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Understanding and remembering the complex experiences of everyday life relies critically on prior schematic knowledge about how events in our world unfold over time. How does the brain construct event representations from a library of schematic scripts, and how does activating a specific script impact the way that events are segmented in time? We developed a novel set of 16 audio narratives, each of which combines one of four location-relevant event scripts (restaurant, airport, grocery store, and lecture hall) with one of four socially relevant event scripts (breakup, proposal, business deal, and meet cute), and presented them to participants in an fMRI study and a separate online study. Responses in the angular gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, and subregions of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) were driven by scripts related to both location and social information, showing that these regions can track schematic sequences from multiple domains. For some stories, participants were primed to attend to one of the two scripts by training them to listen for and remember specific script-relevant episodic details. Activating a location-related event script shifted the timing of subjective event boundaries to align with script-relevant changes in the narratives, and this behavioral shift was mirrored in the timing of neural responses, with mPFC event boundaries (identified using a hidden Markov model) aligning to location-relevant rather than socially relevant boundaries when participants were location primed. Our findings demonstrate that neural event dynamics are actively modulated by top-down goals and provide new insight into how narrative event representations are constructed through the activation of temporally structured prior knowledge., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) for rectal cancer can lead to structural changes in collagen in the tumor microenvironment and increase the risk of postoperative anastomotic stenosis (AS). However, the quantitative relationship between AS and collagen has not been defined. This study is to quantitatively analyze the collagen features in rectal cancer and explore the relationship between the changes of collagen and postoperative anastomotic stenosis after nCRT., Study Design: This is a retrospective study. A total of 371 patients with rectal cancer were included. Collagen features in the resection margin of rectal cancer anastomosis was extracted by multiphoton imaging. The least absolute shrinkage operator logistic regression was performed to select features related to AS and the collagen score (CS) was constructed. Area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) and decision curve analysis were performed to evaluate the discrimination and clinical benefit of the nomogram., Results: The probability of AS was 23% in the training cohort and 15.9% in the validation cohort. In the training cohort, the distance between tumor and resection margin, anastomotic leakage and CS were independent risk factors for postoperative AS in univariate and multivariate analyses. A nomogram was constructed based on these results. The prediction nomogram showed good discrimination (AUROC 0.864; 95% CI 0.776 to 0.952) and was validated in the validation cohort (AUROC 0.918; 95% CI 0.851 to 0.985)., Conclusions: CS is an independent risk factor for AS in rectal cancer after nCRT. The predictive model based on CS can predict the occurrence of postoperative AS., (Copyright © 2024 by the American College of Surgeons. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aims to systematically assess physical exercise-related symptoms of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC or long COVID) in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) survivors., Methods: Eight databases were systematically searched on March 03, 2024. Original studies that compared physical exercise-related parameters measured by exercise testing between COVID-19 survivors who recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection over 3 months and non-COVID-19 controls were included. A random-effects model was utilized to determine the mean differences (MDs) or standardized MDs in the meta-analysis., Results: A total of 40 studies with 6241 COVID-19 survivors were included. The 6-min walk test, maximal oxygen consumption (VO 2 max), and anaerobic threshold were impaired in COVID-19 survivors 3 months post-infection compared with non-COVID-19 controls in exercise testing, while VO 2 were comparable between the two groups at rest. In contrast, no differences were observed in SpO 2 , heart rate, blood pressure, fatigue, and dyspnea between COVID-19 survivors and non-COVID-19 controls in exercise testing., Conclusion: The findings suggest an underestimation of the manifestations of PASC. COVID-19 survivors also harbor physical exercise-related symptoms of PASC that can be determined by the exercise testing and are distinct from those observed at rest. Exercise testing should be included while evaluating the symptoms of PASC in COVID-19 survivors., 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 Society of Chinese Scholars on Exercise Physiology and Fitness. Published by Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd.)

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the risk factors of treatment-related pneumonitis (TRP) following thoracic radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy combined with anti-PD‑1 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC)., Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 97 patients with advanced ESCC who were treated with thoracic radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy combined with anti-PD‑1 mAbs. Among them, 56 patients received concurrent radiotherapy with anti-PD‑1 mAbs and 41 patients received sequential radiotherapy with anti-PD‑1 mAbs. The median prescribed planning target volume (PTV) dose was 59.4 Gy (range from 50.4 to 66 Gy, 1.8-2.2 Gy/fraction). Clinical characteristics, the percentage of lung volume receiving more than 5-50 Gy in increments of 5 Gy (V 5 -V 50 , respectively) and the mean lung dose (MLD) were analyzed as potential risk factors for TRP., Results: 46.4% (45/97), 20.6% (20/97), 20.6% (20/97), 4.1% (4/97), and 1.0% (1/97) of the patients developed any grade of TRP, grade 1 TRP, grade 2 TRP, grade 3 TRP, and fatal (grade 5) TRP, respectively. Anti-PD‑1 mAbs administered concurrently with radiotherapy, V 5 , V 10 , V 15 , V 25 , V 30 , V 35 , V 40 and MLD were associated with the occurrence of grade 2 or higher TRP. Concurrent therapy (P = 0.010, OR = 3.990) and V 5 (P = 0.001, OR = 1.126) were independent risk factors for grade 2 or higher TRP. According to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, the optimal V 5 threshold for predicting grade 2 or higher TRP was 55.7%., Conclusion: The combination of thoracic radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy with anti-PD‑1 mAbs displayed a tolerable pulmonary safety profile. Although the incidence of TRP was high, grade 1-2 TRP accounted for the majority. Anti-PD‑1 mAbs administered concurrently with radiotherapy and the lung V 5 were significantly associated with the occurrence of grade 2 or higher TRP. Therefore, it seems safer to control V 5 below 55% in clinical, especially for the high-risk populations receiving concurrent therapy., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: Arthrodesis, usage of metallic implants for internal fixation, is commonly employed as the primary treatment modality for Müller-Weiss disease (MWD). Nevertheless, the efficacy of the current methods of fixation leaves room for improvement. Inadequate fixation strength and the risk of fixation failure are both critical concerns requiring attention. This study explored the clinical effects of implementing a modified fixation technique in talonavicular arthrodesis for the treatment of MWD., Methods: A total of 14 cases diagnosed with MWD undergoing talonavicular (TN) arthrodesis from January 2021 toMarch 2023 were included in the retrospective study. The fixation method for fusion involved the use of screws, with additional support from the shape-memory alloy (SMA) staple. Relevant clinical outcomes and complications were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively. Paired-samples t-test was used for all data comparisons., Results: Radiographic evidence confirmed solid fusion, and follow-up evaluations showed satisfactory results in all cases. The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scores were elevated from 32.21 ± 4.0 (range: 22-38) preoperatively to 86.5 ± 2.7 (range: 81-90) postoperatively (p < 0.001). The visual analog scale (VAS) scores declined from 7.40 ± 0.8 (range: 6-8.5) preoperatively to 1.21 ± 1.1 (range: 0-3) postoperatively (p < 0.001). The lateral Meary's angle changed from 13.50 ± 5.2 (range: 8-24) preoperatively to 4.14 ± 2.9 (range: 1-11) degrees postoperatively (p < 0.001). The calcaneal pitch angle increased from 10.07 ± 4.0 (range: 5-19) preoperatively to 14.35 ± 4.0 (range: 8-21) degrees postoperatively (p < 0.001). The talar-first metatarsal angle decreased from 11.71 ± 3.8 (range: 8-18) preoperatively to 4.28 ± 3.1 (range: 0-9) degrees postoperatively (p < 0.001). One patient was observed to experience delayed wound healing and wound infection. No nerve damage, malunion, pseudoarthrosis, or fixation failure were observed., Conclusion: The results indicated that the fusion of the TN joint using a combination of screws and shape memory alloy staples, could lead to favorable clinical outcomes and significantly enhance the quality of life for patients with MWD. This technique is not only safe and effective but also straightforward to perform., (© 2024 The Author(s). Orthopaedic Surgery published by Tianjin Hospital and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Background: Physical resilience is known to minimize the adverse outcomes of health stressors for older people. However, validated instruments that assess physical resilience in older adults are rare. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to translate the Physical Resilience Scale (PRS) into Chinese and to validate its psychometric properties in a population of community-dwelling older adults following SARS-CoV-2 infection., Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design and translated the Physical Resilience Scale into Chinese. A total of 426 older adults who had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection were chosen for assessment through convenience sampling. The measurement data were analyzed using the Rasch analysis., Results: Rasch analysis indicates that the Physical Resilience Scale demonstrates excellent reliability, validity, and unidimensionality. The Infit MNSQ and Outfit MNSQ of each entry were 0.77 ~ 1.19, and the degree of fit of each entry to the scale was good. Person and item separation reliability support the internal consistency of the studied samples and PRS items., Conclusions: The Physical Resilience Scale has good reliability and is suitable for the assessment of physical resilience tests in older people. However, the overall difficulty of the scale is not suitable for older adults of all ability ranges, and it is possible to add higher and lower difficulty items and adjust the difficulty spacing between items in a later study., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Considering the finite time within a 24-h day, the distribution of time spent on movement behaviours has been found to be associated with health outcomes., Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarise and evaluate the overflow effects of interventions targeting a single behaviour (physical activity, sedentary behaviour/screen time, or sleep) on other non-targeted behaviours among children and adolescents., Methods: Six databases (MEDLINE [Ovid], PsycINFO [ProQuest], EMBASE [Ovid], PubMed, Web of Science and SPORTDiscus [EBSCO]) were searched for relevant studies published before 13 May, 2024. Randomised controlled trials and clustered randomised controlled trials that targeted a single behaviour and also assessed the effects on non-targeted behaviours, comprised of healthy children under the age of 18 years, were included. Movement behaviours can be measured either objectively or subjectively. The revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomised trials was adopted to evaluate the risk of bias., Results: A total of 102 studies with 45,998 participants from 21 countries were identified, and 60 of them with 26,183 participants were incorporated into the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis demonstrated that physical activity interventions led to a reduction in the proportion of each day spent in sedentary behaviour (mean difference =  - 0.95% of wear time, 95% confidence interval - 1.44, - 0.45, I 2  = 39%). Sedentary behaviour interventions resulted in increased standing time (mean difference = 3.87%, 95% confidence interval 1.99, 5.75, I 2  = 0%). Interventions targeting screen time did not yield changes in physical activity or sleep. The findings on the effectiveness of sleep interventions on non-targeted behaviours and of physical activity interventions on sleep were inconclusive., Conclusions: Overall, the findings suggested that interventions aimed at increasing physical activity or reducing sedentary behaviour had overflow effects on non-targeted behaviours, but the effect sizes were small. Additional evidence is needed to reach definitive conclusions regarding the impact of behaviour change interventions on sleep and of the overflow effects of sleep interventions., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objectives: The Death Anxiety Beliefs and Behaviour Scale (DABBS) is a unique tool designed to assess the detrimental beliefs and avoidant behaviors linked to death anxiety. This study aimed to adapt the DABBS into Chinese and verify its psychometric characteristics within a community-dwelling older adult population., Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design and translated the DABBS into Chinese. The psychometric properties of 437 community-dwelling older persons were assessed using the Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT)., Results: The DABBS consisted of affect, beliefs, and behaviours, with 18 entries in 3 dimensions. The I-CVI of the DABBS ranged from 0.857 to 1.000, and the S-CVI was 0.968; Cronbach's alpha of 0.905. Rasch analysis results showed that the 3 dimensions of the scale possessed good unidimensionality, and the entries were well-fitted to the dimensions in which they were located; each entry Infit MNSQ and Outfit MNSQ were in the range of 0.50 to 1.50; the analysis of the functional differences of items in different characteristic subgroups (gender) showed that the absolute value of DIF Contrast was <0.50. The results of the Wright map showed that the ability of the participants was normally distributed, and the difficulty of the scale's entries was adapted to the average ability level of older adults., Conclusions: The present data indicate that the revised DABBS is a valid and reliable tool for assessing affect, beliefs, and behaviors associated with death anxiety in community-dwelling older individuals., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Tissue-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) are emerging as pivotal players to maintain organ homeostasis, which show promise as a next-generation candidate for medical use with extensive source. However, the detailed function and therapeutic potential of tissue EVs remain insufficiently studied. Here, through bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing analyses combined with ultrastructural tissue examinations, we first reveal that in situ liver tissue EVs (LT-EVs) contribute to the intricate liver regenerative process after partial hepatectomy (PHx), and that hepatocytes are the primary source of tissue EVs in the regenerating liver. Nanoscale and proteomic profiling further identify that the hepatocyte-specific tissue EVs (Hep-EVs) are strengthened to release with carrying proliferative messages after PHx. Moreover, targeted inhibition of Hep-EV release via AAV-shRab27a in vivo confirms that Hep-EVs are required to orchestrate liver regeneration. Mechanistically, Hep-EVs from the regenerating liver reciprocally stimulate hepatocyte proliferation by promoting cell cycle progression through Cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (Cdk1) activity. Notably, supplementing with Hep-EVs from the regenerating liver demonstrates translational potential and ameliorates insufficient liver regeneration. This study provides a functional and mechanistic framework showing that the release of regenerative Hep-EVs governs rapid liver regeneration, thereby enriching our understanding of physiological and endogenous tissue EVs in organ regeneration and therapy., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a crucial regulatory kinase, monitors energy levels, conserving ATP and boosting synthesis in low-nutrition, low-energy states. Its sensitivity links microenvironmental changes to cellular responses. As the primary support structure and endocrine organ, the maintenance, and repair of bones are closely associated with the microenvironment. While a series of studies have explored the effects of specific microenvironments on bone, there is lack of angles to comprehensively evaluate the interactions between microenvironment and bone cells, especially for bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) which mediate the differentiation of osteogenic lineage. It is noteworthy that accumulating evidence has indicated that AMPK may serve as a hub between BMMSCs and microenvironment factors, thus providing a new perspective for us to understand the biology and pathophysiology of stem cells and bone. In this review, we emphasize AMPK's pivotal role in bone microenvironment modulation via ATP, inflammation, reactive oxygen species (ROS), calcium, and glucose, particularly in BMMSCs. We further explore the use of AMPK-activating drugs in the context of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. Moreover, building upon the foundation of AMPK, we elucidate a viewpoint that facilitates a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic relationship between the microenvironment and bone homeostasis, offering valuable insights for prospective investigations into stem cell biology and the treatment of bone diseases., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The elasticities of double-stranded (ds) DNA and RNA, which are critical to their biological functions and applications in materials science, can be significantly modulated by solution conditions such as ions and temperature. However, there is still a lack of a comprehensive understanding of the role of solvents in the elasticities of dsRNA and dsDNA in a comparative way. In this work, we explored the effect of ethanol solvent on the elasticities of dsRNA and dsDNA by magnetic tweezers and all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. We found that the bending persistence lengths and contour lengths of dsRNA and dsDNA decrease monotonically with the increase in ethanol concentration. Furthermore, the addition of ethanol weakens the positive twist-stretch coupling of dsRNA, while promotes the negative twist-stretch coupling of dsDNA. Counter-intuitively, the lower dielectric environment of ethanol causes a significant re-distribution of counterions and enhanced ion neutralization, which overwhelms the enhanced repulsion along dsRNA/dsDNA, ultimately leading to the softening in bending for dsRNA and dsDNA. Moreover, for dsRNA, ethanol causes slight ion-clamping across the major groove, which weakens the major groove-mediated twist-stretch coupling, while for dsDNA, ethanol promotes the stretch-radius correlation due to enhanced ion binding and consequently enhances the helical radius-mediated twist-stretch coupling., (© 2024 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.)

Inter-organ communication through hormones, cytokines and extracellular vesicles (EVs) has emerged to contribute to the physiological states and pathological processes of the human body. Notably, the liver coordinates multiple tissues and organs to maintain homeostasis and maximize energy utilization, with the underlying mechanisms being unraveled in recent studies. Particularly, liver-derived EVs have been found to play a key role in regulating health and disease. As an endocrine organ, the liver has also been found to perform functions via the secretion of hepatokines. Investigating the multi-organ communication centered on the liver, especially in the manner of EVs and hepatokines, is of great importance to the diagnosis and treatment of liver-related diseases. This review summarizes the crosstalk between the liver and distant organs, including the brain, the bone, the adipose tissue and the intestine in noticeable situations. The discussion of these contents will add to a new dimension of organismal homeostasis and shed light on novel theranostics of pathologies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

HIV-induced persistent immune activation is a key mediator of inflammatory comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and neurocognitive disorders. While a preponderance of data indicate that gut barrier disruption and microbial translocation are drivers of chronic immune activation, the molecular mechanisms of this persistent inflammatory state remain poorly understood. Here, utilizing the nonhuman primate model of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection with suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART), we investigated activation of inflammasome pathways and their association with intestinal epithelial barrier disruption (IEBD). Longitudinal blood samples obtained from rhesus macaques with chronic SIV infection and long-term suppressive ART were evaluated for IEBD biomarkers, inflammasome activation (IL-1β and IL-18), inflammatory cytokines, and triglyceride (TG) levels. Activated monocyte subpopulations and glycolytic potential were investigated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). During the chronic phase of treated SIV infection, elevated levels of plasma IL-1β and IL-18 were observed following the hallmark increase in IEBD biomarkers, intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (IFABP) and LPS-binding protein (LBP). Further, significant correlations of plasma IFABP levels with IL-1β and IL-18 were observed between 10 and 12 months of ART. Higher levels of sCD14, IL-6, and GM-CSF, among other inflammatory mediators, were also observed only during the long-term SIV + ART phase along with a trend of increase in the frequencies of activated CD14 + CD16 + intermediate monocyte subpopulations. Lastly, we found elevated levels of blood TG and higher glycolytic capacity in PBMCs of chronic SIV-infected macaques with long-term ART. The increase in circulating IL-18 and IL-1β following IEBD and their significant positive correlation with IFABP suggest a connection between gut barrier disruption and inflammasome activation during chronic SIV infection, despite viral suppression with ART. Additionally, the increase in markers of monocyte activation, along with elevated TG and enhanced glycolytic pathway activity, indicates metabolic remodeling that could fuel metabolic syndrome. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which gut dysfunction and inflammasome activation contribute to HIV-associated metabolic complications, enabling targeted interventions in people with HIV.

Three CPs [Zn 2 (PDA) 2 (BMIOPE) 2 ·3H 2 O] n (1), [Co(Br-BDC)(BMIOPE)] n (2) and [Co(MIP)(BMIOPE)] n (3) were synthesized by solvothermal method based on dual-ligand strategy (H 2 PDA, Br-H 2 BDC, BMIOPE and H 2 MIP are 1,3-phenylenediacetic acid, 5-bromo-isophthalic acid, 4,4'-bis(2-methylimidazol-1-yl)diphenyl ether and 5-methylisophthalic acid, respectively). Complexes 1 and 3 exhibit twofold parallel interwoven sql nets. Complex 2 is 2D layer structure. The luminescence property investigations showed that complexes 1-3 could act as multi-responsive fluorescent sensors to detect UO 2 2+ , Cr 2 O 7 2- and CrO 4 2- and nitrofurantoin (NFT) through fluorescence turn-off process, presenting excellent sensitivity and selectivity. Finally, the possible fluorescent quenching mechanisms of complexes 1-3 toward the above pollutants are also further investigated by employing spectroscopic methods and quantum chemical calculations. The fluorescence lifetime measurements manifest the mechanism of fluorescence quenching is static quenching process., 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: Time-restricted eating (TRE) is increasingly popular, but its benefits in combination with exercise still need to be determined., Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy of TRE combined with exercise compared with control diet with exercise in improving the body composition and metabolic health of adults., Methods: Five electronic databases were searched for relevant studies. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effect of TRE combined with exercise on body composition and metabolic health in adults were included. All results in the meta-analysis are reported as mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Study quality was assessed using the revised Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation assessment., Results: In total, 19 RCTs comprising 568 participants were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. TRE combined with exercise likely reduced the participants' body mass (MD: -1.86 kg; 95% CI: -2.75, -0.97 kg) and fat mass (MD: -1.52 kg; 95% CI: -2.07, -0.97 kg) when compared with the control diet with exercise. In terms of metabolic health, the TRE combined with exercise group likely reduced triglycerides (MD: -13.38 mg/dL, 95% CI: -21.22, -5.54 mg/dL) and may result in a reduction in low-density lipoprotein (MD: -8.52 mg/dL; 95% CI: -11.72, -5.33 mg/dL) and a large reduction in leptin (MD: -0.67 ng/mL; 95% CI: -1.02, -0.33 ng/mL). However, TRE plus exercise exhibited no additional benefit on the glucose profile, including fasting glucose and insulin, and other lipid profiles, including total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein concentrations, compared with the control group., Conclusions: Combining TRE with exercise may be more effective in reducing body weight and fat mass and improving lipid profile than control diet with exercise. Implementing this approach may benefit individuals aiming to achieve weight loss and enhance their metabolic well-being. This study was registered in PROSPERO as CRD42022353834., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Estimating long-term causal effects based on short-term surrogates is a significant but challenging problem in many real-world applications such as marketing and medicine. Most existing methods estimate causal effects in an idealistic and simplistic manner - disregarding unobserved surrogates and treating all short-term outcomes as surrogates. However, such methods are not well-suited to real-world scenarios where the partially observed surrogates are mixed with the proxies of unobserved surrogates among short-term outcomes. To address this issue, we develop our flexible method called LASER to estimate long-term causal effects in a more realistic situation where the surrogates are either observed or have observed proxies. In LASER, we employ an identifiable variational autoencoder to learn the latent surrogate representation by using all the surrogate candidates without the need to distinguish observed surrogates or proxies of unobserved surrogates. With the learned representation, we further devise a theoretically guaranteed and unbiased estimation of long-term causal effects. Extensive experimental results on the real-world and semi-synthetic datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method., 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 Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To conduct a comparative analysis of the efficacy, safety, and impact on quality of life outcomes between thermal ablation and surgical interventions in patients diagnosed with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC)., Methods: A prospective study was undertaken, enrolling patients with PTC ≤5mm who underwent radiofrequency ablation (RFA), laser ablation (LA), or surgery, for analysis of efficacy and safety outcomes. The Thyroid Cancer-Specific Quality of Life questionnaire was administered to all patients before treatment and at 3, 6, and 12 months post-treatment., Results: A total of 162 eligible patients were included in the study. Major complications were not observed in the RFA and LA groups, while five cases were reported in the surgery group, although no statistically significant differences were observed. Minor complications were documented in two, three, and 14 patients in the RFA, LA, and surgery groups, respectively, with no significant variances noted. Surgical duration and hospitalization time were notably shorter in the thermal ablation groups. At the final follow-up, complete disappearance of nodules was seen in 71.4% of cases treated with RFA and 71.0% of cases managed with LA, with no significant disparities between the groups. Both RFA and LA exhibited similar effects on quality of life, with thermal ablation techniques showing better functional outcomes in comparison to surgery. Across all groups, adverse effects were most pronounced at the 3-month post-treatment mark but gradually reverted to baseline levels in the thermal ablation group, contrasting with the surgery group., Conclusions: For PTC ≤5mm, both RFA and LA exhibited similar cancer control outcomes and superior quality of life on par with surgery, while minimizing complications. These findings underscore the promise of RFA and LA as potential standard treatments for small PTCs, subject to further confirmation in future studies., 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 Gong, Zhang, Zhang, Zhai, Zheng and Zhang.)

In rodents with unilateral ablation of neurons supplying dopamine to the striatum, chronic treatment with the dopamine precursor L-DOPA induces a progressive increase of behavioral responses, a process known as behavioral sensitization. This sensitization is blunted in arrestin-3 knockout mice. Using virus-mediated gene delivery to the dopamine-depleted striatum of these mice, we find that the restoration of arrestin-3 fully rescues behavioral sensitization, whereas its mutant defective in c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation does not. A 25-residue arrestin-3-derived peptide that facilitates JNK3 activation in cells, expressed ubiquitously or selectively in direct pathway striatal neurons, also fully rescues sensitization, whereas an inactive homologous arrestin-2-derived peptide does not. Behavioral rescue is accompanied by the restoration of JNK3 activity, as reflected by JNK-dependent phosphorylation of the transcription factor c-Jun in the dopamine-depleted striatum. Thus, arrestin-3-assisted JNK3 activation in direct pathway neurons is a critical element of the molecular mechanism underlying sensitization upon dopamine depletion and chronic L-DOPA treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests E.V.G. and V.V.G. have a patent related to this work: “Peptide Regulators Of JNK Family Kinases”. Patent no.: US 10,369,187 B2, date of patent: Aug. 6, 2019., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

PFAS (poly- and per-fluorinated alkyl substances) represent a large family of recalcitrant organic compounds that are widely used and pose serious threats to human and ecosystem health. Here, palladium (Pd 0 )-catalyzed defluorination and microbiological mineralization were combined in a denitrifying H 2 -based membrane biofilm reactor to remove co-occurring perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and nitrate. The combined process, i.e., Pd-biofilm, enabled continuous removal of ∼4 mmol/L nitrate and ∼1 mg/L PFOA, with 81% defluorination of PFOA. Metagenome analysis identified bacteria likely responsible for biodegradation of partially defluorinated PFOA: Dechloromonas sp. CZR5, Kaistella koreensis , Ochrobacterum anthropic , and Azospira sp. I13. High-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and metagenome analyses revealed that the presence of nitrate promoted microbiological oxidation of partially defluorinated PFOA. Taken together, the results point to PFOA-oxidation pathways that began with PFOA adsorption to Pd 0 , which enabled catalytic generation of partially or fully defluorinated fatty acids and stepwise oxidation and defluorination by the bacteria. This study documents how combining catalysis and microbiological transformation enables the simultaneous removal of PFOA and nitrate.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a chronic liver condition and metabolic disorder, has emerged as a significant health issue worldwide. D-mannose, a natural monosaccharide widely existing in plants and animals, has demonstrated metabolic regulatory properties. However, the effect and mechanism by which D-mannose may counteract NAFLD have not been studied. In this study, network pharmacology followed by molecular docking analysis was utilized to identify potential targets of mannose against NAFLD, and the leptin receptor-deficient, genetically obese db/db mice was employed as an animal model of NAFLD to validate the regulation of D-mannose on core targets. As a result, 67 targets of mannose are predicted associated with NAFLD, which are surprisingly centered on the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR). Further analyses suggest that mTOR signaling is functionally enriched in potential targets of mannose treating NAFLD, and that mannose putatively binds to mTOR as a core mechanism. Expectedly, repeated oral gavage of supraphysiological D-mannose ameliorates liver steatosis of db/db mice, which is based on suppression of hepatic mTOR signaling. Moreover, daily D-mannose administration reduced hepatic expression of lipogenic regulatory genes in counteracting NAFLD. Together, these findings reveal D-mannose as an effective and potential NAFLD therapeutic through mTOR suppression, which holds translational promise., 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.)

HIV-induced persistent immune activation is a key mediator of inflammatory comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and neurocognitive disorders. While a preponderance of data indicate that gut barrier disruption and microbial translocation are drivers of chronic immune activation, the molecular mechanisms of this persistent inflammatory state remain poorly understood. Here, utilizing the nonhuman primate model of HIV infection with suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART), we investigated activation of inflammasome pathways and their association with intestinal epithelial barrier disruption and CVD pathogenesis. Longitudinal blood samples obtained from rhesus macaques with chronic SIV infection and long-term suppressive ART were evaluated for biomarkers of intestinal epithelial barrier disruption (IEBD), inflammasome activation (IL-1β and IL-18), inflammatory cytokines, and triglyceride (TG) levels. Activated monocyte subpopulations and glycolytic potential were investigated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Higher plasma levels of IL-1β and IL-18 were observed following the hallmark increase in IEBD biomarkers, intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (IFABP) and LPS-binding protein (LBP), during the chronic phase of treated SIV infection. Further, significant correlations of plasma IFABP levels with IL-1β and IL-18 were observed between 10-12 months of ART. Higher levels of sCD14, IL-6, and GM-CSF, among other inflammatory mediators, were also observed only during the long-term SIV+ART phase along with a trend of increase in frequencies of activated CD14 + CD16 + intermediate monocyte subpopulations. Lastly, we found elevated levels of blood TG and higher glycolytic capacity in PBMCs of chronic SIV-infected macaques with long-term ART. The increase in circulating IL-18 and IL-1β following IEBD and their significant positive correlation with IFABP suggest a connection between gut barrier disruption and inflammasome activation during chronic SIV infection, despite viral suppression with ART. Additionally, the increase in markers of monocyte activation, along with elevated TG and enhanced glycolytic pathway activity, indicates metabolic remodeling that could accelerate CVD pathogenesis. Further research is needed to understand mechanisms by which gut dysfunction and inflammasome activation contribute to HIV-associated CVD and metabolic complications, enabling targeted interventions in people with HIV.

The discovery of higher-order topological insulator metamaterials, in analogy with their condensed-matter counterparts, has enabled various breakthroughs in photonics, mechanics, and acoustics. A common way of inducing higher-order topological wave phenomena is through pseudo-spins, which mimic the electron spins as a symmetry-breaking degree of freedom. Here, this work exploits degenerate orbitals in acoustic resonant cavities to demonstrate versatile, orbital-selective, higher-order topological corner states. Type-II corner states are theoretically investigated and experimentally demonstrated based on tailored orbital interactions, without the need for long-range hoppings that has so far served as a key ingredient for Type-II corner states in single-orbital systems. Due to the orthogonal nature of the degenerate p orbitals, this work also introduces a universal strategy to realize orbital-dependent edge modes, featuring high-Q edge states identified in bulk bands. These findings provide an understanding of the interplay between acoustic orbitals and topology, shedding light on orbital-related topological wave physics, as well as its applications for acoustic sensing and trapping., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Lifestyle activity engagement is a modifiable factor for cognitive decline. We aimed to identify lifestyle patterns (LPs) among community-dwelling older adults in the pre-dementia stages and to explore the links between LPs, cognitive function, and individual characteristics. 702 older Chinese adults were recruited. Three LPs were identified by latent class analysis: active aging lifestyle pattern (AALP), leisure lifestyle pattern (LLP), and work-centered lifestyle pattern (WLP). AALP refers to participation in various activities that are meaningful to individuals and benefit their well-being. LLP is the pattern of activities aimed at recreation. WLP refers to the LP where individuals are most likely to engage in work-related activities. However, only AALP is protected against mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Multinomial logistic regression models revealed the differences in individual characteristics among participants with different LPs, indicating the importance of tailored intervention strategies. As a protective factor against MCI, AALP should be highlighted in community-based care., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Protein SUMOylation, a post-translational modification, intricately regulates diverse biological processes including gene expression, cell cycle progression, signaling pathway transduction, DNA damage response, and RNA metabolism. This modification contributes to the acquisition of tumorigenicity and the maintenance of cancer hallmarks. In malignancies, protein SUMOylation is triggered by various cellular stresses, promoting tumor initiation and progression. This augmentation is orchestrated through its specific regulatory mechanisms and characteristic biological functions. This review focuses on elucidating the fundamental regulatory mechanisms and pathological functions of the SUMO pathway in tumor pathogenesis and malignant evolution, with particular emphasis on the tumorigenic potential of SUMOylation. Furthermore, we underscore the potential therapeutic benefits of targeting the SUMO pathway, paving the way for innovative anti-tumor strategies by perturbing this dynamic and reversible modifying process., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Cuprous oxide (Cu 2 O) is proven as an excellent anti-harmful microbial material. However, the liquid and vapor pha5se preparation methods reported so far hardly make pure Cu 2 O-containing composites and suffer environmental issues caused by chemical reducing agents with multiple processing steps. This work develops a facile one-pot solid-state sintering method to synthesize Cu 2 O/microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) composite via the thermal decomposition and oxidation-reduction reactions where copper formate was reduced by MCC. The Cu 2 O/MCC composite exhibits superior purity, dispersibility, stability, high yield, and high efficacy of antibacterial and antiviral properties, e.g., against E. coli, S. aureus, and Equine Arteritis Viral. This work utilizes elegantly the strong reducing capability of cellulose to develop an environmentally benign method to prepare high-purity Cu 2 O-polymer composites with low cytotoxicity and cost, which can be incorporated readily into other substrate materials to form various forms of anti-harmful microbial materials widely used in public health care products. In addition, the preparation of Cu 2 O-containing composites based on the reducing capability of cellulose is also expected to be applied to other cellulose-based materials for the loading of Cu 2 O particles., 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 Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Through lettuce potting experiments, the effects of different types of biochar (apple branch, corn straw, and modified sorghum straw biochar with phosphoric acid modification) on lettuce growth under tetracycline (TC) and copper (Cu) co-pollution were investigated. The results showed that compared with those under CK, the addition of biochar treatment significantly increased the plant height, root length, shoot fresh weight, and root fresh weight of lettuce ( P &lt; 0.05). The addition of different biochars significantly increased the nitrate nitrogen, chlorophyll, and soluble protein content in lettuce physiological indicators to varying degrees, while also significantly decreasing the levels of malondialdehyde, proline content, and catalase activity. The effects of biochar on lettuce physiological indicators were consistent during both the seedling and mature stages. Compared with those in CK, the addition of biochar resulted in varying degrees of reduction in the TC and Cu contents of both the aboveground and underground parts of lettuce. The aboveground TC and Cu levels decreased by 2.49%-92.32% and 12.79%-36.47%, respectively. The underground TC and Cu levels decreased by 12.53%-55.64% and 22.41%-42.29%, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that nitrate nitrogen, chlorophyll, and soluble protein content of lettuce were negatively correlated with TC content, whereas malondialdehyde, proline content, and catalase activity were positively correlated with TC content. The resistance genes of lettuce were positively correlated with TC content ( P &lt; 0.05). In general, modified biochar was found to be more effective in improving lettuce growth quality and reducing pollutant accumulation compared to unmodified biochar, with modified sorghum straw biochar showing the best remediation effect.

Background: Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma of the Esophagus (MECE) is a relatively rare tumor type, with most of the current data derived from case reports or small sample studies. This retrospective study reports on the 10-year survival data and detailed clinicopathological characteristics of 48 patients with esophageal MEC., Methods: Data were collected from 48 patients who underwent curative surgery for esophageal MEC at the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2020. These were compared with contemporaneous cases of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma (EAC). Using the Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate Cox regression analysis, we investigated the clinicopathological factors affecting the survival of patients with MEC., Results: The incidence of MECE was predominantly higher in males, with a male-to-female ratio of approximately 7:1. The mid-thoracic segment emerged as the most common site of occurrence. A mere 6.3% of cases were correctly diagnosed preoperatively. The lymph node metastasis rate stood at 35.4%. The overall 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year survival rates for all patients were 85.4%, 52.1%, 37.0%, and 31.0%, respectively. Post 1:1 propensity score matching, no significant statistical difference was observed in the Overall Survival (OS) between MEC patients and those with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma (EAC) (P = 0.119, P = 0.669). Univariate analysis indicated that T staging and N staging were the primary factors influencing the prognosis of esophageal MEC., Conclusions: MECE occurs more frequently in males than females, with the mid-thoracic segment being the most common site of occurrence. The rate of accurate preoperative endoscopic diagnosis is low. The characteristic of having a short lesion length yet exhibiting significant extramural invasion may be a crucial clinicopathological feature of MECE. The OS of patients with MEC does not appear to significantly differ from those with esophageal squamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Breast cancer, the most prevalent malignancy in women, often progresses to bone metastases, especially in older individuals. Dormancy, a critical aspect of bone-metastasized breast cancer cells (BCCs), enables them to evade treatment and recur. This dormant state is regulated by bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) through the secretion of various factors, including those associated with senescence. However, the specific mechanisms by which BMMSCs induce dormancy in BCCs remain unclear. To address this gap, a bone-specific senescence-accelerated murine model, SAMP6, was utilized to minimize confounding systemic age-related factors. Confirming senescence-accelerated osteoporosis, distinct BMMSC phenotypes were observed in SAMP6 mice compared to SAMR1 counterparts. Notably, SAMP6-BMMSCs exhibited premature senescence primarily due to telomerase activity loss and activation of the p21 signaling pathway. Furthermore, the effects of conditioned medium (CM) derived from SAMP6-BMMSCs versus SAMR1-BMMSCs on BCC proliferation were examined. Intriguingly, only CM from SAMP6-BMMSCs inhibited BCC proliferation by upregulating p21 expression in both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. These findings suggest that the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) of BMMSCs suppresses BCC viability by inducing p21, a pivotal cell cycle inhibitor and tumor suppressor. This highlights a heightened susceptibility of BCCs to dormancy in a senescent microenvironment, potentially contributing to the increased incidence of breast cancer bone metastasis and recurrence observed with aging., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) prevalence is rising globally with no pharmacotherapies approved. Hepatic steatosis is closely associated with progression and prognosis of NAFLD. Dapagliflozin, kind of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, was found to improve NAFLD in clinical trials, while the underlying mechanism remains poorly elucidated. Here, we reported that dapagliflozin effectively mitigated liver injury and relieved lipid metabolism disorders in vivo. Further investigation showed that dapagliflozin markedly suppressed Liver X Receptor α (LXRα)-mediated synthesis of de novo lipids and bile acids (BAs). In AML12 cells, our results proved dapagliflozin decreased lipid contents via inhibiting the expression of LXRα and downstream liposynthesis genes. Proteosome inhibitor MG132 eliminated the effect of dapagliflozin on LXRα-mediated signaling pathway, which suggested that dapagliflozin downregulated LXRα expression through increasing LXRα degradation. Knockdown of LXRα with siRNA abolished the reduction of lipogenesis from dapagliflozin treatment, indicating that LXRα might be the pivotal target for dapagliflozin to exhibit the aforementioned benefits. Furthermore, the data showed that dapagliflozin reversed gut dysbiosis induced by BAs disruption and altered gut microbiota profile to reduce intestinal lipids absorption. Together, our study deciphered a novel mechanism by which dapagliflozin relieved hepatic steatosis and highlighted the potential benefit of dapagliflozin in treating NAFLD., 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.)

Plant stomatal phenotype traits play an important role in improving crop water use efficiency, stress resistance and yield. However, at present, the acquisition of phenotype traits mainly relies on manual measurement, which is time-consuming and laborious. In order to obtain high-throughput stomatal phenotype traits, we proposed a real-time recognition network SLPA-Net for stomata localization and phenotypic analysis. After locating and identifying stomatal density data, ellipse fitting is used to automatically obtain phenotype data such as apertures. Aiming at the problems of small stomata and high similarity to background, we introduced ECANet to improve the accuracy of stoma and aperture location. In order to effectively alleviate the unbalance problem in bounding box regression, we replaced the Loss function with a more effective Focal EIoU Loss. The experimental results show that SLPA-Net has excellent performance in the migration generalization and robustness of stomata and apertures detection and identification, as well as the correlation between stomata phenotype data obtained and artificial data.

Key Message: Innovatively, we consider stomatal detection as rotated object detection and provide an end-to-end, batch, rotated, real-time stomatal density and aperture size intelligent detection and identification system, RotatedeStomataNet. Stomata acts as a pathway for air and water vapor in the course of respiration, transpiration, and other gas metabolism, so the stomata phenotype is important for plant growth and development. Intelligent detection of high-throughput stoma is a key issue. Nevertheless, currently available methods usually suffer from detection errors or cumbersome operations when facing densely and unevenly arranged stomata. The proposed RotatedStomataNet innovatively regards stomata detection as rotated object detection, enabling an end-to-end, real-time, and intelligent phenotype analysis of stomata and apertures. The system is constructed based on the Arabidopsis and maize stomatal data sets acquired destructively, and the maize stomatal data set acquired in a non-destructive way, enabling the one-stop automatic collection of phenotypic, such as the location, density, length, and width of stomata and apertures without step-by-step operations. The accuracy of this system to acquire stomata and apertures has been well demonstrated in monocotyledon and dicotyledon, such as Arabidopsis, soybean, wheat, and maize. The experimental results that the prediction results of the method are consistent with those of manual labeling. The test sets, the system code, and their usage are also given ( https://github.com/AITAhenu/RotatedStomataNet )., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections may have higher death rates than those with non-drug-resistant infections. Nanozymes offer a promising approach to eliminating bacteria by producing reactive oxygen species. However, most of the conventional nanozyme technologies encounter significant challenges with respect to size, composition, and a naturally low number of active sites. The present study synthesizes a iron-single-atom structure (Fe-SAC) via nitrogen doped-carbon, a Fe-N 5 catalyst (Fe-SAC) with a high metal loading (4.3 wt.%). This catalyst permits the development of nanozymes consisting of single-atom structures with active sites resembling enzymes, embedded within nanomaterials. Fe-SAC displays peroxidase-like activities upon exposure to H 2 O 2 . This structure facilitates the production of hydroxyl radicals, well-known for their strong bactericidal effects. Furthermore, the photothermal properties augment the bactericidal efficacy of Fe-SAC. The findings reveal that Fe-SAC disrupts the bacterial cell membranes and the biofilms, contributing to their antibacterial effects. The bactericidal properties of Fe-SAC are harnessed, which eradicates the MRSA infections in wounds and improves wound healing. Taken together, these findings suggest that single Fe atom nanozymes offer a novel perspective on the catalytic mechanism and design, holding immense potential as next-generation nanozymes., (© 2024 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Few studies have reported the cardiovascular health effects of different high-intensity interval training (HIIT) protocols among sedentary young women. We investigated the impact of a traditional HIIT programme and a high-intensity circuit training (HICT) programme on lipid profiles and inflammatory cytokine levels in sedentary young women. Forty-two women were randomly assigned to HICT (body weight-based training), HIIT (cycling-based training), or control groups ( n  = 14 each). HICT and HIIT participants completed an 8-week training programme of three sessions per week. Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride, high- and low-density lipoprotein, leptin, resistin, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-8, and interferon-gamma levels were measured before and after the intervention. Post-intervention, TC and leptin were decreased in the HICT group. The HICT group also demonstrated increased lean mass, upper and lower limb strength, and balance, while the HIIT group displayed improved lower limb strength. Additionally, the control group showed significant increases in triglyceride levels, weight, body mass index, and fat mass. In conclusion, although both HICT and HIIT interventions showed improvements in cardiovascular health and physical fitness, participants in the HICT group experienced more health benefits.

Double fertilization in many flowering plants (angiosperms) often occurs during the hot summer season, but the mechanisms that enable angiosperms to adapt specifically to high temperatures are largely unknown. The actin cytoskeleton is essential for pollen germination and the polarized growth of pollen tubes, yet how this process responds to high temperatures remains unclear. Here, we reveal that the high thermal stability of 11 Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) actin-depolymerizing factors (ADFs) is significantly different: ADFs that specifically accumulate in tip-growing cells (pollen and root hairs) exhibit high thermal stability. Through ancestral protein reconstruction, we found that subclass II ADFs (expressed specifically in pollen) have undergone a dynamic wave-like evolution of the retention, loss, and regeneration of thermostable sites. Additionally, the sites of AtADF7 with high thermal stability are conserved in ADFs specific to angiosperm pollen. Moreover, the high thermal stability of ADFs is required to regulate actin dynamics and turnover at high temperatures to promote pollen germination. Collectively, these findings suggest strategies for the adaptation of sexual reproduction to high temperature in angiosperms at the cell biology level., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement. The authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Uncertainty in methane (CH 4 ) exchanges across wetlands and grasslands in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) is projected to increase due to continuous permafrost degradation and asymmetrical seasonal warming. Temperature plays a vital role in regulating CH 4 exchange, yet the seasonal patterns of temperature dependencies for CH 4 fluxes over the wetlands and grasslands on the QTP remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrated a stronger warming response of CH 4 exchanges during the non-growing season compared to the growing season on the QTP. Analyzing 9745 daily observations and employing four methods -regression fitting of temperature-CH 4 flux, temperature dependence calculations, field-based and model-based control experiments-we found that warming intensified CH 4 emissions in wetlands and uptakes in grasslands. Specifically, the average reaction intensity in the non-growing season surpasses that in the growing season by 1.89 and 4.80 times, respectively. This stronger warming response of CH 4 exchanges during the non-growing season significantly increases the regional CH 4 exchange on the QTP. Our research reveals that CH 4 exchanges in the QTP have a higher warming sensitivity in non-growing seasons, which meanwhile are dominated by a larger warming rate than the annual average. The combined effects of these two factors will significantly alter the CH 4 source/sink on the QTP. Neglecting these impacts would lead to inaccurate estimations of CH 4 source/sink over the QTP under climate warming., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Shaoqiang Wang reports financial support was provided by the Provincial Government of Qinghai, China. Bin Chen reports financial support was provided by the Key Laboratory of Coupling Process and Effect of Natural Resources Elements. Bin Chen reports equipment, drugs, or supplies was provided by the National Key Scientific and Technological Infrastructure project., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Aqueous supercapacitors have occupied a significant position among various types of stationary energy storage equipment, while their widespread application is hindered by the relatively low energy density. Herein, N/F co-doped carbon materials activated by manganese clusters (NCM) are constructed by the straightforward experimental routine. Benefiting from the elevated conductivity structure at the microscopic level, the optimized NCM-0.5 electrodes exhibited a remarkable specific capacitance of 653 F g -1 at 0.4 A g -1 and exceptional cycling stability (97.39% capacity retention even after 40,000 cycles at the scanning rate of 100 mV s -1 ) in a neutral 5 M LiCl electrolyte. Moreover, we assembled an asymmetric device pairing with a VO x anode (NCM-0.5//VO x ), which delivered a durable life span of 95% capacity retention over 30,000 cycles and an impressive energy density of 77.9 Wh kg -1 . This study provides inspiration for transition metal element doping engineering in high-energy storage equipment.

A root hair is a polarly elongated single-celled structure that derives from a root epidermal cell and functions in uptake of water and nutrients from the surrounding environment. Previous reports have demonstrated that short periods of high pH inhibit root hair extension; but the effects of long-term high-pH treatment on root hair growth are still unclear. Here, we report that the duration of root hair elongation is significantly prolonged with increasing external pH, which counteracts the effect of decreasing root hair elongation rate and ultimately produces longer root hairs, whereas loss of actin-depolymerizing factor 8 and 11 (ADF8/11) function causes shortening of root hair length at high pH (pH 7.4). Accumulation of ADF8/11 at the tips of root hairs is inhibited by high pH, and increasing environmental pH affects the actin filament (F-actin) meshwork at the root hair tip. At high pH, the tip-focused F-actin meshwork is absent in root hairs of the adf8/11 mutant, actin filaments are disordered at the adf8/11 root hair tips, and actin turnover is attenuated. Secretory and recycling vesicles do not aggregate in the apical region of adf8/11 root hairs at high pH. Together, our results suggest that, under long-term exposure to high extracellular pH, ADF8/11 may establish and maintain the tip-focused F-actin meshwork to regulate polar trafficking of secretory/recycling vesicles at the root hair tips, thereby promoting root hair elongation., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we investigated the effects of hinokitiol, a small-molecule natural compound, against neuronal ferroptosis after traumatic brain injury (TBI). A controlled cortical impact (CCI) mouse model and excess glutamate-treated HT-22 cells were used to study the effects of hinokitiol on TBI. Hinokitiol mitigated TBI brain tissue lesions and significantly improved neurological function. Neuron loss and iron deposition were ameliorated after hinokitiol administration. Hinokitiol alleviated excessive glutamate-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation, and Fe 2+ accumulation in HT-22. Mechanistically, hinokitiol upregulated heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression, promoted nuclear factor-erythroid factor 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) nuclear translocation, and inhibited the activation of microglia and astrocyte after TBI. These results suggest that hinokitiol has neuroprotective effects on rescuing cells from TBI-induced neuronal ferroptosis. In summary, hinokitiol is a potential therapeutic candidate for TBI by activating the Nrf2/Keap1/HO-1 signaling pathway.

Bacterial infection can impede the healing of chronic wounds, particularly diabetic wounds. The high-sugar environment of diabetic wounds creates a favorable condition for bacterial growth, posing a challenge to wound healing. In clinical treatment, the irregular shape of the wound and the poor mechanical properties of traditional gel adjuvants make them susceptible to mechanical shear and compression, leading to morphological changes and fractures, and difficult to adapt to irregular wounds. Traditional gel adjuvants are prepared in advance, while in situ gel is formed at the site of administration after drug delivery in a liquid state, which can better fit the shape of the wound. Therefore, this study developed an in situ HA/GCA/Fe 2+ -GOx gel using a photothermal-enhanced Fenton reaction to promote the generation of hydroxyl radicals (·OH). The generation of ·OH has an antibacterial effect while promoting the formation of the gel, achieving a dual effect. The addition of double-bonded adamantane (Ada) interacts with the host-guest effect of graphene oxide and the double-bond polymerization of HAMA gel, making the entire gel system more complete. At the same time, the storage modulus (G') of the gel increased from 130 to 330 Pa, enhancing the mechanical properties of the gel. This enables the gel to have better injectability and self-healing effects. The addition of GOx can consume glucose at the wound site, providing a good microenvironment for the repair of diabetic wounds. The gel has good biocompatibility and in a diabetic rat wound model infected with S . aureus , it can effectively kill bacteria at the wound site and promote wound repair. Meanwhile, the inflammation of wounds treated with HA/GCA/Fe 2+ -GOx + NIR was lighter compared to untreated wounds. Therefore, this study provides a promising strategy for treating bacterial-infected diabetic wounds., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no competing interests., (© 2024 The Authors. Smart Medicine published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH on behalf of Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.)

Background: Insomnia is a common health problem among cancer patients, which is not only a physical problem but also a psychological problem. Sleep plays an important role in the mental and somatic rehabilitation of cancer patients, and the sleep beliefs and attitudes of cancer patients are key factors in improving their sleep situation and quality of life. The aim of this study was to translate the Cancer-Related Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep (C-DBAS-14) scale into Chinese and to validate its reliability and validity in cancer patients., Method: The C-DBAS-14 scale was translated into Chinese using the backward and forward translation procedure. The reliability of the scale was measured by internal consistency, split-half reliability and retest reliability. The validity of the scale was assessed through the content validity indicators, exploratory factor analysis and validation factor analysis., Result: The Cronbach's ɑ coefficient of the Chinese version of the C-DBAS-14 was 0.932 while the McDonald's omega coefficient (ω t) was 0.934. The split-half reliability coefficient was 0.908, and the test-retest reliability was 0.857. The four-factor model was obtained using exploratory factor analysis, explaining 72.7% of the variance, with each item loading greater than 0.4 on the common factor. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis revealed that all indicators of model fit were within an acceptable range, indicating a well-fitting model., Conclusion: The Chinese version of the C-DBAS-14 has good reliability and validity among cancer patients. It can be used to measure the sleep beliefs and attitudes of Chinese cancer patients., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Quaternary ammonia compounds (QAC), such as hexadecyltrimethyl-ammonium (CTAB), are widely used as disinfectants and in personal-care products. Their use as disinfectants grew during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, leading to increased loads to wastewater treatment systems and the environment. Though low concentrations of CTAB are biodegradable, high concentrations are toxic to bacteria. Sufficient O 2 delivery is a key to achieve high CTAB removal, and the O 2 -based Membrane Biofilm Reactor (O 2 -MBfR) is a proven means to biodegrade CTAB in a bubble-free, non-foaming manner. A strategy for achieving complete biodegradation of high-concentrations of CTAB is a two-stage O 2 -MBfR, in which partial CTAB removal in the Lead reactor relieves inhibition in the Lag reactor. Here, more than 98 % removal of 728 mg/L CTAB could be achieved in the two-stage MBfR, and the CTAB-removal rate was 70 % higher than for a one-stage MBfR with the same O 2 -delivery capacity. CTAB exposure shifted the bacterial community toward Pseudomonas and Stenotrophomonas as the dominant genera. In particular, P. alcaligenes and P. aeruginosa were enriched in the Lag reactor, as they were capable of biodegrading the metabolites of initial CTAB monooxygenation. Metagenomic analysis also revealed that the Lag reactor was enriched in genes for CTAB and metabolite oxygenation, due to reduced CTAB inhibition., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The study aimed to explore the depression profile of empty nesters and to identify heterogeneous subgroups in the elderly population. It explored the influencing factors of depression in elderly people with different depression profiles, with a view to provide a reference basis for improving the depression situation of empty-nesting elderly people., Methods: This study used the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Lifespan Survey (CLHLS) survey data, with empty nesters over 60 as the research subjects. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to fit potential classes of depression in empty nesters; chi-square tests, Kruskal-Wallis, and multinomial logistic regression were used to explore the factors influencing different depression profiles in older adults., Results: A total of 4481 subjects were included in this study and were classified as low-level (11.6 %), moderate-level (51.6 %), and high-level (36.8 %). Compared to the low-level, the influencing factors for the high-level were IADL, anxiety, self-rated health, exercise, and education; and the influencing factors for the medium level group were anxiety, self-rated health, drink, and education. Factors influencing high-level relative to the mid-level group were IADL, anxiety, residence, self-rated health, exercise, and limited in activities., Limitations: The CESD-10, as a screening tool, could not completely determine the presence of depression in high levels of empty nesters., Conclusions: Psychological problems arising from depression among empty nesters seriously affected their overall health, and targeted intervention strategies should be developed for different categories of older adults to improve depression and enhance health-related quality of life., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: With an increasing number of older adults in China, the number of people with cognitive impairment is also increasing. To decrease the risk of dementia, it is necessary to timely detect mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is the preliminary stage of dementia. The prevalence of MCI is relatively high among older adults with diabetes mellitus (DM); however, no effective screening strategy has been designed for this population. This study will construct a nurse-led screening system to detect MCI in community-dwelling older adults with DM in a timely manner., Methods and Analysis: A total of 642 participants with DM will be recruited (n=449 for development, n=193 for validation). The participants will be divided into MCI and none-MCI groups. The candidate predictors will include demographic variables, lifestyle factors, history of diseases, physical examinations, laboratory tests and neuropsychological tests. Univariate analysis, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression screening, and multivariate logistic regression analysis will be conducted to identify the outcome indicators. Based on the multivariate logistic regression equation, we will develop a traditional model as a comparison criterion for the machine learning models. The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test and calibration curve will be used to evaluate the calibration. Sensitivity, specificity, area under the curves and clinical decision curve analysis will be performed for all models. We will report the sensitivity, specificity, area under the curve and decision curve analysis of the validation dataset. A prediction model with better performance will be adopted to form the nurse-led screening system., Ethics and Dissemination: This prospective study has received institutional approval of the Medical Ethics Committee of Qidong Hospital of TCM (QDSZYY-LL-20220621). Study results will be disseminated through conference presentations, Chinese Clinical Trial Registry and publication., Trial Registration Number: ChiCTR2200062855., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

People are not as fast or as strong as many other creatures that evolved around us. What gives us an evolutionary advantage is working together to achieve common aims. Coordinating joint action begins at a tender age with such cooperative activities as alternating babbling and clapping games. Adult joint activities are far more complex and use multiple means of coordination. Joint action has attracted qualitative analyses by sociolinguists, cognitive scientists, and philosophers as well as empirical analyses and theories by cognitive scientists. Here, we analyze how joint action is spontaneously coordinated from start to finish in a novel complex real-life joint activity, assembling a piece of furniture, a task that captures the essentials of joint action, collaborators, things in the world, and communicative devices. Pairs of strangers assembled a TV cart from a stack of parts and a photo of the completed cart. Coordination prior to each assembly action was coded as explicit, using speech or gesture, or implicit, actions that both advanced the task and communicated the next step. Initial planning relied on explicit communication about structure, but not action nor division of labor, which were improvised. That served to establish a joint representation of the goal that informed actions and monitored progress. As assembly progressed, coordination was increasingly implicit, through actions alone. Joint action is a dynamic interplay of explicit and implicit signaling with respect to things in the world to coordinate ongoing progress, guided by a shared representation of the goal., (© 2024 Cognitive Science Society LLC.)

Sleep and daytime movement behaviours occur co-dependently with each other within a finite 24 h day. Sleep parameters other than sleep duration, such as social jetlag and chronotype, have been linked to health problems and unhealthy behaviours among children and adolescents. Given the increasing number of studies examining sleep timing/chronotype and weight-related behaviours, including physical activity and sedentary behaviour, in the past decade, this systematic review and meta-analysis collated and evaluated the evidence on the relationships of social jetlag and chronotype with physical activity and sedentary behaviour among children and adolescents aged 3-17 years. Seven databases were searched on 16 March 2022, and 52 studies were identified as eligible for inclusion, 47 of which were suitable for the meta-analysis. A positive association was found between social jetlag and screen media use (r = 0.14, 95% CI: 0.04-0.24; I 2  = 96%; p = 0.008). The morning chronotype was associated with a higher level of physical activity and a lower level of sedentary behaviour than the evening chronotype. No relationship was found between social jetlag and physical activity. The magnitude of heterogeneity among the included studies was high. Further experimental studies are urgently required to understand how circadian preference or misalignment affects activity behaviours. Interventions to promote an active lifestyle in young populations should consider their circadian preference, especially among individuals with the evening chronotype., (© 2023 European Sleep Research Society.)