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In mines with deep levels and those exhibiting anomalous geothermal temperatures, high geothermal environments can affect the erosion process of waterlogged coal by immersion. To study the influence of a high geothermal environment regarding the self-ignition of waterlogged coal, immersion of the coals in aqueous solutions under various temperature conditions (room temperature 20 °C, 40 °C, 60 °C and 80°) for 30 days. Low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, infrared spectroscopy, and simultaneous thermal analysis were utilized to examine the alterations in the micro physicochemical structure and oxidation process of waterlogged coal samples at room temperature and high geothermal temperature. Compared with room temperature conditions, the high geothermal environment increased the number and volume of pores in the waterlogged coal, broke intermolecular hydrogen bonds, and increased the total number of reactive groups. These microstructural changes affected the oxidation process of the waterlogged coal, causing in the oxidation characteristic temperature points on the TG and DSC curves as well as the activation energies E of the second and third stages of TG being significantly lower than those of the waterlogged coal under room temperature conditions. This study suggests that the high geothermal environment enhances the spontaneous combustion tendency of waterlogged coal and accelerates its oxidation process.

Abstract Fundus neovascularization diseases are a series of blinding eye diseases that seriously impair vision worldwide. Currently, the means of treating these diseases in clinical practice are continuously evolving and have rapidly revolutionized treatment opinions. However, key issues such as inadequate treatment effectiveness, high rates of recurrence, and poor patient compliance still need to be urgently addressed. Multifunctional nanomedicine can specifically respond to both endogenous and exogenous microenvironments, effectively deliver drugs to specific targets and participate in activities such as biological imaging and the detection of small molecules. Nano-in-micro (NIM) delivery systems such as metal, metal oxide and up-conversion nanoparticles (NPs), quantum dots, and carbon materials, have shown certain advantages in overcoming the presence of physiological barriers within the eyeball and are widely used in the treatment of ophthalmic diseases. Few studies, however, have evaluated the efficacy of NIM delivery systems in treating fundus neovascular diseases (FNDs). The present study describes the main clinical treatment strategies and the adverse events associated with the treatment of FNDs with NIM delivery systems and summarizes the anatomical obstacles that must be overcome. In this review, we wish to highlight the principle of intraocular microenvironment normalization, aiming to provide a more rational approach for designing new NIM delivery systems to treat specific FNDs. Graphical Abstract

Abstract In order to study the effect of temperature on the structure and mechanical properties of coal with different metamorphic degree. Three coal samples with varying degrees of metamorphism were chosen for analysis. The discrete element software PFC2D is used to simulate the heat treatment and compression of coal. The findings indicate that during the heating process, low-order coal exhibits noticeable thermal cracks at an early stage, while thermal crack development in middle-order coal is concentrated in the later stages. In contrast, high-order coal demonstrates a more stable macroscopic structure. The strength and stiffness of low rank coal show the lowest value and decrease significantly within 135 °C. However, the strength and stiffness of medium rank coal decrease significantly after 135 °C. The changes of mechanical properties and damage modes of coal caused by thermal damage are often ignored, which may lead to the deviation of design and research results from the actual situation. Therefore, this study is of great significance to the prevention and control of coal mine disasters.

Abstract Further increasing the critical temperature and/or decreasing the stabilized pressure are the general hopes for the hydride superconductors. Inspired by the low stabilized pressure associated with Ce 4f electrons in superconducting cerium superhydride and the high critical temperature in yttrium superhydride, we carry out seven independent runs to synthesize yttrium-cerium alloy hydrides. The synthetic process is examined by the Raman scattering and X-ray diffraction measurements. The superconductivity is obtained from the observed zero-resistance state with the detected onset critical temperatures in the range of 97-141 K. The upper critical field towards 0 K at pressure of 124 GPa is determined to be between 56 and 78 T by extrapolation of the results of the electrical transport measurements at applied magnetic fields. The analysis of the structural data and theoretical calculations suggest that the phase of Y0.5Ce0.5H9 in hexagonal structure with the space group of P63/m m c is stable in the studied pressure range. These results indicate that alloying superhydrides indeed can maintain relatively high critical temperature at relatively modest pressures accessible by laboratory conditions.

Abstract The presence of different types of coal at room temperature can lead to self-heating of coal, potentially resulting in spontaneous combustion. To investigate the effect of ambient temperature pre-oxidation (BL) time on the self-combustion characteristics of different coal types, synchronous thermal analysis (STA) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) experiments were conducted. The results of the synchronous thermal analysis experiments indicate that ambient temperature pre-oxidation for 3 months (BL3), BL6, and BL9 coals exhibit faster oxidation reactions compared to the original coal, while BL12 coal shows slower oxidation than the original coal. Among these, BL9 coal demonstrates the most significant changes in oxidation reaction characteristics, with the fastest oxidation reaction time being 35.36 min, which is 1.38 min faster than the original coal. To support this observation, a comparison was made between the relative content of active functional groups in the original coal and BL coal. The study revealed that the BL process affects the relative content of hydroxyl groups, aromatic hydrocarbons, aliphatic hydrocarbons, and oxygen-containing functional groups, thereby influencing the coal-oxygen reaction process. This suggests that pre-oxidized coal, compared to the original coal, has a larger pore structure, which plays a dominant role in promoting coal self-combustion in the first 9 months of the BL process. As BL time continues to increase, the continuous reaction of active functional groups at room temperature leads to excessive consumption, resulting in a more significant role in inhibiting coal self-combustion. The research results provide valuable insights for predicting the spontaneous combustion risk of oxidized coal.

Reanalysis and satellite retrieval are two primary approaches for obtaining large-scale and long-term Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) datasets. This study evaluates and compares the accuracy, long-term stability, and error characteristics of the MERRA-2, MODIS combined Dark Target and Deep Blue (DT&DB), and VIIRS DB AOD products globally and regionally. The results indicate that the MERRA-2 AOD exhibits the highest accuracy with an expected error (EE, ±0.05 ± 20%) of 83.24% and mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.056, maintaining a stability of 0.010 per decade. However, since the MERRA-2 AOD ceased assimilating observations other than the MODIS AOD in 2014, its accuracy decreased by approximately 5.6% in the EE metric after 2014. The VIIRS Deep Blue (DB) AOD product, with an EE of 79.43% and stability of 0.016 per decade, is slightly less accurate and stable compared to the MERRA-2 AOD. The MODIS DT&DB AOD demonstrates an EE of 76.75% and stability of 0.011 per decade. Regionally, the MERRA-2 AOD performs acceptably in most areas, especially in low-aerosol-loading regions, with an EE > 86% and stability ~0.02 per decade. The VIIRS DB AOD excels in high-aerosol-loading regions, such as the Indian subcontinent, with an EE of 69.14% and a stability of 0.049 per decade. The performance of the MODIS DT&DB AOD falls between that of VIIRS DB and MERRA-2 across most regions. Overall, each product meets the accuracy and stability metrics globally, but users need to select the appropriate product for analysis based on the validation results of the accuracy and stability in different regions.

Energy footprint(EnF) quantifies the impact of human energy activities and the concept is evolving due to its broad coverage of environmental, social, economic and technical implications. This study performs the first comprehensive retrospective study on the general EnF concept with the aim to clarify its definition, mark recent practical developments and key modeling considerations. Given the existing variability in the definition of EnF, we propose a comprehensive and adaptive definition framework to address and better integrate this concept. The EnF has a wide range of practical uses for the country, industry, company, product and process. Typically, it can be considered as a sub-dimension of environmental footprint, serving to raise public awareness, guide energy policy, and inform technical improvements. Furthermore, we contend that EnF, as a practical indicator, can encompass not only environmental burden but also other facets such as economic well-beings, social costs and benefits. Thus, future studies should be carried out in a holistic perspective, considering the complex nexus between the energy-environment and the socioeconomic system. Priorities should be placed on detailed environmental and social life cycle assessment in renewable products and technology, with particular attention directed towards addressing uncertainty issues.

IntroductionEnterococcus faecium is a common pathogen responsible for urinary tract infections (UTIs) and often establishes extensive colonization within the intestinal tract. Our aim was to assess the genomic and transcriptomic differences between colonized E. faecium without UTI (only-colonization) and colonized E. faecium causing UTI (endogenous infections).MethodWe investigated the correlation between fecal isolates from the same patient and UTI-causing isolates using PFGE and WGS, and classified fecal isolates into two groups: those that solely colonized and those associated with endogenous urinary tract infections. We characterized the genomes of colonization-only and endogenously infected isolates by Scoary GWAS, and the transcriptomes of the isolates at 3 h urine exposure to assess pathogen-related changes.ResultBased on PFGE and WGS, eight isolates of endogenously infected E. faecium and nine isolates of only-colonized E. faecium were characterized and carbon and nitrogen regulated metabolisms such as genes encoding the phosphotransferase (PTS) system were enriched in endogenously infected E. faecium. Transcriptome analysis revealed significant differences in gene expression in the PTS system, lysine synthesis, galactose metabolism and citrate import between endogenously infected and only-colonized E. faecium isolates, highlighting the important role of certain carbon regulatory genes in the colonization and survival of endogenously infected E. faecium.ConclusionIn only-colonized and endogenously infected isolates, we observed differential expression patterns of genes related to carbon metabolism and amino acids, suggesting that metabolic diversity is a strategy for isolates leading to endogenous infection.

The application of metamaterials in controllable thermal emission devices is an interesting field. However, most of the demonstrated thermal emitters required continuous consumption of external energy (electrical or thermal) to provide an effective thermal emissivity. Here, a metamaterial containing phase change materials Ge _2 Sb _2 Te _5 (GST) and shell materials with controllable thermal emission power was proposed and measured. Based on the completely amorphous state of the GST layer, an emissivity of 0.212 at wavelength 7.11 μ m was achieved by this this metamaterial, while a thermal emission band (with an average amplitude of 0.857 and a bandwidth of 6.16 μ m) was excited for the crystalline state. Moreover, numerous thermal emission states were excited by this metamaterial based on the intermediate states between completely amorphous and crystalline states of the GST layer. Tunability of the thermal emission window was obtained by this metamaterial sample. The temperature sensitivity of this metamaterial thermal emitter was 341 nm °C ^−1 . By increasing the thickness of the GST or shell layers, the thermal emission performance of the metamaterial was enhanced. Since the phase transition of GST does not require the continuous consumption of external energy, the metamaterial has the potential to be used in the development of low-power heat emitters, as well as temperature sensors.

Abstract Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common malignant cancer in southern China that has highly invasive and metastatic features and causes high mortality, but the underlying mechanisms of this malignancy remain unclear. In this study, we utilized ChIP-Seq to identify metastasis-specific super enhancers (SEs) and found that the SE of LOC100506178 existed only in metastatic NPC cells and powerfully aggravated NPC metastasis. This metastatic SE transcribed into lncRNA LOC100506178, and it was verified as a seRNA through GRO-Seq. Furthermore, SE-derived seRNA LOC100506178 was found to be highly expressed in metastatic NPC cells and NPC lymph node metastatic tissues. Knockdown of seRNA LOC100506178 arrested the invasion and metastasis of NPC cells in vitro and in vivo, demonstrating that seRNA LOC100506178 accelerates the acquisition of NPC malignant phenotype. Mechanistic studies revealed that seRNA LOC100506178 specifically interacted with the transcription factor hnRNPK and modulated the expression of hnRNPK. Further, hnRNPK in combination with the promoter region of MICAL2 increased Mical2 transcription. Knockdown of seRNA LOC100506178 or hnRNPK markedly repressed MICAL2, Vimentin and Snail expression and upregulated E-cadherin expression. Overexpression of seRNA LOC100506178 or hnRNPK markedly increased MICAL2, Vimentin and Snail expression and decreased E-cadherin expression. Therefore, seRNA LOC100506178 may promote MICAL2 expression by upregulating hnRNPK, subsequently enhancing EMT process and accelerating the invasion and metastasis of NPC cells. seRNA LOC100506178 has the potential to serve as a novel prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in NPC patients.

Objective: To evaluate whether periconceptional or pregnancy exposure of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination would increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.Methods: The PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, the Cochrane Library of clinical trials were searched from inception to March 2023. We computed relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and prediction intervals (PIs) regarding the association between HPV vaccination in periconceptional period or during pregnancy and the risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes by using R software Version 4.1.2 and STATA Version 12.0. A trial sequential analysis (TSA) was performed with TSA v0.9.5.10 Beta software.Results: Four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and eight cohort studies were included in this meta-analysis. Analysis of RCTs showed that HPV vaccination in periconceptional period or during pregnancy did not increase the risks of spontaneous abortion (RR = 1.152, 95% CI: 0.909–1.460, 95% PI: 0.442–3.000), birth defects (RR = 1.171, 95% CI: 0.802–1.709, 95% PI: 0.320–4.342), stillbirth (RR = 1.053, 95% CI: 0.616–1.800, 95% PI: 0.318–3.540), preterm birth (RR = 0.940, 95% CI: 0.670–1.318) and ectopic pregnancy (RR = 0.807, 95% CI: 0.353–1.842, 95% PI: 0.128–5.335). In cohort studies, periconceptional or pregnancy exposures of HPV vaccine were not associated with the increased risk of spontaneous abortion (RR = 0.987, 95% CI: 0.854–1.140, 95% PI: 0.652–1.493), birth defects (RR = 0.960, 95% CI: 0.697–1.322, 95% PI: 0.371–2.480), stillbirth (RR = 1.033, 95% CI: 0.651–1.639, 95% PI: 0.052–21.064), small size for gestational age (SGA) (RR = 0.971, 95% CI: 0.873–1.081, 95% PI: 0.657–1.462) and preterm birth (RR = 0.977, 95% CI: 0.874–1.092, 95% PI: 0.651–1.444).Conclusion: HPV vaccine exposures in periconceptional period or during pregnancy did not increase the risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including spontaneous abortion, birth defects, stillbirth, SGA, preterm birth and ectopic pregnancy.Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42023399777.

Cancer has been one of the leading factors of death around the world. Cancer patients usually have low 5-year survival rates and poor life quality requiring substantial improvement. In clinic, the presenting diagnostic strategies lack sensitivity with only a small proportion of patients can be accurately identified. For diagnosed patients, most of them are at the advanced stages thus being delayed to receive treatment. Therefore, it is eager to investigate and develop highly effective and accurate techniques for cancer early diagnosis and individualized therapy. Various nanoplatforms are emerging as imaging agents and drug carriers for cancer theranostics recently. Novel polymeric nanoagents, as a potent exemplar, have extraordinary merits, such as good stability, high biosafety and high drug loading efficacy, showing the great prospect for cancer early diagnosis and precise treatment. Herein, we review the recent advances in novel polymeric nanoagents and elucidate their synthesis procedures. We further introduce the applications of novel polymeric nanoagents in cancer diagnosis, treatment, and theranostics, as well as associated challenges and prospects in this field.

The Healthy China Strategy puts realistic demands for residents' health levels, but the reality is that various factors can affect health. In order to clarify which factors have a great impact on residents' health, based on China's provincial panel data from 2011 to 2018, this paper selects 17 characteristic variables from the three levels of economy, environment, and society and uses the XG boost algorithm and Random forest algorithm based on recursive feature elimination to determine the influencing variables. The results show that at the economic level, the number of industrial enterprises above designated size, industrial added value, population density, and per capita GDP have a greater impact on the health of residents. At the environmental level, coal consumption, energy consumption, total wastewater discharge, and solid waste discharge have a greater impact on the health level of residents. Therefore, the Chinese government should formulate targeted measures at both economic and environmental levels, which is of great significance to realizing the Healthy China strategy.

Abstract The electronic structure near the Fermi surface determines the electrical properties of the materials, which can be effectively tuned by external pressure. Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 is a p‐type thermoelectric material which holds the record high figure of merit at room temperature. Here it is examined whether the figure of merit of this model system can be further enhanced through some external parameter. With the application of pressure, it is surprisingly found that the power factor of this material exhibits λ behavior with a high value of 4.8 mW m−1 K−2 at pressure of 1.8 GPa. Such an enhancement is found to be driven by pressure‐induced electronic topological transition, which is revealed by multiple techniques. Together with a low thermal conductivity of about 0.89 W m−1 K−1 at the same pressure, a figure of merit of 1.6 is achieved at room temperature. The results and findings highlight the electronic topological transition as a new route for improving the thermoelectric properties.

The electronic structure near the Fermi surface determines the electrical properties of the materials, which can be effectively tuned by external pressure. Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 is a p-type thermoelectric material which holds the record high figure of merit at room temperature. Here it is examined whether the figure of merit of this model system can be further enhanced through some external parameter. With the application of pressure, it is surprisingly found that the power factor of this material exhibits λ behavior with a high value of 4.8 mW m-1 K-2 at pressure of 1.8 GPa. Such an enhancement is found to be driven by pressure-induced electronic topological transition, which is revealed by multiple techniques. Together with a low thermal conductivity of about 0.89 W m-1 K-1 at the same pressure, a figure of merit of 1.6 is achieved at room temperature. The results and findings highlight the electronic topological transition as a new route for improving the thermoelectric properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A polydimethylsiloxane armed with epoxy, alkoxy and acrylate groups was synthesized from silanol terminated-PDMS and epoxy and acrylate groups functionalized silane coupling agents, and utilized as the adhesion promoter (AP) to prepare addition-cured liquid silicone rubber that exhibited self-adhesion ability (SA-LSR) with biocompatible thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) sheets. The structural characteristics of AP were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, which demonstrated the strong adhesion to polyester-based TPU sheets due to a sufficient amount of acrylate groups, epoxy groups and silanol groups obtained by the hydrolysis of alkoxy groups. In detail, the peel-off strength of SA-LSR and TPU joints reached up to 7.63 N mm−1 after the optimization of adhesion promoter including type and content, and curing condition including time and temperature. The cohesive failure was achieved during the sample breakage process. Moreover, the SA-LSR showed a good storage stability under proper storage conditions. This design strategy provided the feasibility to combine the advantages of addition-cured liquid silicone rubber and plastics with low melting points, promoting the potential application range of those silicone-based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Tris (2‐chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCPP) is an emerging environmental pollutant associated with liver diseases. However, its effects on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unknown. Choline, a necessary dietary nutrient, has previously demonstrated inhibitory effects on HCC. Therefore, elucidating the underlying mechanism of TCPP exposure on HCC development and investigating whether choline could mitigate these effects may improve the prognosis of HCC patients. In this study, we examined the tumor‐promoting effects of TCPP on HCC and explored the protective effects of choline. Our findings revealed that choline treatment attenuated the tumor‐promoting effects of TCPP exposure on HCC cells’ epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) and lung metastasis. Further investigation showed that TCPP exposure induced ROS production via NOX4 upregulation, while choline inhibited ROS generation, thereby mitigating the effects of TCPP on EMT and metastasis in HCC cells. Mechanistic analysis demonstrated that excessive ROS inhibited levels of Keap1, leading to upregulation and nuclear translocation of Nrf2, which promoted autophagy flux and accelerated EMT and metastasis of HCC cells. However, choline treatment significantly impaired TCPP‐induced autophagy by attenuating the ROS/Nrf2/Keap1 pathway. Overall, our data illustrate the adverse effects of TCPP on the malignant progression of HCC and suggest that choline may serve as a potential nutrient to counteract the tumor‐promoting effects of TCPP on HCC.

Mounting evidence strongly indicates that exosomes are pivotal in the advancement of cancer, yet the overarching profile of exosomal proteins and their contribution to lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) progression remain underexplored. In our investigation, we isolated exosomes from treatment-naive LUAD (n = 20) and paired normal adjacent tissues (NATs), and conducted integrated proteomic on the acquired exosomes and source tissues to ascertain origin characteristics and potential therapeutic targets of the exosomal proteins in LUAD. The omics data revealed the overall landscape of exosomal proteins from tissues in LUAD, underscoring the profound linkage between exosomal proteins and tumor metastasis. Integrated analysis indicated a significant overlap in protein species, demonstrating high concordance between exosomal proteins and those in their originating tissues. However, only a small subset showed significant positive correlation in protein abundance between exosomes and their source tissues. Notably, we pinpointed five proteins (DDX18, DNAJA3, PAFAH1B3, BAG6, and CAD). Significantly, platelet activating factor acetylhydrolase 1b catalytic subunit 3 (PAFAH1B3), an essential serine hydrolase within cellular metabolic processes, stood out as the singular protein closely associated with disease-free survival (DFS) of patients. Cell invasion and migration assays further substantiated that PAFAH1B3 promoted metastasis of LUAD via the exosomal release pathway. Furthermore, analysis of public databases validated elevated PAFAH1B3 expression in LUAD and linked it to poor patient survival outcomes. Overall, our research positioned PAFAH1B3 as a promising candidate for prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target in lung cancer treatment.

Dementia, with homocysteine (Hcy) as an important risk factor, is a severe public health problem in the aging society. Betaine serves as a methyl donor and plays an important role in reducing Hcy. However, the effects and mechanisms of betaine on Hcy-induced cognitive impairment remain unclear. Firstly, SD rats were injected with Hcy (400 μg/kg) through vena caudalis, and betaine (2.5 % w/v) was supplemented via drinking water for 14 days. Betaine supplementation could attenuate Hcy-induced cognitive impairment in the Y maze and novel object recognition tests by repairing brain injury. Meanwhile, microglial activation was observed to be inhibited by betaine supplementation using immunofluorescence and sholl analysis. Secondly, HMC3 cells were treated with betaine, which was found to decrease the ROS level, ameliorate cell membrane rupture, reduce the release of LDH, IL-18 and IL-1β, and attenuate the damage of microglia to neurons. Mechanistically, betaine alleviates cognitive impairment by inhibiting microglial pyroptosis via reducing the expressions of NLRP3, ASC, pro-caspase-1, cleaved-caspase-1, GSDMD, GSDMD-N, IL-18 and IL-1β. Betaine treatment can increase SAM/SAH ratio, confirming its enhancement on methylation capacity. Furthermore, betaine treatment was found to enhance N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification of NLRP3 mRNA, and reduced the NLRP3 mRNA stability through increasing the expression of the m6A reader YTH N6-methyladenosine RNA binding protein 2 (YTHDF2). Finally, silencing YTHDF2 could reverse the inhibitory effect of betaine on pyroptosis. Our data demonstrated that betaine attenuated Hcy-induced cognitive impairment by suppressing microglia pyroptosis via inhibiting the NLRP3/caspase-1/GSDMD pathway in an m6A-YTHDF2-dependent manner.

Abstract With the increase in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants, their outcome attracted worldwide attention. However, in China, the related studies are rare. The hospitalized records of ELBW infants discharged from twenty-six neonatal intensive care units in Guangdong Province of China during 2008–2017 were analyzed. A total of 2575 ELBW infants were enrolled and the overall survival rate was 55.11%. From 2008 to 2017, the number of ELBW infants increased rapidly from 91 to 466, and the survival rate improved steadily from 41.76% to 62.02%. Increased survival is closely related to birth weight (BW), regional economic development, and specialized hospital. The incidence of complications was neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (85.2%), oxygen dependency at 28 days (63.7%), retinopathy of prematurity (39.3%), intraventricular hemorrhage (29.4%), necrotizing enterocolitis (12.0%), and periventricular leukomalacia (8.0%). Among the 1156 nonsurvivors, 90.0% of infants died during the neonatal period (≤ 28 days). A total of 768 ELBW infants died after treatment withdrawal, for reasons of economic and/or poor outcome. The number of ELBW infants is increasing in Guangdong Province of China, and the overall survival rate is improving steadily.