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MXene materials have exhibited potential in electrochemistry, particularly in gas sensing, due to their excellent conductivity, large specific surface area of layered materials, and unique functional groups. However, the gas sensing performance of intrinsic 2D MXene materials is often limited by their fluorine-containing terminals and interfacial structure. In this study, based on intrinsic Ti 3 C 2 T x , we employed alkali treatment and annealing to prepare oxygen-rich Ti 3 C 2 (OH) x /Ti 3 C 2 O x with expanded interlayer spacing, achieving enhanced gas sensing performance for NH 3 . The surface chemistry and structure of the sensing materials have been optimized through the synergistic regulation of MXene's unique surface terminations and the intercalation effect of layered materials. Compared to intrinsic Ti 3 C 2 T x , the interlayer spacing of oxygen-rich Ti 3 C 2 (OH) x /Ti 3 C 2 O x increased from 9.1 Å to 12.1 Å. The surface terminations of oxygen-rich Ti 3 C 2 (OH) x /Ti 3 C 2 O x have been defluorinated and oxygenated. The maximum response value of oxygen-rich Ti 3 C 2 (OH) x /Ti 3 C 2 O x to NH 3 was 35.66, approximately twice that of the original Ti 3 C 2 T x at an NH 3 concentration of 200 ppm. DFT (Density functional theory) calculations and DRIFT (In situ Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy) tests explained the interaction between the surface terminals and NH 3 , indicating good selectivity and sensitivity of oxygen-rich Ti 3 C 2 (OH) x /Ti 3 C 2 O x to NH 3 . The results demonstrated that the synergistic effects of surface chemistry and structural engineering are crucial for MXene to optimize the electrochemical performance, particularly the gas sensing performance. This provides a feasible approach for the performance optimization of intrinsic MXene materials., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We confirm that our work has 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.)

Gout is characterized by dysregulation of uric acid (UA) metabolism, and the gut microbiota may serve as a regulatory target. This two-month randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial aimed to investigate the additional benefits of coadministering Probio-X alongside febuxostat. A total of 160 patients with gout were randomly assigned to either the probiotic group (n = 120; Probio-X [1 ×10 11 CFU/day] with febuxostat) or the placebo group (n = 40; placebo material with febuxostat). Coadministration of Probio-X significantly decreased serum UA levels and the rate of acute gout attacks (P < 0.05). Based on achieving a target sUA level (360 μmol/L) after the intervention, the probiotic group was further subdivided into probiotic-responsive (ProA; n = 54) and probiotic-unresponsive (ProB; n = 66) subgroups. Post-intervention clinical indicators, metagenomic, and metabolomic changes in the ProB and placebo groups were similar, but differed from those in the ProA group, which exhibited significantly lower levels of acute gout attack, gout impact score, serum indicators (UA, XOD, hypoxanthine, and IL-1β), and fecal gene abundances of UA-producing pathways (KEGG orthologs of K13479 and K01487; gut metabolic modules for formate conversion and lactose and galactose degradation). Additionally, the ProA group showed significantly higher levels (P < 0.05) of gut SCFAs-producing bacteria and UA-related metabolites (xanthine, hypoxanthine, bile acids) after the intervention. Finally, we established a gout metagenomic classifier to predict probiotic responsiveness based on subjects' baseline gut microbiota composition. Our results indicate that probiotic-driven therapeutic responses are highly individual, with the probiotic-responsive cohort benefitting significantly from probiotic coadministration., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Antagonizing excessive glutamate-induced neuroexcitatory toxicity is one of the treatments for brain and retinal nerve damage in ischemic stroke patients. In this work, a series of 3-benzoyl-4-phenyl-spiropyrrolidone (spiroheterocyclic) compounds were designed and synthesized by modifying the Michael receptor of chalcone to reduce its toxicity. Several compounds with superior protective effects on PC12 cells were screened through an experimental model of glutamate-induced damage, and a quantitative evaluation of the structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model with a regression coefficient of R 2  = 0.90723 was established through the random forest (RF) algorithm. Among these compounds, E38 significantly increased the survival rate of damaged cells, promoted colony formation, and inhibited LDH release and apoptosis, and the protective effect of E38 was possibly partly through the HO-1/SIRT1 pathway. More importantly, in mice model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), E38 decreased cerebral infarct size, improved neurological scores, and mitigated retinal damage. In conclusion, this work presents a novel class of chalcone derivatives with neuroprotective activity and offers potential compounds for the treatment of ischemic stroke., 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., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Groundwater contamination by nitrate and sulfate in mining areas is a significant challenge. Consequently, the inputs sources of these contaminants and their evolution have received considerable attention, with the knowledge gained critical for improved management of water quality. This study integrated data on multiple stable isotopes and water chemistry data and a Bayesian isotope mixing model to investigate the relative contributions of inputs sources of sulfate and nitrate sources to bodies of water in a karst mining area in southwest China. The outcomes indicated that hydrochemical component in the water bodies of the study area is mainly derived from the dissolution of silicate rocks, carbonate rocks and sulfate minerals as well as the oxidation of sulfides. The human and agricultural wastewater, soil nitrogen, and fertilizers were the predominant inputs sources of nitrate to the mine water environment; the predominant inputs sources of sulfide were mineral oxidation, evaporite dissolution, atmospheric deposition, and sewage. Groundwater is mainly recharged from atmospheric precipitation, and surface water is closely hydraulically connected to groundwater. Nitrogen and oxygen isotope composition and water chemistry indicative of nitrification dominate the nitrogen cycle in the study area. The oxidation of pyrite and bacterial sulfate reduction (SRB) had no significant impact on the stable isotopes of groundwater. The results of this study demonstrate the inputs of different sources to nitrate and sulfate in karst mines and associated transformation processes. The results of this study can assist in the conservation of groundwater quality in mining areas and can act as a reference for future related studies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Food allergy is a serious public health problem, which is mainly induced by food allergens (mainly allergenic proteins). Ultrasound can change protein structure, suggesting its potential to decrease food allergenicity. The review concluded the mechanism and influence factors of ultrasound to reduce food allergenicity. The effects of ultrasound alone on some major allergenic foods such as tree nuts, shellfish, fish, egg, soy, milk, and wheat were also discussed. Moreover, ultrasound pre- and post-treatments were combined with heating, glycation, germination, hydrolysis, fermentation, irradiation and polyphenol treatment for reducing food allergenicity were also evaluated. It was found that ultrasound induced structural changes even degradation of protein to reduce the allergenicity mainly due to cavitation effects. The reduction of allergenicity through ultrasound alone was affected by ultrasound power, time, frequency and food types, while, apart from these factors, it was affected by ultrasound order and the assisted technologies conditions during ultrasound-assisted technologies. Compared to ultrasound alone treatment, the ultrasound-assisted technology exhibited high efficiency of allergenicity reduction because ultrasound treatment caused protein unfolding to accelerate allergen modification of the assisted technologies for masking and disrupting more epitopes. Thus, ultrasound treatment, especially ultrasound-assisted technologies under appropriate conditions, was promising for producing hypoallergenic foods., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors confirm that they have no conflicts of interest with respect to the work described in this manuscript., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a persistent organic pollutant and accumulated in the liver of mammals. PFOS exposure is closely associated with the development of pyroptosis. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanism is unclear. We found here that PFOS induced pyroptosis in the mice liver and L-02 cells as demonstrated by activation of the NOD-like receptor protein 3 inflammasome, gasdermin D cleavage and increased release of interleukin-1β and interleukin-18. The level of cytoplasmic calcium was accelerated in hepatocytes upon exposure to PFOS. The phosphorylated/activated form of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) was augmented by PFOS in vivo and in vitro. PFOS-induced pyroptosis was relieved by CaMKII inhibitor. Among various CaMKII subtypes, we identified that CaMKIIγ was activated specifically by PFOS. CaMKIIγ interacted with Smad family member 3 (Smad3) under PFOS exposure. PFOS increased the phosphorylation of Smad3, and CaMKII inhibitor or CaMKIIγ siRNA alleviated PFOS-caused phosphorylation of Smad3. Inhibiting Smad3 activity was found to alleviate PFOS-induced hepatocyte pyroptosis. This study puts forward that CaMKIIγ-Smad3 is the linkage between calcium homeostasis disturbance and pyroptosis, providing a mechanistic explanation for PFOS-induced pyroptosis., 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 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The development of photoresponsive shape memory materials based on the photothermal conversion properties of lignin and the low activation energy of the dynamic covalent borate bond is of great importance. In this paper, a kind of lignin-based vitrimer polymer (LBP) containing dynamic boronic ester bonds was prepared by a "sulfhydryl-epoxy" click reaction and etherification reaction. The results show that the rigid segment EP-EL (lignin-based epoxy resin) and BDB (2,2'-(1,4-phenylene)-bis-[4-mercapto-1,3,2-dioxaneborane]) with benzene ring structure can impart tensile strength (20.8 MPa) to the LBP, while the flexible segment PEG imparts good elongation at break (15 %). The dynamic binding and dissociation exchange mechanism of the boronic ester bonds enables LBP to exhibit thermal remodelling properties (up to 36.2 %) and water-assisted self-healing properties at room temperature (up to 49.0 %). In addition, LBP exhibits excellent thermal and light-responsive shape memory properties due to its own photothermal conversion performance (photothermal conversion efficiency up to 18.2 %) and the dynamic boronic ester bond thermal activation bond exchange mechanism. The insulating properties of LBP make it suitable for use in high temperature protection circuit devices and light-responsive circuit devices. This study provides new insights into the design and application of Vitrimer and photoresponsive shape memory polymers, and also offers a new avenue for high-value utilization of lignin., 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.)

Tire wear particles (TWPs) are considered as an emerging threat to soil fauna. However, how TWP toxicity to soil fauna responds to the stress of soil moisture and temperature remains unclear. We assessed the toxicity of environmentally relevant TWPs to the soil model species Enchytraeus crypticus under three soil moisture and two temperature gradients. Typical thermoplastic polypropylene (PP) was selected for comparison. Results showed that compared with PP, TWPs exerted stronger toxicity, including decreasing the worm growth, survival and reproduction rates, disturbing the soil and worm gut microbiota, and leaching more diverse and higher contents of additives. Stress of soil moisture and temperature exacerbated TWP toxicity mainly through affecting the leaching and transformation of additives. Fourteen mediated additives significantly contributed to the shift of the gut microbiota under soil moisture and temperature stress, among which 1,3-diphenylguanidine, N,N'-bis(methylphenyl)-1,4-benzenediamine quinone, N-tert-butyl-2-benzothiazolesulfenamide, and 2-aminobenzothiazole were identified as the main drivers. In addition, this study provided the first clear evidence that increased soil moisture and temperature promoted the transformation of additives in the soil. Our study revealed the non-negligible aggravated toxicity of TWPs to soil fauna under stress of soil moisture and temperature, providing novel insights into the environmental behavior of additives., 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.)

Neonicotinoids (NEOs) are currently the fastest-growing and most widely used insecticide class worldwide. Increasing evidence suggests that long-term NEO residues in the environment have toxic effects on non-target soil animals. However, few studies have conducted surveys on the effects of NEOs on soil animals, and only few have focused on global systematic reviews or meta-analysis to quantify the effects of NEOs on soil animals. Here, we present a meta-analysis of 2940 observations from 113 field and laboratory studies that investigated the effects of NEOs (at concentrations of 0.001-78,600.000 mg/kg) on different soil animals across five indicators (i.e., survival, growth, behavior, reproduction, and biochemical biomarkers). Furthermore, we quantify the effects of NEOs on different species of soil animals. Results show that NEOs inhibit the survival, growth rate, behavior, and reproduction of soil animals, and alter biochemical biomarkers. Both the survival rate and longevity of individuals decreased by 100 % with NEO residues. The mean values of juvenile survival, cocoon number, and egg hatchability were reduced by 97 %, 100 %, and 84 %, respectively. Both individual and cocoon weights were reduced by 82 %, while the growth rate decreased by 88 % with NEO residues. Our meta-analysis confirms that NEOs pose significant negative impacts on soil animals., 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.)

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has great potential for the analysis of molecules adsorbed on metals with rough surfaces or substrates with micro-/nanostructures. Plasmonic coupling between metal nanoparticles and the morphology of the rough metal surface can produce "hot spots" that enhance Raman scattering by adsorbed molecules, typically at micro- to nanomolar concentrations, although high enhancement factors can also facilitate single-molecule detection. This phenomenon is widely applicable for chemical analysis and sensing in various fields. In this review, the latest research progress on SERS micro-/nanosensors is evaluated, and the sensors are classified according to their individual functions. Furthermore, the design principles and working mechanisms of reported SERS-active micro-/nanostructured substrates are analyzed, and the design features adopted to overcome the difficulties associated with precision detection are explored. Finally, challenges and directions for future development in this field are discussed. This review serves as a design guide for novel SERS-active substrates., 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.)

Human norovirus (HuNoV) is a leading cause of foodborne diseases worldwide, making rapid and accurate detection crucial for prevention and control. In recent years, the CRISPR/Cas13a system, known for its single-base resolution in RNA recognition and unique collateral cleavage activity, is particularly suitable for sensitive and rapid RNA detection. However, isothermal amplification-based CRISPR/Cas13 assays often require an external transcription step, complicating the detection process. In our study, an efficient diagnostic technique based on the NASBA/Cas13a system was established to identify conserved regions at the ORF1-ORF2 junction of norovirus. The RNA amplification techniques [Nucleic Acid Sequence-Based Amplification (NASBA)] integrates reverse transcription and transcription steps, enabling sensitive, accurate, and rapid enrichment of low-abundance RNA. Furthermore, the CRISPR/Cas13a system provides secondary precise recognition of the amplified products, generating a fluorescence signal through its activated accessory collateral cleavage activity. We optimized the reaction kinetics parameters of Cas13a and achieved a detection limit as low as 51pM. The conditions for the cascade reaction involving CRISPR analysis and RNA amplification were optimized. Finally, we validated the reliability and accuracy of the NASBA/Cas13a method by detecting norovirus in shellfish, achieving results comparable to qRT-PCR in a shorter time and detecting viral loads as low as 10 copies/μL., 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.)

A miniaturized microchip-based absorbance detector was developed for portable high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to test glycated hemoglobin (HbA 1c ). The microchip integrating a Z-shaped cell, two collimating micro-lenses and two ink-filled optical slits is small in size (30 mm × 15 mm × 7 mm). The Z-shaped cell has a cross-sectional size of 500 μm × 500 μm and a physical optical path length of 2 mm. Two collimating micro-lenses were inserted in empty grooves on both sides of the cell, one micro-lens for collimating the initial light and the other for focusing the transmitted light. Optical slits on each end of the cell were used to block the stray light. Therefore, this detector indicated a low stray light level (0.011 %) and noise level (2.5 × 10 -4 AU). This detector was applied for the commercial HPLC system to detect HbA 1c level, and showed a low limit of detection (0.5 μg/mL) and excellent repeatability (≤ 2.03 %). The sensitivity was enhanced by 3.4 times when the optical path length was increased from 0.5 mm to 2 mm and the stray light was blocked by optical slits. The miniaturized microchip-based absorbance detector developed shows a great potential for application in portable and compact HPLC., 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.)

Background: Placental exosomes are a kind of intercellular communication media secreted by placental cells during pregnancy, exosomogenesis and release are regulated by many secretory glycoproteins. CREG1 is a kind of secreted glycoprotein widely expressed in various organs and tissues of the body, which inhibits cell proliferation and enhances cell differentiation. The aim of this study was to explore the role of CREG1 in regulating exosomogenesis during the proliferation and differentiation of placental trophoblast cells in early pregnant dairy cows by targeting IGF2R and participating in regulating organoid differentiation via exosomes transport., Methods: Molecular biological methods were firstly used to investigate the expression patterns of CREG1, IGF2R and exosomal marker proteins in early placental development of pregnant dairy cows. Subsequently, the effects of CREG1 on the formation and release of bovine placental trophoblast (BTCs) derived exosomes by targeting IGF2R were investigated. Further, the effects of CREG1 on the change of gene expression patterns along with the transport of exosomes to recipient cells and participate in regulating the differentiation of organoids were explored., Results: The expression of CREG1, IGF2R and exosomal marker proteins increased with the increase of pregnancy months during the early evolution of placental trophoblast cells in dairy cows. Overexpression of Creg1 enhanced the genesis and release of exosomes derived from BTCs, while knocking down the expression of Igf2r gene not only inhibited the genesis of exosomes, but also inhibited the genesis and release of exosomes induced by overexpression of CREG1 protein. Interestingly, IGF2R can regulate the expression of CREG1 through reverse secretion. What's more, the occurrence and release of trophoblast-derived exosomes are regulated by CREG1 binding to IGF2R, which subsequently binds to Rab11. CREG1 can not only promote the formation and release of exosomes in donor cells, but also regulate the change of gene expression patterns along with the transport of exosomes to recipient cells and participate in regulating the early development of placenta., Conclusions: Our study confirmed that CREG1 is involved in the exosomogenesis and release of exosomes during the proliferation and differentiation of placental trophoblast cells in early pregnant dairy cows by targeting IGF2R, and is involved in the regulation of organoid differentiation through exosome transport., 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: Candida albicans is the most prevalent pathogenic fungus, exhibiting escalating multidrug resistance (MDR). Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent promising candidates for addressing this issue. In this research, five antimicrobial peptides, ACP1 to ACP5 which named ACPs were studied as alternative fungicidal molecules., Main Methods: CD assay was used to analyze the 2D structures, Absorbance method was used to test the antimicrobial activity, haemolytic activity, time-kill kinetics, biofilm inhibition and reduction activity, resistance induction activity and assessment against fluconazole-resistant C. albicans. SEM, TEM, CLSM, flow cytometer and FM were carried out to provide insight into the mechanisms of anti-Candida action., Key Findings: ACPs possessed an α-helical structure and strong anti-Candida activities, with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) from 3.9 to 15.6 μg/mL. In addition, ACPs did not produce hemolysis at concentrations lower than 10 or 62 × MIC, indicating their low cytotoxicity. Fungicidal kinetics showed that they completely killed C. albicans within 8 h at 2 to 4 × MIC. Notably, ACPs were highly fungicidal against fluconazole-resistant C. albicans and showed low resistance. In addition, they were effective in inhibiting mycelium and biofilm formation. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that while fluconazole had minimal to no inhibitory effect on biofilm-forming cells, ACPs induced apoptosis in all of them. The research on mechanism of action revealed that ACPs disrupted the cell membranes, with ROS increasing and cellular mitochondrial membrane potential decreasing., Significance: ACPs could be promising candidates for combating fluconazole-resistant C. albicans infections., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The incidence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is related with perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), yet the mechanism remains ill-defined. Mounting evidence suggests that ferroptosis plays a crucial role in the initiation of NASH. In this study, we used mice and human hepatocytes L-02 to investigate the role of ferroptosis in PFOS-induced NASH and the effect and molecular mechanism of PFOS on liver ferroptosis. We found here that PFOS caused NASH in mice, and lipid accumulation and inflammatory response in the L-02 cells. PFOS induced hepatic ferroptosis in vivo and in vitro, as evidenced by the decrease in glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), and the increases in cytosolic iron, acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4) and lipid peroxidation. In the PFOS-treated cells, the increases in the inflammatory factors and lipid contents were reversed by ferroptosis inhibitor. PFOS-induced ferroptosis was relieved by autophagy inhibitor. The expression of mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) was accelerated by PFOS, leading to subsequent mitochondrial calcium accumulation, and inhibiting autophagy reversed the increase in MCU. Inhibiting mitochondrial calcium reversed the variations in GPX4 and cytosolic iron, without influencing the change in ACSL4, induced by PFOS. MCU interacted with ACSL4 and the siRNA against MCU reversed the changes in ACSL4，GPX4 and cytosolic iron systemically. This study put forward the involvement of hepatic ferroptosis in PFOS-induced NASH and identified MCU as the mediator of the autophagy-dependent ferroptosis., 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 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

As a sensitive indicator of climate change and a key variable in ecosystem surface-atmosphere interaction, vegetation phenology, and the growing season length, as well as climatic factors (i.e., temperature, precipitation, and sunshine duration) are widely recognized as key factors influencing vegetation productivity. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of soil moisture in regulating grassland productivity. However, the relative importance of phenology, climatic factors, and soil moisture to plant species-level productivity across China's grasslands remains poorly understood. Here, we use nearly four decades (1981 to 2018) of in situ species-level observations from 17 stations distributed across grasslands in China to examine the key mechanisms that control grassland productivity. The results reveal that soil moisture is the strongest determinant of the interannual variability in grassland productivity. In contrast, the spring/autumn phenology, the length of vegetation growing season, and climate factors have relatively minor impacts. Generally, annual aboveground biomass increases by 3.9 to 25.3 g∙m 2 (dry weight) with a 1 % increase in growing season mean soil moisture across the stations. Specifically, the sensitivity of productivity to moisture in wetter and colder environments (e.g., alpine meadows) is significantly higher than that in drier and warmer environments (e.g., temperate desert steppes). In contrast, the sensitivity to the precipitation of the latter is greater than the former. The effect of soil moisture is the most pronounced during summer. Dominant herb productivity is more sensitive to soil moisture than the others. Moreover, multivariate regression analyses show that the primary climatic factors and their attributions to variations in soil moisture differ among the stations, indicating the interaction between climate and soil moisture is very complex. Our study highlights the interspecific difference in the soil moisture dependence of grassland productivity and provides guidance to climate change impact assessments in grassland ecosystems., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Understanding the prolonged spatiotemporal evolution and identifying the underlying causes of Ulva prolifera green tides play pivotal roles in managing such occurrences, restoring water ecology, and fostering sustainable development in marine ecosystems. Satellite remote sensing represents the primary choice for monitoring Ulva prolifera green tides due to its capability for extensive, long-term ocean monitoring. Based on multi-source remote sensing images, ecological and environmental datasets, and machine learning algorithms, therefore, this study focused on "remote sensing modelling - evolution history - change trends - mechanism analysis" to elucidate both the remote sensing monitoring models and the underlying driving factors governing the spatiotemporal evolution of Ulva prolifera green tides in the highly impacted South Yellow Sea of China. With the use of GOCI Ⅰ/Ⅱ images, an hybrid remote sensing extraction model merging the robustness of the random forest (RF) model and the optical algae cloud index (ACI) was established to map Ulva prolifera distribution patterns. The ACI-RF method exhibited exceptional performance, with an F1 score surpassing 0.95, outperforming alternative methods such as the support vector machine (SVM) and K-nearest neighbour (KNN) methods. On the basis, we analysed the evolutionary trends and the driving factors determining these distribution patterns using meteorological data, runoff data, and data on various water quality parameters (SST, ocean current speed, wind speed, precipitation, DO, PAR, Si, NO 3 - , PO 4 3- and N/P). Over the period from 2011 to 2022, excluding 2021, there was a notable decline in the area of Ulva prolifera green tides, varying between 397 and 2689.9 km 2 , with an average annual reduction rate of 3%. The maximum annual biomass varied between 0.12 and 15.9 kt. Notably, more than 75% of the area of Ulva prolifera green tides exhibited northward drift, which was significantly influenced by northern currents and wind fields. The analysis of driving factors indicates that factors such as average sea surface temperature, eastward wind speed, northward wind speed, precipitation, PO 4 3 - and N/P/Si significantly influence the biological growth rate of Ulva prolifera. Furthermore, coastal land use change and surface runoff, particularly surface runoff in June, significantly impacted the growth rate of Ulva prolifera, with Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.74 and 0.67, respectively. Against the background of global warming and severe deterioration in the marine environment, Ulva prolifera blooms persist. Consequently, two distinct management strategies were proposed based on the distribution patterns and cause analysis results for addressing Ulva prolifera green tides: establishing a continuous protection framework for rivers, lakes, and nearshore areas to mitigate pollutant inputs and implementing precise environmental monitoring measures in urban expansion areas and farmlands to combat overgrowth-induced green tides. This methodology could be applied in other regions affected by marine ecological disasters, and the criteria for selecting influencing factors offer a valuable reference for designing tailored and proactive measures aimed at controlling Ulva prolifera green tides., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest This manuscript has not been published or presented elsewhere either in part or in entirety and is not under consideration by any journal. We have read the journal policies. There are no conflicts of interest to declare. All of the authors give their approval of the manuscript and concur to the submission of the manuscript to Marine Environmental Research., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a novel humanized anti-HER2 antibody, RC48-ADC (Disitamab vedotin, DV), the combination of RC48-ADC with PD-1 inhibitors was used to treat muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). This combination therapy has potential applications in both bladder preservation and neoadjuvant therapy for MIBC., Methods: Patients with MIBC underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumors followed by RC48-ADC alone or in combination with PD-1 inhibitors. Radiological and endoscopic evaluations were conducted 3 months later. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR), with secondary endpoints including complete response rate (CR), partial response rate (PR), and bladder preservation rate. Treatment safety was assessed according to RECIST v1.1 criteria., Results: Eleven patients were enrolled, with a median follow-up of 19.0 months. Nine patients achieved objective response, including 6 CR and 3 PR cases. The pathological ORR was 81.8%. Eight patients continued combined treatment after 3 months, maintaining a 72.7% bladder preservation rate at 16 months. One elderly patient progressed from ypT2N0M0 to ypT3N0M0 and underwent radical cystectomy but had no recurrence or metastasis 12 months postoperation. All patients reported varying degrees of treatment-related adverse reactions, which were largely manageable., Conclusion: The combination of RC48-ADC and PD-1 inhibitors proves to be a viable and safe option for bladder-sparing therapy, particularly for T2-stage MIBC patients who are ineligible for surgery and chemotherapy. This approach offers a promising new direction for bladder preservation or neoadjuvant therapy in MIBC patients., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors declare that this study has no competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The widespread existence of antibiotics in the environment has attracted growing concerns regarding the potential adverse effects on aquatic organisms, ecosystems, and human health even at low concentrations. Extensive efforts have been devoted to developing new methods for effective elimination of antibiotics from wastewater. Herein, a novel process of Fe 2+ catalytically enhanced vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) irradiation was proposed as a promising approach for the removal of antibiotic trimethoprim (TMP) in water. Compared with UVC photolysis, VUV photolysis, and UVC/Fe 2+ , VUV/Fe 2+ could increase the pseudo-first-order reaction rate constant of TMP removal by 6.6-38.4 times and the mineralization rate by 36.5%-59.9%. The excellent performance might originate from the synergistic effect of VUV and Fe 2+ , i.e., VUV irradiation could effectively split water and largely accelerate the Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ cycle to generate more reactive oxygen species (ROS). EPR results indicated that • OH and O 2 •- were identified as the main ROS in the UVC/Fe 2+ and VUV/Fe 2+ processes, while • OH, O 2 •- , and 1 O 2 were involved in the VUV process. The operating parameters, such as Fe 2+ dosage and initial TMP contents, were evaluated and optimized. Up to 8 aromatic intermediates derived from hydroxylation, demethylation, carbonylation, and methylene group cleavage were identified by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS technique, the possible pathways of TMP degradation were proposed. Finally, the acute and chronic toxicity of intermediates formed during TMP degradation in the VUV/Fe 2+ process were also evaluated., 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.)

Background: Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN) is a type of inherited metabolic disorder caused by mutation in the PANK2 gene. The metabolic disorder mainly affects the basal ganglia region and eventually manifests as dystonia. For patients of dystonia, their dystonic symptom may progress to life-threatening emergency--status dystonicus., Objective: We described a case of a child with PKAN who had developed status dystonicus and was successfully treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS). Based on this rare condition, we analysed the clinical features of PKAN with status dystonicus and reviewed the reasonable management process of this condition., Conclusion: This case confirmed the rationality of choosing DBS for the treatment of status dystonicus. Meanwhile, we found that children with classic PKAN have a cluster of risk factors for developing status dystonicus. Once children diagnosed with similar neurodegenerative diseases are under status dystonicus, DBS can be active considered because it has showed high control rate of this emergent condition., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: In most patients with advanced human epidermal growth factor receptor-2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer, anti-HER2 therapies fail due to the development of acquired resistance, potentially mediated through phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling. We investigated adding taselisib, an α-selective potent oral inhibitor of PI3K, to different HER2-directed regimens in order to improve disease control., Patients and Methods: Patients (n = 68) with advanced HER2+ breast cancer were enrolled to this open-label, dose-escalation phase Ib study. The primary endpoint was defining the maximal tolerated dose (MTD) for the various taselisib-containing combinations. The secondary endpoint was safety. Exploratory endpoints included circulating tumor DNA analysis. The study included four cohorts: (A) taselisib + trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), (C) taselisib + trastuzumab and pertuzumab (TP), (D) taselisib + TP + paclitaxel, and (E) taselisib + TP + fulvestrant., Results: Following dose escalation, the taselisib MTD was defined as 4 mg once daily. Treatment was associated with significant toxicities, as 34 out of 68 patients experienced grade ≥3 adverse events (AEs) attributed to taselisib, the most common all-grade AEs being diarrhea, fatigue, and oral mucositis. At a median follow-up of 43.8 months, median progression-free survival (PFS) for the MTD-treated population in cohorts A, C, and E was 6.3 [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.2-not applicable (NA)] months, 1.7 (95% CI 1.4-NA) months, and 10.6 (95% CI 8.3-NA) months, respectively. The median PFS for patients in cohort A with prior T-DM1 use was 10.4 (95% CI 2.7-NA) months., Conclusions: PIK3CA targeting with taselisib in combination with HER2-targeted therapies was associated with both promising efficacy and substantial toxicities., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Potassium ion transport across myocardial cell membrane is essential for type 2 long QT syndrome (LQT2). However, the dysfunction of potassium ion transport due to genetic mutations limits the therapeutic effect in treating LQT2. Biomimetic ion channels that selectively and efficiently transport potassium ions across the cellular membranes are promising for the treatment of LQT2. To corroborate this, we synthesized a series of foldamer-based ion channels with different side chains, and found a biomimetic ion channel of K + (BIC K ) with the highest transport activity among them. The selected BIC K can restore potassium ion transport and increase transmembrane potassium ion current, thus shortening phase 3 of action potential (AP) repolarization and QT interval in LQT2. Moreover, BIC K does not affect heart rate and cardiac rhythm in treating LQT2 model induced by E4031 in isolated heart as well as in guinea pigs. By restoring ion transmembrane transport tactic, biomimetic ion channels, such as BIC K , will show great potential in treating diseases related to ion transport blockade. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Type 2 long QT syndrome (LQT2) is a disease caused by K + transport disorder, which can cause malignant arrhythmia and even death. There is currently no radical cure, so it is critical to explore ways to improve K + transmembrane transport. In this study, we report that a small-molecule biomimetic ion channel BIC K can efficiently simulate natural K + channel proteins on the cardiomyocyte and cure E4031-induced LQT2 in guinea pig by restoring K + transport function for the first time. This study found that the potassium transmembrane transport by BIC K significantly reduced the QT interval, which provides a conceptually new strategy for the treatment of LQT2 disease., 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 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The electro-Fenton (EF) based on gas-diffusion electrodes (GDEs) reveals promising application prospective towards recalcitrant organics degradation because such GDEs often yields superior H 2 O 2 generation efficiency and selectivity. However, the low efficiency of Fe 2+ /Fe 3+ cycle with GDEs is always considered to be the limiting step for the EF process. In this study, activated carbon fiber (ACF) was firstly employed as co-catalyst to facilitate the performance of antibiotic cefaclor (CEC) decomposition in EF process. It was found that the addition of ACF co-catalyst achieved a rapid Fe 2+ /Fe 3+ cycling, which significantly enhanced Fenton's reaction and hydroxyl radicals ( • OH) generation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results indicated that the functional groups on ACF surface are related to the conversion of Fe 3+ into Fe 2+ . Moreover, DMSO probing experiment confirmed the enhanced • OH production in EF + ACF system compared to conventional EF system. When inactive BDD and Ti 4 O 7 /Ti anodes were paired to EF system, the addition of ACF could significantly improve mineralization degree. However, a large amount of toxic byproducts, including chlorate (ClO 3 - ) and perchlorate (ClO 4 - ), were generated in these EF processes, especially for BDD anode, due to their robust oxidation capacity. Higher mineralization efficiency and less toxic ClO 4 - generation were obtained in the EF + ACF process with Ti 4 O 7 /Ti anode. This presents a novel alternative for efficient chloride-containing organic removal during wastewater remediation., 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.)

Microplastics (MPs) and antibiotics, as two major types of emerging pollutants, inevitably coexist in the soil environment due to agricultural film residue, sewage irrigation and sludge application. However, the impact of MPs on antibiotic availability in soils with varying characteristics has not been extensively studied. Therefore, in this study, an interference experiment was conducted using three types of MPs (polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polypropylene (PP)) in red soil, paddy soil and cinnamon soil. The available antibiotics in soils were evaluated using diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT). Results showed that MPs had a significant impact on the amount of antibiotics adsorbed on soil solid (C s ) by providing additional binding sites or altering soil characteristics (e.g., pH and dissolved organic carbon). The most significant effects on C s were observed in cinnamon soil, and the C s values were dependent on concentration of MPs. The available antibiotics, as measured by DGT significantly decreased after the addition of MPs. This decrease was influenced by the soil characteristics. However, the concentration of antibiotics in soil solutions (C d ) was only slightly impacted by MPs. Therefore, the influence of MPs on the migration of antibiotics was reflected by their impact on the soil/water partition coefficient (K d ), while the resupply ability (R) from the soil solid phase was less influential. Moreover, the dosage of MPs had a significant effect on the availability of antibiotics in CS by promoting the adsorption of antibiotics on the solid phase, while in RS and PS, the soil properties played a dominate role in the changes in antibiotic availability after MP addition. These results indicate that the impact of MPs on available antibiotics mainly depends on soil properties. In addition, DGT measurement is more sensitive than soil solution to investigate the effects of coexisting pollutants on the behavior of antibiotics in soil., 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.)

The mapping of impervious surfaces using remote sensing techniques offer essential technical support for sustainable development objectives and safeguard the environment. In this study, we developed an automated method without training samples for mapping impervious surfaces using texture features. The different aggregated impervious surface patterns and distributions in study areas of Site A-C in China (Beijing, Huainan, Jinhua) were considered. The Site D-E in Dubai and Tehran, surrounded with deserts in arid areas. They were selected to develop and evaluate the performance of the proposed automated method. The texture features of the Contrast, Gabor wavelets, and secondary texture extraction (Con&#95;Gabor) derived from Sentinel-2 images at each site were used to construct the three-dimensional texture features (3DTF) of impervious surfaces. The 3DTF-combined K-means classifier was used to automatically map the impervious surfaces. The results showed that the overall accuracies of mapping impervious surface were 91.15 %, 89.75 %, and 91.90 % in Site A-C. The overall accuracies of mapping impervious surface were 90.95 %, 91.45 % and 88.23 % in rural areas. The distributions of impervious surface on automated method, GHS-BUILT-S and ESA WorldCover were similar in study areas. The automated method for mapping impervious surfaces performed as well as the artificial neural network (ANN) and Random Forest (RF), and the advantage of not requiring training samples. The automated method was tested in the in Dubai and Tehran. The overall accuracies of the automatic method for mapping impervious surfaces >89 % at Site D-E, and >88 % at rural area. In addition, the 3DTF was proved as the simplest and most effective feature combination to map impervious surfaces. The impervious surface mapped using the automated method was robust across bands, seasons and sensors. However, further evaluation is necessary to assess the effectiveness of automated methods using high spatial resolution images for mapping impervious surface in complex areas., 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.)

Infected wound management is a great challenge to healthcare, especially in emergencies such as accidents or battlefields. Hydrogels as wound dressings can replace or supplement traditional wound treatment strategies, such as bandages or sutures. It is significant to develop novel hydrogel-based wound dressings with simple operation, inexpensive, easy debridement, effective antibacterial, biocompatibility, etc. Here, we designed a novel gelatin-based hydrogel wound dressing Gel-TA-Fe 3+ . The hydrogels used tannic-modified gelatin as the main body and Fe 3+ as the crosslinking agent to achieve a controllable rapid sol-gel transition. The hydrogels exhibited tough mechanical properties, excellent antibacterial ability, biocompatibility and an acceptable temperature response to near-infrared light (NIR). Moreover, the hydrogels could promote the healing process of MRSA-infected skin wound in rats. This multifunctional hydrogel was thought to have potential for emergency treatment of bacterial infected wound., 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.)

We explored a novel preparation method for MOF-on-MOF heterostructured material (Zn-BTEC@ZIF-8). This prepared heterostructured material acts as a container, capable of adsorbing tetracycline hydrochloride molecules into its backbone through hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions. This phenomenon triggers an aggregation induced emission (AIE) effect, leading to the formation of luminescent bodies. The coordination between histamine and MOF was found to collapse the originally stabilized MOF-on-MOF structure. This collapse causes the splitting of the initially stabilized MOF-on-MOF structure from the aggregated state into fragments, resulting in the quenching of fluorescence in the fluorophore. Remarkably, the fluorescence quenching efficiency of this composite surpasses that of single-layer metal-organic framework (MOF) zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) or zinc-based MOF of pyromellitic acid (Zn-BTEC), enabling more sensitive detection of histamine. In this investigation, we constructed a label-free fluorescent sensor specifically designed for the detection of histamine, capitalizing on the AIE effect inherent in MOF-on-MOF architecture and the presence of tetracycline hydrochloride (Tet). The sensor demonstrates a rapid, straightforward, and stable response, allowing for histamine detection within 20 min. Notably, the sensor covers a detection range of 2-400 mg L -1 , achieving a low detection limit of 1.458 mg L -1 The practical application of this sensor for quantitative detection of histamine in river water and various fish species exhibited robust performance, ensuring reliability and accuracy in real samples. Its potential application in food safety and environmental monitoring is evident, making it a valuable tool for addressing histamine-related challenges in these domains., 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.)

In this work, a biosensor based on Fano resonance metasurface is proposed for the specific detection of CA242 which is a typical marker of pancreatic cancer. The biosensor consists of a chiral symmetric plasma double "N" structure, which utilises coherent coupling of bright and dark modes to generate Fano resonance, achieving suppression of radiation loss, concentrating and storing energy more efficiently in the structure, and contributing to increased sensitivity to changes in ambient refractive index, resulting in a sensitivity of the sensor of up to 842.8 nm /RIU. After a series of antibody functionalization modifications, the metasurface has become an immune biosensor that can specifically detect the tumor marker CA242 of pancreatic cancer. The detection of mixed and single antigen solutions with different concentrations has verified the high sensitivity, high specificity, and high linear relationship of the biosensor to CA242, and the detection limit is as low as 0.0692 ng/mL. It is superior to other common methods and breaks the traditional disadvantages of lower detection accuracy and greater damage in tumour detection methods. The detection of the wavelength shift of localized surface plasmon resonance in plasma metasurface has been successfully applied to the highly sensitive detection of tumor markers. This study demonstrates the sensitivity and maneuverability of the chiral symmetric double "N" plasmonic metasurface biosensor, suggesting the potential application of metamaterials in biosensing based on environmental refractive index changes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The broad application of ionic liquids (ILs) has been hindered by uncertainties surrounding their ecotoxicity. In this work, a Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) model was devised to predict the inhibition of ILs towards the activity of AChE, employing both Random Forest (RF) and eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) machine learning approaches. Fourteen kings of essential molecular feature descriptors were screened from an initial roster of 244 descriptors through the application of a feature importance index and they showed a significant impact on the activity of AChE activity. The two models based solely on the 14 most critical molecular descriptors could maintain model's robustness and reliability. The correlation analysis between these 14 descriptors and the inhibition of AChE activity revealed the potential impact of the molecular characteristics on ILs toxicity. The results underscored the main influence of cations in ILs on the inhibitory activity towards the AChE enzyme. Specifically, cations exhibiting hydrophobicity properties were found to exert more potent inhibitory effects on the AChE enzyme. In addition, some other properties of the cations, such as the degree of branching, atomic weight and partial charge also modulated their inhibition potential. This study enhances the comprehension of the structure-activity relationship between ILs and AChE inhibition, providing a reference for designing safer and greener ILs., 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.)

Sulfation is a crucial and prevalent conjugation reaction involved in cellular processes and mammalian physiology. 3'-Phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate (PAPS) synthase 2 (PAPSS2) is the primary enzyme to generate the universal sulfonate donor PAPS. The involvement of PAPSS2-mediated sulfation in adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) mutation-promoted colonic carcinogenesis has not been reported. Here, we showed that the expression of PAPSS2 was decreased in human colon tumors along with cancer stages, and the lower expression of PAPSS2 was correlated with poor prognosis in advanced colon cancer. Gut epithelial-specific heterozygous Apc deficient and Papss2 -knockout ( Apc Δgut - Het Papss2 Δgut ) mice were created, and the phenotypes were compared to the spontaneous intestinal tumorigenesis of Apc Δgut - Het mice. Apc Δgut - Het Papss2 Δgut mice were more sensitive to gut tumorigenesis, which was mechanistically accounted for by the activation of Wnt/ β -catenin signaling pathway due to the suppression of chondroitin sulfation and inhibition of the farnesoid X receptor (FXR)-transducin-like enhancer of split 3 (TLE3) gene regulatory axis. Chondroitin sulfate supplementation in Apc Δgut - Het Papss2 Δgut mice alleviated intestinal tumorigenesis. In summary, we have uncovered the protective role of PAPSS2-mediated chondroitin sulfation and bile acids-FXR-TLE3 activation in the prevention of gut carcinogenesis via the antagonization of Wnt/ β -catenin signaling. Chondroitin sulfate may be explored as a therapeutic agent for Papss2 deficiency-associated colonic carcinogenesis., (© 2024 The Authors.)

An NiPt nanozyme-mediated relaxation and colorimetric sensor is developed for dual-modality detection of norovirus (NoV). The relaxation modality is based on the "catalase-like" activity of the NiPt nanozyme, which adjusts the hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) mediated Fe (II)/Fe(III) conversion, thereby changing the relaxation signal. Poly-γ-glutamic acid (MW ≈ 1w) can enhance the relaxivity of Fe(III) (r 1  = 7.11 mM -1  s -1 ; r 2  = 8.94 mM -1  s -1 ). The colorimetric modality exploits the "peroxidase-like" activity of the NiPt nanozyme, which can catalyze the oxidation of colorless 3, 3', 5, 5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to blue oxTMB in H 2 O 2 . Under optimal conditions, the relaxation modality exhibits a wide working range (1.0 × 10 1 -1.0 × 10 4 fM) and a limit of detection (LOD) of 4.7 fM (equivalent to 2820 copies/μL). The spiked recoveries range from 99.593 to 106.442 %, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) is less than 5.124 %. The colorimetric modality exhibited the same working range with a lower LOD of 2.9 fM (equivalent to 1740 copies/μL) and an RSD of less than 2.611 %. Additionally, the recombinase polymerase amplification reaction enabled the detection of low NoV levels in food samples with a working range of 10 2 -10 6 copies/mL and LOD of 10 2 copies/mL. The accuracy of the sensor in the analysis of spiked samples is consistent with the gold standard method (real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction), demonstrating the high accuracy and practical utility of the sensor., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest 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 © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: DNA tweezers, classified as DNA nanomachines, have gained prominence as multifunctional biosensors due to their advantages, including a straightforward structure, response mechanism, and high programmability. While the DNA tweezers demonstrate simultaneous, rapid, and stable responses to different targets, their detection sensitivity requires enhancement. Some small molecules, such as mycotoxins, often require more sensitive detection due to their extremely high toxicity. Therefore, more effective signal amplification strategies are needed to further enhance the sensitivity of DNA tweezers in biosensing., Results: We designed programmable DNA tweezers that detect small-molecule mycotoxins and miRNAs through simple sequence substitution. While the DNA tweezers demonstrate simultaneous, rapid, and stable responses to different targets, their detection sensitivity requires enhancement. We introduced the Strand Displacement Amplification (SDA) technique to address this limitation, proposing a strategy of novel programmable DNA tweezers-SDA ultrasensitive signal amplification fluorescence sensing. We specifically investigate the effectiveness of this approach concerning signal amplification for two critical mycotoxins: aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and zearalenone (ZEN). Results indicate that the detection ranges of AFB1 and ZEN via this strategy were 1-10,000 pg mL -1 and 10-100,000 pg mL -1 , respectively, with corresponding detection limits of 0.933 pg mL -1 and 1.07 pg mL -1 . Compared with the DNA tweezers direct detection method for mycotoxins, the newly constructed programmable DNA tweezers-SDA fluorescence sensing strategy achieved a remarkable 10 4 -fold increase in the detection sensitivity for AFB1 and ZEN., Significance: The constructed programmable DNA tweezers-SDA ultrasensitive signal-amplified fluorescence sensing strategy exhibits excellent detection performance for mycotoxins. The superb versatility of this strategy allows the developed method to be easily used for detecting other analytes by simply replacing the aptamer and cDNA, which has incredible potential in various fields such as food safety screening, clinical diagnostics, and environmental analysis., 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.)

Introduction: This study (HARMONi-5) aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ivonescimab (a bispecific antibody against programmed cell death protein 1 and vascular endothelial growth factor) as first- or second-line monotherapy in patients with advanced immunotherapy-naive NSCLC., Methods: Eligible patients received intravenous ivonescimab 10 mg/kg every 3 weeks (Q3W), 20 mg/kg every 2 weeks (Q2W), 20 mg/kg Q3W, or 30 mg/kg Q3W. The primary end points were safety and objective response rate (ORR) per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1., Results: At data cutoff (October 5, 2022), 108 patients were enrolled and received ivonescimab. Programmed death ligand-1 tumor proportion score (TPS) was greater than or equal to 1% in 74 patients (68.5%), including 35 (32.4%) with TPS greater than or equal to 50%. The median follow-up was 10.4 months (range: 8.4-10.9 mo). For all patients, ORR and disease control rate were 39.8% and 86.1%, respectively. ORR by TPS was 14.7%, 51.4%, and 57.1% in patients with TPS less than 1%, greater than or equal to 1%, and greater than or equal to 50%, respectively. In the 67 programmed death ligand-1-positive patients receiving first-line ivonescimab, the ORR was 33.3%, 52.6%, 60.0%, and 75.0% at the doses of 10 mg/kg Q3W, 20 mg/kg Q2W, 20 mg/kg Q3W, and 30 mg/kg Q3W, respectively. Grade greater than or equal to 3 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were observed in 24 patients (22.2%). TRAEs leading to treatment discontinuation occurred in one patient (0.9%). TRAEs leading to death occurred in three patients (2.8%) with squamous NSCLC. The occurrence of grade greater than or equal to 3 TRAEs and grade greater than or equal to 3 bleeding events in squamous versus nonsquamous NSCLC patients was 25.5% versus 18.9% and 0.0% versus 1.9%, respectively., Conclusions: Ivonescimab monotherapy was well tolerated and found to have a promising efficacy in patients with advanced or metastatic NSCLC., Clinicaltrials: gov identifier: NCT04900363., (Copyright © 2023 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The unknown daytime source of HONO has been extensively investigated due to unexplained atmospheric oxidation capacity and current modelling bias, especially during cold seasons. In this study, abrupt morning increases in atmospheric HONO at a rural site in the North China Plain (NCP) were observed almost on daily basis, which were closely linked to simultaneous rises in atmospheric water vapor content and NH 3 concentrations. Dew and guttation water formation was frequently observed on wheat leaves, from which water samples were taken and chemically analyzed for the first time. Results confirmed that such natural processes likely governed the daily nighttime deposition and daytime release of HONO and NH 3 , which have not been considered in the numerous HONO budget studies investigating its large missing daytime source in the NCP. The dissolved HONO and NH 3 in leaf surface water droplets reached 1.4 and 23 mg L -1 during the morning on average, resulting in averaged atmospheric HONO and NH 3 increases of 0.89 ± 0.61 and 43.7 ± 29.3 ppb during morning hours, with relative increases of 186 ± 212 % and 233 ± 252 %, respectively. The high atmospheric oxidation capacity contained within HONO was stored in near surface liquid water (such as dew, guttation and soil surface water) during nighttime, which prevented its atmospheric dispersion after sunset and protected it from photodissociation during early morning hours. HONO was released in a blast during later hours with stronger solar radiation, which triggered and then accelerated daytime photochemistry through the rapid photolysis of HONO and subsequent OH production, especially under high RH conditions, forming severe secondary gaseous and particulate pollution. Results of this study demonstrate that global ecosystems might play significant roles in atmospheric photochemistry through nighttime dew formation and guttation processes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Extensive use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) has resulted in their widespread presence in natural waters. Concern for public health requires reliable measurement methods for determining their distribution and risks. Here, a sampling method based on diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) was developed for measuring PFASs in drinking water sources. Fluorinated graphite (FG) particles were used to prepare the DGT binding gel for selective enrichment of trace PFASs in an aqueous environment. The FG-DGT method did not show sensitivity to relevant environmental parameters including pH (5.0-9.0), ionic strength (0.001-0.5 M), or DOM concentration (0-30 mg/L). The FG-DGT had enough capacity for deployment of up to four months. Six traditional and emerging PFASs including PFOS, PFOA, PFHpA, PFHxS, PFNA, and 6:2 FTSA at the ng/L level were detected in two major reservoirs serving as public drinking water sources by FG-DGT method coupled with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). PFOA appeared at the highest observed concentrations in the drinking water sources. The research demonstrates that FG-DGT is an effective and efficient tool for monitoring PFASs in drinking water., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Farming in protected areas frequently challenges ecological conservation goals while supporting local livelihoods. To balance protection and agriculture, a comprehensive understanding of cropland dynamics in protected areas is of paramount importance. However, studies addressing this trade-off are relatively scarce, especially considering explicit Chinese government regulations on population relocation and cropland retirement in National Protected Areas (NPAs). Our study examined the spatial and temporal pattern of cropland in NPAs and explored the covariance between cropland density and species richness. Concurrently, the driving factors of cropland development in NPAs were analyzed using Multiple Linear Regression. The results indicate that the cropland area in NPAs continued to expand, growing from 1.93 to 2.34 million hectares in 2000-2020, with a cropland density of approximately 0.4. Cropland expansion in the northern NPAs, particularly in the resource-rich Northeast (28.12 %) and the Northwest with high marginal agricultural returns (38.26 %), have encroached upon species habitats and aggravated biodiversity loss. Moreover, cities with higher cropland densities in NPAs are usually located at borders, possibly due to decentralized management. The Multiple Linear Regression results show that high cropland density is usually associated with a high population density (β = 0.156) and lower levels of rural education (β = -0.101) and income (β = -0.122). To mitigate the issue of cropland development in NPAs, it is crucial to avoid one-size-fits-all management strategies, strengthen regional legal supervision, adjust fiscal incentives, and promote eco-friendly agriculture. In the north regions, the expansion of cropland in NPAs should be strictly controlled. For the southwest, the positive role of preserving cropland in NPAs for alleviating human-nature conflict and maintaining social stability should be emphasized. This study provides research support for China's exploration of geographically suitable strategies for controlling cropland in NPAs. Moreover, the findings could serve as a reference for the governance of NPAs in other countries., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Although previous studies have shown an association between prenatal exposure to perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and neurodevelopmental disorders in children, the results have been inconsistent. We summarize studies on the association between prenatal PFAS exposure and neurodevelopment in children in order to better understand the relationship., Objective: We conducted a meta-analysis of prenatal PFAS exposure and developmental outcomes associated with intellectual, executive function and behavioral difficulty in children to explore the relationship between prenatal exposure to perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and neurodevelopmental disorders in children., Methods: We searched for articles published up to August 3, 2023, included and quantified original studies on PFAS and child Intelligence Quotient (IQ), executive function and behavioral difficulty during pregnancy, and systematically summarized articles that could not be quantified., Conclusion: There is evidence of sex-specific relationship between PFAS exposure and children's PIQ. We found that PFOS [β = -1.56, 95% CI = -2.96, - 0.07; exposure = per 1 ln (ng/ml) increase], PFOA [β = -1.87, 95% CI = -3.29, - 0.46; exposure = per 1 ln (ng/ml) increase], PFHxS [β = -2.02, 95% CI = -3.23, - 0.81; exposure = per 1 ln (ng/ml) increase] decreased performance IQ in boys, but PFOS [β = 1.56, 95% CI = 0.06, 3.06; exposure = per 1 ln (ng/ml) increase] increased performance IQ in girls. PFAS are associated with executive function impairments in children, but not related to behavioral difficulty in children., 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 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate the effect of secondary cytoreductive surgery (SeCRS) followed by platinum-based chemotherapy (PBC) and olaparib tablets as maintenance therapy in patients with BRCA mutated recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer., Methods: This was a retrospective study of a prospective database. We collected information on 623 patients diagnosed with BRCA mutated recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer, all of whom underwent SeCRS followed by PBC in combination with or without olaparib. Overall survival and progression-free survival were measured to evaluate treatment effectiveness., Results: Of the 623 patients recruited, 240 underwent SeCRS plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy followed by PBC and olaparib maintenance therapy (Group A), 248 underwent SeCRS followed by PBC and olaparib maintenance therapy (Group B), and 135 underwent SeCRS followed by PBC only upon recurrence (Group C). The median progression-free survival for Group A was significantly longer than that for Group B (32.5 vs. 24.2 months, P<0.001), and Group B was significantly longer than Group C (24.2 vs. 15.1 months, P<0.001). The median overall survival for Groups A was significantly longer than that for Group B (71.4 vs. 63.5 months, P<0.001), and Group B was significantly longer than Group C (63.5 vs. 47.5 months, P<0.001)., Conclusions: This study suggested that SeCRS followed by PBC and olaparib maintenance therapy resulted in longer overall survival and progression-free survival than SeCRS followed by PBC only in patients with BRCA mutated recurrent ovarian cancer, especially in patients treated with SeCRS plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing annually, which poses substantial harm to the health of both mothers and children. Therefore, selection of clinically applicable and easily detectable indicators in the assessment of maternal insulin secretory function and insulin sensitivity in pregnant women undoubtedly holds great importance in evaluating the risk of GDM, guiding the choice of GDM therapy modalities, and improving the ability to provide early warning of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Compared with the classic clamp technique, many simple indices are more suited for use among pregnant women due to the low frequency of blood sampling and simple administration involved. While indices derived from fasting blood glucose and fasting insulin levels are most readily available, they are unable to provide information on the ability of insulin to manage the glucose load during pregnancy. Although the indices derived from the insulin and glucose values at each time point of the oral glucose tolerance test can provide a more comprehensive picture of the insulin sensitivity and insulin secretory function of the body, their application is constrained by the complexity of the procedure and associated high costs. Concomitantly, the findings from different studies are influenced by a variety of confounding factors, such as the gestational age during testing, race, and detection method. Furthermore, insulin secretory function and insulin sensitivity in pregnant women differ from those in non-pregnant women in that they change significantly with prolonged pregnancy; hence, there is an urgent need to develop a pregnancy-specific reference range. This article reviews the progress in the application of simple indices to help clinicians better understand their potential application in detecting GDM., 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.)

Remote sensing monitoring of seasonal changes in phytoplankton density and analyses of the driving factors of phytoplankton densities are necessary for assessing the health of aquatic ecosystems, controlling lake eutrophication, and formulating ecological restoration policies. Building upon the satellite-ground synchronization experiment that involves the in situ aquatic ecological monitoring conducted in Nansi Lake, which is the largest storage lake situated along the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, we developed a phytoplankton density retrieval model utilizing the random forest (RF) method and Landsat-8 OLI data. On this basis, we mapped the seasonal fluctuations and spatial disparities in the phytoplankton densities from 2013 to 2023. Subsequently, we conducted a detailed analysis of the driving factors and considered both the natural and anthropogenic aspects. The results indicate that (1) the RF model, when utilizing three band combinations, yielded favorable results with R 2 , RMSE and MAE values of 0.67, 1.31 × 10 6 cells/L and 1.18 × 10 6 cells/L, respectively. (2) The phytoplankton densities exhibited both seasonal and spatial variations, with higher concentrations in summer and autumn than in spring and winter. Significantly, the northwestern region of Zhaoyang Lake and the southeastern region of Weishan Lake had substantially greater phytoplankton densities than did the other areas. Furthermore, overarching upward trends were observed from 2013 to 2023, reflecting an annual rate of increase of 3.32%. (3) An analysis of the causal factors indicated that temperatures and gross agricultural production levels are the primary drivers influencing the seasonal variations and distributions of phytoplankton densities. In the future, we will delve into the potential of deep learning and utilize various satellite sensors to explore the intricacies of phytoplankton monitoring, as well as the complex mechanisms that influence aquatic ecological health., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this study., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The prevalence of toxic element thallium (Tl) in soils is of increasing concern as a hidden hazard in agricultural systems and food chains. In the present work, pure biochar (as a comparison) and jacobsite (MnFe 2 O 4 )-biochar composite (MFBC) were evaluated for their immobilization effects in Tl-polluted agricultural soils (Tl: ∼10 mg/kg). Overall, MFBC exhibited an efficient effect on Tl immobilization, and the effect was strengthened with the increase of amendment ratio. After being amended by MFBC for 15 and 30 days, the labile fraction of Tl in soil decreased from 1.55 to 0.97 mg/kg, and from 1.51 to 0.88 mg/kg, respectively. In addition, pH (3.05) of the highly acidic soil increased to a maximum of 3.97 after the immobilization process. Since the weak acid extractable and oxidizable Tl were the preponderantly mitigated fractions and displayed a negative correlation with pH, it can be inferred that pH may serve as one of the most critical factors in regulating the Tl immobilization process in MFBC-amended acidic soils. This study indicated a great potential of jacobsite-biochar amendment in stabilization and immobilization of Tl in highly acidic and Tl-polluted agricultural soils; and it would bring considerable environmental benefit to these Tl-contaminated sites whose occurrence has significantly increased in recent decades near the pyrite or other sulfide ore mining and smelting area elsewhere., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)