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Copyright of Advances in Atmospheric Sciences is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: Oligometastatic colorectal cancer (OMCRC) patients can achieve long-term disease control with multidisciplinary treatment. However, the development of extensive metastasis worsens prognosis and restricts treatment options. This study aims to develop a predictive model for extensive metastasis in OMCRC to assist in clinical decision-making. Methods: Clinical and pathological data for OMCRC patients were collected from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University. Patients were randomly divided into training and testing cohorts. Risk factors for extensive metastasis were identified through LASSO regression analysis and COX regression analysis. Three predictive models were developed in the training cohort and validated in the testing cohort: COX regression analysis, Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and Survival Support Vector Machine (SurvSVM). Finally, the optimal model was visualized with the nomogram. Results: A total of 214 patients with OMCRC were enrolled in the study. Four independent risk factors were identified: whether surgery has been undertaken following oligometastasis (WST), histological type (HT), carcinoembryonic antigen at the last follow-up (CAE at last-FU), and preoperative albumin to globulin ratio (Preop-AGR). In the testing cohort, the COX model (1-year AUC = 0.82, 3-year AUC = 0.72, 5-year AUC = 0.85, mean AUC = 0.80) performed best. Decision curve analysis (DCA) confirmed the net benefit of the Cox model, and the nomogram provided accurate predictions of metastasis risk. Conclusion: CAE at last-FU, Preop-AGR, HT, and WST are independent risk factors for extensive metastasis in OMCRC. The nomogram model incorporating risk factors can assist clinicians in developing optimal treatment for OMCRC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the interference issues between radar and radar, radar and communication, and communication and communication in a vehicle network equipped with a radar communication integrated system. To improve the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of radar signals while ensuring communication quality, we provide an optimized expression for the signal-to-noise ratio of radar signals constrained by communication quality. To solve mixed integer nonlinear programming optimization problems, Q-learning algorithm is introduced. In our Q-learning algorithm, based on the action state space established by transmission power and channel resources, the optimization problem is transformed into solving using a reward function. The evaluation results indicate that compared with existing solutions, the proposed algorithm can more effectively improve the total SINR of radar signals and the throughput of communication signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: This study aims to reveal the reaction mechanisms of H2 and O2 on the NiO(100) and Ce-doped NiO(100) surfaces using the density functional theory (DFT) combined with the on-site Coulomb correction (DFT + U) method. It was found that H2 and O2 react favorably on the reduced surfaces of both materials. However, after the oxygen vacancy is filled, the activation energy for the reaction between H₂ and lattice oxygen increases. Ce doping reduces this activation energy to 1.64 eV (compared to 3.16 eV for pure NiO(100)). The enhanced activity of lattice oxygen due to Ce doping is attributed to the charge transfer in the Ce–O bond, which leads to the electronic localization around O atoms and weakens the activation energy barrier. Moreover, the presence of Ce facilitates the formation of a sub-stable OH intermediate on the reduced surface, ensuring the sustainability of the reaction. This study provides a theoretical basis for the design of high-performance nickel-based hydrogen deoxidizers and contributes to promoting the research and development process of nickel-based catalysts in related fields. Methods: The calculations were performed using the Vienna ab initio simulation package (VASP) module of the MedeA® software. The exchange–correlation energy calculations are performed using the Perdew, Burke and Ernzerhof (PBE) functional within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The transition states were calculated using the MedeA® Transition State Search Module, based on the climbing-image nudged elastic band (CI-NEB) method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean salinity evidently exhibits the change in its climatological mean and long-term trend due to the acceleration of hydrological cycle under global warming. However, at presents, systematic research is still lacking on decadal and long-term changes of salinity and their contributions to the upper ocean stratification, an important factor affecting vertical mixing and sea surface temperature (SST). In this study, the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method is used first to extract the nonlinear trend in salinity during 1940–2019, and then the corresponding long-term trends and their impacts on the vertical stratification in the tropical Pacific are analyzed. The results indicate that the salinity changes are regionally- and time-dependent, with the salinity trends in different regions of the tropical Pacific showing differences during different periods relative to SST trend. For example, sea surface water becomes fresher in the western tropical Pacific and southern Pacific convergence zone under global warming, while it becomes saltier in the southeastern Pacific. As a result, under the combined contributions of temperature and salinity with their compensated effects, the sea surface density decreases significantly in the tropical Pacific with the largest decrease centered in the warm pool, while the subsurface density in the western tropical Pacific increases. These contrasting changes act to enhance the vertical differentiation in the density between the surface and subsurface waters, leading to more stable ocean stratification. The mixed layer becomes shallower near the equatorial dateline but deeper in the warm pool, mainly due to salinity contributions. In addition, salinity and temperature make different contributions to variations of barrier layer thickness in different regions, with the changes of salinity (temperature) leading to the thickening of barrier layer located at 160°E east (west). It is illustrated that salinity variations in the Pacific affect the ocean thermodynamic processes under global warming, which then modulate the climate variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observed ENSO cycles show apparent asymmetries, especially manifested as frequent occurrences of multi-year La Niña events but mostly single-year El Niño events, whose causes are still not well understood. Most previous research has primarily based on observational data and reanalysis products; current coupled ocean-atmosphere models still have difficulties in realistically depicting multi-year La Niña events. A new hybrid coupled model (HCM)-based 1000-year simulation presented here can adequately depict the evolution of triple La Niña events, with sensitivity experiments further performed to explore their physical mechanisms. The results reveal that off-equatorial Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM)-like sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies can promote triple La Niñas by establishing a surface cooling in the first place that is located in the central equatorial Pacific. When the PMM-related off-equatorial cold SST anomalies become weakened, the equatorial surface cooling in the western-central equatorial Pacific can be sustained by thermodynamic coupling processes, known as wind speed–evaporation–SST feedback. Further sensitivity experiments and diagnostic analyses are conducted to confirm that the thermodynamic processes can prolong the triple La Niña events by intensifying the effect of the off-equatorial cold SST anomalies on the equatorial surface cooling, which further acts to enhance the local ocean-atmosphere coupling. Therefore, adequately representing the PMM-like SST anomalies and the related thermodynamic processes is an important factor determining a way for coupled models to depict multi-year La Niña events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermoelectric properties of In2O3-based materials have attracted extensive attention due to their potential applications in the field of energy conversion. The study focused on the correlation-based influence mechanism of aluminum (Al) doping on the thermoelectric properties of In2O3-based materials. Experimental investigations reveal several significant changes after Al doping. Firstly, the electrical conductivity shows a remarkable enhancement. This can be mainly attributed to the increase in carrier concentration. With the introduction of Al atoms into the In2O3 lattice, more charge carriers are generated, facilitating the transport of electrons and thus improving the electrical conductivity. However, the absolute value of the Seebeck coefficient decreases. This alteration is closely related to the change in carrier concentration as well. The increased carrier concentration affects the thermoelectric power factor in a complex manner, resulting in a decline in the absolute value of the Seebeck coefficient. On the other hand, the thermal conductivity experiences a decrease. The doping-induced lattice distortion and scattering of phonons play crucial roles in suppressing the heat transfer, thereby reducing the thermal conductivity. Importantly, despite the changes in individual parameters, the dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) exhibits an improvement with the highest value of ~ 0.145 (973 K). The combined effects of the increased electrical conductivity and the decreased thermal conductivity contribute to a more favorable ZT value. This enhancement indicates that Al doping is an effective approach to optimize the thermoelectric performance of In2O3-based materials, which provides valuable insights for the further design and development of high-performance thermoelectric materials for efficient energy conversion applications. The study deepens the understanding of the influence mechanism of doping on the thermoelectric properties of In2O3-based materials and offers a reference for related research in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multimodal Sentiment Analysis (MSA) plays a crucial role in discerning and analyzing the diverse attitudes and opinions of Internet users across various social media platforms. Nevertheless, existing sentiment analysis methods exhibit a text-centric bias, with the textual modality taking a predominant role in multimodal scenarios. In complex contexts, different unimodal information may exhibit inconsistent emotional tendencies, making it challenging to detect hidden sentiments such as ambiguity or irony when focusing primarily on the textual modality. To address these issues, we propose a Transformer-based multimodal modality enhancement network (MMEN) suitable for complex contexts. The primary objective is to emphasize shared information between modalities in multimodal fusion, encouraging modal synergy and avoiding the neglect of weaker modalities. Specifically, we employ multi-head attention mechanism for both unimodal feature extraction and multimodal fusion to obtain latent representations for multimodal sentiment analysis. Furthermore, an adaptive contrastive learning module is designed, utilizing fine-grained sentiment information to retain crucial emotional cues from unimodal sources and enhance semantic fusion. We introduce multi-task learning to dynamically adjust modal contributions. Experimental results on the public dataset CH-SIMSv2.0 demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms the baseline model in terms of accuracy and F1 score by 2.51% and 2.43% respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current single-cell analysis technologies such as fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and fluorescence-activated droplet sorting (FADS) could decipher the cellular heterogeneity but were constrained by low sorting performance and cell viability. Here, an ultra-sensitive single-cell sorting platform has been developed by integrating the FADS technology with Tetramer-HCR-EvaGreen (THE) fluorescence signal amplification. The THE system produced much higher fluorescence signal than that of the single Tetramer or Tetramer-HCR signal amplification. Upon application to target MCF-7 cells, the platform exhibited high efficacy and selectivity while maintaining more than 95% cell viability. The THE-FADS achieved sorting efficiencies of 55.5% and 50.3% with purities of 91% and 85% for MCF-7 cells in PBS solutions and simulated serum samples, respectively. The sorted MCF-7 cells showed similar proliferation together with CK19 and EGFR mRNA expression compared with the control cells. The established THE-FADS showed the promising prospects to cellular heterogeneity understanding and personalized medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil shale retorting wastewater is currently recognized as one of the most complex industrial wastewater due to its ultra-low chemical oxygen demand to total nitrogen (C/N) ratio, high organic load, and complex chemical composition. In this paper, the effect of influent load on the performance and microbial community changes of moving bed biofilm reactor(MBBR) in the treatment of highly polluted retorting wastewater was investigated. The MBBR was proposed and demonstrated to be efficient in treating the retorting wastewater, containing COD and NH4+-N of 5000-10000mg/L and 3000-5000mg/L. The removal efficiency of COD and NH4+-N increased steadily in 1-79d, and the effect was the best when the influent load was 0.0242–0.0312kg COD/kg MLSS·d and 0.0173–0.0208kg NH4+-N/kg MLSS·d. The removal efficiency of COD was up to 83.46%, and the removal efficiency of NH4+-N was 82.08%. The long-term operation showed that the biofilm could be rapidly formed after 40 days. Scanning electron microscope observation showed that cocci and short bacilli appeared in the pores of the fillers. With the increase of influent load, the total amount of extracellular polymeric substances increased significantly, in which the content of protein increased sharply in stage III, while the polysaccharide was in a state of continuous and stable growth. High-throughput sequencing analysis showed that the nitrifying functional genus Nitrosomonas was highly enriched in the MBBR system (0 → 17.55%) and played a key role in the high accumulation of NO3−-N. The newly added denitrifying bacteria Brevundimonas (5.85%) and Reyranella (4.57%) enhanced the degradation of COD and maintained the nitrogen cycle in the system. The enrichment of Acinetobacter, Rugosibacter, and unclassified_Syntrophobacteraceae in the system played an important role in the degradation of complex organic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and aromatic compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following triple La Niña events during 2020–2022, the future evolution of climate conditions over the tropical Pacific has been a focused interest in ENSO-related communities. Observations and modeling studies indicate that an El Niño event is occurring in 2023; however, large uncertainties remain in terms of its detailed evolution, and the factors affecting its resultant amplitude remain to be understood. Here, a novel deep learning-based Transformer model is adopted to make real-time predictions for the 2023–2024 climate conditions in the tropical Pacific. Several key fields vital to the El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the tropical Pacific are collectively and simultaneously utilized in model training and in making predictions; therefore, this purely data-driven model is configured in both training and predicting procedures such that the coupled ocean-atmosphere interactions are adequately represented. Also similar to dynamic models, the prediction procedure is executed in a rolling manner to allow ocean-atmosphere anomaly exchanges month by month; the related key fields during multi-month time intervals (TIs) prior to prediction target months are taken as input predictors, serving as initial conditions to precondition the future evolution more effectively. Real-time predictions indicate that the climate conditions in the tropical Pacific are surely to develop into an El Niño state in late 2023. Furthermore, sensitivity experiments are conducted to examine how prediction skills are affected by the input predictor specifications, including TIs during which information on initial conditions is retained for making predictions. A comparison with other dynamic coupled models is also made to demonstrate the prediction performance for the 2023–2024 El Niño event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent worldwide outbreaks of mpox prioritize the development of a safe and effective mRNA vaccine. The contemporary mpox virus (MPXV) exhibits changing virological and epidemiological features, notably affecting populations already vulnerable to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Herein, we profile the immunogenicity of AR-MPXV5, a penta-component mRNA vaccine targeting five specific proteins (M1R, E8L, A29L, A35R, and B6R) from the representative contemporary MPXV clade II strain, in both naive and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected nonhuman primates. Immunization with two doses of AR-MPXV5 to cynomolgus macaques effectively elicits antibody responses and cellular responses. Importantly, based on the challenge model with a contemporary MPXV clade II strain, AR-MPXV5 demonstrates effective efficacy in preventing skin lesions, eliminating viremia and reducing viral loads in multiple tissues after challenge in naive male animals. More importantly, AR-MPXV5 is well-tolerated in stable chronic SIV-infected rhesus monkeys, while eliciting comparable MPXV-specific humoral and cellular responses in both naive and SIV-infected monkeys. Together, these results support further clinical development of the AR-MPXV5 vaccine. Here, the authors report immunogenicity and safety of AR-MPXV5, a penta-component mRNA vaccine, in naive and simian immunodeficiency virus infected nonhuman primates (NHPs), and demonstrate protection in naïve male NHPs after immunization with two doses of AR-MPXV5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression-anxiety comorbidity is commonly attributed to the occurrence of specific symptoms bridging the two disorders. However, the significant heterogeneity of most bridging symptoms presents challenges for psychopathological interpretation and clinical applicability. Here, we conceptually established a common bridging factor (cb factor) to characterize a general structure of these bridging symptoms, analogous to the general psychopathological p factor. We identified a cb factor from 12 bridging symptoms in depression-anxiety comorbidity network. Moreover, this cb factor could be predicted using edge-centric connectomes with robust generalizability, and was characterized by connectome patterns in attention and frontoparietal networks. In an independent twin cohort, we found that these patterns were moderately heritable, and identified their genetic connectome-transcriptional markers that were associated with the neurobiological enrichment of vasculature and cerebellar development, particularly during late-childhood-to-young-adulthood periods. Our findings revealed a general factor of bridging symptoms and its neurobiological architectures, which enriched neurogenetic understanding of depression-anxiety comorbidity.Phenotyping depression anxiety comorbidity is prominently heterogeneous. Authors established a common bridging (cb) factor model to identify homogeneous neurogenetic signatures of general structure of these bridging symptoms in this comorbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large language models like GPT-4o, holds promise for enhancing diagnostic accuracy in healthcare. This study evaluates the diagnostic performance of GPT-4o compared to human ophthalmologists in glaucoma cases. A prospective, observational study was conducted at a tertiary care ophthalmology center. Twenty-six glaucoma cases, including both primary and secondary types, were selected from publicly available databases and institutional records. The cases were analyzed by GPT-4o and three ophthalmologists with varying levels of experience. The accuracy and completeness of primary and differential diagnoses were assessed using 10-point and 6-point Likert scales, respectively. Statistical analyses were performed using nonparametric methods, including the Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests. GPT-4o was significantly less accurate in primary diagnosis compared to human ophthalmologists. Specifically, GPT-4o achieved a mean score of 5.500 (p < 0.001) compared to Doctor C, who had the highest score of 8.038 (p < 0.001). Completeness scores for GPT-4o 3.077 (p < 0.001) were also lower than Doctor B, who had the lowest score of 3.615 (p < 0.001) among human ophthalmologists. However, for differential diagnosis, GPT-4o (7.577) showed comparable accuracy to Doctor A (7.615) and Doctor C (7.673) (p < 0.0001) while achieving the highest completeness score (4.096), outperforming Doctor C (3.846), Doctor A (2.923), and Doctor B (2.808) (p < 0.0001). AI, including GPT-4o, is currently not an acceptable standalone method for diagnosing glaucoma due to its lower accuracy compared to human clinicians. These findings suggest that GPT-4o could serve as a valuable adjunct in clinical practice, particularly in complex cases, but should not replace human expertise, especially for initial diagnoses. Future improvements in AI models could enhance their utility in ophthalmology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Ultrasound view of the interlaminar structure is likely to be associated with difficult spinal anesthesia (DSA), and a poor ultrasound view which cannot show the anterior and posterior complex predicts a difficult spinal technique. As our target site is the posterior complex, this study aimed to assess whether the ratio of posterior complex length to depth measured by ultrasound can predict DSA in cesarean delivery. Methods: Four anesthesiologists with 1–2 years of experience located and marked the puncture interspace using a traditional surface landmark. Subsequently, the ultrasound examiner located and measured the marked interspace via an oblique parasagittal ultrasound scan. The anesthesiologists, who were blinded to the ultrasound results, performed spinal anesthesia using a 25-gauge Whitacre spinal needle. The total number of attempts, including skin punctures and needle passes, was recorded and the DSA was defined as 10 unsuccessful attempts. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine the independent predictors, and receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to evaluate the performance of the ratio of posterior complex length to depth for predicting DSA. Results: A total of 397 cesarean delivery parturients with successfully measured posterior complex were included in the analysis. DSA occurred in 64 parturients (16.1%). Reduced length [odds ratio (OR) = 0.010, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.002–0.062, P < 0.001] and increased depth [OR = 6.127, 95% CI, 2.671–14.056, P < 0.001] of the posterior complex were independently predictive of DSA compared with body mass index, abdominal circumference, and palpable surface landmarks. The ratio of posterior complex length to depth for predicting DSA had an area under the curve of 0.86 (95% CI, 0.82–0.90). The optimal cutoff was 0.23, with a sensitivity of 86% (95% CI, 74–93%) and specificity of 72% (95% CI, 67–77%). Conclusion: The ratio of posterior complex length to depth measured by ultrasound demonstrated a considerable accuracy in predicting DSA for inexperienced anesthesiologists. A higher ratio at ultrasound is an indication to evaluate the optimal puncture body position and interspace in the clinic practice. Clinical trial registration: ChiCTR2200065171 https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=180855 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycolysis-derived lactate was identified as substrate for histone lactylation, which has been regarded as a significant role in transcriptional regulation in many tissues. However, the role of histone lactylation in the metabolic center, the hypothalamus, is still unknown. Here, we show that hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neuron-specific deletion of family with sequence similarity 172, member A (Fam172a) can increase histone lactylation and protect mice against diet-induced obesity (DIO) and related metabolic disorders. Conversely, overexpression of Fam172a in POMC neurons led to an obesity-like phenotype. Using RNA-seq and CUT&Tag chromatin profiling analyzes, we find that knockdown of Fam172a activates the glycolytic process and increases peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), which affects the synthesis of α-MSH, via H4K12la (histone lactylation). In addition, pharmacological inhibition of lactate production clearly abrogates the anti-obesity effect of PFKO (POMC-Cre, Fam172aloxP/loxP, POMC neurons Fam172a knockout). These findings highlight the importance of Fam172a and lactate in the development of obesity and our results mainly concern male mice. Glycolysis-derived lactate was identified as substrate for histone lactylation which has been reported to play a significant role in transcriptional regulation. However, it's role in the hypothalamus is still unknown. Here, the authors show the importance of Fam172a and lactate in the development of obesity and related metabolic disorders [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dysbiosis of the gut-liver axis increases the risk of bacterial and metabolite influx into the liver, which may contribute to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we compared the microbiomes in HCC tumors and adjacent tissues. We examined the HCC tumors and adjacent tissues from 19 patients diagnosed with HCC. We find that the liver tissues from HCC patients with capsule invasion presented higher alpha diversity at the genus level than those without. The bacterial compositions in liver tissues of HCC patients at stage II differed from those at stage I and Advanced, respectively. Metagenomic profiling revealed that order Actinomycetales was enriched in the HCC patients at advanced stages. Order Lactobacillales, family Veillonellaceae, genera Rhodobacter and Megasphaera are enriched in tumors of HCC patients, whereas genus Pseudochrobactrum is enriched in the adjacent tissues from HCC patients. An increased abundance of class Actinobacteria and order Actinomycetales is observed in the HCC patients with cirrhosis. In contrast, phylum Firmicutes, classes Clostridia and Betaproteobacteria, and order Clostridiales are enriched in those without cirrhosis. The presence of various types of bacterial 16S rRNAs in HCC tumors and adjacent tissues indicates the presence of various bacterial communities therein. Our study provides information about differentially abundant intrahepatic bacteria in patients with HCC. The differences found may support possible diagnostic and personalized therapeutic implications for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genome is intricately folded into chromatin compartments, topologically associating domains (TADs) and loops unique to each cell type. How this higher-order genome organization regulates cell fate transition remains elusive. Here we show how a single non-neural progenitor transcription factor, PTF1A, reorchestrates the 3D genome during fibroblast transdifferentiation into neural stem cells (NSCs). Multiomics analyses integrating Hi-C data, PTF1A and CTCF DNA-binding profiles, H3K27ac modification, and gene expression, demonstrate that PTF1A binds to subTAD boundaries subsequently associated with elevated CTCF binding and enhanced boundary insulation, and reorganizes chromatin loops, leading to gene expression changes that drive transdifferentiation into NSCs. Moreover, PTF1A activates enhancers and super-enhancers near low-insulation boundaries and modulates H3K27ac deposition, promoting cell fate transitions. Together, our data implicate an involvement of 3D genome in transcriptional and cell fate alterations, and highlight an essential role for PTF1A in gene expression control and multiscale 3D genome remodeling during cell reprogramming. This study explores the role of the transcription factor PTF1A in remodeling 3D genome architecture during the transdifferentiation of fibroblasts to neural stem cells, highlighting changes in gene expression and TAD organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroLED display is considered one of the most promising technologies for next-generation displays. However, the high manufacturing cost has been a major obstacle to its accessibility to the general consumer market, and mass transfer, an essential process to achieve cost-effective manufacturing, has not yet reached commercial maturity. Critical issues, such as microLED chips, transfer equipments, and process materials, need to be addressed for the mass transfer technologies. In this work, we present a 1.63-inch full color microLED display module fabricated with laser mass transfer, which has a pixel density of 403 pixels per inch (PPI), the highest resolution ever achieved in the industry using mass transfer technologies. The laser mass transfer is realized with three process nodes: laser lift-off, laser induced forward transfer, and carrier bonding. Each node has been well explored to improve yields. Insights into the present progress and the future development of the laser mass transfer will be shared in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Zhejiang University: Science B is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents a localized treatment of quantum Rényi entropy. Specifically, based on the localized characteristics of Local Quantum Bernoulli Noises (LQBNs), a new definition of quantum Rényi entropy, that is, quantum Rényi entropy with localization characteristics, is given through the local density operator constructed by local conservative operators l k ∘ . We also verify that this new definition possesses properties such as unitary invariance, additivity, monotonicity, and weak subadditivity. Furthermore, through the monotonicity of the local quantum Rényi entropy, we derive the local quantum Rényi minimum entropy and the local quantum Rényi maximum entropy. The local quantum Rényi entropy can be used to study quantum entanglement and coherence. For instance, in the contexts of quantum phase transitions and quantum state transmission, the local quantum Rényi entropy can provide important insights into the flow of information and interactions within quantum systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saline soils are always treated as waste materials due to the salt in the soil deteriorating the soil structure, decreasing the strength, and causing salt expansion. Especially for large-scale urbanization in developing countries, how to use the waste saline soils to realize resource utilization, decrease construction costs, and further reduce carbon emissions are the biggest problems for the researchers. Hence, in this research context, a novel solid waste additive composed of slag, fly ash, and polyacrylamide, referred to as SFP, was adopted to investigate its impact on saline soil’s improvement and reinforced mechanisms based on a highway project in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China. The investigation involved laboratory experiments and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis, specific indicators presenting the Atterberg limits, salt expansion, Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS), resistance to freeze-thaw (FT) cycles, and water stability. The results demonstrate that the SFP additive can increase the plasticity index of the stabilized soil. From the perspective of salt expansion and UCS, the optimal SFP content is determined to be 15%, resulting in a salt expansion rate of less than 1% and approximately a threefold increase in strength compared to unstabilized saline soil. Also, the SFP additive improved the soil’s resistance to freeze-thaw cycles and enhanced water stability. SEM analysis revealed that inorganic compounds underwent chemical reactions with ions in the soil, generating a substantial amount of hydration products. When combined with the polyacrylamide, a synergistic effect substantially improved the geotechnical properties of saline soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging is an inevitable natural process with time-dependent dysfunction and the occurrence of various diseases, which impose heavy burdens on individuals, families, and society. It has been reported that NLRP3 inflammasome-induced pyroptosis contributes significantly to age-related diseases and aging, while TXNIP is suggested to be involved in regulating pyroptosis mediated by NLRP3. However, the mechanism between TXNIP and NLRP3 inflammasome is still unclear. In this study, we used HT-22 cells to explore the effect of TXNIP on pyroptosis and its potential association with the aging. Also, we delved into the underlying mechanisms. Our findings revealed that TXNIP significantly augmented pyroptosis in HT-22 cells, primarily by enhancing the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and promoting the release of proinflammatory cytokines. Remarkably, as TXNIP levels increased, we observed a corresponding rise in the number of p16-positive cells, which is indicative of aging. Furthermore, we conducted experiments to modulate the improvement of TXNIP on NLRP3 inflammasome-induced pyroptosis, that is, the PI3K activator 740 Y-P and the PKA activator DC2797 inhibited the effect, while the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 and the PKA inhibitor H89 enhanced the effect. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that TXNIP regulates NLRP3 inflammasome-induced pyroptosis in HT-22 cells related to aging via the PI3K/Akt and cAMP/PKA pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Message: High-throughput next-generation sequencing of 161 olive germplas. 33 samples were selected as core olive germplasm and Fingerprints were constructed. After GWAS analysis of olive leaf shape, 14 candidate genes were localized. Olive (Olea europaea L.) has been introduced to China since the 1960s. After a prolonged period of variation and domestication, there is a lack of comprehensive research on its genetics. The olive oil directly extracted from Olea europaea L. is recognized as ‘liquid gold’, nevertheless, people constantly overlook the valuable wealth of olive leaves. High-throughput next-generation sequencing was performed on 161 olive germplasm to analyze the kinship, genetic structure and diversity of olives, and the core germplasm of olives were selected and fingerprints were constructed. Meanwhile, Genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) was performed to locate the gene for regulating olive leaf shape. Herein, the results parsed that most of the Chinese olive germplasm was more closely related to the Italian germplasm. A wealth of hybridized germplasm possessed high genetic diversity and had the potential to be used as superior parental material for olive germplasm. A total of 33 samples were selected and characterized as core germplasm of olive and Fingerprints were also constructed. A total of 14 candidate genes were localized after GWAS analysis of four olive leaf shape phenotypes, including leaf shape, leaf curvature shape, leaf tip and leaf base shape. Collectively, this study revealed the genetic basis of olives in China and also succeeded in constructing the core germplasm that stands for the genetic diversity of olives, which can contribute to the scientific and effective collection and preservation of olive germplasm resources, and provide a scientific basis for the in-depth excavation and utilization of genes regulating olive leaf shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Out-Of-Distribution (OOD) detection has received broad attention over the years, aiming to ensure the reliability and safety of deep neural networks (DNNs) in real-world scenarios by rejecting incorrect predictions. However, we notice a discrepancy between the conventional evaluation vs. the essential purpose of OOD detection. On the one hand, the conventional evaluation exclusively considers risks caused by label-space distribution shifts while ignoring the risks from input-space distribution shifts. On the other hand, the conventional evaluation reward detection methods for not rejecting the misclassified image in the validation dataset. However, the misclassified image can also cause risks and should be rejected. We appeal to rethink OOD detection from a human-centric perspective, that a proper detection method should reject the case that the deep model's prediction mismatches the human expectations and adopt the case that the deep model's prediction meets the human expectations. We propose a human-centric evaluation and conduct extensive experiments on 45 classifiers and 8 test datasets. We find that the simple baseline OOD detection method can achieve comparable and even better performance than the recently proposed methods, which means that the development in OOD detection in the past years may be overestimated. Additionally, our experiments demonstrate that model selection is non-trivial for OOD detection and should be considered as an integral of the proposed method, which differs from the claim in existing works that proposed methods are universal across different models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Altered cholesterol metabolism has been linked to a poor prognosis in various types of cancer. Cholesterol oxidation can lead to lipid peroxidation, membrane damage, and cell death. Ferroptosis is a regulated form of cell death characterized by the accumulation of lipid peroxides, which significantly inhibits the growth of ovarian cancer cells. SQLE is the primary enzyme responsible for catalyzing cholesterol lipid synthesis and is notably expressed in ovarian cancer tissues and cells. This study aims to investigate the role of squalene monooxygenase (SQLE) in ferroptosis in ovarian cancer. The protein and mRNA expression of SQLE was assessed using qRT-PCR, Western Blot, and immunohistochemistry. The association between SQLE and ferroptosis was demonstrated through analysis of TCGA and GTEx databases, TMT protein sequencing, as well as validation by qRT-PCR, Western Blot, immunofluorescence, ROS detection, and lipid peroxide detection. Animal experiments further confirmed the relationship between SQLE and ferroptosis in ovarian cancer. The protein and mRNA expression of SQLE was found to be upregulated in both ovarian cancer tissues and cell lines. Decreased SQLE expression led to ferroptosis in ovarian cancer cells, thereby increasing their sensitivity to ferroptosis inducers. Our research demonstrates that SQLE is significantly upregulated in both ovarian cancer tissues and cells. The overexpression of SQLE in ovarian cancer may facilitate tumorigenesis by conferring resistance to ferroptosis, thus shedding light on potential novel therapeutic strategies for ovarian cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BiCuSeO is the most promising mid-high temperature thermoelectric material for application. The thermoelectric properties of BiCuSeO are greatly improved by the composited structure based on Pb-doped samples with high carrier concentration and La-doped samples with high mobility. The synthesis of composited samples includes powder preparation by mechanical alloying and block forming by high-temperature spark plasma sintering. The experimental results indicate that the composited structure composed of Pb-doped high carrier sample and La-doped high- mobility sample can effectively enhance the power factor, for that reason the composited structure enables carriers to migrate through the high-mobility region, which is conducive to improving the electrical conductivity. The thermal conductivity is maintained at a low level because there exist a lot of two-phase interfaces in the modulation samples, which is conducive to the scattering of low-frequency phonons. Through the double coordination adjustment of electron and phonon, the highest ZT was increased to ~ 1.26 at 873 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel flavonol-based fluorescent probe, Fla-DNT, has been synthesized for the rapid and specific detection of H2S. Fla-DNT exhibits excellent selectivity and anti-interference properties, a short response time (4 min), large Stokes shift (138 nm), and low detection limit (1.357 µM). Upon exposure to H2S, Fla-DNT displays a remarkable increase in fluorescence intensity at 542 nm. Meanwhile, the recognizing site of H2S was predicted through Electrostatic potential and ADCH charges calculations, while the sensing mechanism of H2S was determined via HRMS analysis and DFT calculation. More importantly, the probe owes multiple applications, such as a recovery rate ranging from 92.00 to 102.10% for detecting H2S in water samples, and it can be fabricated into fluorescent strips to track H2S production during food spoilage by tracking color changes, thereby enabling real-time monitoring of food freshness. The bioimaging experiments demonstrate the capability of Fla-DNT to detect both endogenous and exogenous H2S in living cells. These results provide a reliable method and idea for H2S detection in complex environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this investigation, we examine individual and synergistic effects of sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Pacific and North Atlantic on precipitation interdecadal variations over eastern China using the Multi-Taper Method-Singular Value Decomposition (MTM-SVD) method and the European Center Hamburg model version 5 (ECHAM5) simulations. Results reveal that the model adequately reproduces the quasi-periodic precipitation responses corresponding to interdecadal SST forcing in the North Pacific, North Atlantic and both regions. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is closely related to a meridional tri-polar precipitation pattern over eastern China, which is attributed to the western Pacific subtropical high and surface pressure anomalies over northern East Asia, influenced by the joint effects of a mid-latitude wave train and SST anomalies in the central-western North Pacific. The North Atlantic basin-scale SST (NABS) correlates positively with precipitation over North China and negatively with precipitation over Southwest China. This precipitation pattern is affected by the westward shift of the atmospheric activity center over East Asia associated with the mid-latitude wave train across Eurasia. The combined SST forcing from both the North Pacific and North Atlantic results in a meridional precipitation dipole pattern, and partially explains the precipitation interdecadal variation as observed. That is, as the PDO warm phase transitions to the NABS warm phase, rainbands experience an interdecadal northward shift from South China to North China. These results are pivotal for understanding how interdecadal SST forcing in the North Pacific and North Atlantic influences the precipitation distribution over China, thereby contributing to improvements in interdecadal climate prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar-driven photo-thermal catalytic CO2 methanation reaction is a promising technology to alleviate the problems posed by greenhouse gases emissions. However, designing advanced photo-thermal catalysts remains a research challenge for CO2 methanation reaction. In this work, a series of ABO3 (A = lanthanide, B = transition metal) perovskite catalysts with Ce-substituted LaNiO3 (La1−xCexNiO3, x = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1) were synthesized for CO2 methanation. The La0.2Ce0.8NiO3 exhibited the highest CH4 formation rate of 258.9 mmol·g−1·hcat−1, CO2 conversion of 55.4% and 97.2% CH4 selectivity at 300 °C with the light intensity of 2.9 W·cm−2. Then the catalysts were thoroughly analyzed by physicochemical structure and optical properties characterizations. The partial substitution of the A-site provided more active sites for the adsorption and activation of CO2/H2. The sources of the active sites were considered to be the oxygen vacancies (Ov) created by lattice distortions due to different species of ions (La3+, Ce4+, Ce3+) and exsolved Ni0 by H2 reduction. The catalysts have excellent light absorption absorbance and low electron–hole (e−/h+) recombination rate, which greatly contribute to the excellent performance in photo-thermal synergistic catalysis (PTC) CO2 methanation. The results of in situ irradiated electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer (ISI-EPR) and ISI-X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicated that the aggregation of unpaired electrons near the defects and Ni metal (from La and Ce ions to Ov and Ni0) accelerated adsorption and activation of CO2/H2. At last, the catalyst properties and structure were correlated with the proposed reaction mechanism from the in situ diffuse reflection infrared Fourier transform spectrum (DRIFTS) measurements. The in situ precipitation of the B-site enhanced the dispersion of Ni, while its enriched photoelectrons upon illumination further promote hydrogen dissociation. More H* spillover accelerated the rate-determining step (RDS) of HCOO* hydrogenation. This work provides the theoretical basis for the development of catalysts and industrial application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the performance of biodegradable materials and endow them with antimicrobial properties, herein, pyridine-3,5-dicarboxylic acid was introduced as a third monomer into the molecular chain of polybutylene succinate (PBS) via copolymerization, followed by introduction of pyridine quaternary ammonium into the PBS branched chain through nucleophilic substitution to afford antimicrobial PBS-BD, which was then comingled with polylactic acid (PLA) to prepare PBS-BD/PLA composites. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the introduction of pyridine-3,5-dicarboxylic acid caused a small shift in the diffraction peaks of PBS and a decrease in crystallinity, which was further decreased upon blending with PLA. PBS-BD and PLA were bound together by intermolecular forces. When the PBS-BD/PLA ratio was 8:2, the melting points of the two phases were the closest, the compatibility was the best, and the thermal and antimicrobial properties were optimal. The antimicrobial properties of the composites were gradually enhanced with increasing PBS-BD content, reaching optimal values for application as antimicrobial materials. The composites were degraded in soil supernatant for 6 months at a rate of 31.52%. After 42 d of enzymatic degradation, the degradation rate reached 23.24%. The PBS-BD/PLA composites promoted the growth of green vegetables to a certain extent and enhanced their nutritional value, reaching the highest chlorophyll content and vitamin C content after 45 d of growth in the presence of the composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agents with robust ultraviolet (UV) absorption capabilities play a vital role in safeguarding organisms and inorganic materials from UV damage. Nonetheless, the synthetic procedures towards these UV absorbers are usually lengthy and complicated, accompanied by undesirable side reactions and the generation of toxic substances. In nature, allomelanin, a class of melanins variant found in melanized fungi near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, plays crucial roles in the cell wall of melanized fungi, offering resistance to harsh external environments and promising UV resistance capabilities. Notably, allomelanin can be rapidly biosynthesized via the polymerization of 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene in presence of enzymes in fungi. Inspired by this, we report here a green enzymatic polymerization strategy to efficiently and eco-friendly synthesize polydihydroxynaphthalene (PDHN)-based artificial allomelanin nanoparticles (NPs) with interesting features. Theoretical calculations and experimental results demonstrated that the PDHN NPs exhibited excellent UV absorption capacity, surpassing another widely used artificial melanin, polydopamine (PDA). Moreover, the light absorption mechanism of PDHN NPs was systematically elucidated for the first time. Then, the PDHN NPs were incorporated with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to create an anti-aging composite film with significantly enhanced UV shielding ability. The potential of these composite films in safeguarding plants from UV damage was meticulously verified. Remarkably, these PDHN NPs were first found to produce hydroxyl radicals (•OH) under UV irradiation, offering antibacterial properties that expand their potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new integrated method, i.e., vacuum preloading–flocculation–solidification combined method (VP-FSCM), has been developed for treatment and recycling of slurry-like mud (MS). However, due to the insufficient solidification caused by the decay of vacuum pressure among other factors, the superiority of VP-FSCM under various mixing conditions and the distribution of engineering properties of VP-FSCM-treated MS are not well understood especially at the field pilot scale. In this study, a series of laboratory experiments are performed first to identify the influence of equivalent initial water content (wei) and binder content (wc) on the superiority of VP-FSCM over the conventional pure cement solidification method (PCSM), and some field pilot experiments are then conducted to further demonstrate the solidification efficiency of VP-FSCM and characterize the spatial distribution of strength of VP-FSCM-treated MS. The results indicate that VP-FSCM outperforms PCSM in treatment and utilization of MS, with the strength of VP-FSCM-treated MS being approximately 2.24 times larger than that of PCSM treated MS under the equivalent circumstance at the field pilot scale. In addition, the strength of VP-FSCM-treated MS increases substantially with the decrease in distance away from the central axis of a prefabricated horizontal drain and tends to show higher spatial variability than that of PCSM treated MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study examined the relationship between mindfulness and perceived marital stability among older couples in China. Method: Based upon a sample of 187 heterosexual Chinese couples aged 53–85, we conducted dyadic analyses to identify whether individuals' stress and marital stability were influenced by the practice of mindfulness of their partners. In line with actor-partner interdependence mediation models (APIMeM), we examined four indirect effects: actor-actor (mindfulness, mediator, and outcome of one's own), actor-partner (mindfulness, and mediator of oneself, and outcome of the partner), partner-actor (the partner's mindfulness, and mediator, and outcome of one's own), and partner-partner (mindfulness, and outcome of oneself, and mediator of the partner). Results: Results of the dyadic actor-partner interdependence mediation models suggested different indirect effects for females and males. For females, there were significant actor-actor, actor-partner indirect effects across mindfulness and its four subdomains (Describing, Acting with Awareness, Non-judging, and Non-reactivity). For males, there were significant actor-partner, partner-actor, and partner-partner across mindfulness and Describing and Acting with Awareness facets. Conclusions: Trait mindfulness may have helped couples maintain their relationships by decreasing their and their partners' perceived stress within and across dyads. Preregistration: This study is not preregistered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in cancer immunotherapy, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), have revolutionized the clinical outcome of many cancer patients. Despite the fact that impressive progress has been made in recent decades, the response rate remains unsatisfactory, and many patients do not benefit from ICIs. Herein, we summarized advanced studies and the latest insights on immune inhibitory factors in the tumor microenvironment. Our in-depth discussion and updated landscape of tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment may provide new strategies for reversing tumor immune evasion, enhancing the efficacy of ICIs therapy, and ultimately achieving a better clinical outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the CT features of incidental rib enhancement (RE) and to summarize the CT characteristics for distinguishing the RE from sclerotic metastasis (SM) in patients with malignancies. Material and methods: This retrospective observational study enrolled 79 patients with RE (involved 133 ribs) during October 2014 and December 2021. Another 53 patients with SM (160 SM) in the same period were selected randomly for comparison. The location, enhancement patterns of RE were reviewed. The CT values of RE regions and SM were measured and statistically analyzed. Results: Most REs (70 patients, 88.6%) were in the 1st to 6th ribs. 50 patients had solitary RE and 29 with multiple REs in a regional distribution. All the REs were closely connected to the intercostal venous plexus (ICVP) ipsilateral to the injection site. No visible abnormalities on unenhanced scans were detected in all REs. One hundred and twenty REs (90.2%) had nodular/patchy enhancement. The CT value of RE regions in the venous phase was lower than that in the arterial phase (589.8 ± 344.2 HU versus 1188.5 ± 325.3 HU, p < 0.001). During the venous phase, most REs (125, 94.0%) shrank or disappeared. SM appeared similar on both contrast-enhanced and unenhanced scans in terms of shape and CT values. Conclusion: The RE demonstrated characteristic CT features. The manifestations of nodular/patchy enhancement in the arterial phase, decreased density and shrinkage or disappearance during the venous phase, and no abnormality on unenhanced scans, as well as a close connection with the ICVP, may help differentiate RE from SM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The implementation of the universal two-child policy contributes to adverse pregnancy outcomes, but how the policy change leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes is not well elaborated. In this study, we aimed to compare maternal characteristics and complications, accessed the change in the proportion of maternal characteristics and maternal complications, and evaluated the mediation of maternal characteristics on maternal complications. Methods: Demographic and clinical data of three-level sample facilities were extracted from China's National Maternity Near Miss Obstetrics Surveillance System from Jan 1, 2012 to May 31, 2021. The associations between the universal two-child policy and maternal risk factors, the universal two-child policy and maternal complications, and maternal risk factors and maternal complications were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analyses, with odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Mediation analysis was used to estimate the potential mediation effects on the associations between the policy and maternal complications. Population-attributable fractions (PAF) were conducted to quantify the maternal complications burden attributable to the implementation of the universal two-child policy. Results: In the context of the universal two-child policy, the incidence of maternal near miss, antepartum or intrapartum complication, and post-partum complication increased at municipal- and county-level sample facilities. After adjusting for covariables, there were significant associations between the universal two-child policy and maternal risk factors (P < 0.001), the universal two-child policy and an increased risk of maternal complications (P < 0.001), and maternal risk factors and maternal complications(P < 0.001). The effects of the universal two-child policy on maternal near miss and medical disease were significantly mediated by maternal risk factors with mediation proportions of 19.77% and 4.07% at the municipal-level sample facility, and mediation proportions for 2.72% at the county-level sample facility on medical disease. The universal two-child policy contributed 19.34%, 5.82%, 8.29%, and 46.19% in the incidence of the maternal near miss, antepartum or intrapartum complication, post-partum complication, and medical disease at municipal-level sample facility, respectively. The corresponding PAF% at county-level sample facility was 40.49% for maternal near miss, 32.39% for the antepartum or intrapartum complication, 61.44% for post-partum complication, and 77.72% for medical disease. For provincial-level sample facility, the incidence of maternal near miss, antepartum or intrapartum complications, and medical diseases decreased (P < 0.05) and no statistically significant difference occurred in the incidence of post-partum complications. Conclusions: In the context of the universal two-child policy, the incidence of maternal near miss, antepartum or intrapartum complication, and post-partum complication increased at municipal- and county-level sample facility. Maternal risk factors may play a mediating role in the effect of policy change and maternal complications. Provincial hospitals have been able to improve the quality of perinatal health care and reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes by adjusting their obstetric service strategies in the context of the new birth policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a series of Zn-doped Pd/MoC catalysts with different Zn loadings were prepared and employed for the hydrogen production from methanol steam reforming (MSR) at low temperature. The catalysts prepared in this study were fully analyzed by different characterization technologies. The results showed that the addition of small amounts of Zn to Pd/MoC catalyst favored the formation of α-MoC1-x phase and raised the Pd dispersion on the surface of MoC, which led to increased catalytic activity (in terms of methanol conversion and H2 production rate) for MSR. By comparison, the ZnPd/MoC catalysts with high contents of Zn exhibited poor hydrogen production activity at the same reaction conditions. This could be attributed to the fact that the introduction of high contents of Zn into Pd/MoC catalyst decreased the formation of α-MoC1-x phase and weakened the interaction between Pd particles and MoC. However, the ZnPd/MoC catalysts with high contents of Zn showed lower CO selectivity, attributable to the existence of more Pd-Zn alloy. The optimal 0.5ZnPd/MoC catalyst possessed the best catalytic activity for MSR at 160 °C. In addition, despite deactivation at the initial stage of reaction, the 0.5ZnPd/MoC catalyst exhibited a stable catalytic activity at 160 and 240 °C during 170 h of continuous running. From the results, this study provides a way to the rational design of catalysts with high activity and selectivity for MSR at low temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/hypothesis: Mutations in Isl1, encoding the insulin enhancer-binding protein islet-1 (ISL1), may contribute to attenuated insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes mellitus. We made an Isl1E283D mouse model to investigate the disease-causing mechanism of diabetes mellitus. Methods: The ISL1E283D mutation (c. 849A>T) was identified by whole exome sequencing on an early-onset type 2 diabetes family and then the Isl1E283D knockin (KI) mouse model was created and an IPGTT and IPITT were conducted. Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS), expression of Ins2 and other ISL1 target genes and interacting proteins were evaluated in isolated pancreas islets. Transcriptional activity of Isl1E283D was evaluated by cell-based luciferase reporter assay and electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and the expression levels of Ins2 driven by Isl1 wild-type (Isl1WT) and Isl1E283D mutation in rat INS-1 cells were determined by RT-PCR and western blotting. Results: Impaired GSIS and elevated glucose level were observed in Isl1E283D KI mice while expression of Ins2 and other ISL1 target genes Mafa, Pdx1, Slc2a2 and the interacting protein NeuroD1 were downregulated in isolated islets. Transcriptional activity of the Isl1E283D mutation for Ins2 was reduced by 59.3%, and resulted in a marked downregulation of Ins2 expression when it was overexpressed in INS-1 cells, while overexpression of Isl1WT led to an upregulation of Ins2 expression. Conclusions/interpretation: Isl1E283D mutation reduces insulin expression and secretion by regulating insulin and other target genes, as well as its interacting proteins such as NeuroD1, leading to the development of glucose intolerance in the KI mice, which recapitulated the human diabetic phenotype. This study identified and highlighted the Isl1E283D mutation as a novel causative factor for type 2 diabetes, and suggested that targeting transcription factor ISL1 could offer an innovative avenue for the precise treatment of human type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of COVID-19 rampant worldwide since 2019, the stock of disposable single-use face masks (SUFMs) has climbed steadily, which results in an urgent worldwide environmental problem. This study aims to propose a potential method for processing and utilizing SUFMs in soil reinforcement to address the significant volume of discarded masks, thereby contributing to geotechnical engineering construction. Hence, in this study, SUFMs were prepared into three geosynthetic forms considered potential candidate options: fibers, geotextiles, and geocells. The performance of geosynthetics-reinforced sand was assessed by the static triaxial tests by considering the fibers reinforcement with the content of 0.25% and 1.0%, single-layer and three-layer geotextiles reinforcement, and geocells reinforcement. A series of numerical simulations were also conducted to investigate the failure mechanisms of various reinforced forms. The experimental results show that the three geosynthetic types can improve the sandy soil's shear strength and apparent cohesion. The SUFMs fibers reduce the elastic modulus due to the higher compressibility of the SUFMs, while the elastic modulus of geotextile and geocell-reinforced soil samples is elevated. The numerical analysis results indicate that the SUFMs fibers and geotextiles can limit the lateral deformation and spread the shear stress over a wider area through the interface friction between geosynthetics and soil. On the other hand, the vertical walls of geocells can provide direct lateral restraint, and the reinforcement effect is more direct and better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the strongest interannual climate mode influencing the coupled ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific, and numerous dynamical and statistical models have been developed to simulate and predict it. In some simplified coupled ocean-atmosphere models, the relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies and wind stress (τ) anomalies can be constructed by statistical methods, such as singular value decomposition (SVD). In recent years, the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) to climate modeling have shown promising prospects, and the integrations of AI-based models with dynamical models are active areas of research. This study constructs U-Net models for representing the relationship between SSTAs and τ anomalies in the tropical Pacific; the UNet-derived τ model, denoted as τUNet, is then used to replace the original SVD-based τ model of an intermediate coupled model (ICM), forming a newly AI-integrated ICM, referred to as ICM-UNet. The simulation results obtained from ICM-UNet demonstrate their ability to represent the spatiotemporal variability of oceanic and atmospheric anomaly fields in the equatorial Pacific. In the ocean-only case study, the τUNet-derived wind stress anomaly fields are used to force the ocean component of the ICM, the results of which also indicate reasonable simulations of typical ENSO events. These results demonstrate the feasibility of integrating an AI-derived model with a physics-based dynamical model for ENSO modeling studies. Furthermore, the successful integration of the dynamical ocean models with the AI-based atmospheric wind model provides a novel approach to ocean-atmosphere interaction modeling studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]