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Artificial skin that simultaneously mimics sensory feedback and mechanical properties of natural skin holds substantial promise for next-generation robotic and medical devices. However, achieving such a biomimetic system that can seamlessly integrate with the human body remains a challenge. Through rational design and engineering of material properties, device structures, and system architectures, we realized a monolithic soft prosthetic electronic skin (e-skin). It is capable of multimodal perception, neuromorphic pulse-train signal generation, and closed-loop actuation. With a trilayer, high-permittivity elastomeric dielectric, we achieved a low subthreshold swing comparable to that of polycrystalline silicon transistors, a low operation voltage, low power consumption, and medium-scale circuit integration complexity for stretchable organic devices. Our e-skin mimics the biological sensorimotor loop, whereby a solid-state synaptic transistor elicits stronger actuation when a stimulus of increasing pressure is applied.

Tao Sun,1,* Xian-Hong Huang,1,* Shu-E Zhang,2,* Hong-Yan Yin,3 Qing-Lin Li,2 Lei Gao,2 Ye Li,2 Li Li,4 Bing Cao,5 Jin-Hong Yang,6 Bei Liu7 1Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Health Management, School of Health Management, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Harbin Medical University (Daqing), Daqing, 163319, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Administration, School of Law, Zhejiang University City College, Hangzhou, 310015, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Oncology, Weifang People’s Hospital, Weifang, 261000, People’s Republic of China; 6Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Faculty of Psychology, Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, People’s Republic of China; 7Global Center for Infectious Disease and Policy Research, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Bei Liu, Global Center for Infectious Disease and Policy Research, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China, Email 18827380717@163.comAim: To clarify the mediating role of burnout and the moderating role of turnover intention in the association between fatigue and job satisfaction among Chinese nurses in intensive care units (ICU) during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A cross-sectional survey of fifteen provinces in China was conducted, using an online questionnaire, from December 2020 to January 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 374 ICU nurses (effective response rate: 71.37%) provided sufficient responses. Sociodemographic factors, job demographic factors, fatigue, burnout, job satisfaction, and turnover intention were assessed using questionnaires. General linear modeling (GLM), hierarchical linear regression (HLR) analysis, and generalized additive modeling (GAM) were performed to examine all the considered research hypotheses.Results: Fatigue was found to be negatively and significantly associated with job satisfaction. Moreover, burnout played a partial mediating role and turnover intention played a moderating role in the relationship between fatigue and job satisfaction.Conclusion: Over time, a state of physical and mental exhaustion and work weariness among Chinese ICU nurses potentially results in job burnout and consequently promotes the level of job dissatisfaction. The results also found that turnover intention played a moderating role in the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction. Specific policies could be considered to eliminate nurses’ fatigue and negative attitudes during times of public health emergencies.Keywords: ICU nurses, fatigue, burnout, job satisfaction, turnover intention, COVID-19 pandemic

In order to realise high ionic conductivity and improved chemical stability, a series of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with semi-interpenetrating polymer network (sIPN) has been prepared via the incorporation of crosslinked poly(biphenyl N-methylpiperidine) (PBP) and spirobisindane-based intrinsically microporous poly(ether ketone) (PEK-SBI). The formation of phase separated structures as a result of the incompatibility between the hydrophilic PBP network and the hydrophobic PEK-SBI segment, has successfully promoted the hydroxide ion conductivity of AEMs. A swelling ratio (SR) as low as 12.2 % at 80 °C was recorded for the sIPN containing hydrophobic PEK-SBI as the linear polymer and crosslinked structure with a mass ratio of PBP to PEK-SBI of 90/10 (sIPN-90/10

The aim of this study was to explore the effect and mechanism of pirfenidone (PFD) combined with 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME2) perfusion through portal vein on hepatic artery hypoxia-induced hepatic fibrosis.Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 5 groups (n ​= ​3/group): control group, hepatic artery ligation (HAL) group, HAL ​+ ​PFD (portal vein perfusion of PFD) group, HAL+2-ME2 (portal vein perfusion of 2-ME2) group and HAL ​+ ​PFD+2-ME2 group depending on whether they received HAL and/or portal vein perfusion (PFD and/or 2-ME2). Livers were harvested for pathology, western blotting (WB), and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR).Sirius red staining showed that portal vein perfusion of drugs resulted in degradation of liver fibrosis. Immunohistochemistry showed decreased hypoxia-inducible factor-1 α (HIF-1α) and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) after portal intravenous drugs infusion compared with HAL group (P ​ ​0.05). WB analysis showed increased Smad7 in HAL ​+ ​PFD group compared with HAL group (P ​ ​0.05). qRT-PCR analysis showed decreased matrix metallo-proteinase 2 (MMP2), transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and Collagen I mRNA in HAL ​+ ​PFD group except for tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) compared with HAL group (P ​ ​0.05). Compared with HAL ​+ ​PFD group, the addition of 2-ME2 did not lead to better results in qRT-PCR analysis.The portal vein perfusion of PFD significantly reduced the hepatic artery hypoxia-induced fibrosis degree in treated rats by down-regulating the expression of HIF-1α, α-SMA, MMP2, TGF-β1, MCP-1, and Collagen I, as well as up-regulating the TIMP-1 expression and Smad7 protein level. Combined 2-ME2 infusion was not better than PFD alone.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the potentials of circ_0000311 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was applied for calculating the mRNA and miRNA level. Western blot was performed to determine protein expression. The binding sites between miR-876-5p and circ_0000311/Enhancer of zeste homolog-2 (EZH2) were predicted using bioinformatics tools and confirmed by luciferase and RNA pull-down assays. Cell proliferation was detected using CCK-8 and colony formation assay. Cell migration and invasion were detected using transwelll assay. Cellular functions were determined using CCK-8, colony, and transwell assay. The results showed that circ_0000311 was overexpressed in OSCC tissues and cells. However, circ_0000311 knockdown impeded the proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of OSCC cells. Circ_0000311 targeted miR-876-5p, down-regulation of which promoted the aggressiveness of OSCC. Additionally, circ_0000311 sponged miR-876-5p to up-regulate a key regulator of EMT EZH2, which promoted the proliferation and aggressiveness of OSCC. Taken together, circ_0000311 aggravated the OSCC progression via regulating miR-876-5p/EZH2 axis.

A luminescent microtube with a tunable cavity was prepared using a chemical etching strategy. The crystal growth, microtube formation, and further applications were studied.

Poly(aryl piperidinium) (PAP) anion exchange membranes (AEMs) furnish an important avenue for the commercialization of anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), but their ionic conductivity and alkali resistance still need to be improved. Here, we report the synthesis of PAP AEMs with a branched structure by the acid-catalyzed reaction and compare them with the main-chain AEMs. The experimental results show that the branched AEMs have higher OH

Breed identification utilizing multiple information sources and methods is widely applicated in the field of animal genetics and breeding. Simultaneously, with the development of artificial intelligence, the integration of high-throughput genomic data and machine learning techniques is increasingly used for breed identification. In this context, we used 654 individuals from 15 pig breeds, evaluating the performance of machine learning and stacking ensemble learning classifiers, as well as the function of feature selection and anomaly detection in different scenarios. Our results showed that, when using a training set of 16 individuals per breed and 32 features (SNPs), the accuracy of breed identification with feature selection (eXtreme Gradient Boosting, XGBoost) could exceed 95.00% (nine breeds), and was improved by 7.04% over the results with random selection. For stacking ensemble learning, feature selection methods (including random selection method) were used before different base learners. When these base learners' training set had 16 individuals per breed and 32 features, the accuracy of stacking ensemble learning improved by 9.24% over the best base learner (nine breeds), but did not significantly increase the advantage over the models with XGBoost feature selection. When using a training set of 16 individuals and 512 features per breed, breed identification with anomaly detection (local outlier factor, LOF) and random selection could achieve an accuracy of 89.06% (15 breeds). These results show that machine learning could be an effective tool for breed identification and this study will also provide useful information for the application of machine learning in animal genetics and breeding.

The Jinchuan Ni-Cu-platinum group element (PGE) sulfide deposit is one of the world’s major magmatic sulfide deposits. The Jinchuan intrusion originally consists of two independent bodies, named the Western and Eastern intrusions. Recently, an underground exploration program discovered a large economic orebody in the Fine-Grained unit of the Western intrusion, independent of the orebody No. 24 that occurs at the base of the Coarse-Grained unit. The newly discovered orebody dips to the southwest with thicknesses of 20 to 150 m and is composed of olivine-sulfide cumulates with net-textured sulfide overlain by lherzolite with disseminated sulfide. The net-textured olivine-sulfide cumulates have average grades of 2.1 wt % Ni and 1.2 wt % Cu, whereas the disseminated ores in the lherzolite have average grades of 0.6 wt % Ni and 0.4 wt % Cu. This makes this orebody, named orebody No. 3 and hosted in segment III, the fourth largest at Jinchuan. The sharp lithologic and chemical variation between the net-textured olivine-sulfide cumulates and the disseminated sulfide-bearing lherzolite indicates that they were formed by different processes. Evident differences in sulfidefree whole-rock compositions reflect the dunite forming as olivine adcumulate and the lherzolite as olivine orthocumulate with variable trapped liquid abundances. The olivine-sulfide cumulates were formed by percolation of sulfide liquid into the olivine adcumulates, expelling the interstitial silicate melts upward, whereas the disseminated ores in the lherzolite were formed by settling of finely dispersed sulfide droplets in the olivine crystal mush, within which pyroxene crystallized from the interstitial melts. Variations of PGE tenors of the net-textured sulfides demonstrate fractionation of the sulfide liquids. The relatively high PGE tenors of the disseminated sulfides compared with the net-textured sulfides are associated with upgrading of the sulfides due to reaction with fresh magma.

SUMMARY The behaviour of discontinuities in rock mass have been experimentally investigated extensively for decades by a type of laboratory analogue of flawed rock specimens, taking the artificially prepared flaw(s) as the analogue of rock mass discontinuity(ies). The role of macroscale flaw(s) as controlling structure has been generally neglected. Here, we conduct detailed characterizations of the acoustic emission (AE) from the rock fracture process on the pre-flawed specimens under loading. Though the same phenomena from the literature can be reproduced within our tests, detailed spatial-temporal investigation on the AE events at the nucleation point suggests a different physical interpretation. Artificial flaw(s) play a non-negligible role as a controlling structure for the following rock fracture process including a series of nucleation points alteration via stress transfer. The interlocking parallelogram (IP) control and single-large-structural (SLS) control are two fundamental mechanisms initiated by the artificial flaws. Each of these two mechanisms are observed under a wide range of flaw settings and can potentially coexist within the across length scales. The scale-invariance feature is observed to be fundamentally different within the scale of specimens under SLS and/or IP control, suggesting the incompleteness at the specimen-scale for IP control. Therefore, no ‘fracture coalescence’ zone can be separately investigated without considering its external rock fracture evolution and confirming scale-invariance. Therefore, structural controlling mechanisms must be considered due to the pattern and AE characterization results.

Spherical bearings are widely applied in high-speed railway bridges (HSRBs) in China. The experimental and computational analyses were carried out to help understand the damage mechanism of these bearings under earthquake loading. A shaking table test of scaled HSRB specimen (installed with spherical bearings) was performed under the simulated earthquake action, and the intensities were, respectively, 0.15 g, 0.20 g, 0.32 g, and 0.38 g (common intensities in China) of actual earthquakes in accordance with similarity relationships. After investigating and analyzing results of the shaking table test, it is shown that no damage occurred to movable bearings in all experimental earthquake scenarios, while slight damage could be found in fixed bearings at 0.32 g earthquake. Moreover, a finite element (FE) model of the prototype HSRB was established and validated. The damage degree of spherical bearings in stronger earthquakes (i.e., 0.40 g to 1.00 g) was studied through this validated FE model. The numerical results showed that the fixed bearing was completely damaged at 0.80 g earthquake, while only moderate damage occurred to the movable bearing at that intensity.

Systemic anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-negative anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is a group of heterogenous CD30+ T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Previous studies have highlighted the importance of JAK/STAT3 signaling activation in the molecular pathogenesis of ALK- ALCLs. In the present study, we aimed to establish a potential relationship between JAK/STAT3 signaling activation and clinicopathologic features in ALK- ALCLs, and further recognize the heterogenous nature of these neoplasms. Immunohistochemistry staining of the phosphorylated-STAT3 (p-STAT3) and dual-specificity protein phosphatase 22 (DUSP22) gene rearrangement analysis were performed. Forty-five cases of ALK- ALCL were divided into 3 groups, including 9 DUSP22-rearranged ALCLs, 21 p-STAT3+ double-negative (DN) ALCLs (both ALK and DUSP22 rearrangement negative), and 15 p-STAT3- DN-ALCLs. Morphologically, p-STAT3+ DN-ALCLs exhibited sheet-like neoplastic cells and sometimes showed large pleomorphic cells scattered in a lymphocyte-rich background more frequently than those in other ALK- ALCLs subtypes. Phenotypically, the p-STAT3+ DN-ALCLs frequently expressed cytotoxic molecules, epithelial membrane antigen, and programmed death-ligand 1, whereas CD3 and CD5 expression was not observed. Clinically, patients with p-STAT3+ DN-ALCLs had a better prognosis than those with p-STAT3- DN-ALCLs. These observations suggest that p-STAT3+ DN-ALCLs represent a distinct subtype of ALK- ALCLs. Identifying ALK- ALCL subtypes by using p-STAT3 staining and DUSP22 rearrangement is a promising approach that may contribute to risk stratification and better treatment decisions in the future clinical practice.

Different acquisition data approaches have been used to fetch the fluorescence spectra. However, the comparison between them is rare. Also, the extendability of a sensor array, which can work with heavy metal ions and other types of analytes, is scarce. In this study, we used first- and second-order fluorescent data generated by 6-Aza-2-thiothymine-gold nanocluster (ATT-AuNCs) as a single probe along with machine learning to distinguish between a group of heavy metal ions. Moreover, the dimensionality reduction was carried out for the different acquisition data approaches. In our case, the accuracy of different machine learning algorithms using first-order data outperforms the second-order data before and after the dimensionality reduction. For proving the extendibility of this approach, four anions were used as an example. As expected, the same finding has been found. Furthermore, random forest (RF) showed more stable and accurate results than other models. Also, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) gave acceptable accuracy in the analysis of the high-dimensionality data. Accordingly, using LDA in high-dimensionality data (the first- and second-order data) analysis was highlighted for discrimination between the selected heavy metal ions in different concentrations and in different molar ratios, as well as in real samples. Also, the same method was applied for the anion's discrimination, and LDA gave an excellent separation ability. Moreover, LDA was able to differentiate between all the selected analytes with excellent separation ability. Additionally, the quantitative detection was considered using a wide concentration range of Cd

HELQ plays a key role in DNA damage response and cell-cycle checkpoint regulation. It has been implicated in ovarian and pituitary tumors and may play a role in germ cell maintenance. This study investigated the role of HELQ in lung cancer. The expression of HELQ in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was downregulated compared with normal human lungs. Clinical prognostic analysis of Kaplan-Meier plots revealed that patients with NSCLC with low HELQ levels had a reduced overall survival. Further, we found that HELQ depletion enhanced lung cancer cell malignancy. Furthermore, overexpression of HELQ in lung cancer cells reduced cell migration in vitro, while DNA damage repair was inhibited. Both in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that HELQ induces cell death. Mechanistically, we found that cells overexpressing HELQ showed a tendency to induce necrosis. After analyzing the database of HELQ interactors. we found that RIPK3 may interact with it and proved this conclusion by immunoprecipitation. Our findings identified the tumor suppressive role of HELQ in malignant human lung cancer and unraveled a potential therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment through HELQ activation. Moreover, HELQ may also be a predictive biomarker for the clinical predisposition, progression, and prognosis of lung cancer.

Adoptive transfer of PD-1 knockout T cells mediated by CRISPR/Cas9 technology has been used in various cancers and got satisfactory treatment effectiveness. However, the effectiveness was limited due to the low proliferation ability, antigen recognition ability and short lifetime of T cells in vivo.In this study, PD-1 knockout T cells mediated by CRISPR/Cas9 system were transferred into lymphopenic mice after sub-lethal dose of total body irradiation. The antitumor effects of PD-1 knockout T cells were comprehensively analyzed by flow cytometry. Moreover, PD-L1 knockout B16 cells were inoculated subcutaneously in lymphopenic mice receiving infusion of naïve T cells to value the role of PD-1/PD-L1 axis on lymphopenia-induced antitumor immunity RESULT: In this study, we found that the PD-1-knockout T cells underwent several rounds of homeostatic proliferation in vivo when they were transferred into lymphopenic mice. The number of IFN-γ-releasing CTL was significantly increased and the tumor growth was remarkably inhibited in lymphopenic mice receiving infusion of PD-1 knockout T cells. The expression of PD-L1 on tumor cells rose smartly in lymphopenic mice undergoing homeostatic proliferation. PD-L1 gene knockout on B16 melanoma cells could effectively enhance the antitumor immunity mediated by the homeostatic proliferation of T cells and significantly inhibited the growth of tumor CONCLUSION: These findings suggested that lymphopenic condition after total body irradiation might be able to create an environment to promote the PD-1 knockout T cells to recognize tumor antigen and undergo homeostatic proliferation, thus induced a more powerful antitumor immunity than adoptively transferring into immunocompetent hosts.

Background. Biomarker research in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is constantly revealing promising findings. An enhancer of polycomb homolog 1 (EPC1) was found to play a procancer role in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), but its role in HNSCC with strong heterogeneity is still unclear. Herein, we investigated the prognostic significance and related mechanisms of EPC1 in HNSCC. Methods. The Kaplan-Meier plotter was used to evaluate the prognostic significance of EPC1. Based on a range of published public databases, the multiomics expression of EPC1 in HNSCC was explored to investigate the mechanisms affecting prognosis. Results. According to the clinical data, high EPC1 expression in HNSCC was a predictor of patient prognosis (hazard ratio HR = 0.64 ; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.49-0.83; P < 0.01 ). EPC1 expression varied among clinical subtypes and was related to key factors, such as TP53 and human papillomavirus (HPV) ( P < 0.05 ). At the genetic level, EPC1 expression level may be associated with protein phosphorylation, cell adhesion, cancer-related pathways, etc. For the noncoding region, a competing endogenous RNA network was constructed, and 6 microRNAs and 12 long noncoding RNAs were identified. At the protein level, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network related to EPC1 expression was constructed and found to be involved in HPV infection, endocrine resistance, and multiple cancer pathways. At the immune level, EPC1 expression was correlated with a variety of immune cells and immune molecules, which together constituted the immune microenvironments of tumors. Conclusion. High EPC1 expression may predict a better prognosis in HNSCC, as it is more frequently found in HNSCC with HPV infection. EPC1 may participate in the genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and immunomics of HNSCC, and the results can provide a reference for the development of targeted drugs and evaluation of patient prognosis.

Despite the importance of soil bacterial and fungal communities for ecosystem services and human welfare, how their ecological networks respond to climatic aridity have yet been evaluated. Here, we collected soil samples from 47 sites across 2500 km in coastal and inland areas of eastern Australia with contrasting status of aridity. We found that the diversity of both bacteria and fungi significantly differed between inland and coastal soils. Despite the significant differences in soil nutrient availability and stoichiometry between the inland and coastal regions, aridity was the most important predictor of bacterial and fungal community compositions. Aridity has altered the potential microbial migration rates and further impacted the microbial assembly processes by increasing the importance of stochasticity in bacterial and fungal communities. More importantly, ecological network analysis indicated that aridity enhanced the complexity and stability of the bacterial network but reduced that of the fungal network, possibly due to the contrasting impacts of aridity on the community-level habitat niche breadth and overlaps. Our work paves the way towards a more comprehensive understanding of how climate changes will alter soil microbial communities, which is integral to predicting their long-term consequences for ecosystem sustainability and resilience to future disturbances.

Various problems are encountered during the screw feeding process of chopped cornstalk. Therefore, it is important to deeply analyze and understand the relationship between conditions and productivity of screw conveyors. This study reveals the influence of air velocity, pitch, rotational speed, and feeding rate on productivity, power consumption, specific power consumption and pressure of material for a coupled screw-pneumatic conveyor. Through a theoretical analysis, a mathematical model is established that simultaneously considers the compression characteristics of the material, material pressure from the change in pitch and centrifugal force of the screw axis, productivity of the coupled screw-pneumatic conveyor, power consumption and specific power consumption. Then, experiments are conducted to investigate the influence of the structural and working parameters of the conveyor on its performance. Finally, the correctness of the theoretical calculation is verified through a comparison with experimental results. The results of the theoretical analysis are in good agreement with the experimental results, and the relative deviations fall within 10%, 13%, 14% and 11% for the productivity, energy consumption, specific consumption and material pressure of the conveyor, respectively. With increasing airflow speed, pitch, rotational speed and feeding volume, the power consumption increases, and the other parameters have their own trends.

The genetic diversity and differentiation of four geographic populations of Neoschongastia gallinarum were evaluated using concatenated mitochondrial gene sequences (pCOI, pCOII, and pND5). Based on the results, the N. gallinarum populations had high genetic diversity and strong ecological adaptability. Genetic differentiation among paired populations calculated using concatenated mitochondrial gene sequences revealed that geographic isolation resulted in genetic differentiation among the populations of N. gallinarum, and gene flow between populations associated with human trade activities. Systematic development and molecular variance based on haplotypes revealed that genetic variation existed in different haplotypes; however, no clear rule related to geographic region was found. Further, genetic variation was mainly derived from individuals within the population. A neutral test based on concatenated mitochondrial gene sequences and nucleotide pair differences revealed that N. gallinarum did not experience an obvious population expansion in recent historical periods. Accordingly, the population size was relatively stable.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and soil invertebrates represent a large proportion of total soil biomass and biodiversity and are vital for plant performance, soil structure, and biogeochemical cycling. However, the role of soil invertebrates in AM fungi development remains elusive. In this opinion article, we summarize the ecological importance of AM fungi and soil invertebrates in the plant-soil continuum and highlight the effects of soil invertebrates on AM fungal hyphae development and functioning. In a context of global change, we envision that better mechanistic understanding of the complex feedback via chemical signaling pathways across the interactions between soil invertebrates and AM fungi is critical to predict their ecological consequences and will open new avenues for promoting ecosystem resilience and sustainability.

The production of platelets is tightly regulated by thrombopoietin (THPO). Mutations in the THPO gene cause thrombocytopenia. Although mice lacking Thpo present with thrombocytopenia, predicting phenotypes and pathogenicity of novel THPO mutations in mice is limited. Zebrafish can be a powerful tool for fast validation and study of candidate genes of human hematological diseases and have already been used as a model of human thrombocytopenia.We aim to investigate the role of Thpo in zebrafish thrombopoiesis and to establish a Thpo-deficient zebrafish model. The model could be applied for illustrating the clinically discovered human THPO variants of which the clinical significance is not known and to evaluate the effect of THPO receptor agonists (THPO-Ras), as well as a screening platform for new drugs.We generated a thpo loss-of-function zebrafish model using CRISPR/Cas9. After disruption of zebrafish thpo, thpoZebrafish with the mutation thpo