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• IgM was tested in convalescent individuals following SARS-CoV-2 infection 1 year previously. • Of survivors, 23.9% were positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM. • Higher IgM titers were detected in convalescent individuals with severe COVID-19. • IgM testing does not replace PCR testing in detecting acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. • IgM testing should not determine the need to quarantine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MXene is a novel two-dimensional nano material with exceptional performance, which can be applied in the fields of energy storage structural materials, optics, catalysis, and sensors etc. However, its synthesis is a challenge to date. From the perspective of environmental friendliness, the method of Lewis salt etching can effectively avoid the use of dangerous reagents and has been seen as a pollution-free economic approach. In this article ZnCl 2 molten salt was chosen as corrosive agent to etch Ti 3 AlC 2 MAX phase and investigated the synthesis mechanism of Ti 3 C 2 Cl x MXene. The influence of main process factor, like raw materials, sintering temperature, and holding time on synthesis product were studied and discussed. The synthesis route was investigated by XRD and thermal analysis. SEM and TEM technology was used to analyze the microstructure and lattice of synthesis product. The results showed that the optimal process conditions: the molar ratio of raw materials was 1:6 (Ti 3 AlC 2 : ZnCl 2), the synthesis temperature and holding time were 600～700 °C and 4 h, respectively. Ti 3 C 2 Cl x MXene material prepared by this method has a complete layered structure and uniform composition, and its synthesis mechanism can be concluded to two steps: the first step was the reaction between Ti 3 AlC 2 MAX phase and ZnCl 2 to generate Ti 3 ZnC 2 MAX phase; In the second step, the Ti 3 ZnC 2 MAX phase reacted with the remaining ZnCl 2 to generate Ti 3 C 2 Cl x MXene material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bio-based eco-friendly products are well-received globally due to increasingly scarce petroleum resources and growing public concern about human health risks and environmental concerns. In this study, wheat gluten (WG) as the raw material modified with transglutaminase (TGase) and epichlorohydrin (ECH) was used to develop an eco-friendly bio-based adhesive. Effects of TGase and ECH on the properties of the adhesive were emphatically discussed. The dry and wet shear strengths of the combined modified adhesive achieved at 3.21 MPa and 0.81 MPa, which was higher than the Chinese National Standard Ⅱ plywood requirements (0.7 MPa). Meanwhile, the solid content and the protein surface hydrophobicity H 0 were increased to 28.27 % and 636.54, respectively. These improvements were mainly because, during the modification, the structure of WG became more stretched after ethanol treatment. Then the TGase promoted the cross-linking of the protein molecules and enhanced the cohesion strength of the adhesive system. Finally the ECH further cross-linked and aggregated with exposed active groups to varying degrees, and formed a compact three-dimensional cross-linked network structure, which allowed the WG-based adhesive to form a smoother and more uniform microscopic surface and better water resistance. The obtained adhesives might be utilized to substitute petroleum-derived adhesives in the plywood sector, providing ideas and references for future eco-friendly adhesive research and increasing the high value usage of wheat starch processing by-products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we develop and investigate the performance of defect-free hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) based on a novel 6FDA-mPDA 0.65 -DABA 0.3 -TFMB 0.05 copolyimide for helium separation from multi-component natural gas. The copolyimide is synthesized using a two-step condensation polymerization, and the hollow fiber membranes are fabricated using a dry-jet/wet-quench spinning approach. Thermal crosslinking of hollow fiber membranes is conducted to enhance plasticization resistance. The crosslinked membranes exhibit improved He selectivity (α(He/CH 4) = 259) compared to the pristine hollow fiber membrane (α(He/CH 4) = 210). Gas permeation tests are performed on the pristine and crosslinked hollow fiber membranes using pure-gas and mixed-gas at various pressures. The results demonstrate that the crosslinked membranes effectively resist plasticization even under high-pressure gas feeds containing CO 2 , light hydrocarbons, and heavy hydrocarbons. In contrast, the uncrosslinked membranes experience plasticization, dramatically decreasing selectivity. The findings provide valuable insights into the plasticization behavior of different impurity compounds in hollow fiber membranes and highlight the potential of thermal crosslinking as an effective strategy to improve the plasticization resistance of HFMs for He recovery. These defect-free and plasticization-resistant membranes hold promise for efficient He recovery from mixed-gas streams, offering a viable and energy-efficient alternative to traditional separation methods. [Display omitted] • Novel 6FDA-mPDA 0.65 -DABA 0.3 -TFM B0.05 polymer is fabricated for He separation. • Defect-free HFMs are prepared using a dry-jet/wet-quench spinning approach. • Crosslinked membranes effectively resist plasticization under severe condition. • Heavy hydrocarbons displayed a competitive plasticization and adsorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clusterin and transient receptor potential melastatin 2 (TRPM2) play significant roles in acute myocardial infarction (AMI), but their interactions in AMI are unclear. Myocardial infarction was induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery in wild-type C57BL/6J male mice. Infarct size and myocardium pathology were evaluated after 6, 12, and 24 h of ischemia. The expression levels of clusterin and TRPM2 were measured in the myocardium. Furthermore, myocardial infarction was induced in TRPM2 knockout (TRPM2-/-) C57BL/6J male mice to evaluate the expression of clusterin. H9C2 cells with various levels of TRPM2 expression were used to analyze the effects of clusterin under hypoxic conditions. Following AMI, myocardial hypertrophy and TRPM2 expression increased in a time-dependent manner. In contrast, the expression of clusterin decreased in an infarct time-dependent manner. Knockout of TRPM2 protected against myocardial injury and resulted in upregulation of clusterin. In the H9C2 cells, cultured under hypoxic conditions treatment with clusterin or silencing of TRPM2 significantly increased cell viability and decreased TRPM2 expression. Treatment with clusterin protected against TRPM2 overexpression-induced damage in hypoxia-treated H9C2 cells. This study characterized the effects of clusterin on TRPM2 in AMI, which may guide development of new treatment strategies for AMI. • TRPM2 expressions were increased in the non-infarct tissue after the acute myocardial infarction injury (AMI). • TRPM2 knockout decreased the infarct size. • Clusterin regulated TRPM2 to protect against ischemia-induced AMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastrointestinal cancer is among the most common cancers worldwide. Immune checkpoint inhibitor-based cancer immunotherapy has become an innovative approach in cancer treatment; however, its efficacy in gastrointestinal cancer is limited by the absence of infiltration of immune cells within the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, it is therefore urgent to develop a novel therapeutic drug to enhance immunotherapy. In this study, we describe a previously unreported potentiating effect of Icariside I (ICA I, GH01), the main bioactive compound isolated from the Epimedium species, on anti-tumor immune responses. Mechanistically, molecular docking and SPR assay result show that ICA I binding with TRPV4. ICA I induced intracellular Ca2+ increasing and mitochondrial DNA release by targeting TRPV4, which triggered cytosolic ox-mitoDNA release. Importantly, these intracellular ox-mitoDNA fragments were taken up by immune cells in the tumor microenvironment, which amplified the immune response. Moreover, our study shows the remarkable efficacy of sequential administration of ICA I and anti-α-PD-1 mAb in advanced tumors and provides a strong scientific rationale for recommending such a combination therapy for clinical trials. ICA I enhanced the anti-tumor effects with PD-1 inhibitors by regulating the TRPV4/Ca2+/Ox-mitoDNA/cGAS/STING axis. We expect that these findings will be translated into clinical therapies, which will benefit more patients with cancer in the near future. [Display omitted] • ICA I was efficiently extracted by computer-aided protein design strategy. • ICA I induces mitochondrial dysfunction by binding to TRPV4 channel and increasing intracellular Ca2+ concentration • ICA I enhanced anti-tumor effects of PD-1 inhibitors by modulating the TRPV4/Ca2+/Ox-mitoDNA/cGAS/STING axis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pedodiversity was higher in southern China than northern China. • Analysis unit sizes had little effect on spatial pattern analysis of pedodiversity. • Overall, parent material and topography were major driving factors of pedodiversity. Knowledge of pedodiversity is essential for the protection and management of soil resources. The analysis of regional pedodiversity is typically based on analysis units of different sizes. However, the effect of analysis unit size on regional pedodiversity studies remains unclear. In this paper, the effects of analysis unit size on the studies of spatial distribution characteristics of pedodiversity and its major driving factor in China were studied based on two levels of geomorphological regions. A combined method encompassing the moving window, soil richness, and Shannon index was used to analyze the spatial distribution pattern of pedodiversity in China. A geographical detector was used to determine a major driving factor of pedodiversity in each geomorphological region. The spatial distribution pattern of pedodiversity based on two levels of geomorphological regions both showed that pedodiversity was highest in southern China, followed by northern China, and lowest in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which indicated that analysis unit sizes had little effect on the study on spatial distribution pattern of pedodiversity. The major driving factor analysis of pedodiversity based on first-order geomorphological regions showed that the major driving factor in China, except for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, was parent material. However, the results based on second-order geomorphological regions showed that the major driving factors of pedodiversity, except for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, were parent material and topography in hilly regions, topography in mountainous regions, and parent material in regions occupied by alluvial landforms, aeolian landforms, or karst landforms. The driving factor analysis of pedodiversity based on the two levels of geomorphological regions suggested that the effect of the analysis unit sizes on the major driving factor study was significant. The results of this study are an important supplement for pedodiversity studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]