Search

The 21st century grapples with rising atmospheric CO2 and anthropogenic solid waste. Ex-situ CO2 mineralisation, converting CO2 into stable carbonates via reacting with solid waste, shows great promise. However, concerns over the extensive consumption of chemicals urge sustainable and recyclable alternatives. This paper critically reviews recyclable chemicals for CO2 mineralisation with various industrial solid wastes, and systematically examines their efficacy and reaction mechanisms. This study offers a comprehensive comparison of these chemicals and outlines clear future research directions.The main findings are briefed below: first, we emphasize the pivotal role of trapping and recycling NH3 gas for achieving effective and efficient CO2 mineralisation using ammonium salts. Second, scaling up amines-based mineralisation could be feasible by replacing conventional strippers with mineralisation units. This transition is contingent upon resolving technical challenges such as amines' low leaching capacity and limited applicability to solid feedstocks that contain water-soluble Ca/Mg-bearing species. Third, leveraging their unique zwitterionic structures, amino acids may cater to diverse industrial needs and achieve a satisfactory CO2 mineralisation efficiency with good recyclability at low temperatures. Fourth, a novel HCl regeneration technology known as ‘oxy-pyrohydrolysis,’ can achieve simultaneous CO2 mineralisation and HCl regeneration in a single step. However, both amino acids-based mineralisation and oxy-pyrohydrolysis are nascent technologies requiring further research to ascertain their applicability and advance their development. Fifth, despite employing recyclable chemicals, operational costs of mineralisation could remain significant when high temperatures are used. Thus, energy optimization strategies should be explored, such as exploring low-energy consumption chemicals and integrating waste energy harvesting units. This review paper aims to delineate potential avenues for cost-effective CO2 mineralisation facilitated by recyclable chemicals, thereby alleviating post-processing costs and environmental concerns associated with chemical residues.

The ecological systems services or multi-functionality of paddy rice cultivation are critical to the functioning of the Earth's life-support system. We estimated the ecosystem services value (ESV) of paddy rice during 1980–2014 across China. The results indicated that the ESV of the paddy field in China showed an upward trend during this period. The share of ESV on CO2 sequestration was the highest, followed by ESV on temperature cooling and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. The yield-scaled ESVs of Zones II (southern rice–upland crops rotation regions) and III (southern double rice production regions) were similar and significantly higher than the ESVs of Zones I (northeastern single rice production regions) and IV (Southwest rice–upland crops rotation regions). Between 1980 and 2014, the ESV of each region increased to varying degrees, except for the ESVs of Guangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong. Such effects suggest the existence of a significant spatial–temporal variation in the total amount, structure, and density of ESV of paddy fields in China, which can further guide the development of future options for the adaptation of healthy rice production in China.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reactive nitrogen (Nr) releases are central environmental problems, which are closely linked to climate change, environmental ecology and crop production. Sustainable development of agriculture plays an important role in GHG emissions and Nr loss. The life cycle assessment (LCA) method was used to calculate the product and farm carbon footprints (CFs) and nitrogen footprints (NFs) in rice, wheat and maize production in China based on farm survey data. The results pinpointed that the CFs of rice, wheat and maize were 0.87, 0.30 and 0.24 kg/kg. Meanwhile, the computed NFs were 17.11, 14.26 and 6.83 g/kg, respectively. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer applications and methane (CH4) emissions were dominant CF sources, while ammonia (NH3) volatilization was the main NF contributor. Moreover, significant decreases in CF and NF by 20%–54% and 33%–61%, respectively, were found in large-size farms (> 20 hm2) when compared to small-size farms (< 0.7 hm2). Furthermore, the significantly positive relationships between CF and NF indicated the potential for simultaneous mitigation in the regions with high agricultural inputs, like amounts of fertilizer. Based on our results, some effective solutions would be favorable toward mitigating climate change and eutrophication of the major cereal crop production in China, especially optimizing fertilizer use and farm machinery operation efficiencies, as well as developing large-size farms with intensive farming.

Life cycle assessments (LCA) of staple food (rice, wheat and corn) production and assessments of the associated greenhouse gas (GHG) and reactive nitrogen (Nr) releases from environmental and ecological perspectives help to develop effective mitigation options. Therefore, carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) footprint reductions in agroecosystems have become an increasingly popular topic related to global climate change and agricultural adaptation. The LCA method was used to calculate the product and farm C footprint (CF) and N footprint (NF) of double rice, rice-wheat and wheat-maize production based on governmental statistical datasets and published results. The spatial and temporal patterns of CF and NF were analyzed in China during 2004–2017, and their driving factors were analyzed to identify potential mitigation strategies. The results showed that of the various inputs, fertilizer application and diesel oil consumption contributed the most to both GHG and Nr emissions from farm inputs in the grain crop production process. The CFs for double rice, rice-wheat and wheat-maize were 0.83, 0.74, and 0.37 kg CO2-eq kg−1 year−1 at the yield scale, respectively. In addition, the NFs were 11.6, 13.4, and 15.4 gN-eq kg−1 year−1 at the yield scale for double rice, rice-wheat and wheat-maize, respectively. The largest fraction of CF and NF was the share of CH4 emissions and NH3 volatilization from the field soil, respectively. The annual CFs and NFs of the multiple crop in the southwestern provinces were higher than those in the central and northern provinces. The annual GHG and Nr emissions from the multiple crop maintained a relatively stable state from 2004 to 2017. The proportion of CO2/Nr production was partly reflected a soil C/N ratio, suggesting a higher C abundance for the double rice production, which could be used as a reference parameter for crop structure adjustment in the future. Based on our results and other studies, some effective solutions, especially optimized fertilization, farm machinery operation efficiencies and changes in regional allocation of grain cropping areas, are needed to mitigate the impacts of climate change and eutrophication on the main grain crop production in China.

Glucose is a major energy substrate for cellular life activities, and its metabolic pathways include glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway, and the polyol pathway. Here, we review the glucose uptake pathways, metabolic characteristics, glucose transport, glucose metabolism-related enzymes, and biological importance in mammalian oocyte maturation, early embryo development, and embryonic stem cell proliferation and differentiation. Moreover, the interrelationships among glucose metabolism, female reproduction-related diseases and assisted reproductive technologies are focused. In addition, we review a number of analytical methodologies with the intention to integrate a multi-tiered strategy that encompasses cutting-edge metabolomics, artificial intelligence, epigenetics, and morphological assessments, setting the stage for a pivotal approach to cultivating high-caliber embryos in the future.

Summary: Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment but its efficacy depends on a robust immune response in the tumor. Silencing of the tumor suppressor p53 is common in tumors and can affect the recruitment and activation of different immune cells, leading to immune evasion and poor therapy response. We found that the p53 activating stapled peptide MDM2/MDMX inhibitor Sulanemadlin (ALRN-6924) inhibited p53 wild-type cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo. In mice carrying p53 wild-type CT26.WT tumors, monotherapy with the PD-1 inhibitor DX400 or Sulanemadlin delayed tumor doubling time by 50% and 37%, respectively, while combination therapy decreased tumor doubling time by 93% leading to an increased median survival time. Sulanemadlin treatment led to increased immunogenicity and combination treatment with PD-1 inhibition resulted in an increased tumor infiltration of lymphocytes. This combination treatment strategy could potentially turn partial responders into responders of immunotherapy, expanding the patient target group for PD-1-targeting immunotherapy.

Accurate analysis of regional ecological quality and its drivers is crucial for the sustainable development of human society. The remote sensing eco-index (RSEI) has been widely used to monitor changes in ecological quality in many countries or regions, but it ignores the problem of declining air quality caused by economic development and population growth. Consequently, an improved remotely sensed ecological index (ARSEI) was developed to evaluate China's ecological environment quality by incorporating aerosol optical depth (AOD) into the index system. Additionally, a random forest regression model was used to rank the importance of ecological indexes in the ARSEI. Furthermore, a geographical detector was utilized to assess the impact of natural and socioeconomic factors on the spatial heterogeneity of the ARSEI in six geographic regions of China, identifying their primary drivers. The research findings revealed the following: (1) There are similarities and differences in the order of importance of ecological indicators in the ARSEI across the six geographic regions. (2) ARSEI values significantly increased in 24.70% of China's areas, primarily in the Northeast Plain, Loess Plateau, and Tarim Basin, while they significantly decreased in 5.35% of the areas, mainly in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the northern part of the Tianshan Mountains, eastern coastal cities, and central urban agglomerations. (3) Rainfall and vegetation conditions are the main factors affecting environmental quality in the Three-North region (XB, HB and DB). In the southern (XN, ZN and HD) regions, vegetation cover and land use change, population density and PM2.5 concentrations were greater than the influence of climate factors. The interaction of socioeconomic factors, including PM2.5, land use change, and population density had a greater impact on the spatial heterogeneity of the ARSEI in the southern regions. The results of this study can provide data support for the coordinated development of regional ecosystems and socioeconomics.

Amid the backdrop of carbon neutrality, traditional energy production is transitioning towards integrated energy systems (IES), where model-based scheduling is key in scenarios with multiple uncertainties on both supply and demand sides. The development of artificial intelligence algorithms, has resolved issues related to model accuracy. However, under conditions of high proportion renewable energy integration, component load adjustments require increased flexibility, so the mathematical model of the component must adapt to constantly changing operating conditions. Therefore, the identification of operating condition changes and rapid model updating are pressing issues. This study proposes a modeling and updating method for IES components based on knowledge distillation. The core of this modeling method is the light weighting of the model, which is achieved through a knowledge distillation method, using a teacher-student mode to compress complex neural network models. The triggering of model updates is achieved through principal component analysis. The study also analyzes the impact of model errors caused by delayed model updates on the overall scheduling of IES. Case studies are conducted on critical components in IES, including coal-fired boilers and turbines. The results show that the time consumption for model updating is reduced by 76.67 % using the proposed method. Under changing conditions, compared with two traditional models, the average deviation of this method is reduced by 12.61 % and 3.49 %, respectively, thereby improving the model's adaptability. The necessity of updating the component model is further analyzed, as a 1.00 % mean squared error in the component model may lead to a power deviation of 0.075 MW. This method provides real-time, adaptable support for IES data modeling and updates.

Poor CO2 capture stability and serious elutriation are the issues commonly occur when limestone circulating in the fluidized bed-based Calcium Looping (CaL) system. Hence, three types of coal fly ash-bound (CFA-bound) limestone-derived sorbents were synthesized via mixing the limestone, calcined lime and hydrated lime with coal fly ash, respectively. The generated ternary Ca-Al-O and Ca-Si-O phases offer structural stability for CFA-bound limestone-derived sorbents and improve their cyclic CO2 capture performance. Moreover, extrusion-spheronization method was adopted to produce CFA-bound limestone and hydrated lime sorbent pellets to synergistically enhance cyclic CO2 capture capability and mechanical properties. It is found that hydrated lime is superior to limestone as the calcium precursor to prepare CaO-based sorbent pellets due to its desirable pore structure and high binding force. Therefore, the CFA-bound hydrated lime pellets containing 15 wt % of fly ash (HL/CFA15-P) exhibits a high carbonation conversion of 40 % after 17 cycles, which is nearly 1.4 times that of limestone pellets. The discrepancy on carbonation conversion between the two sorbent pellets is enlarged to ∼1.6 times after 100 cycles, which is calculated using a semi-empirical equation. Moreover, HL/CFA15-P exhibits outstanding mechanical property, whose compressive strength reaches 6±1.7 MPa, which is comparable to the cement-bound CaO-based sorbent pellets.

Tea varieties play a crucial role on the quality formation of matcha. This research aimed to examine the impact of four specific tea plant varieties (Okumidori, Longjing 43, Zhongcha108, and E’Cha 1) on various aspects of matcha, including sensory evaluation, major components, color quality, volatile and non-volatile metabolomic profiles. The findings revealed that the levels of tea polyphenols, ester catechins, nonester catechins, and amino acids varied among these four varieties. Notably, 177 significant different metabolites, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids were identified among 1383 non-volatile compounds. In addition, 97 key aroma-active compounds were identified based on their odor activity value exceeding 1. Aldehydes, heterocyclic compounds, and ketones were closely associated with the formation of volatile metabolites. Overall, this study enhances our understanding of how different tea plant varieties impact the quality of matcha, and can provide valuable guidance for improving matcha varieties in a favorable direction.

As the low water solubility of gallic acid (GA), its biological activities such as water-based antioxidant effect may be greatly reduced. Therefore, GA-loaded nanocomposites (F-SiO2@GA) with high water solubility were synthesized via solvent evaporation using food-grade silica (F-SiO2) as carriers in this work. The assessment of antioxidant capacity revealed that F-SiO2@GA exhibited considerably greater free-radical scavenging ability than free GA and the physical mixture of F-SiO2 and GA. In the photooxidation experiment of food-grade gardenia yellow pigment (GYP), F-SiO2@GA showed a notable antioxidant effect on GYP solution. Additionally, in the storage experiment on chilled whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) treated with F-SiO2@GA, pH, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN), and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) values were effectively inhibited. In conclusion, the internal encapsulation of GA effectively prevented the self-aggregation phenomenon, thereby facilitating the exposure of its active phenolic hydroxyl group and significantly enhancing its water-based biological activity.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as powerful regulators of adipocyte differentiation, fat metabolism and gene expression. However, the functional roles and mechanisms of lncRNAs in these processes remain unclear. Here, we identified a novel antisense transcript, named APMAP-AS, transcribed from adipocyte membrane-associated protein (APMAP) in the pig genome. APMAP-AS and APMAP were highly expressed in retroperitoneal adipose of obese pigs, compared with that in control pigs. Using a bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) adipogenic differentiation model, we found that APMAP-AS positively regulated adipogenic differentiation. APMAP-AS had the potential to form an RNA–RNA duplex with APMAP, and increased the stability of APMAP mRNA. Additionally, APMAP-AS promoted lipid metabolism and inhibited the expression of inflammatory factors. These findings of a natural antisense transcript for a regulatory gene associated with lipid synthesis might further our understanding of lncRNAs in driving adaptive adipose tissue remodeling and preserving metabolic health.

Major pathologic remission (MPR, residual tumor

Obesity and associated nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are on the rise globally. NASH became an important driver of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in recent years. Activation of the central metabolic regulator mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) is frequently observed in HCCs. However, mTOR inhibition failed to improve the outcome of HCC therapies, demonstrating the need for a better understanding of the molecular and functional consequences of mTOR blockade. We established a murine NASH-driven HCC model based on long-term western diet feeding combined with hepatocellular mTOR-inactivation. We evaluated tumor load and whole-body fat percentage via µCT-scans, analyzed metabolic blood parameters and tissue proteome profiles. Additionally, we used a bioinformatic model to access liver and HCC mitochondrial metabolic functions. The tumor burden was massively increased via mTOR-knockout. Several signs argue for extensive metabolic reprogramming of glucose, fatty acid, bile acid and cholesterol metabolism. Kinetic modeling revealed reduced oxygen consumption in KO-tumors. NASH-derived HCC pathogenesis is driven by metabolic disturbances and should be considered separately from those caused by other etiologies. We conclude that mTOR functions as tumor suppressor in hepatocytes especially under long-term western diet feeding. However, some of the detrimental consequences of this diet are attenuated by mTOR blockade.

The pupal stage of six Blaps species occurring in the northwest China are described and illustrated in detail: Blaps kiritshenkoi Semenov and Bogatchev, 1936, B. rugosa Gebler, 1825, B. miliaria Fischer von Waldheim, 1844, B. gobiensis Frivaldszky, 1889, B. caraboides caraboides Allard, 1882, and B. femoralis Fischer von Waldheim, 1844. A key to the pupae of Blaps is provided.

With the recent advances in nanomaterials, photothermal therapies (PTT) enabled by deep-tissue penetration with novel nanoagents have offered a new hope for treating cancers. Nevertheless, PTT applications in conventional approaches remain translationally restricted due to their non-specificity and collateral pro-inflammatory effects during implementation. To address these drawbacks, we here report Lipo-PTO as the prototype of a new class of liposome-functionalized photothermal theragnostic agents, which can eradicate cancer cells in vivo with high selectivity. Lipo-PTO is activated by low pH and superoxide (O2•–) to specifically deliver and convert preloaded cyanine molecules to release Cy-NH in the tumour microenvironments, eventually enabling the activation of photothermal properties to induce tumour ablation. In further studies on Lipo-PTO for treating breast cancer (BC) in mouse models, Lipo-PTO usage was characterized by a high degree of biocompatibility, optimal retention time pharmacokinetics and tumour regression with minimal collateral damages. This study here thus illustrates an innovative strategy to target intrinsic attributes of tumour microenvironments for improved therapeutic precision and efficacy in PTT applications.

Summary: Background: Mediastinal neoplasms are typical thoracic diseases with increasing incidence in the general global population and can lead to poor prognosis. In clinical practice, the mediastinum's complex anatomic structures and intertype confusion among different mediastinal neoplasm pathologies severely hinder accurate diagnosis. To solve these difficulties, we organised a multicentre national collaboration on the basis of privacy-secured federated learning and developed CAIMEN, an efficient chest CT-based artificial intelligence (AI) mediastinal neoplasm diagnosis system. Methods: In this multicentre cohort study, 7825 mediastinal neoplasm cases and 796 normal controls were collected from 24 centres in China to develop CAIMEN. We further enhanced CAIMEN with several novel algorithms in a multiview, knowledge-transferred, multilevel decision-making pattern. CAIMEN was tested by internal (929 cases at 15 centres), external (1216 cases at five centres and a real-world cohort of 11 162 cases), and human–AI (60 positive cases from four centres and radiologists from 15 institutions) test sets to evaluate its detection, segmentation, and classification performance. Findings: In the external test experiments, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for detecting mediastinal neoplasms of CAIMEN was 0·973 (95% CI 0·969–0·977). In the real-world cohort, CAIMEN detected 13 false-negative cases confirmed by radiologists. The dice score for segmenting mediastinal neoplasms of CAIMEN was 0·765 (0·738–0·792). The mediastinal neoplasm classification top-1 and top-3 accuracy of CAIMEN were 0·523 (0·497–0·554) and 0·799 (0·778–0·822), respectively. In the human–AI test experiments, CAIMEN outperformed clinicians with top-1 and top-3 accuracy of 0·500 (0·383–0·633) and 0·800 (0·700–0·900), respectively. Meanwhile, with assistance from the computer aided diagnosis software based on CAIMEN, the 46 clinicians improved their average top-1 accuracy by 19·1% (0·345–0·411) and top-3 accuracy by 13·0% (0·545–0·616). Interpretation: For mediastinal neoplasms, CAIMEN can produce high diagnostic accuracy and assist the diagnosis of human experts, showing its potential for clinical practice. Funding: National Key R&D Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Beijing Natural Science Foundation.

This study evaluated the utilization of nano-MgO in problematic loess to enhance the dynamic performance and freeze-thaw resistance. To address these issues, samples of different blend ratios, with or without freezing-thawing, were prepared, and their dynamic modulus were examined by a series of dynamic triaxial tests. The results indicate that an addition of 2.5% nano-MgO improved the maximum shear modulus of pre- and post-freezing-thawing samples by 75.26% and 184.9% on average. Significant detrimental effects of freezing-thawing and water content were also observed. While it is found these detrimental effects could be alleviated with the addition of nano-MgO. Novel models for dynamic modulus of nano-MgO treated loess were accordingly proposed towards infrastructure design in cold regions. Additionally, the stabilizing mechanism of nano-MgO was explored by nuclear magnetic resonance tests. The results indicate that the water-absorbing effect of nano-MgO turns free water into bound water, therefore, resulting in significant improvements of dynamic performance and freeze-thaw resistance. This study provides conclusive evidence that nano-MgO is a high-function additive for the stabilization of loess soil subjected to freezing-thawing environment.

Follistatin (FST) is an important regulator of skeletal muscle growth and adipose deposition through its ability to bind to several members of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily, and thus may be a good candidate for future animal breeding programs. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the phenotypic changes have yet to be clarified in pig. We generated transgenic (TG) pigs that express human FST specifically in skeletal muscle tissues and characterized the phenotypic changes compared with the same tissues in wild-type pigs. The TG pigs showed increased skeletal muscle growth, decreased adipose deposition, and improved metabolism status (P

Summary: Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) is an extremely rare metabolism disorder usually caused by low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) mutations. LDLR genotype is commonly known to determine blood concentrations of LDL cholesterol. However, effects of LDLR genotype on holistic metabolome remain unclear. Herein, we present metabolomic, genetic, and clinical datasets from a large multi-center panel of 142 patients with LDLR-mutated HoFH. We found that true homozygotes and compound heterozygotes showed few differences in clinical and metabolomic phenotypes. Compared with defective/defective mutation carriers, patients carrying one or two null mutation showed profound alterations in clinical laboratory lipids and serum cholesterol esters, lysophosphocholines, bile acids, and amino acids. Importantly, these altered metabolites are implicated in multiple biochemical reactions and associated with LDL cholesterol. This study extends the first map of different LDLR genotypes influencing the metabolome and suggests that the small-molecule metabolites serve as potential targets to mitigate the deleterious impact of LDLR mutations on HoFH.

Based on vector Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction integration, we investigate the non-paraxial transmission behavior of the finite Airy Gaussian beam array (FAGBA) in isotropic space. The intensity distribution of the x- component and longitudinal component of the FAGBA at different cross section of the free space are described numerically, respectively. The influences of truncation factor, distribution parameter, wavelength, beam waist radius and refractive index on the FAGBA evolution at several observation planes as well as its side transmission view in isotropic space are also discussed. Through the obtained analytical formulae and conclusions, the beam array transmission locus can be controlled more precisely in non-paraxial situation by altering these parameters to meet the practical usage, especially in area of optical trapping and optical tweezers.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that emerged at the end of 2019. On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified it as a pandemic. To examine the psychological effects on dental care providers in China in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak and factors closely associated with those effects, we conducted a cross-sectional study online with 4 widely used self-administered questionnaires: the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the General Anxiety Disorder-7, the Perceived Stress Scale-10, and the Acute Stress Disorder Scale. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate the variables that potentially affected the mental health of emergency dental care providers. As a result, 969 out of 1035 questionnaires were included in the analysis, with 642 respondents reporting more than 1 symptom (66.3%). The symptom of perceived stress was reported by the largest proportion of the respondents (66.2%, n = 641), and anxiety the least (7.1%, n = 69). After adjustment for confounders, it was found that dental practitioners with preexisting physical health conditions were at higher risk of depression (odds ratio [OR], 1.972; 95% CI, 1.128-3.448; P = .017), and perceived stress (odds ratio, 2.397 95% CI, 1.283-4.478; P = .006). Additionally, feelings of fear, helplessness, or terror resulting from the possibility of contracting COVID-19 were significantly associated with the prevalence of all the 4 psychological symptoms observed (P < .05). In the present study, we found that dental care providers suffered psychological depression, stress, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during COVID-19, which indicates the importance of psychological support at times of major epidemic outbreaks.Chinese Clinical Trial Registry number: ChiCTR2000031538.

The critical behavior of the light-matter interactions in controllable systems provides an attractive direction for quantum manipulation. Inspired by “the broken symmetry will give rise to the quantum phase transitions (QPTs)”, the open-system QPTs of the Tavis–Cummings (TC) interactions with an extra second-order nonlinearity (SONL) are explored, where the systemic symmetry is reduced from U ( 1 ) to Z 2 . The critical behavior of a generic spins-microwave hybrid system is investigated using the standard mean-field approach in conjunction with different factors such as the SONL phase, the spins’ collective decay and dephasing, cavity dissipation, and detunings. The results show that all of the three decoherence factors and the detunings will affect its critical points, and the phase of SONL can especially exhibit a protective effect on QPTs. This study provides an encouraging example for mimicking the interesting light-matter interactions, and may further evoke some potential applications in quantum manipulations.

CRISPR/Cas9 can be used as an experimental tool to inactivate genes in cells. However, a CRISPR-targeted cell population will not show a uniform genotype of the targeted gene. Instead, a mix of genotypes is generated - from wild type to different forms of insertions and deletions. Such mixed genotypes complicate analysis of the role of the targeted gene in the studied cell population. Here, we present a rapid and universal experimental approach to functionally analyze a CRISPR-targeted cell population that does not involve generating clonal lines. As a simple readout, we leverage the CRISPR-induced genetic heterogeneity and use sequencing to identify how different genotypes are enriched or depleted in relation to the studied cellular behavior or phenotype. The approach uses standard PCR, Sanger sequencing, and a simple sequence deconvoluting software, enabling laboratories without specific in-depth experience to perform these experiments. As proof of principle, we present examples studying various aspects related to hematopoietic cells (T cell development in vivo and activation in vitro, differentiation of macrophages and dendritic cells, as well as a leukemia-like phenotype induced by overexpressing a proto-oncogene). In conclusion, we present a rapid experimental approach to identify potential drug targets related to mature immune cells, as well as normal and malignant hematopoiesis.

The liver is the central organ for metabolism and influence the growth and development of the animals. To date, little is known about the microRNA (miRNA) in pigeon livers, particularly in different developmental stages. A comprehensive investigation into miRNA transcriptomes in livers across 3 pigeon developmental stages (1, 14, 28 d old) and an adult stage (2 y old) was performed by small RNA sequencing. We identified 312 known miRNA, 433 conserved miRNA, and 192 novel miRNA in pigeon livers. A set of differentially expressed (DE) miRNA in livers were screened out during pigeon development. This set of miRNA might be involved in hepatospecific phenotype and liver development. A Short Time-series Expression Miner analysis indicated significant expression variations in DE miRNA during liver development of pigeons. These DE miRNA with different expression patterns might play essential roles in response to growth factor, cell morphogenesis, and gland development, etc. Protein–protein interaction network and Molecular Complex Detection analysis identified several vital target genes (e.g., TNRC6B, FRS2, PTCH1, etc.) of DE miRNA, which is closely linked in liver development and enriched in PI3K cascade and regulation of growth. Our results expanded the repertoire of pigeon miRNA and may be of help in better understanding the mechanism of squab's rapid development from the perspective of liver development.

Summary: Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are a major cellular component in the tumor microenvironment (TME). However, the relationship between the phenotype and metabolic pattern of TAMs remains poorly understood. We performed single-cell transcriptome profiling on hepatic TAMs from mice bearing liver metastatic tumors. We find that TAMs manifest high heterogeneity at the levels of transcription, development, metabolism, and function. Integrative analyses and validation experiments indicate that increased purine metabolism is a feature of TAMs with pro-tumor and terminal differentiation phenotypes. Like mouse TAMs, human TAMs are highly heterogeneous. Human TAMs with increased purine metabolism exhibit a pro-tumor phenotype and correlate with poor therapeutic efficacy to immune checkpoint blockade. Altogether, our work demonstrates that TAMs are developmentally, metabolically, and functionally heterogeneous and purine metabolism may be a key metabolic feature of a pro-tumor macrophage population.

The radical reactions dominate the thermochemical conversion reaction network of organics. Bio-oil, as the liquid organic fuel, has many potential applications via thermochemical conversion, while the coke formation is a particularly serious problem in these processes. To clarify the effects of radical reactions on the coke formation during the pyrolysis of bio-oil at 200–500 °C, the stable radicals in the pyrolytic products were measured by the Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectrometry, and the active radicals during pyrolysis were quantified by amounts of hydrogen donated by 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene (DHP). The results indicated that the amount of stable radicals generated after bio-oil pyrolysis was proportional to temperature, and these stable radicals were trapped in solid coke due to the steric hindrance effect of coke structure. The content of oxygen-containing radicals and heteroatoms decreased with the increase of temperature. However, the increase of temperature and the extension of reaction time were more favorable to the formation of the σ and π type oxygen-containing radicals and aromatic radicals. The amount of stable radicals was about 0.25–1.5% of the amount of active radicals during bio-oil pyrolysis. When DHP effectively blocked the reaction of the active radical, the polycondensation reaction of bio-oil was inhibited, and the content of coke precursor was significantly reduced, thus inhibiting the formation of coke during the bio-oil pyrolysis.

To explore relationship between the inter-laminar shear properties and the interfacial structure of carbon fiber (CF) reinforced epoxy resin (EP) composite materials (CFRPs), four CFRPs with different interfacial structures were prepared through introducing polar groups on the surface of the CF and then combining the modified CF with the EP, including CF/EP (where no polar group was introduced), CF-COOH-EP (where carboxyl group –COOH was chemically introduced), CF-COOH/MXene /EP (where –COOH was chemically introduced while MXene was physically introduced and the MXene was non-covalently bonded to CF and to EP), and CF-CONH-MXene-EP (where both of –COOH and MXene were chemically introduced and the MXene was covalently bonded to CF and to EP). Results of inter-laminar shear strength (ILSS) of the materials and morphology of transverse and longitudinal cross-sections of the damaged materials show that with enhancing the interfacial interaction between CF and EP, the ILSS increases and the interlayer shear failure gradually changes from a single interface debonding (for CF/EP) to a combination of interface debonding and matrix fragmentation. The interfacial structure of CF-COONH-MXene-EP with higher interfacial interaction could bear more interlayer shear forces, being beneficial for improving the service life of CFRPs.

Over the last decade Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) has been developed into a potent molecular biology tool used to rapidly modify genes or their expression in a multitude of ways. In parallel, CRISPR-based screening approaches have been developed as powerful discovery platforms for dissecting the genetic basis of cellular behavior, as well as for drug target discovery. CRISPR screens can be designed in numerous ways. Here, we give a brief background to CRISPR screens and discuss the pros and cons of different design approaches, including unbiased genome-wide screens that target all known genes, as well as hypothesis-driven custom screens in which selected subsets of genes are targeted (Fig. 1). We provide several suggestions for how a custom screen can be designed, which could broadly serve as inspiration for any experiment that includes candidate gene selection. Finally, we discuss how results from CRISPR screens could be translated into drug development, as well as future trends we foresee in the rapidly evolving CRISPR screen field.

In-depth analysis and discussion of the interactive relationship between urbanization and ecological security are basis and prerequisite for ensuring the coordinated development of urbanization and ecological protection. This paper constructed the evaluation index system of urbanization level from four dimensions (i.e., population, economy, society, space) and ecological safety from three aspects (i.e., pressure, governance, environment). Then, the Urbanization Development Index (UDI) and Ecological Security Index (ESI) of the nine provinces along the Yellow River were calculated, and grey relationship and decoupling model were employed to study the interaction between urbanization and ecological security from 2008 to 2018. The main conclusions are as follows: a) The urbanization level and ecological security level of the nine provinces along the Yellow River show an overall upward trend while the increase rate gradually slows down, in which UDI and ESI increases from 0.24 to 0.58 and 0.30 to 0.41 respectively. b) The correlation degree between the urbanization level and the ecological security system is higher than 0.6, which is between the medium correlation and the extremely strong correlation. Population urbanization has the greatest impact on ecological security, with a correlation value of 0.74. Ecological governance has the strongest restraint on urbanization development and the correlation value is 0.72. c) There is a strong decoupling effect between urbanization and ecological security in the nine provinces along the Yellow River, and the future ecological security will gradually become more restrictive on the development of urbanization.

High-quality development (HQD) is the requirement for adapting to the changes in the main contradictions of Chinese society and achieving sustained and stable development. Based on the discussion of its connotation, this study constructed an evaluation model covering five aspects of society, economy, resources, ecology, and culture. Then we used the obstacle diagnosis model to analyze the main obstacle factors of restricting the improvement of HQD level. Finally, 4 future policy scenarios were designed under the system dynamics (SD) model to simulate the variation of the future development in each province along the Yellow River Basin (YRB). The results show that: (1) The level of HQD in the YRB changed dynamically over time, and it has also improved to varying degrees in all provinces. (2) The cultural subsystem hindered the further improvement of the HQD; for the indicator layer, the proportion of cultural industry in GDP is the main obstacle factor for most provinces. (3) Speeding up economic development and increasing ecological protection is the optimal development path of the YRB. Scientific evaluation of the regional HQD status and simulating the development situation under different scenarios can improve the accuracy and efficiency of managers’ decision-making.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy and has been considered as a leading cause of cancer death in women. Exploring the mechanism of breast cancer metastasis is extremely important for seeking novel therapeutic strategies and improving prognosis. Methods: Clinical specimens and pathological characteristics were collected for evaluating the expression of forkhead box class O 3a (FOXO3a) and twist-related protein 1 (TWIST-1) in breast cancer tissues. CCK-8 assay was used to analyze cell proliferation. Cell invasion and migration were assessed by transwell assays. The expression of FOXO3a, TWIST-1, miR-10b, CADM2, FAK, phosphor-AKT and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related protein (N-cadherin, E-cadherin and vimentin) were analyzed by RT-qPCR, immunohistochemical staining, immunofluorescence assay or western blot, respectively. Xenograft mouse models were used to analyze the role of the FOXO3a in breast cancer. Results: FOXO3a was down-regulated and TWIST-1 was up-regulated in breast cancer tissues. Overexpression of FOXO3a or knockdown of TWIST-1 suppressed the proliferation, invasion, migration and EMT of breast cancer cells. Overexpression of TWIST-1 could reverse the effect of FOXO3a on the proliferation, invasion, migration and EMT of breast cancer. Moreover, FOXO3a suppressed the growth and metastasis of breast cancer by targeting TWIST1 in vivo. Conclusion: FOXO3a inhibited the EMT and metastasis of breast cancer via TWIST-1/miR-10b/CADM2 axis.

Waterborne polyurethane (WPUs) were synthesized with polytetramethylene ether glycol (PTMG), isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) as the primary raw material, castor oil (CO) and dimethylolpropionic acid (DMPA) as the crosslinker and hydrophilic chain-extender, respectively. Three-dimensional networks were constructed in the molecular chain of the polymer by the introduction of castor oil. With the increase of CO contents, the WPUs prepared with more flexible segments and more points of intersection supporting the three-dimensional structure provided by castor oil have films with weak resistance to water, better elasticity, lower effective damping temperature, and better thermal resistance. Different homogeneity of the network structure was obtained, it was found that with the gradual unification of the structure, the tensile properties of the film were improved by about 25%, and the lowest effective damping temperature moved to −43.25 ​°C. The WPU films could be used as a material for low-temperature damping applications.

In order to alleviate the environmental pollution from fluoropolymer, the biodegradable poly(l‑lactide) (PLLA) segments were introduced into fluorinated polyacrylate. The PLLA macromonomers with vinyl terminal group and different molecular weight, i.e. 2500, 7400 and 14,700, were synthesized by ring opening polymerization of l‑lactide (LLA) first, then copolymerized with hexafluorobutyl acrylate (HFBA) through free radical copolymerization. By changing the macromonomers and feeding ratio of the macromonomer and HFBA, the poly(l‑lactide)‑co‑poly(hexafluorobutyl acrylate) (PLLA-co-PHFBA) copolymers with different structures were obtained. Structures of the PLLA macromonomers and the copolymers were confirmed by FTIR, 1H NMR and GPC. The crystallization, thermal decomposition resistance, surface hydrophobicity and hydrolytic degradation were also investigated. The results show that the PLLA segments in the copolymers still have the crystallization capacity and the highest crystallinity reaches 36%. PLLA-co-PHFBA-4 with the longest PLLA segments has the highest initial decomposing temperature up to 355 °C. The hydrophobicity of the copolymers is mainly related to the content of PHFBA segments. The length of PLLA segments also have some effect on the hydrophobicity. An obvious mass loss of the copolymers was observed in 35 days under the hydrolytic degradation and it was related to PHFBA content and PLLA segment's length, exhibiting partially biodegradable behavior. Keywords: Poly(l‑lactide), Hexafluorobutyl acrylate, PLLA macromonomer, Copolymer, Property

In this letter, we deduce the approximate analytical formula for the finite Airy beam propagating in the misaligned slab system with a rectangular aperture by using the generalized Huygens-Fresnel integral equation, the light transfer matrix and expanding the hard-edged rectangular function into a finite sum of complex Gaussian function. The particular cases of this beam propagating in the apertured aligned slab system, unapertured misaligned slab system and unapertured aligned one are further illustrated through numerical examples as well. The effects of aperture size and misaligned factors on beam evolution in these slab structures are developed, which can provide a fast and effective method for investigating other kinds of pseudo non-diffracting laser beams through the rectangularly apertured misaligned slab system because most of the optical devices are slightly misaligned more or less in the practical application. Keywords: Finite Airy beam, Transfer matrix, Generalized Huygens-Fresnel integral equation, Misalignment, Rectangular aperture

Colorectal cancer causes severe burdensome on the health by its high fatality and poor prognosis. Hox transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) was believed closely related with the genesis and development of colorectal cancer, but the regulatory mechanism is still to be investigated. The expression of HOTAIR was analyzed in colorectal cancer using both qRT-PCR and ISH assay. The cell viability, migration, invasion and apoptosis rate were evaluated using MTT, BrdU,Transwell and flow cytometryexperiments. The interaction between HOTAIR and SNAIL was detected using RIP and RNA pull-down. The binding of SNAIL to HNF4α promoter was assessed by ChIP. The cell lines that knock down HOTAIR, SNAIL or overexpress HNF4α were constructed using retroviral vector system. The tumorigenic and metastatic capacity of colorectal cancer cells after knocking down HOTAIR were evaluated based on xenograft assay and liver metastases model. HOTAIR was highly expressed in both tissue and cell lines of colorectal cancer, indicated a regulatory function in colorectal cancer. Knock-down of HOTAIR suppressed cell viability, migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of colorectal cancer cells in vitro, and inhibited the growth and metastasis of colorectal tumor in nude mice. We further found that HOTAIR suppressed HNF4α via recruiting SNAIL, and the overexpression of HNF4α inhibited cell viability, migration, invasion and EMT of colorectal cancer cells. We demonstrated that HOTAIR regulates the level of HNF4α via recruiting SNAIL, knocking down HOTAIR repressed the cell viability and metestasis of colorectal cancer cell line in vitro, and suppressed the tomorgenesis and migration/invasion of colorectal cancer in vivo.

Metasurfaces, as novel ultrathin planar optical elements, have become a fascinating avenue to modulate one or more optical characteristics including phase, amplitude, and polarization. Especially in multi-functional applications based on different polarization, the complexity and ponderosity of current systems could be avoided by replacing the original components with metasurfaces. In this report, based on interleaving different nanostructures, a design strategy is proposed to associate the target polarization and independent phase modulation with parameters of nanofins. According to the new strategy, a multi-functional metasurface can be constructed in which each channel has an independent function and polarization. To demonstrate our strategy, several arbitrary polarization multi-focus metalenses are simulated using two to five foci, including linear, circular, and elliptical polarization. Due to independence between the phase and polarization, different functions, such as different vortex phases, are also realized using single metasurface. Furthermore, the intensity ratio among the foci can be modified by modulating the numbers of different nanofins. The proposed meta-devices can improve many practical applications such as polarization imaging, optical communication, and holographic displays.

Summary: Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of skin and soft issue infection, but paradoxically, it also transiently, and often harmlessly, colonizes human skin. An obstacle to understanding this contradiction has been a shortage of in vivo models reproducing the unique structure and immunology of human skin. In this work, we developed a humanized model to study how healthy adult human skin responds to colonizing methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). We demonstrate the importance of the outer stratum corneum as the major site of bacterial colonization and how noninvasive MRSA adhesion to corneocytes induces a local inflammatory response in underlying skin layers. This signaling recruits neutrophils to the skin, where they control bacterial numbers, mediating transiency in colonization. This work highlights the spatiotemporal aspects of human skin colonization and demonstrates a subclinical inflammatory response to noninvasive MRSA that allows human skin to regulate the bacterial population at its outer surface. : Using a xenograft humanized model, Schulz et al. show how noninvasive colonization of the human skin corneal layer by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) induces a local tissue response. This response differs from the previously reported mouse models. MRSA colonization induces neutrophil recruitment to the skin, which facilitates transiency. Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, skin microbiota, xenograft, humanized, in vivo, neutrophils, stratum corneum, colonisation