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Both solute-segregated long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) structure and stacking faults (SFs) are essential in strengthening rare-earth (RE) Mg alloys. Herein, LPSO-enriched Mg and SFs-enriched Mg are fabricated and comparably investigated for fatigue performances. During fatigue, the Mg nanolayers between LPSO lamellae or SFs act as the gliding channels of dislocations. However, SFs-enriched Mg exhibits outstanding fatigue strength due to solute strengthening within Mg nanolayers. Solute strengthening is assumed to contribute to the local accumulation of basal dislocations and the activation of non-basal dislocations. Dislocations are restricted locally and cannot glide long distances to specimen surfaces, which mitigates fatigue-induced extrusions and slip markings, ultimately leading to an increase in fatigue strength. These findings guide the development of RE-Mg alloys towards a synergy between high tensile and high fatigue performances.

Abstract Background Kidney fibrosis is a crucial component that contributes to end-stage renal disease and is the inevitable last pathological process in many progressive chronic kidney diseases (CKD). Ubiquitination, one of the most refined and widespread reversible post-translational modifications, plays a significant role in the development of renal fibrosis through its regulation and deubiquitination processes. Main body of the abstract Recent studies have shown that ubiquitination and deubiquitination represent promising intervention targets against renal fibrosis, with numerous natural products intervening in renal fibrosis by regulating the processes of ubiquitination and signal pathways such as transforming growth factor-β1/Smads (TGF-β1/Smads), Wnt/β-catenin, Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription/suppressor of cytokine signaling (JAK/STAT/SCOS), and nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-like 2 (Nrf2), and then link. Conclusion Herein, we summarize the processes of ubiquitination and deubiquitination and introduce the interactions between ubiquitination and natural products. This is conducive to the development of new candidate drugs that intervene in renal fibrosis through the regulation of ubiquitination, representing a promising strategy to combat renal fibrosis with natural products. Graphical abstract

Abstract Two or more catalysts conducting multistep reactions in the same reactor, concurrent tandem catalysis, could enable (bio)pharmaceutical and fine chemical manufacturing to become much more sustainable. Herein we report that co-immobilization of metal nanoparticles and a biocatalytic system within a synthetic covalent organic framework capsule, COFcap-2, functions like an artificial cell in that, whereas the catalysts are trapped within 300-400 nm cavities, substrates/products can ingress/egress through ca. 2 nm windows. The COFcap-2 reactor is first coated onto an electrode surface and then used to prepare eleven homochiral amines using dinitrogen as a feedstock. The amines, including drug product intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredient, are prepared in >99% enantiomeric excess under ambient conditions in water. Importantly, the COFcap-2 system is recycled 15 times with retention of performance, addressing the relative instability and poor recyclability of enzymes that has hindered their broad implementation for energy-efficient, low waste production of chemicals and (bio)pharmaceuticals.

Abstract Background Pit mud (PM) hosts diverse microbial communities, which serve as a medium to impart flavor and quality to Baijiu and exhibit long-term tolerance to ethanol and acids, resulting in a unique ecosystem. However, the ecology and metabolic functions of PM remain poorly understood, as many taxa in PM represent largely novel lineages. In this study, we used a combination of metagenomic analysis and chemical derivatization LC–MS analysis to provide a comprehensive overview of microbial community structure, metabolic function, phylogeny, horizontal gene transfer, and the relationship with carboxyl compounds in spatiotemporal PM samples. Results Our findings revealed three distinct stages in the spatiotemporal changes of prokaryotic communities in PM: an initial phase dominated by Lactobacillus, a transitional phase, and a final state of equilibrium. Significant variations in α- and β-diversity were observed across different spatial and temporal PM samples. We identified 178 medium- and high-quality non-redundant metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), and constructed their phylogenetic tree, depicting their roles in the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles. The Wood-Ljungdahl pathway and reverse TCA cycle were identified as the main carbon fixation mechanisms, with both hydrogenotrophic and aceticlastic methanogens playing a major role in methane production, and methylotrophic pathway observed in older PM. Furthermore, we identified relationships between prokaryotes and 29 carboxyl metabolites, including medium- and long-chain fatty acids. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) was widespread in PM, particularly among clostridia, Bacteroidota, Bacilli, and Euryarchaeota, and was shown to play critical roles in fermentation dynamics, carbon fixation, methane production, and nitrogen and sulfur metabolism. Conclusion Our study provides new insights into the evolution and function of spatiotemporal PM, as well as its interactions with carboxyl metabolites. Lactobacillus dominated in new PM, while methanogens and clostridia were predominant in older or deeper PM layers. The three distinct stages of prokaryotic community development in PM and HGT played critical roles in metabolic function of spatiotemporal PM. Furthermore, this study highlights the importance of α-diversity, β-diversity, methanogens, and Clostridium as useful indicators for assessing PM quality in the production of high-quality Baijiu.

Abstract Background The safety and effectiveness of short-term insemination remain a subject of controversy. This study aims to investigate the impact of short-term insemination on both embryo quality and pregnancy outcomes and whether it is necessary to apply short-term insemination to all patients underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF). Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 3,496 patients from two centers over the period January 2016 to December 2022. Of these, 1307 patients underwent IVF, 1656 patients were treated with short-term IVF, 166 patients received early rescue intracytoplasmic sperm injection (R-ICSI) and 367 patients were treated with ICSI. The clinical and neonatal outcomes were compared between the two groups. Results The rate of high-quality embryos was significantly lower in the short-term IVF group compared to the routine IVF group (59.89% vs. 68.16%) (P = 0.000), the rate of blastocyst formation was significantly lower in the short-term IVF group compared to the routine IVF group (44.99% vs. 61.34%) (P = 0.000). There were no significant differences in clinical outcomes or neonatal outcomes between the two groups, irrespective of whether fresh or frozen embryos were used (both P > 0.05). The incidence of ≥ 3PN demonstrated no significant difference between the early R-ICSI and ICSI groups (1.04% vs. 0.66%) (P = 0.114), furthermore, the clinical outcomes were similar in both groups, for both fresh and frozen embryos (both P > 0.05). Conclusions For patients with primary fertility, short-term IVF combined with early R-ICSI can effectively prevent potential low fertilization or fertilization failure, reduce the risk of patients with no transferable embryo, avoid the waste of resources and had no adverse effects on neonatal outcomes. However, short-term IVF reduced the oocytes utilization rate in one single oocyte pick-up cycle, for patients with no risk factors for fertilization failure, the overnight fertilization is still one of the most important ways of insemination worthy of affirmation. Trial registration NA.

Gesture recognition technology based on surface electromyography signal (sEMG) has important application value in human-computer interaction, medical rehabilitation, and other fields. It is usually realized by extracting the characteristics of different finger movements and then using machine learning or deep learning algorithms to classify and recognize them. This process involves complicated calculations, and few studies have achieved this purpose by combining different fingers’ flexion or relaxation. In this study, we designed a wearable acquisition system to collect sEMG with five fingers flexed/relaxed, and then combined with the movement status of the five fingers to identify different gestures. And in the process of detecting the movement status of the finger, focusing on the deficiency of traditional methods in using empirical thresholds to detect the sEMG active segment, we proposed an adaptive recognition method based on time-frequency point density. This method innovatively uses the time-frequency point density (TFPD) as the characteristic parameter of the sEMG, and then adaptively normalizes the feature extraction results in the interval [−1,1]. Finally, it uses a binary judgment method based on sliding windows to identify whether the active segment of the sEMG starts or ends, thus judging the flexion/relaxation state of the fingers. A large number of experimental results show that this method can realize quasi-real-time recognition within 0.5s, and the accuracy rate is nearly 100%. The influence of individual differences can be weakened through normalized positive and non-positive values. Therefore, it has strong self-adaptability. In addition, this method is very practical in the gesture recognition system.

Noninvasive fetal electrocardiography (ECG) is prevalently used for monitoring fetal heartbeats during pregnancy due to its affordability, ease of use, and constant monitoring capability. A crucial aspect of noninvasive fetal ECG is detecting the R-peak series from the abdominal electrode signal, which is a fundamental baseline for determining fetal heart rate. This paper explores the direct detection of R-peaks by assigning categorical labels to each member of the observed values in the ECG sequence and proposes a convolutional encoder-decoder network and training strategy for processing the sequence annotation task. Specifically, the encoder is a stacked convolutional layer equipped with a gating linear unit (GLU), and the decoder is a recurrent neural network. The GLU convolutional layer can effectively extract and aggregate the features to improve the generalization ability. To address the issue of unbalanced sequence labels, we adopt and fine-tune the focal loss function, promoting superior prediction and faster convergence. The experimental results suggest that the proposed method can achieve promising performance on two benchmark datasets. The versatility of our approach is validated through tests of different label encoding strategies, demonstrating its potential for other complex fetal ECG labeling tasks.

Abstract Background Current research has focused on exploring the sources of parents’ anxiety about children’s education (PAE), and we continue in this direction by exploring the factors influencing parental educational anxiety in primary and secondary school students and the interactions among them. Methods Parental Educational Anxiety Measurement Questionnaire was used to measure the level of PEA. Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was used to examine the correlation between the level of PAE and the demographic variables. The method of multiple stepwise regression analysis was used to explore the demographic factors correlated with PAE. Two-way interactions in moderated multiple regression to examine the moderating effects of educational attainment on monthly household mortgage payments and PAE. Results Our results indicate that there were statistical differences among education level, average monthly household income, child’s stage of learning and monthly household mortgage payments; PEA were negatively correlated with education level and average monthly household income, and positively correlated with monthly cost of educational inputs. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that education level, average monthly household income, monthly household mortgage payment, and monthly cost of educational inputs were direct influences on PEA. Education level has a significant moderating effect on the monthly mortgage payment and PEA. Conclusion Education level, average monthly household income, monthly household mortgage payment, and monthly cost of educational inputs were direct influencing factor of PEA.

In this paper, a novel WR-2.8 band dual-mode filter with high selectivity and compact structure is proposed. The basic dual-mode cavity, by exciting and exploiting TM110 and TE101 modes, can provide two reflection zeros and one transmission zero (TZ). Also, the high design flexibility in terms of TZ position and filter bandwidth has been demonstrated. Due to the simple structure and good symmetry, the efficient mode-matching (MM) technique can be used for filter synthesis. For verification, the proposed pseudoelliptic filter is fabricated by high-precision computer numerical control (CNC) milling technology which the measured machining tolerance is less than ± 5 μm. The measured and simulated results of the proposed filter are all in a good agreement, which exhibits the lowest insertion loss of 0.75 dB, the return loss of better than 15 dB and the 3-dB bandwidth of 16 GHz centered at 292 GHz. Furthermore, high selectivity with two TZs located at 281 and 304 GHz is achieved.

Hierarchical syntactic structure processing is proposed to be at the core of the human language faculty. Syntactic processing is supported by the left fronto-temporal language network, including a core area in the inferior frontal gyrus as well as its interaction with the posterior temporal lobe (i.e., “IFG + pTL”). Moreover, during complex syntactic processes, left IFG also interacts with executive control regions, such as the superior parietal lobule (SPL). However, the functional relevance of these network interactions is largely unclear. In particular, it remains to be demonstrated whether the language network plays a specific causal role in comparatively challenging syntactic processes, separable from the interaction between IFG and other general cognitive regions (i.e., “IFG + SPL” in the present study). The present study was designed to address this question. Thirty healthy adult Chinese native speakers underwent four continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) sessions: stimulation over IFG, stimulation over IFG + pTL, stimulation over IFG + SPL, and sham stimulation over IFG + irrelevant region in a pseudo-randomized order. In each session, participants were required to label the syntactic categories of jabberwocky sequences retaining real Chinese function words (e.g., “ム了ウ” is labeled as a verb phrase (VP): “[VP [V了]N]”, similar to “ziff-ed a wug”, where “ziff” and “wug” are nonsense pseudowords, and the whole phrase is a VP). Contrasted with sham cTBS, change percentage of accuracy rates (ΔACCR%), reaction times (ΔRT%), and coefficient of variation (ΔCV%) were calculated and compared across conditions. First-order behavioral results showed a significantly higher ΔCV% after stimulating IFG + pTL compared to stimulating the IFG + SPL, indicating that syntactic processing became more unstable. Second-order representational similarity analysis (RSA) results revealed that cTBS effects on IFG + pTL selectively depended on the hierarchical embedding depth, a key measure of syntactic hierarchical complexity, whereas the effects on IFG + SPL were sensitive to the dependency length, a crucial index reflecting the working memory load. Collectively, these findings reveal the specific causal relevance of the language areas for hierarchical syntactic processing, separable from other general cognitive (such as working memory) capacities. These results shed light on the uniqueness and the specific causal role of the language network for the human language faculty, further supporting the causally separable view of the functional dissociation between the language network and the domain-general/multiple-demand network.

ObjectiveThis study aims to explore the latent profiles of fatalism among community-dwelling disabled elderly individuals and identify the key factors influencing these profiles. The findings will provide valuable insights for formulating tailored care management strategies for this population.DesignA cross-sectional survey study.MethodsA random sampling approach was used to survey disabled elderly individuals residing in 109 communities across eight urban districts in Sichuan Province. Data were collected through a general information questionnaire and a Fatalism Scale. Latent profile analysis was performed to identify distinct fatalism profiles, and multivariate unordered regression analysis was conducted to assess their influencing factors.ResultsThree distinct latent profiles of fatalism were identified: high fatalism and pessimism tendency (35.6%), moderate fatalism and low optimism tendency (9.6%), and low fatalism with relative optimism tendency (54.8%). Multivariate analysis revealed that living arrangements, number of children, educational level, duration of disability, and self-reported economic stress were significant factors influencing these fatalism profiles.ConclusionThere is significant heterogeneity in fatalism among community-dwelling disabled elderly individuals. Caregivers and healthcare managers can develop more precise and personalized management strategies by considering the different latent profiles and their associated influencing factors.

Abstract Background Numerous pathogenic variants causing human oocyte maturation arrest have been reported on the primate‐specific TUBB8 gene. The main etiology is the dramatic reduction of tubulin α/β dimer, but still large numbers of variants remain unexplained. Methods Using microinjection mRNA and genome engineering to reintroduce the conserved pathogenic missense variants into oocytes or in generating TUBB8 variant knock‐in mouse models, we investigated that the human deleterious variants alter microtubule nucleation and spindle assembly during meiosis. Live‐cell imaging and immunofluorescence were utilised to track the dynamic expression of microtubule plus end‐tracking proteins in vivo and analysed microtubule nucleation or spindle assembly in vitro, respectively. Immunoprecipitation‐mass spectrometry and ultramicro‐quantitative proteomics were performed to identify the differential abundance proteins and affected interactome of TUBB8 protein. Results First, we observed a significant depletion of the EB1 signal upon microinjection of mutated TUBB8 mRNA (including R262Q, M300I, and D417N missense variants), indicating disruption of microtubule nucleation caused by these introduced TUBB8 missense variants. Mechanically, we demonstrated that the in vivo TUBB8‐D417N missense variant diminished the affinity of EB1 and microtubules. It also harmed the interaction between microtubules and CKAP5/TACC3, which are crucial for initiating microtubule nucleation. Attenuated Ran‐GTP pathway was also found in TUBB8‐D417N oocytes, leading to disrupted spindle assembly. Stable microtubule was largely abolished on the spindle of TUBB8‐D417N oocytes, reflected by reduced tubulin acetylation and accumulated HDAC6. More importantly, selective inhibition of HDAC6 by culturing TUBB8‐D417N oocytes with Tubacin or Tubastatin A showed morphologically normal spindle and drastically recovered polar‐body extrusion rate. These rescue results shed light on the strategy to treat meiotic defects in a certain group of TUBB8 mutated patients. Conclusion Our study provides a comprehensive mechanism elucidating how TUBB8 missense variants cause oocyte maturation arrest and offers new therapeutic avenues for treating female infertility in the clinic.

Transport of energetic electrons in the flare loop is important to understanding nonthermal emissions in solar flares. In this work, we model the propagation of electrons by numerically solving the particle transport equation which includes the physics of magnetic mirroring and turbulent pitch-angle diffusion. We find that both the fractions of electrons trapped in the looptop and precipitating into the solar surface display a non-monotonic behavior with increasing scattering rate. In the moderate diffusion regime, the precipitation fraction is highest and we expect intense nonthermal HXR and microwave emissions at the footpoints. With no or weak pitch-angle scattering, the velocity space distribution can be highly anisotropic both in the looptop and loopleg regions. Different patterns of stripes with positive gradients in the perpendicular direction can drive the electron cyclotron maser instability with higher efficiency than the classical loss-cone distribution, facilitating the excitation of coherent solar radio bursts. Our simulation results highlight the effects of turbulent pitch-angle scattering on electron trap/precipitation and anisotropic distribution in solar flares, which may help us understand the precipitation of magnetospheric electrons accounting for the aurora as well.

Abstract A considerable amount of cadmium (Cd) can accumulate in the bark of poplar stems, but the Cd transport pathway and its underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Here, a Cd radial transport pathway in poplar stems and a previously unrecognized PcWRKY1‐Yellow Stripe‐Like 3 (PcYSL3) module that regulates Cd transport are identified in Populus × canescens (Aiton) Sm. Cadmiun‐nicotianamine (Cd‐NA) in xylem vessels in poplar stem‐wood is unloaded to adjacent ray parenchyma cells and further radially transported to bark‐phloem. PcYSL3 is putatively identified as involved in Cd radial transport in poplar stems. PcYSL3 is highly expressed in ray parenchyma cells adjacent to xylem vessels and the encoded protein localizes on the plasma membrane. Cd accumulation is greater in the wood and bark of PcYSL3‐overexpressing poplars than the wild type, whereas the opposite is observed in PcYSL3‐knockdown plants. PcWRKY1 can bind to the PcYSL3 promoter sequence and represses its expression. PcWRKY1 inhibits Cd accumulation in the wood and bark of plants. Thus, PcWRKY1 suppresses PcYSL3 transcription to negatively regulate Cd‐NA unloading from xylem vessels to adjacent ray parenchyma cells and its radial transport in poplar stem. The findings have provided new insights into breeding of poplars for more effective remediation of heavy metal‐contaminated soils.

Chicken bile is a by-product of chicken processing, rich in chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), an active pharmaceutical raw material. In this study, a green measure for the extraction and purification of CDCA from chicken biles by enzymatic hydrolysis and macroporous resins refining was established. For the assisted extraction of CDCA, the active bile salt hydrolase (BSH) from Bifidobacterium was heterologously expressed and applied, its activities on GCDCA and TCDCA were 4.96 ± 0.32 U/mg and 3.07 ± 0.031 U/mg and optimal catalytic conditions for the extraction of CDCA were determined as 0.04 g/g of the enzyme dosage, pH 5.0 and 38 °C. Through validation of the conditions, the yield of CDCA was up to 5.32 %, which was equivalent to that by saponification method. In order to further refine CDCA from the extract obtained by enzyme-assisted extraction, a more preferable resin, AB-8 was selected for the purification of CDCA, which had a good adsorption capacity of 61.06 ± 0.57 mg/g for CDCA. Besides, the obtained CDCA extract was purified through AB-8 resin, the purity of CDCA was improved from 51.7 % to 91.4 % and the recovery yield of CDCA was 87.8 %. The advantages of energy conservation, time saving, economy and environmental friendliness make the measure using enzyme-assisted extraction and macroporous resins refining a promising candidate for isolation of CDCA from chicken bile.

Over the past three decades, a lot of coronal fast-mode waves have been detected by space missions, but their counterparts in the chromosphere, called Moreton waves, have rarely been captured. How this happens remains a mystery. Here, to shed light on this problem, we investigate the photospheric vector magnetograms of the Moreton-wave events associated with M- and X-class solar flares during 2010–2023. The H α data are taken with the Global Oscillation Network Group and the Chinese H α Solar Explorer. Our statistical results show that more than 80% of the events occur at the edges of active regions and propagate nonradially, due to asymmetric magnetic fields above the flares. According to the reconstructed magnetic field and atmospheric model, Moreton waves propagate in the direction along which the horizontal fast-mode wave speed drops the fastest. This result supports the inclined magnetic configuration of the eruption being crucial for generating Moreton waves, even for X-class flares. It may explain the low occurrence rate of Moreton waves and why some X-class flares accompanied with coronal mass ejections do not generate Moreton waves.

Landslide susceptibility evaluation is an indispensable part of disaster prevention and mitigation work. Selecting effective evaluation methods and models for landslide susceptibility assessment is of significant importance. This study focuses on selected areas in Yunyang County, Chongqing City. By interpreting high-resolution satellite remote sensing images from before and after heavy rainfall on 31 August 2014, the distribution of rainfall-induced accumulation landslides was obtained. To evaluate the susceptibility of accumulation landslides, we have equated evaluation factors to accumulation distribution prediction factors. Eight evaluation factors were extracted using multi-source data, including lithology, elevation, slope, remote sensing image texture features, and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Various machine learning models, such as Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and BP Neural Network models, were employed to assess the susceptibility of rainfall-induced accumulation landslides in the study area. Subsequently, the accuracy of the evaluation models was compared and verified using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, and the evaluation results were analyzed. Finally, the developed Random Forest model was applied to Gongping Town in Fengjie County to verify its applicability in other regions. The findings indicate that the complex geological conditions and the unique tectonic erosion landform patterns in the northeastern region of Chongqing not only make this area a center of heavy rainfall but also lead to frequent and recurrent rainfall-induced landslides. The Random Forest model effectively reflects the development characteristics of accumulation landslides in the study area. High and very high susceptibility zones are concentrated in the northern and central regions of the study area, while low and moderate susceptibility zones predominantly occupy the mountainous and riverside areas. Landslide susceptibility mapping in the study area shows that the Random Forest model yields reasonably graded results. Elevation, remote sensing image texture features, and lithology are highly significant factors in the evaluation system, indicating that the development factors of slope geological disasters in the study area are mainly related to topography, geomorphology, and lithology. The landslide susceptibility evaluation results in Gongping Town, Fengjie County, validate the applicability of the Random Forest model developed in this study to other regions.

Background: Observation, execution, and imitation of target actions based on mirror neuron network (MNN) have become common physiotherapy strategies. Electrical stimulation (ES) is a common intervention to improve muscle strength and motor control in rehabilitation treatments. It is possible to enhance MNN’s activation by combining motor execution (ME) and motor imitation (MI) with ES simultaneously. This study aims to reveal whether ES could impact cortical activation during ME and MI. Methods: We recruited healthy individuals and assigned them randomly to the control group (CG) or experiment group (EG). Participants in EG performed ME and MI tasks with ES, while participants in CG performed the same two tasks with sham ES. We utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to detect brain activation of MNN during ME and MI with and without ES, a randomized block design experiment paradigm was designed. Descriptive analysis of oxy-hemoglobin (HbO) and deoxy-hemoglobin (HbR) were used to show the hemoglobin (Hb) concentration changes after different event onsets in both CG and EG, a linear mixed-effects model (LMM) of HbO data was employed to analyze the effect of ES on the activation of MNN. Results: A total of 102 healthy adults were recruited and 72 participants’ data were analysed in the final report. The block averaged Hb data showed that HbO concentration increased and HbR concentration decreased in most MNN regions during ME and MI in both groups. The LMM results showed that ES can significantly improve the activation of inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and precentral gyrus during MI, the supplementary motor area, inferior parietal lobule, and superior temporal gyri showed increased activation, but without statistical significance. Although the results did not reach statistical significance during ME, ES still showed positive effects on increased overall activations. Conclusions: In this study, we present potential novel rehabilitation approaches that combines MNN strategies and low-frequency ES to enhance cortical activation. Our results revealed that ES has potential to increase activation of most MNN brain areas, providing evidence for related rehabilitative interventions and device development. Clinical Trial Registration: This study was registered on the China Clinical Trial Registration Center (identifier: ChiCTR2200064082, registered 26, September 2022, https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=178285).

In this work, we used density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) methods to study the mechanism of pure organic room temperature phosphorescence emission. The effects on the electronic structure and photochemical properties of thiophene and diketone derivatives with different cyclic and oxidized structures. The result suggests that varying ring configurations and oxidation products significantly influence the photochemical characteristics of thiophene and diketone derivatives. The complex experiences conformational distortion along with the oxidation product, which causes notable alterations in the energy gap and charge density of its frontier molecular orbitals. An oxidation process significantly distorts the molecular structure of the compound, leading to excited singlet and excited triplet states structural similarities. With energy gaps dropping from 0.22 eV to 0.05 eV and spin-orbit coupling constants rising from 0.42 cm -1 to 57.48 cm -1 , the excited singlet and excited triplet states share structures and charge distributions that increase the energy level channels appropriate for intersystem crossing. Therefore, this work can provide theoretical support for the design and structural optimization of highly efficient pure organic phosphorescent materials., 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. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging enables rapid, non-contact imaging of hazardous materials in a non-destructive manner, allowing for analysis based on spectral reflection information. However, using traditional methods, it is challenging to identify hazardous materials with less distinct spectral reflection features. This study utilizes a self-built NIR hyperspectral imaging system and proposes a new approach. Using a convolutional neural network (CNN), This allows for the rapid completion of high-throughput spectral screening, marking suspicious spectra at spatial points. we sophisticatedly classified six hazardous material types, generating impactful warning images. The optimized CNN demonstrated superior performance (accuracy 91.08 %, recall 91.15 %, specificity 91.62 %, precision 90.17 %, and 0.924 F1 score) compared to SVM and KNN methods. Our study included multitask validation tests, revealing a sensitive detection of 10 mg/cm 2 for ammonium nitrate and trinitrotoluene, capable of identifying over 100 targets simultaneously. By simulating real-world scenarios, we successfully detected hazardous chemicals scattered on the ground and accurately identified these hazardous materials in glass and thin plastic products. Even in situations where clothing obstructed the view, we could still correctly identify hazardous chemicals and generate corresponding warning images. Our system demonstrated precise identification capabilities even amidst complex backgrounds. This method provides an accurate and rapid solution for identifying and locating hazardous chemicals, laying a strong foundation for the next steps in non-contact, long-distance quantitative determination of chemical concentrations. This study highlights the effective application of CNN in non-contact, long-distance classification, and recognition of hazardous materials, paving the way for further scientific and engineering applications., 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.)

Oxygen vacancies are crucial for enhancing oxygen ion transport in solid-state materials. Therefore, an approach was established to efficiently adjust the surface oxygen vacancy concentration in the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathodes. This method employs NaBH 4 solution to capture lattice oxygen on the cathode surface, enabling precise control over both the surface oxygen vacancy concentration and the transition metal ion valence states in spinel CoFe 2 O 4 (CFO) by modulating the NaBH 4 treatment duration. The results indicate that CFO-10, treated with NaBH 4 solution for 10 min, exhibits optimal electrochemical catalytic activity. This enhancement is primarily attributed to the improved oxygen adsorption-dissociation and charge transfer processes. At 750 °C, CFO-10 shows a polarization resistance (Rp) of 0.032Ω cm 2 , representing a reduction of 42.8 % compared to CFO. Additionally, CFO-10 achieves a peak power density (PPD) of 923 mW·cm -2 , representing a 78.5 % increase compared to CFO. This study provides new insights for optimizing SOFC spinel oxide cathode performance and opens a promising avenue for the development of other high-performance catalytic materials., 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. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

A 3-5 µm mid-infrared (MIR) laser has a wide range of applications in biological tissue ablation, remote spectral fingerprint recognition, and directional infrared countermeasures. However, the performance of conventional MIR lasers has long been hindered by restricted wavelength radiation, spectral power efficiency, and system stability. Here, a highly efficient, compact, and stable MIR light source is reported, which is directly generated from a supercontinuum (SC) laser with a long wavelength edge of 4.2 µm in a 7 µm core diameter fluorotellurite fiber. Based on the integration of a high-peak-power pump light source and a small-core-diameter nonlinear medium, efficient nonlinear frequency conversion from traditional near-infrared laser to mid-infrared laser has been achieved, resulting in a significantly enhanced MIR spectrum of 3.7 µm, exceeding the pump peak of 2 µm by more than 12 dB. The pump conversion efficiency is 50.8%, with 94.3% of the spectral power distributed above 2.4 µm and 71.4% above 3 µm. This study has opened up a feasible avenue for obtaining high-efficiency mid-infrared band lasers that meet practical application needs.

An optimal pillow effectively increases sleep quality and prevents cervical symptoms. However, the influence of body dimension on optimal pillow design or selection strategy has not been clarified quantitatively. This study aims to investigate the individualized optimal pillow height and neck support for side sleepers. Nine healthy subjects were recruited and laid laterally on foam-latex pillow with four height levels (8 cm, 10 cm, 12 cm, 14 cm) and with/without neck support, respectively. Healthiness was evaluated using cervical spine morphology (measured by motion capturing system) and musculoskeletal internal force (simulated by a multi-body model). Comfortability was evaluated by a deviation standardized overall comfort rating. Individualized pillow height was identified by Hφ (calculated by the subject's shoulder width and absolute pillow height). Correlation analysis and linear mixed model were performed between C1-T1 slope and Hφ. A paired-t test was performed on the cervical curve and comfort score comparisons between neck support pillow and flat pillow. The C1-T1 slope of the cervical curve showed statistically significant correlation to Hφ and was well predicted by Hφ through linear relation (R 2 = 0.80 for flat pillow, R 2 = 0.82 for neck support pillow). The correlation between comfort score and Hφ was moderate or weak. Medium individualized height pillow (Hφ 9.74-11.76 cm) with neck support showed a cervical curve closest to natural standing and the lowest musculoskeletal internal force. Sub-low individualized height pillow (Hφ 11.76-13.78 cm) with neck support showed the highest average comfort score. For side sleepers, cervical curve morphology and optimal individualized pillow height are well predicted by Hφ. Comfortability perception is not sensitive to Hφ. Sub-low individualized height pillow showed the best comfortability and relatively good healthiness. Medium individualized height pillow with neck support showed the best healthiness., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering.)

Neurologists often face challenges in identifying epileptic activities within multichannel EEG recordings, requiring extensive hours of analysis. Computer-aided diagnosis systems have been proposed to reduce manual inspection of EEG signals by neurologists. However, direct analysis of EEG signals is difficult due to their complex and dynamic nature, with variation across multiple patients. Therefore, researchers have proposed the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) to capture dynamic events indicative of seizures through time-varying frequency representation of EEG signals. However, tradeoffs between time and frequency resolution limited the spectrogram's interpretability and affected clinical deployment. Hence, this study proposes extracting high-resolution channels via a novel STFT spectrogram construction algorithm encompassing taper functions for seizure diagnosis. Initially, we extracted seizure and non-seizure segments from each channel of selected patients in the CHB-MIT dataset. Next, we systematically apply taper functions like Hann and Gaussian windows to minimize the edge effect during the construction of spectrogram images. Finally, we employ Dilated Convolutional Squeeze and Excitation Networks (DCSENets) through leave-one-patient-out cross-validation (LOPOCV) to perform patient-independent seizure classification. The proposed DCSENets achieve an average accuracy of 87.20±11.48% and 87.29±10.48% with Hann and Gaussian taper functions, respectively, and 86.85±11.56% without the taper function. Most patients with high performances indicate similarity in train-test sample distribution using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test at 0.010.05. Furthermore, the Grad CAM deep visual explainer integration enhances the interpretability of the deep learning model's decision-making process. Consequently, neurologists are provided not only with enhanced visualized spectrograms but also a transparent model for improved seizure diagnosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest to this work. We declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In our investigation, we probed the ramifications of low selenium diets and HT-2 mycotoxin exposure on spinal development and structural fidelity in murine models. A cohort of 48 male mice was segregated into six groups: a control set, a singular low selenium diet group, two cohorts exposed to distinct concentrations of HT-2 toxin (1.6 and 3.2 mg/kg·bw·d), and two assemblies subjected to a confluence of low selenium intake and each designated HT-2 dosage. Across an 8-week investigative period, parameters such as body mass, markers of bone metabolism, and cellular vigor were assiduously monitored. Analytical techniques encompassed biomechanical assessments, X-ray scrutiny, and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) evaluations. Our results unveiled a dose-dependent diminution in the body mass of mice exclusively exposed to HT-2 toxin, whereas concurrent exposure to both low selenium and HT-2 toxins elicited a synergistic effect. Pertinent shifts were observed in calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D concentrations, as well as in the operational dynamics of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, aligning with toxin dosage and combined exposure. Variations in biomechanical attributes were also discerned, mirroring the levels of toxin exposure. Micro-CT and X-ray examinations further corroborated the extensive detrimental impact on the cortical and trabecular architecture of the mice's spinal columns. This inquiry elucidates the complex synergistic interactions between low selenium and HT-2 mycotoxin on murine spinal development and integrity under co-exposure conditions. These findings accentuate the exigency of comprehensively understanding the solitary and joint effects of these toxins on osseous health, providing pivotal insights for future toxicological research and public health strategies., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethical approval: All procedures were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Xi'an Jiaotong University, and the Science and Technology Department of Shaanxi Province approved this animal experiment at the Animal Experimental Center of Xi'an Jiaotong University (Xi'an, China) (License number: SYXK (Shaanxi) 2020-005). It complies with the Guidelines for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals published by the National Research Council. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Society for Mycotoxin (Research Gesellschaft für Mykotoxinforschung e.V.) and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Abdominal aortic aneurysm represents a critical pathology of the aorta that currently lacks effective pharmacological interventions. TNF receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) has been established to be involved in cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, and heart failure. However, its role in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the role of TRAF6 on AAA formation and its underlying mechanisms. Single-cell RNA sequencing of human AAA tissues demonstrated that TRAF6 was significantly upregulated in aortic macrophages. Moreover, overexpression of TRAF6 promotes AAA formation in elastase-induced C57BL/6 mice, while TRAF6 pharmacological inhibition could attenuate AAA development. Consistently, inhibition of TRAF6 in macrophages through in vitro methods notably limits their pyroptosis, while also diminishing proinflammatory responses in these cells. Mechanistically, TRAF6 can modulate macrophage pyroptosis through the NLRP3/Caspase1/GSDMD signaling pathway. Our study highlights the crucial role of the TRAF6/NLRP3/Caspase1/GSDMD axis in macrophage pyroptosis and AAA, offering potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for AAA., (© 2025 Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.)

Cepharanthine (CEP) is a natural remedy that potently inhibits SARS-CoV-2 activity both in vitro and in vivo. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of CEP compared with placebo in adults with asymptomatic or mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we conducted a proof-of-concept, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Patients were randomized to receive 120 mg/day of CEP, 60 mg/day CEP or placebo for 5 days. Main outcome was the time from randomization to negative nasopharyngeal swab and safety. Among 262 randomized participants, 188 completed the trial among group of 120 mg/day CEP (n = 65), 60 mg/day CEP (n = 68) and placebo (n = 55). Neither 120 mg/day or 60 mg/day CEP shortened the time to negative significantly compared with placebo. However, 60 mg/day CEP showed a slight trend (difference=-0.77 days, hazard ratio (HR) = 1.40, 95% CI 0.97-2.01, p = 0.072). In analysis of participants with good medication compliance, 60 mg/day CEP significantly shortened the time to negative (difference=-0.87 days, HR = 1.56, 95% CI 1.03-2.37, p = 0.035). Adverse events were not different among the three groups, and no serious adverse events occurred. In conclusion, treatment of asymptomatic or mild Covid-19 with 120 mg/day or 60 mg/day did not shorten the time to negative significantly. However, 60 mg/day CEP showed a slight trend which needs future confirmatory trials to validate. (NCT05398705)., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethical approval: The trial was reviewed and approved by the Renji Hospital Ethics Committee, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University (KY2022-107-A) and the Xinhua Hospital Ethics Committee, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University (XHEC-C-2022-064-1). All participants provided written informed consent. This trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05398705. All patients provided written informed consent. The study was conducted in accordance with consensus ethical principles derived from international guidelines including the Declaration of Helsinki, Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences International Ethical Guidelines, International Council for Harmonisation Good Clinical Practice guidelines, and applicable laws and regulations. The protocol and related documents were approved by an institutional review board/ethics committee before study commencement. Competing interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Armadillidium vulgare Latreille (AV), the dried body of pillbug, was originally described in Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica. As a common analgesic in animal-based traditional Chinese medicine, it is mainly used to relieve pain, promoting diuresis, relieving fatigue and so on. Our work demonstrated that AV could alleviate various types of acute and chronic pain including neuropathic pain (NP). And transcriptome sequencing analysis revealed that AV could suppress CXCL10 to alleviate NP, however, the upstream mechanisms governing CXCL10 synthesis remain vague., Aim of the Study: The research's goal was to identify the mechanism via which AV regulates CXCL10 to ameliorate NP., Materials and Methods: Chronic constriction injury (CCI) to the sciatic nerve was used to induce the NP model 14 days following surgery. To identify cell signaling pathways, various approaches were used, including transcriptome sequencing, western blotting, immunofluorescence, as well as ELISA. The in vitro assay involved the cultivation of neuron PC12 cells and astrocyte C6 cells., Results: Both in vivo and in vitro results demonstrated that IL-12/IL-18 enhanced IFN-γ production in spinal neurons, which acted on IFN-γ receptors on neurons and astrocytes to upregulate CXCL10 expression in these cells, illustrating the pivotal role of IL-12 in the crosstalk between neurons and astrocytes. The role of IL-12 in pain regulation was elucidated for the first time within the nervous system. Additionally, its synergistic interaction with IL-18 on the downstream IFN-γ-CXCL10 pathway dramatically altered the activation of neurons and astrocytes. And AV could suppress CXCL10 to alleviate NP by mediating the IL-12-IFN-γ-IFNGR signaling pathway., Conclusions: We explored a new target for NP by regulating neuron-astrocyte crosstalk and provided a theoretical basis for AV in clinical use., 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.)

Aims: Liver metastases (LiM) commonly manifest in ovarian cancer (OC) patients. We intended to establish nomograms for predicting the risk and prognostic factors in OCLiM patients., Methods: Data from the SEER database (Nov 2022, Sub 1992-2020) were analyzed, excluding patients with missing data on liver metastases, survival months, race, AJCC T stage, marital status, rural/urban status, and metastases to bone, brain, or lung. Logistic and Cox regression analyses identified risk and prognostic factors for liver metastases. Predictive nomograms were developed from the multivariable regression results. The nomograms were evaluated using Harrell's C-index, ROC curve, calibration curve, DCA, NRI, and IDI. Moreover, the efficacy of the treatment in the new risk stratification subgroups was demonstrated by Kaplan-Meier (KM) curves., Results: Among 17,056 OC patients, 5.67% (n = 967) had liver metastases. Nomograms were constructed based on identified risk and prognostic factors, with dynamic web-based nomograms developed for clinical use. The nomogram demonstrated C-index values of 81.9% (training) and 82.9% (validation) for predicting liver metastases. For OS and CSS, the C-index values were 73.3% and 73.7% (training), and 73.3% and 72.8% (validation), respectively. The ROC curves for OS at 1-, 3-, 5-year showed AUC values of 84.1%, 79.8%, 75.9% (training) and 82.9%, 78.5%, 82.2% (validation), respectively. For CSS, AUC values at 1-, 3-, and 5-year were 84.5%, 80.2%, 76.1% (training) and 82.6%, 78.0, 82.0% (validation), respectively. The calibration and DCA curves confirmed favorable performance. NRI and IDI analyses showed superiority over the Grade and AJCC stage systems. Surgery improved prognosis in the low-risk group, while chemotherapy was more effective in both low- and medium-risk groups., Conclusions: we developed nomograms and risk stratification systems to assist clinicians in the individualized prediction, risk stratification, and prognostic assessment of OCLiM patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that we have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

With the rapid advancements in asymmetric catalysis, there is a growing need for the asymmetric selective synthesis of complex and diverse molecules with chiral axes. Axially chiral molecules are not only present in natural products and drugs but also in specialized chiral ligands and catalysts. The catalytic asymmetric synthesis of axially chiral molecules has garnered significant attention within the chemical community. To date, two asymmetric catalytic methods have been established for the synthesis of biaxially chiral molecules: transition-metal catalysis and asymmetric organocatalysis. This feature article presents a summary of the research progress made in the field of asymmetric selective synthesis of biaxially chiral molecules. This review focuses on the reaction range, limitations, and reaction mechanism of the biaxially chiral molecular synthesis method, as well as the contribution and advantages of this method in the preparation of various axially chiral compounds.

Background: Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy is the standard adjuvant treatment for high-risk, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). However, BCG immunotherapy is commonly accompanied by significant lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) including symptoms such as urinary urgency, frequency, dysuria and pelvic pain. These symptoms can undermine treatment adherence and clinical outcomes. In this study, the treatments for preventing LUTS after BCG instillations were compared through a systemic review and network meta-analysis (NMA)., Methods: Eligible studies were obtained from the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and Cochrane Library databases. We also searched the references of the included studies. Our protocol followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) checklist. We performed NMA using Review Manager 5.3 and STATA MP 18.0., Result: The analysis included 6 studies with 556 participants. The results of the NMA revealed that celecoxib and prulifloxacin effectivelty reduce the incidence of LUTS including frequency, urgency and dysuria. Phenazopyridine showed the best performance in improving pelvic pain., Conclusion: The NMA indicated that medications such as celecoxib, prulifloxacin and phenazopyridine are effective in reducing the incidence of LUTS after BCG immunotherapy of bladder tumors., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: All the authors agreed to publish the article. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Herein, a photoenzymatic synergistic catalytic material, i.e. laccase/CeO 2 /attapulgite, was prepared for simultaneous CO 2 conversion and biomass conversion. Based on the synergistic effect of the photoenzyme in the prepared composites, a remarkable CO (27.15 μmol g cat -1 h -1 ) and CH 4 (64.88 μmol g cat -1 h -1 ) production rate and a benzaldehyde yield of 84.1% were gained.

Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has offered a great treasure and source of inspiration for developing innovative medicinal materials and therapy. In this work, inspired by the macroscopic compatibility of Puerariae Lobatae Radix and Gypsum Ustum in CHM, the puerarin (PUE) and CaSO 4 (Ca) as the main constituents, respectively, from the two herbs are co-assembled into two-component molecular hydrogels. Such two-component gels exhibited enhanced mechanical properties compared with the single-component PUE gel due to the introduction of crosslinking hydrogen bonds between PUE and Ca. Importantly, the two-component gels show good biocompatibility and antibacterial and antioxidant properties. Moreover, in vivo wound healing experiments on an E. coli -infected mouse model together with the histological and immunological analyses were conducted, revealing that the two-component gels possessed good wound-healing-promoting functions. Our research shows how the medication practice of CHM can contribute to the development of novel bio-soft materials. It is anticipated that more herbal medicine-inspired medicinal materials will be built and tailored for specific bio-applications.

Inadequate vascularization significantly hampers wound recovery by limiting nutrient delivery. To address this challenge, we extracted membrane vesicles from Lactobacillus reuteri (LMVs) and identified their angiogenic potential via transcriptomic analysis. We further developed a composite hydrogel system (Gel-LMVs) by anchoring LMVs within carboxylated chitosan and cross-linking it with oxidized hyaluronic acid through a Schiff base reaction. The resulting Gel-LMVs exhibit good biocompatibility and retain the bioactivity of LMVs, which are released in a controlled manner to stimulate cell proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis in vitro by modulating gene expression in critical signaling pathways. Moreover, in an in vivo model, Gel-LMVs upregulate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule (CD31), leading to accelerated vascularization in early healing stages, while concurrently reducing inflammation and augmenting collagen deposition to enhance wound healing quality. This approach to functionalizing biomaterials with probiotic-MVs offers an advanced strategy for wound healing.

As a typical ecologically fragile area, the Wudong Coal Mine region in Xinjiang generates large accumulations of coal gangue each year, which, in the alkaline soil environment, can easily lead to significant leaching and accumulation of As. This study developed a stabilizer (CFD) using cement, fly ash, and desulfurized gypsum to modify in-situ soil in the Xinjiang mining area, resulting in a modified solidified soil with excellent geotechnical performance and As stabilization capability. The study results showed that when CFD content exceeded 14.5% (H8), the unconfined compressive strength was above 350 kPa. The adsorption capacity of the solidified soil for As could exceed 90%. Leaching experiments revealed that the As leaching amount from solidified soil-coal gangue was below 0.01 mg/L, meeting China's Class III groundwater standard, thereby effectively reducing ecological and environmental risks. The modified solidified soil prepared in this study expanded the application scenarios for cement, providing a technical basis for the large-scale in-situ disposal of coal gangue in Xinjiang mining areas. It reduced the disposal costs of coal gangue and offered insights into its resource utilization and harmless use., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of 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., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Gouty arthritis is one of the most common forms of inflammatory arthritis and has brought a significant burden on patients and society. Current strategies for managing gout primarily focus on long-term urate-lowering therapy. With the rapid advancement of point-of-care testing (POCT) technology, continuous monitoring of gout-related biomarkers like uric acid (UA) or inflammatory cytokines can provide rapid and personalized diagnosis for gout management. In this study, a plug-in design of a microneedle electrode array (PIMNA) was developed and integrated into a multi-parameter sensing portable system in combination with embedded circuits and a mobile application. The system enabled real-time, in situ, and dynamic monitoring of biomarkers, including UA, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and pH at gouty joints. The multi-parameter monitoring system demonstrated a wide linear response range, excellent selectivity, stability, reproducibility, and reliable signal transmission performance. In vivo experiments demonstrated the real-time monitoring capability of PIMNA for UA, ROS, and pH, showing the potential to facilitate urate-lowering management and inflammation assessment. Prospectively, the system enables quantitative analysis of the complexity and diversity of gout, presenting promising applications in clinical practice. This work provides a unique strategy with potential for broader applications in gout management and arthritic disease treatment.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have emerged as low-cost photovoltaic representatives. Constructing three-dimensional (3D)/two-dimensional (2D) perovskite heterostructures has been shown to effectively enhance the efficiency and stability of PSCs. However, further enhancement of device performance is still largely limited by inferior conductivity of the 2D perovskite capping layer and its mismatched energy level with the 3D perovskite layer. Here, we developed an effective surface modification strategy via synergically incorporating inorganic high valence-state niobium ion (Nb 5+ ) metal dopants and organic ammonium halide salts to in situ construct a high-quality 2D perovskite capping layer on top of the underlying 3D perovskite layer. As a result, the conductivity of the 2D perovskite capping layer was effectively enhanced by 43%, the energy barrier between 3D and 2D perovskite layers was favorably reduced, and the built-in electric field of the 3D/2D heterostructured perovskite stacks has been enlarged. In addition, the 2D perovskite capping layer also effectively reduced the defect densities by up to 29%, as verified by the space-charge-limited-current (SCLC) tests. Benefiting from the facilitated charge extraction and suppressed non-radiative recombination, the blade-coated hole transport layer-free PSCs based on this optimized 3D/2D heterostructured perovskite film achieved an efficiency of 23.2%, ∼19% higher than that of the control device (19.5%), which represented one of the best-performing PSCs with simplified device architecture fabricated via a scalable fabrication technique. The modified 3D/2D perovskite-based device also exhibited improved operational stability.

Enzymatic cascade reactions are widely utilized in food security, environmental monitoring, and disease diagnostics, whereas their practical application was hindered due to their limited catalytic efficiency and intrinsic fragility to environmental influences. Herein, a compartmentalized dual-enzyme cascade nanoreactor was constructed in metal-organic frameworks (ZIF-8) by a shell-by-shell growth method. ZIF-8 provided a good microenvironment to maintain the activity of enzymes and protected them against harsh conditions. Importantly, experimental results revealed that the encapsulation order and enzyme ratio affected the cascade catalytic activity. When the cascade enzyme ratio was 1:1 and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was encapsulated in the inner layer with glucose oxidase (GOx) in the outer layer (H@ZIF-8@G@ZIF-8), the nanoreactor facilitated the mass transfer process of substrates and showed the highest cascade catalytic efficiency. The maximum reaction rate ( V max ) of H@ZIF-8@G@ZIF-8 was 294.96 nM s -1 , which was 1.6 times greater than G@ZIF-8@H@ZIF-8 (182.84 nM s -1 ). Therefore, H@ZIF-8@G@ZIF-8 was effectively applied in glucose monitoring and phenol sensing. The glucose biosensor showed a low detection limit of 0.76 μM and a broad linear range of 5-300 μM. The phenol biosensor demonstrated a wide linear range (20-300 μM) with a detection limit of 0.60 μM. In addition, the spiked recovery experiments for glucose and phenol were carried out in serum (recovery: 95.26-100.04%) and tap water (recovery: 97.05-106.50%), respectively. The high accuracy demonstrated potential applications of the cascade system in biosensing and environmental detection.

Osteoporosis (OP) is a bone metabolic disease caused by decreased bone mass leading to destruction of bone microstructure. Treatment of OP is characterized by a lifelong nature, causing extreme financial and psychological burdens to patients. Hormonal abnormalities, cellular autophagy, Ferroptosis, and oxidative stress are all part of the intricate and varied pathophysiology of OP. Recent research has revealed that mitochondrial dysfunction is a significant factor in the onset and progression of OP. By regulating bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell differentiation through various signaling pathways and cytokines, abnormal mitochondrial energy metabolism brought on by oxidative stress processes impacts osteoblast and osteoclast proliferation and differentiation, causing an imbalance in bone metabolism that ultimately results in OP. Therefore, one possible method to prevent and manage OP may be to use mitochondria as a carrier to trigger osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells from mitochondrial energy consumption, oxidative stress, autophagy, and osteoclast death. In order to offer some theoretical references and therapeutic approaches for the clinical prevention and treatment of OP, we will examine the pathophysiology of OP from mitochondrial dysfunction in this work., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Photosensitizers (PSs) featuring type I reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) activity offer a promising solution to achieve non-invasive and precise theranostics. However, the reported AIE luminogens (AIEgens) with both AIE characteristic and strong type-I ROS generation are still scarce and the structure-property relationship is still unclear. Herein, an innovative acceptor elongation boosted intersystem crossing (AEBIC) design strategy has been proposed to endow the AIEgen strong type-I ROS producibility. The results indicate that the obtained AIEgen exhibit type-I ROS and aggregation-enhanced ROS efficacy, which has been verified by both experimental and theoretical results. Mechanistic study reveal that the acceptor elongation has promoted a dual-channel intersystem crossing pathway to enhance the intersystem crossing (ISC) process due to the differences in triplet configurations, which can be further amplified by aggregation. The afforded type-I AIE-PS show lipid droplet-anchored characteristic and can induce the ferroptosis through destroying the cellular redox homeostasis and increasing lethal levels of lipid peroxidation. Finally, targeting ferroptosis-based cancer therapy can be realized with excellent anti-tumor effect., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Psa primarily utilises the type III secretion system (T3SS) to deliver effector proteins (T3Es) into host cells, thereby regulating host immune responses. However, the mechanism by which kiwifruit responds to T3SS remains unclear. To elucidate the molecular reaction of kiwifruit plants to Psa infection, M228 and mutant M228△hrcS strains were employed to inoculate Actinidia chinensis var. chinensis for performing comparative transcriptional and metabolomic analyses. Transcriptome analysis identified 973 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to flavonoid synthesis, pathogen interaction, and hormone signaling pathways during the critical period of Psa infection at 48 h post-inoculation. In the subsequent metabolomic analysis, flavonoid-related differential metabolites were significantly enriched after the loss of T3SS.Through multi-omics analysis, 22 differentially expressed genes related to flavonoid biosynthesis were identified. Finally, it was discovered that the transient overexpression of 3 genes significantly enhanced kiwifruit resistance to Psa. qRT-PCR analysis indicated that Ac4CL1, Ac4CL3 and AcHCT1 promote host resistance to disease, while Ac4CL3 negatively regulates host resistance to Psa. These findings enrich the plant immune regulation network involved in the interaction between kiwifruit and Psa, providing functional genes and directions with potential application for breeding kiwifruit resistance to canker disease., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors have not disclosed any competing., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Objectives: Highly translucent yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has become more popular due to its enhanced aesthetics. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of traditional air abrasion and a new etching and cleaning agent, Multi Etchant, on the mechanical performance, optical properties, and bond strength of highly translucent zirconia., Methods: Specimens of 6YSZ, 5YSZ, 4YSZ&5YSZ, and conventional 3YSZ were fabricated and underwent different surface treatments, including as milled, air abrasion, and Multi Etchant. The chemical, phase, and microstructural characterization of zirconia were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and optical profilometer. Furthermore, flexural strength, optical properties, and bond strength of zirconia with resin composite cement before and after three-month water storage were measured., Results: Highly translucent zirconia contained more c-ZrO 2 and larger grain sizes (up to 1.85 μm), resulting in higher translucency but lower flexural strength compared to 3YSZ. Air abrasion substantially increased the flexural strength of 3YSZ and improved the bond strength of all zirconia types, with bond strength remaining stable after artificial aging. Multi Etchant did not significantly alter the mechanical or optical properties but enhanced the bond strength of UTML (6YSZ), TT-MT-ML (5YSZ), EZneer (5YSZ), and CER (3YSZ), particularly after water storage., Conclusions: Yttria content variations between highly translucent and conventional zirconia affected mechanical and optical properties but not bond performance. The bonding strategy of air abrasion pretreatment can be effectively extended to highly translucent zirconia. Using an etchant containing adhesive monomer shows clinical potential, as it enhances long-term bond strength without compromising zirconia's durability., Clinical Significance: The air abrasion parameter of 0.2 MPa for 10 s can be extended from 3YSZ to highly translucent zirconia without impairing its properties. Air abrasion improves the bond strength of highly translucent zirconia., 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 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this Letter, we report an ultraflat high-power supercontinuum (SC) based on a low-loss short-length fluorotellurite fiber. A novel high-peak power dual-Raman soliton femtosecond laser is used as a pump source, which effectively extends the mid-infrared SC spectral range and enhances the flatness of the SC. Finally, we obtained a 10.4 W SC laser source with a spectral range from 1.8 to 4.2 µm in a 34 µm fluorotellurite fiber; the 5 dB bandwidth of the source completely covers 1.9-4.05 µm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a high-power SC generated in a fluorotellurite fiber with a flat spectral edge of >4 µm. This result highlights the fluorotellurite fiber's spectral broadening capabilities under high-power conditions, demonstrating performance on par with that of ZBLAN fibers.

Background: Nurses have been at the forefront of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, facing extended work hours and heightened stress, predisposing them to psychological distress. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and correlates of severe anxiety among frontline nurses in China during and after the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: A large-scale multi-center survey was conducted from November to December 2022 and from April to July 2023. Data were collected using online surveys, covering demographic characteristics, job-related factors, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders. Statistical analyses, including chi-square tests, t-tests, and logistic regression, were performed to assess the incidence and factors influencing severe anxiety., Results: The study included 816 nurses during the pandemic and 763 nurses after the pandemic. The prevalence of severe anxiety during the pandemic (52.3%) was significantly higher than after the pandemic (8.0%). Factors such as nursing title, night shift frequency, educational level, exercise frequency, COVID-19 infection status, economic pressure, and work pressure showed significant differences between the two periods. Binary logistic regression revealed associations between severe anxiety and factors such as night shift frequency, COVID-19 infection status, nursing title, depression, and sleep disorders. Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis demonstrated good predictive value for severe anxiety., Conclusion: The study underscores the importance of understanding and addressing severe anxiety among frontline nurses during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research should delve into long-term psychological effects and implement effective intervention measures to support nurses' mental health., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The protocol for the research project had been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the Tianjin Anding Hospital (approving number: 2023-028), and had therefore been performed following the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. Patients’ informed consent forms were obtained, and their anonymity was protected. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Objective: To evaluate whether the immunomodulatory drug thymosin α1 reduces mortality in adults with sepsis., Design: Multicentre, double blinded, placebo controlled phase 3 trial., Setting: 22 centres in China, September 2016 to December 2020., Participants: 1106 adults aged 18-85 years with a diagnosis of sepsis according to sepsis-3 criteria and randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive thymosin α1 (n=552) or placebo (n=554). A stratified block method was used for randomisation, and participants were stratified by age (<60 and ≥60 years) and centre., Interventions: Subcutaneous injection of thymosin α1 or placebo every 12 hours for seven days unless discontinued owing to discharge from the intensive care unit, death, or withdrawal of consent., Main Outcome Measure: The primary outcome was 28 day all cause mortality after randomisation. All analyses were based on a modified intention-to-treat set, including participants who received at least one dose of study drug., Results: Of 1106 adults with sepsis enrolled in the study, 1089 were included in the modified intention-to-treat analyses (thymosin α1 group n=542, placebo group n=547). 28 day all cause mortality occurred in 127 participants (23.4%) in the thymosin α1 group and 132 (24.1%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0.99, 95% confidence interval 0.77 to 1.27; P=0.93 with log-rank test). No secondary or safety outcome differed statistically significantly between the two groups. The prespecified subgroup analysis showed a potential differential effect of thymosin α1 on the primary outcome based on age (<60 years: hazard ratio 1.67, 1.04 to 2.67; ≥60 years: 0.81, 0.61 to 1.09; P for interaction=0.01) and diabetes (diabetes: 0.58, 0.35 to 0.99; no diabetes: 1.16, 0.87 to 1.53; P for interaction=0.04)., Conclusions: This trial found no clear evidence to suggest that thymosin α1 decreases 28 day all cause mortality in adults with sepsis., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02867267., Competing Interests: Competing interests: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at https://www.icmje.org/disclosureof-interest/ and declare: support from the Sun Yat-sen University Clinical Research Program 5010, the Guangdong Clinical Research Center for Critical Care Medicine, and SciClone Pharmaceuticals for the submitted work; XG, JW, WL, ZH, Y Li, DZ, MZ, JY, WC, MD, ZW, and QL received grants from SciClone Pharmaceuticals; WL, JZ, and LK received consultancy fees from SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Jiangsu Nhwa Pharmaceutical, and Nutrici; no financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Metallic oxide can induce localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) through creating vacancies, which effectively achieve high carrier concentrations and offer advantages such as versatility and tunability. However, vacancies are typically created by altering the stoichiometric ratio of elements through doping, and it is challenging to achieve LSPR enhancement in the visible spectral range. Here, we have assembled Cu 2 O 1- x -superlattices to induce a high concentration of oxygen vacancies, resulting in LSPR within the visible spectrum. Combining this technique with theoretical models, we have elucidated the mechanism behind the origin of LSPR. We also provide evidence of strong and uniform LSPR exhibited by this structure under visible light. This significantly enhances the electromagnetic field in semiconductor-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), with a detection limit concentration reaching 10 -9 M compared to conventional gold nanoparticles (55 nm). Our strategy provides a new perspective and potential for controlling carrier concentration and generating LSPR in metal oxide nanoparticles.

A novel approach combing a fluorescent microfluidic paper strip with a portable smartphone-based sensing platform is developed for rapid and sensitive detection of omethoate pesticide. The detection mechanism of the microfluidic paper strip is based on the fluorescence quenching of graphene oxide (GO) toward the cyanine 3 (Cy3)-labeled aptamer (Cy3-APT). Upon exposure to omethoate, the Cy3-APT detaches from the surface of GO, resulting in considerable fluorescence recovery, which can be visualized through the smartphone-based sensing platform. The images are analyzed through a self-developed app embedded with a pretrained convolutional neural network model, achieving a high regression coefficient of 0.9964 at an omethoate concentration range of 0-750 nM. The smartphone-based platform enables rapid on-site detection of omethoate pesticide in real samples within 10 min, with results comparable to those obtained using standard methods. In short, the proposed microfluidic paper-based fluorescent sensor combined with the smartphone-based sensing platform enhances the detection performance toward organophosphorus pesticides., 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 Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Paddy soil is recognized as a hotspot for mercury (Hg) transformation. Soil acid-base property (expressed as pH) plays a crucial role in Hg methylation and accumulation in paddy systems. However, it is challenging to study this process in soils with varying pH values due to the rarity of a single soil type spanning a wide pH range. Purple paddy soil, vital for rice cultivation in southwestern China, occurs naturally in three types based on pH: acidic, neutral, and calcareous. This variation makes purple paddy soil an ideal subject for these studies. Thus, this study investigated Hg transformation and bioaccumulation across these three purple soil types. The results showed that during the rice growing seasons, both methylmercury (MeHg) concentration and methylation potential were higher in acidic purple paddy soil than in neutral and calcareous types. In addition, total mercury (THg) and MeHg concentrations in plant tissues grown in acidic purple paddy soil were significantly higher than in other two purple soil types. These results suggest that acidic purple paddy soil was conducive to Hg methylation and accumulation in rice plants. Given that soil acidification is becoming a serious global issue, the findings could offer fundamental data on the potential risk of Hg exposure due to soil acidification., 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.)

The overuse of antibiotics has caused the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria and even superbugs, which makes it imperative to develop promising antibiotic-free alternatives. Herein, a multimodal antibacterial nanoplatform of two dimensional/two dimensional (2D/2D) mesoporous Co 3 O 4 /BiOCl nanocomposite is constructed, which possesses the effect of "kill three birds with one stone": (1) the use of mesoporous Co 3 O 4 can enlarge the surface area of the nanocomposite and promote the adsorption of bacteria; (2) Co 3 O 4 displays remarkable full-spectrum absorption and photo-induced self-heating effect, which can raise the temperature of Co 3 O 4 /BiOCl and help to kill bacteria; (3) the p-type Co 3 O 4 and n-type BiOCl form a p-n heterojunction, which promotes the separation of photoelectrons and holes, thus producing more reactive oxygen species (ROS) for killing bacteria. The synergism of mesoporous structure, photothermal effect and photocatalytic ROS makes the developed Co 3 O 4 /BiOCl a promising antibacterial material, which shows outstanding antibacterial activity with an inhibition rate of nearly 100 % against Escherichia coli (E. coli) within 8 min. This work provides inspiration for designing multimodal synergistic nanoplatform for antibacterial applications., 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.)