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Sea cucumbers are economical and ecologically important species, playing a crucial role in nutrient recycling in the ocean and providing valuable bioactive compounds for nutrition. Previous research has demonstrated that microplastic fibers, which are widely recognized as emerging contaminants, are transferred to the perivisceral coelomic fluid during respiration in sea cucumbers; however, their fate in sea cucumbers is still not well understood. We tracked the status of sea cucumbers (Apostichopus japonicus) with polyester microplastic fibers in their coelomic fluid in clean water. The results showed that after transferring sea cucumbers to clean water, the number of microplastic fibers transferred significantly decreased in the coelomic fluid, but at least one microplastic fiber was found up to 60 days. In addition, sea cucumbers recovered from the effect of microplastic fiber transfer, as indicated by enzyme levels and histological observations. Furthermore, single microplastic fiber transfer over a 60‐day farmed period did not significantly affect the growth of sea cucumbers. However, repetitive microplastic fiber transfer (i.e., twice and thrice a week over 60 days) significantly decreased the growth rate (p < 0.05). Accordingly, increasing microplastic fibers in sea cucumber habitats pose a threat to sea cucumbers because they can disrupt development. Thus, farmers are advised to select locations for farming sea cucumbers where low microplastic fiber concentrations are expected. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:205–212. © 2022 SETAC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allograft bone fractures are critical complications in massive allograft bone transplantations. There are limited studies available on the application of 3D printing for massive allograft bone transplantation complications, and no related reports on the treatment of an allograft bone fracture with a complete biological intramedullary nail. A complex case of allograft bone fracture after massive bone transplantation for a right tibial osteosarcoma was treated with fixation of an individualized 3D printed biological tibial intramedullary nail. Prior to the operation, the intramedullary nail was designed and printed based on the results of computed tomography examination of the affected limb, and the surface of the intramedullary nail was treated with a hydroxyapatite coating. Intraoperatively, the intramedullary nail was implanted according to the preoperative 3D design plan. The intraoperative and postoperative examinations showed that the 3D printed intramedullary nail achieved good matching between the implant and the medullary cavity, and the biological coating integrated well with surrounding bone. The follow‐up results 44 months postoperatively showed that the patient was satisfied with the surgical results, where his ankle function met his daily needs, and the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society score was 24. 3D printing tibial intramedullary nail fixation can be successful in the treatment of allograft bone fractures and should be considered as a treatment of choice. In this case, the intramedullary nail matched the surrounding bone well, had good osseointegration, and the patient regained basic function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Ustekinumab is effective in treating Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). However, the loss of response (LOR) to ustekinumab and the efficacy of dose escalation have not been systematically explored. Methods: Databases were searched for eligible studies from inception through July 2021. Summary estimates were pooled, and subgroup analyses were performed to explore heterogeneity. Results: We included 14 studies (CD: 13; UC: 1). In CD patients, the annual risk of LOR to ustekinumab and dose escalation among primary responders was 21% (95% confidence interval [CI] 12–31%, 1530 person‐years, n = 9) per person‐year and 25% (95% CI 12–32%, 657 person‐years, n = 5) per person‐year respectively. Clinical response was regained in 58% (95% CI 49–67%, 279 patients, n = 8) of secondary non‐responders after dose escalation (interval reduction or intravenous reinduction). In UC patients, no studies provided data on LOR, but only one study showed that 35% (100/284) of patients underwent dose escalation (or sham dose adjustment), leading to an annual risk of dose escalation of 18% per person‐year. After dose escalation, 58% (14/24) of the patients regained symptomatic remission. Conclusions: Primary responders with CD experienced LOR to ustekinumab at a risk of 21% per person‐year and required dose escalation at a risk of 25% per person‐year. Fifty‐eight per cent of secondary non‐responders with CD may benefit from dose escalation. LOR has not been well characterized in patients with UC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous acoustic‐absorbing materials currently used to solve noise pollution mainly include polyurethane composite materials and porous fibers which are dedicated to achieving good noise reduction effects in a wide frequency range. Nevertheless, traditional porous acoustic‐absorbing materials face irreparable defects as required by the multifunction and high energy efficiency. The reason is nothing more than the internal microstructure of conventional acoustic‐absorbing materials is difficult to be precisely controlled by macroscopic operations, resulting in poor mass transfer capability and low energy conversion efficiency. In this work, by customized design of controlled mechanical foaming and atmospheric drying technique, a custom‐built graphene aerogel (cGA) as acoustic‐absorbing material with an acoustic absorption coefficient approaching 100% is prepared, which can efficiently absorb noise at an assigned frequency (2000–6000 Hz range) according to individual needs. Through simple stacking, cGAs expand from single‐frequency absorption to multi‐frequency high‐efficiency absorption. What is more significant is that a single aerogel has electrical signal responses of different intensities to sounds of different frequencies, which allows to build the aerogel into an acoustic detector to convert noise signals into electrical signals and realize the goal of sound fingerprint detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible aqueous rechargeable batteries that integrate excellent mechanical flexibility and reliable safety hold a great promise for next‐generation wearable electronics. Unfortunately, currently available options are unsatisfactory due to their low specific capacity, limited energy density, and unstable voltage output. Herein, to overcome these challenges, high theoretical specific capacity zinc and sulfur as the anode and cathode are selected, respectively. Furthermore, a strategy is proposed, that decoupling charge carriers in anolyte and catholyte to simultaneously endow the zinc anode and sulfur cathode with optimal redox chemistry, maximizes the energy storage of flexible aqueous batteries. The new zinc–sulfur hybrid battery possesses merits of ultrahigh theoretical specific capacity (3350 mAh gS−1) and volumetric energy density (3868 Wh L−1), low cost, ecofriendliness, and ease of fabrication and is a promising next‐generation aqueous energy storage system. The fabricated flexible aqueous zinc–sulfur hybrid battery delivers a stable output voltage (release 92% of its full capacity within a small voltage drop of 0.15 V) and an ultrahigh reversible capacity of 2063 mAh gS−1 at 100 mA gS−1, thus setting a new benchmark for flexible aqueous batteries and is promising to play a part in future flexible electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract: As an intertidal species, Apostichopus japonicus is subject to diel and seasonal temperature fluctuations. Color variation is a distinct characteristic of A. japonicus, and a new color morph, purple A. japonicus, was recently found on the coast of Rushan, Weihai City. This study was conducted to compare the performance of green, white, and purple color morphs of A. japonicus at different water temperatures to help improving aquaculture technology and management. In this study, green, white, and purple color morphs of juvenile A. japonicus (1.5 ± 0.1 g) were cultured at 10, 14, 18, 22, and 26 C for 60 d, according to the suitable temperature range for sea cucumber growth. Temperature was shown to have a significant effect on growth, energy budget, and physiology of sea cucumbers (P < 0.05). Specific growth rates, feed conversion efficiencies, and the proportion of energy allocated to growth of all three color morphs were optimal at 18 C. Activities of the enzymes related with oxidative stress, immune response, and digestion were determined. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and trypsin activities generally reached a maximum in all three color morphs at 18 C. The purple color morph of A. japonicus was higher in growth rate, food conversion efficiency, and proportion of energy allocated to growth than green and white color morphs at 18 and 22 C, consistent with its higher trypsin and SOD activity, indicating the mutual effect of growth and physiology. At 18, 22, and 26 C, the green color morph had the highest level of lysozyme activity and purple color morph had the lowest, indicating possible infection by external pathogens of green color morph, which might be caused by high temperature. These results suggested that the optimum temperature for culture of the three color morphs was approximately 18 C, the purple had a better adaption to high temperature, and the green and white color morphs may be more susceptible to thermal stress than the purple color morph. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient charge generation ability of the MoOx/transparent amorphous oxide semiconductor (TAOS) bi-layer is reported. The MoOx/TAOS bi-layer charge generation layer (CGL) exhibited high optical transparency, low carrier injection barrier and low driving voltage for tandem OLEDs. It was also discovered that TAOS has ohmic contact with MoOx, which resulted in very small voltage drop across the charge generation layer. These results suggest that novel tandem white OLEDs with low driving voltage would be realized using the MoOx/ TAOS CGL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A donor copolymer Poly{2,6-4,8-bis(2-ethylhexyl)benzo[1,2-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene-5,8-2,3-bis(5-octylthiophen-2-yl)quinoxaline} (PBDTThQx) with benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene and quinoxaline derivatives was synthesized and characterized with NMR, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analyses, and cyclic voltammetry. Photovoltaic devices with the configuration indium tin oxide-poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrene sulfonate)-PBDTThQx-[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM)-LiF-Al were fabricated, in which PBDTThQx performed as the electron donor and PC61BM was the electron acceptor in the active layer. The device presented reasonable photovoltaic properties when the weight ratio of PBDTThQx:PC61BM reached 1:3. The open-circuit voltage, fill factor, and power conversion efficiency were gauged to be 0.75 V, 0.59, and 0.74%, respectively. The experimental data implied that PBDTThQx would be a promising donor candidate in the application of polymer solar cells. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40279. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zn-S Hybrid Batteries: Maximizing Energy Storage of Flexible Aqueous Batteries through Decoupling Charge Carriers (Adv. Decoupling charge carriers, flexible aqueous batteries, ultrahigh capacity, zinc-sulfur hybrid batteries Keywords: decoupling charge carriers; flexible aqueous batteries; ultrahigh capacity; zinc-sulfur hybrid batteries EN decoupling charge carriers flexible aqueous batteries ultrahigh capacity zinc-sulfur hybrid batteries 1 1 1 04/19/21 20210415 NES 210415 In article number 2003982, Zhipan Zhang, Liangti Qu, and co-workers decouple charge carriers in opposite electrodes to construct a new flexible aqueous Zn-S hybrid battery with ultrahigh specific capacity. [Extracted from the article]

Low dissolved oxygen (LO) conditions represent a major environmental challenge to marine life, especially benthic animals. For these organisms, drastic declines in oxygen availability (hypoxic events) can trigger mass mortality events and thus, act as agents of selection influencing the evolution of adaptations. In sea cucumbers, one of the most successful groups of benthic invertebrates, the exposure to hypoxic conditions triggers adaptive adjustments in metabolic rates and behaviour. It is unclear, however, how these adaptive responses are regulated and the genetic mechanisms underpinning them. Here, we addressed this knowledge gap by assessing the genetic regulation (transcription and translation) of hypoxia exposure in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. Transcriptional and translational gene expression profiles under short‐ and long‐term exposure to low oxygen conditions are tightly associated with extracellular matrix (ECM)–receptor interaction in which laminin and collagen likely have important functions. Finding revealed that genes with a high translational efficiency (TE) had a relatively short upstream open reading frame (uORF) and a high uORF normalized minimal free energy, suggesting that sea cucumbers may respond to hypoxic stress via altered TE. These results provide valuable insights into the regulatory mechanisms that confer adaptive capacity to holothurians to survive oxygen deficiency conditions and may also be used to inform the development of strategies for mitigating the harmful effects of hypoxia on other marine invertebrates facing similar challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]