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Although the irreplaceable position of silicon (Si) semiconductor materials in the field of information has become a consensus, new materials continue to be sought to expand the application range of semiconductor devices. Among them, research on wide bandgap semiconductors has already achieved preliminary success, and the relevant achievements have been applied in the fields of energy conversion, display, and storage. However, similar to the history of Si, the immature material grown and device manufacturing processes at the current stage seriously hinder the popularization of wide bandgap semiconductor-based applications, and one of the crucial issues behind this is the defect problem. Here, we take amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) and 4H silicon carbide (4H-SiC) as two representatives to discuss physical/mechanical properties, electrical performance, and stability from the perspective of defects. Relevant experimental and theoretical works on defect formation, evolution, and annihilation are summarized, and the impacts on carrier transport behaviors are highlighted. State-of-the-art applications using the two materials are also briefly reviewed. This review aims to assist researchers in elucidating the complex impacts of defects on electrical behaviors of wide bandgap semiconductors, enabling them to make judgments on potential defect issues that may arise in their own processes. It aims to contribute to the effort of using various post-treatment methods to control defect behaviors and achieve the desired material and device performance.

Single dyes typically exhibit limited light absorption in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Thus, cosensitization using two or more dyes to enhance light-harvesting efficiency has been explored; however, the aggregation of dyes can adversely affect electron injection capabilities. This study focused on the design and synthesis of three dyes with a common carbazole donor for DSSCs: DZ102 , TZ101 , and JM102 . JM102 broadens the absorption spectrum by replacing the benzoic acid electron acceptor of TZ101 with acetylenic benzoic acid. A cosensitized DSSC device based on CO-1 [ DZ102 : TZ101 = 1:1 (50 μM:50 μM)] achieved a short-circuit current density of 19.4 mA/cm 2 and a power conversion efficiency of 10.9%. For the first time, the molecular interactions between the dyes in the photoanode were demonstrated using cyclic voltammetry, which revealed the presence of intermolecular forces. Adsorption kinetics further indicated that these forces promoted the self-assembly of dyes during adsorption, which resulted in a cosensitization adsorption amount greater than the sum of the individual dye adsorptions. This study provides novel insights into the selection of cosensitizing dyes for DSSCs.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality in adults with metabolic syndrome (MeS) and explore the mediating role of oxidative stress., Methods: This study included 6131 adults with MeS from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The relationships between TyG index and mortality were elucidated using multivariate Cox proportional hazards models, restricted cubic splines (RCS) Fine-Gray competing risk model. In addition, mediation analysis was used to test the indirect effect of oxidative stress indicators., Results: Over a median 106-month follow-up, a total of 357 CVD and 1292 all-cause deaths were recorded. After multivariate adjustment, there was a J-type relationship between TyG index and CVD and all-cause mortality, with optimal inflection point of 9.13 and 8.92. After the threshold point, TyG index was positively associated with CVD (HR: 4.21, 95%CI: 1.82, 9.78) and all-cause mortality(HR: 2.93, 95%CI: 2.05, 4.18). Even using non-cardiovascular mortality as a competitive risk, the Fine-Gray model also illustrated that the cumulative CVD mortality incidence was higher in MeS with TyG index >9.13 (Fine-Gray P< 0.01). Mediation analysis revealed that biomarkers of oxidative stress, including gamma-glutamyl transferase and uric acid, collectively mediated 10.53% of the association between the TyG index and CVD mortality, and 8.44% of the association with all-cause mortality (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: In the cohort study, TyG index was found to have a J-shaped association with CVD mortality and all-cause mortality in MeS population and oxidative stress may play a key mediating role in this relationship., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Yang, Shangguan, Xie, Sheng and Yang.)

Background: This study examines the association between Hemoglobin Glycation Index (HGI) and the risk of mortality among individuals with hypertension and to explore gender-specific effects., Methods: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2018 were analyzed. Three models were constructed to assess the relationship between HGI and mortality risks, controlling for various covariates. Nonlinear relationships were explored using restricted cubic splines (RCS) and threshold effect analysis., Results: The findings reveal a U-shaped relationship between HGI and the cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality after adjusting for multiple covariates. Gender- specific analysis indicated a U-shaped relationship in men, with threshold points of -0.271, and 0.115, respectively. Before the threshold point, HGI was negatively associated with CVD mortality (HR: 0.64, 95%CI: 0.44, 0.93, P=0.02) and all-cause mortality (HR: 0.84, 95%CI: 0.71, 0.99), and after the threshold point, HGI was positively associated with CVD mortality (HR: 1.48, 95%CI: 1.23, 1.79, P<0.01) and all-cause mortality (HR: 1.41, 95%CI: 1.24, 1.60). In contrast, HGI had a J-shaped relationship with CVD mortality and a L-shaped relationship with all-cause mortality in females. Before the threshold points, the risk of all-cause mortality decreased (HR: 0.66, 95%CI:0.56, 0.77, P=0.04) and after the threshold points, the risk of CVD mortality increased (HR: 1.39, 95%CI:1.12, 1.72, P<0.01) progressively with increasing HGI., Conclusion: The research highlights the significance of maintaining proper HGI levels in individuals with hypertension and validates HGI as a notable indicator of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality risks. It also highlights the significant role of gender in the relationship between HGI and these risks., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Shangguan, Yang, Li, Chen and Yang.)

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the haemoglobin glycation index (HGI), and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality in adults with pre-diabetes and diabetes., Methods: This study included 10 267 adults with pre-diabetes and diabetes from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2018. Sex-differentiated relationships between HGI and mortality were elucidated using multivariate Cox proportional hazards models, restricted cubic splines and a two-piecewise Cox proportional hazards model., Results: During the median follow-up time of 103.5 months, a total of 535 CVD deaths and 1918 all-cause deaths were recorded. After multivariate adjustment, in males with pre-diabetes and diabetes, there was a U-shaped relationship between HGI and CVD mortality and all-cause mortality, with threshold points of -0.68 and -0.63, respectively. Before the threshold point, HGI was negatively associated with CVD mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 0.60; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.41, 0.89] and all-cause mortality (HR 0.56; 95% CI 0.43, 0.74), and after the threshold point, HGI was positively associated with CVD mortality (HR 1.46; 95% CI 1.23, 1.73) and all-cause mortality (HR 1.40; 95% CI 1.23, 1.59). In contrast, HGI had an L-shaped relationship with all-cause mortality and no significant association with CVD mortality in females. To the left of the threshold points, the risk of all-cause mortality decreased (HR 0.50; 95% CI 0.35, 0.71) progressively with increasing HGI., Conclusions: In the cohort study, HGI in pre-diabetic and diabetic populations was found to have a U-shaped association with CVD mortality and all-cause mortality in males and an L-shaped association with all-cause mortality only in females. Further prospective and mechanistic studies are warranted., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Insulin resistance (IR) plays a crucial role in the occurrence and progression of diabetes. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the predictive value of four IR surrogates, including the triglycerides glucose (TyG) index, TyG and body mass index (TyG-BMI), triglycerides/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio, and the metabolic score for IR (MetS-IR) for diabetes in two large cohorts., Methods: A total of 116,661 adult participants from the China Rich Healthcare Group and 15,464 adult participants from the Japanese NAGALA cohort were included in the study. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the standardized hazard ratio (HR) of the TyG index, TyG-BMI, TG/HDL-C ratio, and MetS-IR directly associated with diabetes. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and time-dependent ROC curve analysis were performed to evaluate and compare the predictive value of the four IR surrogates for diabetes., Results: In the two independent cohorts, the average follow-up time was 3.1 years in the China cohort, with 2681(2.30%) incident cases of diabetes recorded, and 6.13 years in the Japan cohort, with 373 incident cases (2.41%) of diabetes recorded. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, we found that among the four IR surrogates, TyG-BMI and MetS-IR showed stronger associations with diabetes. The stronger associations persisted even after further stratification by age, sex, hypertension, and obese subgroups. In terms of diabetes prediction, based on ROC analysis, TyG-BMI demonstrated the highest predictive accuracy for diabetes in the Chinese population, while both TyG-BMI and MetS-IR showed the highest predictive accuracy in the Japanese population. The results of further subgroup ROC analysis confirmed the robustness of these findings. Furthermore, the time-dependent ROC results indicated that among the four IR surrogates, MetS-IR exhibited the highest accuracy in predicting future diabetes at various time intervals in the Japanese population., Conclusion: Our findings suggest that evaluating TyG-BMI and MetS-IR as IR surrogates may be the most useful for predicting diabetes events and assessing the risk of developing diabetes in East Asian populations., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: The increasing prevalence of diabetes is strongly associated with visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and gender differences in VAT remarkably affect the risk of developing diabetes. This study aimed to assess the predictive significance of lipid accumulation products (LAP) for the future onset of diabetes from a gender perspective., Methods: A total of 8,430 male and 7,034 female non-diabetic participants in the NAGALA (NAfld in the Gifu Area, Longitudinal Analysis) program were included. The ability of LAP to assess the risk of future new-onset diabetes in both genders was analyzed using multivariate Cox regression. Subgroup analysis was conducted to explore the impact of potential modifiers on the association between LAP and diabetes. Additionally, time-dependent receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curves were used to assess the predictive power of LAP in both genders for new-onset diabetes over the next 2-12 years., Results: Over an average follow-up of 6.13 years (maximum 13.14 years), 373 participants developed diabetes. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed a significant gender difference in the association between LAP and future diabetes risk ( P -interaction<0.05): the risk of diabetes associated with LAP was greater in females than males [hazard ratios (HRs) per standard deviation (SD) increase: male 1.20 (1.10, 1.30) vs female 1.35 (1.11, 1.64)]. Subgroup analysis revealed no significant modifying effect of factors such as age, body mass index (BMI), smoking history, drinking history, exercise habits, and fatty liver on the risk of diabetes associated with LAP (All P -interaction <0.05). Time-dependent ROC analysis showed that LAP had greater accuracy in predicting diabetes events occurring within the next 2-12 years in females than males with more consistent predictive thresholds in females., Conclusions: This study highlighted a significant gender difference in the association between LAP and future diabetes risk. The risk of diabetes associated with LAP was greater in females than in males. Furthermore, LAP showed superior predictive ability for diabetes at different time points in the future in females and had more consistent and stable predictive thresholds in females, particularly in the medium and long term., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Qiu, Kuang, Zou, Yang, Shangguan, Liu, Sheng and Wang.)

M6A methylation is the most prevalent and abundant RNA modification in mammals. Although there are many studies on the regulatory role of m6A methylation in the immune response, the m6A regulators in the pathogenesis of acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remain unclear. We comprehensively analysed the role of m6A regulators in STEMI and built a predictive model, revealing the relationship between m6A methylations and the immune microenvironment. Differential analysis revealed that 18 of 24 m6A regulators were significantly differentially expressed, and there were substantial interactions between the m6A regulator. Then, we established a classifier and nomogram model based on 6 m6A regulators, which can easily distinguish the STEMI and control samples. Finally, two distinct m6A subtypes were obtained and significantly differentially expressed in terms of infiltrating immunocyte abundance, immune reaction activity and human leukocyte antigen genes. Three hub m6A phenotype related genes (RAC2, RELA, and WAS) in the midnightblue module were identified by weighted gene coexpression network analysis, and were associated with immunity. These findings suggest that m6A modification and the immune microenvironment play a key role in the pathogenesis of STEMI., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

The CRISPR-Cas system functions as a prokaryotic immune system and is highly diverse, with six major types and numerous sub-types. The most abundant are type I CRISPR systems, which utilize a multi-subunit effector, Cascade, and a CRISPR RNA (crRNA) to detect invading DNA species. Detection leads to DNA loading of the Cas3 helicase-nuclease, leading to long-range deletions in the targeted DNA, thus providing immunity against mobile genetic elements (MGE). Here, we focus on the type I-G system, a streamlined, 4-subunit complex with an atypical Cas3 enzyme. We demonstrate that Cas3 helicase activity is not essential for immunity against MGE in vivo and explore applications of the Thioalkalivibrio sulfidiphilus Cascade effector for genome engineering in Escherichia coli . Long-range, bidirectional deletions were observed when the lacZ gene was targeted. Deactivation of the Cas3 helicase activity dramatically altered the types of deletions observed, with small deletions flanked by direct repeats that are suggestive of microhomology mediated end joining. When donor DNA templates were present, both the wild-type and helicase-deficient systems promoted homology-directed repair (HDR), with the latter system providing improvements in editing efficiency, suggesting that a single nick in the target site may promote HDR in E. coli using the type I-G system. These findings open the way for further application of the type I-G CRISPR systems in genome engineering.

Trajectory data of road users play a crucial role in transportation engineering and traffic safety research. Previous vehicle trajectory data, including naturalistic driving data, trajectory data captured by drones and traffic cameras, have greatly promoted the research of traffic safety, traffic simulation, and other transportation engineering fields. However, existing technologies in collecting trajectory data are limited their detection range. With the development of the sensing and tracking technologies, it is possible to track the trajectory information of road users at the wide-area level, i.e., the real-time trajectory data of all road users on the entire road. Recently, we published our data sharing platform, Tongji Road Trajectory Sharing (TJRD TS, available online at https://tjrdts.com) Platform, providing our open wide-area vehicle trajectory data for researchers, academics, and road traffic professionals. Advanced vehicle tracking and trajectory splicing technologies, such as millimeter wave radar and edge computing technology, were employed to obtain such wide-area vehicle trajectory data. In this short communication article, we brainstorm ideas of using wide-area vehicle trajectory data in traffic safety research, traffic efficiency research, and connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) application. We hope this short communication and our published data sharing platform can serve as the steppingstone for those who are interested in road transportation engineering and road safety research using such wide-area vehicle trajectory data., 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 © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Bronchial asthma often causes cognitive impairment, especially attentional deficit, which has a serious impact on children's learning. This study aims to provide objective indicators for the evaluation of attention in asthma children. Thirty-one asthmatic and typically developing children (TDC) were tested by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Brain network-based methods of degree centricity and voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) methods were used in the study. Compared with the TDC group, asthmatic children had lower DC values in the right superior frontal gyrus (after FDR correction, P < 0.05). Meanwhile, VMHC values of bilateral superior frontal gyrus and bilateral superior parietal lobule in asthmatic children were lower than those in TDC group (after FDR correction, P < 0.05). There was significant correlation between the correct percentage of CPT and DC value in right superior frontal gyrus, VMHC value in right superior frontal gyrus, and right superior parietal lobule. In this study, impaired superior frontal gyrus and parietal lobe function are associated with attentional deficit in asthmatic children, and these brain regions are key brain regions in attention-related networks., (© 2023 International Society for Developmental Neuroscience.)

Type I CRISPR systems are the most common CRISPR type found in bacteria. They use a multisubunit effector, guided by crRNA, to detect and bind dsDNA targets, forming an R-loop and recruiting the Cas3 enzyme to facilitate target DNA destruction, thus providing immunity against mobile genetic elements. Subtypes have been classified into families A-G, with type I-G being the least well understood. Here, we report the composition, structure and function of the type I-G Cascade CRISPR effector from Thioalkalivibrio sulfidiphilus, revealing key new molecular details. The unique Csb2 subunit processes pre-crRNA, remaining bound to the 3' end of the mature crRNA, and seven Cas7 subunits form the backbone of the effector. Cas3 associates stably with the effector complex via the Cas8g subunit and is important for target DNA recognition. Structural analysis by cryo-Electron Microscopy reveals a strikingly curved backbone conformation with Cas8g spanning the belly of the structure. These biochemical and structural insights shed new light on the diversity of type I systems and open the way to applications in genome engineering., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.)

The paper proposes an ultra-narrow band graphene refractive index sensor, consisting of a patterned graphene layer on the top, a dielectric layer of SiO 2 in the middle, and a bottom Au layer. The absorption sensor achieves the absorption efficiency of 99.41% and 99.22% at 5.664 THz and 8.062 THz, with the absorption bandwidths 0.0171 THz and 0.0152 THz, respectively. Compared with noble metal absorbers, our graphene absorber can achieve tunability by adjusting the Fermi level and relaxation time of the graphene layer with the geometry of the absorber unchanged, which greatly saves the manufacturing cost. The results show that the sensor has the properties of polarization-independence and large-angle insensitivity due to the symmetric structure. In addition, the practical application of testing the content of hemoglobin biomolecules was conducted, the frequency of first resonance mode shows a shift of 0.017 THz, and the second resonance mode has a shift of 0.016 THz, demonstrating the good frequency sensitivity of our sensor. The S (sensitivities) of the sensor were calculated at 875 GHz/RIU and 775 GHz/RIU, and quality factors FOM (Figure of Merit) are 26.51 and 18.90, respectively; and the minimum limit of detection is 0.04. By comparing with previous similar sensors, our sensor has better sensing performance, which can be applied to photon detection in the terahertz band, biochemical sensing, and other fields., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Proactive lane-changing (LC) risk prediction can assist driver's LC decision-making to ensure driving safety. However, most previous studies on LC risk prediction did not consider the driver's intention recognition, which made it difficult to guarantee the timeliness and practicability of LC risk prediction. Moreover, the difference in driving risks and its influencing factors between LC to left lane (LCL) and LC to right lane (LCR) have rarely been investigated. To bridge the above research gaps, this study proposes a proactive LC risk prediction framework which integrates the LC intention recognition module and LC risk prediction module. The Long Short-term Memory (LSTM) neural network with time-series input was employed to recognize the driver's LC intention. The Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LGBM) algorithm was then applied to predict the LC risk. Feature importance analysis was lastly conducted to obtain the key features that affect the LC risk. The highD trajectory dataset was used for framework validation. Results show that the recognition accuracy of the driver's LCL, LCR and lane-keeping (LK) intentions based on the proposed LSTM model are 97%, 96% and 97%, respectively. Meanwhile, the LGBM algorithm outperforms other machine learning algorithms in LC risk prediction. The results from feature importance analysis show that the interaction characteristics of the LC vehicle and its preceding vehicle in the current lane have the greatest impact on the LC risk. The proposed framework could potentially be implemented in advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) or autonomous driving system for improved driving safety., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is closely related to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. To investigate the mechanism of HBV causing HCC, we previously analyzed the transcription of the HBV-transgenic cell line HepG2-4D14 and parental HepG2 cells and identified a subset of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) differentially expressed between them. In this study, we focus on lncRNA LINC01010 , as it is significantly downregulated in HepG2-4D14 cells and in liver tissues of HCC patients, and positively correlated with survival. We found that HBV-encoded HBx can reduce the transcription of LINC01010 . Functional analysis showed that the overexpression of LINC01010 inhibits proliferation, migration and invasion of HepG2 cells while the knockdown of LINC01010 promotes these processes. By taking the approach of RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and mass spectrometry, we identified that LINC01010 can interact with vimentin. Further studies demonstrated that LINC01010 negatively affects the vimentin network extension and causes more rapid subunit exchange and lower stability of vimentin filaments. In addition, LINC01010 can reduce the amount of insoluble vimentin within cells, which suggests that LINC01010 interfers with vimentin polymerization. These data indicate that LINC01010 can inhibit the assembly of vimentin filament. Thus, we revealed that HBV HBx-downregulated LINC01010 , which suppresses cell proliferation and migration by negatively regulating the formation of vimentin filament. Taken together, LINC01010 is a potential tumor suppressor that may restrain HBV-related HCC development.