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Metal-organic nanosheets (MONs) as a novel material with tunable pore structures and low mass transfer resistance, have emerged as molecular sieves for the separation of gases and liquids. In theory, they can also serve as ion sieves for lithium metal batteries (LMBs), realizing the high-energy and dendritic free LMBs. However, there are rarely relevant reports, because it is difficult to simultaneously balance efficient ion sieving ability, high ion passing rate and high electrochemical stability. Here, we synthesized a stable ultrathin MON [Zn2(Bim)4] ([Zn2(Bim)4] Nanosheet, HBim = benzimidazolate), which can achieve both efficient lithium ion sieving ability, high lithium ion passing rate and high electrochemical stability at the same time. The separator assembled by this MON exhibits high Li+ transfer number of 0.81 due to the accurate lithium ion and anion/solvent separation. The battery containing such separator shows high lithium ionic conductivity of 0.74 mS cm−1 and low activation energy of 0.099 eV, which can be attributed to the nanometer level thickness and the ion sieving effect. What is more, we realized the application of MONs-based ion sieves in LMBs with intercalation cathodes for the first time. And the LiFePO4∣Li battery with as-assembled separator demonstrates improved Coulombic efficiency (> 99%) and significantly extended cycling life (> 1600 cycles) with 80% capacity retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Microglia, the main innate immune cells in the central nervous system, are key drivers of neuroinflammation, which plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. The Sin3/histone deacetylase (HDAC) complex, a highly conserved multiprotein co-repressor complex, primarily performs transcriptional repression via deacetylase activity; however, the function of SDS3, which maintains the integrity of the complex, in microglia remains unclear. Methods: To uncover the regulatory role of the transcriptional co-repressor SDS3 in microglial inflammation, we used chromatin immunoprecipitation to identify SDS3 target genes and combined with transcriptomics and proteomics analysis to explore expression changes in cells following SDS3 knocking down. Subsequently, we validated our findings through experimental assays. Results: Our analysis revealed that SDS3 modulates the expression of the upstream kinase ASK1 of the p38 MAPK pathway, thus regulating the activation of signaling pathways and ultimately influencing inflammation. Conclusions: Our findings provide important evidence of the contributions of SDS3 toward microglial inflammation and offer new insights into the regulatory mechanisms of microglial inflammatory responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While 7T diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) has high spatial resolution, its diffusion imaging quality is usually affected by signal loss due to B1 inhomogeneity, T2 decay, susceptibility, and chemical shift. In contrast, 3T dMRI has relative higher diffusion angular resolution, but lower spatial resolution. Combination of 3T and 7T dMRI, thus, may provide more detailed and accurate information about the voxel-wise fiber orientations to better understand the structural brain connectivity. However, this topic has not yet been thoroughly explored until now. In this study, we explored the feasibility of fusing 3T and 7T dMRI data to extract voxel-wise quantitative parameters at higher spatial resolution. After 3T and 7T dMRI data was preprocessed, respectively, 3T dMRI volumes were coregistered into 7T dMRI space. Then, 7T dMRI data was harmonized to the coregistered 3T dMRI B0 (b = 0) images. Last, harmonized 7T dMRI data was fused with 3T dMRI data according to four fusion rules proposed in this study. We employed high-quality 3T and 7T dMRI datasets (N = 24) from the Human Connectome Project to test our algorithms. The diffusion tensors (DTs) and orientation distribution functions (ODFs) estimated from the 3T-7T fused dMRI volumes were statistically analyzed. More voxels containing multiple fiber populations were found from the fused dMRI data than from 7T dMRI data set. Moreover, extra fiber directions were extracted in temporal brain regions from the fused dMRI data at Otsu's thresholds of quantitative anisotropy, but could not be extracted from 7T dMRI dataset. This study provides novel algorithms to fuse intra-subject 3T and 7T dMRI data for extracting more detailed information of voxel-wise quantitative parameters, and a new perspective to build more accurate structural brain networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acaryochloris species belong to a special category of cyanobacteria possessing chlorophyll (Chl) d. One of the photosynthetic characteristics of Acaryochloris marina MBIC11017 is that the absorption spectra of photosystem I (PSI) showed almost no bands and shoulders of low-energy Chls d over 740 nm. In contrast, the absorption spectra of other Acaryochloris species showed a shoulder around 740 nm, suggesting that low-energy Chls d within PSI are diversified among Acaryochloris species. In this study, we purified PSI trimer and monomer cores from Acaryochloris sp. NBRC 102871 and examined their protein and pigment compositions and spectral properties. The protein bands and pigment compositions of the PSI trimer and monomer of NBRC102871 were virtually identical to those of MBIC11017. The absorption spectra of the NBRC102871 PSIs exhibited a shoulder around 740 nm, whereas the fluorescence spectra of PSI trimer and monomer displayed maximum peaks at 754 and 767 nm, respectively. These spectral properties were different from those of MBIC11017, indicating the presence of low-energy Chls d within the NBRC102871 PSIs. Moreover, we analyzed the NBRC102871 genome to identify amino acid sequences of PSI proteins and compared them with those of the A. marina MBIC11017 and MBIC10699 strains whose genomes are available. The results showed that some of the sequences in NBRC102871 were distinct from those in MBIC11017 and MBIC10699. These findings provide insights into the variety of low-energy Chls d with respect to the protein environments of PSI cores among the three Acaryochloris strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, we used an eco-friendly, simple, and selective nitrogen (N2) activation strategy for the preparation of hierarchical porous activated carbon (HPAC) derived from abundant and low-cost Terminalia catappa shell (TCS) agro-waste. The effect of N2 activation strategy compared to air activation is studied where the N2 activated carbon (HPAC) showed enhancement in the specific surface area (SSA) (616.04 m2 g−1) as compared to air activated carbon (HPC) which showed 243.97 m2 g−1. Both activated carbons were further explored for CO2 capture studies and showed a relatively high capacity (2.73 mmol g−1) for HPAC than HPC (1.70 mmol g−1) at 288 K. The low N2 capture capacity (0.22 mmol g−1) of HPAC suggests its selectivity toward CO2 (41.80 at 288 K) is useful for gas separation. Obtained HPAC was successfully applied for adsorption removal of methyl orange (MO) dye with detailed kinetics studies resulting in 99.50% removal efficiency. The optimized adsorption conditions were further used for adsorption removal studies of methylene blue (MB), malachite green (MG), and bromophenol blue (BPB) with 75.30, 82.88, and 52.40% removal efficiency respectively. The superior CO2 capture and potential dye removal property of obtained HPAC suggests its applicability in environmental remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

17α-Hydroxyprogesterone (17α-OHP) quantification in dried blood spots (DBS) is essential for newborn screening for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), which is challenging due to its low physiological concentration. The high false-positive rates of immunoassays necessitate the development of more accurate methods. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) offers increased specificity and sensitivity, yet standardized procedures for 17α-OHP measurement are required for clinical application. A candidate reference measurement procedure (cRMP) using isotope dilution LC-MS/MS was developed for 17α-OHP quantification in DBS. By utilizing stable isotope-labeled D8-17α-OHP as an internal standard, the cRMP was optimized, covering sample preparation, calibration, and LC-MS/MS analysis. The method performance was validated across several parameters, including precision, accuracy, specificity, detection limits, and matrix effects. Clinical applicability was further assessed through the establishment of reference intervals for healthy newborns. The developed cRMP exhibited a linear range of 1.00 to 80.00 ng/mL for 17α-OHP, with detection and quantification limits of 0.14 ng/mL and 0.52 ng/mL, respectively. Inter- and intraday precision demonstrated coefficients of variation within 1.27 to 5.69%. The recovery rates and matrix effects were well within acceptable limits, ensuring method reliability. Clinical application showed distinct reference intervals for healthy newborns that were unaffected by sex but influenced by weight and gestational age. This method significantly enhances CAH diagnostic accuracy in newborns, providing a valuable tool for clinical laboratories and improving newborn screening program standardization and traceability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical neural networks are artificial neural networks that mimic synapses and neurons using physical systems or materials. These networks harness the distinctive characteristics of physical systems to carry out computations effectively, potentially surpassing the constraints of conventional digital neural networks. A recent advancement known as “physical self-learning” aims to achieve learning through intrinsic physical processes rather than relying on external computations. This article offers a comprehensive review of the progress made in implementing physical self-learning across various physical systems. Prevailing learning strategies that contribute to the realization of physical self-learning are discussed. Despite challenges in understanding the fundamental mechanism of learning, this work highlights the progress towards constructing intelligent hardware from the ground up, incorporating embedded self-organizing and self-adaptive dynamics in physical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In vivo revealing how brain subregions are structurally connected during neonatal period via diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is critical for understanding brain development and pediatric mental disorders. However, even if preprocess was performed on dMRI images including denoising, eddy and motion correction, and unring, residual artifacts still affect the construction of brain structural networks. In this study, nonlocal estimation of multispectral magnitudes (NESMA) was extended to further smooth the preprocessed brain dMRI images of 46 healthy infants from the developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP). The proposed method smoothed dMRI images by exploiting similar multispectral diffusion-weighted signal pattern and the signal redundance among 3D patches. After structural connectivity networks were constructed from the smoothed dMRI images, network-level and nodal topological measures were estimated. While characteristic path length remained unchanged, significantly higher global efficiency, average clustering coefficient, and transitivity were observed in the infant structural networks built from NESMA-smoothed dMRI images. Additionally, more brain subregions with clustering coefficient > = 0.035 and local efficiency > = 0.05 were identified. In summary, higher efficiency was observed in the structural connectivity networks of healthy infants. Nonlocal estimation of multispectral diffusion-weighted volumes has nonnegligible effect on topological analysis of infant brain structural networks. The code for this algorithm is publicly available at https://github.com/freedom1979/NESMA-dMRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a serious hemorrhagic event with high mortality and morbidity. Multiple injurious events produced by SAH can lead to a series of pathophysiologic processes in the hypothalamus that can severely impact patients' life. These pathophysiologic processes usually result in physiologic derangements and dysfunction of the brain and multiple organs. This dysfunction involved multiple dimensions of the genome and metabolome. In our study, we induced the SAH model in rats to obtain hypothalamic tissue and serum. The samples were subsequently analyzed by transcriptomics and metabolomics. Next, the functional enrichment analysis of the differentially expressed genes and metabolites were performed by GO and KEGG pathway analysis. Through transcriptomic analysis of hypothalamus samples, 263 up-regulated differential genes, and 207 down-regulated differential genes were identified in SAH groups compared to Sham groups. In the KEGG pathway analysis, a large number of differential genes were found to be enriched in IL-17 signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and bile secretion. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolomics technology was conducted on the serum of SAH rats and identified 11 up-regulated and 26 down-regulated metabolites in positive ion model, and 1 up-regulated and 10 down-regulated metabolites in negative ion model. KEGG pathways analysis showed that differentially expressed metabolites were mainly enriched in pathways of bile secretion and primary bile acid biosynthesis. We systematically depicted the neuro- and metabolism-related biomolecular changes occurring in the hypothalamus after SAH by performing transcriptomics and metabolomics studies. These biomolecular changes may provide new insights into hypothalamus-induced metabolic changes and gene expression after SAH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryptophyte algae are an evolutionarily distinct and ecologically important group of photosynthetic unicellular eukaryotes. Photosystem II (PSII) of cryptophyte algae associates with alloxanthin chlorophyll a/c-binding proteins (ACPs) to act as the peripheral light-harvesting system, whose supramolecular organization is unknown. Here, we purify the PSII-ACPII supercomplex from a cryptophyte alga Chroomonas placoidea (C. placoidea), and analyze its structure at a resolution of 2.47 Å using cryo-electron microscopy. This structure reveals a dimeric organization of PSII-ACPII containing two PSII core monomers flanked by six symmetrically arranged ACPII subunits. The PSII core is conserved whereas the organization of ACPII subunits exhibits a distinct pattern, different from those observed so far in PSII of other algae and higher plants. Furthermore, we find a Chl a-binding antenna subunit, CCPII-S, which mediates interaction of ACPII with the PSII core. These results provide a structural basis for the assembly of antennas within the supercomplex and possible excitation energy transfer pathways in cryptophyte algal PSII, shedding light on the diversity of supramolecular organization of photosynthetic machinery. The authors report structure of PSII-ACPII from a cryptophyte alga Chroomonas placoidea, providing insights into a distinct supramolecular organization and assembly of antennas in the supercomplex and possible excitation energy transfer pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that usually happens to elderly people, with a wide range of motor and dementia symptoms. An objective and convenient biomarker for PD detection is extremely valuable, especially one that could be acquired non-invasively and low-costly. To this end, this study used resting-state scalp electroencephalography (EEG) signals to explore dynamic functional-connectivity (dFC) states between each pair of EEG recording channels, without source localization. Methods: dFC refers to synchronization patterns over time between each pair of EEG channels. First, five frequency bands were extracted from EEG signals with fourth-order Butterworth bandpass filter, including delta (0.5–4 Hz), theta (4–8 Hz), alpha (8–13 Hz), beta (8–30 Hz) and gamma (30–50 Hz). Then, after non-random joint fluctuation was measured with weighted symbolic mutual information (wSMI) algorithm, whole-brain dynamic channelwise dFC states were estimated, and classified with k-means clustering. At last, FC state occurrences were calculated, and ANOVA analyses were performed for each state. Two open-source resting-state EEG data sets (https://doi.org/10.18112/openneuro.ds002778.v1.0.4: 32 channels, 16 health controls and 15 PD subjects. https://doi.org/10.18112/openneuro.ds003490.v1.1.0: 64 channels, 25 health controls and 25 PD subjects) were used to test our methods. Results: Significant changes in proportions of various dFC states within beta frequency-band were consistently observed in these both data sets (p value < 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that channelwise dFC states within beta frequency-band directly extracted from resting-state scalp–EEG recordings could potentially serve as a biomarker of PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Trastuzumab is the only first-line treatment targeted against the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) approved for patients with HER2-positive advanced gastric cancer. The impact of metabolic heterogeneity on trastuzumab treatment efficacy remains unclear. Methods: Spatial metabolomics via high mass resolution imaging mass spectrometry was performed in pretherapeutic biopsies of patients with HER2-positive advanced gastric cancer in a prospective multicentre observational study. The mass spectra, representing the metabolic heterogeneity within tumour areas, were grouped by K-means clustering algorithm. Simpson's diversity index was applied to compare the metabolic heterogeneity level of individual patients. Results: Clustering analysis revealed metabolic heterogeneity in HER2-positive gastric cancer patients and uncovered nine tumour subpopulations. High metabolic heterogeneity was shown as a factor indicating sensitivity to trastuzumab (p = 0.008) and favourable prognosis at trend level. Two of the nine tumour subpopulations associated with favourable prognosis and trastuzumab sensitivity, and one subpopulation associated with poor prognosis and trastuzumab resistance. Conclusions: This work revealed that tumour metabolic heterogeneity associated with prognosis and trastuzumab response based on tissue metabolomics of HER2-positive gastric cancer. Tumour metabolic subpopulations may provide an association with trastuzumab therapy efficacy. Clinical trial registration: The patient cohort was conducted from a multicentre observational study (VARIANZ;NCT02305043). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work aimed to explore the role of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)-AC020978 in postoperative cognitive disorder (POCD) and the underlying mechanism. The POCD mouse model was constructed through isoflurane anesthesia + abbreviated laparotomy. The AC020978 expression in brain tissue was silenced after lentivirus injection, then Morris water maze test was conducted to detect the cognitive disorder level, flow cytometry was performed to analyze M1 macrophage level, ELISA was carried out to measure inflammatory factor levels, H&E, Nissl and immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect the pathological changes in brain tissue, and Western blotting assay was adopted to detect protein expression. In addition, microglial cells were cultured in vitro, after lentivirus infection, the effect of AC020978 on the M1 polarization of microglial cells and glycolysis was observed. AC020978 overexpression promoted POCD progression and aggravated cognitive disorder in mice; in addition, the proportion of peripheral and central M1 cells increased, the inflammatory factor levels were upregulated, and microglial cells were activated. By contrast, AC020978 silencing led to cognitive disorder in mice and suppressed microglial cell activation and M1 polarization. In vitro experimental results indicated that AC020978 promoted the expression and phosphorylation of PKM2, which promoted inflammatory response through enhancing microglial cell glycolysis and M1 polarization. AC020978 interacts with PKM2 to promote the glycolysis and M1 polarization of microglial cells, thus regulating cognitive disorder and central inflammation in POCD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Middle Jurassic Walloon Subgroup coals in Australia's Surat Basin are extremely rich in low-medium rank coal seam gas (CSG) resources, making it one of the world's most productive CSG development basins. The desorption, diffusion and seepage behaviors of CSG are remarkably influenced by the pore–fracture structure characteristics of coals; therefore, their detailed characterizations are greatly significant for CSG exploration and development. There are, however, currently few researches on the pore–fracture structure characteristics of Surat Basin coals. Thus, 12 low-medium rank coals ( R ¯ r: 0.42–0.60%) from the Walloon subgroup of Eastern Surat Basin were obtained for this study, and then coal petrology analyses, field emission scanning electron microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments were performed on these samples. The results show that the organic macerals of Surat coals are dominated by vitrinite, followed by liptinite, and the inertinite is generally rare. The average porosity, movable porosity and movable water saturation of the coal samples were 5.08%, 1.01% and 22.47%, respectively. The coal samples' pore–fracture structure was characterized by an overwhelming predominance of MIT (micropores and transition pore) and relatively less developed ME (mesopore) and MAF (macropore and fracture), with average volume proportions of 74.58%, 14.06% and 11.36%, respectively. The movable porosities of different pore–fracture structure types were obtained, and the average values were presented as MAF > ME > MIT. The NMR experiments showed that the average movable spaces in the MIT, ME and MAF of the coal samples were 6.6%, 41.8% and 97.9%, respectively. The pore–fracture structure of the sampled coals was influenced by coal maturity, as well as the coal macerals. The coal facies have some impacts on the porosities of coal samples, and the coals with higher texture preservation index and vegetation index, and lower gelation index overall have higher porosities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive malignant brain tumor. Due to the infiltration and heterogeneity of GBM, the obstruction of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the unique immunosuppressive mechanism, it is hard to achieve significant effects of GBM treatment. Here, a kind of chemotactic nanomotor that loaded with glucose oxidase (GOx) and carboxylated cisplatin (Pt(IV)) prodrug on the L-arginine-derived polymer is proposed. The nanomotors are driven by catalysis of glucose decomposition and the positive chemotaxis towards the GBM microenvironment where inducible nitric oxide synthase and reactive oxygen species are highly expressed. This facilitates the BBB crossing and GBM targeting of the nanomotors. In addition, the released nitric oxide (NO) during propulsion as well as the loaded GOx and Pt(IV) can exert combined NO/starvation/chemotherapy. Meanwhile, it is able to induce and enhance the immune response through multiple pathways, thus better coping with the complexities of GBM treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the difficult degradation of phenolic compounds, the existence of phenolic compound residues accumulated through the food chain in crustaceans and their effects on human health have garnered considerable and more attention. However, the current detection methods for phenolic compounds are not only complex and time-consuming but can also detect fewer types of phenols simultaneously. Thus, a simple, high-throughput method without derivatization for the determination of 18 phenolic compounds in crustaceans was developed using a modified QuEChERS sample preparation method combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results indicated that the average recovery of the 18 phenolic compounds was 80.2–106.5% at three spiked levels, and the relative standard deviation was 2.6–12.4%. The limits of detection and quantitation were 0.001–0.014 and 0.003–0.042 mg/kg, respectively. Good linear relationships were observed for the phenolic compounds in their corresponding concentration ranges (R2 > 0.999). The applicability of the method was assessed by analyzing 16 actual shrimp samples, among which five samples contained residues ranging from 0.013 to 0.042 mg/kg. Moreover, the establishment of this method has important theoretical and practical significance for the determination and control of the residue levels of phenolic compounds in crustaceans. In addition, it can provide a reference for the development of similar detection standard methods in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To estimate the safety and effectiveness of emergent transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) creation for acute variceal bleeding (AVB) in cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and methods: Data of thirty-three patients with AVB and HCC undergoing emergent TIPS creation from January 2016 to January 2022 were enrolled and were retrospectively analyzed. The primary outcomes were the safety of emergent TIPS creation, the bleeding control rate, and the rebleeding rate. The secondary outcomes included overall survival (OS), liver function, overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE), and shunt dysfunction. Results: Emergent TIPS creation was technically successful in 33 patients (100%) and one (3.0%) patient suffered a major procedure-related adverse event. The control rate of bleeding (within 5 days) was 100%. During a median follow-up period of 26.3 months, rebleeding occurred in 6 (18.2%) patients. The median OS was 20.0 months. The 6-week and 1-year survival rates were 87% and 65%, respectively. Laboratory tests showed no significant impairment of liver function following TIPS creation. The incidences of overt HE and shunt dysfunction were 24.2% and 6.1%, respectively. Conclusion: Emergent TIPS creation is feasible and effective for treatment of AVB in cirrhotic patients with HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines a collaborative framework that utilizes an intelligent deep Q-network to regulate the formation of leader–follower Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The aim is to tackle the challenges posed by the highly dynamic and uncertain flight environment of UAVs. In the context of UAVs, we have developed a dynamic model that captures the collective state of the system. This model encompasses variables like as the relative positions, heading angle, rolling angle, and velocity of different nodes in the formation. In the subsequent section, we elucidate the operational procedure of UAVs in a collaborative manner, employing the conceptual framework of Markov Decision Process (MDP). Furthermore, we employ the Reinforcement Learning (RL) to facilitate this process. In light of this premise, a fundamental framework is presented for addressing the control problem of UAVs utilizing the DQN scheme. This framework encompasses a technique for action selection known as ε -imitation, as well as algorithmic specifics. Finally, the efficacy and portability of the DQN-based approach are substantiated by numerical simulation validation. The average reward curve demonstrates a satisfactory level of convergence, and kinematic link between the nodes inside the formation satisfies the essential requirements for the creation of a controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preparation of double emulsion droplet is a significant development direction in droplet microfluidics. In this paper, we simulate the droplet formation inside a six-way type microchannel. The effects of flow rate, viscosity, and interfacial tension of microfluid on the process of droplets preparation are investigated, i.e., the forming quality of droplets under different flow parameters and physical properties of microfluid, which is of reference significance for the preparation of microdroplets such as double emulsion droplet. In this paper, it is found that when the flow rate of the outer phase increases, the area of the inner and outer droplets of double emulsion droplets decreases; when the flow rate of the middle phase increases, the area of the inner droplet decreases, while the area of the outer droplet increases; the viscosity affects the forming flow pattern, and the location where the area ratio of inner and outer droplets changes more intensely is near the flow pattern transition node; the interfacial tension has a significant influence on the forming size of droplets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To elucidate incidence rates of vascular lake phenomenon (VLP) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), hepatic metastasis (HMT) on transarterial angiography before chemoembolization, and to identity CT features predictive for it. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive evaluation involved 665 subjects for incidence analysis, comprising 527 of HCC, 33 of ICC and 105 of HMT. VLP was characterized as intratumoral contrast material pool persisting late into venous phase. Incidences were cataloged on both super-selective and common hepatic artery angiography. For CT features analysis, a subset of 182 cases were analyzed. Enhancement ratio served as an index for comparative analysis of nodule enhancement degrees. Results: In HCC, incidence of VLP ascertained via super-selective angiography was 13.5%, whereas it as 7.8% on common hepatic artery angiography. Remarkably, no incidences of VLP were recorded in either ICC or HMT cases. On pre-interventional CT, the prevalence of pseudocapsule was statistically greater in VLP group than Non-VLP group (66.6% vs. 37.6%, P = 0.015). The Houndsfield units (HU) of tumors in plain scan (P = 0.007), arterial phase (P = 0.001), venous phase (P = 0.041), arterial phase enhancement ratio (P < 0.001) were statistically higher in VLP group compared to Non-VLP group. Arterial phase enhancement ratio (P = 0.025), presence of pseudocapsule (P = 0.001), HU of tumor in plain scan (P = 0.035) serve as independent risk factors for VLP manifestation. Conclusion: VLP is a distinct angiography phenomenon uniquely associated with HCC. High arterial phase enhancement ratio, presence of pseudocapsule, high HU of tumor in plain scan are independent risk factors for VLP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large amounts of geographical and property rights information are contained in 3D cadastral property units, although the amount of cadastral information expressed from various perspectives varies. Therefore, it is crucial to choose a perspective that is compatible with human visual perception and conveys the most data as the perspective changes. This paper proposes an optimization method for generating the optimal view of 3D cadastral property units to address the above issues. The construction of candidate perspectives is the first step, followed by the calculation of feature values, including visibility of 3D boundary points under each candidate perspective, visible area ratio, and visual comfort. Then, an improved particle swarm optimization technique is used to determine the optimal view of 3D cadastral property units and the ideal viewpoint for the expected input model. The research results show that the selected optimal viewpoint fully considers human visual comfort, can accommodate a large amount of cadastral information, and can be used as a mapping drawing in social applications of 3D cadastral systems. This viewpoint can effectively supplement front views, side views, and axis side views, enabling more visual information to be transmitted in 3D religion maps and 3D property right maps and improving readability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In estuarine and coastal systems, anthropogenic activities and directional changes in global air temperatures have led to increased water temperatures, as well as increased frequency and severity of episodic hypoxia. These alterations have had population-level effects on aquatic organisms, including changes in species-specific distributions. Because physiology is the transfer function connecting environmental conditions to individual behaviors and eventually to population-level effects, we used individual-based models (IBMs) that incorporate changes in metabolic scope as motivation for movement. Our objective was to investigate the effects of temperature and hypoxia on the distribution of Atlantic croaker and spot in Chesapeake Bay. We compared the predicted monthly fish distributions from the IBMs with apparent fish distributions recorded by the VIMS Juvenile Fish Trawl Survey during 1988–2014. IBMs failed to reproduce accurately the apparent spatial distributions of Atlantic croaker and spot. More specifically, compared with the trawl survey, IBMs predicted larger proportions of these two species would be captured in the lower regions of Chesapeake Bay and smaller proportions in the York and Rappahannock rivers. We postulate that, because similar thermal and oxygen conditions were occupied by fish in the IBMs and in the wild, temperature may not be the most important factor motivating the movement of Atlantic croaker and spot in Chesapeake Bay, and other spatial factors (e.g., prey availability) act in concert with temperature and hypoxia to determine the spatial distributions of Atlantic croaker and spot in Chesapeake Bay. Alternatively, surveys used to estimate species occurrences could be biased if gear vulnerability is affected by temperature or oxygen conditions (or both). Additional research is needed to clarify which condition is true or if a combination of these factors (and others) led to discrepancies between predicted and apparent fish distributions based on trawl survey data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cervicogenic headache is an often observed secondary headache in clinical settings, with patients who endure prolonged and persistent pain being particularly susceptible to mood changes. Currently, the Mulligan is one of the effective methods for CEH. However, there is a lack of evaluation about the strength and frequency of headaches, as well as the assessment of pain-induced emotions, in individuals with CEH using this particular procedure. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Mulligan maneuver from a multidimensional perspective of pain intensity and mood. A total of forty patients diagnosed with CEH who satisfied the specified inclusion criteria were recruited and allocated randomly into two groups: the control group and the treatment group, with each group consisting of twenty cases. The control group received health education, while the treatment group received the Mulligan maneuver once daily over a course of 10 treatment sessions.The clinical outcome of patients with CEH in two groups was assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), and Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was employed to examine variations in brain function activities between the two CEH groups. Brain regions showing differences were identified as regions of interest and subsequently correlated with clinical behavioral measures using Pearson's correlation analysis. The differences in VAS, HAMA and HAMD between the two groups of CEH patients were also statistically significant. The brain regions that showed differences in the ReHo scores between the two groups of CEH patients included the left cerebellum, the frontal gyrus, and the middle temporal gyrus. There was a positive correlation between the left frontal gyrus and VAS, HAMA and HAMD. The left middle temporal gyrus had a negative correlation with VAS, HAMA, and HAMD and the left cerebellum had a positive correlation with VAS correlation. The Mulligan maneuver may improve pain levels and have a moderating effect on pain-related negative emotions by regulating the function of relevant brain regions in CEH patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diatoms are dominant marine algae and contribute around a quarter of global primary productivity, the success of which is largely attributed to their photosynthetic capacity aided by specific fucoxanthin chlorophyll-binding proteins (FCPs) to enhance the blue-green light absorption under water. We purified a photosystem II (PSII)-FCPII supercomplex and a trimeric FCP from Cyclotella meneghiniana (Cm) and solved their structures by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The structures reveal detailed organizations of monomeric, dimeric and trimeric FCP antennae, as well as distinct assemblies of Lhcx6_1 and dimeric FCPII-H in PSII core. Each Cm-PSII-FCPII monomer contains an Lhcx6_1, an FCP heterodimer and other three FCP monomers, which form an efficient pigment network for harvesting energy. More diadinoxanthins and diatoxanthins are found in FCPs, which may function to quench excess energy. The trimeric FCP contains more chlorophylls c and fucoxanthins. These diversified FCPs and PSII-FCPII provide a structural basis for efficient light energy harvesting, transfer, and dissipation in C. meneghiniana. The cryo-EM structures of an FCP trimer and a PSII-FCPII supercomplex from a diatom are revealed, providing detailed insights into the variety of FCPII and their regulatory roles in green light harvesting, energy transfer and dissipation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular subtyping of lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) has been performed at the genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic level. However, LUSC stratification based on tissue metabolomics is still lacking. Combining high-mass-resolution imaging mass spectrometry with consensus clustering, four tumor- and four stroma-specific subtypes with distinct metabolite patterns were identified in 330 LUSC patients. The first tumor subtype T1 negatively correlated with DNA damage and immunological features including CD3, CD8, and PD-L1. The same features positively correlated with the tumor subtype T2. Tumor subtype T4 was associated with high PD-L1 expression. Compared with the status of subtypes T1 and T4, patients with subtype T3 had improved prognosis, and T3 was an independent prognostic factor with regard to UICC stage. Similarly, stroma subtypes were linked to distinct immunological features and metabolic pathways. Stroma subtype S4 had a better prognosis than S2. Subsequently, analyses based on an independent LUSC cohort treated by neoadjuvant therapy revealed that the S2 stroma subtype was associated with chemotherapy resistance. Clinically relevant patient subtypes as determined by tissue-based spatial metabolomics are a valuable addition to existing molecular classification systems. Metabolic differences among the subtypes and their associations with immunological features may contribute to the improvement of personalized therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ribosomal DNA (rDNA) is the most abundant and important housekeeping gene in the cell. It usually acted as DNA damage sensor in DNA damage reaction. Gastric cancer (GC) as a tumor with high morbidity and mortality, it is hard to diagnosis in an early stage. Methods: In this study, we collected and test the copy number of rDNA in blood sample of 42 GC patients and 56 healthy controls (HC) to explore the relationship between rDNA and GC. Besides, we make a correlation between the copy number of rDNA and ten biomarkers (CYFR21-1, CA15-3, CA72-4, NSE, CEA, CA125, ProGRP, AFP, SCC, CA19-9). Results: The copy number of 18 S, 5.8 S, 28 S rDNA in GC is less than HC and 5 S is more than HC in their blood sample. And the expression of H-cox-1 and ND1 in GC is higher than HC in blood sample. it shows the expression of CA15-3 is related to ND1 and H-cox-1. Conclusion: We found for the first time the changes of rDNA and mtDNA expression in the blood of patients with gastric cancer. All these finding suggests rDNA may have potential in diagnosing GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to high computational requirements, deep-learning decoders for motor imaginary (MI) electroencephalography (EEG) signals are usually implemented on bulky and heavy computing devices that are inconvenient for physical actions. To date, the application of deep-learning techniques in independent portable brain-computer-interface (BCI) devices has not been extensively explored. In this study, we proposed a high-accuracy MI EEG decoder by incorporating spatial-attention mechanism into convolution neural network (CNN), and deployed it on fully integrated single-chip microcontroller unit (MCU). After the CNN model was trained on workstation computer using GigaDB MI datasets (52 subjects), its parameters were then extracted and converted to build deep-learning architecture interpreter on MCU. For comparison, EEG-Inception model was also trained using the same dataset, and was deployed on MCU. The results indicate that our deep-learning model can independently decode imaginary left-/right-hand motions. The mean accuracy of the proposed compact CNN reaches 96.75 ± 2.41% (8 channels: Frontocentral3 (FC3), FC4, Central1 (C1), C2, Central-Parietal1 (CP1), CP2, C3, and C4), versus 76.96 ± 19.08% of EEG-Inception (6 channels: FC3, FC4, C1, C2, CP1, and CP2). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first portable deep-learning decoder for MI EEG signals. The findings demonstrate high-accuracy deep-learning decoding of MI EEG in a portable mode, which has great implications for hand-disabled patients. Our portable system can be used for developing artificial-intelligent wearable BCI devices, as it is less computationally expensive and convenient for real-life application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photosystem I (PSI) catalyzes light-induced electron-transfer reactions and has been observed to exhibit various oligomeric states and different energy levels of chlorophylls (Chls) in response to oligomerization. However, the biochemical and spectroscopic properties of a PSI monomer containing Chls d are not well understood. In this study, we successfully isolated and characterized PSI monomers from the cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina MBIC11017, and compared their properties with those of the A. marina PSI trimer. The PSI trimers and monomers were prepared using trehalose density gradient centrifugation after anion-exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The polypeptide composition of the PSI monomer was found to be consistent with that of the PSI trimer. The absorption spectrum of the PSI monomer showed the Qy band of Chl d at 704 nm, which was blue-shifted from the peak at 707 nm observed in the PSI-trimer spectrum. The fluorescence-emission spectrum of the PSI monomer measured at 77 K exhibited a peak at 730 nm without a broad shoulder in the range of 745–780 nm, which was clearly observed in the PSI-trimer spectrum. These spectroscopic properties of the A. marina PSI trimer and monomer suggest different formations of low-energy Chls d between the two types of PSI cores. Based on these findings, we discuss the location of low-energy Chls d in A. marina PSIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The microsurgical anterior approach to the cervical spine is commonplace. Fewer surgeons perform posterior cervical microsurgical procedures on a routine basis for lack of indication, more bleeding, persistent postoperative neck pain, and risk of progressive misalignment. In comparison, the endoscopic technique is preferentially performed through the posterior approach. Many spine surgeons and even surgeons versed in lumbar endoscopy are often reluctant to consider endoscopic procedures in the cervical spine. We report the results of a surgeon survey to find out why. Methods: A questionnaire of 10 questions was sent to spine surgeons by email and chat groups in social media networks including Facebook, WeChat, WhatsApp, and LinkedIn to collect practice pattern data about microscopic and endoscopic spine surgery in the lumbar and cervical spine. The responses were cross-tabulated by surgeons' demographic data. Pearson Chi-Square measures, Kappa statistics, and linear regression analysis of agreement or disagreement were performed by analyzing the distribution of variances using the statistical package SPSS Version 27.0. Results: The survey response rate was 39.7%, with 50 of the 126 surgeons who started the survey submitting a completed questionnaire. Of the 50 surgeons, 56.2% were orthopedic, and 42% neurological surgeons. Most surgeons worked in private practice (42%). Another 26% were university-employed, 18% were in private practice affiliated with a university, and the remaining 14% were hospital employed. The majority of surgeons (55.1%) were autodidacts. The largest responding surgeon groups were between 35–44 years (38%) and between 45–54 years of age (34%). Half of the responding surgeons were routinely performing endoscopic cervical spine surgery. The other half did not perform it for the main hurdle of fear of complications (50%). Lack of appropriate mentorship was listed as second most reason (25.4%). More concerns for not performing cervical endoscopic approaches were the perception of lack of technology (20.8%) and suitable surgical indication (12.5%). Only 4.2% considered cervical endoscopy too risky. Nearly a third (30.6%) of the spine surgeons treated over 80% of their cervical spine patients with endoscopic surgeries. Most commonly performed were posterior endoscopic cervical discectomy (PECD; 52%), posterior endoscopic cervical foraminotomy (PECF; 48%), anterior endoscopic cervical discectomy (AECD; 32%), cervical endoscopic unilateral laminotomy for bilateral decompression (CE-ULBD; 30%), respectively. Conclusion: Cervical endoscopic spine surgery is gaining traction among spine surgeons. However, by far most surgeons performing cervical endoscopic spine surgery work in private practice and are autodidacts. This lack of a teacher to shorten the learning curve as well as fear of complications are two of the major impediments to the successful implementation of cervical endoscopic procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a novel method for precisely determining the QCD running coupling from Ruds measurements in electron-positron annihilation. When calculating the fixed-order perturbative QCD (pQCD) approximant of Ruds, its effective coupling constant α s Q ∗ 2 is determined by using the principle of maximum conformality, a systematic scale-setting method for gauge theories, whose resultant pQCD series satisfies all the requirements of renormalization group. Contribution due to the uncalculated higher-order (UHO) terms is estimated by using the Bayesian analysis. Using Ruds data measured by the KEDR detector at 22 centre-of-mass energies between 1.84 GeV and 3.72 GeV, we obtain α s M Z 2 = 0.1227 − 0.0132 + 0.0117 exp. ± 0.0016 the. , where the theoretical uncertainty (the.) is negligible compared to the experimental one (exp.). Numerical analyses confirm that the new method for calculating Ruds removes conventional renormalization scale ambiguity, and the residual scale dependence due to the UHO-terms will also be highly suppressed due to a more convergent pQCD series. This leads to a significant stabilization of the perturbative series, and a significant reduction of theoretical uncertainty. It thus provides a reliable theoretical basis for precise determination of the QCD running coupling from Ruds measurements at future Tau-Charm Facility. It can also be applied for the precise determination of the hadronic contributions to muon g − 2 and QED coupling α M Z 2 within the tau-charm energy range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light-harvesting complexes (LHCs) have been diversified in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms, and play an essential role in capturing light energy which is transferred to two types of photosystem cores to promote charge-separation reactions. Red algae are one of the groups of photosynthetic eukaryotes, and their chlorophyll (Chl) a-binding LHCs are specifically associated with photosystem I (PSI). In this study, we purified three types of preparations, PSI-LHCI supercomplexes, PSI cores, and isolated LHCIs, from the red alga Cyanidium caldarium, and examined their properties. The polypeptide bands of PSI-LHCI showed characteristic PSI and LHCI components without contamination by other proteins. The carotenoid composition of LHCI displayed zeaxanthins, β-cryptoxanthins, and β-carotenes. Among the carotenoids, zeaxanthins were enriched in LHCI. On the contrary, both zeaxanthins and β-cryptoxanthins could not be detected from PSI, suggesting that zeaxanthins and β-cryptoxanthins are bound to LHCI but not PSI. A Qy peak of Chl a in the absorption spectrum of LHCI was shifted to a shorter wavelength than those in PSI and PSI-LHCI. This tendency is in line with the result of fluorescence-emission spectra, in which the emission maxima of PSI-LHCI, PSI, and LHCI appeared at 727, 719, and 677 nm, respectively. Time-resolved fluorescence spectra of LHCI represented no 719 and 727-nm fluorescence bands from picoseconds to nanoseconds. These results indicate that energy levels of Chls around/within LHCIs and within PSI are changed by binding LHCIs to PSI. Based on these findings, we discuss the expression, function, and structure of red algal PSI-LHCI supercomplexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial spin ice (ASI) consisting patterned array of nano-magnets with frustrated dipolar interactions offers an excellent platform to study frustrated physics using direct imaging methods. Moreover, ASI often hosts a large number of nearly degenerated and non-volatile spin states that can be used for multi-bit data storage and neuromorphic computing. The realization of the device potential of ASI, however, critically relies on the capability of transport characterization of ASI, which has not been demonstrated so far. Using a tri-axial ASI system as the model system, we demonstrate that transport measurements can be used to distinguish the different spin states of the ASI system. Specifically, by fabricating a tri-layer structure consisting a permalloy base layer, a Cu spacer layer and the tri-axial ASI layer, we clearly resolve different spin states in the tri-axial ASI system using lateral transport measurements. We have further demonstrated that the tri-axial ASI system has all necessary required properties for reservoir computing, including rich spin configurations to store input signals, nonlinear response to input signals, and fading memory effect. The successful transport characterization of ASI opens up the prospect for novel device applications of ASI in multi-bit data storage and neuromorphic computing.Artificial spin ices consist of small magnets arranged in a lattice. Their simplicity belies their rich behaviour; they allowed for the investigation of effective magnetic monopoles, and more recently have been suggested as promising platforms for neuromorphic computing. For this latter function, efficient readout of the artificial spin ice state is critical. In this manuscript, Hu et al succeed in distinguishing artificial spin ice states using simple transport measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A deeper understanding of the role of residual water and its influence on gas flow behavior in coal seams is a key factor to achieve enhanced coalbed methane (CBM) production. In this study, numerical simulations were performed to study the gas–water drainage displacement in different coal lithotypes (bright coal, semi-bright coal, and semi-dull coal) at various viscosity ratios (M) and capillary numbers (Ca). The results indicate that capillary and viscous forces influence the displacement stability as well as the residual water saturation. The residual water saturation remains higher in unstable displacement vs. stable displacement conditions. The residual water saturation in bright coal, semi-bright coal, and semi-dull coal ranged at 21.5–36.4%, 29.9–36.8%, and 46.4–49.6%, respectively. The performed numerical simulations showed four residual water formation mechanisms in the modeled coal fracture networks, including nonsimultaneous displacement, deflection flowrate, dead-end fractures, and by-passing. From unstable displacement to stable displacement, nonsimultaneous displacement, deflection flowrate, dead-end fracture, and by-passing accounted for 3.0%, 2.1%, 13.1%, and 20.3% of the reduction of residual water saturation, respectively. The residual water in the by-passing mechanism is easily remobilized in coal. Our study suggests that the daily gas and water production should be controlled to reach stable displacement, which is beneficial to CBM production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic testing is a widely used technique to measure the coal mechanical properties under high temperature and pressure in situ conditions. This study compared the acoustic wave characteristics of briquette and raw coal under various temperature and pressure conditions. The results show that the longitudinal wave velocity (Vp) decreases with an increasing vitrinite content. A large number of the vitrinite content enhances the process in which the temperature and pressure changed the Vp. The Vp of briquette decreases approximately linearly with the temperature compared to raw coal. The Vp of raw coal experiences initially a rapid, then gradual, and finally the moderate increasing trend with the increase in confining pressure. However, in briquette, the Vp increases approximately linearly with the confining pressure. The results indicate that the Vp is more sensitive to temperature under low confining pressure and peaks at 50°C–60°C than high confining pressure. However, the Vp is less sensitive to temperature under higher confining pressure, and the positive effect of high confining pressure is dominant. Understanding the mechanical properties of coal under high pressure and temperature develops better insight into coalbed methane (CBM) exploration from deep reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical characteristics of coal reservoirs are important parameters in the hydraulic fracturing of coal. In this study, coal samples of different ranks were collected from 12 coal mines located in Xinjiang and Shanxi, China. The coal ranks were identified with by the increased Maximum vitrine reflectance (Ro,max) value. The triaxial compression experiments were performed to determine the confining pressure effect on the mechanical properties of coal samples of different ranks. The numerical approaches, including the power function, arctangent, and exponential function models, were used to find the correlation between coal elastic modulus and the confining pressure. The fitting equations of compressive strength and elastic modulus of coal ranks were constructed under different confining pressures. The results showed that the coal compressive strength of different ranks has a positive linear correlation with the confining pressure. The coal elastic modulus and confining pressure showed an exponential function. Poisson's ratio of coal and confining pressure show negative logarithmic function. The stress sensitivity of the coal elastic modulus decreases with the increase of confining pressure. The coalification jump identifies that the compressive strength, elastic modulus, and stress sensitivity coefficient of coal have a polynomial relationship with the increase of coal ranks. The inflection points in coalification at Ro,max = 0.70%, 1.30%, and 2.40%, are the first, second, and third coalification jumps. These findings provide significant support to coal fracturing during CBM production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major challenges of immunotherapy for glioblastoma are that drugs cannot target tumor sites accurately and properly activate complex immune responses. Herein, we design and prepare a kind of chemotactic nanomotor loaded with brain endothelial cell targeting agent angiopep-2 and anti-tumor drug (Lonidamine modified with mitochondrial targeting agent triphenylphosphine, TLND). Reactive oxygen species and inducible nitric oxide synthase (ROS/iNOS), which are specifically highly expressed in glioblastoma microenvironment, are used as chemoattractants to induce the chemotactic behavior of the nanomotors. We propose a precise targeting strategy of brain endothelial cells-tumor cells-mitochondria. Results verified that the released NO and TLND can regulate the immune circulation through multiple steps to enhance the effect of immunotherapy, including triggering the immunogenic cell death of tumor, inducing dendritic cells to mature, promoting cytotoxic T cells infiltration, and regulating tumor microenvironment. Moreover, this treatment strategy can form an effective immune memory effect to prevent tumor metastasis and recurrence. The blood-brain barrier represents a hurdle for the delivery of therapeutics in brain tumor tissues. Here the authors describe the design of a nitric oxide-driven nanomotor loaded with the glycolysis inhibitor lonidamine, breaking through the blood-brain barrier and eliciting anti-tumor immune responses in preclinical models of glioblastoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron-stress-induced-A proteins (IsiAs) are expressed in cyanobacteria under iron-deficient conditions. The cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 has four isiA genes; however, their binding property and functional roles in PSI are still missing. We analyzed a cryo-electron microscopy structure of a PSI-IsiA supercomplex isolated from Anabaena grown under an iron-deficient condition. The PSI-IsiA structure contains six IsiA subunits associated with the PsaA side of a PSI core monomer. Three of the six IsiA subunits were identified as IsiA1 and IsiA2. The PSI-IsiA structure lacks a PsaL subunit; instead, a C-terminal domain of IsiA2 occupies the position of PsaL, which inhibits the oligomerization of PSI, leading to the formation of a PSI monomer. Furthermore, excitation-energy transfer from IsiAs to PSI appeared with a time constant of 55 ps. These findings provide insights into both the molecular assembly of the Anabaena IsiA family and the functional roles of IsiAs. IsiAs are unique light-harvesting complexes in cyanobacteria. Here, authors solved the structure of a PSI monomer associated with six IsiAs from Anabaena by cryo-EM, which provide insights into molecular diversity and functions of different IsiAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the efficacy as well as the safety between uncut Roux-en-Y (RY) reconstruction and Billroth II (BII) anastomosis after laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (LDG) for gastric cancer. The combination of mesh terms and free-text phrases were generally utilized to explore the database. Computer retrieval of PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI), and Wanfang data were conducted by means of clinical efficacy and safety. The time is limited from the construction of the library to July 2021. All statistical evaluations were carried out by Review Manager 5.3. A total of 1208 patients from 11 studies were included in this meta-analysis. The results demonstrated that the hospital stay and time to first flatus of uncut RY were significantly shorter than that of the BII. Moreover, the gastric residue, gastritis, and bile reflux incidences of uncut RY were significantly lower than BII. The results of the meta-analysis revealed that there were no substantial differences between the two groups in the operative time, intraoperative blood loss, nutritional status, and incidence of duodenal stump leakage and anastomotic leakage. Uncut RY reconstruction did not increase operative blood loss, hospital stay, and time to first flatus, effectively reducing gastric residue, gastritis, and bile reflux incidences after LDG. Although it is comparable to BII anastomosis, uncut RY does not offer the advantages such as shorter operative time and better nutritional status. More large-sample, high-quality multicenter RCTs should be able to validate the above conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abuse of antibiotics leads to a significant increase in bacterial resistance, which makes it difficult to treat bacterial infections. Therefore, it is urgent to develop new strategies for efficient antibacterial and wound healing. Recently, nanozymes based antibacterial agents have attracted increasing attention for their multifunction and high efficiency. In this study, we report a FeS@lauramidopropyl betaine (LAB-35)@Ti3C2 nanozyme as a high-efficiency antibacterial agent for near infrared (NIR) light induced photothermal enhanced chemodynamic antibacteria and wound healing. The FeS@LAB-35@Ti3C2 nanozyme possesses peroxidase-like catalysis activity, which can promote the generation of hydroxyl radicals (·OH) through catalyzing the decomposition of H2O2. FeS@LAB-35@Ti3C2 has photothermal conversion efficiency (η = 65.1%), and it exhibits enhanced catalytic activity under NIR light irradiation. The in vitro antibacterial experiments demonstrate the excellent antibacterial activity of FeS@LAB-35@Ti3C2 against representative Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. The animal experiments indicate that FeS@LAB-35@Ti3C2 nanozyme can effectively inhibit wound ulceration and promote wound healing. Overall, this study proposes FeS@LAB-35@Ti3C2 nanozyme that integrates chemodynamic and photothermal therapy, which provides an efficient strategy for bacterial inhibition and wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hexagonal LuFe2O4 is a promising charge order (CO) driven multiferroic material with high charge and spin-ordering temperatures. The coexisting charge and spin orders on Fe3+/Fe2+ sites result in magnetoelectric behaviors, but the coupling mechanism between the charge and spin orders remains elusive. Here, by tuning external pressure, we reveal three charge-ordered phases with suggested correlation to magnetic orders in LuFe2O4: (i) a centrosymmetric incommensurate three-dimensional CO with ferrimagnetism, (ii) a non-centrosymmetric incommensurate quasi-two-dimensional CO with ferrimagnetism, and (iii) a centrosymmetric commensurate CO with antiferromagnetism. Experimental in situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements combined with density functional theory calculations suggest that the charge density redistribution caused by pressure-induced compression in the frustrated double-layer [Fe2O4] cluster is responsible for the correlated spin-charge phase transitions. The pressure-enhanced effective Coulomb interactions among Fe-Fe bonds drive the frustrated (1/3, 1/3) CO to a less frustrated (1/4, 1/4) CO, which induces the ferrimagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition. Our results not only elucidate the coupling mechanism among charge, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom in LuFe2O4, but also provide a new way to tune the spin-charge orders in a highly controlled manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a silicon polarization-diversity coherent receiver for wavelength-multiplexing transmission without using the large-footprint arrayed waveguide grating (AWG). We have integrated our proposed coherent receiver on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform for high-capacity transmission. In the proposed coherent receiver, high-frequency photocurrent signals from other wavelengths are suppressed by electrical low-pass filters. Moreover, the signal-signal beat interference (SSBI) generated from each wavelength is eliminated by the balanced detection. These two features lend to the proposed coherent receiver being free of the mm-scale AWG. We have demonstrated our proposed coherent receiver to detect a 1.12-Tb/s wavelength-division-multiplexed and polarization-division-multiplexed 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (PDM-16-QAM) signal. The compact footprint of the silicon chip promises small-form-factor receivers for future ultra-high-capacity coherent communication systems that require a high integration level and low fabrication cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: By the time our study was completed, the chloroplast genomes of Syringa oblata, S. pubescents subsp. Microphylla, and S. reticulate subsp. Amurensis had not been sequenced, and their genetic background was not clear. The research content: In this study, the chloroplast genomes of Syringa oblata, S. pubescents subsp. Microphylla, S. reticulate subsp. Amurensis, and five other species of Syringa were sequenced for a comparative genomics analysis, inverted repeat (IR) boundary analysis, collinearity analysis, codon preference analysis and a nucleotide variability analysis. Differences in the complete chloroplast genomes of 30 species of Oleaceae were compared with that of S. oblata as the reference species, and Ginkgo biloba was used as the out group to construct the phylogenetic tree. Results: The results showed that the chloroplast genomes of S. oblata, S. pubescents subsp. Microphylla, and S. reticulate subsp. Amurensis were similar to those of other angiosperms and showed a typical four-segment structure, with full lengths of 155,569, 160,491, 155,419, and protein codes of 88, 95, and 87, respectively. Because the IR boundary of S. pubescents subsp. Microphylla was significantly expanded to the large single copy (LSC) region, resulting in complete replication of some genes in the IR region, the LSC region of S. pubescents subsp. Microphylla was significantly shorter than those of S. oblate and S. reticulate subsp. Amurensis. Similar to most higher plants, these three species have a preference for their codons ending with A/T. Conclusions: We consider the genus Syringa to be a synphyletic group. The nucleotide variability and phylogenetic analyses showed that Syringa differentiated before Ligustrum and Ligustrum developed from Syringa. We propose removing the existing section division and directly dividing Syringa into five series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse the top-quark decay at the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in QCD by using the Principle of Maximum Conformality (PMC) which provides a systematic way to eliminate renormalization scheme and scale ambiguities in perturbative QCD predictions. The PMC renormalization scales of the coupling constant α s are determined by absorbing the non-conformal β terms that govern the behavior of the running coupling by using the Renormalization Group Equation (RGE). We obtain the PMC scale Q ⋆ = 15.5 GeV for the top-quark decay, which is an order of magnitude smaller than the conventional choice μ r = m t , reflecting the small virtuality of the QCD dynamics of the top-quark decay process. Moreover, due to the non-conformal β terms disappear in the pQCD series, there is no renormalon divergence and the NLO QCD correction term is greatly increased while the NNLO QCD correction term is suppressed compared to the conventional results obtained at μ r = m t . By further including the next-to-leading (NLO) electroweak corrections, the finite W boson width and the finite bottom quark mass, we obtain the top-quark total decay width Γ t tot = 1. 3112 - 0.0189 + 0.0190 GeV, where the error is the squared averages of the top-quark mass Δ m t = ± 0.7 GeV, the coupling constant Δ α s (M Z) = ± 0.0009 and the estimation of unknown higher-order terms using the PAA method with [N/M]=[1/1]. The PMC improved predictions for the top-quark decay are complementary to the previous PMC calculations for top-quark pair production and helpful for detailed studies of properties of the top-quark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being the first intrinsic antiferromagnetic (AFM) topological insulator (TI), MnBi2Te4 is argued to be a topological axion state in its even-layer form due to the antiparallel magnetization between the top and bottom layers. Here we combine both transport and scanning microwave impedance microscopy (sMIM) to investigate such axion state in atomically thin MnBi2Te4 with even-layer thickness at zero magnetic field. While transport measurements show a zero Hall plateau signaturing the axion state, sMIM uncovers an unexpected edge state raising questions regarding the nature of the "axion state". Based on our model calculation, we propose that the edge state of even-layer MnBi2Te4 at zero field is derived from gapped helical edge states of the quantum spin Hall effect with time-reversal-symmetry breaking, when a crossover from a three-dimensional TI MnBi2Te4 to a two-dimensional TI occurs. Our finding thus signifies the richness of topological phases in MnB2Te4 that has yet to be fully explored. Previous work has reported an axion insulator state in a layered topological antiferromagnet MnBi2Te4 evidenced by a zero Hall plateau. Here, in addition to the zero Hall plateau, the authors identify edge states in transport measurements at zero field which challenge the axion insulator interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]