (CM) than the latter [low HDL-C: for ACM, hazard ratio (HR), 1.96; 95%CI, 1.41, 2.73, P < 0.001; for CM, HR, 1.66; 95%CI, 1.03, 2.67; P = 0.037; high HDL-C: for ACM, HR, 1.73; 95%CI, 1.29, 2.32, P < 0.001; for CM, HR, 1.73; 95%CI, 1.16, 2.58; P = 0.007]., Conclusion: HDL-C levels display a V-shaped association with poor outcomes in patients after PCI, with excessively high or low HDL-C suggesting a higher mortality risk. An optimal HDL-C level may fall in the range of 25-60 mg/dL., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There are no financial conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

HD-Zip (Homeodomain-Leucine Zipper) is a family of transcription factors unique to higher plants and plays a vital role in plant growth and development. Increasing research results show that HD-Zip transcription factors are widely involved in many life processes in plants. However, the HD-Zip transcription factor for cannabis, a valuable crop, has not yet been identified. The sequence characteristics, chromosome localization, system evolution, conservative motif, gene structure, and gene expression of the HD-Zip transcription factor in the cannabis genome were systematically studied. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to verify its function. The results showed that cannabis contained 33 HD-Zip gene members. The number of amino acids is 136-849aa, the isoelectric point is 4.54-9.04, and the molecular weight is 23264.32-93147.87Da. Many cis -acting elements are corresponding to hormone and abiotic stress in the HD-Zip family promoter area of cannabis. Sequencing of the transcriptome at 5 tissue sites of hemp, stems, leaves, bracts, and seeds showed similar levels of expression of 33 members of the HD-Zip gene family at 5 tissue sites. Bioinformatics results show that HD-Zip expression is tissue-specific and may be influenced by hormones and environmental factors. This lays a foundation for further research on the gene function of HD-Zip ., 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., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) serves as a critical biomarker for the early detection and continuous monitoring of prostate cancer. However, commercial PSA detection methods primarily rely on antigen-antibody interactions, leading to issues such as high costs, stringent storage requirements, and potential cross-reactivity due to PSA variant sequence homology. This study is dedicated to the precise design and synthesis of molecular entities tailored for binding with PSA. By employing a million-level virtual screening to obtain potential PSA compounds and effectively guiding the synthesis using machine learning methods, the resulting lead compounds exhibit significantly improved binding affinity compared to those developed before by researchers using high-throughput screening for PSA, substantially reducing screening and development costs. Unlike antibody detection, the design of these small molecules offers promising avenues for advancing prostate cancer diagnostics. Furthermore, this study establishes a systematic framework for the rapid development of customized ligands that precisely target specific protein entities., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Purpose: The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) based on creatinine is crucial for the risk assessment of contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI). In recent, the difference between cystatin C-based eGFR (eGFRcys) and creatinine-based eGFR (eGFRcr) has been widely documented. We aimed to explore whether intraindividual differences between eGFRcys and eGFRcr had potential value for CA-AKI risk assessment in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)., Patients and Methods: From January 2012 to December 2018, we retrospectively observed 5049 patients receiving elective PCI. To determine eGFR, serum creatinine and cystatin C levels were measured. CA-AKI was defined as serum creatinine being increased ≥ 50% or 0.3 mg/dL within 48 h after contrast agents exposure. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) was defined as the eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ., Results: Approximately half of the participants (2479, 49.1%) had a baseline eGFRdiff (eGFRcys-eGFRcr) between -15 and 15 mL/min/1.73 m 2 . Restricted cubic splines analysis revealed a nonlinear relationship between eGFRdiff and CA-AKI. Multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that compared with the reference group (-15 to 15 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ), the negative-eGFRdiff group (less than -15 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ) had a higher risk of CA-AKI (OR, 3.44; 95% CI, 2.57-4.64). Furthermore, patients were divided into four groups based on CKD identified by eGFRcys or eGFRcr. Multivariable logistic analysis revealed that patients with either CKDcys (OR, 2.94; 95% CI, 2.19-3.95, P < 0.001) or CKDcr (OR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.19-4.63, P < 0.001) had an elevated risk of CA-AKI compared to those without CKDcys and CKDcr., Conclusion: There are frequent intraindividual differences between eGFRcys and eGFRcr, and these differences can be used to forecast the risk of CA-AKI., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2024 Zhang et al.)

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is a common complication of pregnancy and can have significant impact on obstetric and neonatal outcomes. Increasing evidence has shown that the inhibited mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling in placenta is associated with FGR. However, interpretation of existing research is limited due to inconsistent methodologies and varying understanding of the mechanism by which mTOR activity contributes to FGR. Hereby, we have demonstrated that different anatomic regions of human and mouse placentas exhibited different levels of mTOR activity in normal compared to FGR pregnancies. When using the rapamycin-induced FGR mouse model, we found that placentas of FGR pregnancies exhibited abnormal morphological changes and reduced mTOR activity in the decidual-junctional layer. Using transcriptomics and lipidomics, we revealed that lipid and energy metabolism was significantly disrupted in the placentas of FGR mice. Finally, we demonstrated that maternal physical exercise during gestation in our FGR mouse model was associated with increased fetal and placental weight as well as increased placental mTOR activity and lipid metabolism. Collectively, our data indicate that the inhibited placental mTOR signaling contributes to FGR with altered lipid metabolism in mouse placentas, and maternal exercise could be an effective method to reduce the occurrence of FGR or alleviate the adverse outcomes associated with FGR., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Lateral physeal condylar humerus fractures in pediatric patients aged 1-13 rank as the second most common elbow injury, occurring with a frequency ranging from 5% to 16.8%. There exists an ongoing debate regarding the surgical management of these fractures. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of Open Reduction and Internal Fixation (ORIF) and Closed Reduction and Percutaneous Pinning (CRPP) as suitable surgical treatments for displaced unstable fractures of the lateral condyle physeal humerus in children. The comparison encompasses the results of ORIF and CRPP, alongside clinical and radiographic outcomes and complication rates., Method: A retrospective review was conducted at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery in the research hospital. A cohort of 27 patients treated between 2016 and 2023 were analyzed, 19 patients meeting inclusion criteria. The fracture pattern and degree of displacement were assessed, with specialized radiologists, doctors, and surgeons in agreement. Among the patients, 11 underwent CRPP 7 type 3and 4 type 2, while 16 received ORIF 12 type 4 and 4 type 5. Data collection included fracture type, surgical method, operation time, pre and post-operative displacement, casting period, bone union condition, follow-up records, range of motion, complications, delayed union, lateral spurring, and pin removal records., Results: For CRPP, the mean time for pin removal was 5.42 weeks, with excellent bone union and an average operation time of 34.57 min. Criteria of Hardacre showed 28.57% of cases as good and 71.42% as excellent. Similarly, ORIF demonstrated a mean operation time of 42.5 min, with the fracture healing within 5.33 weeks and the pin being removed after 15 days on average. Criteria of Hardacre indicated 25% of cases as good and 75% as excellent. Both groups showed satisfactory outcomes, with no complications such as osteomyelitis, nonunion, malunion, delayed union, myositis ossificans, physeal growth arrest, tardy ulnar nerve palsy, cubitus valgus, or varus, and no cases requiring re-surgery., Conclusion: Both CRPP and ORIF are effective surgical methods for treating lateral physeal condylar humeral fractures (types 3 and 4 according to the Song classification) in children, demonstrating satisfactory outcomes. Notably, regardless of displacement (2 mm and >2 mm), both methods yield similar results, albeit with CRPP offering the advantage of avoiding incisions. Overall, both procedures are safe, with favorable bone healing outcomes., Competing Interests: We confirm that the manuscript has been read and approved by all named authors. Authors declare that there are no competing interest., (© 2024 Professor P K Surendran Memorial Education Foundation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

D-Allulose has become a promising alternative sweetener due to its unique properties of low caloric content, moderate sweetness, and physiological effects. D-Allulose 3-epimerase (DAEase) is a promising enzyme for D-Allulose production. However, the low catalytic efficiency limited its large-scale industrial applications. To obtain a more effective biocatalyst, a putative DAEase from Christensenellaceae bacterium (CbDAE) was identified and characterized. The recombinant CbDAE exhibited optimum activity at pH 7.5°C and 55°C, retaining more than 60% relative activity from 40°C to 70°C, and the catalytic activity could be significantly increased by Co 2+ supplementation. These enzymatic properties of purified CbDAE were compared with other DAEases. CbDAE was also found to possess desirable thermal stability at 55°C with a half-life of 12.4 h. CbDAE performed the highest relative activity towards D-allulose and strong affinity for D-fructose but relatively low catalytic efficiency towards D-fructose. Based on the structure-guided design, the best double-mutation variant G36N/W112E was obtained which reached up to 4.21-fold enhancement of catalytic activity compared with wild-type (WT) CbDAE. The catalytic production of G36N/W112E with 500 g/L D-fructose was at a medium to a higher level among the DAEases in 3.5 h, reducing 40% catalytic reaction time compared to the WT CbDAE. In addition, the G36N/W112E variant was also applied in honey and apple juice for D-allulose conversion. Our research offers an extra biocatalyst for D-allulose production, and the comprehensive report of this enzyme makes it potentially interesting for industrial applications and will aid the development of industrial biocatalysts for D-allulose., 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 Guan, Zhu, Wang, Gao, Li, Yan, Zhang, Ji, Fan, Zhou, Yao and Li.)

There is inconsistent evidence for an association of obesity with white matter microstructural alterations. Such inconsistent findings may be related to the cumulative effects of obesity and alcohol dependence. This study aimed to investigate the possible interactions between alcohol dependence and overweight/obesity on white matter microstructure in the human brain. A total of 60 inpatients with alcohol dependence during early abstinence (44 normal weight and 16 overweight/obese) and 65 controls (42 normal weight and 23 overweight/obese) were included. The diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures [fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD)] of the white matter microstructure were compared between groups. We observed significant interactive effects between alcohol dependence and overweight/obesity on DTI measures in several tracts. The DTI measures were not significantly different between the overweight/obese and normal-weight groups (although widespread trends of increased FA and decreased RD were observed) among controls. However, among the alcohol-dependent patients, the overweight/obese group had widespread reductions in FA and widespread increases in RD, most of which significantly differed from the normal-weight group; among those with overweight/obesity, the alcohol-dependent group had widespread reductions in FA and widespread increases in RD, most of which were significantly different from the control group. This study found significant interactive effects between overweight/obesity and alcohol dependence on white matter microstructure, indicating that these two controllable factors may synergistically impact white matter microstructure and disrupt structural connectivity in the human brain., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)

Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton is an annual herb plant of the Perilla genus in the Labiatae family, which is commonly utilized as an edible and medicinal resource. Polysaccharides are among the major components and essential bioactive compounds of P. frutescens , which exhibit a multitude of biological activities, including antioxidant, antitumor, anti-fatigue, immunoregulation, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, and lipid-lowering effects. As a natural carbohydrate, P. frutescens polysaccharide has the potential to be utilized in the development of drugs and functional materials. In this paper, we provide an overview of progress made on the extraction, purification, structural characterization, and bioactivity of polysaccharides from different parts of P. frutescens . The challenges and opportunities for research are discussed, along with the potential development prospects and future areas of focus in the study of P. frutescens polysaccharides., 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 Zhu, Guan, Wang, Ren, Gao, Li, Yan, Zhang, Yao, Zhou, Li and Lu.)

Common wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) is a global staple food, while nitrogen (N) limitation severely hinders plant growth, seed yield, and grain quality of wheat. Genetic variations in the responses to low N stresses among allohexaploid wheat (AABBDD, 2 n = 6 x = 42) genotypes emphasize the complicated regulatory mechanisms underlying low N tolerance and N use efficiency (NUE). In this study, hydroponic culture, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, noninvasive microtest, high-performance liquid chromatography, RNA-seq, and bioinformatics were used to determine the differential growth performance, ionome and phytohormone profiles, and genome-wide expression profiling of wheat plants grown under high N and low N conditions. Transcriptional profiling of NPFs, NRT2s, CLCs, SLACs/SLAHs, AAPs, UPSs, NIAs, and GSs characterized the core members, such as TaNPF6.3-6D , TaNRT2.3-3D , TaNIA1-6B , TaGLN1;2-4B , TaAAP14-5A / 5D , and TaUPS2-5A , involved in the efficient transport and assimilation of nitrate and organic N nutrients. The low-N-sensitivity wheat cultivar XM26 showed obvious leaf chlorosis and accumulated higher levels of ABA, JA, and SA than the low-N-tolerant ZM578 under N limitation. The TaMYB59 - 3D- TaNPF7.3 / NRT1.5-6D module-mediated shoot-to-root translocation and leaf remobilization of nitrate was proposed as an important pathway regulating the differential responses between ZM578 and XM26 to low N. This study provides some elite candidate genes for the selection and breeding of wheat germplasms with low N tolerance and high NUE.

Dietary-derived substances possess significant potential as anthropogenic markers owing to the large consumption and different intake habit. To investigate and evaluate such markers, wastewater samples from 35 wastewater treatment plants across 29 Chinese cities were collected to analyze artificial sweeteners (acesulfame and cyclamate) and natural spicy compounds (capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin). Acesulfame (mean: 14.6 μg/L), cyclamate (mean: 24.3 μg/L), and capsaicin (mean: 101 ng/L) can be further investigated as anthropogenic markers due to their high detection frequency at high concentrations. Spatial use patterns revealed that acesulfame (5.31 g/d/1000 inhabitants (inh)) and cyclamate (8.16 g/d/1000 inh) use in northern China notably surpassed that in southern China (1.79 g/d/1000 inh and 3.23 g/d/1000 inh, p < 0.05). Conversely, chili pepper use was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in southern China (6702 g/d/1000 inh) than in northern China (2751 g/d/1000 inh), signifying a preference for sweetness in the northern regions and a predilection for spiciness in the southern regions. The total annual use of acesulfame (1842 t), cyclamate (3110 t), and chili (18.4 million tonnes) in China was estimated by this study, which was close to the national statistical production. In addition, sweetener use was negatively associated with the elderly population ratio, suggesting that the elderly population might not consume sweet foods. This study reveals the dietary sources of anthropogenic markers, highlighting the need for further research on the environmental implications of such markers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Ovarian stimulation (OS) during assisted reproductive technology (ART) appears to be an independent factor influencing the risk of low birth weight (LBW). Previous studies identified the association between LBW and placenta deterioration, potentially resulting from disturbed genomic DNA methylation in oocytes caused by OS. However, the mechanisms by which OS leads to aberrant DNA methylation patterns in oocytes remains unclear., Methods: Mouse oocytes and mouse parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells (pESCs) were used to investigate the roles of OS in oocyte DNA methylation. Global 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) levels were evaluated using immunofluorescence or colorimetry. Genome-wide DNA methylation was quantified using an Agilent SureSelectXT mouse Methyl-Seq. The DNA methylation status of mesoderm-specific transcript homologue (Mest) promoter region was analyzed using bisulfite sequencing polymerase chain reaction (BSP). The regulatory network between estrogen receptor alpha (ERα, ESR1) and DNA methylation status of Mest promoter region was further detected following the knockdown of ERα or ten-eleven translocation 2 (Tet2)., Results: OS resulted in a significant decrease in global 5mC levels and an increase in global 5hmC levels in oocytes. Further investigation revealed that supraphysiological β-estradiol (E2) during OS induced a notable decrease in DNA 5mC and an increase in 5hmC in both oocytes and pESCs of mice, whereas inhibition of estrogen signaling abolished such induction. Moreover, Tet2 may be a direct transcriptional target gene of ERα, and through the ERα-TET2 axis, supraphysiological E2 resulted in the reduced global levels of DNA 5mC. Furthermore, we identified that MEST, a maternal imprinted gene essential for placental development, lost its imprinted methylation in parthenogenetic placentas originating from OS, and ERα and TET2 combined together to form a protein complex that may promote Mest demethylation., Conclusions: In this study, a possible mechanism of loss of DNA methylation in oocyte caused by OS was revealed, which may help increase safety and reduce epigenetic abnormalities in ART procedures., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Aim: To observe the effects of N-acetylserotonin (NAS) administration on retinal ischemia-reperfusion (RIR) injury in rats and explore the underlying mechanisms involving the high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1)/receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE)/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway., Methods: A rat model of RIR was developed by increasing the pressure of the anterior chamber of the eye. Eighty male Sprague Dawley were randomly divided into five groups: sham group ( n =8), RIR group ( n =28), RIR+NAS group ( n =28), RIR+FPS-ZM1 group ( n =8) and RIR+NAS+ FPS-ZM1 group ( n =8). The therapeutic effects of NAS were examined by hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining, and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) counting. The expression of interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), HMGB1, RAGE, and nod-like receptor 3 (NLRP3) proteins and the phosphorylation of nuclear factor-kappa B (p-NF-κB) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry staining and Western blot analysis. The expression of HMGB1 protein was also detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)., Results: H&E staining results showed that NAS significantly reduced retinal edema and increased the number of RGCs in RIR rats. With NAS therapy, the HMGB1 and RAGE expression decreased significantly, and the activation of the NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway was antagonized along with the inhibition of p-NF-κB and NLRP3 protein expression. Additionally, NAS exhibited an anti-inflammatory effect by reducing IL-1β expression. The inhibitory of RAGE binding to HMGB1 by RAGE inhibitor FPS-ZM1 led to a significant decrease of p-NF-κB and NLRP3 expression, so as to the IL-1β expression and retinal edema, accompanied by an increase of RGCs in RIR rats., Conclusion: NAS may exhibit a neuroprotective effect against RIR via the HMGB1/RAGE/NF-κB signaling pathway, which may be a useful therapeutic target for retinal disease., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: Zhao YZ, None; Zhang XN, None; Yin Y, None; Xiao PL, None; Gao M, None; Zhang LM, None; Zhou SH, None; Yu SN, None; Wang XL, None; Zhao YS, None., (International Journal of Ophthalmology Press.)