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Limited by the energy gap law, purely organic materials with efficient near‐infrared room temperature phosphorescence are rare and difficult to achieve. Additionally, the exciton transition process among different emitting species in host–guest phosphorescent materials remains elusive, presenting a significant academic challenge. Herein, using a modular nonbonding orbital‐π bridge‐nonbonding orbital (n‐π‐n) molecular design strategy, we develop a series of heavy atom‐free phosphors. Systematic modification of the π‐conjugated cores enables the construction of a library with tunable near‐infrared phosphorescence from 655 to 710 nm. These phosphors exhibit excellent performance under ambient conditions when dispersed into a 4‐bromobenzophenone host matrix, achieving an extended lifetime of 11.25 ms and a maximum phosphorescence efficiency of 4.2 %. Notably, by eliminating the interference from host phosphorescence, the exciton transition process in hybrid materials can be visualized under various excitation conditions. Spectroscopic analysis reveals that the improved phosphorescent performance of the guest originates from the triplet‐triplet energy transfer of abundant triplet excitons generated independently by the host, rather than from enhanced intersystem crossing efficiency between the guest singlet state and the host triplet state. The findings provide in‐depth insights into constructing novel near‐infrared phosphors and exploring emission mechanisms of host–guest materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upright metamorphic four junctions solar cells are evaluated under different low‐intensity and low‐temperature conditions. The efficiency findings near the Earth's orbit (1 sun, 300 K), Jupiter (0.032 sun, 123 K), and Saturn (0.01 sun, 100 K) are 26.54%, 29.68%, and 28.27%, respectively. According to the single diode model, Jsc is linear with light intensity (I), while Voc is linear with the natural logarithm of light intensity (ln(I)). Voc shows a linear relationship with temperature within the range of 150 to 300 K, with a temperature coefficient of ≈−7.7 mV K−1. However, Voc displays a sublinear relationship with temperatures below 150 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have emerged as crucial regulators in tumor progression, yet their specific role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains largely uncharacterized. In this study, we utilized high‐transcriptome sequencing to identify the upregulation of circESYT2 (hsa_circ_002142) in HCC tissues. Functional experiments carried out in vivo and in vitro revealed that circESYT2 played a significant role in maintaining the growth and metastatic behaviors of HCC. Through integrative analysis, we identified enolase 2 (ENO2) as a potential target regulated by circESYT2 through the competitive endogenous RNA sponge mechanism. Additional gain‐ or loss‐of‐function experiments indicated that overexpression of circESYT2 led to a tumor‐promoting effect, which could be reversed by transfection of microRNA‐665 (miR‐665) mimic or ENO2 knockdown in HCC cells. Furthermore, the direct interaction between miR‐665 and circESYT2 and between miR‐665 and ENO2 was confirmed using RNA immunoprecipitation, FISH, RNA pull‐down, and dual‐luciferase reporter assays, highlighting the involvement of the circESYT2/miR‐665/ENO2 axis in promoting HCC progression. These findings shed light on the molecular characteristics of circESYT2 in HCC tissues and suggest its potential as a biomarker or therapeutic target for HCC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rechargeable Li metal batteries have the potential to meet the demands of high‐energy density batteries for electric vehicles and grid‐energy storage system applications. Achieving this goal, however, requires resolving not only safety concerns and a shortened battery cycle life arising from a combination of undesirable lithium dendrite and solid‐electrolyte interphase formations. Here, a series of microcrack‐free anionic network polymer membranes formed by a facile one‐step click reaction are reported, displaying a high cation conductivity of 3.1 × 10−5 S cm−1 at high temperature, a wide electrochemical stability window up to 5 V, a remarkable resistance to dendrite growth, and outstanding non‐flammability. These enhanced properties are attributed to the presence of tethered borate anions in microcrack‐free membranes, which benefits the acceleration of selective Li+ cations transport as well as suppression of dendrite growth. Ultimately, the microcrack‐free anionic network polymer membranes render Li metal batteries a safe and long‐cyclable energy storage device at high temperatures with a capacity retention of 92.7% and an average coulombic efficiency of 99.867% at 450 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocular manifestations have been well recognized in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) outbreak. Several studies have detected ocular manifestations in patients after COVID‐19. However, little is known about the retinal and vitreal alterations in patients before and after COVID‐19 infection. This study aimed to investigate the retinal and vitreal alterations in patients before and after contracting COVID‐19 infection using swept‐source optical coherence tomography (SS‐OCT) and angiography (SS‐OCTA). A total of 38 participants (76 eyes) were enrolled and followed‐up 1 month after COVID‐19 infection. Then, 26 patients (52 eyes) were evaluated 3 months after COVID‐19 infection. Compared with the pre‐COVID‐19 status, patients with 1‐ and 3‐month post‐COVID‐19 statuses had significant thinning of ganglion cell and inner plexiform layer, thickening of inner nuclear layer, a decrease in the vessel density (VD) of superficial vascular complex, and an increase in the VD of deep vascular complex. Meanwhile, alteration in parameters of foveal avascular zone (all p < 0.05) and hyper‐reflective dots in the vitreous of 27 patients (54 eyes) (71.1% vs. pre‐COVID‐19, 34.2%, p = 0.006) were observed. These findings suggest significantly retinal and vitreal alterations occurred in patients after COVID‐19 infection, possibly due to direct or indirect virus‐induced injuries. Further longitudinal studies are required to investigate the long‐term effects of COVID‐19 infection on the human eyes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a type of liver cancer that is associated with high mortality rates. This study aims to investigate the role of ZNF655, a member of the zinc finger protein family, in the development of HCC. Immunohistochemical staining analysis was conducted to evaluate the expression of ZNF655 in HCC patient samples. Lentivirus‐mediated ZNF655 knockdown was established in HCC cell lines (BEL‐7402 and HCCLM3). The effects of ZNF655 on different aspects of HCC cell behavior such as proliferation, apoptosis, cycle, migration and tumor formation were examined. Downstream targets of ZNF655 in HCC were identified and verified through loss/gain‐of‐function experiments. Clinically, ZNF655 expression was elevated in HCC and increased with the severity of the disease. Functionally, inhibition of ZNF655 expression reduced the progression of HCC cells by decreasing proliferation, causing apoptosis, arresting cell cycle retention in G2, suppressing migration, and attenuating tumor formation in mice. Mechanistically, the proteasome subunit beta type‐8 (PSMB8) was found to be co‐expressed with ZNF655 in HCC, and PSMB8 knockdown weakened the promotion of ZNF655 overexpression on HCC. In summary, these findings suggest that ZNF655 promotes the progression of HCC through PSMB8, and inhibition of its expression may be a promising therapeutic target for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tumour microenvironment (TME) and immunosuppression play an important role in colon cancer (CC) metastasis, which seriously affects the prognosis of CC. G protein subunit gamma 4 (GNG4) has been shown to participate in tumour progression and the tumour mutation burden (TMB) in colorectal cancer. However, the effect of GNG4 on the CC TME and immunology remains elusive. Weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) was employed for screening aberrantly expressed genes associated with the immune score, and GNG4 was then selected through prognostic and immune correlation analysis. Based on RNA sequencing data obtained from the TCGA and GEO databases, the expression pattern and immune characteristics of GNG4 were comprehensively examined using a pan‐cancer analysis. Upregulation of GNG4 was linked to an adverse prognosis and immune inhibitory phenotype in CC. Pan‐cancer analysis demonstrated higher GNG4 expression in tumours than in paired normal tissue in human cancers. GNG4 expression was closely related to prognosis, TMB, immune checkpoints (ICPs), microsatellite instability (MSI) and neoantigens. GNG4 promoted CC cell proliferation, migration and invasion and participated in immune regulation in the TME. Significantly, GNG4 expression was found to negatively correlate with tumour‐infiltrating immune cells, ICP, TMB and MSI in CC. GNG4 expression predicted the immunotherapy response in the IMvigor210 cohort, suggesting that GNG4 could be used as a potential biomarker in CC for prognostication and immunology. Moreover, the expression of GNG4 predicted the immunotherapy response of ICB in CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enhanced mass transfer flow fields have been proven to be an effective measure to improve the cell performance of low‐temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells, yet little research has been done for high‐temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT‐PEMFC). In this work, three types of cathode‐enhanced mass transfer flow fields (tapered, staggered‐blocked, and blocked) are designed. The effects of various flow fields on the reactant delivery, current density distribution uniformity, and net power output of HT‐PEMFC are quantitatively investigated and compared. It is found that the three enhanced mass transfer flow fields can effectively increase the performance of HT‐PEMFC by transforming the traditional diffusion into a combination of diffusion and forced convection. In the sight of the superior performance and lower flow resistance, the tapered flow field is thought to be the optimal candidate for HT‐PEMFC among the four flow fields, with a 12.21% net power increment and 5.32% current density distribution uniformity improvement at 1.4 A/cm2 compared to the conventional flow field. These results support further performance enhancements and applications of HT‐PEMFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The relationship between the radiological lymph node (rLN) size and survival outcome in node‐negative rectal cancer is still uncertain. In this study, we aimed to explore the role of enlarged rLN in predicting the survival of node‐negative rectal cancers. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 722 node‐negative rectal cancer who underwent curative resection. Factors associated with DFS (disease‐free survival) and CSS (cancer‐specific survival) were assessed with univariate and multivariate analysis. Survival analysis was performed according to presence with or without enlarged rLN. Combining rLN with NLR as a new index‐inflammation immune score (IIS) for predicting survival. Comparing different models to assess the predictive powers. Results: A total of 119 patients had tumor recurrence and 73 patients died due to cancer. Patients with enlarged rLN (≥5 mm) was significantly associated with better DFS (HR:0.517, 95%CI:0.339–0.787, p = 0.002) and CSS (HR:0.43, 95%CI:0.242–0.763, p = 0.004). The risk factors of recurrence were rLN, neutrophil‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR), CEA level, and distance from the anal verge. The risk of recurrence increased by 1.88‐ and 2.83‐fold for the high score in IIS compared with the low and intermediate score group (All p < 0.001). Similarly, the high score in IIS also increased the risk of cancer‐specific death. In the model comparison, the AIC and LR were improved by including the rLN into the NLR model for DFS and CSS prediction (All p < 0.05). Conclusions: Node‐negative rectal cancer patients with enlarged rLN had a better survival outcome. IIS might be a more comprehensive and complete inflammation immune index for survival prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Kümmell's disease (KD) is a rare clinical entity characterized by delayed post‐traumatic vertebral body collapse, in which an intravertebral vacuum cleft (IVC) is formed. The patient sustained a minor spinal trauma, and their spine X‐ray examinations were negative. However, after an asymptomatic period of months, they developed recurrent back pain because of the progressive vertebral collapse of the affected spine. However, no imaging examination could confirm the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)‐negative initial spinal trauma followed by delayed vertebral collapse with IVC. Case Presentation: We report a case of KD occurring in a 66‐year‐old postmenopausal patient whose lumbar MRI on sagittal planes were immediately performed following the initial trauma (a ground‐level fall) and revealed that the vertebral integrity or connectivity was not interrupted and the marrow signal was even. After an asymptomatic period of 8 months, the back pain reappeared and progressively exacerbated. The wedge‐shaped change in the T11 vertebra with an IVC was confirmed by lumbar computed tomography and MRI. Finally, KD was diagnosed following extensive routine hematological and biochemical workups. Percutaneous kyphoplasty was performed to relieve her back pain by restoring her vertebral stability. Conclusions: We confirmed that the OVF was not the first step in the KD sequence, and the IVC ‐ KD ‐ could from an initial MRI‐negative spine trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effect of intermittent parathyroid hormone (PTH) on gut microbiota (GM) in ovariectomized (OVX) osteoporotic rats. Methods: Thirty female Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into three groups: sham‐operation (SHAM) group, OVX group and PTH treatment group. After 3 months of treatment, the femurs, serum and feces were acquired for micro‐CT, biochemical analysis and 16S rRNA sequencing, respectively. For 16S rRNA sequencing, after raw reads filtrated and chimera sequences removed, the clean reads were obtained. According to these clean reads, the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were clustered. Venn diagram analysis was conducted to explore common and unique GM among the three groups. The α‐diversity analysis including Shannon and Simpson indexes were used to evaluate the richness and diversity of the GM. The β‐diversity analysis was performed to estimate the structure of GM. The metabolic function was predicted by Tax4Fun analysis. Results: With micro‐CT and biochemical analysis, significant improvements were found in the PTH group compared with the OVX group. In Venn diagram analysis, more unique OTUs were found in the SHAM and PTH groups than the OVX group. According to the rank abundance curve, the SHAM and PTH groups had similar richness and evenness, which were higher than the OVX group. Simpson and Shannon indexes were higher in the SHAM and PTH groups compared with the OVX group, indicating that the SHAM and PTH groups had higher microbiota complexity than the OVX group. In β‐diversity analysis, apparent separation was found in the OVX group from the PTH and SHAM groups, which suggested that osteoporosis is the critical factor influencing the GM composition and PTH treatment and can restore the structure of GM. Compared with the OVX group, treatment with PTH increased the abundances of GM which were reported to increase bone mass, such as Lactobacillus_reuteri, Muribaculaceae, Ruminococcaceae, and Clostridia, and inhibited the relative abundance of Rikenellaceae, which was reported to be potentially related to osteoporosis. GM function analysis showed that PTH could promote butyrate synthesis. In Tax4Fun analysis, the function of butanoate metabolism is more vital in the PTH group than the OVX and SHAM groups, suggesting PTH treatment could regulate microbial metabolic function, including butanoate metabolism. Conclusion: Intermittent PTH can interact with GM through increasing the abundance of probiotics and reducing the abundance of the pathogenic bacteria to enhance the bone mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, 1‐MeV electron irradiation is conducted to the AlGaInP (1.89 eV)/AlInGaAs (1.45 eV)/InGaAs (1.14 eV)/Ge (0.67 eV) upright metamorphic four‐junction (UMM4J) solar cell and its upper three key subcells. Light IV (LIV), external quantum efficiency (EQE), and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements are implemented to analyze the degradation of electric properties and evolution of defects of the UMM4J solar cell. The LIV results illustrate that the short circuit current (Isc), open circuit voltage (Voc), and maximum power (Pmax) degrade as a function of the logarithmic change of the electron fluence. EQE curves confirm the excellent anti‐irradiation characteristic of the AlGaInP (1.89 eV) subcell. Three types of electron traps E1 (Ec–0.16 eV), E2 (Ec–0.47 eV), and E3 (Ec–0.55 eV) are detected in the AlGaInP subcell. Two types of hole traps H1 (Ev + 0.35 eV) and H2 (Ev + 0.70 eV) are discovered in the AlInGaAs subcell and two types of hole traps H3 (Ev + 0.05 eV) and H4 (Ev + 0.36 eV) are observed in the InGaAs subcell. Nonionizing energy loss (NIEL) of 1‐MeV electrons in are calculated via Screened Relativist method. The defect concentrations show an approximately linear relationship with the displacement dose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy characterized by rapid onset and high mortality. Despite considerable progress in the treatment and diagnosis of CJD, patient prognosis remains poor. Many studies have found that the immune response is associated with the pathophysiology of CJD. However, few studies have reported coexpression correlations between genes associated with CJD and the immune response. This study was undertaken to construct a network of coexpressed immune‐ and CJD‐related genes that may reveal new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for CJD. Methods: Gene expression data from 11 CJD patients and 10 nonneurological controls were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. High‐confidence protein–protein interaction (PPI) data were downloaded from the Human Protein Reference Database, and gene expression data of immune‐ and CJD‐associated genes were downloaded from the AmiGo16 and DisGeNET databases, respectively. An immune/CJD‐related expression network was constructed based on Pearson correlation coefficients and PPI networks, and a CJD‐directed neighbour coexpression network was extracted, in which we compared the gene expression patterns and correlations between different groups. The samples were classified using CJD‐specific modules, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the CJD and nonneurological controls groups were identified within the CJD‐specific modules. Further functional analysis was performed using Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis of genes in each CJD‐specific module. Results: We constructed an immune/CJD‐related coexpression gene network comprising 2007 nodes and 5268 edges, with immune‐associated genes occupying important positions in the network. In the CJD‐directed neighbour coexpression network, immune‐associated genes exhibited the highest coexpression level with their interacting genes. Results from Pearson correlation analysis showed that most of the CJD‐associated genes were positively correlated with immune‐associated genes. Screening for CJD‐specific modules identified MAPK1, CASP3, APP, MAPT, SNCA, and YWHAH, indicating a close connection between CJD and the immune response. Analyses of coexpression status and expression level of CJD‐specific genes revealed a very high coexpression pattern for any two genes, with most genes being DEGs. Finally, KEGG enrichment analyses of all CJD‐specific genes showed that the pathophysiology of CJD is closely related to infection and the immune response. Conclusions: Our coexpression network analysis revealed a close connection between CJD‐ and immune‐associated genes, and we identified six CJD‐specific modules. Biological function analysis of CJD‐specific module genes revealed that immune responses are associated with CJD pathophysiology and may provide novel diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for this disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed a B(C6F5)3 catalyzed hydroarylation of terminal alkynes with various phenols at room temperature without adding any additives, leading to the synthesis of 2‐gem‐vinylphenols with good regio‐selectivity. Those transformations featured a broad substrate scope with moderate yields. Mechanism studies indicated that those transformations proceeded through the activation of phenol by B(C6F5)3 with subsequent protonation of alkyne/Friedel‐Crafts‐type reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The research of hydrogen fuel cell waste heat recovery is a new field of fuel cell thermal management, which helps to improve the overall fuel utilization. At present, the research on the waste heat utilization of fuel cell vehicles is less, and it is more based on the traditional vehicle waste heat management ideas without systematic summary of the factors affecting the system performance. This study takes the waste heat reuse system of fuel cell vehicle as the research object, and established the waste heat exchange rate model and energy consumption model of the waste heat reuse system. Through the study of relevant parameter variables, the effects of parameters on system energy consumption and waste heat exchange rate at low temperature were obtained. The matching design of waste heat reuse system of 60 kW fuel cell vehicle was carried out, and the simulation analysis and experimental verification were done. The results showed that when the ambient temperature is −3°C and −6°C, the waste heat exchange rate of the new matching scheme is 16.2% and 16.3% higher than that of the original scheme, respectively. Also, the total energy consumption of the system is reduced by 62.02% and 60.62%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Owing to the restriction of battery energy density and technology, the energy management strategies (EMSs) of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) always play a critical role in reducing the energy consumption rate. In this article, a fuzzy optimal EMS, for BEVs, considering equivalent speed has been proposed. Three efforts have been made to realize optimal energy management of BEVs. First, the relationship between the road slope and the energy consumption has been analyzed, and an equivalent speed has been proposed by mapping the road slope into the vehicle speed. Besides, the driving cycle has been constructed based on the equivalent speed in a specific city. Second, the vehicle has been modeled, and the fuzzy logic control (FLC) has been adopted to reasonably allocate battery energy with the equivalent speed as one of the inputs. Third, the genetic algorithm (GA) has been applied to optimize the fuzzy controller—to improve the management efficiency. Simulation results demonstrate that the motor output torque has been corrected when the road slope is not zero. The reduction in the battery current fluctuations and the slow drop in battery voltage show that the fuzzy optimal strategy is beneficial to battery life. In addition, the energy consumption rate (ECR) decreases by 7.97% when compared with the FLC, which indicates that the fuzzy optimal strategy has better energy economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrically insulating polymer dielectrics with high energy densities and excellent thermal conductivities are showing tremendous potential for dielectric energy storage. However, the practical application of polymer dielectrics often requires mutually exclusive multifunctional properties such as high dielectric constants, high breakdown strengths, and high thermal conductivities. The rational assembly of 2D nanofillers of boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) into a well‐aligned micro‐sandwich structure in polyimide (PI) composites is reported. The alternating stacking of rGO and BNNS synergistically exploits the large difference in their electrical conductivities to yield a high dielectric constant with a moderate breakdown strength. Moreover, the distinctively separated rGO and BNNS layers give rise to higher thermal conductivities of composites than those containing mixed fillers because of reduced phonon scattering at the interfaces between two identical fillers, as verified by molecular dynamics simulations. Consequently, the micro‐sandwich nanocomposite prevails over the PI film with a simultaneously high dielectric constant of ≈579, a high energy density (43‐fold higher than PI) and an excellent thermal conductivity (11‐fold higher than PI) at a low hybrid filler content of only 2.5 vol%. The multifunctional nanocomposites developed in this work are promising for flexible dielectrics with excellent heat dissipation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at investigating the effects of tooth profile modification (TPM) on the dynamic response of planetary gear train (PGT). A numerical model is carried out to calculate two major excitation sources of PGT, time-varying mesh stiffness (TVMS), and transmission errors (TEs). On this basis, a linear time-varying dynamic model of a PGT considering TVMS, TEs, and TPM is developed. Dynamic deviation factor is further introduced to describe the dynamic response of the PGT. In this paper, TPM is only applied to the external meshes firstly. Effects of TPM parameters, such as amount of TPM, normalized modification angle, and modification curve, on the excitation sources and dynamic response of the PGT are discussed in detail. Subsequently, investigation on the effects of TPM only applied to internal meshes is conducted. Finally, with the aim to obtain the optimal TPM for the minimization of dynamic load of PGT in both external and internal gear meshes, the genetic algorithm (GA) is employed. This research may shed light upon design optimization of PGT with respect to improvement of vibration performance by means of optimized TPM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]