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Alterations to the gut microbiota are associated with ulcerative colitis (UC), whereas restoration of normobiosis can effectively alleviate UC. l-Theanine has been shown to reshape the gut microbiota and regulate gut immunity. To investigate the mechanisms by which l-theanine alleviates UC, we used l-theanine and l-theanine fecal microbiota solution to treat UC mice. In this study, we used l-theanine and l-theanine fecal microbiota solution to treat UC mice to explore the mechanism by which l-theanine alleviates UC. By reducing inflammation in the colon, we demonstrated that l-theanine alleviates symptoms of UC. Meanwhile, l-theanine can improve the abundance of microbiota related to short-chain fatty acid, bile acid, and tryptophan production. Single-cell sequencing results indicated that l-theanine-mediated suppression of UC was associated with immune cell changes, especially regarding macrophages and T and B cells, and validated the immune cell responses to the gut microbiota. Further, flow cytometry results showed that the ability of dendritic cells, macrophages, and monocytes to present microbiota antigens to colonic T cells in an MHC-II-dependent manner was reduced after treating normal mouse fecal donors with l-theanine. These results demonstrate that l-theanine modulates colon adaptive and innate immunity by regulating the gut microbiota in an MHC-II-dependent manner, thereby alleviating UC.

The P2Y14receptor has been proven to be a potential target for IBD. Herein, we designed and synthesized a series of 4-amide-thiophene-2-carboxyl derivatives as novel potent P2Y14receptor antagonists based on the scaffold hopping strategy. The optimized compound 39(5-((5-fluoropyridin-2-yl)oxy)-4-(4-methylbenzamido)thiophene-2-carboxylic acid) exhibited subnanomolar antagonistic activity (IC50: 0.40 nM). Moreover, compound 39demonstrated notably improved solubility, liver microsomal stability, and oral bioavailability. Fluorescent ligand binding assay confirmed that 39has the binding ability to the P2Y14receptor, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed the formation of a unique intramolecular hydrogen bond (IMHB) in the binding conformation. In the experimental colitis mouse model, compound 39showed a remarkable anti-IBD effect even at low doses. Compound 39, with a potent anti-IBD effect and favorable druggability, can be a promising candidate for further research. In addition, this work lays a strong foundation for the development of P2Y14receptor antagonists and the therapeutic strategy for IBD.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) represent a promising energy storage technology with great safety. Because of their high operating potential, superior structural stability, and prominent thermal stability, polyanion-type phosphates have garnered significant interest in superior prospective cathode materials for SIBs. Nevertheless, the disadvantages of poor intrinsic electronic conductivity, sluggish kinetics, and volume variation during sodiation/desodiation remain great challenges for satisfactory rate performance and cycle stability, which severely hinder their further practical applications. In this work, by adjusting the amounts of pretreated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT) added intentionally at the beginning of the preparation, biphasic polyanion-type phosphate materials (marked as NFC) are synthesized through a one-pot solid state reaction methodology, which are composed of CNT-interwoven Na3V2(PO4)2F3(NVPF) and a small amount of Na3V2(PO4)3(NVP). Benefiting from the improved electronic conductivity and unique composition and structure, the optimized sample (labeled as NFC-2) illustrates exceptional cycle stability and remarkable rate performance. The discharge capacities of the NFC-2 electrode are 114.8 and 78.6 mAh g–1tested at 20 and 5000 mA g–1, respectively. Notably, such an electrode still gives out 75.7% capacity retention upon 10 000 cycles at 5000 mA g–1. In situX-ray diffraction analysis demonstrates that the NFC-2 cathode has outstanding structural reversibility during charge/discharge cycles. More importantly, such a biphasic material has achieved impressive electrochemical performance within a wide operating temperature range of −20–50 °C. When temperature is decreased to −20 °C, the NFC-2 electrode still delivers an initial discharge capacity of 102.4 mAh g–1and exhibits a remarkable capacity retention of 97.8% even after 500 cycles at 50 mA g–1. In addition, the sodium-ion full cell assembled by integrating NFC-2 cathode and hard carbon anode shows a satisfying energy density of 431.3 Wh kg–1at 20 mA g–1with a better long-term cycle performance. The synergistic effect among high energy NVPF, conductive CNT, and stable NVP may lead to the great improvement in the electrochemical sodium storage performance of the NFC-2 sample. Such biphasic polyanion-type phosphate materials will inject new ideas into the material design for SIBs with excellent electrochemical performance and further promote practical applications of this advanced energy storage technology.

Hybrid metal halide materials with charming phase transition behaviors have attracted considerable attention. In former works, much attention has been focused on the phase transition triggered by the order–disorder or displacement motions of the organic component. However, manipulating the variation of the inorganic component to achieve the phase transition has rarely been reported. Herein, two novel organic–inorganic hybrid materials, [THPM]n[AgX2]n(THPM = 3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidin-1-ium, X = I for 1and Br for 2) with the [AgX2]nn–anionic chain structure, were synthesized. At 293 K, the [AgX2]nn–chains in 1were constructed by the tetramer units of Ag atoms, while that in 2was assembled by the dimer structure. Upon heating to 355 K, owing to the variation of the metallophilic interaction between adjacent Ag atoms, a unique transformation process from tetramer to dimer in [AgI2]nn–chains of 1can be detected and endow 1with a giant anisotropic thermal expansion with linear strain of ∼7% and shear strain of ∼20%, which can be used as a mechanical actuator for switching. Alternatively, for 2, no phase transition process can be observed upon the temperature variation. This work provides an effective approach to design phase transition materials triggered by the inorganic part.

Biofouling has been a persistent problem in marine riser system, resulting in energy waste and equipment damage. In this study, a kind of water wave-driven contact-mode flexible triboelectric nanogeneration has been prepared by using graphene-doped PDMS as dielectric friction material. When the graphene content is 2%, the average output voltage can reach 46 V under the contact frequency 10 Hz. The flexible triboelectric nanogeneration encapsulation module is impinged by water waves to generate alternating microelectric field on the riser surface and destroy the adhesion conditions of microorganisms during the biofilm stage. In the biofouling experiments at different stages, the biofouling area of the platymonas subcordiformis has been reduced by 53%, 62% and 61%. It provides a new idea for effective treatment of biofouling of mussels, oysters and barnacles attached to risers.

Over the past few decades, the excessive use of pesticides has resulted in serious environment pollution, and residual pesticides prompt significant concern regarding their potential harm to both the ecological security and human health. In this study, KOH activated crayfish shell biochar (KBC) was successfully prepared and used to effectively remove acetamiprid (ACE) and triadimefon (TDM) from aqueous solutions. Batch experiments results indicated that, the adsorption process of ACE was predominantly by chemical reaction and controlled by multiple mechanisms, and ACE adsorption was a thermodynamically spontaneous and exothermic reaction. The KBC exhibited exceptional adsorption performance in removing ACE with a maximum adsorption capacity of 40.41 mg g−1. A superior adsorption capacity toward both ACE and TDM over KBC could be achieved at lower concentration levels, and KBC exhibited good reuse for the removal of ACE and TDM. Different adsorption models and characterization results revealed the adsorption mechanism of ACE and TDM by KBC, including van der Waals forces, pore filling, hydrogen bonding, and π-π electron donor-acceptor interactions. These findings suggested that KBC was an excellent adsorbent for removing pesticide-contaminated water.

• Electronic structure of HTiNbO 5 was regulated by Ti 3 C 2 MXene loading. • 2D/2D MX/RTS Schottky junction was prepared for TCH photodegradation. • The synergistic effect of Ti 3 C 2 MXene boosted photodegradation activity. • Coexisting ions on TCH photodegradation were investigated. • TCH photodegradation mechanism over MX/RTS was proposed. Developing high-efficiency photocatalysts for tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) degradation is of great significance to ecosystems and human beings. In this work, a two-step process of exfoliation and re-stacking was performed to prepare re-stacked HTiNbO 5 nanosheets (R-HTNS) and then coupled with Ti 3 C 2 MXene to construct Ti 3 C 2 MXene/R-HTNS (MX/RTS) with a 2D/2D Schottky heterojunction. These 2D/2D heterostructures between Ti 3 C 2 MXene and R-HTNS can produce an internal electric field and provide maximum interface area for efficient charge transfer across the intimate interface. The photocatalytic performance of samples was evaluated by TCH degradation under simulated sunlight. The MX/RTS composites, with an optimal sample of 3-MX/RTS, show enhanced photocatalytic activity for TCH degradation compared with R-HTNS. The characterization results reveal that the introduction of Ti 3 C 2 MXene can significantly increase specific surface area for providing more reactive sites and broaden the light absorption region. Besides, the incident light energy is absorbed by the Ti 3 C 2 MXene component in MX/RTS composites to generate photothermal energy (heat), which facilitates the charge carrier separation and surface reaction kinetics. Thus, the enhanced TCH photodegradation activity for MX/RTS composites is due to the introduction of Ti 3 C 2 MXene, which possesses the synergistic effect of the increased specific surface area, improved light-harvesting capacity, 2D/2D Schottky heterojunction, and photothermal energy effect. Additionally, the TCH photodegradation behavior is deliberated with a detailed discussion on various coexisting ions. During TCH photodegradation, the active radical species are determined for 3-MX/RTS. According to the characterization results, the possible TCH photodegradation pathway and mechanism over 3-MX/RTS are explored. This work may offer a novel insight for constructing MXene-based heterostructured photocatalysts with high efficiency. Ti 3 C 2 MXene/HTiNbO 5 nanosheets Schottky heterojunctions exhibited the high efficiency for solar TCH photodegradation due to the synergistic effect of the increased specific surface area, improved light harvesting capacity, 2D/2D Schottky heterojunction and photothermal energy effect. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anomalous Hall effect (AHE) is one of the most fascinating transport properties in condensed matter physics. However, the AHE magnitude, which mainly depends on net spin polarization and band topology, is generally small in oxides and thus limits potential applications. Here, we demonstrate a giant enhancement of AHE in a LaCoO3-induced 5d itinerant ferromagnet SrIrO3by hydrogenation. The anomalous Hall resistivity and anomalous Hall angle, which are two of the most critical parameters in AHE-based devices, are found to increase to 62.2 μΩ·cm and 3%, respectively, showing an unprecedentedly large enhancement ratio of ∼10000%. Theoretical analysis suggests the key roles of Berry curvature in enhancing AHE. Furthermore, the hydrogenation concomitantly induces the significant elevation of Curie temperature from 75 to 160 K and 40-fold reinforcement of coercivity. Such giant regulation and very large AHE magnitude observed in SrIrO3could pave the path for 5d oxide devices.

Alkene radical ions constitute an integral and unique class of reactive intermediates for the synthesis of valuable compounds because they have both unpaired spins and charge. However, relatively few synthetic applications of alkene radical anions have emerged due to a dearth of generally applicable and mild radical anion generation approaches. Precise control over the chemo- and stereoselectivity in alkene radical anion-mediated processes represents another long-standing challenge due to their high reactivity. To overcome these issues, here, we develop a new redox-neutral strategy that seamlessly merges photoredox and copper catalysis to enable the controlled generation of alkene radical anions and their orthogonal enantioselective cyanofunctionalization via distonic-like species. This new strategy enables highly regio-, chemo-, and enantioselective hydrocyanation, deuterocyanation, and cyanocarboxylation of alkenes without stoichiometric reductants or oxidants under visible light irradiation. This protocol provides a new blueprint for the exploration of the transformation potential of alkene radical anions.

Gramineous biomass is an excellent source of polysaccharide-based prebiotics. However, there are shortages of the preparation process due to just xylooligosaccharide (XOS) were exploited, only specific particles from crushed materials were selected and a single concentration of ethanol precipitate were collected. Herein, Bacillus subtilisS1702 fermented wheat bran, 121 °C autohydrolysis with 0.75 M citric acid assistance, 20, 50, 60, and 80% ethanol precipitation were successively adopted to obtained fractions WB20, WB50, WB60, and WB80. It was demonstrated that the combined process including incubation at 37 °C for 36 h by 13% incubation dose, followed by acid-assisted autohydrolysis for 30 min at a solid:liquid ratio of 1:5 (w/v, g/mL), induced the feruloylated arabinoxylan yield of 340.00 ± 0.95 mM, which was significantly higher than those of only autohydrolysis (220.25 ± 1.18 mM) or fermentation and then autohydrolysis without acid assistance (120.76 ± 1.32 mM) (p< 0.05). Furthermore, treatment by WB60 with moderate mass ratio of ferulic acid (FA) to glucan and arabinoxylan being 1:187 showed strong in vitro prebiotic activity based on highest total short-chain fatty acid output, the greatest ratios of butyric acid/acetic acid and Bifidobacteria/Escherichia-Shigella,which was better than those of administration of commercial XOS without FA, WB80 (1:136) and WB50 (1:218) with too higher or lower FA ratio. WB20 with the lowest FA ratio of 1:664 contained different complex polysaccharides and improved gut microbial diversities better than that of XOS. Overall, an appropriate concentration of ethanol precipitate with proper proportion of polyphenols to polysaccharides can improve gut redox imbalance better than purified or simple polysaccharides. This study will lay the foundation for making full use of bran prebiotic by using green technology.

Over past two years, a total of 39,918 hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) cases were reported, with 18,194 and 21,714 transplants performed in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Autologous HSCT accounted for 6562 cases (31%) in 2022, while allogeneic HSCT comprised 12,632 cases (69%). In 2023, the number of allogeneic HSCTs exceeded 15,000, maintaining a 69% share. Participation in the 2022 and 2023 surveys included 193 and 212 transplantation teams, respectively, from 27 provinces, municipalities, or autonomous regions. The leading indication of HSCT was acute leukemia, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and mixed phenotype acute leukemia, with a total of 17,421 cases. AML was the most common disease (10,339, 38%) for allogeneic HSCT, which was followed by ALL (5925 cases, 21%). Peripheral blood emerged as the primary source of stem cell grafts, utilized in 54% of matched sibling donor transplants and 77% of haploidentical donor transplants. The BuCy-based conditioning regimen was the most prevalent, used in 53% of allogeneic HSCT cases in the past two years. This survey offers a comprehensive overview of the current HSCT landscape and serves as a valuable resource for clinical practice.

Recent deep learning models for 3-D object detection (3DOD) based on LiDAR point clouds have exhibited promising performance in the detection of on-road objects. However, their performance is often constrained when detecting small objects like pedestrians and cyclists. Due to occlusions and their inherent volumes, the spatial and semantic information of small objects is relatively limited. Therefore, we propose a point distribution awareness network (PDANet) that emphasizes the structural distribution of objects, to enhance the extraction of positional, geometric, and semantic features. It comprises two modules: a multifeature adaptive perception (MFAP) module, enhancing local feature perception, and a semantic-aware downsampling module, enhancing the selection of foreground points. These modules can be used in a plug-and-play manner for point downsampling feature perception. They are then integrated as a branch into representative point-based (IA-SSD), point-voxel-based (PV-RCNN), and voxel-based (Centerpoint) detectors, resulting in PDA-SSD, PDA-PV-RCNN, and PDA-CenterPoint models. Through experiments on the ONCE dataset, the PDANet brought up the mean average precision (mAP) of all three types of baseline models by 3.03%, 4.60%, and 6.15%, respectively. Further experiments on the KITTI dataset illustrate an improvement in average precision (AP) of small objects up to 7.41%.

In this study, Xiao et al. show that a portion of Malat1 transcripts is exported to the cytoplasm during neuronal development. They demonstrate that depletion of neuronal Malat1 affects expression of pre- and postsynaptic proteins, and Malat1 is translated to produce a micropeptide regulated by synaptic activity, thus providing insight into a novel mechanism by which Malat1 can affect neuronal maturation and activity.

Sulfur mustard (SM) is a highly toxic chemical warfare agent that causes acute lung injury (ALI) and/or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). There are no effective therapeutic treatments or antidotes available currently to counteract its toxic effects. Our previous study shows that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs) could exert therapeutic effects against SM-induced lung injury. In this study, we explored the therapeutic potential of BMSC-derived exosomes (BMSC-Exs) against ALI and the underlying mechanisms. ALI was induced in mice by injection of SM (30 mg/kg, sc) at their medial and dorsal surfaces. BMSC-Exs (20 μg/kg in 200 μL PBS, iv) were injected for a 5-day period after SM exposure. We showed that BMSC-Exs administration caused a protective effect against pulmonary edema. Using a lung epithelial cell barrier model, BMSC-Exs (10, 20, 40 μg) dose-dependently inhibited SM-induced cell apoptosis and promoted the recovery of epithelial barrier function by facilitating the expression and relocalization of junction proteins (E-cadherin, claudin-1, occludin, and ZO-1). We further demonstrated that BMSC-Exs protected against apoptosis and promoted the restoration of barrier function against SM through upregulating G protein-coupled receptor family C group 5 type A (GPRC5A), a retinoic acid target gene predominately expressed in the epithelial cells of the lung. Knockdown of GPRC5A reduced the antiapoptotic and barrier regeneration abilities of BMSC-Exs and diminished their therapeutic effects in vitro and in vivo. BMSC-Exs-caused upregulation of GPRC5A promoted the expression of Bcl-2 and junction proteins via regulating the YAP pathway. In summary, BMSC-Exs treatment exerts protective effects against SM-induced ALI by promoting alveolar epithelial barrier repair and may be an alternative approach to stem cell-based therapy.

As a major contributor to neonatal death and neurological sequelae, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) lacks a viable medication for treatment. Oxidative stress induced by hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) predisposes neurons to ferroptosis due to the fact that neonates accumulate high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids for their brain developmental needs but their antioxidant capacity is immature. Ferroptosis is a form of cell death caused by excessive accumulation of iron-dependent lipid peroxidation and is closely associated with mitochondria. Mitophagy is a type of mitochondrial quality control mechanism that degrades damaged mitochondria and maintains cellular homeostasis. In this study we employed mitophagy agonists and inhibitors to explore the mechanisms by which mitophagy exerted ferroptosis resistance in a neonatal rat HIE model. Seven-days-old neonatal rats were subjected to ligation of the right common carotid artery, followed by exposure to hypoxia for 2 h. The neonatal rats were treated with a mitophagy activator Tat-SPK2 peptide (0.5, 1 mg/kg, i.p.) 1 h before hypoxia, or in combination with mitochondrial division inhibitor-1 (Mdivi-1, 20 mg/kg, i.p.), and ferroptosis inhibitor Ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1) (2 mg/kg, i.p.) at the end of the hypoxia period. The regulation of ferroptosis by mitophagy was also investigated in primary cortical neurons or PC12 cells in vitro subjected to 4 or 6 h of OGD followed by 24 h of reperfusion. We showed that HIBD induced mitochondrial damage, ROS overproduction, intracellular iron accumulation, lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis, which were significantly reduced by the pretreatment with Tat-SPK2 peptide, and aggravated by the treatment with Mdivi-1 or BNIP3 knockdown. Ferroptosis inhibitors Fer-1 and deferoxamine B (DFO) reversed the accumulation of iron and lipid peroxides caused by Mdivi-1, hence reducing ferroptosis triggered by HI. We demonstrated that Tat-SPK2 peptide-activated BNIP3-mediated mitophagy did not alleviate neuronal ferroptosis through the GPX4-GSH pathway. BNIP3-mediated mitophagy drove the P62-KEAP1-NRF2 pathway, which conferred ferroptosis resistance by maintaining iron and redox homeostasis via the regulation of FTH1, HO-1, and DHODH/FSP1-CoQ10-NADH. This study may provide a new perspective and a therapeutic drug for the treatment of neonatal HIE.

AimsTo investigate myopic maculopathy in Chinese children with high myopia and its association with choroidal and retinal changes.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included Chinese children aged 4–18 years with high myopia. Myopic maculopathy was classified by fundus photography and retinal thickness (RT) and choroidal thickness (ChT) in the posterior pole were measured by swept-source optical coherence tomography. A receiver operation curve was used to determine the efficacy of fundus factors in classifying myopic maculopathy.ResultsIn total, 579 children aged 12.8±3.2 years with a mean spherical equivalent of −8.44±2.20 D were included. The proportions of tessellated fundus and diffuse chorioretinal atrophy were 43.52% (N=252) and 8.64% (N=50), respectively. Tessellated fundus was associated with a thinner macular ChT (OR=0.968, 95% CI: 0.961 to 0.975, p<0.001) and RT (OR=0.977, 95% CI: 0.959 to 0.996, p=0.016), longer axial length (OR=1.545, 95% CI: 1.198 to 1.991, p=0.001) and older age (OR=1.134, 95% CI: 1.047 to 1.228, p=0.002) and less associated with male children (OR=0.564, 95% CI: 0.348 to 0.914, p=0.020). Only a thinner macular ChT (OR=0.942, 95% CI: 0.926 to 0.959, p<0.001) was independently associated with diffuse chorioretinal atrophy. When using nasal macular ChT for classifying myopic maculopathy, the optimal cut-off value was 129.00 µm (area under the curve (AUC)=0.801) and 83.85 µm (AUC=0.910) for tessellated fundus and diffuse chorioretinal atrophy, respectively.ConclusionA large proportion of highly myopic Chinese children suffer from myopic maculopathy. Nasal macular ChT may serve as a useful index for classifying and assessing paediatric myopic maculopathy.Trial registration numberNCT03666052.

Abstract: We conducted a prospective, randomized study to evaluate whether postoperative ureteral stenting is necessary after ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy. A total of 115 consecutive patients with distal or middle ureteral calculi amenable to ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy were prospectively randomized into stented group (n = 58) and nonstented group (n = 57). The stent was routinely placed in the treated ureter for 2 weeks. The outcomes were measured with postoperative patient symptoms, stone-free rates, early and late postoperative complications, and cost-effectiveness. The postoperative symptoms were measured with Ureteral Stent Symptom Questionnaire (USSQ). All patients completed a 12-week follow-up. There was no significant difference between two groups with respect to the patient age, stone size, stone location and mean operative time. According to the USSQ, the symptoms of the stented group were significantly worse compared to the nonstented group (P = 0.0001). In the stented group, two patients had high fever for 1 week after the operation, stent migration was found in two patients, and the stents had to be removed earlier in five patients because of severe pain or hematuria. The cost of the stented group was significantly higher than the nonstented group. The stone-free rate was 100% in both groups. No hydronephrosis or ureteral stricture was detected by intravenous pyelogram in the 12th week postoperative follow-up. In conclsion, we believe that routine stenting after ureteroscopic intracorporeal lithotripsy with the holmium laser is not necessary as long as the procedure is uncomplicated for distal or middle ureteral calculis less than 2 cm.

Fracture risk in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients is paradoxically increased despite no decrease in areal bone mineraldensity (BMD). This phenomenon, known as the “diabetic bone paradox”, has been attributed to various factorsincluding alterations in bone microarchitecture and composition, hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia, advancedglycation end products (AGEs), and comorbidities associated with T2D. Zhao et al. recently investigated therelationship between T2D and fracture risk using both genetic and phenotypic datasets. Their findings suggest thatgenetically predicted T2D is associated with higher BMD and lower fracture risk, indicating that the bone paradox isnot observed when confounding factors are controlled using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. However, inprospective phenotypic analysis, T2D remained associated with higher BMD and higher fracture risk, even afteradjusting for confounding factors. Stratified analysis revealed that the bone paradox may disappear when T2Drelatedrisk factors are eliminated. The study also highlighted the role of obesity in the relationship between T2Dand fracture risk, with BMI mediating a significant portion of the protective effect. Overall, managing T2D-relatedrisk factors may be crucial in preventing fracture risk in T2D patients.

Background:: Carbonic anhydrase 1 (CA1) has been found to be involved in osteogenesis and osteoclast in various human diseases, but the molecular mechanisms are not completely understood. In this study, we aim to use siRNA and lentivirus to reduce or increase the expression of CA1 in Dental follicle stem cells (DFSCs), in order to further elucidate the role and mechanism of CA1 in osteogenesis, and provide better osteogenic growth factors and stem cell selection for the application of bone tissue engineering in alveolar bone fracture transplantation. Methods:: The study used RNA interference and lentiviral vectors to manipulate the expression of the CA1 gene in DFSCs during in vitroosteogenic induction. The expression of osteogenic marker genes was evaluated and changes in CA1, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), and Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP2) were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting (WB). The osteogenic effect was assessed through Alizarin Red staining. Results:: The mRNA and protein expression levels of CA1, ALP, RUNX2, and BMP2 decreased distinctly in the si-CA1 group than other groups (p&lt; 0.05). In the Lentivirus-CA1 (LV-CA1) group, the mRNA and protein expressions of CA1, ALP, RUNX2, and BMP2 were amplified to varying degrees than other groups (p&lt; 0.05). Apart from CA1, BMP2 (43.01%) and ALP (36.69%) showed significant upregulation (p&lt; 0.05). Alizarin red staining indicated that the LV-CA1 group produced more calcified nodules than other groups, with a higher optical density (p&lt; 0.05), and the osteogenic effect was superior. Conclusions:: CA1 can impact osteogenic differentiation via BMP related signaling pathways, positioning itself upstream in osteogenic signaling pathways, and closely linked to osteoblast calcification and ossification processes.

A Brønsted acid catalyzed tandem Diels−Alder/aromatization reaction of 2-vinylindoles has been developed. The reaction provides a highly efficient and concise approach to 3-indolyl-substituted tetrahydrocarbazoles with various substituents in high yields under mild conditions.

The ent-kaurene synthase catalyses the formation of ent-kaurene through a multistep cyclization process, which is an essential step in the biosynthesis of many bioactive natural products. Channeling the key carbocation intermediates through different reaction pathways offers access to different diterpene scaffolds. Herein, we report that the F72Y mutation of the ent-kaurene synthase from Bradyrhizobium japonicumleads to the formation of tricyclic ent-rosa-5(10),15-diene and ent-pimara-8,15-diene as well as tetracyclic ent-kaurene. The combined computational and experimental studies suggest that Tyr72 serves as a general base for reshaping the catalytic function. This finding provides a promiscuous synthase for further engineering to improve its activity and selectivity, which can be used in the heterologous synthesis of ent-rosane and ent-pimarane diterpenoids.

It is very challenging to improve the dynamic response speed and stability of digital control system, due to the inherent defects of digital controller such as quantization effect and delay in sampling step. This brief proposes an adaptive logarithmic state feedback control (ALSFC) for three-phase grid-tied and off-grid inverters which can be specially applied in digital control system. In the state feedback control system, the feedback coefficient is designed as adaptive logarithmic function of the difference value between the actual state variable and the reference, so as to make the closed-loop system converge to new equilibrium point after about one switching cycle. Comparative experiments verify that the proposed control, carried out by digital controller, has the dynamic response characteristics of quasi one-switching-cycle with its response speed is significantly higher than that of PI control, and has good stability with lower THD.

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The parameters for survival prediction of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) combined with surgery are unclear. Here, we aimed to construct a nomogram for survival prediction of ESCC patients treated with NCRT combined with surgery based on pretreatment serological hepatic and renal function tests. A total of 174 patients diagnosed as ESCC were enrolled as a training cohort from July 2007 to June 2019, and approximately 50% of the cases (n= 88) were randomly selected as an internal validation cohort. Univariate and multivariate Cox survival analyses were performed to identify independent prognostic factors to establish a nomogram. Predictive accuracy of the nomogram was evaluated by Harrell’s concordance index (C-index) and calibration curve. ALT, ALP, TBA, TP, AST, TBIL and CREA were identified as independent prognostic factors and incorporated into the construction of the hepatic and renal function test nomogram (HRFTNomogram). The C-index of the HRFTNomogram for overall survival (OS) was 0.764 (95% CI 0.701–0.827) in the training cohort, which was higher than that of the TNM staging system (0.507 (95% CI 0.429–0.585), P< 0.001). The 5-year OS calibration curve of the training cohort demonstrated that the predictive accuracy of the HRFTNomogram was satisfactory. Moreover, patients in the high-risk group stratified by the HRFTNomogram had poorer 5-year OS than those in the low-risk group in the training cohort (27.4% vs. 80.3%,P< 0.001). Similar results were observed in the internal validation cohort. A novel HRFTNomogram might help predict the survival of locally advanced ESCC patients treated with NCRT followed by esophagectomy.

Emotional distress (ED), commonly characterized by symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, is prevalent in patients with cancer. Preclinical studies suggest that ED can impair antitumor immune responses, but few clinical studies have explored its relationship with response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Here we report results from cohort 1 of the prospective observational STRESS-LUNG study, which investigated the association between ED and clinical efficacy of first-line treatment of ICIs in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. ED was assessed by Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale. The study included 227 patients with 111 (48.9%) exhibiting ED who presented depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score ≥5) and/or anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item score ≥5) symptoms at baseline. On the primary endpoint analysis, patients with baseline ED exhibited a significantly shorter median progression-free survival compared with those without ED (7.9 months versus 15.5 months, hazard ratio 1.73, 95% confidence interval 1.23 to 2.43, P= 0.002). On the secondary endpoint analysis, ED was associated with lower objective response rate (46.8% versus 62.1%, odds ratio 0.54, P= 0.022), reduced 2-year overall survival rate of 46.5% versus 64.9% (hazard ratio for death 1.82, 95% confidence interval 1.12 to 2.97, P= 0.016) and detriments in quality of life. The exploratory analysis indicated that the ED group showed elevated blood cortisol levels, which was associated with adverse survival outcomes. This study suggests that there is an association between ED and worse clinical outcomes in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer treated with ICIs, highlighting the potential significance of addressing ED in cancer management. ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT05477979.

The effect of interaction between Ce and P on the microstructure and properties of copper has been rarely reported. In this study, it was investigated by utilising the OM, EPMA, SEM and TEM techniques, combined with conductivity and tensile tests. The results indicated that the grain size and conductivity of as-cast copper could be significantly influenced by the interaction. More importantly, the plasticity of as-cast copper did not seriously damage by the interaction, and the elongation of as-cast 3# (Cu-0.016P-0.075Ce) was still up to 39.3%. This is due to a strong binding force of the coherent interface between CeP and copper.

The effect of interaction between Ce and P on the microstructure and properties of copper has been rarely reported. In this study, it was investigated by utilising the OM, EPMA, SEM and TEM techniques, combined with conductivity and tensile tests. The results indicated that the grain size and conductivity of as-cast copper could be significantly influenced by the interaction. More importantly, the plasticity of as-cast copper did not seriously damage by the interaction, and the elongation of as-cast 3# (Cu-0.016P-0.075Ce) was still up to 39.3%. This is due to a strong binding force of the coherent interface between CeP and copper.

Objective: The purpose of this work is to develop a 3-channel endorectal coil (ERC-3C) structure to obtain higher signal-to-noise (SNR) and better parallel imaging performance for prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3T. Methods: The coil performance was validated by in vivo studies and the SNR, g-factor, and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) were compared. A 2-channel endorectal coil (ERC-2C) with two orthogonal loops and a 12-channel external surface coil were employed for comparison. Results: Compared with the ERC-2C with a quadrature configuration and the external 12-channel coil array, the proposed ERC-3C improved SNR performance by 23.9% and 428.9%, respectively. The improved SNR enables the ERC-3C to produce spatial high-resolution images of 0.24 mm × 0.24 mm × 2 mm (0.1152 μL) in the prostate area within 9 minutes. Conclusion: We developed an ERC-3C and validated its performance through in vivo MR imaging experiments. Significance: The results demonstrated the feasibility of an ERC with more than two channels and that a higher SNR can be achieved using the ERC-3C compared with an orthogonal ERC-2C of the same coverage.

In this article, we propose a method of realizing single mode VCSEL by expanding its higher order transverse mode more out of its gain region, while maintaining its fundamental mode inside. This will result in less optical gain for the VCSEL's higher order mode than that for its fundamental mode, and then result in the single mode output of the VCSEL. A Top Cavity and a Bottom Cavity are introduced into VCSEL's top and bottom DBR respectively to achieve this purpose. The mode expansion phenomenon is verified by simulation, and the VCSEL is fabricated. Finally, a single-mode VCSEL with a side-mode suppression ratio greater than 40 dB, a threshold current of 0.5 mA, and a maximum output power of 0.27 mW is obtained.