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A novel composite was fabricated by hybridizing terbium 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic MOF (TB-MOF) with Cx[6]. The obtained composite TB-Cx[6] possessed long-term stability and dispersion stability and was used for on-site analysis of the anti-COVID-19 disinfection product Prednis via a combing remote sampling technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atroposelective electrophilic sulfenylation of N‐aryl aminoquinone derivatives has been achieved for the first time. This transformation is enabled by a new chiral 6,6′‐disubstituted SPINOL‐derived sulfide catalyst, which was first synthesized and then successfully explored for catalyzing enantioselective reactions. Various axially chiral sulfur‐containing diarylamine derivatives were readily obtained in moderate to excellent yields with moderate to excellent enantioselectivities. A class of relatively flexible stereogenic C−N axes was easily constructed. The experimental results and a computational study suggested that an intramolecular N−H⋅⋅⋅S hydrogen bond is important for the stability of the C−N axis, which is consistent with our hypothesis. Density functional theory calculations revealed the origin of atroposelectivity and underscored the importance of catalyst rigidity in this sulfenylation reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atroposelective electrophilic sulfenylation of N‐aryl aminoquinone derivatives has been achieved for the first time. This transformation is enabled by a new chiral 6,6′‐disubstituted SPINOL‐derived sulfide catalyst, which was first synthesized and then successfully explored for catalyzing enantioselective reactions. Various axially chiral sulfur‐containing diarylamine derivatives were readily obtained in moderate to excellent yields with moderate to excellent enantioselectivities. A class of relatively flexible stereogenic C−N axes was easily constructed. The experimental results and a computational study suggested that an intramolecular N−H⋅⋅⋅S hydrogen bond is important for the stability of the C−N axis, which is consistent with our hypothesis. Density functional theory calculations revealed the origin of atroposelectivity and underscored the importance of catalyst rigidity in this sulfenylation reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Ti/SnO2–Sb–Cu–Zn electrode was prepared for the electrocatalytic oxidation of Acid Red 18 (AR18). The addition of Zn to the coating results in smaller surface cracks and greater roughness. When Cu and Zn coexist, high-index crystal planes are generated on smaller-sized grains formed on the coating surface, which allows the coating surface to adsorb oxygen. Sb5+ and the adjacent Cu2+–Zn2+ on the surface of the Cu–Zn co-doped coating are the advantageous active sites for adsorbed oxygen. The electrode exhibits a larger electrochemically active surface area and smaller electrochemical reaction resistance. The appearance of high-index crystal planes is beneficial to improve the electrocatalytic activity of the electrode, although the oxygen evolution potential of the electrode is not greatly improved. Cu–Zn co-doping produces synergistic mineralisation and enhances the ability to degrade AR18, and ˙OH is the main active species. During the thermal decomposition of the coating, Zn induces Cu to form more active sites on the high-index crystal planes of SnO2, a phenomenon that may be responsible for the synergistic production of more reactive oxygen species on the electrode surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peripheral nerve injury and reconstruction would lead to alteration of neural pathways. This is regarded as rewiring peripheral nerves, which could also be a trigger for the corresponding neural rewiring process in the brain. Brain plasticity subsequent to peripheral nerve reconstruction plays an important role in the functional recovery of limbs, which has attracted increasing concerns. The present study aimed to overview recent progress in neuroregeneration-related brain plasticity. Nerve transfer is a special technique of nerve reconstruction that usually leads to substantial peripheral neural rewiring and cortical reorganization. Nerve transfer-related shifting of motor representation was particularly discussed. We also emphasized rehabilitation strategies based on the current peripheral-central rewiring theory. Specific strategies based on neural plasticity were proposed for corresponding recovery stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genome editing technology has become one of the hottest research areas in recent years. Among diverse genome editing tools, the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR-associated proteins system (CRISPR/Cas system) has exhibited the obvious advantages of specificity, simplicity, and flexibility over any previous genome editing system. In addition, the emergence of Cas9 mutants, such as dCas9 (dead Cas9), which lost its endonuclease activity but maintains DNA recognition activity with the guide RNA, provides powerful genetic manipulation tools. In particular, combining the dCas9 protein and transcriptional activator to achieve specific regulation of gene expression has made important contributions to biotechnology in medical research as well as agriculture. CRISPR/dCas9 activation (CRISPRa) can increase the transcription of endogenous genes. Overexpression of foreign genes by traditional transgenic technology in plant cells is the routine method to verify gene function by elevating genes transcription. One of the main limitations of the overexpression is the vector capacity constraint that makes it difficult to express multiple genes using the typical Ti plasmid vectors from Agrobacterium. The CRISPRa system can overcome these limitations of the traditional gene overexpression method and achieve multiple gene activation by simply designating several guide RNAs in one vector. This review summarizes the latest progress based on the development of CRISPRa systems, including SunTag, dCas9-VPR, dCas9-TV, scRNA, SAM, and CRISPR-Act and their applications in plants. Furthermore, limitations, challenges of current CRISPRa systems and future prospective applications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transmitarray (TA) antenna has great research value based on its unique advantages of low profile, high gain, and flexible performance, especially in the field of spaceborne, airborne, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Unfortunately, traditional TA antennas are usually of flat structures, which lack conformal flexibility and installation simplicity in certain complex application scenarios. In this letter, a broadband bifocal conformal TA antenna is proposed based on a designed concave‐cylindrical‐shaped triple‐layer TA surface with phase modulation capability. The broadband bifocal conformal TA antenna is simulated, fabricated, and measured by assembling the TA surface with a dual‐mode conical horn as a feed antenna. To better demonstrate the beam scanning stability of the bifocal TA antenna, a monofocal TA antenna is designed and simulated as a comparison. Simulation and experimental results confirm that the proposed bifocal conformal TA antenna can achieve a high gain of 24.4 dBi at 30 GHz and a 3‐dB gain bandwidth of 13.3% (27.4–31.3 GHz) under normal incidence. Antenna peak gain fluctuation is less than 1 dB with a maximum beam scanning range of ±30∘ $\pm 3{0}^{\circ }$, which is much more stable than that of the monofocal TA antenna (3.6 dB). The proposed design can be a promising candidate in many military and civilian application scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is closely associated with a variety of pathophysiological process, providing energy for cell activities. However, it remains a huge challenge to develop a simple and sensitive ATP detection method. Herein, we describe an ultrasensitive approach for ATP detection by using an elegantly designed allosteric probe to bind with targets and to induce DNAzyme assisted triple signal recycles. To establish the approach, the allosteric probe is designed with three functional parts to bind with target ATP, to induce signal recycles and to assist chain extension. After recognition of ATP by allosteric probe, the triple signal recycles are initiated, including (i) released ATP-allosteric probe complex unfolds H1 probe, constituting the first signal recycle; (ii) DNAzyme based cleavage induces the second signal recycle; and (iii) chain extension induced release of ATP is the third signal recycle. Through a series of experiments, the approach exhibits a favorable ATP detection performance and shows a high anti-interference ability, indicating a potential application value in early diagnosis of diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is prevalent worldwide and is often challenged by treatment failure and recurrence due to resistance to radiotherapy. Here, we aimed to identify the elusive underlying molecular mechanisms of radioresistance in CRC.Methods: Weighted gene co-expression network analysis was used to identify potential radiation-related genes. Colony formation and comet assays and multi-target single-hit survival and xenograft animal models were used to validate the results obtained from the bioinformatic analysis. Immunohistochemistry was performed to examine the clinical characteristics of ALDH1L2. Co-immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence and flow cytometry were used to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying radioresistance.Results: Bioinformatic analysis, in vitro, and in vivo experiments revealed that ALDH1L2 is a radiation-related gene, and a decrease in its expression induces radioresistance in CRC cells by inhibiting ROS-mediated apoptosis. Patients with low ALDH1L2 expression exhibit resistance to radiotherapy. Mechanistically, ALDH1L2 interacts with thioredoxin (TXN) and regulates the downstream NF-κB signaling pathway. PX-12, the TXN inhibitor, overcomes radioresistance due to decreased ALDH1L2.Conclusions: Our results provide valuable insights into the potential role of ALDH1L2 in CRC radiotherapy. We propose that the simultaneous application of TXN inhibitors and radiotherapy would significantly ameliorate the clinical outcomes of patients with CRC having low ALDH1L2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Code reuse brings vulnerabilities in third-party library to many Internet of Things (IoT) devices, opening them to attacks such as distributed denial of service. Program-wide binary diffing technology can help detect these vulnerabilities in IoT devices whose source codes are not public. Considering the architectures of IoT devices may vary, we propose a data-aware program-wide diffing method across architectures and optimization levels. We rely on the defined anchor functions and call relationship to expand the comparison scope within the target file, reducing the impact of different architectures on the diffing result. To make the diffing result more accurate, we extract the semantic features that can represent the code by data flow dependence analysis. Earth mover distance is used to calculate the similarity of functions in two files based on semantic features. We implemented a proof-of-concept DAPDiff and compared it with baseline BinDiff, TurboDiff and Asm2vec. Experiments showed the availability and effectiveness of our method across optimization levels and architectures. DAPDiff outperformed BinDiff in recall and precision by 41.4% and 9.2% on average when making diffing between standard third-party library and the real-world firmware files. This proves that DAPDiff can be applicable for the vulnerability detection in IoT devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study, adopting the Foucauldian lenses of citizenship, investigates how a group of students understand the prevailing social discourses and how such understanding and perceptions influence students' sense of citizenship and coping strategies. Drawing on in-depth individual interviews with 28 participants from six universities in Hong Kong, the findings suggest that multiple factors have impacts on the university students' sense of citizenship, including the media as technologies to shape citizenship, the essentialized ideological differences as an apparatus of intervention to shape and act upon individuals, and the legitimacy and discordance of opinions among individuals within both physical and virtual communities. The participants were found to gradually develop an awareness of the discursive construction of the social. They were found to search for their sense of citizenship through (a) opting for one ideological stance and/or keeping silent to avoid being othered within the social discourses existing at the social, community, and family levels; (b) adopting different coping strategies when dealing with their confusion towards conflicting comments; or (c) developing news reading literacy and coming to the realization of the role media plays in discursively constructing new citizens and exercising influence over existing and potential members of communities. The implications of the findings for curriculum design and policy making to develop support measures to facilitate students' positive learning and whole-person development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cucurbitacin E (CuE) shows potential to handle airway remodelling. In the current study, the effects of CuE on nicotine‐induced airway remodelling were explored by focussing on its interaction with let‐7c‐5p/NGF axis. The potential microRNA (miR) as the therapeutic target for CuE treatment was determined using a microarray assay. Changes in viability, inflammation and let‐7c‐5p/NGF pathway in nicotine‐treated bronchial epithelial cells (BECs) were detected under CuE treatment (5 μM). The pathways were manipulated with let‐7c‐5p inhibitor. Mice were subjected to nicotine treatment and handled with CuE. Changes in pulmonary function and structure were detected. Based on the microarray data, let‐7c‐5p was selected as the therapeutic target. Viability and inflammation of BECs were induced by nicotine and then restored by CuE. At molecular level, nicotine suppressed let‐7c‐5p while induced NGF, FN1 and COLIA levels. The effects of CuE were counteracted by let‐7c‐5p inhibition. In a mouse model, nicotine impaired the function and structure of lung, which was attenuated by CuE and then re‐impaired by let‐7c‐5p antagomir. Collectively, CuE protected against nicotine‐induced airway remodelling and partially depended on the induction of let‐7c‐5p; our future work would pay more attention to other downstream effectors of the miR to promote the treatment of nicotine‐induced pulmonary disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Point cloud is a set of three-dimensional points in arbitrary order, which is a popular representation of 3D scene in autonomous navigation and immersive applications in recent years. Compression becomes an inevitable issue due to the huge data volume of point cloud. In order to effectively compress attributes of those points, proper reordering is important. The existing voxel-based point cloud attributes compression scheme uses a naive scan for points reordering. In this paper, we theoretically analyzed 3C properties of point cloud, i.e., Compactness, Clustering and Correlation, of different scan-orders defined by different space filling curves and disclosed that the Hilbert curve can provide the best spatial correlation preservation compared with Z-order and Gray-coded curves. It is also statistically verified that the Hilbert curve always has the best ability of attributes correlation preservation for point clouds with different sparsity. We also proposed a fast and iterative Hilbert address code generation method to implement points reordering. The Hilbert scan-order could be combined with various point cloud attribute coding methods. Experiments show that the correlation preservation feature of the proposed scan-order can bring us 6.1% and 6.5% coding gain for prediction and transform coding, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), a complication of herpes zoster, significantly impacts the quality of life of affected patients. Research indicates that early intervention for pain can reduce the occurrence or severity of PHN. This study aims to develop a predictive model and scoring table to identify patients at risk of developing PHN following acute herpetic neuralgia, facilitating informed clinical decision-making.We conducted a retrospective review of 524 hospitalized patients with herpes zoster at The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University from December 2020 to December 2023 and classified them according to whether they had PHN, collecting a comprehensive set of 30 patient characteristics and disease-related indicators, 5 comorbidity indicators, 2 disease score values, and 10 serological indicators. Relevant features associated with PHN were identified using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). Then, the patients were divided into a training set and a test set in a 4:1 ratio, with comparability tested using univariate analysis. Six models were established in the training set using machine learning methods: support vector machines, logistic regression, random forest, k-nearest neighbor, gradient boosting, and neural network. The performance of these models was evaluated in the test set, and a nomogram based on logistic regression was used to create a PHN prediction score table.Eight non-zero characteristic variables selected from the LASSO regression results were included in the model, including age [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.812, p < 0.001], Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) (AUC = 0.792, p < 0.001), receiving treatment time (AUC = 0.612, p < 0.001), rash recovery time (AUC = 0.680, p < 0.001), history of malignant tumor (AUC = 0.539, p < 0.001), history of diabetes (AUC = 0.638, p < 0.001), varicella-zoster virus immunoglobulin M (AUC = 0.620, p < 0.001), and serum nerve-specific enolase (AUC = 0.659, p < 0,001). The gradient boosting model outperformed other classifier models on the test set with an AUC of 0.931, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.882–0.980), accuracy of 0.886 (95% CI 0.809–0.940). In the test set, our predictive scoring table achieved an AUC of 0.820 (95% CI 0.869–0.970) with accuracy of 0.790 (95% CI 0.700–0.864).This study presents a methodology for predicting the development of postherpetic neuralgia in shingles patients by analyzing historical case data, employing various machine learning techniques, and selecting the optimal model through comparative analysis. In addition, a logistic regression model has been used to create a scoring table for predicting the postherpetic neuralgia.Methods: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), a complication of herpes zoster, significantly impacts the quality of life of affected patients. Research indicates that early intervention for pain can reduce the occurrence or severity of PHN. This study aims to develop a predictive model and scoring table to identify patients at risk of developing PHN following acute herpetic neuralgia, facilitating informed clinical decision-making.We conducted a retrospective review of 524 hospitalized patients with herpes zoster at The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University from December 2020 to December 2023 and classified them according to whether they had PHN, collecting a comprehensive set of 30 patient characteristics and disease-related indicators, 5 comorbidity indicators, 2 disease score values, and 10 serological indicators. Relevant features associated with PHN were identified using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). Then, the patients were divided into a training set and a test set in a 4:1 ratio, with comparability tested using univariate analysis. Six models were established in the training set using machine learning methods: support vector machines, logistic regression, random forest, k-nearest neighbor, gradient boosting, and neural network. The performance of these models was evaluated in the test set, and a nomogram based on logistic regression was used to create a PHN prediction score table.Eight non-zero characteristic variables selected from the LASSO regression results were included in the model, including age [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.812, p < 0.001], Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) (AUC = 0.792, p < 0.001), receiving treatment time (AUC = 0.612, p < 0.001), rash recovery time (AUC = 0.680, p < 0.001), history of malignant tumor (AUC = 0.539, p < 0.001), history of diabetes (AUC = 0.638, p < 0.001), varicella-zoster virus immunoglobulin M (AUC = 0.620, p < 0.001), and serum nerve-specific enolase (AUC = 0.659, p < 0,001). The gradient boosting model outperformed other classifier models on the test set with an AUC of 0.931, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.882–0.980), accuracy of 0.886 (95% CI 0.809–0.940). In the test set, our predictive scoring table achieved an AUC of 0.820 (95% CI 0.869–0.970) with accuracy of 0.790 (95% CI 0.700–0.864).This study presents a methodology for predicting the development of postherpetic neuralgia in shingles patients by analyzing historical case data, employing various machine learning techniques, and selecting the optimal model through comparative analysis. In addition, a logistic regression model has been used to create a scoring table for predicting the postherpetic neuralgia.Results: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), a complication of herpes zoster, significantly impacts the quality of life of affected patients. Research indicates that early intervention for pain can reduce the occurrence or severity of PHN. This study aims to develop a predictive model and scoring table to identify patients at risk of developing PHN following acute herpetic neuralgia, facilitating informed clinical decision-making.We conducted a retrospective review of 524 hospitalized patients with herpes zoster at The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University from December 2020 to December 2023 and classified them according to whether they had PHN, collecting a comprehensive set of 30 patient characteristics and disease-related indicators, 5 comorbidity indicators, 2 disease score values, and 10 serological indicators. Relevant features associated with PHN were identified using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). Then, the patients were divided into a training set and a test set in a 4:1 ratio, with comparability tested using univariate analysis. Six models were established in the training set using machine learning methods: support vector machines, logistic regression, random forest, k-nearest neighbor, gradient boosting, and neural network. The performance of these models was evaluated in the test set, and a nomogram based on logistic regression was used to create a PHN prediction score table.Eight non-zero characteristic variables selected from the LASSO regression results were included in the model, including age [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.812, p < 0.001], Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) (AUC = 0.792, p < 0.001), receiving treatment time (AUC = 0.612, p < 0.001), rash recovery time (AUC = 0.680, p < 0.001), history of malignant tumor (AUC = 0.539, p < 0.001), history of diabetes (AUC = 0.638, p < 0.001), varicella-zoster virus immunoglobulin M (AUC = 0.620, p < 0.001), and serum nerve-specific enolase (AUC = 0.659, p < 0,001). The gradient boosting model outperformed other classifier models on the test set with an AUC of 0.931, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.882–0.980), accuracy of 0.886 (95% CI 0.809–0.940). In the test set, our predictive scoring table achieved an AUC of 0.820 (95% CI 0.869–0.970) with accuracy of 0.790 (95% CI 0.700–0.864).This study presents a methodology for predicting the development of postherpetic neuralgia in shingles patients by analyzing historical case data, employing various machine learning techniques, and selecting the optimal model through comparative analysis. In addition, a logistic regression model has been used to create a scoring table for predicting the postherpetic neuralgia.Conclusion: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), a complication of herpes zoster, significantly impacts the quality of life of affected patients. Research indicates that early intervention for pain can reduce the occurrence or severity of PHN. This study aims to develop a predictive model and scoring table to identify patients at risk of developing PHN following acute herpetic neuralgia, facilitating informed clinical decision-making.We conducted a retrospective review of 524 hospitalized patients with herpes zoster at The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University from December 2020 to December 2023 and classified them according to whether they had PHN, collecting a comprehensive set of 30 patient characteristics and disease-related indicators, 5 comorbidity indicators, 2 disease score values, and 10 serological indicators. Relevant features associated with PHN were identified using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). Then, the patients were divided into a training set and a test set in a 4:1 ratio, with comparability tested using univariate analysis. Six models were established in the training set using machine learning methods: support vector machines, logistic regression, random forest, k-nearest neighbor, gradient boosting, and neural network. The performance of these models was evaluated in the test set, and a nomogram based on logistic regression was used to create a PHN prediction score table.Eight non-zero characteristic variables selected from the LASSO regression results were included in the model, including age [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.812, p < 0.001], Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) (AUC = 0.792, p < 0.001), receiving treatment time (AUC = 0.612, p < 0.001), rash recovery time (AUC = 0.680, p < 0.001), history of malignant tumor (AUC = 0.539, p < 0.001), history of diabetes (AUC = 0.638, p < 0.001), varicella-zoster virus immunoglobulin M (AUC = 0.620, p < 0.001), and serum nerve-specific enolase (AUC = 0.659, p < 0,001). The gradient boosting model outperformed other classifier models on the test set with an AUC of 0.931, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.882–0.980), accuracy of 0.886 (95% CI 0.809–0.940). In the test set, our predictive scoring table achieved an AUC of 0.820 (95% CI 0.869–0.970) with accuracy of 0.790 (95% CI 0.700–0.864).This study presents a methodology for predicting the development of postherpetic neuralgia in shingles patients by analyzing historical case data, employing various machine learning techniques, and selecting the optimal model through comparative analysis. In addition, a logistic regression model has been used to create a scoring table for predicting the postherpetic neuralgia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tachycardia‐induced cardiomyopathy is poorly recognized pre‐ablation. It remains unclear of better patient selection and timing for catheter ablation in persistent atrial fibrillation (PerAF) with heart failure (HF). Methods: Consecutive patients with PerAF and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <50% referred for AF ablation were retrospectively included. The impact of LV size, heart rate (HR), and LVEF pre‐ablation were analyzed for assessing LV systolic function recovery, defined as LVEF increase of ≥20% or to a value ≥55% after ablation. Results: A total of 120 patients (2017–2020) were included. After 19 ±14 months post ablation, LVEF improvement was similar in patients with normal or dilated LV (18.3 ± 9.4% vs. 16.1 ± 10.8%, P =.25), rapid or controlled HR (19.5 ± 10% vs. 16.1 ± 10%, P =.09), but higher in HFrEF (HF with reduced EF) than HFmrEF (HF with midrange EF) (21.6 ± 10.3% vs. 14.9 ± 9.3%, P <.01). There was more LV systolic function recovery in those with normal to moderate LV dilation (80%, odds ratio [OR] 15.22, P <.01), HR ≥80 bpm (79%, OR 5.38, P <.01) and HFmrEF (80%, OR 4.03, P <.01). The overall AF freedom was similar between normal and dilated LV (59% vs. 62%, P =.95), rapid and controlled HR (67% vs. 56%, P =.18), and HFmrEF and HFrEF (65% vs. 50%, P =.19). Conclusion: Catheter ablation is effective independent of LV dilation, rate control or HFrEF. Patients with normal to moderate LV dilation, resting HR ≥80 bpm and HFmrEF may be candidates for early PerAF ablation to achieve LVEF normalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The progression of osteoarthritis (OA) requires the involvement of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation, in which circTMOD3 plays an important role. We predicted that circTMOD3 could interact with miR-27a to inhibit LPS-induced chondrocyte apoptosis and explored the interaction between circTMOD3 and miR-27a in OA. Materials and methods: Total RNAs were isolated from cartilage tissue samples from both OA patients (n = 62) and controls (n = 62) and subjected to RT-qPCRs to determine circTMOD3 and miR-27a (mature and premature) expression. Subcellular location of circTMOD3 and its interaction with premature miR-27a were analyzed using subcellular fractionation assay and RNA-RNA pulldown assay, respectively. CircTMOD3 was overexpressed in chondrocytes to study its role in miR-27a maturation. The roles of circTMOD3 and miR-27a in LPS-induced chondrocyte apoptosis were analyzed using cell apoptosis assay. Results: CircTMOD3 and premature miR-27a levels were increased while mature miR-27a level was decreased in OA. CircTMOD3 was located in both nuclear and cytoplasm fractions of chondrocytes. CircTMOD3 directly interacted with premature miR-27a and promoted LPS-induced chondrocyte apoptosis, while miR-27a inhibited LPS-induced chondrocyte apoptosis. Moreover, circTMOD3 overexpression suppressed miR-27a maturation and reduced the inhibitory effects of miR-27a on LPS-induced chondrocyte apoptosis. Conclusion: CircTMOD3 suppresses miR-27a maturation in OA to promote chondrocyte apoptosis induced by LPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monolithic ionogel electrolyte membranes (IGEMs) based on gelling scaffolds and ionic liquids have aroused intensive interest because of their broad processing compatibility, nonflammability, and favorable thermal and electrochemical features. However, the absence of functional scaffolds that concurrently enable high mechanical strength and Li+ transportability of IGEMs constrains the battery power and safety. Herein, a task‐specific IGEM monolith featuring high Li+ conductivity and outstanding thermal stability is demonstrated, whereby electrospun positively charged poly(ionic liquid) nanofibers serve as a thermotolerant scaffold for the IGEM. Regulating the Li+ environment in the IGEM enables the shift from the sluggish vehicular to fast structural Li‐ion transport mode. With the unique IGEM, the solid‐state Li||LiFePO4 cells achieve improved rate capability and good cyclability in a wide temperature range from 0 to 90 °C. Furthermore, practical solid‐state Li||LiFePO4 pouch cells with a cathode capacity of ≈2 mAh cm−2 have also been demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks remain a persistent nuisance on the Internet. They exploit the fact that the Internet lacks centralized access control. Since this vulnerability was a core design decision of the early Internet, DDoS attacks have persisted. This article presents the technologies and tools that are used in DDoS, followed by a timeline of the major DDoS incidents. This is followed by a discussion of the primary classes of DDoS incidents and how the computing ecosystem enables DDoS. Early attacks were related to hacker culture, but their focus quickly changed to commercial exploitation. There have also been a number of political uses of DDoS, including cyberwar, hacktivism, and terrorism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondrial-targeting therapy is considered an important strategy for cancer treatment. (3-Carboxypropyl) triphenyl phosphonium (CTPP) is one of the candidate molecules that can drive drugs or nanomedicines to target mitochondria via electrostatic interactions. However, the mitochondrial-targeting effectiveness of CTPP is low. Therefore, pH-sensitive polymer–liposome complexes with charge-conversion copolymers and CTPP-containing cationic liposomes were designed for efficiently delivering an anti-cancer agent, ceramide, into cancer cellular mitochondria. The charge-conversion copolymers, methoxypoly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(methacrylic acid-g-histidine), were anionic and helped in absorbing and shielding the positive charges of cationic liposomes at pH 7.4. In contrast, charge-conversion copolymers became neutral in order to depart from cationic liposomes and induced endosomal escape for releasing cationic liposomes into cytosol at acidic endosomes. The experimental results reveal that these pH-sensitive polymer–liposome complexes could rapidly escape from MCF-7 cell endosomes and target MCF-7 mitochondria within 3 h, thereby leading to the generation of reactive oxygen species and cell apoptosis. These findings provide a promising solution for cationic liposomes in cancer mitochondrial-targeting drug delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study established an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method to study the pharmacokinetics of four antiepileptic drugs, lamotrigine, oxcarbazepine, lacosamide, and topiramate, in rats after oral administration. The gradient elution was performed on a UPLC HSS T3 (2.1 mm × 100 mm, 1.8 μm) column with acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. Protein precipitation by acetonitrile was adopted for plasma sample pretreatment. Electrospray- (ESI-) positive/negative ion switching and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) modes were adopted for ion quantitative determination of antiepileptic drugs. UPLC-MS/MS detection and Drug and Statistics (DAS) software fitting were performed to blood samples collected from rats after oral administration of lamotrigine, oxcarbazepine, lacosamide, and topiramate (5 mg/kg). All drugs examined showed linearity within 5–5000 ng/ml (R2 > 0.9987), the intraday accuracy was within 92%–108%, and the interday accuracy was within 93%–109%. The relative standard deviations (RSD) of intraday and interday were less than 15%. The matrix effect was within 91%–105%, and the recovery was better than 88%. The established UPLC-MS/MS method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of lamotrigine, oxcarbazepine, lacosamide, and topiramate in rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Directed greybox fuzzing (DGF) is an effective method to detect vulnerabilities of the specified target code. Nevertheless, there are three main issues in the existing DGFs. First, the target vulnerable code of the DGFs needs to be manually selected, which is tedious. Second, DGFs mainly leverage distance information as feedback, which neglects the unequal roles of different code snippets in reaching the targets. Third, most of the existing DGFs need the source code of the test programs, which is not available for binary programs. In this paper, we propose a vulnerability-oriented directed binary fuzzing framework named VDFuzz, which automatically identifies the targets and leverages dynamic information to guide the fuzzing. In specific, VDFuzz consists of two components, a target identifier and a directed fuzzer. The target identifier is designed based on a neural-network, which can automatically locate the target code areas that are similar to the known vulnerabilities. Considering the inequality of code snippets in reaching the given target, the directed fuzzer assigns different weights to basic blocks and takes the weights as feedback to generate test cases to reach the target code. Experimental results demonstrate that VDFuzz outperformed the state-of-the-art fuzzers and was effective in vulnerability detection of real-world programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel thiochroman-4-one derivatives incorporating carboxamide and 1, 3, 4-thiadiazole thioether moieties were synthesized. Bioassay results indicated that the EC50 values of compound 6-chloro-N-(5-(methylthio)-1, 3, 4-thiadiazol-2-yl)-4-oxothiochromane-2-carboxamide (5a) against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae (Xoo) and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. Citri (Xac) were 24 and 30 μg/mL, respectively, which were even better than those of bismerthiazol and thiadiazole copper. Meanwhile, compound 6-methyl-4-oxo-N-(5-(propylthio)-1, 3, 4-thiadiazol-2-yl)thiochromane-2-carboxamide (5m) showed a better antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea (B. cinerea), with an inhibition rate of 69%, than carbendazim. As far as we know, this is the first report on the antibacterial and antifungal activities of this series of novel thiochroman-4-one derivatives incorporating carboxamide and 1, 3, 4-thiadiazole thioether moieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Define the impact of socio-demographic co-variates on outcomes of persons with newly-diagnosed chronic phase chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). Methods: Data of 961 consecutive subjects with newly-diagnosed CML were integrated for these outcomes in multi-variable Cox regression analyses after adjusting for confounders and interactions. Results: Elder age was associated with less use of a 2nd generation TKI as initial therapy. Household registration, comorbidity(ies) and education level were associated with use of a generic rather than branded TKI as initial therapy. Subjects with lower education level were more likely to be diagnosed with CML because of leukaemia-related symptoms. Rural registration and lower education level were also associated with a greater likelihood of switching TKI-therapy. Lower education level was associated with lower likelihood of achieving MMR [HR = 0.8 (0.7, 0.9), p = 0.002], MR4.5 [HR = 0.8 (0.7, 1.0), p = 0.055], and poor FFS [HR = 1.7 (1.3, 2.5); p < 0.001], PFS [HR = 2.0 (1.1, 5.0); p = 0.014], CML-related survival [HR = 2.5 (1.0, 10.0); p = 0.060] and survival [HR = 2.5 (1.0, 10.0); p = 0.043]. Males had lower rates of MMR and MR4.5 and worse FFS, but not survival compared with females. Being married was associated with a higher rate of MR4.5, fewer failures, progressions, and deaths. Conclusion: Socio-demographic co-variates have a strong impact on therapy choice and responses in persons with newly-diagnosed CML, including circumstances of diagnosis, risk category and prognosis, use of initial TKI, switching TKIs, response to TKI-therapy, and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Using the client satisfaction approach, this study examined university students' perceived attributes and benefits of a leadership subject which attempts to promote student well-being. We also studied the psychometric properties of the related evaluation tool. Method: Undergraduate students who enrolled in the course over 6 years (2013/14 to 2018/19) in a university in Hong Kong completed a subjective outcome evaluation tool (N =10,484). Results: The evaluation tool possesses acceptable convergent validity, concurrent validity, and factorial validity. Students showed positive perceptions of the course, instructors, and benefits of the course. Conclusion: Findings suggest that university students had favorable perceptions of this credit-bearing leadership development subject based on the positive youth development approach. This subject serves as a good prototype for teachers, social workers, and allied professionals to develop and evaluate similar programs targeting university students. Social workers and teachers can also use the validated tool in research and evaluation contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-silica (>70 wt% SiO2) magmas are usually believed to form via shallow crustal-level fractional crystallization of intermediate magmas. However, the broad applicability of this model is controversial, because the required crystal-melt separation processes have rarely been documented globally up to now. The ca. 50 Ma Nyemo composite pluton of the Gangdese batholith belt in southern Tibet, which comprises intrusive rocks with intermediate- to high-silica compositions (65-78 wt%), offers a unique opportunity for substantiating the coexistence of extracted melts and complementary silicic cumulates in one of Earth's most complete transcrustal silicic magmatic systems. The Nyemo pluton intrusive rocks exhibit similar zircon Hf isotopic compositional ranges (mean εHf(t) = +5.7 to +8.3), suggesting a common, non-radiogenic magma source with crustal assimilation in the deep crust. Yet, these rocks have distinct geochemical characteristics. High-silica miarolitic and rapakivi granites are strongly depleted in Ba, Sr, and Eu, and their zircon trace elements show extremely low Eu/Eu* and Dy/Yb. In contrast, monzogranite is relatively enriched in Ba and Sr with minor Eu anomalies, and the zircon trace elements are characterized by relatively high Eu/Eu* and Dy/Yb. Therefore, we propose that the high-silica granites represent highly fractionated melt extracted from a mush reservoir at unusually low storage pressure (∼99-119 MPa), and that the monzogranite constitutes the complementary residual silicic cumulates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cyanide is a natural metabolite that exists widely in plants, and it is speculated to be involved in the regulation of various growth and development processes of plants in addition to being regarded as toxic waste. Previous studies have shown that exogenous cyanide treatment helps to improve seed germination, but the mechanism is still unclear. In this study, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Alisa Craig) was used as the material, and the effects of cyanide pretreatment at different concentrations on tomato seed germination were investigated. Results: The results showed that exogenous application of a lower concentration of cyanide (10 μmol/L KCN) for 12 h strongly increased the tomato seed germination rate. RNA-Seq showed that compared with the control, a total of 15,418 differentially expressed genes (P<0.05) were obtained after pretreatment with KCN for 12 h, and in the next 12 h, a total of 13,425 differentially expressed genes (P<0.05) were regulated. GO and KEGG analyses demonstrated that exogenous KCN pretreatment was involved in regulating the expression (mainly downregulation) of seed storage proteins, thereby accelerating the degradation of stored proteins for seed germination. In addition, KCN pretreatment was also involved in stimulating glycolysis, the TCA cycle and oxidative phosphorylation. Notably, it is shown that KCN acted on the regulation of plant hormone biosynthesis and perception, i.e., down-regulated the gene expression of ABA biosynthesis and signal transduction, but up-regulated the expression of genes related to GA biosynthesis and response. Consistent with this, plant hormone measurements confirmed that the levels of ABA were reduced, but GA levels were induced after pretreatment with KCN. Conclusion: These findings provide new insights into the regulation of seed germination by cyanide, that is cyanide-mediated seed germination occurs in a time- and dose-dependent manner, and is related to the mobilization of energy metabolism and the regulation of some plant hormone signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Synaptophysin (SYN), chromogranin A (CGA), CD56 and insulinoma-associated protein 1 (INSM1) are proposed neuroendocrine (NE) markers used for diagnosis of pulmonary NE tumors. These NE markers have been identified in subsets of non-NE tumors requiring differential diagnosis, thus we sought to explore new NE markers. Methods: We evaluated the immunohistochemical expression of SOX11, a transcription factor involved in neurogenesis, in pulmonary NE tumors and large cell carcinomas (LCCs). Results: We found that SOX11 showed a sensitivity similar to INSM1 and CGA, and less than SYN and CD56 in small cell lung carcinomas (SCLCs) and large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (LCNECs). While SOX11 is more specific than the other four markers for diagnosis of high-grade neuroendocrine carcinomas (HG-NECs) because 1) None of LCCs (0/63), the most challenging non-NE tumor type for differential diagnosis due to overlapped morphology with LCNECs displayed SOX11 positivity. While expression of at least one of SYN, CGA, CD56 or INSM1 was identified in approximately 60% (18/30) of LCCs. 2) SOX11 was only expressed in 1 of 37 carcinoid tumors in contrast to diffuse expression of SYN, CGA, CD56 and INSM1. In HG-NECs, we noticed that SOX11 was a good complementary marker for SCLC diagnosis as it was positive in 7 of 18 SYN−/CGA−/CD56− SCLCs and 3 of 8 SYN−/CGA−/CD56−/INSM1− SCLCs, and SOX11 positivity in 4 of 6 SYN−/CGA−/CD56− cases previously diagnosed as LCCs with NE morphology provides additional evidence of NE differentiation for reclassification into LCNECs, which was further confirmed by electromicroscopical identification of neurosecretory granules. We also found SOX11 expression cannot predict the prognosis in patients with HG-NECs. Conclusions: Therefore, SOX11 is a useful complementary transcriptional NE marker for diagnosis and differential diagnosis of SCLC and LCNEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Understanding consumers' health information needs across all stages of the pregnancy trajectory is crucial to the development of mechanisms that allow them to retrieve high-quality, customized, and layperson-friendly health information. Objective: The objective of this study was to identify research gaps in pregnancy-related consumer information needs and available information from different sources. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of CINAHL, Cochrane, PubMed, and Web of Science for relevant articles that were published from 2009 to 2019. The quality of the included articles was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program. A descriptive data analysis was performed on these articles. Based on the review result, we developed the Pregnancy Information Needs Ontology (PINO) and made it publicly available in GitHub and BioPortal. Results: A total of 33 articles from 9 countries met the inclusion criteria for this review, of which the majority were published no earlier than 2016. Most studies were either descriptive (9/33, 27%), interviews (7/33, 21%), or surveys/questionnaires (7/33, 21%); 20 articles mentioned consumers' pregnancy-related information needs. Half (9/18, 50%) of the human-subject studies were conducted in the United States. More than a third (13/33, 39%) of all studies focused on during-pregnancy stage; only one study (1/33, 3%) was about all stages of pregnancy. The most frequent consumer information needs were related to labor delivery (9/20, 45%), medication in pregnancy (6/20, 30%), newborn care (5/20, 25%), and lab tests (6/20, 30%). The most frequently available source of information was the internet (15/24, 63%). PINO consists of 267 classes, 555 axioms, and 271 subclass relationships. Conclusions: Only a few articles assessed the barriers to access to pregnancy-related information and the quality of each source of information; further work is needed. Future work is also needed to address the gaps between the information needed and the information available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a series of novel thiochromanone derivatives containing an acylhydrazone moiety were designed and synthesized. Their structures were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and HRMS. Bioassay results indicated that most of the target compounds exhibited good in vitro antibacterial activities against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicolaby (Xoc), and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Xac). Especially, compound methyl 6-chloro-4-(2-(4-fluorobenzoyl)hydrazineylidene)thiochromane-2-carboxylate (4f) revealed the best antibacterial activities against Xoo, Xoc, and Xac, with the EC50 values of 15, 28, and 24 μg/mL, respectively, compared with Bismerthiazol and Thiodiazole copper. As far as we know, this is the first report on the antibacterial activity of this series of novel thiochromanone derivatives containing an acylhydrazone moiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, a typical microwave hydrothermal-assisted synthesis method is utilized to fabricate Co/Sn co-doped Cu 3 SbSe 4 materials. Experimental results demonstrate that the formation of a nanoscale Co 9 Se 8 phase occurs when the solid solubility of Co is exceeded. This phase effectively enhances phonon scattering at the grain boundary's high-density dislocation region, leading to a significant reduction in lattice thermal conductivity. Simultaneously, the interface between Co 9 Se 8 and Cu 3 SbSe 4 exhibits an energy filtering effect, resulting in an improved Seebeck coefficient. The maximum zT value of 0.62 is achieved in the Cu 3 Sb 0.96 Co 0.04 Se 4 sample. To further regulate the carrier concentration, Sn atoms are introduced, leading to peak power factor and zT values of 865.98 μW·m−1·K−2 and 0.72, respectively. The incorporation of Co and Sn doping contributes to the enhancement of mechanical properties by reinforcing covalent bonds. Mechanical property testing of the materials indicates an improvement in mechanical performance upon doping with Co and Sn. This study provides valuable insights into the in-situ introduction of a second phase through element doping, thereby enhancing the comprehensive thermoelectric properties of Cu 3 SbSe 4 -based materials. Moreover, it establishes an experimental foundation for subsequent investigations into the materials' mechanical properties. • Co 9 Se 8 phase effectively enhances phonon scattering at the grain boundary region. • The energy filtering effect results in an improved Seebeck coefficient. • Sn doping was further performed to optimize the carrier concentration. • The mechanical properties enhanced by the strengthen of the covalent bonds. • The zT max of the Co/Sn co-doped sample was 0.72 at 673 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to investigate the flow structure and energy dissipation mechanism within centrifugal pump impellers. The velocity fields at the mid-sections of the flow passages of 4- and 5-blade impellers were measured under various flow rates using the Time-resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (TR-PIV) technique; the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis was performed to extract flow structures with different scales; the dissipation rate was estimated using the large-eddy PIV method; the correlation between turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and dissipation rate was measured using the cross-correlation analysis. The findings are as follows: impeller with more uniform and stable flow, the scale and energy contribution of large-scale structures in lower order modes are smaller, leading to higher impeller efficiency; large-scale structures identified in the low-order modes correspond to locations of high TKE and dissipation areas; the high velocity gradients within the impeller passage and the interactions between large-scale flow structures encourage the breakup of large-scale turbulent structures into dissipative-scale structures; the correlation between TKE and dissipation rate reflects the extent to which large-scale flow structures within the impeller passage break up into dissipative scales. • The fluid in the impeller passages will be more uniform and stable the greater the fluid's capacity to follow the blades. • The "jet-wake" region is the primary dissipation zone in the impeller passages. • High-velocity gradients and the interaction of large-scale structures enhance the decomposition of turbulent structures. • The correlation of TKE and dissipation rate reflects the degree of large-scale structures break up into dissipation scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mogrol, the aglycone of well-known sweeter mogrosides, shows potent anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, forty-two mogrol derivatives bearing various pharmacophores with oxygen or nitrogen atoms were designed and synthesized via structural modification at C 24 site, and their anti-inflammatory activity were screened against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells. Compared with mogrol, most of derivatives exhibited stronger inhibition of NO production without cytotoxicity. In particular, compound B5 that contained an indole motif effectively suppressed the secretion of inflammatory mediators including TNF-α and IL-6, and inhibited the expression levels of TLR4, p-p65 and iNOS proteins. Molecular docking showed that the active B5 interacted with amino acid residues of iNOS protein through π-π stacking and hydrophobic interactions with binding affinity value of −12.1 kcal/mol, which was much stronger than mogrol (−8.9 kcal/mol). These results suggest that derivative B5 is a promising anti-inflammatory molecule and the strategy of hybridizing indole skeleton on mogrol is worthy for further attention. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic raised the concern about social media addiction (SMA), especially among adolescents. The current study aimed to assess the prevalence of adolescents' SMA in Hong Kong before and during the pandemic, to examine the effects of general parenting behaviors and Internet-specific parenting practices by fathers and mothers respectively on adolescents' SMA, and to analyze the moderating roles of general parenting behaviors in the relationship between Internet-specific parental practices and adolescents' SMA. This study employed a two-wave longitudinal design. A total of 878 secondary school students (53.9% were girls, age = 13.19 ± 0.52 years at wave 1) in Hong Kong completed a questionnaire-based survey in 2019 and 2020. Paired-samples proportions tests revealed that there was no significant change in the prevalence of adolescents' SMA between the pre-pandemic (10.7%) and post-pandemic (9.7%) periods. Multiple regression analyses indicated that paternal responsiveness was negatively and maternal responsiveness was positively associated with adolescents' SMA. Surprisingly, both paternal and maternal reactive restrictive mediations were positively associated with adolescents' SMA. Interaction analyses showed that paternal responsiveness moderates the effects of paternal co-use on adolescents' SMA, and maternal demandingness moderates the effects of maternal rule-setting on adolescents' SMA. The findings called for more comprehensive theoretical models that consider the interplay between general parenting behaviors and Internet-specific parenting, and highlighted the need for tailored interventions for fathers and mothers, respectively. Moreover, the counterproductive effect of reactive restrictive mediation deserves attention from researchers, social workers, and parents. • The prevalence of adolescents' social media addiction (SMA) in Hong Kong did not change after the pandemic. • Paternal responsiveness was negatively and maternal responsiveness was positively related to adolescents' SMA. • Both paternal and maternal reactive restrictive mediations were positively associated with adolescents' SMA. • Paternal responsiveness moderates the effects of paternal co-use on adolescents' SMA. • Maternal demandingness moderates the effects of maternal rule-setting on adolescents' SMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of remote sensing methods to accurately measure cloud properties and their spatiotemporal changes has been widely welcomed in many fields of atmospheric research. The Nanjing Joint Institute for Atmospheric Sciences (NJIAS) Himawari-8/9 Cloud Feature Dataset (HCFD) provides a comprehensive description of cloud features over the East Asia and west North Pacific regions for the 7-year period from April 2016 to December 2022. Multiple cloud variables, such as cloud mask, phase/type, top height, optical thickness, and particle effective radius, as well as snow, dust, and haze masks, were generated from the visible and infrared measurements of the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) on board the Japanese geostationary satellites Himawari-8 and Himawari-9 using a series of recently developed cloud retrieval algorithms. Verifications with the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) 1 km cloud layer product and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level-2 cloud product (MYD06) demonstrate that the NJIAS HCFD gives higher skill scores than the Japanese Himawari-8/9 operational cloud product for all cloud variables except for cloud particle effective radius. The NJIAS HCFD even outperforms the MYD06 in nighttime cloud detection; cloud-top height, pressure, and temperature estimation; and infrared-only cloud-top phase determination. All evaluations are performed at the nominal 2 km scale, not including the effects of sub-pixel cloudiness or very thin cirrus. Two examples are presented to demonstrate applications of the NJIAS HCFD for climate and typhoon research. The NJIAS HCFD has been published in the Science Data Bank (https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.09950 , Zhuge 2023a; https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.09953 , Zhuge 2023b; https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.09954 , Zhuge 2023c; https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.10158 , Zhuge 2023d; https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.09945 , Zhuge 2023e). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phthalate esters (PAEs), the most commonly produced and used plasticizers, are widely used in plastic products and agroecosystems, posing risks to agricultural products and human health. However, current research on PAE pollution characteristics in agricultural soils in China is not comprehensive; affecting factors and relationships with microplastics and plasticizer organophosphate esters have not been sufficiently considered. In this study, farmland soil samples were collected with field questionnaires on a national scale across mainland China. The results showed that the detection rate of PAEs was 100% and the Σ 16 PAEs concentrations were 23.5 - 903 μg/kg. The level of PAEs was highest in the greenhouse, and significantly higher than that in mulched farmland (p < 0.05). The PAE concentration in northwestern China was the lowest among different physical geographic zones. PAEs in farmlands posed a low cancer risk to Chinese people. PAE pollution in farmlands was significantly (p < 0.05) affected by agronomic measures (such as disposal method), environmental factors, and socioeconomic factors. Overall, PAEs were significantly and positively correlated (p < 0.05) with organophosphate esters but not with microplastics. This study aims to provide scientific data for relevant prevention and control policies, as well as actionable recommendations for pollution reduction. [Display omitted] • The phthalate ester (PAE) concentration was highest in greenhouses on different agricultural lands. • The farmland in northwestern China was the least contaminated by PAEs. • PAEs in farmland soils pose a low cancer risk to Chinese people. • The disposal method prominently affected PAE pollution in farmland soils. • PAEs may not indicate microplastics in farmland soils within huge regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NLRP3 inflammatory vesicles are a polymer of cellular innate immunity composed of a pair of proteins. The continuous activation of NOD-like receptor pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammatory vesicles induces the occurrence and enhancement of inflammatory response. In this study, a series of 3, 4-dihydronaphthalene-1(2 H)-one derivatives (DHNs, 6a-u , 7a-e , 8a-n) were synthesized and characterized by NMR and HRMS. We evaluated the cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory activity of all compounds in vitro , and selected 7a substituted by 7-Br in A-ring and 2-pyridylaldehyde in C-ring as effective lead compounds. Specifically, 7a can block the assembly and activation of NLRP3 inflammasome by down-regulating the expression of NLPR3 and apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC), and inhibiting the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and other inflammatory mediators. In addition, 7a inhibits the phosphorylation of inhibitor kappa B alpha (IκBα) and NF- κ B/p65 and the nuclear translocation of p65, thereby inhibiting nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) signaling. Molecular docking analysis confirmed that 7a could reasonably bind the active sites of NLRP3, ASC and p65 proteins. Therefore, 7a is predicted as a potential NLRP3 inflammatory vesicle inhibitor and deserves further research and development. Forty nitrogen-containing heterocyclic substituted DHNs were synthesized. Bromine and N -methylpiperazine substituted 7a exhibit lower toxicity and higher anti-inflammatory activity. 7a can block I κ Bα activation and phosphorylation of p65 and reduce the expression of NLRP3 to inhibit NF- κ B and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. [Display omitted] • Forty nitrogen-containing heterocyclic substituted DHNs were synthesized. • Bromine and N -methylpiperazine substituted 7a exhibited lower toxicity and higher anti-inflammatory activity. • 7a inhibited LPS-induced secretion of inflammatory cytokines and nuclear translocation of p65 in RAW246.7 cells. • 7a can block I κ Bα activation and phosphorylation of p65 to inhibit NF- κ B and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is the first time that the room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) properties of a calcium-based metal–organic framework (named CaL-3) based on H 2 PZDC were studied. CaL-3 exhibits remarkable afterglow lasting 5 s at room temperature, which is mainly attributed to the unique framework structure of the Ca-MOF. [Display omitted] • The Ca-based MOF（named CaL-3) from H 2 PZDC is prepared at milder conditions. • CaL-3 shows efficient phosphorescence at room temperature. • Phosphorescence lifetime of CaL-3 exceeds 1 s at 77 K. • CaL-3 exhibits remarkable afterglow lasting 5 s at room temperature. A 3D calcium-based metal–organic framework (Ca-MOF) (named CaL-3) is obtained with 2,3-pyrazine-dicarboxylic acid (H 2 PZDC) and Ca(NO 3) 2 ·4H 2 O. It is the first time that the room-temperature phosphorescence properties of Ca-MOF based on H 2 PZDC were studied. Notably, CaL-3 exhibits a remarkable afterglow lasting 5 s at room temperature, which is mainly attributed to the unique framework structure of the Ca-MOF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing global trend toward mobile electrification is primarily driven by the rising popularity of electric vehicles, leading to an unprecedented surge in demand for lithium-ion batteries. As a result, the importance of battery recycling has become increasingly apparent. Battery recycling aims to recover valuable materials from both spent batteries and battery manufacturing scraps. By recycling these resources, the reliance on raw material extraction is reduced, which benefits resource conservation and minimizes the need for new mining operations. While significant attention has been given to the recycling of spent batteries, less emphasis has been placed on the recycling and recovery of battery scraps. However, it is important to recognize that many gigafactories are still taking steps to improve their manufacturing processes, and end-of-life batteries take approximately 10 years to become suitable for recycling, the manufacturing scraps will serve as the primary sources for recycling in this decade. This review delves into the progress in recycling technologies associated with battery manufacturing scraps, shedding light on the challenges, opportunities, and evolving perspectives surrounding battery manufacturing scrap recycling. We aim to contribute to the knowledge base of battery manufacturing scrap recycling and promote a more comprehensive understanding of the subject. • Definitions of spent batteries and battery manufacturing scraps specified. • Comprehensive evaluation of battery manufacturing scraps for battery recycling. • In-depth analysis of the generation of battery manufacturing scraps. • Critical review of the present research on battery manufacturing scrap recycling. • Outlook on the challenges and perspectives for battery manufacturing scrap recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A high ZT of > 1.5 is achieved at 703 K in Sc/Te co-doped Mg 3.2 Sb 1.5 Bi 0.5. • Both Sc Mg and Te Bi point effects improve the overall thermoelectric performance. • First-principles DFT calculations are introduced to guide the overall material design. • Single parabolic band model confirms the optimized carrier density and ZT. Mg 3+ δ X 2 (X = Sb, Bi) based Zintl phases possess characteristics, such as non-toxicity, cost-effectiveness, ease of fabrication, and a wide range of working temperatures, showing high thermoelectric potential as a n-type thermoelectric material. However, there exists a relative research gap in understanding the underlying mechanisms behind improving their thermoelectric performance through doping, and the corresponding influence on the micro/nanostructures of the materials. Here, guided by the first-principles calculations, we design Mg 3.2 Sb 1.5 Bi 0.5 -based thermoelectric Zintl phases co-doped with Sc and Te. Computational results indicate that the substitution of Mg with Sc as a cationic site dopant and Bi with Te as an anionic site dopant can effectively shift the Fermi level into the conduction band, leading to a significant increase in carrier concentration. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the co-doping, exhibiting a high power factor exceeding 20 μW cm−1 K−2 at 703 K. Furthermore, detailed micro/nanostructural characterizations revealed that doping induces a high density of point defects causing extensive lattice distortions. These lattice imperfections effectively scatter phonons, validating the achieved low thermal conductivity of 0.93 W m−1 K−1. As a result, an improved ZT value of 1.53 was obtained at 703 K in Sc 0.01 Mg 3.19 Sb 1.5 Bi 0.47 Te 0.03 bulk material. Additionally, we found that Sc doping significantly enhances mechanical properties, including elastic modulus, hardness, shear strength, and compressive strength, which is practically meaningful for its application in real device scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ionic liquid [dibmim]Cl with a dedicated electron pathway for electron stripping were designed and synthesized for metal dissolution which exhibited high metal dissolution rate for Au, Pd, and Cu, the recollected and recycled ionic liquid showed consistent metal leaching yields for 5 cycles. The metal dissolution mechanism was also exposed according to experimental and calculational results. [Display omitted] • Task-specific ionic liquid for highly efficient Au, Pd, Cu dissolution. • Rational design and construction of electron pathway in cation for electron stripping from metal nanoparticles. • Environmental benign dissolution system for metal recovery from secondary sources. A task-specific ionic liquid ([dibmim]Cl) showing a high dissolution rate for noble metals was reported herein, and the dissolution mechanism of Pd as representative of noble metals, was deduced from a series of characterization. The electron stripping and dissolution mechanism process was further verified using DFT calculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To recycle high-value lithium-ion battery components, it is imperative to efficiently separate electrode materials from current collector foils and to separate cathodes from anodes. This study investigates the delamination behaviors of cathodes and anodes from their respective current collectors in aqueous media. Whereas anode films can easily detach from copper foils in water, the delamination of cathode films does not exhibit the same behavior in water; instead, the cation exchange reaction results in lithium leaching and aluminum corrosion in the presence of water. A buffer solution with surfactant additives has been designed to prevent aluminum corrosion and to improve solution wetting behavior, thereby facilitating cathode delamination. The delamination difference enables the sequential recovery of electrode materials and metal foils at different separation stages, simplifying the traditionally intricate processes within a one-pot recovery system. The recovered materials retain their crystal structure and morphology, and there are no signs of aluminum corrosion or residues on the metal foils. The sequential separation technique achieves nearly 100% separation efficiency for electrode materials from metal foils and over 98% separation efficiency for cathode and anode materials. • Complete anode-copper separation: achieved 100% delamination efficiency. • Buffer and surfactant prevent aluminum corrosion and enhance cathode delamination. • One-pot recovery: streamlined electrode/metal and anode/cathode separation process. • Material integrity retained: Crystal structure preserved; no corrosion observed. • Sustainable recycling: aqueous method for high-efficiency component reclamation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biothiols are the main antioxidants in regulating the redox balance and resisting oxidative stress in various biological processes, but the long detection time of current fluorescent probes hinders their rapid imaging in vitro and in vivo. To reveal the influx of biothiols, we rationally develop an ortho -activation approach to accelerate the reaction between the probe and biothiols, by introducing electron-withdrawing fluorine atom into the ortho -site of the phenolic hydroxyl group in the NIR probe to generate an ortho -inductive effect. The ortho -fluorine helps to increase the chemical reactivity of the molecular structure, resulting in a significantly shorter detection time (within 5 min) as compared to previous reports (> 20 min for acrylates-based probes in aqueous solution). Based on this approach, our near-infrared probe 2F-RBX can sensitively and efficiently detect endogenous biothiols in living HepG2 cells and in vivo. These data suggest that ortho -activation is a simple and flexible approach to construct sensitive fluorescent probes for rapid imaging of biothiols, and perhaps other molecules in future, under biological circumstances. [Display omitted] • Rational design of an ortho -activation strategy to develop a NIR probe. • A novel turn-on NIR fluorescent probe rapidly detecting biothiols. • Capable of detecting endogenous biothiols in living cells. • Applicable to in vivo imaging in living mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cells and tissues in an inflammatory state are usually hypoxic. The hypoxic environment can affect the differentiation of immune cells and produce Hypoxia-inducible Factor-1α (HIF-1α). Inflammation is also a major contributor to the development and deterioration of Myasthenia Gravis (MG). There are limited studies on the immunopathological mechanism and targeted therapy associated with MG exacerbated with inflammation. This research aimed to explore whether BAY 87–2243 (HIF-1α inhibitor) ameliorates the symptoms of the Experimental Autoimmune Myasthenia Gravis (EAMG) inflammation model and study its regulatory mechanism on cellular immunity and humoral immunity. We first establish the EAMG inflammation model using Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), BAY 87-2243 was applied to the EAMG inflammation model and its therapeutic effects were evaluated in vivo and in vitro experiments. The proportion of Treg cells was increased whereas Th1, Th17, and Th1/17 cells were decreased in BAY 87-2243-treated EAMG inflammation model. BAY 87-2243 ameliorated the acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) loss and the complement deposited at the neuromuscular junction of the EAMG inflammation model, declined the levels of IFN-γ, IL-17, and IL-6 in serum, and further attenuated responses in the germinal center and reduced the antibody levels by inhibiting the IL-6-dependent STAT3 axis. BAY 87-2243 restored the balance of CD4+T cell subsets and reduced the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines, thus acting as both an immune imbalance regulator and anti-inflammatory. The current study suggests that HIF-1α might be a potential target for the treatment of MG exacerbated with inflammation. BAY 87-2243 which targets HIF-1α inhibits the differentiation of CD4+T cells into pro-inflammatory T cells (Th1, Th17, Th1/17 cells) and promotes the differentiation into anti-inflammatory T cells (Treg cells), reestablishes the balance between CD4+T cell subsets, decreased the production of the proinflammatory cytokines by inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB pathway, and reduces the level of IgG secreted by B cells via regulating IL-6/STAT3 axis, thus regulating the cellular and humoral immunity of EAMG inflammation model rats. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prone position ventilation is a widely used lung protection ventilation strategy. The strategy is more convenient to implement in children compared to adults. Due to the precise mechanism of improving oxygenation function, development of pediatric prone ventilation technology has been largely focused on children with acute respiratory distress syndrome. There is a paucity of high-quality studies investigating the effects of prone position ventilation after pediatric cardiac surgery. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of prone position ventilation in infants who develop postoperative acute lung injury after surgery for congenital heart disease.Methods: A single-center, randomized controlled trial of pediatric patients with acute lung injury after surgery for congenital heart disease who will receive prone position ventilation or usual care (control group). A total of 68 children will be enrolled according to the inclusion criteria. The main outcome measures will be lung compliance and oxygenation index. The secondary outcomes will be duration of mechanical ventilation, length of stay in cardiac intensive care unit, reintubation rate, and complication rate.Discussion: This study will investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of prone position ventilation techniques in children who develop postoperative acute lung injury after surgery for congenital heart disease. The results may help inform strategies to improve airway management after surgery for congenital heart disease.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04607993 . Initially registered on 29 October 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Code-switching (CS) is prevalent in bilingual communication. With the bibliometric method CiteSpace, this paper gives an overview of the 1319 bibliometric records (1998–2018) on CS selected from the Web of Science. A co-occurring keyword network and a co-citation network of these publications were constructed. Analyses on the high-frequency keywords, document co-citation, co-cited reference clusters, publications with centrality betweenness and citation bursts have been conducted. The results indicate that the landscape of CS research has been expanded from the initial focus on the lexical/conceptual aspect to today's in-depth explorations on language contact, language control, systematic pedagogy, etc. Topics related to 'multimodality', 'translanguaging', 'switch costs' and 'automatic speech recognition' can represent the emerging trends of CS studies in various perspectives, such as linguistics, social science, cognitive science and computer science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, using botanical active component thiochromanone as the lead compound, a series of novel thiochromanone derivatives containing an oxime or oxime ether moiety were designed and synthesized. The half‐maximal effective concentration (EC50) values of compound 4a against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicolaby (Xoc), and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Xac) were 6, 10, and 15 μg/ml, respectively, which were superior to those of Bismerthiazol and Thiodiazole‐copper. Meanwhile, compound 4a also revealed better antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea, with the EC50 value of 18 μg/ml, than that of Carbendazim. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the antibacterial and antifungal activities of this series of novel thiochromanone derivatives containing an oxime or oxime ether moiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we report an EPR-based method for protease enzymatic characterization and inhibitor screening. This method utilizes dual paramagnetically-labeled probes consisting of a nitroxide spin probe and a Gd3+ ion flanking a peptide that could be specifically cleaved by protease caspase-3. Distance-dependent dipolar coupling between the two paramagnetic centers can be modulated by the protease cleavage activity, thus providing a straightforward and convenient method for protease activity detection using EPR spectroscopy under ambient conditions. Moreover, time-course monitoring of the protease-catalyzed cleavage reaction demonstrated that this EPR-based method could not only allow a direct quantitative enzymatic kinetic assessment, but also could be used for protease inhibitor screening, thus holding great potential in drug discovery studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Embryonic stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (ESC-EVs) possess therapeutic potential for a variety of diseases and are considered as an alternative of ES cells. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common acute and severe disease in clinical practice, which seriously threatens human life and health. However, the roles and mechanisms of ESC-EVs on AKI remain unclear. Methods: In this study, we evaluated the effects of ESC-EVs on physiological repair and pathological repair using murine ischemia-reperfusion injury-induced AKI model, the potential mechanisms of which were next investigated. EVs were isolated from ESCs and EVs derived from mouse fibroblasts as therapeutic controls. We then investigated whether ESC-EVs can restore the structure and function of the damaged kidney by promoting physiological repair and inhibiting the pathological repair process after AKI in vivo and in vitro. Results: We found that ESC-EVs significantly promoted the recovery of the structure and function of the damaged kidney. ESC-EVs increased the proliferation of renal tubular epithelial cells, facilitated renal angiogenesis, inhibited the progression of renal fibrosis, and rescued DNA damage caused by ischemia and reperfusion after AKI. Finally, we found that ESC-EVs play a therapeutic effect by activating Sox9+ cells. Conclusions: ESC-EVs significantly promote the physiological repair and inhibit the pathological repair after AKI, enabling restoration of the structure and function of the damaged kidney. This strategy might emerge as a novel therapeutic strategy for ESC clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral candidosis is the most common fungal infection that frequently occurs in patients debilitated by other diseases or conditions. No candidosis happens without a cause; hence oral candidosis has been branded as a disease of the diseased. Prior research has identified oral candidosis as a mark of systemic diseases, such as hematinic deficiency, diabetes mellitus, leukopenia, HIV/AIDS, malignancies, and carbohydrate-rich diet, drugs, or immunosuppressive conditions. An array of interaction between Candida and the host is dynamic and complex. Candida exhibits multifaceted strategies for growth, proliferation, evasion of host defenses, and survival within the host to induce fungal infection. Oral candidosis presents a variety of clinical forms, including pseudomembranous candidosis, erythematous candidosis, angular cheilitis, median rhomboid glossitis, cheilocandidosis, juxtavermillion candidosis, mucocutaneous candidosis, hyperplastic candidosis, oropharyngeal candidosis, and rare suppurative candidosis. The prognosis is usually favorable, but treatment failure or recurrence is common due to either incorrect diagnosis, missing other pathology, inability to address underlying risk factors, or inaccurate prescription of antifungal agents. In immunocompromised patients, oropharyngeal candidosis can spread to the bloodstream or upper gastrointestinal tract, leading to potentially lethal systemic candidosis. This review therefore describes oral candidosis with regard to its pathophysiology and best practice for diagnosis, practical classification, and successful management [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]