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Highlights Plasma-assisted phosphorization has been used to prepare defect-rich metal phosphides. The p-NiCoP/NCF@CC shows high activities and excellent stability for the hydrogen evolution reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction. The p-NiCoP/NCF@CC shows great potential for overall water splitting.

Adhesives have been widely applied in various fields. However, most industrial adhesives contain organic solvents, which are toxic and difficult to clean after use. Importantly, most adhesives are used in a relatively small temperature range (0–50 °C), which is due to the fragmentation of the morphology and properties of supramolecular polymer gels at low temperatures. Most of the supramolecular adhesives need to be heated during the bonding process, which cannot meet the requirements of low-temperature adhesion in daily life and industry. In this study, based on the concept of using deep eutectic solvents (DESs) as a platform, cyclodextrin (β-CD) and carboxyl terminated hyperbranched polyester (DCHP) were used to prepare solvent-free supramolecular polymer gel (CD-DCHP), which was non-toxic and easy to clean. Due to the joint action of deep eutectic solvent and supramolecular polymer structure, CD-DCHP showed excellent mechanical properties, super strong adhesion (up to 4.55 MPa on glass surface), and excellent low-temperature performance (up to 1.64 MPa at –60 °C). This supramolecular polymer gel also showed excellent tolerance to acids, alkalis, and various organic solvents. It greatly expanded the application of DES and provided a new approach to the development of supramolecular adhesives.

Skin and soft-tissue infections require significant consideration because of their prolonged treatment duration and propensity to rapidly progress, resulting in severe complications. The primary challenge in their treatment stems from the involvement of drug-resistant microorganisms that can form impermeable biofilms, as well as the possibility of infection extending deep into tissues, thereby complicating drug delivery. Dissolving microneedle patches are an innovative transdermal drug-delivery system that effectively enhances drug penetration through the stratum corneum barrier, thereby increasing drug concentration at the site of infection. They offer highly efficient, safe, and patient-friendly alternatives to conventional topical formulations. This comprehensive review focuses on recent advances and emerging trends in dissolving-microneedle technology for antimicrobial skin-infection therapy. Conventional antibiotic microneedles are compared with those based on emerging antimicrobial agents, such as quorum-sensing inhibitors, antimicrobial peptides, and antimicrobial-matrix materials. The review also highlights the potential of innovative microneedles incorporating chemodynamic, nanoenzyme antimicrobial, photodynamic, and photothermal antibacterial therapies. This review explores the advantages of various antimicrobial therapies and emphasizes the potential of their combined application to improve the efficacy of microneedles. Finally, this review analyzes the druggability of different antimicrobial microneedles and discusses possible future developments.

Abstract Variations in the pathogenicity of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), the agent causing Newcastle disease, are associated with variants of different virulence. A few studies have characterized the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) in NDV-infected avian cells. Here, the expression of miRNAs in chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEFs) infected with Herts/33 and LaSota NDV strains (highly virulent and nonvirulent, respectively) was determined using RNA sequencing. miRNAs involved in NDV infection included 562 previously documented and 184 novel miRNAs. miRNA target genes involved transcription factors, cell apoptosis, ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum. Potential target genes associated with autophagy were verified by qRT-PCR. No studies have documented the miRNA profiles of CEFs infected with NDVs variants. This study adds to our knowledge of the cellular miRNAs involved in NDV infection and the complex molecular mechanisms mediating virus-host interactions. The results of this study will aid the development of strategies against the chicken virus.

Abstract Background Cross breeding is an important way to improve livestock performance. As an important livestock and poultry resource in Henan Province of China, Bohuai goat was formed by crossing Boer goat and Huai goat. After more than 20 years of breeding, BoHuai goats showed many advantages, such as fast growth, good reproductive performance, and high meat yield. In order to better develop and protect Bohuai goats, we sequenced the whole genomes of 30 BoHuai goats and 5 Huai goats to analyze the genetic diversity, population structure and genomic regions under selection of BoHuai goat. Furthermore, we used 126 published genomes of world-wide goat to characterize the genomic variation of BoHuai goat. Results The results showed that the nucleotide diversity of BoHuai goats was lower and the degree of linkage imbalance was higher than that of other breeds. The analysis of population structure showed that BoHuai goats have obvious differences from other goat breeds. In addition, the BoHuai goat is more closely related to the Boer goat than the Huai goat and is highly similar to the Boer goat. Group by selection signal in the BoHuai goat study, we found that one region on chromosome 7 shows a very strong selection signal, which suggests that it could well be the segment region under the intense artificial selection results. Through selective sweeps, we detected some genes related to important traits such as lipid metabolism (LDLR, STAR, ANGPTL8), fertility (STAR), and disease resistance (CD274, DHPS, PDCD1LG2). Conclusion In this paper, we elucidated the genomic variation, ancestry composition, and selective signals related to important economic traits in BoHuai goats. Our studies on the genome of BoHuai goats will not only help to understand the characteristics of the crossbred but also provide a basis for the improvement of cross-breeding programs.

Abstract Lightweighting of automotives is crucial for the decrease of fuel and energy consumption, as well as CO2 emission and environmental pollution. Polymer composites, especially the high strength glass fiber/polyamide (GF/PA) composites, have great potential in lightweight; however, they have not been universally accepted due to their insufficient performance. Here, a stearate‐ended hyperbranched polyester (HBP‐12‐n) is designed and high‐performance GF/PA6 composites with high GF content are prepared. The flowability of the composites can be further increased by combining carboxyl‐ended hyperbranched polymer (HyPer C181) with HBP‐12‐n. Compared with unmodified GF/PA6 composites, the melt flow index (MFI) can be increased remarkably to 587% by adding a 0.7 wt% mixture of HBP‐12‐75 and HyPer C181, and the strength and toughness remain competitive. The simultaneous improvement in MFI and impact strength of GF/PA6 composites is the first discovery of this kind, and a synergistic mechanism of amphiphilic bridging‐deformation slipping‐interfacial strengthening of hyperbranched polymers is proposed to account for this phenomenon. This work provides a simple strategy to fabricate GF/PA6 composites with the extensive application for automotive parts and has great prospects in making automotives lightweight and reduction of CO2 emissions.

ABSTRACT Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is an avian paramyxovirus that causes major economic losses to the poultry industry around the world, with NDV pathogenicity varying due to strain virulence differences. However, the impacts of intracellular viral replication and the heterogeneity of host responses among cell types are unknown. Here, we investigated the heterogeneity of lung tissue cells in response to NDV infection in vivo and that of the chicken embryo fibroblast cell line DF-1 in response to NDV infection in vitro using single-cell RNA sequencing. We characterized the NDV target cell types in the chicken lung at the single-cell transcriptome level and classified cells into five known and two unknown cell types. The five known cell types are the targets of NDV in the lungs with virus RNA detected. Different paths of infection in the putative trajectories of NDV infection were distinguished between in vivo and in vitro, or between virulent Herts/33 strain and nonvirulent LaSota strain. Gene expression patterns and the interferon (IFN) response in different putative trajectories were demonstrated. IFN responses were elevated in vivo, especially in myeloid and endothelial cells. We distinguished the virus-infected and non-infected cells, and the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway was the main pathway after virus infection. Cell-cell communication analysis revealed the potential cell surface receptor-ligand of NDV. Our data provide a rich resource for understanding NDV pathogenesis and open the way to interventions specifically targeting infected cells. IMPORTANCE Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is an avian paramyxovirus that causes major economic losses to the poultry industry around the world, with NDV pathogenicity varying due to strain virulence differences. However, the impacts of intracellular viral replication and the heterogeneity of host responses among cell types are unknown. Here, we investigated the heterogeneity of lung tissue cells in response to NDV infection in vivo and that of the chicken embryo fibroblast cell line DF-1 in response to NDV infection in vitro using single-cell RNA sequencing. Our results open the way to interventions specifically targeting infected cells, suggest principles of virus-host interactions applicable to NDV and other similar pathogens, and highlight the potential for simultaneous single-cell measurements of both host and viral transcriptomes for delineating a comprehensive map of infection in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, this study can be a useful resource for the further investigation and understanding of NDV.

Fast and precise pressure control for an electropneumatic brake system is essential for ensuring the safe operation of trains. However, the nonlinearity and uncertainties of the system make controller design challenging. This paper proposes a prescribed performance control method integrating an extended state observer to address this issue. A thermodynamical model of the brake cylinder is first built based on the pneumatic characteristics of the braking system, considering multiple modes, coupling effects, and input saturation. Then, an extended state observer is designed to estimate model uncertainty due to temperature variation and disturbances and to achieve online compensation of the model. A feedback control law with a specified prescribed performance function is developed based on the updated thermodynamic model to guarantee the transient and steady-state performance of the pressure control. A parameter adaptive method is also utilized to handle input saturation. The observer’s bounded convergence and stability analysis of the closed-loop control system is given using the Lyapunov theory. Compared experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.