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Recently, symbol level jamming (SLJ) has been proposed and studied as an effective jamming technique. However, the detection performance estimation and efficient detection schemes for SLJ have not been investigated in the literature. This paper proposes a novel active detection scheme for SLJ to enhance the detection capability of the legitimate user, where the detection performance estimation and target detection performance can be actively obtained. Specifically, based on a preset tolerant threshold of the bit error rate (BER) and necessary inputs, the threatening jamming power level (TJPL) for SLJ is obtained for the legitimate user, and then the TJPL is used for active performance estimation and adaption. We first derive the theoretical detection performance for QPSK modulated SLJ and noise modulated SLJ. Moreover, the TJPL required for detection is derived based on BER expressions and analytical results. Thereafter, two modes of active detection scheme are discussed, aiming to actively estimate the detection performance and obtain expected detection performance, respectively. Simulation results show that the active detection scheme can accurately estimate the jamming detection performance. Additionally, it can achieve expected detection performance, which adapts well to different preset thresholds, SNR regions and the modulation types.

Recent advances in federated learning (FL) have brought large-scale collaborative machine learning opportunities for massively distributed clients with performance and data privacy guarantees. However, most current works focus on the interest of the central controller in FL and overlook the interests of the FL clients. This may result in unfair treatment of clients, which discourages them from actively participating in the learning process and damages the sustainability of the FL ecosystem. Therefore, the topic of ensuring fairness in FL is attracting a great deal of research interest. In recent years, diverse fairness-aware FL (FAFL) approaches have been proposed in an effort to achieve fairness in FL from different perspectives. However, there is no comprehensive survey that helps readers gain insight into this interdisciplinary field. This article aims to provide such a survey. By examining the fundamental and simplifying assumptions, as well as the notions of fairness adopted by the existing literature in this field, we propose a taxonomy of FAFL approaches covering major steps in FL, including client selection, optimization, contribution evaluation, and incentive distribution. In addition, we discuss the main metrics for experimentally evaluating the performance of FAFL approaches and suggest promising future research directions toward FAFL.

The construction of doped molecular clusters is an intriguing way to perform bimetallic doping for electrocatalysts. However, efficiently harnessing the benefits of a doping strategy and alloy engineering to create a nanostructure for electrocatalytic application at the molecular level has consistently posed a challenge. Here we propose an in situ reconstruction strategy aimed at producing an alloy nanostructure through a pyrolysis process, originating from bowknot-like heterometallic clusters. The Schiff base, denoted as ligand L1 (o-vanillin ethylenediamine), was introduced as a precursor to coordinate Fe and Co metals, thereby yielding a heteronuclear metal cluster [(FeCo)(L1)2O]CH3CN. Subsequently, a comprehensive investigation of the in situ reconstruction process [(FeCo)(L1)2O](CH3CN) → [(FeCo)(L1)2O] → [M-O-M/M-O] [CH3+/CH3O+/H2C═N/C2H5+/C4H4+] → [FeCo/Fe3O4/Fe2O3/Co3O4][carbon layer] led to the formation of MOx/CoFe@NC-700 during the pyrolysis. This process reveals that the metals Fe and Co in the clusters undergo partly in situ evolution into FeCo alloys, resulting in the successful preparation of MOx/CoFe@NC (M = Fe, Co) nanomaterials that leverage the advantages of both doping strategies and alloy engineering. The synergistic interaction between alloy particles and metal oxides establishes active sites that contribute to the excellent oxygen evolution (OER) and hydrogen evolution (HER) catalytic behaviors. Notably, these materials exhibit outstanding OER and HER properties under alkaline conditions, with overpotentials of 191 and 88 mV for OER and HER, respectively, at 10 mA cm–2. Investigation of the in situ conversion of Schiff base bimetal clusters into alloy materials through pyrolysis offers a novel strategy for advancing electrocatalytic applications.

Uncertain vector autoregressive model (UVAR) is used to describe the variational relationship between multivariable time series. Based on the imprecise observations, the issue of predicting the future data accurately attracts more and more scholars attentions. This paper takes the ridge estimation into consideration and applies it into uncertain vector autoregressive model. In order to determine the shrinkage parameter, we use the cross-validation to solve this problem. On this basis, we conduct the residual analysis. A point estimation and a confidence interval are given to predict the future value. Finally, two numerical examples are applyied to clarify the feasibility and validity of the ridge estimation, compared with the least square estimation.

The significant features of carbon dots (CDs), such as bright and tunable photoluminescence, high thermal stability, and low toxicity, endow them with tremendous potential for application in next generation optoelectronics. Despite great progress achieved in the design of high-performance CDs so far, the practical applications in solid-state lighting and displays have been retarded by the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect ascribed to direct π–π interactions. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the recent progress made in solid-state CD emitters, including their synthesis, optical properties and applications in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Their triplet-excited-state-involved properties, as well as their recent advances in phosphor-converted LEDs and electroluminescent LEDs, are mainly reviewed here. Finally, the prospects and challenges of solid-state CD-based LEDs are discussed with an eye on future development. We hope that this review will provide critical insights to inspire new exciting discoveries on solid-state CDs from both fundamental and practical standpoints so that the realization of their potential in optoelectronic areas can be facilitated.

AbstractSUMOylation regulates various cellular process and SENP1 (SUMO-specific protease 1) serves as a SUMO (small ubiquitin-related modifier) specific protease that participates in the SUMO cycle. Given its extensive influences on metabolic activities, SENP1 has gained more and more attentions in clinical treatments. However, there remains a question on why does the SENP1 prefer to process SUMO1 rather than SUMO2. Here, we performed molecular dynamics simulations of SENP1-SUMO1, SENP1-SUMO2, and apoSENP1 systems and observed distinct conformational dynamics in the upper half of the clamp and the three loops in the catalytic center of the SENP1. Principal component analysis revealed that the most prominent canonical variable represented the spatial distribution of the upper half of the clamp, while the openness of the cleft was closely related to the catalytic ability of SENP1. Further analysis of the SENP1-SUMO interactions revealed that the extensive and strong interactions between the SENP1 and SUMO1 were both in the interface of the upper half region and the catalytic center. Dynamic cross-correlation matrix analysis demonstrated that the inter-residue correlations in the SUMO1 system was much stronger, especially in the two essential regions belonging to the upper and lower half of cleft. Based on these observations, we proposed an allosteric propagation model and further testified it using the community analysis. These results revealed the propagation pathway of allosteric communication that contributed to the substrate discrimination of SENP1 upon SUMO1 and SUMO2.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Serious arc erosion is the main reason for premature failure of the Ag-matrix composite electrical contact materials in actual service. Clarifying the structure and property degradation process is crucial for creating eco-friendly Ag/MAX electrical contacts and upgrading high-performance materials for low-voltage switch applications. In this study, the representative Ag/Ti2AlC electrical contacts were designed into three arc erosion stages (from 1 to 5610 cycles) by ex-situ arc discharging experiment, and the nanoindentation technique was then applied to in-depth analyze the evolution behavior of nano-mechanical properties by comparing nano hardness, modulus, creep, continuous stiffness, elastic/plastic deformation, and NanoBlitz 3D Mapping indentation results in different erosion stages. Finally, the inherent relationship among the structural dissociation of Ti2AlC, and compositional changes of Ag/Ti2AlC interface and nano-mechanical properties of composite was revealed, and the material degradation model and anti-arc erosion mechanism were proposed. This work further elucidates the intrinsic source of excellent arc erosion resistance and degradation process of Ag/Ti2AlC composite from the nano-mechanical perspective and lays a theoretical foundation for the future design and optimization of this material system.

Metal whisker growth poses a significant reliability threat to electronic devices. Previous investigations have predominantly focused on metal platings and alloy solder samples, yet the intricate factors involved have yielded inconsistent comprehension of the phenomenon. To achieve a comprehensive understanding, exploring intermetallic compounds (IMCs) may offer a novel standpoint. Herein, we present the first report on the growth of single crystal cadmium (Cd) whiskers on Ti2Cd IMC, accompanied by the characterization of their composition, crystal structure, and morphological features. Furthermore, the influence of mechanical damage and temperature on the whisker growth is examined. Ball milling induces the decomposition of Ti2Cd, liberating active Cd atoms with elevated chemical potentials that consequently feed the whisker growth. These findings augment the existing knowledge on the topic of the metal whisker growth and provide fresh perspectives and references for further investigations in this field.

Logistics service quality (LSQ) is one of the key influential factors in the success of an ecommerce business. In view of the complexity of the topic, this paper proposes a novel model for fresh ecommerce cold chain LSQ evaluation based on the catastrophe progression method. In the proposed methodology, first an index system for evaluating the fresh ecommerce cold chain LSQ is established from the perspective of service recipients. Then, the comprehensive weight of each evaluation index is determined using a combination weighting approach based on maximizing deviations and fuzzy set theory. The priority weights and the ranking of the indices are determined using the catastrophe progression method. Finally, the model is applied in a case study of two representative enterprises. The study demonstrates the validity and practical applicability of the proposed model. Also, based on the evaluation results and findings, some improvement suggestions are made for improving the cold chain LSQ of similar kinds of fresh ecommerce companies.

Aim: This study aimed to explore the current status of e-health literacy among Chinese older adults, and to summarize and analyze the related influencing factors. Subject and methods: Following the PRISMA Checklist, we searched MEDLINE, CINAHL Complete (EBSCO), PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Data, and China Science and Technology Journal Database to identify the relevant literature published between January 2000 and December 2020. The Mixed Methods Assessment Tool (MMAT) was used to appraise the quality of the studies. Results: Five articles were included for the systematic review. The results showed that the e-health literacy of Chinese older adults was low. Based on the social-ecological model, the influencing factors at the individual level included age, gender, educational attainment, socioeconomic status, physical and psychological conditions, frequency of internet use, and credibility perception of online health resources; at the interpersonal level, the influencing factors included marital status, being the family carer and being taught how to use internet to find health resources; at the social/community level, influencing factors included language barriers and cultural barriers. Conclusion: Current e-health literacy among Chinese older adults is low, which is affected by a number of factors. Medical staff should provide detailed health information with guaranteed accuracy and reliability for elderly people. It is necessary to develop intervention programs tailored to varied educational needs of the elderly with different backgrounds (i.e., age, gender, educational attainment, and socioeconomic status) need to be developed in the near future. Family members are encouraged to teach older adults how to use e-health resource in appropriate ways.

The efficient clinical treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is still a challenge that demands the development of effective new drugs. Phenformin has been shown to produce more potent anti-tumor activities than metformin on different tumors, however, not much is known about the influence of phenformin on OSCC cells. We found that phenformin suppresses OSCC cell proliferation, and promotes OSCC cell autophagy and apoptosis to significantly inhibit OSCC cell growth both in vivo and in vitro. RNA-seq analysis revealed that autophagy pathways were the main targets of phenformin and identified two new targets DDIT4 (DNA damage inducible transcript 4) and NIBAN1 (niban apoptosis regulator 1). We found that phenformin significantly induces the expression of both DDIT4 and NIBAN1 to promote OSCC autophagy. Further, the enhanced expression of DDIT4 and NIBAN1 elicited by phenformin was not blocked by the knockdown of AMPK but was suppressed by the knockdown of transcription factor ATF4 (activation transcription factor 4), which was induced by phenformin treatment in OSCC cells. Mechanistically, these results revealed that phenformin triggers endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress to activate PERK (protein kinase R-like ER kinase), which phosphorylates the transitional initial factor eIF2, and the increased phosphorylation of eIF2 leads to the increased translation of ATF4. In summary, we discovered that phenformin induces its new targets DDIT4 and especially NIBAN1 to promote autophagic and apoptotic cell death to suppress OSCC cell growth. Our study supports the potential clinical utility of phenformin for OSCC treatment in the future.

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a chronic and inflammatory mucosal disease caused by betel quid chewing, which belongs to oral potentially malignant disorders. Abnormal fibroblast differentiation leading to disordered collagen metabolism is the core process underlying OSF development. The epithelium, which is the first line of defense against the external environment, can convert external signals into pathological signals and participate in the remodeling of the fibrotic microenvironment. However, the specific mechanisms by which the epithelium drives fibroblast differentiation remain unclear. In this study, we found that Arecoline-exposed epithelium communicated with the fibrotic microenvironment by secreting exosomes. MiR-17-5p was encapsulated in epithelial cell-derived exosomes and absorbed by fibroblasts, where it promoted cell secretion, contraction, migration and fibrogenic marker (α-SMA and collagen type I) expression. The underlying molecular mechanism involved miR-17-5p targeting Smad7 and suppressing the degradation of TGF-β receptor 1 (TGFBR1) through the E3 ubiquitination ligase WWP1, thus facilitating downstream TGF-β pathway signaling. Treatment of fibroblasts with an inhibitor of miR-17-5p reversed the contraction and migration phenotypes induced by epithelial-derived exosomes. Exosomal miR-17-5p was confirmed to function as a key regulator of the phenotypic transformation of fibroblasts. In conclusion, we demonstrated that Arecoline triggers aberrant epithelium-fibroblast crosstalk and identified that epithelial cell-derived miR-17-5p mediates fibroblast differentiation through the classical TGF-β fibrotic pathway, which provided a new perspective and strategy for the diagnosis and treatment of OSF.

The anti-corrosion/anti-wear advantages of Ti3C2TxMXenes are limited in environmentally friendly water-based resins due to their instability in aqueous environments and poor compatibility with polymers. In this study, a dual-functional waterborne polyurethane (WPU)/Ti3C2TxMXene hybrid coating with excellent corrosion resistance and wear resistance is designed. This strategy uses dopamine-grafted Ti3C2TxMXene sheets to enhance the dispersibility and compatibility of Ti3C2TxMXene nanosheets in WPU through covalent and hydrogen bonds and can alleviate the oxidation of Ti3C2TxMXene in aqueous solution. In 3.5 wt% NaCl solution, PMXene and WPU composite (WPU@PMXene) coating has the lowest corrosion current density of 7.73 × 10−8 A cm−2and the highest polarization resistance of 1.22 × 107 Ω cm2, which is better than that of bare Mg alloys 3 orders of magnitude. The |Z|f = 0.01Hzvalue of WPU@PMXene coating is 3 orders of magnitude higher than that of pure WPU coating. In addition, the wear rate of WPU@PMXene coating is reduced from 2.93 × 10−3mm3/(N·m) of pure WPU to 0.9 × 10−3mm3/(N·m) (reduced by 3 times). The improved performance is due to the “labyrinth effect” and increased compatibility of dopamine modified Ti3C2TxMXene. This synergistic effect exploits a novel and convenient approach of expanding the application of Ti3C2TxMXene in aqueous coatings to enhance corrosion and wear resistance.

Single-atom coordinated host catalyst offers a promising strategy for photo-Fenton induced wastewater treatment due to the tunable photophysical/chemical properties. However, designing efficient atomically dispersed single-atom catalysts with highly reactive unsaturated coordination remains a challenge. Herein, we designed the low-coordinated Fe–N3site in carbon nitride (FeCN), which showed excellent degradation efficiency for 4-CP declined to 90.1 % in Tap water and 88.2 % in Dalian Lake within 1h. X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) demonstrated the monoatomic Fe was anchored to CN via the low-coordinated Fe–N3structure. Density Functional Theory (DFT) and photoelectric characterizations demonstrated that the Fe–N3site could facilitate the photo-generated charge migration to the Fe–N3site due to the asymmetric electron distribution of Fe–N3site and the Fe_dorbitals occupying the conduction band positions. Besides, project density of states (PDOS) illustrated the strong electronic interaction between the Fe–N3site and OH*, which confirmed the Fe–N3site facilitated the activation of H2O2and further accelerated the performance of photo-Fenton wastewater treatment. This study can provide insights into the design of highly active low-coordination single-atom catalysts and the Fenton-like mechanisms.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text

BiVO4(BVO) is an excellent semiconductor material with a suitable band gap for photocatalytic applications. The serious challenge is to solve the problem of electron–hole pair recombination in pure BVO. Herein, we reported the synthesis of NiO nanosheet coated BVO and the NiO/BVO heterojunction improved the photocatalytic activity effectively, while an appropriate precursor Ni(NO3)2·6H2O concentration is a key factor for the NiO formation with different morphologies. The enhanced dye adsorption capacity of the composite materials is attributed to the large specific surface area of NiO nanosheets. Moreover, the typical type-II p–n junction structure promoted the separation ability of photogenerated carriers and produced more O2−and OH−radicals. The prepared NiO/BVO showed much higher photocatalytic activity than pristine BVO and the optimal photocatalytic performance was obtained when the mass percentage of precursors Ni(NO3)2·6H2O and BVO was 60%. The removal efficiency for RhB reached 92%, which was nine times than that of pure BVO.

Reactive jammer has emerged as a relatively intelligent jamming with low energy cost and high jamming efficiency. Moreover, the jammer can obtain the power-correlated reactive jamming via the cooperation with a malicious user, which imposes a severe threat on the reliability of legitimate users. To solve this issue, this letter proposes an enhanced index modulation based frequency hopping spread spectrum (EIM-FHSS) scheme. Specifically, the strategy of power control in EIM-FHSS is provided where the main step of the strategy is formulated as a general optimization problem. Then we calculate a closed form solution for high signal to noise ratio (SNR), and propose a fast search algorithm for general case to obtain the approximate optimal power with low complexity. Simulation results show that EIM-FHSS can obtain enhanced anti-jamming performance as well as low-complexity compared with the benchmarks.

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have developed into prospective nanomaterials for next-generation lighting and displays due to their intrinsic advantages of high stability, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, confined by the spin-forbidden nature of triplet state transitions, the highest theoretical value of external quantum efficiency (EQE) of fluorescent CQDs is merely 5%, which fundamentally limits their further application in electroluminescent light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Soluble phosphorescent CQDs offer a means of breaking the shackle to achieve efficient monochromatic electroluminescence, especially red emission, which is a pivotal constituent in full-color displays. Here, the synthesis of red (625 nm) phosphorescent carbon quantum dot organic frameworks (CDOFs) with a quantum yield of up to 42.3% and realization of high-efficiency red phosphorescent electroluminescent LEDs are reported. The LEDs based on the CDOFs exhibited a red emission with a maximum luminance of 1818 cd m–2and an EQE of 5.6%. This work explores the possibility of a new perspective for developing high-performance CQD-based electroluminescent LEDs.

The development of effective antifungal agents remains a big challenge in view of the close evolutionary relationship between mammalian cells and fungi. Moreover, rapid mutations of fungal receptors at the molecular level result in the emergence of drug resistance. Here, with low tendency to develop drug-resistance, the subcellular organelle mitochondrion is exploited as an alternative target for efficient fungal killing by photodynamic therapy (PDT) of mitochondrial-targeting luminogens with aggregation-induced emission characteristics (AIEgens). With cationic isoquinolinium (IQ) moiety and proper hydrophobicity, three AIEgens, namely, IQ-TPE-2O, IQ-Cm, and IQ-TPA, can preferentially accumulate at the mitochondria of fungi over the mammalian cells. Upon white light irradiation, these AIEgens efficiently generate reactive 1O2, which causes irreversible damage to fungal mitochondria and further triggers the fungal death. Among them, IQ-TPA shows the highest PDT efficiency against fungi and negligible toxicity to mammalian cells, achieving the selective and highly efficient killing of fungi. Furthermore, we tested the clinical utility of this PDT strategy by treating fungal keratitis on a fungus-infected rabbit model. It was demonstrated that IQ-TPA presents obviously better therapeutic effects as compared with the clinically used rose bengal, suggesting the success of this PDT strategy and its great potential for clinical treatment of fungal infections.

The identification of malicious jamming pattern is significant for wireless communication system to adopt targeted anti-jamming approaches. Efficient identification of malicious jamming patterns requires sufficient sample data and computing resources for the complex electromagnetic environment. However, with the use of portable communication equipment and emergency communications, it is difficult to ensure adequate sample data and computing resources. Against this background, this letter focuses on the jamming identification based on a small sample data-driven Naive Bayes classifier. The main idea is to obtain approximate conditional feature probability via data augment and kernel density estimation (KDE) from a small sample labelled data and construct Naive Bayes classifier, so as to form a fast jamming recognition method. Simulation results show that compared with the methods using decision tree or simple neutral network, the proposed scheme achieves a better average accuracy between six jamming patterns, as well as low-complexity.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an effective noninvasive therapeutic method that employs photosensitizers (PSs) converting oxygen to highly cytotoxic singlet oxygen (1O2) under light irradiation. The conventional PDT efficacy is, however, compromised by the nonspecific delivery of PSs to tumor tissue, the hypoxic tumor microenvironment, and the reduction of generated 1O2by the intracellular antioxidant glutathione (GSH). Herein, an intelligent multifunctional synergistic nanoplatform (CMGCC) for T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-guided enhanced PDT is presented, which consists of nanoparticles composed of catalase (CAT) and manganese dioxide (MnO2) that are integrated within chlorin-e6-modified glycol chitosan (GC) polymeric micelles. In this system, (1) GC polymers with pH-sensitive surface charge switchability from neutral to positive could improve the PS accumulation within the tumor region, (2) CAT could effectively reoxygenate the hypoxic tumor viacatalyzing endogenous hydrogen peroxide to O2, and (3) MnO2could consume the intracellular GSH while simultaneously producing Mn2+as a contrast agent for T1-weighted MR imaging. The CMGCC particles possess uniform size distribution, well-defined structure, favorable enzyme activity, and superior 1O2generation ability. Both in vitroand in vivoexperiments demonstrate that the CMGCC exhibit significantly enhanced PDT efficacy toward HeLa cells and subcutaneous HeLa tumors. Our study thereby demonstrates this to be a promising synergistic theranostic nanoplatform with highly efficient PDT performance for cancer therapy.

The high mortality of aquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related cerebral toxoplasmosis is one of the serious complications affecting the survival and prognosis of AIDS patients. The most important reason is the difficulty to diagnose. The gold standard for diagnosis of the disease is biopsy of brain tissue. However, this method is not easy to carry out clinically. The diagnostic efficiency of serum and cerebrospinal fluid antibody titers, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and other methods are low. Although the imaging manifestations of cerebral toxoplasmosis in AIDS are variable, there are some characteristic features. It is very important to correctly recognize its characteristic imaging features and use related imaging methods to help diagnose this disease. The purpose of this paper is to provide consensus for the imaging characteristics of AIDS-related cerebral toxoplasmosis.

Fever and/or cough, chest CT with bilateral ground-glass opacities in the posterior and peripheral lungs, and a history of exposure to individuals from Wuhan, China, are characteristic of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pneumonia.

Abstract

Pulmonary ground glass opacity (GGO) is increasingly detected through the advances made in diagnostic technology, in particular computed tomography (CT). There are those who fear GGO because some patients with GGO are diagnosed with lung cancer. There is indeed some connection between GGO and lung cancer, but GGO does not necessarily deteriorate into tumors. There are many causes of GGO, such as hemorrhage, inflammation or tumors, and GGO with different pathological types also have different CT characteristics. Diagnosis of GGO affects clinical treatment decisions, whether these GGO should be surgically resected or require regular follow-up. This article introduces the differential diagnosis of GGO from the perspective of high-resolution CT (HRCT) imaging and histopathology characteristics.

Pancreatic cancer is currently one of the most lethal tumors because of delayed diagnosis and treatment. Aminopeptidase N (CD13/APN), expressed in pancreatic cancer cells, is closely related to the malignant biological behavior, for instance, angiogenesis formation, tumor proliferation, and metastasis. In this study, asparagine–glycine–arginine (Asn–Gly–Arg, NGR), selectively binding to CD13 receptor, was modified to construct a novel contrast agent of QDs@Gd3+-NGR for targeted diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer. It consists of QDs-unit for fluorescence imaging, Gd3+-unit for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and NGR for binding to CD13 receptor. PANC-1 cells labeled by QDs@Gd3+-NGR showed significant red fluorescence and high intensity on fluorescence and MR imaging, respectively. Besides, it was confirmed that QDs@Gd3+-NGR could inhibit theproliferation, metastasis, and invasion of PANC-1 cells, and increase reactive oxygen species production and death rate in vitro. Reasonably, we believe the targeted contrast agent of QDs@Gd3+-NGR can sensitively detect pancreatic cancer via MR-fluorescence dual-modality imaging, and plays an active role in inhibition of tumor progression. The promising results in this study provide integration of diagnostic and therapeutic strategy for the management of pancreatic cancer in future.

The highly contagious tuberculosis is a leading infectious killer, which urgently requires effective diagnosis and treatment methods. To address these issues, three lipophilic aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) photosensitizers (TTMN, TTTMN, and MeOTTMN) are selected to evaluate their labeling and antimicrobial properties in vitro and in vivo. These three lipophilic AIEgens preserve low cytotoxicity and achieve real‐time and non‐invasive visualization of the process of mycobacteria infection in vitro and in vivo. More importantly, these AIEgens can be triggered by white light to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is a highly efficient antibacterial reagent. Among these AIEgens, the TTMN photosensitizer has an outstanding antibacterial efficacy over the clinical first‐line drug rifampicin at the same therapeutic concentration. Interestingly, this study also finds that TTMN can increase the expression of pro‐inflammatory cytokines in the early stage of infection after light irradiation, indicating an additional pro‐inflammatory role of TTMN. This work provides some feasibility basis for developing AIEgens‐based agents for effectively destroying mycobacterium. Lipophilic AIEgens show efficient labeling and long‐time tracing ability to Myobacterium marinumboth in vitro and in vivo. Meanwhile, the antibacterial properties of AIEgens are confirmed to be better than Rifampicin. This study not only proves the integrated diagnostic potential of lipophilic AIEgens for intracellular bacterial infections but also provides some inspiration for the design of new AIEgens in the future.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most important hospital acquired infections in patients requiring mechanical ventilation (MV) in the intensive care unit, but the effective and robust predictable tools for VAP prevention were relatively lacked.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are known for their potential to exhibit anisotropic transport properties due to their layered structures. However, the anisotropic ion conduction of 2D metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has been rarely explored. In this study, we investigated the anisotropic proton conduction along the in-plane and stacking directions of two analogs of undulating 2D MOFs: [Mn(salen)]2[Pt(CN)4]·H2O (MnPt) and [Mn(salen)]2[PtI2(CN)4]·H2O (MnPtI). This investigation was conducted using both experimental methods, involving single crystals, and theoretical calculations. Compared to the relatively isotropic proton conduction of MnPtat 85 °C and 95% relative humidity (RH), with a stacking direction conductivity (σstacking) of 1.8 × 10–5S/cm, which is approximately 2.9 times the in-plane conductivity (σin-plane), MnPtIexhibited highly anisotropic proton conduction. The σstackingof MnPtIunder the same conditions (85 °C, 95% RH) was 1.5 × 10–4S/cm, which is 83 times higher than its σin-plane. Additionally, the activation energy for proton conduction in MnPtIranged from 0.65 to 0.73 eV, which is higher than the 0.48 eV observed for MnPt. Theoretical calculations confirmed that slight differences in local structures, including node distortions between MnPtand MnPtI, significantly influenced the activation energies for water migration. This was attributed to the formation of hydrogen bonds between layers and water molecules.

This study evaluated the clinical and imaging differences between the two pathological types.

Protein-assisted biomimetic synthesis has been an emerging offshoot of nanofabrication in recent years owing to its features of green chemistry, facile process, and ease of multi-integration. As a result, many proteins have been used for biomimetic synthesis of varying kinds of nanostructures. Although the efforts on exploring new proteins and investigating their roles in biomimetic chemistry are increasing, the most essential intrinsic properties of proteins are largely neglected. Herein we report a frequently used enzyme (horseradish peroxidase, HRP) to demonstrate the possibility of enzymatic activity retaining after accomplishing the roles in biomimetic synthesis of ultrasmall gadolinium (Gd) nanodots and stowing its substrate 2,2′-Azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid ammonium salt) (ABTS), denoted as Gd@HRPABTS. It was found that ca. 70% of the enzymatic activity of HRP was preserved. The associated changes of protein structure with chemical treatments were studied by spectroscopic analysis. Leveraging on the highly retained catalytic activity, Gd@HRPABTSexerts strong catalytic oxidation of peroxidase substrate ABTS into photoactive counterparts in the presence of intrinsic H2O2inside the tumor, therefore enabling tumor-selective catalytic photoacoustic (PA) imaging and photothermal therapy (PTT). In addition, the MR moiety of Gd@HRPABTSprovides guidance for PTT and further diagrams that Gd@HRPABTSis clearable from the body viakidneys. Preliminary toxicity studies show no observed adverse effects by administration of them. This study demonstrates beyond the well-known roles in biomimetic chemistry that HRP can also preserve its enzymatic activity for tumor catalytic theranostics.

The surface electric field analysis of the converter valve shield system is a large-scale electrostatic field problem, which is difficult to analyse. The fast multipole boundary element method (FMBEM), which is suitable for solving large-scale problems, can accelerate the computation speed and conserve memory. However, the coefficient matrix implicitly formed by using the FMBEM is sometimes ill-conditioned, especially for large-scale problems; thus, the convergence of iteration is poor. In this paper, a fast solver is proposed to improve efficiency. First, an adaptive GMRES(m) with variant restart parameter is adjusted for the Galerkin FMBEM. In addition, the sparse approximate inverse preconditioner is improved, and a new sparsity pattern is proposed for the multiscale problem derived from the converter valve shield system. The numerical results show that the accuracy can meet the engineering requirements compared with the finite element method. Compared with other solvers and preconditioners, the algorithm can achieve a satisfactory convergence rate and reduce the computation time. In addition, a single bridge shield system of ±160 kV converter valve is successfully analysed using the proposed method.

Micro/nano metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted significant attention in recent years due to their numerous unique properties, with many synthetic methods and strategies being reported for constructing MOFs with specific micro/nano structures. In addition, the design of micro/nano MOFs for energy storage and conversion applications and the study of the structure–activity relationship have also become research hotspots. Herein, a comprehensive overview of the recent progress on micro/nano MOFs is presented. We begin with a brief introduction to the various synthesis methods for controlling the morphology of micro/nano MOFs. Subsequently, the structure-dependent properties of micro/nano MOFs as electrode materials or catalysts in terms of batteries, supercapacitors, and catalysis are discussed. Finally, the remaining challenges and future perspectives in this field are presented. Overall, this review is expected to inspire the design of advanced micro/nano MOFs for efficient energy storage and conversion technologies.

High-performance and low-cost gas sensors are highly desirable and involved in industrial production and environmental detection. The combination of highly conductive MXene and metal oxide materials is a promising strategy to further improve the sensing performances. In this study, the hollow SnO2nanospheres and few-layer MXene are assembled rationally via facile electrostatic synthesis processes, then the SnO2/Ti3C2Txnanocomposites were obtained. Compared with that based on either pure SnO2nanoparticles or hollow nanospheres of SnO2, the SnO2/Ti3C2Txcomposite-based sensor exhibits much better sensing performances such as higher response (36.979), faster response time (5 s), and much improved selectivity as well as stability (15 days) to 100 ppm C2H5OH at low working temperature (200 °C). The improved sensing performances are mainly attributed to the large specific surface area and significantly increased oxygen vacancy concentration, which provides a large number of active sites for gas adsorption and surface catalytic reaction. In addition, the heterostructure interfaces between SnO2hollow spheres and MXene layers are beneficial to gas sensing behaviors due to the synergistic effect.

Defect engineering can provide a feasible approach to achieving ambient molecular oxygen activation. However, conventional surface defects (e.g., oxygen vacancies, OVs), featured with the coordinatively unsaturated metal sites, often favor the reduction of O2to •O2–rather than O22–via two-electron transfer, hindering the efficient pollutant removal with high electron utilization. Herein, we demonstrate that this bottleneck can be well discharged by modulating the electronic structure of OVs via phosphorization. As a proof of concept, TiO2nanoparticles are adopted as a model material for NaH2PO2(HP) modification, in which HP induces the formation of OVs via weakening the Ti–O bonds through the hydrogen bond interactions. Additionally, the formed Ti–O–P covalent bond refines the electronic structure of OVs, which enables rapid electron transfer for two-electron molecular oxygen activation. As exemplified by NO oxidation, HP-modified TiO2with abundant OVs achieved complete NO removal with high selectivity for benign nitrate, superior to that of pristine TiO2. This study highlights a promising approach to regulate the O2activation via an electronic structure modulation and provides fresh insights into the rational design of a photocatalyst for environmental remediation.