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Continuous-variable remote state preparation in the microwave domain would allow to leverage the superconducting technology for quantum networks applications. Here, the authors show how to deterministically prepare squeezed Gaussian states across 35 cm using previously shared entanglement.

In recent years, two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted significant attention due to their distinctive properties, including exceptional mechanical flexibility and tunable electronic properties. Via the first-principles calculation, we investigate the effect of strain on the electronic properties of monolayer SnP2S6 and GeP2S6. We find that monolayer SnP2S6 is an indirect bandgap semiconductor, while monolayer GeP2S6 is a direct bandgap semiconductor. Notably, under uniform biaxial strains, SnP2S6 undergoes an indirect-to-direct bandgap transition at 4.0% biaxial compressive strains, while GeP2S6 exhibits a direct-to-indirect transition at 2.0% biaxial tensile strain. The changes in the conduction band edge can be attributed to the high-symmetry point Γ being more sensitive to strain than K. Thus, the relocation of the conduction band and valence band edges in monolayer SnP2S6 and GeP2S6 induces a direct-to-indirect and indirect-to-direct bandgap transition, respectively. Consequently, the strain is an effective band engineering scheme which is crucial for the design and development of next-generation nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices.

Hippocampal network oscillations at gamma frequency band (γ-oscillation, 20-80 Hz) are synchronized synaptic activities generated by the interactions between the excitatory and inhibitory interneurons and are associated with higher brain function such as learning and memory. Despite extensive studies about the modulation of intracellular kinases on synaptic transmission and plasticity, little is known about the effects of these kinases on γ-oscillations. In this study, we examined the effects of several critical intracellular kinases such as cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), protein kinase B (PKB)/Akt, protein kinase C (PKC), extracellular-regulated protein kinases (ERK) and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), known to regulate synaptic transmission, on hippocampal γ-oscillations in vitro. We found that AMPK inhibitor but not PKA, PKC, or ERK inhibitor, strongly enhanced the power of γ-oscillation (γ-power) and that Akt inhibitor weakly increased γ-power. Western blot analysis confirmed that AMPK inhibitor reduced the expression of p-AMPK but not total AMPK. By using the slice whole cell voltage-clamp technique, we found that AMPK inhibitor increased the frequency but not amplitude of spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSC) and had no effect on either frequency or amplitude of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSC). Therefore, AMPK activation negatively modulates hippocampal γ-oscillation via modulation of the inhibitory neurons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A newly developed AA-stack bilayer graphene nanoribbon (BGN) with a closed edge designated as folded GN (FGN) which could be formed by folding a monolayer GN (MGN) is reported. The electron transport around the Dirac point in zigzag-edged FGNs (FZGNs) is found to be similar to those in zigzag-edged BGNs (BZGNs) while electron transport far from the Dirac point is similar to that in zigzag edged MGNs (MZGNs).

Some Chinese herbs are anti-thrombolysis, and anti-inflammatory, improves brain RNA content, promotes brain protein synthesis, enhances dopamine function, regulates brain hormones, and improves microcirculation in central nervous system that might improve, repair and rehabilitation from the stroke and brain injury. Specific Chinese herbs and their components, such as Acanthopanax, Angelica, could maintain the survival of neural stem cells, and Rhodiola, Ganoderma spore Polygala, Tetramethylpyrazine, Gardenia, Astragaloside and Ginsenoside Rg1 promoted proliferation of neural stem cells, and Rhodiola, Astragaloside promoted differentiation of neural stem cell into neuron and glia in vivo. Astragalus, Safflower, Musk, Baicalin, Geniposide, Ginkgolide B, Cili polysaccharide, Salidroside, Astragaloside, Antler polypeptides, Ginsenoside Rg1, Panax notoginseng saponins promoted proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells in vitro. Salvia, Astragalus, Ginsenoside Rg1, P. notoginseng saponins, Musk polypeptide, Muscone and Ginkgolide B promoted neural-directed differentiation of MSCs into nerve cells. These findings are encouraging further research into the Chinese herbs for developing drugs in treating patients of stroke and brain injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Green's function method, we investigate the spin transport properties of armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) under magnetic field and uniaxial strain. Our results show that it is very difficult to transform narrow AGNRs directly from semiconductor to spin gapless semiconductors (SGS) by applying magnetic fields. However, as a uniaxial strain is exerted on the nanoribbons, the AGNRs can transform to SGS by a small magnetic field. The combination mode between magnetic field and uniaxial strain displays a nonmonotonic arch-pattern relationship. In addition, we find that the combination mode is associated with the widths of nanoribbons, which exhibits group behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum microwave photonics aims at generating, routing, and manipulating propagating quantum microwave fields in the spirit of optical photonics. To this end, the strong nonlinearities of superconducting quantum circuits can be used to either improve or move beyond the implementation of concepts from the optical domain. In this context, the design of a well-controlled broadband environment for the superconducting quantum circuits is a central task. In this work, we place a superconducting transmon qubit in one arm of an on-chip Mach–Zehnder interferometer composed of two superconducting microwave beam splitters. By measuring its relaxation and dephasing rates we use the qubit as a sensitive spectrometer at the quantum level to probe the broadband electromagnetic environment. For frequencies near the qubit transition frequency, this environment can be well described by an ensemble of harmonic oscillators coupled to the transmon qubit. At low frequencies , we find experimental evidence for colored quasi-static Gaussian noise with a high spectral weight, as it is typical for ensembles of two-level fluctuators. Our work paves the way towards possible applications of propagating microwave photons, such as emulating quantum impurity models or a novel architecture for quantum information processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twisted graphene possesses unique electronic properties and applications, which have been studied extensively. Recently, the phonon properties of twisted graphene have received a great deal of attention. To the best of our knowledge, thermal transports in twisted graphene have been investigated little to date. Here, we study perpendicular and parallel transports in twisted few-layer graphene (T-FLG). It is found that perpendicular and parallel transports are both sensitive to the rotation angle θ between layers. When θ increases from 0° to 60°, perpendicular thermal conductivity κ⊥ first decreases and then increases, and the transition angle is θ = 30°. For the parallel transport, the relation between thermal conductivity κ|| and θ is complicated, because intra-layer thermal transport is more sensitive to the edge of layer than their stacking forms. However, the dependence of interlayer scattering on θ is similar to that of κ⊥. In addition, the effect of layer number on the thermal transport is discussed. Our results may provide references for designing the devices of thermal insulation and thermal management based on graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spin-polarized transport properties of Fe atomic chain adsorbed on zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) are investigated using the density-functional theory in combination with the nonequilibrium Green's function method. We find that the Fe chain has drastic effects on spin-polarized transport properties of ZGNRs compared with a single Fe atom adsorbed on the ZGNRs. When the Fe chain is adsorbed on the centre of the ZGNR, the original semiconductor transforms into metal, showing a very wide range of spin-polarized transport. Particularly, the spin polarization around the Fermi level is up to 100%. This is because the adsorbed Fe chain not only induces many localized states but also has effects on the edge states of ZGNR, which can effectively modulate the spin-polarized transports. The spin polarization of ZGNRs is sensitive to the adsorption site of the Fe chain. When the Fe chain is adsorbed on the edge of ZGNR, the spin degeneracy of conductance is completely broken. The spin polarization is found to be more pronounced because the edge state of one edge is destroyed by the additional Fe chain. These results have direct implications for the control of the spin-dependent conductance in ZGNRs with the adsorption of Fe chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly invasive disease with a high mortality rate. Our previous study found that Chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) as an endogenous metabolite can enhance the anti-tumor effect. Sorafenib has limited overall efficacy as a first-line agent in HCC, and combined with CDCA may improve its efficacy.MethodsHepG2 cells and Balb/c nude mice were used respectively for in vitro and in vivo experiments. Flow cytometry, Western blotting, HE and immunohistochemical staining and immunofluorescence were used to study the effects of CDCA combined with sorafenib on HepG2 cell growth and apoptosis-related proteins. Magnetic bead coupling, protein profiling and magnetic bead immunoprecipitation were used to find the targets of CDCA action. The effect of CDCA on EGFR/Stat3 signaling pathway was further verified by knocking down Stat3 and EGFR. Finally, fluorescence confocal, and molecular docking were used to study the binding site of CDCA to EGFR.ResultsIn this study, we found that CDCA enhanced the effect of sorafenib in inhibiting the proliferation, migration and invasion of HepG2 cells. Magnetic bead immunoprecipitation and protein profiling revealed that CDCA may enhance the effect of sorafenib by affecting the EGFR/Stat3 signaling pathway. Further results from in vitro and in vivo gene knockdown experiments, confocal experiments and molecular docking showed that CDCA enhances the efficacy of sorafenib by binding to the extracellular structural domain of EGFR.ConclusionThis study reveals the mechanism that CDCA enhances the inhibitory effect of sorafenib on HepG2 cell growth in vitro and in vivo, providing a potential new combination strategy for the treatment of HCC.

Introduction: Hemangioblastomas typically present throughout the neuroaxis, particularly within the cerebellum and spinal cord. A rare case of cystic hemangioblastoma within the quadrigeminal cistern is described. Case Report: A 18-year-old female presented with 3 weeks of worsening headaches and vomiting. Workup revealed multiple contrast enhancing lesions throughout the neuroaxis concerning for hemangioblastoma, with the largest cystic mass within the quadrigeminal cistern causing brainstem compression and hydrocephalus. The patient experienced an acute neurologic decompensation likely due to brainstem compression and hydrocephalus, which was temporized by cyst drainage and endoscopic third ventriculostomy. After neurological stabilization and Von Hippel Lindau disease workup, she underwent a suboccipital craniotomy and resection of the hemangioblastoma via a transcystic approach. Intraoperatively, the trochlear nerve was identified and preserved. Conclusion: Operative approaches to the quadrigeminal cistern typically include the infratentorial supracerebellar approach and the occipital transtentorial approach. Here, we describe a safe and efficacious transcystic approach to a quadrigeminal cistern hemangioblastoma.

Summary: The ability to probe the membrane potential of multiple genetically defined neurons simultaneously would have a profound impact on neuroscience research. Genetically encoded voltage indicators are a promising tool for this purpose, and recent developments have achieved a high signal-to-noise ratio in vivo with 1-photon fluorescence imaging. However, these recordings exhibit several sources of noise and signal extraction remains a challenge. We present an improved signal extraction pipeline, spike-guided penalized matrix decomposition-nonnegative matrix factorization (SGPMD-NMF), which resolves supra- and subthreshold voltages in vivo. The method incorporates biophysical and optical constraints. We validate the pipeline with simultaneous patch-clamp and optical recordings from mouse layer 1 in vivo and with simulated and composite datasets with realistic noise. We demonstrate applications to mouse hippocampus expressing paQuasAr3-s or SomArchon1, mouse cortex expressing SomArchon1 or Voltron, and zebrafish spines expressing zArchon1.

Since its emergence, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) has caused enormous economic losses to the global swine industry. The pathogenesis of PRRS remains under investigation. The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) causes reproductive disorders in pigs and respiratory in piglets, which is a 15 kb RNA virus that encodes 16 viral proteins, most of which exhibit multiple functions during the virus lifecycle. RAP1 (Ras-proximate-1), a small GTPase, is known to regulates cell adhesion across different cell types and is one of the most conserved telomere proteins. Thus, this study explored the effect of RAP1 after PRRSV infection. In this study, RAP1 did not participate in the adsorption and internalization process of PRRSV, however, it promoted viral RNA synthesis and enhanced PRRSV replication. Additionally, we discovered that RAP1 interacted with Nsp10 and the N protein. Specifically, the Myb domain of RAP1 primarily bound to the viral genome interacted with the N-terminal structural domain of the N protein, which contains an RNA-binding domain. Additionally, the C-terminal region of RAP1 interacted with the N-terminal domain of Nsp10. These results suggested that RAP1 is a critical factor in the PRRSV infection process, particularly in the context of viral RNA synthesis. RAP1 could be a potential target for the prevention and control of PRRSV., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Efficient gas sensors that can accurately detect and identify hydrogen sulfide are essential for various practical applications. Conventional resistive sensors often lack the necessary selectivity, which hampers timely and effective H 2 S detection. This study presents lead phosphate-based gas sensors specifically designed for H 2 S detection, which effectively eliminate interference effects. Notably, altering the metal element did not compromise the sensor's exceptional selectivity. The sensing mechanism behind this excellent selectivity is explained. The findings demonstrate the potential for developing high-performance phosphate-based gas sensors for use under ambient conditions and offer a strategic reference for designing highly selective sensors.

Repair of infectious bone defects remains a serious problem in clinical practice owing to the high risk of infection and excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) during the early stage, and the residual bacteria and delayed Osseo integrated interface in the later stage, which jointly creates a complex and dynamic microenvironment and leads to bone non-union. The melatonin carbon dots (MCDs) possess antibacterial and osteogenesis abilities, greatly simplifying the composition of a multifunctional material. Therefore, a multifunctional hydrogel containing MCDs (GH-MCD) is developed to meet the multi-stage and complex repair needs of infectious bone injury in this study. The GH-MCD can intelligently release MCDs responding to the acidic microenvironment to scavenge intracellular ROS and exhibit good antibacterial activity by inducing the production of ROS in bacteria and inhibiting the expression of secA2. Moreover, it has high osteogenesis and long-lasting antimicrobial activity during bone repair. RNA-seq results reveal that the hydrogels promote the repair of infected bone healing by enhancing cellular resistance to bacteria, balancing osteogenesis and osteoclastogenesis, and regulating the immune microenvironment. In conclusion, the GH-MCD can promote the repair of infectious bone defects through the programmed transformation of the microenvironment, providing a novel strategy for infectious bone defects., (© 2025 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Introduction: The objective of this research is to explore the possible link between markers of liver fibrosis and survival rates in a group of adults who have been diagnosed with both chronic kidney disease (CKD) and coronary artery disease (CAD)., Methods: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data (1999-2018) for participants with both CAD and CKD were analyzed. The Fibrosis-4 Index (FIB-4), Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Score (NFS), Forns index and Aspartate Aminotransferase/Alanine Aminotransferase (AST/ALT) ratio were identified as crucial biomarkers. All-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality were primary outcomes, assessed using Cox models, Kaplan-Meier curves, and ROC analysis., Results: A total of 1,192 CKD and CAD patients were included. The Cox regression analysis revealed substantial correlations between elevated FIB-4, NFS, Forns index and AST/ALT levels and a heightened risk of all-cause (HR 1.188, 95%CI 1.108-1.274; HR 1.145, 95%CI 1.069-1.227; HR 1.142, 95%CI 1.081-1.201; HR 1.316, 95%CI 1.056-1.639, respectively) and CVD mortality (HR 1.133, 95%CI 1.007-1.275; HR 1.155, 95%CI 1.024-1.303; HR 1.208, 95%CI 1.109-1.316 and HR 1.636, 95%CI 1.203-2.224, respectively). The ROC analysis indicated comparable predictive accuracy for all three biomarkers, with AST/ALT showing slightly superior performance., Conclusion: Liver fibrosis markers, including AST/ALT, NFS, Forns index and FIB-4, are significant mortality predictors in CAD-CKD patients. The AST/ALT ratio, being easily measurable, may serve as an effective predictive tool for risk stratification in this population., (The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Hematodinium perezi, a pathogenic dinoflagellate, is one of major epidemiological agents that lead to severe losses of cultured marine crustaceans in China. This study aimed to develop a novel, sensitive and specific detection method qualified for early surveillance and control of the disease caused by H. perezi. The present study established a TaqMan-MGB probe quantitative PCR (qPCR) method, targeting the first internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS 1) region of H. perezi by optimising reaction components. A high correlation coefficient (R 2  = 0.9996) was obtained in a standard curve with a 103.4% efficiency. No amplification was observed for the host's genome and pathogens other than H. perezi in the TaqMan-MGB probe qPCR assays, showing high specificity to H. perezi. When using the plasmid standard DNA as templates, the detection limit of the qPCR method was determined to be 5.66 copies/reaction and 10 times more sensitive than the conventional PCR. The TaqMan-MGB probe qPCR assays exhibited high repeatability, and the intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation (CV) ranged from 0.11% to 2.25% over a wide dynamic range of detection from 5.66 × 10 0 to 5.66 × 10 9 copies of targeting gene. The application was also validated on clinical samples, including those with low infection with H. perezi. This novel one-step TaqMan-MGB probe qPCR provides an option for surveillance and epidemiological investigations of H. perezi infection, with an advantage at the early infection stage., (© 2025 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: We intended to compare the predictive value for all-cause and cardiovascular deaths between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) derived from the European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) cystatin C-based formula, the EKFC creatinine-based formula, and Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) cystatin C- or creatinine-based formulas., Methods: Overall, 4,132 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2002 were included, and death information was obtained through the National Death Index. To compare predictive accuracy between EKFC eGFRcys (EKFC cystatin C-based formula), CKD-EPI eGFRcys (CKD-EPI cystatin C-based formula), EKFC eGFRcr (EKFC creatinine-based formula), and CKD-EPI eGFRcr (CKD-EPI creatinine-based formula), we conducted time-dependent receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves and reclassification analysis., Results: During a median follow-up of 17.4 years, a total of 1,987 all-cause and 530 cardiovascular deaths were confirmed. Restricted cubic splines analyses showed that reduced EKFC eGFRcys was linearly related to higher risks of all-cause and cardiovascular deaths (p for nonlinearity > 0.05). Time-dependent ROC curves suggested that EKFC eGFRcys exhibited higher predictive ability than CKD-EPI eGFRcys, EKFC eGFRcr, and CKD-EPI eGFRcr at 5-year and 10-year follow-ups. For 10-year all-cause deaths, EKFC eGFRcys yielded significant improvement over CKD-EPI eGFRcr (integrated discrimination improvement [IDI], 9.4%; net reclassification improvement [NRI], 39.7%). Similar improvement was observed in 10-year cardiovascular deaths when comparing EKFC eGFRcys to CKD-EPI eGFRcr (IDI, 6.7%; NRI, 45.1%)., Conclusion: The EKFC eGFRcys outperformed CKD-EPI eGFRcys, EKFC eGFRcr, and CKD-EPI eGFRcr in predicting all-cause and cardiovascular deaths, providing the possibility to utilize EKFC eGFRcys in the stratification of death risk among the general US population., (© 2025 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the relationship between apolipoproteins (ApoA1, ApoB, and the ApoB/A1 ratio) and the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and impaired kidney function, assessing their potential role in secondary prevention., Method: A prospective cohort of 1,640 patients with impaired kidney function who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention in China was analyzed. Patients were categorized based on the measurements of ApoA1, ApoB, and ApoB/A1 ratio. MACE, defined as a composite of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarctions, strokes, and unplanned revascularizations, was tracked post-procedure, with statistical analyses including Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox regression models to identify associations with apolipoproteins. Subgroup analyses according to kidney function were conducted., Result: During a median follow-up of 3.1 years, 324 MACE events were observed. Multivariable Cox regression analyses illustrated higher levels of ApoB and the ApoB/A1 ratio were significantly associated with increased MACE incidence (adjusted HR [95%CI] 1.668[1.044-2.666]; adjusted HR [95%CI] 2.231[1.409-3.533], respectively), while lower ApoA1 levels correlated with a higher risk (adjusted HR [95%CI] 0.505[0.326-0.782]). ROC curve analyses indicated comparable predictive performances to traditional risk factors like LDL cholesterol. Subgroup analysis revealed that the above association was not statistically significant in the moderate-to-severe renal impairment CAD patients (eGFR < 45 mL/min/1.73 m 2 )., Conclusion: Our findings illustrate that apolipoproteins, specifically ApoA1 and ApoB, along with their ratio, are significant predictors of major adverse cardiovascular events in CAD patients with impaired kidney function. These results emphasize the need for incorporating apolipoprotein measurements in secondary prevention strategies for this high-risk population., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The research adhered to the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Fuwai Hospital (Approval Number 2016–847). All participants provided written informed consent before their inclusion in the study. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Cellular metabolic status profoundly influences T cell differentiation, persistence, and anti-tumor efficacy. Our single-cell metabolic analyses of T cells reveal that diminished mannose metabolism is a prominent feature of T cell dysfunction. Conversely, experimental augmentation/restoration of mannose metabolism in adoptively transferred T cells via D-mannose supplementation enhances anti-tumor activity and restricts exhaustion differentiation both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, D-mannose treatment induces intracellular metabolic programming and increases the O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT)-mediated O-GlcNAcylation of β-catenin, which preserves Tcf7 expression and epigenetic stemness, thereby promoting stem-like programs in T cells. Furthermore, in vitro expansion with D-mannose supplementation yields T cell products for adoptive therapy with stemness characteristics, even after extensive long-term expansion, that exhibits enhanced anti-tumor efficacy. These findings reveal cell-intrinsic mannose metabolism as a physiological regulator of CD8 + T cell fate, decoupling proliferation/expansion from differentiation, and underscoring the therapeutic potential of mannose modulation in cancer immunotherapy., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests P.D.G. is a founder and SAB (scientific advisory board) member of, has equity in, and is receiving research support from Affini-T Therapeutics; is an SAB member of and has equity in Immunoscape, RAPT Therapeutics, and Earli, Metagenomi, Nextech, and Catalio. G.L.,Y.Q., H.C., and J.D. have a pending patent application related to this work filed., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Flavonoids are naturally occurring dietary phytochemicals with significant antioxidant effects aside from several health benefits. People often consume them in combination with other food components. Compiling data establishes a link between bioactive flavonoids and prevention of several diseases in animal models, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, gut dysbiosis, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). However, numerous clinical studies have demonstrated the ineffectiveness of flavonoids contradicting rodent models, thereby challenging the validity of using flavonoids as dietary supplements., Aim of Review: This review provides a clinical perspective to emphasize the effective roles of dietary flavonoids as well as to summarize their specific mechanisms in animals briefly., Key Scientific Concepts of Review: First, this review offers an in-depth elucidation of the metabolic processes of flavonoids within human, encompassing the small, large intestine, and the liver. Furthermore, the review provides a comprehensive overview of the various functions of flavonoids in the gastrointestinal tract, including hindering the breakdown and assimilation of macronutrients, such as polysaccharides and lipids, regulating gut hormone secretion as well as inhibition of mineral iron absorption. In the large intestine, an unabsorbed major portion of flavonoids interact with the gut flora leading to their biotransformation. Once absorbed and circulated in the bloodstream, bioactive flavonoids or their metabolites exert numerous beneficial systemic effects. Lastly, we examine the protective effects of flavonoids in several metabolic disorders, including endothelial dysfunction, MASLD, cardiovascular disease, obesity, hyperlipidemia, and insulin resistance. In conclusion, this review outlines the safety and future prospects of flavonoids in the field of health, especially in the prevention of metabolic syndrome (MetS)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Most thermal barrier coating materials exhibit transparent/semi-transparent properties at higher temperatures, causing the surface heat flow to directly heat the substrate with infrared radiation, which significantly reduces the thermal barrier effectiveness. Herein, composite ceramic materials composed of GdFeO 3 diffusely dispersed within the Gd 3 TaO 7 are produced. Specifically, the 0.9Gd 3 TaO 7 /0.1GdFeO 3 composition demonstrates an ultra-low near-infrared (NIR) transmittance of less than 0.1% across the 400-2500 nm range. The introduction of variable-valence behavior and oxygen vacancies contribute to the narrow bandgap of GdFeO 3 . The incorporated GdFeO 3 produces extra multimode vibrations, resulting in the strong infrared emissivity of Gd 3 TaO 7 /GdFeO 3 composite ceramics. Besides, the refractive index difference between Gd 3 TaO 7 and GdFeO 3 can contribute to the potential photons scattering within the composites, severely impeding the infrared radiation penetration. The upward curvature of the thermal conductivity curve of 0.9Gd 3 TaO 7 /0.1GdFeO 3 at high temperature is significantly suppressed, confirming its excellent IR radiation shielding properties. Moreover, the Gd 3 TaO 7 / GdFeO 3 composite ceramic exhibits thermal suitability, with a thermal expansion coefficient (9.47-9.67 × 10 -6 K -1 at 1400 °C) comparable to YSZ. These combined benefits position the Gd 3 TaO 7 / GdFeO 3 composite ceramic system as a promising candidate for the development of infrared radiation shielding and high-emissivity thermal radiation materials., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Well-designed structures of the electrocatalyst provide excellent catalytic activity and high structural stability during the sulfur reduction reaction of Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). In this study, a novel and efficient structure is developed to encapsulate bimetallic FeCo nanoalloy catalysts within N-doped carbon nanotube (NCNT) on carbon nanofibers (FeCo@NCNT/CNFs) using a combination of electrospinning and rapid-cooling techniques. The NCNT matrix with abundant sites not only serves as a high pathway for electron transport during the reaction, but its encapsulation structure also acts as armor to protect the FeCo nanoalloy. Further, the curvature effect of the FeCo@NCNT structure facilitates greater electron transfer from the FeCo nanoalloy to the NCNT, and lowering the reaction barrier for the liquid-solid conversion process. As a result, the S/FeCo@NCNT/CNFs cathode can achieve exceptional cycle performance of 500 cycles at 5 C, with an ultra-low capacity fade rate of 0.031% per cycle. Moreover, even under extreme temperature conditions of -20 and 80 °C, the battery still delivers a specific capacity of 827.16 and 697.46 mAh g -1 at 1 C. This work shows an effective insight into enhancing the LiPS conversion kinetics over a wide temperature range in Li-S batteries., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Ferroptosis is characterized as an iron-dependent and lipophilic form of cell death. However, it remains unclear what role ferroptosis has in adipose tissue function and activity. Here, we find a lower ferroptotic signature in the adipose tissue of individuals and mice with obesity. We further find that activation of ferroptotic signaling by a non-lethal dose of ferroptosis agonists significantly reduces lipid accumulation in primary adipocytes and high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. Notably, adipocyte-specific overexpression of acyl-coenzyme A synthetase long-chain family member 4 (Acsl4) or deletion of ferritin heavy chain (Fth) protects mice from HFD-induced adipose expansion and metabolic disorders via activation of ferroptotic signaling. Mechanistically, we find that 5,15-dihydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5,15-DiHETE) activates ferroptotic signaling, resulting in the degradation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF1α), thereby derepressing a thermogenic program regulated by the c-Myc-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 beta (Pgc1β) pathway. Our findings suggest that activating ferroptosis signaling in adipose tissues might help to prevent and treat obesity and its related metabolic disorders., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) remains a rapidly growing global health burden. Here, we report that the nonessential amino acid (NEAA) transporter SLC7A11 plays a key role in MASLD. In patients with MASLD, we found high expression levels of SLC7A11 that were correlated directly with clinical grade. Using both loss-of-function and gain-of-function genetic models, we found that Slc7a11 deficiency accelerated MASLD progression via classic cystine/cysteine deficiency-induced ferroptosis, while serine deficiency and a resulting impairment in de novo cysteine production were attributed to ferroptosis-induced MASLD progression in mice overexpressing hepatic Slc7a11. Consistent with these findings, we found that both serine supplementation and blocking ferroptosis significantly alleviated MASLD, and the serum serine/glutamate ratio was significantly lower in these preclinical disease models, suggesting that it might serve as a prognostic biomarker for MASLD in patients. These findings indicate that defects in NEAA metabolism are involved in the progression of MASLD and that serine deficiency-triggered ferroptosis may provide a therapeutic target for its treatment., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of patients with type A aortic dissection (AD) or their relatives regarding postoperative management., Design: Cross-sectional study., Setting: The participants were recruited from three hospitals between October 2022 and February 2023., Participants: Patients diagnosed with type A AD or their relatives., Interventions: No interventions were administered. A structured questionnaire was used to gather the demographic and KAP data from the participants., Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: The outcome measures included the levels of KAP regarding postoperative management., Results: A total of 483 participants were included. They exhibited poor knowledge (15.52±7.67, possible score: 0-32), positive attitude (31.10±5.86, possible score: 9-45) and poor practice (21.96±4.83, possible score: 8-40) towards postoperative management. The multivariable logistic analysis showed that knowledge scores (OR=1.09, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.12, p<0.001), attitude scores (OR=1.22, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.29, p<0.001) and diagnosis for ≤5 years (OR=1.97, 95% CI 1.23 to 3.15, p=0.005) were independently associated with good practice. The structured equation modelling analysis showed that knowledge directly influenced attitudes (β=0.22, p<0.001) and practice (β=0.15, p<0.001), while attitude directly impacted practice (β=0.52, p<0.001) and mediated the relationship between knowledge and practice (β=0.11, p<0.001)., Conclusions: Patients with type A AD and their relatives have poor knowledge, positive attitudes and poor practice towards postoperative management. Knowledge might be the prerequisite for practice, and attitudes have a mediating effect., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Three-dimensional (3D) distributions of multiple soil pollutants in industrial site are crucial for risk assessment and remediation. Yet, their 3D prediction accuracies are often low because of the strong variability of pollutants and availability of 3D covariate data. This study proposed a patch-based multi-task convolution neural network (MT-CNN) model for simultaneously predicting the 3D distributions of Zn, Pb, Ni, and Cu at an industrial site. By integrating neighborhood patches from multisource covariates, the MT-CNN model captured both horizontal and vertical pollution information, and outperformed the widely-used methods such as random forest (RF), ordinary Kriging (OK), and inverse distance weighting (IDW) for all the 4 heavy metals, with R 2 values of 0.58, 0.56, 0.29 and 0.23 for Zn, Pb, Ni and Cu, respectively. Besides, the MT-CNN model achieved more stable predictions with reasonable accuracy, in comparison with the single-task CNN model. These results highlighted the potential of the proposed MT-CNN in simultaneously mapping the 3D distributions of multiple pollutants, while balancing the model training, maintaining and accuracy for low-cost rapid assessment of soil pollution at industrial sites., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Recently, perception task based on Bird's-Eye View (BEV) representation has drawn more and more attention, and BEV representation is promising as the foundation for next-generation Autonomous Vehicle (AV) perception. However, most existing BEV solutions either require considerable resources to execute on-vehicle inference or suffer from modest performance. This paper proposes a simple yet effective framework, termed Fast-BEV, which is capable of performing faster BEV perception on the on-vehicle chips. Towards this goal, we first empirically find that the BEV representation can be sufficiently powerful without expensive transformer based transformation or depth representation. Our Fast-BEV consists of five parts, we innovatively propose (1) a lightweight deployment-friendly view transformation which fast transfers 2D image features to 3D voxel space, (2) a multi-scale image encoder which leverages multi-scale information for better performance, (3) an efficient BEV encoder which is particularly designed to speed up on-vehicle inference. We further introduce (4) a strong data augmentation strategy for both image and BEV space to avoid over-fitting, (5) a multi-frame feature fusion mechanism to leverage the temporal information. Among them, (1) and (3) enable Fast-BEV to be fast inference and deployment friendly on the on-vehicle chips, (2), (4) and (5) ensure that Fast-BEV has competitive performance. All these make Fast-BEV a solution with high performance, fast inference speed, and deployment-friendly on the on-vehicle chips of autonomous driving. Through experiments, on 2080Ti platform, our R50 model can run 52.6 FPS with 47.3% NDS on the nuScenes validation set, exceeding the 41.3 FPS and 47.5% NDS of the BEVDepth-R50 model (Li et al. 2022) and 30.2 FPS and 45.7% NDS of the BEVDet4D-R50 model (J. Huang and G. Huang, 2022). Our largest model (R101@900×1600) establishes a competitive 53.5% NDS on the nuScenes validation set. We further develop a benchmark with considerable accuracy and efficiency on current popular on-vehicle chips.

The essential trace element, zinc, regulates virtually all aspects of cellular physiology, particularly cell proliferation and survival. Diverse families of metal transporters, metallothioneins, and metal-responsive transcriptional regulators are linked to zinc homeostasis. However, the mechanism underlying the regulation of systemic zinc homeostasis remains largely unknown. Here, it is reported that the intestinal transporter SLC30A1 plays an essential role in maintaining systemic zinc homeostasis. Using several lines of tissue-specific knockout mice, it is found that intestinal Slc30a1 plays a critical role in survival. Furthermore, lineage tracing reveals that Slc30a1 is localized to the basolateral membrane of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). It is also found that Slc30a1 safeguards both intestinal barrier integrity and systemic zinc homeostasis. Finally, an integrative analysis of the cryo-EM structure and site-specific mutagenesis of human SLC30A1 are performed and a zinc transport mechanism of SLC30A1 unique within the SLC30A family, with His43 serving as a critical residue for zinc selectivity, is identified., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Stress hyperglycemia is prevalent in critical illnesses and has been associated with adverse short- and long-term outcomes in individuals with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, there is limited evidence for the predictive value of stress hyperglycemia and hospitalization mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and ACS. This study aimed to explore the association between hospitalized mortality, stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR), and admission blood glucose (ABG) in patients with CKD and ACS., Methods: This study included 655 hospitalized patients who were diagnosed with ACS and CKD. Patients with incomplete data were excluded, resulting in the analysis of 550 patients. The primary outcome measured was in-hospital mortality., Results: The median age of the cohort included in the analysis was 71 years, with a male proportion of 66.2 %, and a mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of 27.8 mL/min/1.73 m 2 . Patients classified as having stage 3, stage 4, and stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) comprised 46.9 %, 17.1 %, and 36.0 % of the population, respectively. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 10.7 % (n = 59). Both SHR (OR = 2.67; 95 % CI 1.51-4.74; p < 0.001) and ABG (OR = 1.09; 95 % CI 1.04-1.14; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with in-hospital mortality in CKD and ACS patients. SHR and ABG showed a linear relationship with in-hospital mortality, with SHR demonstrating superior reclassification ability over ABG. The inclusion of SHR or ABG, irrespective of diabetes mellitus status, substantially enhanced the predictive performance of the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score model., Conclusions: In patients with ACS and CKD, a robust correlation was observed between SHR, ABG, and in-hospital mortality. Both SHR and ABG improved the predictive accuracy of the GRACE score in forecasting inpatient mortality in this population., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aqueous ammonium-ion supercapacitors (AASCs) are recognized for their rapid charge-discharge capability, long cycle life, and excellent power density. However, they still confront the challenges of low energy density. To address the above issue, this work proposes a novel strategy involving the establishment of CuCo 2 S 4 @MoS 2 core@shell heterostructures to enhance the capacity of electrode material. The double electric layer energy storage mechanism of the MoS 2 shell facilitates the storage and provision of a substantial ammonium source for NH 4 + insertion into CuCo 2 S 4 , thereby enhancing the electrochemical performance of AASCs. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that the CuCo 2 S 4 @MoS 2 core@shell heterostructures exhibit better affinity for NH 4 + and improved conductivity. Furthermore, the internal electric field at the heterojunction accelerates NH 4 + transfer, thereby enhancing the pseudocapacitive behavior of CuCo 2 S 4 . Owing to the abundant active sites and pronounced pseudo-capacitance, the CuCo 2 S 4 @MoS 2 electrode achieves a specific capacity of 2045 C g -1 at 1 A g -1 . With activated carbon (AC) as the negative electrode, the fabricated CuCo 2 S 4 @MoS 2 //AC AASC device attains a specific capacity of 591 C g -1 and an energy density of 83.23 Wh kg -1 . This work presents a promising new strategy for the next generation of AASCs., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), caused by the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), primarily affects the jejunum and ileum of pigs. Interferons, glycoproteins with high species specificity and potent antiviral activity, are crucial in defending against viral infections. Unlike other interferons, interferon-lambda (IFN-λ) mainly acts on mucosal epithelial cells and exhibits robust antiviral activity at mucosal surfaces. However, the high cost limits the use of naturally extracted interferons in farming. In this study, we expressed recombinant porcine interferon-lambda 1 (rpIFN-λ1) in eukaryotic cells, demonstrating effective antiviral activity against PEDV in Vero E6 and IPI-FX cells. In vivo, rpIFN-λ1 alleviated clinical symptoms and intestinal damage, enhanced antioxidant capacity, reduced inflammation, and significantly improved the survival rate of piglets following PEDV infection. Both in vitro and in vivo studies confirmed that rpIFN-λ1 upregulated interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) via the JAK-STAT pathway, thereby exerting antiviral effects. In conclusion, rpIFN-λ1 significantly inhibited PEDV replication and alleviated clinical symptoms. The selectivity of rpIFN-λ1 for intestinal cells and its ability to reduce viral shedding suggest that this agent is a promising antiviral for enteric viruses such as PEDV. Our findings highlight rpIFN-λ1 as a cost-effective, efficient, and novel strategy for antiviral treatment of PEDV., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The optimal surgical approach for acute type A aortic dissection involving the aortic arch remains controversial. This study aims to evaluate the long-term outcomes of acute type A aortic dissection treated with total arch replacement combined with frozen elephant trunk implantation in a large single-center cohort., Methods: From 2010 to 2022, patients with acute type A aortic dissection who received total arch replacement with frozen elephant trunk implantation at Fuwai Hospital were selected for clinical data collection and long-term follow-up. Logistic regression and Cox regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors for operative mortality, long-term mortality, and reoperation., Results: A total of 1672 patients underwent total arch replacement with frozen elephant trunk implantation, of whom 79.9% (1336/1672) were male with a median age of 48 years. The operative mortality rate was 6.3% (105/1672). The 10-year survival was 81.4%, and the most extended follow-up was over 13 years. Among the survivors, 89.7% (1303/1453) had complete self-care ability and were able to engage in general physical work. The 10-year cumulative incidence of reoperation was 13.3%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that male gender was associated with a reduced risk of operative death (odds ratio, 0.95, 95% CI, 0.92-0.98) and long-term death (hazard ratio, 0.68, 95% CI, 0.48-0.96)., Conclusions: Total arch replacement with frozen elephant trunk implantation demonstrates acceptable operative mortality and promising long-term outcomes for acute type A aortic dissection. Female patients face higher risks of operative and long-term mortality compared with male patients. Total arch replacement with frozen elephant trunk implantation provides patients with encouraging long-term quality of life and is advisable for acute type A aortic dissection in experienced centers., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest Statement The authors reported no conflicts of interest. The Journal policy requires editors and reviewers to disclose conflicts of interest and to decline handling or reviewing manuscripts for which they may have a conflict of interest. The editors and reviewers of this article have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Artificial intelligence of things systems equipped with flexible sensors can autonomously and intelligently detect the condition of the surroundings. However, current intelligent monitoring systems always rely on an external computer with the capability of machine learning rather than integrating it into the sensing device. The computer-assisted intelligent system is hampered by energy inefficiencies, privacy issues, and bandwidth restrictions. Here, a flexible, large-scale sensing array with the capability of low-power in-sensor intelligence based on a compression hypervector encoder is proposed for real-time recognition. The system with in-sensor intelligence can accommodate different individuals and learn new postures without additional computer processing. Both the communication bandwidth requirement and energy consumption of this system are significantly reduced by 1,024 and 500 times, respectively. The capability for in-sensor inference and learning eliminates the necessity to transmit raw data externally, thereby effectively addressing privacy concerns. Furthermore, the system possesses a rapid recognition speed (a few hundred milliseconds) and a high recognition accuracy (about 99%), comparing with support vector machine and other hyperdimensional computing methods. The research holds marked potential for applications in the integration of artificial intelligence of things and flexible electronics., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Zhangyu Xu et al.)

Importance: The burden of liver cancer varies worldwide. An upward trend in both hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence and mortality in the past 2 decades has been observed., Objective: To assess observed HCC-related age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) in the US for 2006 to 2022 and provide ASMR projections through 2040., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used data from the National Vital Statistics System, which is accessible through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research website. Data on deaths attributed to HCC (from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2022) were obtained for adults 25 years or older and were stratified by liver disease etiology, age, sex, and race and ethnicity. Etiologies included alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD)., Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcomes were (1) observed ASMRs of HCC per 100 000 persons using Joinpoint regression (National Cancer Institute) to assess trends during 2006 to 2022 and (2) ASMRs projected for 2023 to 2040 using Prophet and AutoARIMA modeling., Results: This study included 188 280 HCC-related deaths from 2006 to 2022. Most deaths occurred among males (77.4%). The annual percentage change was 4.1% (95% CI, 2.2% to 7.7%) for 2006 to 2009 and decreased to 1.8% (95% CI, 0.7% to 2.0%) for 2009 to 2022, with an overall observed ASMR of 5.03 per 100 000 persons in 2022 and a projected ASMR of 6.39 per 100 000 persons by 2040, with consistent trends for both sexes. By etiology, ASMRs decreased for HCV- and HBV-related mortality but increased for ALD- and MASLD-related mortality. In 2022, MASLD surpassed HBV as the third-leading cause of HCC-related death and was projected to overtake HCV in 2032 as the second-leading cause; ALD was projected to be the leading cause of HCC-related death in 2026. In 2022, the ASMR was higher among individuals aged 65 years or older compared with those aged 25 to 64 years (18.37 vs 1.79 per 100 000 persons). The American Indian or Alaska Native population had the largest increase in projected ASMR by 2040 (14.71 per 100 000 persons) compared with the Asian population (3.03 per 100 000 persons)., Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study, ASMRs for ALD- and MASLD-related HCC death increased rapidly from 2006 to 2022; ALD-related HCC was projected to be the leading cause by 2026, with MASLD as the second-leading cause by 2032. These findings may serve as a reference for public health decision-making and timely identification of groups at high risk of HCC death.

One-carbon metabolism (1CM), comprising folate metabolism and methionine metabolism, serves as an important mechanism for cellular energy provision and the production of vital signaling molecules, including single-carbon moieties. Its regulation is instrumental in sustaining the proliferation of cancer cells and facilitating metastasis; in addition, recent research has shed light on its impact on the efficacy of T cell-mediated immunotherapy. In this review, we consolidate current insights into how 1CM affects T cell activation, differentiation, and functionality. Furthermore, we delve into the strategies for modulating 1CM in both T cells and tumor cells to enhance the efficacy of adoptively transferred T cells, overcome metabolic challenges in the tumor microenvironment (TME), and maximize the benefits of T cell-mediated immunotherapy., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: While the survival benefits of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) are firmly established in the general population, their efficacy within patient undergoing dialysis with coronary artery disease (CAD) remains controversial., Methods: Between January 2015 and June 2021, 1168 patients undergoing dialysis with CAD were assessed from 30 tertiary medical centers. The primary outcome was all-cause death, and the secondary outcome was cardiovascular death. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) and propensity score matching (PSM) were performed to account for between-group differences., Results: Overall, ACEI or ARB were prescribed to 518 patients (44.3%) upon discharge. After a median follow-up of 22.2 months, 361 (30.9%) patients died, including 243 cardiovascular deaths. The use of ACEI or ARB was associated with a significantly lower risk of all-cause (25.3% vs 35.4%, hazard ratio [HR] 0.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.52-0.82, p  < 0.001) and cardiovascular death (17.0% vs 23.8%; HR 0.64, 95% CI 0.48-0.83, p  = 0.001). These findings remained consistent across IPTW and PSM analyses. Sensitivity analyses for ACEI and ARB use separately yielded similar results., Conclusions: Our findings suggested that among patients undergoing dialysis with CAD, ACEI or ARB use was associated with a lower risk of all-cause and cardiovascular death.

Psychology originally defined parent-child conflict in terms of interpersonal relationships, where parent-child conflict is a process of inconsistent attitudes between parents and children that occurs in a family setting. For this end, we aims to investigate the influence of parental awareness on preschoolers' perception of parent-child conflict and the mediating role of preschoolers' self-esteem. This paper proposes a dynamic parent-child relationship discovery algorithm based on the impact of parent-child cooperation activities on preschool children's development. We applied SPSS and Mplus statistical software for data processing and analysis, and Nvivo 11.0 qualitative software for validation and analysis. The reliability of preschool children's perceived parent-child conflict and sub-dimensions were: 0.901, 0.799, 0.791, 0.811, 0.729; the total scale and the retest reliability of each dimension were: 0.914, 0.837, 0.836, 0.792, 0.711. Validated factor analysis using Mplus: RMSEA = 0.075, TLI = 0.856, CFI = 0.876, SRMR = 0.064., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

The zinc transporter Slc30a1 plays an essential role in maintaining cellular zinc homeostasis. Despite this, its functional role in macrophages remains largely unknown. Here, we examine the function of Slc30a1 in host defense using mice models infected with an attenuated stain of Salmonella enterica Typhimurium and primary macrophages infected with the attenuated Salmonella . Bulk transcriptome sequencing in primary macrophages identifies Slc30a1 as a candidate in response to Salmonella infection. Whole-mount immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy imaging of primary macrophage and spleen from Salmonella -infected Slc30a1 flag-EGFP mice demonstrate Slc30a1 expression is increased in infected macrophages with localization at the plasma membrane and in the cytosol. Lyz2 -Cre-driven Slc30a1 conditional knockout mice ( Slc30a1 fl/fl ;Lyz2-Cre ) exhibit increased susceptibility to Salmonella infection compared to control littermates. We demonstrate that Slc30a1-deficient macrophages are defective in intracellular killing, which correlated with reduced activation of nuclear factor kappa B and reduction in nitric oxide (NO) production. Notably, the model exhibits intracellular zinc accumulation, demonstrating that Slc30a1 is required for zinc export. We thus conclude that zinc export enables the efficient NO-mediated antibacterial activity of macrophages to control invading Salmonella ., Competing Interests: PN, SS, EX, JW, JM, FW No competing interests declared, (© 2024, Na-Phatthalung et al.)

Objective:  The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends speculum exams, rather than digital exams, for evaluation of the cervix after preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM). However, in clinical practice, digital exams may be necessary. We examined whether increasing numbers of digital exams were associated with adverse outcomes in PPROM., Study Design:  This was a single-center retrospective cohort study of patients admitted between 2019 and 2021 with PPROM at 24 to 34 weeks of gestation. The primary outcome was intra-amniotic infection and inflammation (triple I), compared between patients who had ≤1 or ≥2 digital exams during expectant management of PPROM. Secondary outcomes included latency, antepartum events, and other maternal and neonatal morbidities. Groups were compared using univariate analysis and Cox proportional hazards model to account for time between admission and delivery and potential confounders., Results:  Of 125 patients included in the analysis, 46 (36.8%) had ≤ 1 and 79 (63.2%) had ≥2 digital exams. There was no significant difference in triple I between groups (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.47, 2.26). There were no significant differences in composite maternal or neonatal morbidities or latency from admission to delivery between groups (8 days [interquartile range (IQR): 3, 14] vs. 6 days [IQR: 3, 12]). There was a higher rate of spontaneous labor as the indication for delivery in the group with ≥2 exams (aHR: 2.07, 95% CI: 1.04, 4.11)., Conclusion:  In this retrospective cohort study, ≥2 digital exams during expectant management of PPROM was not associated with change in infectious morbidity or pregnancy latency. There was an increase in spontaneous labor in the group with more digital exams; this may be due to confounding by indication, as patients who are in prodromal labor are more likely to receive digital exams. These results suggest equipoise in exam type in the management of PPROM., Key Points: · We compared patients with ≤1 or ≥2 digital exams during latency with PPROM.. · There was no difference in rate of triple I with increased number of digital exams.. · There was no difference in latency or other neonatal or maternal morbidities.. · There was an increase in labor as indication for delivery with more digital exams.., Competing Interests: J.B. has received institutional grant funding to fund an ongoing randomized controlled trial regarding exam types in PPROM. N.R. is funded by two R01 grants. She is a member of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) of the STIM trial and is a paid guest speaker. J.C.K. has multiple listed grants to fund her research. She is a member of the DSMB for the IUPC and lipids trial and is a paid guest lecturer. E.B.C. is funded by two R grants and has a consulting service. She is a paid speaker. She is a member of the DSMB for the iGDM and the La Luz trials., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Transition metal oxide semiconductors have great potential for use in H 2 sensors, but in recent years, the strange phenomena about gas-sensitive performance associated with their special properties have been more widely discussed in research. In some cases, the resistance of transition metal oxide gas sensors will emerge with some changes contrary to their intrinsic semiconductor characteristics, especially in gas sensor research of WO 3 . Based on the hydrothermal synthesis of WO 3 , our work focuses on the abnormal change of tungsten oxide resistance to different gases at low temperature (80-200 °C) and high temperature (above 200 °C). Through in situ FT-IR and in situ XPS, combined with density functional theory calculations, a new reasonable explanation of WO 3 is proposed for the abnormal resistance change caused by temperature and the strange response due to gas concentration. The occurrence of these findings can be attributed to the synergistic effect resulting from the presence of two contributing factors. One of them is attributed to the alteration in the surface valence state of WO 3 induced by gas, resulting in the reduction of W 6+ . The other one is due to the reaction between gas and adsorbed oxygen on the surface of WO 3 . This work presents a novel and rational concept for addressing the reaction mechanism between gas and transition metal oxide semiconductors, thereby paving the way for the development of highly efficient gas sensors based on transition metal oxide semiconductors.

Introduction: Health agencies have called for research evaluating e-cigarette (EC) use in supporting prenatal smoking cessation. This study aimed to describe (1) the characteristics of smokers who begin using electronic cigarettes (ECs) during pregnancy, (2) how frequently smokers reduce or eliminate pre- and post-natal combustible cigarette (CC) use, and (3) the risk for neonatal health complications among smokers who initiate ECs during pregnancy., Aims and Methods: Pregnant women using CCs exclusively during prepregnancy, who participated in a U.S. surveillance study, were classified by their reported late-pregnancy smoking behavior as CC-exclusive users, EC initiators, or quitters. EC initiators were further subclassified as dual users (used both ECs and CCs) or EC replacers (used ECs exclusively)., Results: Of 29 505 pregnant smokers, 1.5% reported using ECs during the last three pregnancy months. Among them, 29.7% became EC-exclusive users. EC initiators were disproportionately non-Hispanic White. Relative to quitters, EC initiators had lower income, were less likely to be married, have intended pregnancies, receive first-trimester prenatal care, and participate in a federal assistance program. Compared to CC-exclusive users, EC initiators overall, and dual users specifically, were more likely to reduce pre- and post-natal CC usage relative to prepregnancy levels. EC initiators' risk for neonatal health complications fell between quitters and CC-exclusive users, though the differences were not statistically significant., Conclusions: Although EC initiators reduced CC use more than CC-exclusive users, only 29.7% reported complete CC cessation, and there was insufficient evidence of reduction in neonatal health complications relative to CC-exclusive users. Currently, ECs should not be considered a viable gestational smoking cessation strategy., Implications: Health agencies have identified a critical need for research evaluating the use of e-cigarettes in supporting prenatal smoking cessation. Using the U.S. Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System surveillance study data, we provide real-world evidence that prenatal e-cigarette initiation as a smoking cessation tool is used infrequently among pregnant CCs smokers. Most using e-cigarettes in the last 3 months of pregnancy also used CCs., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.)

Objective: As a biomarker of inflammation and a core component in the coagulation pathway, fibrinogen contributes to atherosclerosis and subsequent adverse cardiovascular events and is modified by the occurrence of diabetes mellitus. However, the association between fibrinogen, diabetes status, and mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains scarce., Methods: A multi-center cohort study enrolled 1079 patients with ESRD and ACS between January 2015 and June 2021. Patients were classified into three groups based on fibrinogen tertiles and were further categorized by diabetes status. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality, while the secondary outcome was cardiovascular mortality., Results: During a median 21.5 months of follow-up, 386 cases of all-cause mortality were recorded, including 262 cases of cardiovascular mortality. Multivariable Cox regression model revealed that patients with the third tertile of fibrinogen and those with diabetes experienced a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality (fibrinogen: hazard ratio [HR], 1.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.32-2.19; diabetes: HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.10-1.68). When patients were stratified by both fibrinogen levels and diabetes status, patients in the third fibrinogen tertile with diabetes had the highest risk of all-cause mortality (HR 2.43, 95% CI 1.69-3.48) compared to those in the first fibrinogen tertile without diabetes. Similar associations were observed for cardiovascular mortality. Notably, incorporating the combined fibrinogen and diabetes status into the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score or baseline risk model led to significant improvements in the C-statistics for predicting mortality, surpassing the advancements achieved with any single biomarker., Conclusion: In patients with ESRD and ACS, elevated fibrinogen and diabetes were associated with an increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Categorizing patients based on fibrinogen levels and diabetes status could provide valuable information for risk stratification of these patients., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2024 Xie et al.)

3D organic-inorganic hybrid heterojunctions of 1D carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) nanoneedles anchoring on 2D Ti 3 C 2 MXene nanosheets have been constructed via a green molten salt treatment. The Ti 3 C 2 MXene nanosheets and molten salt treatment guide the formation of ordered nanoneedle-like g-C 3 N 4 . Both the formed heterojunctions and the nanoneedle-like structures contribute charge separation and transfer for superior photocatalytic H 2 evolution.

Glyburide, a sulfonylurea drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, boasts neuroprotective effects by targeting the sulfonylurea receptor 1 (SUR1) and associated ion channels in various cell types, including those in the central nervous system and the retina. Previously, we demonstrated that glyburide therapy improved retinal function and structure in a rat model of diabetic retinopathy. In the present study, we explore the application of glyburide in non-neovascular ("dry") age-related macular degeneration (AMD), another progressive disease characterized by oxidative stress-induced damage and neuroinflammation that trigger cell death in the retina. We show that glyburide administration to a human cone cell line confers protection against oxidative stress, inflammasome activation, and apoptosis. To corroborate our in vitro results, we also conducted a case-control study, controlling for AMD risk factors and other diabetes medications. It showed that glyburide use in patients reduces the odds of new-onset dry AMD. A positive dose-response relationship is observed from this analysis, in which higher cumulative doses of glyburide further reduce the odds of new-onset dry AMD. In the quest for novel therapies for AMD, glyburide emerges as a promising repurposable drug given its known safety profile. The results from this study provide insights into the multifaceted actions of glyburide and its potential as a neuroprotective agent for retinal diseases; however, further preclinical and clinical studies are needed to validate its therapeutic potential in the context of degenerative retinal disorders such as AMD., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Topological materials carrying topological surface states (TSSs) have extraordinary carrier mobility and robustness, which provide a new platform for searching for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts. However, the majority of these TSSs originate from the sp band of topological quantum catalysts rather than the d band. Here, based on the density functional theory calculation, it is reported a topological semimetal Pd 3 Sn carrying TSSs mainly derived from d orbital and proposed that optimizing surface state electrons of Pd 3 Sn by introduction heteroatoms (Ni) can promote hybridization between hydrogen atoms and electrons, thereby reducing the Gibbs free energy (ΔG H ) of adsorbed hydrogen and improving its HER performance. Moreover, this is well verified by electrocatalytic experiment results, the Ni-doped Pd 3 Sn (Ni 0.1 Pd 2.9 Sn) show much lower overpotential (-29 mV vs RHE) and Tafel slope (17 mV dec -1 ) than Pd 3 Sn (-39 mV vs RHE, 25 mV dec -1 ) at a current density of 10 mA cm -2 . Significantly, the Ni 0.1 Pd 2.9 Sn nanoparticles exhibit excellent stability for HER. The electrocatalytic activity of Ni 0.1 Pd 2.9 Sn nanoparticles is superior to that of commercial Pt. This work provides an accurate guide for manipulating surface state electrons to improve the HER performance of catalysts., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)