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A novel real-time optical phase sensing method based on the Mach-Zehnder interference principle has been proposed for the detection of calreticulin (CRT) levels in human serum samples. In this approach, anti-CRT antibodies are utilized to capture CRT molecules in serum, leading to a phase shift in both the measuring and reference arms of the system. By employing the concept of weak amplification within the framework of weak measurements, it becomes feasible to continuously monitor the response of CRT in real-time, allowing for the precise determination of serum CRT content at the picomolar level. Our achievement may pave the way in establishing CRT as a diagnostic biomarker for a wide range of medical applications, including rheumatoid arthritis., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2024 Optica Publishing Group.)

Introduction: The horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes mediated by plasmids seriously hinders the effectiveness of modern medical treatment, and thus has attracted widespread attention. Additionally, the co-selection mechanism of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and heavy metal resistance genes (MRGs) on mobile elements may further exacerbate the horizontal transfer of resistance genes., Methods: In this study, a multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain, termed BJ86 (CHPC/NPRC1.4142), was isolated from a patient's sputum specimen. In vitro tests for antimicrobial susceptibility, conjugation, whole-genome sequencing, and bioinformatics analysis were used to explore the potential mechanisms of resistance and its spread., Results and Discussion: Sequencing analysis indicates that P. aeruginosa BJ86 carries an amazing 522.5 kb-length megaplasmid, pBJ86, which contained a 93.5 kb-length multiple resistance region (MRR); 18 kinds of genes were identified as ARGs in this region, including tmexCD-oprJ , bla DIM-1 , qnrVC6 that mediate resistance to multiple antibiotics and the operons mer that mediates heavy metal mercury resistance. In addition, there is also an 80 kb variable region (VR) on the plasmid pBJ86, and the genes encoding relaxase and type IV coupling protein (T4CP) were determined in this region, both of which are related to the conjugation and transfer ability of the plasmid. Bioinformatics analysis shows that many functional genes have insertion sequences and transposases on their flanks, which may have accumulated in the plasmid pBJ86 after multiple acquisition events. Conjugated transfer and in vitro tests for antimicrobial susceptibility verified the mobility and plasmid pBJ86-mediated resistance. To our knowledge, we are the first to report a mobilizable megaplasmid that simultaneously carried tmexCD-oprJ , bla DIM-1 , qnrVC6 , and the operons mer and can be transferred with frequencies of 6.24 × 10 -7 transconjugants per donor cell., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Mei, Song, Liu, Li, Liu, Yu, Jiang, Wang and Wei.)

The objective of the current study was to explore the potential mechanism of Ziyang selenium-enriched green tea polysaccharide (Se-GTP) against obesity. The results showed that Se-GTP significantly alleviated obesity and related metabolic disorders caused by high-fat diet (HFD) in mice. 16S rRNA gene sequencing results revealed that Se-GTP improved gut microbiota disturbance of obese mice and facilitated proliferation of probiotics such as Bacteroides , Bifidobacterium , Lactobacillus , and Akkermansia . In addition, the colonic content of succinate, a product of microbial metabolite in connection with adipocyte thermogenesis, was significantly enhanced by Se-GTP treatment. Therefore, Se-GTP facilitated brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis and inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) browning in obese mice, which could be revealed by increased expressions of thermogenic marker proteins UCP1, PGC-1α, and CIDEA in BAT and iWAT. Interestingly, Se-GTP intervention also observably increased the content of M2-like macrophages in iWAT of obese mice. To summarize, the results of this study are the first to show that Se-GTP can stimulate the browning of iWAT and BAT thermogenesis to counteract obesity, which may be pertinent with the alteration of gut microbiota in obese mice.

Background: Ocular trauma is a leading cause of vision loss. Penetrating ocular injury is a major type of open globe injury(OGI), while its epidemiology and clinical characteristics are still uncertain. The aim of this study is to reveal the prevalence and prognostic factors of penetrating ocular injury in the Shandong province., Methods: A retrospective study of penetrating ocular injury was performed at the Second Hospital of Shandong University, from January 2010 to December 2019. Demographic information, injury causes, ocular trauma types, and initial and final visual acuity(VA) were analyzed. To obtain more precise characteristics of penetrating injury, the eye global was divided into three zones and analyzed., Results: Among 210 OGI, there are 83 penetrating injuries which account for 39.5% of all. In addition, the final VA of 59 penetrating injuries recovered to 0.1 or better, which possesses the highest frequency among OGI. In order to research the relationship between the wound location and the final VA, we took 74 cases of penetrating injuries without retina or optic nerve damage for analysis. Results show that 62 were male and 12 were female. The average age was 36.01 ± 14.15. The most frequent occupation is the worker followed by the peasant. Statistics show that there is an obvious deviation in the Ocular trauma score (OTS) predicting the final VA and the actual final VA in the 45-65 score group (p < 0.05). Results suggest that the commonest penetrating injury zone is zone III (32 cases, 43.8%). Zone III, which is farthest from the center of the visual axis, has the largest improvement of the final VA (p = 0.0001). On the contrary, there is no statistical difference in the visual improvement in zone I and zone I + II that involves the injury of the central visual axis., Conclusion: This study describes the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of patients hospitalized for penetrating ocular injury without retina damage in Shandong province. It can be concluded that larger size and closer location to the visual axis of damage are accompanied by worse prognosis improvement. The study provides a better understanding of the disease and enlightenment for the prediction of visual prognosis., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Single atoms of platinum group metals on CeO 2 represent a potential approach to lower precious metal requirements for automobile exhaust treatment catalysts. Here we show the dynamic evolution of two types of single-atom Pt (Pt 1 ) on CeO 2 , i.e., adsorbed Pt 1 in Pt/CeO 2 and square planar Pt 1 in Pt AT CeO 2 , fabricated at 500 °C and by atom-trapping method at 800 °C, respectively. Adsorbed Pt 1 in Pt/CeO 2 is mobile with the in situ formation of few-atom Pt clusters during CO oxidation, contributing to high reactivity with near-zero reaction order in CO. In contrast, square planar Pt 1 in Pt AT CeO 2 is strongly anchored to the support during CO oxidation leading to relatively low reactivity with a positive reaction order in CO. Reduction of both Pt/CeO 2 and Pt AT CeO 2 in CO transforms Pt 1 to Pt nanoparticles. However, both catalysts retain the memory of their initial Pt 1 state after reoxidative treatments, which illustrates the importance of the initial single-atom structure in practical applications., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Clinical application of antibiotic-free agents like silver nanoparticle-derived materials remains a critical challenge due to their limited long-term antibacterial activity and potential system toxicity. Herein, a highly biocompatible Ag nanocluster-reinforced hydrogel with enhanced synergistic antibacterial ability has been developed. Specifically, bioactive curcumin was incorporated into lysozyme-protected ultrasmall Ag nanoclusters (LC-AgNCs) and further integrated with sodium alginate (Sa) hydrogel (LC-AgNCs@Sa) through multiple interaction forces. Due to the synergistic antibacterial activity, LC-AgNCs could effectively kill both S. aureus and E. coli bacteria with a concentration down to 2.5 μg mL -1 . In-depth mechanism investigations revealed that the bactericidal effect of LC-AgNCs lies in their bacterial membrane destruction, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, glutathione depletion and prooxidant-antioxidant system disruption ability. Curcumin can mediate the intracellular ROS balance to protect NIH 3T3 cells from oxidative stress and improve the biocompatibility of LC-AgNCs@Sa. LC-AgNCs@Sa with long-term antibacterial ability can effectively protect the wound from bacterial invasion in vivo, and significantly accelerate the wound healing process due to their distinctive functions of inhibiting inflammatory factor (TNF-α) production, promoting collagen deposit and facilitating re-epithelization. This study provides a new, versatile strategy for the design of high-performance antibacterial dressing for broad infectious disease therapy., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cationic nanoparticles (NPs) have shown great potential in biological applications owing to their distinct features such as favorable cellular internalization and easy binding to biomolecules. However, our current knowledge of cationic NPs' biological behavior, i.e., NP-protein interactions, is still rather limited. Herein, we choose ultrasmall-sized fluorescent gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) coated by (11-mercaptoundecyl) - N, N, N - trimethylammonium bromide (MUTAB) as representative cationic NPs, and systematically study their interactions with different serum proteins at nano-bio interfaces. By monitoring the fluorescence intensity of MUTAB-AuNCs, all proteins are observed to bind with roughly micromolar affinities to AuNCs and quench their fluorescence. Transient fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry are also adopted to characterize the physicochemical properties of MUTAB-AuNCs after the protein adsorption. Concomitantly, circular dichroism spectroscopy reveals that cationic AuNCs can exert protein-dependent conformational changes of these serum proteins. Moreover, protein adsorption onto cationic AuNCs can significantly influence their cellular responses such as cytotoxicity and uptake efficiency. These results provide important knowledge towards understanding the biological behaviors of cationic nanoparticles, which will be helpful in further designing and utilizing them for safe and efficient biomedical applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Isoniazid (INH) is a first-line anti-tuberculosis drug used for nearly 70 years. However, the mechanism underlying the side effects of INH has remained elusive. Here, we report that INH and its metabolites induce a post-translational modification (PTM) of histones, lysine isonicotinylation (K inic ), also called 4-picolinylation, in cells and mice. INH promotes the biosynthesis of isonicotinyl-CoA (Inic-CoA), a co-factor of intracellular isonicotinylation. Mass spectrometry reveals 26 K inic sites in histones in HepG2 cells. Acetyltransferases CREB-binding protein (CBP) and P300 catalyse histone K inic , while histone deacetylase HDAC3 functions as a deisonicotinylase. Notably, MNase sensitivity assay and RNA-seq analysis show that histone K inic relaxes chromatin structure and promotes gene transcription. INH-mediated histone K inic upregulates PIK3R1 gene expression and activates the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway in liver cancer cells, linking INH to tumourigenicity in the liver. We demonstrate that K inic is a histone acylation mark with a pyridine ring, which may have broad biological effects. Therefore, INH-induced isonicotinylation potentially accounts for the side effects in patients taking INH long-term for anti-tuberculosis therapy, and this modification may increase the risk of cancer in humans., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Layered transition metal oxides are the most important cathode materials for Li/Na/K ion batteries. Suppressing undesirable phase transformations during charge-discharge processes is a critical and fundamental challenge towards the rational design of high-performance layered oxide cathodes. Here we report a shale-like Na x MnO 2 (S-NMO) electrode that is derived from a simple but effective water-mediated strategy. This strategy expands the Na + layer spacings of P2-type Na 0.67 MnO 2 and transforms the particles into accordion-like morphology. Therefore, the S-NMO electrode exhibits improved Na + mobility and near-zero-strain property during charge-discharge processes, which leads to outstanding rate capability (100 mAh g -1 at the operation time of 6 min) and cycling stability (>3000 cycles). In addition, the water-mediated strategy is feasible to other layered sodium oxides and the obtained S-NMO electrode has an excellent tolerance to humidity. This work demonstrates that engineering the spacings of alkali-metal layer is an effective strategy to stabilize the structure of layered transition metal oxides., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Molybdenum disulfide quantum dots (MoS2 QDs) have drawn increasing attention owing to their distinct optical properties and potential applications in many fields such as biosensing, photocatalysis and cell imaging. Elucidating the relationship between the surface chemistry of MoS2 QDs and their optical properties as well as biological behaviors is critical for their practical applications, which remain largely unclear. Herein, by adopting a sulfur vacancy modification strategy, a toolbox of MoS2 QDs functionalized with different thiolate ligands was prepared. The effect of surface chemistry on the optical properties of MoS2 QDs was systematically explored by various spectroscopic techniques, revealing the important role of surface ligands in defining their absorption band gap and luminescence quantum yield. Furthermore, cellular experiments showed that the cytotoxicity and intracellular fate (i.e., lysosomal accumulation) of MoS2 QDs are closely related to the properties of surface ligands. Our results underscore the important roles of surface ligands in regulating the properties and biological interactions of these QDs, which will facilitate the future development of MoS2-based materials with precisely controlled functions for biomedical applications.

We herein explore a facile and straightforward approach to enhance the interface stability between the lithium superionic conducting Li 10 GeP 2 S 12 (LGPS) solid electrolyte and Li metal by employing ionic liquid such as 1 M lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI)/ N-methyl- N-propylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (PYR 13 TFSI) as the interface modifier. The results demonstrated the presence of 1 M LiTFSI/PYR 13 TFSI ionic liquid; the interface stability at the electrode/solid electrolyte (i.e., Li/LGPS) was improved remarkably by forming an in situ solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer. As a result, an effectively reduced interfacial resistance from 2021 to 142 Ω cm 2 and stable Li stripping/plating performance (over 1200 h at 0.038 mA cm -2 and 1000 h at 0.1 mA cm -2 ) were achieved in the Li/LGPS/Li symmetric cells. On this basis, the Li-S solid-state batteries were further architectured with one of the S@C composite [where C is the ketjen black carbon (KBC) or PBX 51-type activated carbon (PBX51C) or multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MCNTs)] cathode and the LGPS solid electrolyte. The batteries with S@KBC electrodes delivered an excellent discharge/charge performance with a high initial discharge capacity of 1017 mA h g -1 and better stability than those of the batteries with the S@PBX51C and S@MCNTs electrodes. High surface area, unique beneficial pore structure, and better particle dispersion of sulfur in the S@KBC composite facilitate high sulfur utilization and also increase the intimate contact between the electrode and LGPS solid electrolyte during the discharge/charge process.

Heterogeneous catalysis performs on specific sites of a catalyst surface even if specific sites of many catalysts during catalysis could not be identified readily. Design of a catalyst by managing catalytic sites on an atomic scale is significant for tuning catalytic performance and offering high activity and selectivity at a relatively low temperature. Here, we report a synergy effect of two sets of single-atom sites (Ni 1 and Ru 1 ) anchored on the surface of a CeO 2 nanorod, Ce 0.95 Ni 0.025 Ru 0.025 O 2 . The surface of this catalyst, Ce 0.95 Ni 0.025 Ru 0.025 O 2 , consists of two sets of single-atom sites which are highly active for reforming CH 4 using CO 2 with a turnover rate of producing 73.6 H 2 molecules on each site per second at 560 °C. Selectivity for producing H 2 at this temperature is 98.5%. The single-atom sites Ni 1 and Ru 1 anchored on the CeO 2 surface of Ce 0.95 Ni 0.025 Ru 0.025 O 2 remain singly dispersed and in a cationic state during catalysis up to 600 °C. The two sets of single-atom sites play a synergistic role, evidenced by lower apparent activation barrier and higher turnover rate for production of H 2 and CO on Ce 0.95 Ni 0.025 Ru 0.025 O 2 in contrast to Ce 0.95 Ni 0.05 O 2 with only Ni 1 single-atom sites and Ce 0.95 Ru 0.05 O 2 with only Ru 1 single-atom sites. Computational studies suggest a molecular mechanism for the observed synergy effects, which originate at (1) the different roles of Ni 1 and Ru 1 sites in terms of activations of CH 4 to form CO on a Ni 1 site and dissociation of CO 2 to CO on a Ru 1 site, respectively and (2) the sequential role in terms of first forming H atoms through activation of CH 4 on a Ni 1 site and then coupling of H atoms to form H 2 on a Ru 1 site. These synergistic effects of the two sets of single-atom sites on the same surface demonstrated a new method for designing a catalyst with high activity and selectivity at a relatively low temperature.

Despite the extremely high ionic conductivity, the commercialization of Li 10 GeP 2 S 12 -type materials is hindered by the poor stability against Li metal. Herein, to address that issue, a simple strategy is proposed and demonstrated for the first time, i.e., in situ modification of the interface between Li metal and Li 10 SnP 2 S 12 (LSPS) by pretreatment with specific ionic liquid and salts. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results reveal that a stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer instead of a mixed conducting layer is formed on Li metal by adding 1.5 M lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI)/ N-propyl- N-methyl pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (Pyr 13 TFSI) ionic liquid, where ionic liquid not only acts as a wetting agent but also improves the stability at the Li/LSPS interface. This stable SEI layer can prevent LSPS from directly contacting the Li metal and further decomposition, and the Li/LSPS/Li symmetric cell with 1.5 M LiTFSI/Pyr 13 TFSI attains a stable cycle life of over 1000 h with both the charge and discharge voltages reaching about 50 mV at 0.038 mA cm -2 . Furthermore, the effects of different Li salts on the interfacial modification is also compared and investigated. It is shown that lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl) imide (LiFSI) salt causes the enrichment of LiF in the SEI layer and results in a higher resistance of the cell upon a long cycling life.

Artificial microbial nitrogen (N) cycle hotspots in the plant-bed/ditch system were developed and investigated based on intact core and slurry assays measurement using isotopic tracing technology, quantitative PCR and high-throughput sequencing. By increasing hydraulic retention time and periodically fluctuating water level in heterogeneous riparian zones, hotspots of anammox, nitrification, denitrification, ammonium (NH 4 + ) oxidation, nitrite (NO 2 - ) oxidation, nitrate (NO 3 - ) reduction and DNRA were all stimulated at the interface sediments, with the abundance and activity being about 1-3 orders of magnitude higher than those in nonhotspots. Isotopic pairing experiments revealed that in microbial hotspots, nitrite sources were higher than the sinks, and both NH 4 + oxidation (55.8%) and NO 3 - reduction (44.2%) provided nitrite for anammox, which accounted for 43.0% of N-loss and 44.4% of NH 4 + removal in riparian zones but did not involve nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission risks. High-throughput analysis identified that bacterial quorum sensing mediated this anammox hotspot with B.fulgida dominating the anammox community, but it was B. anammoxidans and Jettenia sp. that contributed more to anammox activity. In the nonhotspot zones, the NO 2 - source (NO 3 - reduction dominated) was lower than the sink, limiting the effects on anammox. The in situ N 2 O flux measurement showed that the microbial hotspot had a 27.1% reduced N 2 O emission flux compared with the nonhotspot zones.

The distribution and importance of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-damo) have been identified in aquatic ecosystems; their role in agricultural upland soils however has not yet been well investigated. In this study, we examined spatio-temporal distributions of anammox and n-damo bacteria in soil profiles (300 cm depth) from an agricultural upland. Monitoring nitrogen (N) conversion activity using isotope-tracing techniques over the course of one year showed denitrification (99.0% N-loss in the winter and 85.0% N-loss in the summer) predominated over anammox (1.0% N-loss in the winter and 14.4% N-loss in the summer) and n-damo (0.6% N-loss in the winter) in surface soils (0-20 cm). While below 20 cm depth, N-loss was dominated by anammox (79.4 ± 14.3% in the winter and 65.4 ± 12.5% in the summer) and n-damo was not detected. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Candidatus Brocadia anammoxidans dominated the anammox community in the surface soil and Candidatus Brocadia fulgida dominated below 20 cm depth. Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), another nitrite reduction process, was found to play a limited role (4.9 ± 3.5%) in the surface soil compared with denitrification; below 80 cm DNRA rates were much higher than rates of anammox and denitrification. Ammonium oxidation was the main source of NO2- above 80 cm (70.9 ± 23.3%), the key influencing factor on anammox rates, and nitrate reduction (100%) was the main NO2- source below 80 cm. Considering the anammox, n-damo and denitrification rates as a whole in the sampled soil profile, denitrification is still the main N-loss process in upland soils., (© 2018 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The development of highly reversible multielectron reaction per redox center in sodium super ionic conductor-structured cathode materials is desired to improve the energy density of sodium-ion batteries. Here, we investigated more than one-electron storage of Na in Na 3 VCr(PO 4 ) 3 . Combining a series of advanced characterization techniques such as ex situ 51 V solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray absorption near-edge structure, and in situ X-ray diffraction, we reveal that V 3+ /V 4+ and V 4+ /V 5+ redox couples in the materials can be accessed, leading to a 1.5-electron reaction. It is also found that a light change on the local electronic and structural states or phase change could be observed after the first cycle, resulting in the fast capacity fade at room temperature. We also showed that the irreversibility of the phase changes could be largely suppressed at low temperature, thus leading to a much improved electrochemical performance.

Methylation alterations of Jagged1 and Notch1 genes have been reported in non-tumor lesions and a few cancers. However, methylation profiles of Jagged1 promoter and Notch1 exon25 in breast cancer and matched normal tissue and the association of methylation with clinicopathological characteristics still remain unclear. To explore the potential effects of aberrant DNA methylation of Jagged1 and Notch1 on occurrence and progression of breast cancer, we detected the quantitative DNA methylation of Jagged1 and Notch1 in 73 breast cancer (BC) and 20 adjacent normal breast tissues (ANBT) by using MassARRAY spectrometry. The methylation level of overall and majority individual CpG sites of the two genes were synergistically significantly lower in BC than in ANBT. The overall hypomethylation of the two genes, particularly of Jagged1 CpG&#95;8.9.10 and Notch1 CpG&#95;14.15.16 in primary tumors, were markedly associated with lymph node metastasis, advanced stage and high grade. The protein expressions of the both genes were examined by immunohistochemical staining in same cohorts. The expression was significantly inverse correlation with methylation. The two proteins in primary tumor were synergistically up-regulated and dramatically related to lymph node metastasis, advanced stage and high grade. Our findings suggest that the synergetic hypomethylation of Jagged1 and Notch1 genes, especially of Jagged1 CpG&#95;8.9.10 and Notch1 CpG&#95;14.15.16, may involve tumorigenesis and development of breast cancer. The negative relationship between methylation and expression indicates methylation role for expression regulation. The synergetic overexpression of the two proteins further indicates the effects on occurrence and progression of breast cancer.