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Electrolytes endowed with high oxidation/reduction interfacial stability, fast Li‐ion desolvation process and decent ionic conductivity over wide temperature region are known critical for low temperature and fast‐charging performance of energy‐dense batteries, yet these characteristics are rarely satisfied simultaneously. Here, we report anchored weakly‐solvated electrolytes (AWSEs), that are designed by extending the chain length of polyoxymethylene ether electrolyte solvent, can achieve the above merits at moderate salt concentrations. The −O−CH2−O− segment in solvent enables the weak four‐membered ring Li+ coordination structure and the increased number of segments can anchor the solvent by Li+ without largely sacrificing the ionic dissociation ability. Therefore, the single salt/single solvent AWSEs enable solvent co‐intercalation‐free behavior towards graphite (Gr) anode and high oxidation stability towards high‐nickel cathode (LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2‐NCM811), as well as the formation of inorganic rich electrode/electrolyte interphase on both of them due to the anion‐rich solvation shells. The capacity retention of Gr||NCM811 Ah‐class pouch cell can reach 70.85 % for 1000 cycles at room‐temperature and 75.86 % for 400 cycles at −20 °C. This work points out a promising path toward the molecular design of electrolyte solvents for high‐energy/power battery systems that are adaptive for extreme conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contact electrification (CE) is an emerging strategy for controlling the performance of metal nanoparticle (NP) catalysts. The underlying physical principle of this control is the sensitivity of the Fermi level to metal‐metal contacts. This change in electronic structure has a direct impact on surface properties and chemical reactivity. The concept article briefly introduces the basic theory of CE and its relationship to catalytic performance. We then highlight selected recent examples of advances in the preparation of hybrid metal NP assemblies, experimental techniques for characterizing CE, and finally applications of CE for altering catalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose Experimental Approach Key Results Conclusion and Implications Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a refractory inflammatory disease associated with immune dysregulation. Elevated levels of heat shock protein (HSP) 90 in the β but not α subtype were positively associated with disease status in UC patients. This study validated the possibility that pharmacological inhibition or reduction of HSP90β would alleviate colitis, induced by dextran sulfate sodium, in mice and elucidated its mechanisms.Histopathological and biochemical analysis assessed disease severity, and bioinformatics and correlation analysis explained the association between the many immune cells and HSP90β. Flow cytometry was used to analyse the homeostasis and transdifferentiation of Th17 and Treg cells. In vitro inhibition and adoptive transfer assays were used to investigate functions of the phenotypically transformed Th17 cells. Metabolomic analysis, DNA methylation detection and chromatin immunoprecipitation were used to explore these mechanisms.The selective pharmacological inhibitor (HSP90βi) and shHSP90β significantly mitigated UC in mice and promoted transformation of Th17 to Treg cell phenotype, via Foxp3 transcription. The phenotypically‐transformed Th17 cells by HSP90βi or shHSP90β were able to inhibit lymphocyte proliferation and colitis in mice. HSP90βi and shHSP90β selectively weakened glycolysis by stopping the direct association of HSP90β and GLUT1, the key glucose transporter, to accelerate ubiquitination degradation of GLUT1, and enhance the methylation of Foxp3 CNS2 region. Then, the mediator path was identified as the “lactate‐STAT5‐TET2” cascade.HSP90β shapes the fate of Th17 cells via glycolysis‐controlled methylation modification to affect UC progression, which provides a new therapeutic target for UC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore the association between drinking water sources and cognitive functioning among older adults residing in rural China. Methods: Data were extracted from the 2008–2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Drinking water sources were categorized according to whether purification measures were employed. The Chinese version of the Mini‐Mental State Examination was used for cognitive functioning assessment, and the score of <24 was considered as having cognitive dysfunction. Cox regression analyses were conducted to derive hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the effects of various drinking water sources, changes in such sources, and its interaction with exercise on cognition dysfunction. Results: We included 2304 respondents aged 79.67 ± 10.02 years; of them, 1084 (44.49%) were men. Our adjusted model revealed that respondents consistently drinking tap water were 21% less likely to experience cognitive dysfunction compared with those drinking untreated water (HR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.70–0.90). Respondents transitioning from natural to tap water showed were 33% less likely to experience cognitive dysfunction (HR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.58–0.78). Moreover, the HR (95% CI) for the interaction between drinking tap water and exercising was 0.86 (0.75–1.00) when compared with that between drinking untreated water and not exercising. All results adjusted for age, occupation, exercise, and body mass index. Conclusions: Prolonged tap water consumption and switching from untreated water to tap water were associated with a decreased risk of cognitive dysfunction in older individuals. Additionally, exercising and drinking tap water was synergistically associated with the low incidence of cognitive dysfunction. These findings demonstrate the importance of prioritizing drinking water health in rural areas, indicating that purified tap water can enhance cognitive function among older adults. Key points: Prolonged untreated water use raised cognitive dysfunction in rural older adults.Changing untreated water to tap water is associated with low cognitive dysfunction.Exercise and tap water were synergistically associated with low cognitive function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: There is limited evidence on the associations of dietary factors and patterns with risk of later‐onset ulcerative colitis (UC) in Chinese adults. Aims: To investigate the associations of dietary factors and patterns with risk of later‐onset UC in Chinese. Methods: The prospective China Kadoorie Biobank cohort study recruited 512,726 participants aged 30–79. Dietary habits were assessed using food frequency questionnaires. Dietary patterns were derived by factor analysis with a principal component method. Cox regression analysis was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: During a median follow‐up of 12.1 years, 312 cases of newly diagnosed UC were documented (median age of diagnosis 60.1 years). Egg consumption was associated with higher risk of UC (HR for daily vs. never or rarely: 2.29 [95% CI: 1.26–4.16]), while spicy food consumption was inversely associated with risk of UC (HR: 0.63 [0.45–0.88]). The traditional northern dietary pattern, characterised by high intake of wheat and low intake of rice, was associated with higher risk of UC (HR for highest vs. lowest quartile of score: 2.79 [1.93–4.05]). The modern dietary pattern, characterised by high intake of animal‐origin foods and fruits, was associated with higher risk of UC (HR: 2.48 [1.63–3.78]). Population attributable fraction was 13.04% (7.71%–19.11%) for daily/almost daily consumption of eggs and 9.87% (1.94%–18.22%) for never/rarely consumption of spicy food. Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of evaluating dietary factors and patterns in the primary prevention of later‐onset UC in Chinese adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human factors are considered the main cause of accidents involving pipeline explosionf. In order to identify the path of human‐induced explosion accidents, a gas pipeline explosion that occurred in Shiyan city of China is investigated thoroughly in this study. Applying the 24Model, the causes of the accident are classified into two levels: organizational and individual. The organizational level causes are further categorized into two elements, namely safety culture and safety management system. The individual level causes are further categorized into personal abilities and safety behaviors—both unsafe actions and unsafe conditions. The 24Model methodology further refines unsafe actions and unsafe conditions into subcategories for increased clarity. Based on the 24Model, it was determined that the Shinyan City incident was caused by gaps in personal abilities, which included insufficient safety knowledge, low safety awareness, and bad safety habits. Causes related to ability factors, safety management system, and safety culture were also identified. In addition, the relationship between the identified factors was developed according to the roles played by the accident causes, and the propagation path of the accident was established. This clarity helps to strengthen safety measures related to human factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthworms, long utilized in traditional medicine, serve as a source of inspiration for modern therapeutics. Lysenin, a defensive factor in the coelom fluid of the earthworm Eisenia fetida, has multiple bioactivities. However, the inherent toxicity of Lysenin as a pore‐forming protein (PFP) restricts its application in therapy. Here, a gene therapy strategy based on Lysenin for cancer treatment is presented. The formulation consists of polymeric nanoparticles complexed with the plasmid encoding Lysenin. After transfection in vitro, melanoma cells can express Lysenin, resulting in necrosis, autophagy, and immunogenic cell death. The secretory signal peptide alters the intracellular distribution of the expressed product of Lysenin, thereby potentiating its anticancer efficacy. The intratumor injection of Lysenin gene formulation can efficiently kill the transfected melanoma cells and activate the antitumor immune response. Notably, no obvious systemic toxicity is observed during the treatment. Non‐viral gene therapy based on Lysenin derived from Eisenia foetida exhibits potential in cancer therapy, which can inspire future cancer therapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread use of pesticides poses significant challenges to the safety of agricultural products and the ecological environment. Levan‐type fructans have the ability to act as an induced resistance stimulus, enhancing plant disease resistance, which aligns with the principles of green development. This study showed that levan polysaccharide, produced by Halomonas smyrnnensis levansucrase, could induce the resistance of barley to Fusarium graminearum much better than inulin‐type fructans or low‐molecular‐weight chitosan oligosaccharide. Three different application methods of levan, namely seed soaking, leaf spraying or their combination, all decreased the necrotic areas caused by F. graminearum and Rhizoctonia solani. When inoculated with F. graminearum, the content of hydrogen peroxide, proline or jasmonic acid and the activities of peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase in levan‐treated barley were higher than those in the control. In contrast, when inoculated with R. solani, the hydrogen peroxide content and peroxidase activity in levan‐treated leaves showed a faster induction than the control at the early priming and the content of proline and methyl salicylate was higher than that of the control. Thus, levan induces distinct pathways in response to different pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to establish a set of perfect heterojunction designs and characterization schemes, step‐scheme (S‐scheme) BiOBr@Bi2S3 nanoheterojunctions that enable the charge separation and expand the scope of catalytic reactions, aiming to promote the development and improvement of heterojunction engineering is developed. In this kind of heterojunction system, the Fermi levels mediate the formation of the internal electric field at the interface and guide the recombination of the weak redox carriers, while the strong redox carriers are retained. Thus, these high‐energy electrons and holes are able to catalyze a variety of substrates in the tumor microenvironment, such as the reduction of oxygen and carbon dioxide to superoxide radicals and carbon monoxide (CO), and the oxidation of H2O to hydroxyl radicals, thus achieving sonodynamic therapy and CO combined therapy. Mechanistically, the generated reactive oxygen species and CO damage DNA and inhibit cancer cell energy levels, respectively, to synergistically induce tumor cell apoptosis. This study provides new insights into the realization of high efficiency and low toxicity in catalytic therapy from a unique perspective of materials design. It is anticipated that this catalytic therapeutic method will garner significant interest in the sonocatalytic nanomedicine field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infection by certain pathogens is associated with cancer development. We conducted a case‐cohort study of ~2500 incident cases of esophageal, gastric and duodenal cancer, and gastric and duodenal ulcer and a randomly selected subcohort of ~2000 individuals within the China Kadoorie Biobank study of >0.5 million adults. We used a bead‐based multiplex serology assay to measure antibodies against 19 pathogens (total 43 antigens) in baseline plasma samples. Associations between pathogens and antigen‐specific antibodies with risks of site‐specific cancers and ulcers were assessed using Cox regression fitted using the Prentice pseudo‐partial likelihood. Seroprevalence varied for different pathogens, from 0.7% for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) to 99.8% for Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) in the subcohort. Compared to participants seronegative for the corresponding pathogen, Helicobacter pylori seropositivity was associated with a higher risk of non‐cardia (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 2.73 [95% CI: 2.09–3.58]) and cardia (1.67 [1.18–2.38]) gastric cancer and duodenal ulcer (2.71 [1.79–4.08]). HCV was associated with a higher risk of duodenal cancer (6.23 [1.52–25.62]) and Hepatitis B virus was associated with higher risk of duodenal ulcer (1.46 [1.04–2.05]). There were some associations of antibodies again some herpesviruses and human papillomaviruses with risks of gastrointestinal cancers and ulcers but these should be interpreted with caution. This first study of multiple pathogens with risk of gastrointestinal cancers and ulcers demonstrated that several pathogens are associated with risks of gastrointestinal cancers and ulcers. This will inform future investigations into the role of infection in the etiology of these diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate warming is accelerating permafrost degradation. The large amounts of soil organic matter in permafrost‐affected soils are prone to increased microbial decomposition in a warming climate. Along with permafrost degradation, changes to the soil microbiome play a crucial role in enhancing our understanding and in predicting the feedback of permafrost carbon. In this article, we review the current state of knowledge of carbon‐cycling microbial ecology in permafrost regions. Microbiomes in degrading permafrost exhibit variations across spatial and temporal scales. Among the short‐term, rapid degradation scenarios, thermokarst lakes have distinct biogeochemical conditions promoting emission of greenhouse gases. Additionally, extreme climatic events can trigger drastic changes in microbial consortia and activity. Notably, environmental conditions appear to exert a dominant influence on microbial assembly in permafrost ecosystems. Furthermore, as the global climate is closely connected to various permafrost regions, it will be crucial to extend our understanding beyond local scales, for example by conducting comparative and integrative studies between Arctic permafrost and alpine permafrost on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau at global and continental scales. These comparative studies will enhance our understanding of microbial functioning in degrading permafrost ecosystems and help inform effective strategies for managing and mitigating the impacts of climate change on permafrost regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To systematically evaluate the effects of quality nursing care on wound pain and anxiety in burn patients. Computerised searches of PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, Embase, Wanfang, China Biomedical Literature Database and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on the application of quality nursing care to burn patients were carried out from database inception to October 2023. Literature was screened and evaluated by two researchers based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and data were extracted from the final included literature. Stata 17.0 software was employed for data analysis. Overall, 15 RCTs and 1115 burn patients were included, including 563 and 552 in the quality care and routine care groups. It was found that, compared with routine care, burn patients who implemented quality care had significantly less wound pain (SMD: −1.79, 95% CI: −2.22 to −1.36, p < 0.001), anxiety (SMD: −2.71. 95% CI: −3.49 to −1.92, p < 0.001) and depression (SMD: −1.74, 95% CI: −2.35 to −1.14, p < 0.001) levels were significantly reduced post‐trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, sparse arrays based on the fourth‐order difference coarray (FODCA) have received increased research attention due to their small number of array elements and large consecutive virtual arrays. The expanding and shift structure based on the nested array (NA) and coprime array (CPA) (EAS‐NA‐CPA) is the representative one. The EAS‐NA‐CPA comprises two sparse subarrays, wherein the NA is expanded and shifted according to the second‐order difference coarray of the CPA. Although the number of consecutive elements is large, there are many redundant elements in the FODCA of the EAS‐NA‐CPA. To decrease the number of redundant elements and increase the number of consecutive elements in the FODCA, the authors proposed the enhanced EAS‐NA‐CPA (EEAS‐NA‐CPA). Compared with the original EAS‐NA‐CPA, the EEAS‐NA‐CPA increases the adjacent physical sensor spacing further by using more fourth‐order cross‐correlation coarrays in the FODCA, which are not considered in the original EAS‐NA‐CPA. By performing a theoretical analysis of the FODCA provided by the proposed EEAS‐NA‐CPA, the sensor spacing in the expanded NA was further increased to obtain a larger number of consecutive elements compared with the original EAS‐NA‐CPA. Furthermore, the relationship between the number of physical sensors and corresponding number of consecutive elements provided by the FODCA was explicitly expressed. Experimental simulations were conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed sparse array for the fourth‐order cumulant‐based direction of arrival estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: The rapid synthesis of structurally complicated electron donors & acceptors still remains a major challenge in organic solar cells (OSC). In this work, we developed a highly efficient strategy to access long‐chain oligomeric donor and acceptors for OSC applications. A series of cyclopentadithiophene (CPDT) and benzothiadiazole (BT)‐based π‐conjugated oligomers, i.e., three oligomeric acceptors (BTDT)n‐IC (n = 1—3) and one long‐chain oligomeric donor (BTDT)4‐RD, are facilely synthesized by an atom‐ and step‐economical, and labor‐saving direct C—H arylation (DACH) reaction (i.e., C—H/C—Br cross coupling). Note that (BTDT)4‐RD involving five CPDT, four BT and two rhodamine (RD) building blocks is the longest oligomeric donor in the fullerene‐free OSC devices ever reported. The dependence of the structure‐property‐performance correlation of (BTDT)n‐IC (n = 1—3) and (BTDT)4‐RD on the π‐conjugation lengths is thoroughly investigated by opto‐electrochemical measurements, bulk heterojunction (BHJ) OSC devices and microscopies. The (BTDT)1‐IC:PBDB‐T and (BTDT)4‐RD:Y6 BHJs achieve power conversion efficiencies of 9.14% and 4.51%, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that DACH reaction is a powerful tool to tune the opto‐electronic properties and device performances by regulating the lengths of π‐conjugated oligomers with varied numbers of repeating units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proportion of lung cancer in never smokers is rising, especially among Asian women, but there is no effective early detection tool. Here, we developed a polygenic risk score (PRS), which may help to identify the population with higher risk of lung cancer in never‐smoking women. We first performed a large GWAS meta‐analysis (8595 cases and 8275 controls) to systematically identify the susceptibility loci for lung cancer in never‐smoking Asian women and then generated a PRS using GWAS datasets. Furthermore, we evaluated the utility and effectiveness of PRS in an independent Chinese prospective cohort comprising 55 266 individuals. The GWAS meta‐analysis identified eight known loci and a novel locus (5q11.2) at the genome‐wide statistical significance level of P < 5 × 10−8. Based on the summary statistics of GWAS, we derived a polygenic risk score including 21 variants (PRS‐21) for lung cancer in never‐smoking women. Furthermore, PRS‐21 had a hazard ratio (HR) per SD of 1.29 (95% CI = 1.18‐1.41) in the prospective cohort. Compared with participants who had a low genetic risk, those with an intermediate (HR = 1.32, 95% CI: 1.00‐1.72) and high (HR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.56‐2.80) genetic risk had a significantly higher risk of incident lung cancer. The addition of PRS‐21 to the conventional risk model yielded a modest significant improvement in AUC (0.697 to 0.711) and net reclassification improvement (24.2%). The GWAS‐derived PRS‐21 significantly improves the risk stratification and prediction accuracy for incident lung cancer in never‐smoking Asian women, demonstrating the potential for identification of high‐risk individuals and early screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the 3D spatial structure of a city is increasingly essential for addressing various environmental and management issues, surpassing the importance of traditional 2D analysis. However, existing studies neglect the diversity of building height and still lack a clear description of 3D urban structure. This article proposes a new framework to uncover the 3D urban structure. Firstly, kernel density is employed to reveal the hierarchical spatial structure of buildings and the contour tree method is improved to quantitatively measure the spatial diversity and complexity. Then, the 3D urban structure is abstracted by spatial interpolation after feature filtration. Finally, this framework is applied to the central area of Chengdu City, revealing that: (1) Spatial structures of buildings with different heights exhibit significant diversity, location preference, and complexity; and (2) A globally "depression" 3D urban structure with low center—high periphery is obviously identified. This framework provides an effective way to reveal the 3D urban structure in a more intuitive and clearer way from various disordered urban buildings, which can be transferable to other cities and further facilitate sustainable planning and development of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammalian cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) are key phase I xenobiotic‐metabolizing enzymes that play a distinctive role in metabolic activation or metabolic clearance of a variety of procarcinogens, drugs, and endogenous substances. Human CYP1A subfamily contains two members (hCYP1A1 and hCYP1A2), which are known to catalyze the oxidative activation of some environmental procarcinogens into carcinogenic species. Increasing evidence has demonstrated that CYP1A inhibitor therapies are promising strategies for cancer chemoprevention or overcoming CYP1A‐associated drug toxicity and resistance. Herein, we reviewed recent advances in the discovery and characterization of hCYP1A inhibitors, from the discovery approaches to structural features and biomedical applications of hCYP1A inhibitors. The inhibition potentials, inhibition modes, and inhibition constants of all reported hCYP1A inhibitors are comprehensively summarized. Meanwhile, the structural features and structure–activity relationships of different classes of hCYP1A1 and hCYP1A2 inhibitors are analyzed and discussed in depth. Furthermore, the major challenges and future directions for this field are presented and highlighted. Collectively, the information and knowledge presented here will strongly facilitate the researchers to discover and develop more efficacious CYP1A inhibitors for specific purposes, such as chemo‐preventive agents or as tool molecules in hCYP1A–related fundamental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Abiraterone acetate, a prodrug of abiraterone (ABI), provides an efficient therapeutic option for metastatic castration‐resistant prostate cancer patients. ABI undergoes extensive metabolism in vivo and is transformed into active metabolites Δ4‐abiraterone and 3‐keto‐5α‐abiraterone as well as inactive metabolites abiraterone sulfate and abiraterone N‐oxide sulfate. We aimed to examine the effect of polymorphisms in SLCO2B1, CYP3A4 and UGT1A4 on the pharmacokinetics of ABI and its metabolites. Methods: In this study, 81 healthy Chinese subjects were enrolled and divided into 2 groups for fasted (n = 45) and fed (n = 36) studies. Plasma samples were collected after administering a 250 mg abiraterone acetate tablet followed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Genotyping was performed on a MassARRAY system. The association between SLCO2B1, CYP3A4, UGT1A4 genotype and pharmacokinetic parameters of ABI and its metabolites was assessed. Results: Food effect study demonstrated high fat meal remarkedly increased systemic exposure of ABI and its metabolites. The geometric mean ratio and 90% confidence interval of area under the plasma concentration–time curve from time 0 to the time of the last quantifiable concentration (AUC0‐t) and maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) of ABI in fed state vs. fasted state were 351.64% (286.86%–431.04%) and 478.45% (390.01%–586.94%), respectively, while the corresponding results were ranging from 145.11% to 269.42% and 150.10% to 478.45% for AUC0‐t and Cmax of ABI metabolites in fed state vs. fasted state, respectively. The SLCO2B1 rs1077858 had a significant influence on AUC0‐t and Cmax, while 7 other SLCO2B1 variants prolonged half‐life of ABI under both fasted and fed conditions. As for ABI metabolites, the systemic exposure of Δ4‐abiraterone, abiraterone sulfate and abiraterone N‐oxide sulfate as well as the elimination of 3‐keto‐5α‐abiraterone were significantly affected by SLCO2B1 polymorphisms. Polymorphisms in CYP3A4 and UGT1A4 did not significantly affect pharmacokinetics of ABI and its metabolites. Conclusion: Polymorphisms in SLCO2B1 were significantly related to the pharmacokinetic variability of ABI and its metabolites under both fasted and fed conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease, the progression of the disease following Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection is closely associated with the host's immune response. In this review, a comprehensive analysis of TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment was conducted from an immunological perspective. First, we delved into the host's immune response mechanisms against MTB infection as well as the immune evasion mechanisms of the bacteria. Addressing the challenges currently faced in TB diagnosis and treatment, we also emphasized the importance of protein, genetic, and immunological biomarkers, aiming to provide new insights for early and personalized diagnosis and treatment of TB. Building upon this foundation, we further discussed intervention strategies involving chemical and immunological treatments for the increasingly critical issue of drug‐resistant TB and other forms of TB. Finally, we summarized TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment challenges and put forward future perspectives. Overall, these findings provide valuable insights into the immunological aspects of TB and offer new directions toward achieving the WHO's goal of eradicating TB by 2035. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: There is little evidence on the genetic associations between life‐course adiposity (including birth weight, childhood BMI, and adulthood BMI) and severe liver disease (SLD; including cirrhosis and liver cancer). The current study aimed to examine and contrast these associations. Methods: Genetic variants were obtained from genome‐wide association studies. Two‐sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were performed to assess the genetic associations of life‐course adiposity with SLD and liver biomarkers. Cox regression was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios for SLD associated with genetic risk scores of life‐course adiposity and adulthood weight change in the China Kadoorie Biobank. Results: In observational analyses, genetic predispositions to childhood adiposity and adulthood adiposity were each associated with SLD. There was a U‐shaped association between adulthood weight change and risk of SLD. In meta‐analyses of MR results, genetically predicted 1‐standard deviation increase in birth weight was inversely associated with SLD at a marginal significance (odds ratio: 0.81 [95% CI: 0.65–1.00]), whereas genetically predicted 1‐standard deviation higher childhood BMI and adulthood BMI were positively associated with SLD (odds ratio: 1.27 [95% CI: 1.05–1.55] and 1.79 [95% CI: 1.59–2.01], respectively). The results of liver biomarkers mirrored those of SLD. Conclusions: The current study provided genetic evidence on the associations between life‐course adiposity and SLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a common air pollutant that has been reported to cause oxidative stress and carcinogenesis. Wogonin, a flavonoid compound extracted from the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis, has been found to possess a variety of pharmacological activities, including anti‐inflammatory and anti‐cancer effects. The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of wogonin to alleviate the cytotoxicity induced by BaP in human airway epithelial cells and explore the corresponding mechanism. Our study found that wogonin treatment inhibited DNA damage and reactive oxygen species overproduction induced by BaP in human airway epithelial cells. In vitro enzyme assays showed that wogonin significantly inhibited the enzymatic activity of CYP1A1. In addition, wogonin decreased the basal level of CYP1A1 and inhibited the CYP1A1 overexpression induced by BaP, whereas overexpression of CYP1A1 partially reversed the effect of wogonin on BaP‐induced DNA damage. Meanwhile, a CYP1A1 inhibitor and CYP1A1 knockdown also showed these same effects. Further studies showed that wogonin regulates CYP1A1 expression by inhibiting CDK7 and CDK9 activity. The use of CDK7 or CDK9 inhibitors decreased BaP‐induced cytotoxicity and CYP1A1 expression. Finally, we found that the methoxy group of wogonin was crucial for its inhibitory activity. In conclusion, our data indicated that wogonin could effectively relieve BaP induced cytotoxicity, and its mechanism was related to the dual inhibition of CYP1A1 activity and expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household air pollution (HAP) is associated with the development of lung cancer, yet few studies investigated the exposure patterns and joint associations with tobacco smoking. In our study, we included 224 189 urban participants from China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB), 3288 of which diagnosed with lung cancer during the follow‐up. Exposure to four HAP sources (solid fuels for cooking/heating/stove and environmental tobacco smoke exposure) was assessed at baseline. Distinct HAP patterns and their associations with lung cancer were examined through latent class analysis (LCA) and multivariable Cox regression. A total of 76.1% of the participants reported regular cooking and 52.2% reported winter heating, of which 9% and 24.7% used solid fuels, respectively. Solid fuel heating increased lung cancer risk (Hazards ratio [HR]: 1.25, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08‐1.46). LCA identified three HAP patterns; the "clean fuel cooking and solid fuel heating" pattern significantly increased lung cancer risk (HR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.10‐1.41), compared to low HAP pattern. An additive interaction was observed between heavy smoking and "clean fuel cooking and solid fuel heating" (relative excess risk [RERI]: 1.32, 95% CI: 0.29‐2.47, attributable proportion [AP]: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.06‐0.36). Cases resulting from solid fuel account for ~4% of total cases (population attribute fraction [PAF]overall: 4.31%, 95% CI: 2.16%‐6.47%, PAFever smokers: 4.38%, 95% CI: 1.54%‐7.23%). Our results suggest that in urban China, solid fuel heating increased the risk of lung cancer, particularly among heavy smokers. The whole population could benefit from cleaner indoor air quality by reducing using solid fuels, especially smokers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common subtype of non‐Hodgkin lymphoma with heterogenicity in clinical manifestation and prognosis. Some microRNAs can influence the development of tumors and may be related to the response of therapy or prognosis. This study aims to explore the role of serum miR‐146a in predicting the prognosis of DLBCL. Methods: A total of 72 de novo DLBCL patients received 6 cycles of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) or rituximab combined CHOP (R‐CHOP) regimen, and their serum samples were collected before treatment and after 4 cycles of chemotherapy. Results: The results show that a high level of miR‐146a is significantly associated with a good outcome in baseline and is more obvious in post‐chemotherapy. In addition, a high level of miR‐146a was associated with better progression‐free survival and overall survival in patients treated with R‐CHOP but has not been related to a superior outcome in patients treated with CHOP. Rituximab may improve the efficacy of therapy, especially in patients with high miR‐146a levels. The level of miR‐146a decreased in more patients after chemotherapy, and it seems patients with a decreased expression of miR‐146a after chemotherapy tended a better outcome, but it is not statistically significant. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the level of serum miR‐146a can serve as a potential prognostic biomarker for DLBCL patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is caused by both genetic and cardiometabolic risk factors. However, the magnitude of the genetic predisposition of T2D in the Chinese population remains largely unknown. Methods: This study included 93,488 participants from the China Kadoorie Biobank, and multiple polygenic risk scores (PRS) were calculated. A common cardiometabolic risk score (CRS) using smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, diet, obesity, blood pressure, and blood lipids was constructed to investigate the effects of cardiometabolic risk factors on T2D. Furthermore, an equation based on ideal PRS, CRS, and their interaction was established to explore the combined effects on T2D. Results: An ideally fitting PRS model (variance explained, R2 = 7.6%) was reached based on multiple PRS calculation methods. An additive interaction between PRS and CRS (coefficient = 28%, 95% CI: 0.20–0.36, p < 0.001) was found. The R2 of the T2D predictive model could increase to 8.3% when CRS and the interaction terms of PRS × CRS were considered. In the etiological composition of T2D, the ratio of genetic risk effect, cardiometabolic risk effect, and interaction between genetic and cardiometabolic factors was 67:16:17. Conclusions: This study identified an ideally fitting PRS model for identifying and predicting the risk of T2D suitable for the Chinese population. The quantified proportional structure of genetic risk factors, cardiometabolic risk factors, and their interaction was detected, which elucidated the critical effect of genetic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Realizing an effective, binder‐free, and super‐wetting electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at full pH is essential for the creation of clean hydrogen. In this study, the Ru‐loaded NiCo bimetallic hydroxide (Ru@NiCo‐BH) catalyst was prepared by spontaneous redox reaction. The chemical interaction between Ru NPs and NiCo‐BH by the Ru−O−M (M=Ni, Co) interface bond, the electron‐rich Ru active site, and the multi‐channel nickel foam carrier make the superhydrophilic and superaerophobic surface advantageous for mass transfer in the HER process. Therefore, Ru@NiCo‐BH has remarkable HER activity, with low overpotential of 29, 68 and 80 mV, a 10 mA cm−2 current density can be obtained in alkaline, neutral and acidic electrolytes respectively. This work provides a reference for the rational development of universal electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution in the all pH ranges through simple design strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although transparent radiative cooling is a passive cooling strategy with practical applications and aesthetic appeal, complex manufacturing processes and the use of environmentally unfriendly thermal emitters remain latent problems. Herein, eco‐friendly transparent silk radiative cooling (TSRC) films are developed, regenerated from natural silkworm cocoons, for zero‐energy‐consumption thermal management of optoelectronic devices. These TSRC films can dissipate heat radiatively through molecular vibrations of the protein backbone and side chains, while retaining the function and appearance of the associated devices, due to their high visible transparency. Theoretical and experimental investigations revealed that the thermal emission increases rapidly upon increasing the film thickness, but slowly thereafter achieves saturation; nevertheless, the intrinsic solar absorption of silk in the ultraviolet and near‐infrared regions also grows linearly, unavoidably weakening the cooling effect. After spectroscopic optimization, the maximum cooling power during the daytime and nighttime is improved to 77.6 and 101.7 W m−2, respectively. Gratifyingly, the films have a remarkable effect on the cooling performance of electronic devices under sunlight. For example, the TSRC film provides a temperature drop of 5.1 °C for a smartphone during multitasking and charging, and 14 °C for a silicon solar panel with an improvement in the photoelectronic conversion efficiency (≈7%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metamaterials are promising candidates for broadband light absorbers, but complex manufacturing procedures with expensive instruments have limited their practical applications. Herein, this work develops an all‐solution‐processed three‐dimensional (3D) metamaterial—based on a gold nanocage (GNC)/silk fibroin (SF) nanocomposite thin film—that achieves near‐unity (>94%) and broadband (350–2000 nm) light absorption. At a low particle density, the film exhibits a typical signal for localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption at 856 nm, originating from its hollow geometrical shape of GNCs. In contrast, at high particle densities the films display ultrahigh broadband absorption, even in the non‐LSPR regions. This work attributes this behavior to the highly dense GNCs dispersed uniformly in the SF matrix acting optically as extremely fragmented metallic films, thereby retaining the highly absorptive nature of the metal while strongly suppressing its highly reflective properties. Moreover, the metamaterial absorber displays a desirable broadband‐light‐induced photothermal effect when illuminated with a halogen lamp. Finally, investigations into the photothermal electronic properties of this metamaterial combined with an Al/Si Schottky diode reveal an excellent photoresponse and photostability. The as‐designed systems can function at telecommunication wavelengths longer than the typical operation wavelengths of Si‐based devices. Such 3D metamaterial absorbers can be efficient platforms for various photothermal applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly interconnected poly(lactic acid) (PLA)‐based foams are extensively utilized to be candidate porous scaffolds in the field of tissue engineering. Nonetheless, it remains challenging about the preparation of highly porous, interconnected and hydrophilic PLA‐based scaffolds through a facile and cheap method. The present work synthesized PLA‐based scaffolds with high porosity through supercritical carbon dioxide (sc‐CO2) foaming strategy. For improving PLA foam interconnection as well as hydrophilicity, poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) were chosen to be excellent additives for PLA blending. PEG acted as a compatibilizer between PLA and PBS, which enhanced open cell structure generation by decreasing melt viscosity. According to investigation of PBS and PEG content as well as foaming temperature, PLA/PBS/PEG(90/10/10) blend foaming under 100°C had the greatest open cell rate of 95.9% and high volume expansion ratio of 13.98, meanwhile, its water contact angle reduced to 62.5°. In addition, the fibroblast NIH/3T3 cells with live/dead cell fluorescence staining assay was utilized to examine the biocompatibility of PLA‐based scaffolds. Results indicated that the PLA/PBS/PEG scaffolds had better biocompatibility than PLA/PBS scaffolds. This work provides an easy and green approach for fabricating fully biodegradable PLA‐based scaffolds with high open cell rate and hydrophilicity in tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant progress is made in drug delivery systems, but they still face problems such as poor stability in vivo, off‐target drugs, and difficulty in crossing biological barriers. It is urgent to realize efficient targeted delivery and precisely controlled sustained release of drugs by using the integrated nanoplatform. Theranostic nanoplatform is a new biomedical technology that combines diagnosis or monitoring of diseases with treatment. Here, an integrated strategy of diagnosis and treatment is reported for delivering NIR‐II imaged and therapeutic AgAuSe quantum dots (QDs) carried by peptidoglycan multilayer networks of bacteria to hitchhike circulating neutrophils for targeting the tumor. The assembled nanomaterials have good stability, which can not only initiate endogenous cells for drug delivery and achieve efficient targeting, but also guide drug imaging with excellent fluorescence property. Meanwhile, the elimination of established solid tumor is achieved with the administration of sonodynamic therapy without recurrence. This drug system expands the application of endogenous cell to participate in drug delivery system. Thus, the assembly strategy demonstrates the potential of endogenous neutrophils in functioning as natural drug vehicles and the application of NIR‐II fluorescent QDs in biomedical engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: For patients with advanced nonsquamous non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), immunotherapy or antiangiogenic therapy combined with pemetrexed and cisplatin/carboplatin have both shown significant efficacy at programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD‐L1) levels of <1%. Our study aimed to compare two first‐line regimens for patients with advanced nonsquamous NSCLC who were negative for PD‐L1. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted comparing the outcomes of patients with advanced PD‐L1(‐) nonsquamous NSCLC who were treated with antiangiogenic therapy plus chemotherapy (A Group) to those who were treated with anti‐PD‐L1 monoclonal antibodies plus chemotherapy (mAbs) (B Group). Both regimens were evaluated for progression‐free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and side effects. Results: 114 patients were enrolled in the study, 82 in Group A and 32 in Group B. Those in Group A had a longer median PFS (9.8 vs. 6.7 months, p = 0.025). The OS was also achieved (p = 0.058). No statistically significant difference was seen in ORR (52.4% vs. 50.0%, p = 0.815) or DCR (93.9% vs. 87.5%, p = 0.225) between the two groups. Patients in the A group who did not smoke and did not have specific metastases could benefit from survival. Adverse events (AEs) in both groups were tolerated. Conclusion: Bevacizumab plus chemotherapy outperformed immunotherapy plus chemotherapy in terms of PFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the potential benefits of non-selective beta-blockers (NSBBs) in critically ill patients with acute decompensation (AD) of cirrhosis. AD is a major cause of hospitalization in patients with cirrhosis, and it can progress to acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), which has high short-term mortality. NSBBs have been found to exhibit systemic anti-inflammatory properties and may alleviate the progression of ACLF. A retrospective study found that prior use of NSBBs was associated with improved 28-day survival and reduced markers of systemic inflammation in patients with AD requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. However, further research is needed to investigate the value of NSBBs in patients with cirrhosis who do not have varices. [Extracted from the article]

Platinum is the best electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, we demonstrate that by contact electrification of Pt nanoparticle satellites on a gold or silver core, the Fermi level of Pt can be tuned. The electronic properties of Pt in such hybrid nanocatalysts were experimentally characterized by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with the probe molecule 2,6‐dimethyl phenyl isocyanide (2,6‐DMPI). Our experimental findings are corroborated by a hybridization model and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Finally, we demonstrate that tuning of the Fermi level of Pt results in reduced or increased overpotentials in water splitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a significant public health issue in China. Understanding factors associated with chronic HBV is important to enable targeted screening and education and to improve early diagnosis and prevention of disease progression. This systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to identify and describe correlates of chronic HBV among Chinese adults. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE and grey literature up to 25 June 2020. Eligible papers included observational studies in adults of the general population in China that reported factors associated with chronic HBV, measured by Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Meta‐analysis was performed using fixed‐effect models of HBsAg prevalence among factors, and of adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for chronic HBV associated with each factor. Overall 39 articles were included, covering 22 factors, including a range of sociodemographic, behavioural and medical factors. In meta‐analysis of eligible studies, a range of factors were significantly associated with higher HBsAg prevalence, including middle age, male sex, being married, rural residence, lower education, smoking, having a HBsAg positive household contact, family history of HBV, history of surgery or blood transfusion. The adjusted ORs varied, from 1.11 (95% CI 1.05–1.18) for smoking to 5.13 (95% CI 4.99–5.26) for having a HBsAg positive household contact. In Chinese adults, a range of factors are associated with chronic HBV infection, which may help inform targeted screening in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To resolve the parasitic problems and to fully leverage the superiority of GaN‐based high electron mobility transistors, monolithic integration of different function blocks is a promising solution. The enhancement mode (E‐mode) GaN‐based p‐channel heterostructure field‐effect transistor (p‐HFET) is one of the key components. Herein, the threshold voltage (VTH) is modeled, and the influence of the Mg out‐diffusion effect on VTH is investigated. The impact of the diffusion coefficient of Mg, the Mg concentration in the p‐GaN layer, the thicknesses of the AlGaN layer (tb), p‐GaN channel layer (tch), and an oxide layer (tox) on VTH are all taken into consideration for systematic exploration. The analysis illustrates that lower Mg concentration, smaller diffusion coefficient, and thinner p‐GaN channel and AlGaN layers facilitate the realization of E‐mode p‐HFETs. Furthermore, it can be observed that lower Mg concentration in the p‐GaN layer diminishes the VTH sensitivity to the thickness of the p‐GaN channel layer. Hence, a heterostructure with two p‐GaN layers of different concentrations is suggested to reduce the complexity of the etching technique while improving the ohmic contacts. As a result, the model can effectively guide the design of GaN‐based E‐mode p‐HFETs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to simultaneously explore the associations of major dietary patterns (DP) with lipid profiles and the associations of these profiles with general and central obesity risks and to evaluate the extent to which the metabolites mediate such associations. Methods: Habitual food consumption of 4778 participants with an average age of 47.0 from the China Kadoorie Biobank was collected using a 12‐item food frequency questionnaire. Plasma samples were analyzed via targeted nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to quantify 129 lipid‐related metabolites. Anthropometric information was measured by trained staff. Results: Two DPs were derived by factor analysis. The newly affluent southern pattern was characterized by high intakes of rice, meat, poultry, and fish, whereas the balanced pattern was characterized by consuming meat, poultry, fish, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, dairy, eggs, and soybean. The newly affluent southern pattern was positively associated with 45 metabolites, which were positively associated with risks of obesity at the same time. The global lipid profile potentially explained 30.9%, 34.7%, and 53.1% of the effects of this DP on general obesity, waist circumference‐defined central obesity, and waist‐hip ratio‐defined central obesity, respectively. Conclusions: The newly affluent southern pattern points to an altered lipid profile, which showed higher general and central obesity risks. These findings partly suggest the biological mechanism for the obesogenic effects of this DP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Similarity search, that is, finding similar items in massive data, is a fundamental computing problem in many fields such as data mining and information retrieval. However, for large‐scale and high‐dimension data, it suffers from high computational complexity, requiring tremendous computation resources. Here, based on the low‐power self‐selective memristors, for the first time, we propose an in‐memory search (IMS) system with two innovative designs. First, by exploiting the natural distribution law of the devices resistance, a hardware locality sensitive hashing encoder has been designed to transform the real‐valued vectors into more efficient binary codes. Second, a compact memristive ternary content addressable memory is developed to calculate the Hamming distances between the binary codes in parallel. Our IMS system demonstrated a 168× energy efficiency improvement over all‐transistors counterparts in clustering and classification tasks, while achieving a software‐comparable accuracy, thus providing a low‐complexity and low‐power solution for in‐memory data mining applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal insulation materials with excellent fire safety and mechanical performances are urgently desired. Herein, novel cross network composite aerogels (CNCAs) are designed with cationic amylopectin and polyvinyl alcohol that act as the macromolecular framework and montmorillonite and borax that act as the functional binders. The CNCAs demonstrate low density (0.033–0.043 g cm−3), high strength (5.1–18.4 MPa), and anisotropic thermal conductivity. Furthermore, they exhibit high fire safety (limiting oxygen index > 50, UL‐94 V‐0 rating, and negligible heat and smoke release under cone calorimetry testing condition). Particularly, the after‐fire residue can still have an excellent load capacity with a compression modulus of 3.7 MPa. Based on the energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy results, up to avg. 91.3% of the carbon from the organic polymers remains in the residue. These characteristics not only ensure the safe use of the CNCAs but also expand their application fields and improve their durability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional polyolefin separators cannot guarantee safety for lithium‐ion batteries at high temperature due to their low melting point, especially for high power discharge. Therefore, it is imperative to develop separators with excellent thermal stability. In this paper, we have prepared TiO2 modified PVDF composite separators by electrospinning. When compared with commercial PE separators, this kind of composite separators show superior thermal stability at 160°C. In addition, it is found that the 0.5‐TiO2@PVDF separator exhibits excellent flame retardant and optimal tension strength. Meanwhile, the 0.5‐TiO2@PVDF separator exhibits ideal liquid electrolyte storage capacity, which improves the ionic conductivity (0.68 mS cm−1). As a result, the LiCoO2||Li cells with 0.5‐TiO2@PVDF separator have high discharge capacity retention rate at a current density of 1 C (300 cycles) and excellent rate performance (1.75 mAh at 5 C). In short, nano‐TiO2 modified PVDF separator has a great application prospect in high‐performance and high‐safety lithium‐ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollutants are recognized as one of the major concerns for public health. The free‐living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans are widely used to evaluate the toxicity of environmental contaminants in biomonitoring researches. In the present study, a new transgenic strain, rps‐30−/−;RFP‐RPS‐30UbL was generated, with constitutively active rps‐30 promoter used to control the expression of RFP‐RPS‐30UbL fusion protein. We found RFP‐RPS‐30UbL would accumulate to form 'rod‐like' structures, when worms were exposed to environmental contaminants, including Cd, Hg, Pb, As, Paraquat and Dichlorvos. The number of the 'rod‐like' structures was induced by environmental contaminants in a concentration‐ and time‐dependent manner. The 'rod‐like' structure formation could be detectable in response to the concentration of each contaminant as low as 24‐h LC50 × 10−7, and the detectable time could be within 2 h. Detecting the transcription and expression levels of RFP‐RPS‐30UbL in worms exposed to different kinds of environmental contaminants showed that the expression level of RFP‐RPS‐30UbL was not regulated by environmental contaminants, and the number differences of 'rod‐like' structures were just due to the morphological change of RFP‐RPS‐30UbL from dispersion to accumulation induced by environmental contaminants. In addition, this transgenic strain was developed in rps‐30−/− homozygous worm, which was a longevity strain. Detection of lifespan and brood size showed that rps‐30−/−;RFP‐RPS‐30UbL transgenic worm was more suitable to be cultured and used further than N2;GFP‐RPS‐30UbL, for expressing RPS‐30UbL in wild type N2 worms shortened the lifespan and deceased the brood size. Therefore, rps‐30−/−;RFP‐RPS‐30UbL transgenic worm might play a potential role in versatile environmental biomonitoring, with the advantage of not only the convenient and quick fluorescence‐based reporter assay, but also the quantificational evaluation of the toxicities of environmental contaminants using 'rod‐like' structures with high sensitivity, off‐limited the expression level of the reporter protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the H∞$$ {H}_{\infty } $$ control problem of discrete‐time delayed switched systems with average dwell time switching signals using event‐triggered mechanism. The event‐triggered mechanism can reduce redundant information transmission. First, employing state‐feedback controller, two sufficient conditions are proposed to guaranteeing (i) exponential stability of the disturbance‐free closed‐loop system and (ii) H∞$$ {H}_{\infty } $$ performance of the closed‐loop system with disturbance. Moreover, the controller gain is explicitly computed by solving a set of linear matrix inequalities. Second, results obtained for state‐feedback controller are extended to those for observer‐based state‐feedback controller, and both the controller and observer gains are explicitly computed. All conditions are derived by utilizing a properly constructed decay‐rate‐dependent Lyapunov functional. Finally, a numerical example illustrates the validity of the obtained theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the concept of aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) was proposed by Benzhong Tang's research group in 2001, the exploration of the mechanism of AIE and the development of new high‐performance AIE materials have been the focus and goal of this field. On the basis of a large number of experiment results, AIE mechanism has been well explained by lots of works, such as restricted intramolecular motion (RIM), J‐aggregate et al. As tetraphenylethlene (TPE) molecules are stacked, the rotation of the benzene ring rotor is blocked, and the energy attenuation is released in the form of radiation, showing the AIE effect. In order to further explore the AIE effect of TPE, we performed electronic structure, spectrum simulation, and AIE mechanism calculations of the anthryl‐tetraphenylethene (TPE‐an) monomer and dimer in the gas phase, tetrahydrofuran (THF), and aqueous solutions at the B3LYP/6‐31G** level. The calculation results show that TPE‐an molecule is in a propeller‐like configuration, and its fluorescence intensity is weak; compared with the monomer, the fluorescence intensity of the dimer increases by 87% in aqueous solution; the fluorescence intensity in the gas phase, THF solution, and aqueous solution gradually enhances with the increase of the degree of aggregation, which are consistent with the experimental results. The enhancement of fluorescence intensity is caused by the change of molecular structure caused by aggregation. This detailed AIE luminescence mechanism will provide theoretical guidance for AIE material design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The movement protein (MP) and coat protein (CP) of tobamoviruses play critical roles in viral cell‐to‐cell and long‐distance movement, respectively. Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) is a member of the genus Tobamovirus. The functions of CGMMV MP and CP during viral infection remain largely unclear. Here, we show that CGMMV MP can interact with CP in vivo, and the amino acids at positions 79–128 in MP are vital for the MP–CP interaction. To confirm this finding, we mutated five conserved residues within the residue 79–128 region and six other conserved residues flanking this region, followed by in vivo interaction assays. The results showed that the conserved threonine residue at the position 107 in MP (MPT107) is important for the MP–CP interaction. Substitution of T107 with alanine (MPT107A) delayed CGMMV systemic infection in Nicotiana benthamiana plants, but increased CGMMV local accumulation. Substitutions of another 10 conserved residues, not responsible for the MP–CP interaction, with alanine inhibited or abolished CGMMV systemic infection, suggesting that these 10 conserved residues are possibly required for the MP movement function through a CP‐independent manner. Moreover, two movement function‐associated point mutants (MPF17A and MPD97A) failed to cause systemic infection in plants without impacting on the MP–CP interaction. Furthermore, we have found that co‐expression of CGMMV MP and CP increased CP accumulation independent of the interaction. MP and CP interaction inhibits the salicylic acid‐associated defence response at an early infection stage. Taken together, we propose that the suppression of host antiviral defence through the MP–CP interaction facilitates virus systemic infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]