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Lay Abstract: Even though there are about 10 million Chinese autistic individuals, we know little about autistic adults in China. This study examined how well young autistic adults in China integrate into their communities (such as having a job, living independently and having friends) and how satisfied they are with their lives as reported by their caregivers. We compared them to autistic adults with similar characteristics (such as high support needs) from the Netherlands. We included 99 autistic adults in China and 109 in the Netherlands (18-30 years). In both countries, autistic adults were reported to have a hard time fitting into their communities. They often had no work, did not live on their own and had few close friends. Also, in both countries, caregivers reported that autistic adults felt low satisfaction with their life. Chinese adults were less satisfied with their life than Dutch adults, as indicated by their caregivers. This could be because of a lack of support for autistic adults in China, higher parental stress in Chinese caregivers, or general cross-country differences in happiness. Only in the Dutch group, younger compared with older adults fitted better into their communities, and adults without additional psychiatric conditions were reported to have higher life satisfaction. Country was a significant predictor of independent living only, with Dutch participants more likely living in care facilities than Chinese participants. In conclusion, our study shows that autistic adults with high support needs generally face similar challenges in both China and the Netherlands., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect of the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: Ovarian endometriotic cysts (OEC) represent the primary manifestation of endometriosis, constituting a hormonally dependent inflammatory disorder in gynecology. It significantly affects the quality of life and reproductive health of women. It is worth noting that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), especially Chinese herbal medicine (CHM), has been widely applied in mainland China due to its unique therapeutic system and commendable clinical efficacy, bringing new hope for preventing and managing OEC., Objective: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CHM in the management of postoperative OEC. Simultaneously, it seeks to explore the medication laws, therapeutic principles, and specific treatment mechanisms of CHM., Methods: Eight electronic databases were searched from their inception to 01 November 2023. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the therapeutic effects and safety of CHM for postoperative OEC were included. The risk of bias for each trial was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool. The certainty of the evidence was evaluated using the GRADE profiler 3.2. Additionally, we extracted formulation from the included studies, conducting a thorough analysis., Results: (ⅰ) Twenty-two RCTs involving 1938 patients were included. In terms of the primary efficacy outcome, the CHM group demonstrated a potentially lower recurrence rate compared to both control (odds ratio (OR) = 0.25; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.10-0.64) and conventional western medicine (CWM) (OR = 0.26; 95% CI: 0.11-0.65) groups. Furthermore, the joint application of CHM and CWM resulted in a significant reduction in the recurrence rate (OR = 0.26; 95% CI: 0.17-0.40). (ⅱ) Regarding secondary efficacy outcomes, (a) Total clinical efficacy rate: CHM showcased an augmentation in clinical effectiveness compared to both the control (OR = 4.23; 95% CI: 1.12-15.99) and CWM (OR = 2.94; 95% CI: 1.34-6.43) groups. The combined administration of CHM and CWM substantially enhanced overall clinical effectiveness (OR = 3.44; 95% CI: 2.37-5.00). (b) VAS Score: CHM exhibited the capacity to diminish the VAS score in comparison to surgery alone (Mean difference (MD) = -0.86; 95% CI: -1.01 to -0.71). Nevertheless, no substantial advantage was observed compared to CWM alone (MD = -0.16; 95% CI: -0.49 to 0.17). The integration of CHM with CWM effectively ameliorated pain symptoms (MD = -0.87; 95% CI: -1.10 to -0.65). (c) Serum Level of Cancer antigen 125 (CA125): the CHM group potentially exhibited lower CA125 levels in comparison to CWM alone (MD = -11.08; 95% CI: -21.75 to -0.42). The combined intervention of CHM and CWM significantly decreased CA125 levels (MD = -5.31; 95% CI: -7.27 to -3.36). (d) Pregnancy Rate: CHM exhibited superiority in enhancing the pregnancy rate compared to surgery (OR = 3.95; 95% CI: 1.60-9.74) or CWM alone (OR = 3.31; 95% CI: 1.40-7.83). The combined utilization of CHM and CWM demonstrated the potential to enhance pregnancy rates compared to CWM (OR = 2.99; 95% CI: 1.28-6.98). Concerning safety outcome indicators, CHM effectively decreased the overall incidence of adverse events and, to a certain extent, alleviated perimenopausal symptoms as well as liver function impairment. (ⅲ) Most of CHMs were originated from classical Chinese herbal formulas. Prunus persica (L.) Batsch (Taoren), Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels (Danggui), Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (Danshen), Paeonia lactiflora Pall. (Chishao), and Corydalis yanhusuo W.T.Wang (Yanhusuo) were most frequently used CHM., Conclusion: CHM may be a viable choice in the long-term management of postoperative OEC, with the potential to enhance clinical efficacy while decreasing recurrence and adverse effects., 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 © 2024 Ding, Liu, Liu, Hao, Zhang, Shen, Wei, Chen and Han.)

Understory bird communities, especially those comprising insectivores, are highly sensitive to forest loss and fragmentation. Currently, there is little knowledge regarding the large-scale diversity patterns of understory bird communities, particularly in Eastern Asia. Consequently, we aimed to identify the distribution patterns of understory birds in southern China and the factors underlying these patterns. We analysed the diversity distribution patterns of taxonomic and functional α and β diversity for understory Passeriformes birds in southern China utilising cluster and ordination analyses. Subsequently, we analysed the effects of geographic distance, annual mean temperature, annual temperature range, annual mean precipitation, and annual precipitation range on diversity distribution patterns. In total, 9282 individuals belonging to 11 orders, 48 families, and 297 species were captured over 98,544 net hours, with Alcippeidae being the most abundant family in southern China. The understory bird communities of the 25 sites were categorised into six sub-regions of the Oriental Realm (Indo-Malayan Realm). The pattern in the distribution of taxonomic and functional β-diversity of understory birds in southern China was consistent with zoogeographical regionalisation. Three distinct geographical groups were identified: Group 1 was located in the Min-Guang Coast and Hainan sub-regions; Group 2 was located in the East Hilly Plain, Southwest Mountains, and Western Mountains and Plateaus sub-regions; and Group 3 was located in the Southern Yunnan Mountain subregion. The most critical factors related to the distribution patterns of β-diversity were geographical distance, annual mean temperature, and annual temperature range. Our results showed that the understory bird communities of the Southwest Mountain, East Hilly Plain, and Western Mountains, and Plateaus sub-regions were similar, as were those of the Min-Guang Coast and Hainan sub-regions. Our results underscore the joint roles of distance, temperature, and historical evolution in understory bird communities., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The effect of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) can be influenced by the degree of coronary artery stenosis. However, the association between the severity of NAFLD and MACEs in patients who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is unclear., Methods: A total of 341 NAFLD patients who underwent CCTA were enrolled. The severity of NAFLD was divided into mild NAFLD and moderate-severe NAFLD by abdominal CT results. The degree of coronary artery stenosis was evaluated by using Coronary Artery Disease Reporting and Data System (CAD-RADS) category. Cox regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier analysis were used to assess poor prognosis., Results: During the follow-up period, 45 of 341 NAFLD patients (13.20%) who underwent CCTA occurred MACEs. The severity of NAFLD (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.95[1.54-5.66]; p = 0.001) and CAD-RADS categories 3-5 (HR = 16.31[6.34-41.92]; p < 0.001) were independent risk factors for MACEs. The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that moderate to severe NAFLD patients had a worsen prognosis than mild NAFLD patients (log-rank p < 0.001). Moreover, the combined receiver operating characteristic curve of the severity of NAFLD and CAD-RADS category showed a good predicting performance for the risk of MACEs, with an area under the curve of 0.849 (95% CI = 0.786-0.911)., Conclusion: The severity of NAFLD was independent risk factor for MACEs in patients with obstructive CAD, having CAD-RADS 3-5 categories on CCTA., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

As a novel optical device, the plasmonic random laser has unique working principle and emission characteristics. However, the simultaneous enhancement of absorption and emission by plasmons is still a problem. In this paper, we propose a broad-band-enhanced plasmonic random laser. Two-dimensional silver (Ag) nanostar arrays were prepared using a bottom-up method with the assistance of self-assembled nanosphere templates. The plasmon resonance of Ag nanostars contributes to the pump light absorption and photoluminescence (PL) of RhB. Coherent random lasing was achieved in RhB@PVA film based on localized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) dual enhancement and scattering feedback of Ag nanostars. Ag nanostars prepared with different nanosphere diameters affect the laser emission wavelength. In addition, the random laser device achieves wavelength tunability on a flexible substrate under mechanical external force.

IκB kinase (IKK) complex is central regulators of the NF-κB pathway, and dysregulation of IKK phosphorylation leads to hyperactivation of proinflammatory response in various chronic inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the dynamic modulation of IKK phosphorylation and dephosphorylation in intestinal inflammation remains uncharacterized. Here, we found that autophagy/beclin-1 regulator 1 (AMBRA1) was highly expressed in inflamed colons in a colitis mouse model and in clinical IBD samples. Importantly, AMBRA1 deletion significantly decreased proinflammatory cytokine expression and enhanced the therapeutic effect of infliximab on intestinal inflammation. Mechanistically, the N-term F1 domain of AMBRA1 was required for AMBRA1 to competitively interact with protein phosphatase 4 regulatory subunit 1 (PP4R1) and catalytic protein phosphatase 4 (PP4c) to suppress their interactions with IKK, promote the dissociation of the PP4R1/PP4c complex, and antagonize the dephosphorylation activity of this complex towards the IKK complex. In response to TNF-α stimulation, IKKα phosphorylates AMBRA1 at S1043 to stabilize AMBRA1 expression by impairing its binding to Cullin4A (CUL4A) to decrease its CUL4A-mediated K48-linked ubiquitination. Overall, our study identifies an autophagy-independent function of AMBRA1 as a positive modulator of IKK phosphorylation to promote intestinal inflammation, thus providing a new targeted therapeutic strategy for patients with refractory IBD., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to ADMC Associazione Differenziamento e Morte Cellulare.)

Multimodal emotion recognition techniques are increasingly essential for assessing mental states. Image-based methods, however, tend to focus predominantly on overt visual cues and often overlook subtler mental state changes. Psychophysiological research has demonstrated that heart rate (HR) and skin temperature are effective in detecting autonomic nervous system (ANS) activities, thereby revealing these subtle changes. However, traditional HR tools are generally more costly and less portable, while skin temperature analysis usually necessitates extensive manual processing. Advances in remote photoplethysmography (r-PPG) and automatic thermal region of interest (ROI) detection algorithms have been developed to address these issues, yet their accuracy in practical applications remains limited. This study aims to bridge this gap by integrating r-PPG with thermal imaging to enhance prediction performance. Ninety participants completed a 20-min questionnaire to induce cognitive stress, followed by watching a film aimed at eliciting moral elevation. The results demonstrate that the combination of r-PPG and thermal imaging effectively detects emotional shifts. Using r-PPG alone, the prediction accuracy was 77% for cognitive stress and 61% for moral elevation, as determined by a support vector machine (SVM). Thermal imaging alone achieved 79% accuracy for cognitive stress and 78% for moral elevation, utilizing a random forest (RF) algorithm. An early fusion strategy of these modalities significantly improved accuracies, achieving 87% for cognitive stress and 83% for moral elevation using RF. Further analysis, which utilized statistical metrics and explainable machine learning methods including SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), highlighted key features and clarified the relationship between cardiac responses and facial temperature variations. Notably, it was observed that cardiovascular features derived from r-PPG models had a more pronounced influence in data fusion, despite thermal imaging's higher predictive accuracy in unimodal analysis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2024 Liu et al.)

The current study was designed to investigate the alleviative effect of lactoferrin interventions against the hepatotoxicity induced by titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO 2 -NPs). Thirty male Wistar rats were divided into six groups with 5 rats in each group. The first and second groups were intragastrically administered normal saline and TiO 2 -NPs (100 mg/kg body weight) as the negative control (NC) and TiO 2 -NP groups. The third, fourth, and fifth groups were intragastrically administered lactoferrin at concentrations of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg body weight in addition to TiO 2 -NPs (100 mg/kg body weight). The sixth group was intragastrically administered Fuzheng Huayu (FZHY) capsules at a concentration of 4.6 g/kg body weight in addition to TiO 2 -NPs (100 mg/kg body weight) as the positive control group. After treatment for 4 weeks, the concentrations of lactoferrin were optimized based on the liver index and function results. Subsequently, the alleviative effects of lactoferrin interventions against TiO 2 -NP-induced hepatotoxicity in rat liver tissues, including the effects on histological damage, oxidative stress-related damage, inflammation, fibrosis, DNA damage, apoptosis, and gene expression, were investigated using histopathological, biochemical, and transcriptomic assays. The results showed that 200 mg/kg lactoferrin interventions for 4 weeks not only ameliorated the liver dysfunction and histopathological damage caused by TiO 2 -NP exposure but also inhibited the oxidative stress-related damage, inflammation, fibrosis, DNA damage, and apoptosis in the liver tissues of TiO 2 -NP-exposed rats. The transcriptomic results confirmed that the alleviative effect of lactoferrin interventions against the TiO 2 -NP exposure-induced hepatotoxicity was related to the activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Various extracellular matrix (ECM) reshaping events are involved in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). LAMB3 is a vital subunit of laminin-332, an important ECM component. Data on the biological function of LAMB3 in intestinal inflammation are lacking. Our aim is to discuss the effect of LAMB3 in IBD., Methods: LAMB3 expression was assessed in cultured intestinal epithelial cells, inflamed mucosal tissues of patients and mouse colitis models. RNA sequencing, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting were used to detect the LAMB3 expression distribution and potential downstream target genes. Dual-luciferase assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to determine whether P65 could transcriptionally activate LAMB3 under tumor necrosis factor α stimulation., Results: LAMB3 expression was increased in inflammatory states in intestinal epithelial cells and colonoids and was associated with adverse clinical outcomes in Crohn's disease. Knockdown of LAMB3 inhibited the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. Mechanistically, LAMB3 expression was directly transcriptionally activated by P65 and was inhibited by nuclear factor kappa B inhibitors under tumor necrosis factor α stimulation. Furthermore, RNA sequencing and replenishment experiments revealed that LAMB3 upregulated SERPINA3 to promote intestinal inflammation via the integrin α3β1/FAK pathway., Conclusion: We propose that LAMB3 could serve as a potential therapeutic target of IBD and a predictor of intestinal stenosis of Crohn's disease. Our findings demonstrate the important role of ECM in the progression of IBD and offer an experimental basis for the treatment and prognosis of IBD., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: In December 2022, Chongqing experienced a significant surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic after adjusting control measures in China. Given the widespread immunization of the population with the BA.5 variant, it is crucial to actively monitor severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant evolution in Chongqing's Yubei district., Methods: In this retrospective study based on whole genome sequencing, we collected oropharyngeal and nasal swab of native COVID-19 cases from Yubei district between January to May 2023, along with imported cases from January 2022 to January 2023. Through second-generation sequencing, we generated a total of 578 genomes., Results: Phylogenetic analyses revealed these genomes belong to 47 SARS-CoV-2 Pango lineages. BA.5.2.48 was dominant from January to April 2023, rapidly replaced by XBB* variants from April to May 2023. Bayesian Skyline Plot reconstructions indicated a higher evolutionary rate (6.973 × 10 -4 subs/site/year) for the XBB.1.5* lineage compared to others. The mean time to the most recent common ancestor (tMRCA) of BA.5.2.48* closely matched BA.2.75* (May 27, 2022). Using multinomial logistic regression, we estimated growth advantages, with XBB.1.9.1 showing the highest growth advantage (1.2, 95% HPI:1.1-1.2), followed by lineage FR.1 (1.1, 95% HPI:1.1-1.2)., Conclusions: Our monitoring reveals the rapid replacement of the previously prevalent BA.5.2.48 variant by XBB and its sub-variants, underscoring the ineffectiveness of herd immunity and breakthrough BA.5 infections against XBB variants. Given the ongoing evolutionary pressure, sustaining a SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance program is imperative., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

With the development of science and technology and the improvement of the quality of life, ophthalmic diseases have become one of the major disorders that affect the quality of life of people. In view of this, we propose a new method of ophthalmic disease classification, ED-Net (Eye Disease Classification Net), which is composed of the ED&#95;Resnet model and ED&#95;Xception model, and we compare our ED-Net method with classical classification algorithms, transformer algorithm, more advanced image classification algorithms and ophthalmic disease classification algorithms. We propose the ED&#95;Resnet module and ED&#95;Xception module and reconstruct these two modules into a new image classification algorithm ED-Net, and compared them with classical classification algorithms, transformer algorithms, more advanced image classification algorithms and eye disease classification algorithms., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Background: Gene therapy involves introducing and editing foreign genes in the body to treat and prevent genetic diseases. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector has become a widely used tool in gene therapy due to its high safety and transfection efficiency., Methods: This study employs bibliometric analysis to explore the foundation and current state of AAV vector application in gene therapy research. A total of 6,069 publications from 1991 to 2022 were analyzed, retrieved from the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) within the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) of Clarivate Analytics. Institutions, authors, journals, references, and keywords were analyzed and visualized by using VOSviewer and CiteSpace. The R language and Microsoft Excel 365 were used for statistical analyses., Results: The global literature on AAV vector and gene therapy exhibited consistent growth, with the United States leading in productivity, contributing 3,868 papers and obtaining the highest H-index. Noteworthy authors like Wilson JM, Samulski RJ, Hauswirth WW, and Mingozzi F were among the top 10 most productive and co-cited authors. The journal "Human Gene Therapy" published the most papers (n = 485) on AAV vector and gene therapy. Current research focuses on "gene editing," "gene structure," "CRISPR," and "AAV gene therapy for specific hereditary diseases.", Conclusion: The application of AAV vector in gene therapy has shown continuous growth, fostering international cooperation among countries and institutions. The intersection of gene editing, gene structure, CRISPR, and AAV gene therapy for specific hereditary diseases and AAV vector represents a prominent and prioritized focus in contemporary gene therapy research. This study provides valuable insights into the trends and characteristics of AAV gene therapy research, facilitating further advancements in the field., 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 Jiang, Zhang, Liu, Liu, Huang, Tan and Qin.)

The Snf2 protein family is a group of ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling factors (CHRs) that play an essential role in gene expression regulation. In plants, Snf2 is involved in growth, development, as well as stress resistance. However, only a very limited number of experimentally validated Snf2 have been identified and reported, while the majority remaining undiscovered in most species . In this study, we predicted 3135 Snf2 proteins and 8398 chromatin remodeling complex (CRC) subunits in diverse plant species, and constructed the Plant Chromatin Remodeling Factors Database (PlantCHRs, http://www.functionalgenomics.cn/PlantCHRs/), which provide a comprehensive resource for researchers to access information about plant CHRs. We also developed an online tool capable of predicting CHRs and CRC subunits. Moreover, we investigated the distribution of Snf2 proteins in different species and observed a significant increase in the number of Snf2 proteins and the diversity of the Snf2 subfamily during the evolution, highlighting their evolutionary importance. By analyzing the expression patterns of the Snf2 genes in different tissues of maize and Arabidopsis , we found that the Snf2 proteins may show some conservation across different species in regulating plant growth and development. Over the all, we established a comprehensive database for plant CHRs, which will facilitate the researches on plant chromatin remodeling., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Authors.)

The ability to accurately monitor chiral biological molecules is of great significance for their potential applications in disease diagnosis and virus detection. As the existing chiral detection technologies are mainly relying on an optical method by using left/right circularly polarized light, the universality is low and the operation is complicated. Moreover, large quantity of chiral molecules is required, causing low detection efficiency. Here, a self-assembled monolayer of polypeptides has been fabricated to realize trace detection of chirality based on spin selectivity of photon-electron interaction. We have utilized Kerr technique to detect the rotation angle by the molecular monolayer, which indicates the chirality of polypeptides. The chiral structure of a biological molecule could result in spin-selectivity of electrons and thus influence the interaction between electron spin and light polarization. A Kerr rotation angle of ∼3° has been obviously observed, equivalent to the magneto-optic Kerr effect without magnetic material or magnetic field. Furthermore, we have provided a novel solution to achieve chirality discrimination and amplification simultaneously through an optical fiber. The proposed design is applicable for chiral detection via increasing their differential output signal, which clearly demonstrates a useful strategy toward chirality characterization of biological molecules., (© 2023 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.)

The emergence and development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provides an approach to understand the regulatory mechanisms of cell pluripotency and demonstrates the great potential of iPSCs in disease modeling. Acute myelitis defines a group of inflammatory diseases that cause acute nerve damage in the spinal cord; however, its pathophysiology remains to be elusive. In this study, we derived skin fibroblasts from a patient with acute myelitis (P-HAF) and then reprogrammed P-HAF cells to iPSCs using eight exogenous factors (namely, OCT4, SOX2, c-MYC, KLF4, NANOG, LIN28, RARG, and LRH1 ). We performed transcriptomic analysis of the P-HAF and compared the biological characteristics of the iPSCs derived from the patient (P-iPSCs) with those derived from normal individuals in terms of pluripotency, transcriptomic characteristics, and differentiation ability toward the ectoderm. Compared to the control iPSCs, the P-iPSCs displayed similar features of pluripotency and comparable capability of ectoderm differentiation in the specified culture. However, when tested in the common medium, the P-iPSCs showed attenuated potential for ectoderm differentiation. The transcriptomic analysis revealed that pathways enriched in P-iPSCs included those involved in Wnt signaling. To this end, we treated iPSCs and P-iPSCs with the Wnt signaling pathway inhibitor IWR1 during the differentiation process and found that the expression of the ectoderm marker Sox1 was increased significantly in P-iPSCs. This study provides a novel approach to investigating the pathogenesis of acute myelitis., 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 Cao, Gao, Liu, Chen, Na, Meng, Shao, Chen, Song, Wu, Li and Bao.)

Despite much technical progress achieved so far, the exact surface and shape evolution during wet chemical etching is less unraveled, especially in ionically bonded ceramics. Herein, by using in situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy, a repeated two-stage anisotropic and pulsating periodic etching dynamic is discovered during the pencil shape evolution of a single crystal ZnO nanorod in aqueous hydrochloric acid. Specifically, the nanopencil tip shrinks at a slower rate along [0001̅] than that along the ⟨101̅0⟩ directions, resulting in a sharper ZnO pencil tip. Afterward, rapid tip dissolution happens due to accelerated etching rates along various crystal directions. Concurrently, the vicinal base region of the original nanopencil tip emerges as a new tip followed by the repeated sequence of tip shrinking and removal. The high-index surfaces, such as {101̅ m } ( m = 0, 1, 2, or 3) and {21̅ 1̅ n } ( n = 0, 1, 2, or 3), are found to preferentially expose in different ratios. Our 3D electron tomography, convergent beam electron diffraction, middle-angle bright-field STEM, and XPS results indicate the dissociative Cl - species were bound to the Zn-terminated tip surfaces. Furthermore, DFT calculation suggests the preferential Cl - passivation over the {101̅1} and (0001) surfaces of lower energy than others, leading to preferential surface exposures and the oscillatory variation of different facet etching rates. The boosted reactivity due to high-index nanoscale surface exposures is confirmed by comparatively enhanced chemical sensing and CO 2 hydrogenation activity. These findings provide an in-depth understanding of anisotropic wet chemical etching of ionic nanocrystals and offer a design strategy for advanced functional materials.

We conducted UPLC-MS-based metabolomics, 16S rRNA, and metagenome sequencing on the fecal samples of 44 captive giant pandas ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) from four age groups (i.e., Cub, Young, Adult, and Old) to comprehensively understand age-related changes in the metabolism and gut microbiota of giant pandas. We characterized the metabolite profiles of giant pandas based on 1,376 identified metabolites, with 152 significantly differential metabolites (SDMs) found across the age groups. We found that the metabolites and the composition/function of the gut microbiota changed in response to the transition from a milk-dominant diet in panda cubs to a bamboo-specific diet in young and adult pandas. Lipid metabolites such as choline and hippuric acid were enriched in the Cub group, and many plant secondary metabolites were significantly higher in the Young and Adult groups, while oxidative stress and inflammatory related metabolites were only found in the Old group. However, there was a decrease in the α-diversity of gut microbiota in adult and old pandas, who exclusively consume bamboo. The abundance of bacteria related to the digestion of cellulose-rich food, such as Firmicutes, Streptococcus, and Clostridium, significantly increased from the Cub to the Adult group, while the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Faecalibacterium , Sarcina, and Blautia significantly decreased. Notably, several potential pathogenic bacteria had relatively high abundances, especially in the Young group. Metagenomic analysis identified 277 CAZyme genes including cellulose degrading genes, and seven of the CAZymes had abundances that significantly differed between age groups. We also identified 237 antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) whose number and diversity increased with age. We also found a significant positive correlation between the abundance of bile acids and gut bacteria, especially Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium . Our results from metabolome, 16S rRNA, and metagenome data highlight the important role of the gut microbiota-bile acid axis in the regulation of age-related metabolism and provide new insights into the lipid metabolism of giant pandas. IMPORTANCE The giant panda is a member of the order Carnivora but is entirely herbivorous. The giant panda's specialized diet and related metabolic mechanisms have not been fully understood. It is therefore crucial to investigate the dynamic changes in metabolites as giant pandas grow and physiologically adapt to their herbivorous diet. This study conducted UPLC-MS-based metabolomics 16S rRNA, and metagenome sequencing on the fecal samples of captive giant pandas from four age groups. We found that metabolites and the composition/function of gut microbiota changed in response to the transition from a milk-dominant diet in cubs to a bamboo-specific diet in young and adult pandas. The metabolome, 16S rRNA, and metagenome results highlight that the gut microbiota-bile acid axis has an important role in the regulation of age-related metabolism, and our study provides new insights into the lipid metabolism of giant pandas., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Compared with traditional flapping motion, the flapping wing rotor (FWR) allows rotating freedom by installing the two wings asymmetrically, which introduces rotary motion characteristics and enables the FWR to have higher lift and aerodynamic efficiency at low Reynolds number. However, most of the proposed FWRs contain linkage mechanical transmission structures, the fixed degrees of freedom of which prohibit the wings from achieving variable flapping trajectories, limiting further optimization and controller design of FWRs. In order to fundamentally address the above challenges of FWRs, this paper presents a new type of FWR with two mechanically decoupled wings, which are directly driven by two independent motor-spring resonance actuation systems. The proposed FWR has 12.4 g of system weight and 165-205 mm wingspan. In addition, a theoretical electromechanical model based on the DC motor model and quasi-steady aerodynamic forces is established, and a series of experiments are conducted in order to determine the ideal working point of the proposed FWR. It is notable that both our theoretical model and experiments exhibit uneven rotation of the FWR during flight, i.e. rotation speed dropping in the downstroke and increasing in the upstroke, which further tests the proposed theoretical model and uncovers the relationship between flapping and passive rotation in the FWR. To further validate the performance of the design, free flight tests are conducted, and the proposed FWR demonstrates stable liftoff at the designed working point., (© 2023 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

To explore the influence of age on hs-CRP among men and women and investigate the impact of hs-CRP on all-cause death, this prospective cohort enrolled 4128 community adults from 2009 to 2022 for all-cause death. Age and sex-specific hs-CRP percentile curves were generated using the GAMLSS method. Cox-proportional hazard regression analysis was applied to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs). During the follow-up with a median of 12.59 years, 701 cases of all-cause death were identified. Among men, the smoothed centile curves of hs-CRP gradually increased from age 35 onwards whereas, the smoothed centile curves of hs-CRP continuously increased as age increased among women. Compared with the reference group, the adjusted HR of the association between elevated hs-CRP and all-cause death was 1.33 (95 % CI: 1.11-1.61). The adjusted HRs of the associations between elevated hs-CRP and all-cause death were higher in women [1.40 (95 % CI: 1.07-1.83)] than men [1.28 (95 % CI: 0.99-1.65) and in subjects aged < 65 years [1.77 (95 % CI: 1.19-2.62)] than in subjects aged ≥ 65 years [1.27 (95 % CI: 1.03-1.57)]. Our findings highlight the need of investigating sex and age differences in biological pathways that link inflammation and mortality., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest 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 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: No conflicts of interest.

Background: Total proctocolectomy (TPC) with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) has been accepted as a radical surgery for refractory ulcerative colitis (UC). We aimed to assess the predictive value of several novel and widely used endoscopic core systems, The Toronto IBD Global Endoscopic Reporting (TIGER) score, Mayo endoscopic score (MES), and ulcerative colitis endoscopic index of severity (UCEIS) in guiding the need for IPAA., Methods: Data on patients with UC from June 1986 and June 2022 at our institute were collected. The endoscopic evaluation was recorded according to the first colonoscopy after hospitalization. Primary outcome was the need for IPAA during admission and follow-up., Results: A total of 313 patients with a median follow-up time and a median TIGER score of 12.0 years (interquartile range (IQR): 6.0-17.0) and 212.0 (IQR: 7.0-327.0) were enrolled. IPAA was conducted in 110 (35.1%) patients, which significantly improved the long-term quality of life. TIGER score had the biggest area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.810 with a sensitivity of 75.0% and specificity of 87.1% at the cut-off value of 315 (p < 0.001). TIGER score ≥ 315 was an independent risk factor with the highest odds ratio for the need for IPAA and associated with the shortest IPAA-free survival time compared with UCEIS and MES., Conclusion: TIGER score was superior to UCEIS and MES in predicting the need for IPAA. For colorectal surgeons, three or more segments with moderate-to-severe endoscopic activity should be considered as a threshold value for decision-making for IPAA., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Cancer cells harbor many genetic mutations and gene expression profiles different from normal cells. Patient-derived cancer cells (PDCC) are preferred materials in cancer study. We established patient-derived spheroids (PDSs) and patient-derived organoids (PDOs) from PDCCs isolated from the malignant pleural effusion in 8 patients. The morphologies suggested that PDSs may be a model of local cancer extensions, while PDOs may be a model of distant cancer metastases. The gene expression profiles differed between PDSs and PDOs: Gene sets related to inflammatory responses and EMT were antithetically regulated in PDSs or in PDOs. PDSs demonstrated an attenuation of the pathways that contribute to the enhancement of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) induced epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), while PDOs demonstrated an attenuation of it. Taken together, PDSs and PDOs have differences in both the interaction to the immune systems and to the stroma. PDSs and PDOs will provide a model system that enable intimate investigation of the behavior of cancer cells in the body., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Background: Differentiating between solitary spinal metastasis (SSM) and solitary primary spinal tumor (SPST) is essential for treatment decisions and prognosis. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an MRI-based radiomics nomogram for discriminating SSM from SPST., Methods: One hundred and thirty-five patients with solitary spinal tumors were retrospectively studied and the data set was divided into two groups: a training set (n = 98) and a validation set (n = 37). Demographics and MRI characteristic features were evaluated to build a clinical factors model. Radiomics features were extracted from sagittal T1-weighted and fat-saturated T2-weighted images, and a radiomics signature model was constructed. A radiomics nomogram was established by combining radiomics features and significant clinical factors. The diagnostic performance of the three models was evaluated using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves on the training and validation sets. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test was performed to assess the calibration capability of radiomics nomogram, and we used decision curve analysis (DCA) to estimate the clinical usefulness., Results: The age, signal, and boundaries were used to construct the clinical factors model. Twenty-six features from MR images were used to build the radiomics signature. The radiomics nomogram achieved good performance for differentiating SSM from SPST with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.980 in the training set and an AUC of 0.924 in the validation set. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test and decision curve analysis demonstrated the radiomics nomogram outperformed the clinical factors model., Conclusions: A radiomics nomogram as a noninvasive diagnostic method, which combines radiomics features and clinical factors, is helpful in distinguishing between SSM and SPST., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Titanium dioxide photocatalysts with high reduction potential and visible light response hold great promise in photochemical conversion. Here, we used a simple glycine doping method to synthesize novel N-TiO 2 @C photocatalysts with upward shifted conduction bands and narrowed band gaps as well as inhibited recombination of photoinduced electron-hole pairs. The N-TiO 2 @C photocatalysts exhibited higher visible light response and remarkably enhanced photocatalytic activity in the production of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) by photomediated reduction of NAD + without any electron mediator. The yield of NADH was up to 70.3 % far greater than that of the undoped TiO 2 (11.3 %), and it stabilized at ca. 60 % after 10 cycles. The viability of coupling NADH regeneration with enzymatic reaction (alcohol dehydrogenase) was established in aldehyde reduction where formaldehyde was specifically reduced to methanol. These findings shed new light on the modulation of the band structure of semiconductors and develop an electron mediator free strategy for NADH-dependent artificial photosynthesis through coupled photocatalytic and enzymatic approaches., 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.)

Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed globally, but recognition, interpretation and reporting may vary across cultures. To compare autism across cultures it is important to investigate whether the tools used are conceptually equivalent across cultures. This study evaluated the factor structure of the parent-reported Autism Spectrum Quotient Short Form in autistic children from China (n = 327; 3 to 17 years) and the Netherlands (n = 694; 6 to 16 years). Confirmatory factor analysis did not support the two-factor hierarchical model previously identified. Exploratory factor analysis indicated culturally variant factor structures between China and the Netherlands, which may hamper cross-cultural comparisons. Several items loaded onto different factors in the two samples, indicating substantial variation in parent-reported autistic traits between China and the Netherlands., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Spodoptera litura is an important polyphagous pest that causes significant damage to the agricultural sector. We performed RNA-seq of 15 S. litura individuals from larval (fifth and sixth instar larvae), chrysalis, and adult developmental stages. We also compared the S. litura transcriptome data with Spodoptera frugiperda across the same developmental stages, which was sequenced in our previous study., Results: A total of 101,885 differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) were identified in S. litura. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses indicated that S. litura may undergo active xenobiotic and detoxifying metabolism during its larval and adult stages, which may explain difficulties with current population control measures. We also found that DETs of single-copy orthologous genes between S. litura and S. frugiperda were involved in basic metabolism and development. However, energy and metabolic processes genes had a higher expression in S. litura, whereas nervous and olfactory function genes had a higher expression in S. frugiperda. Metagenomics analysis in larval S. litura and S. frugiperda revealed that microbiota participate in the detoxification and metabolism processes, but the relative abundance of detoxification-related microbiota was more abundant in S. frugiperda. Transcriptome results also confirmed the detoxification-related pathway of S. frugiperda was more abundant than in S. litura., Conclusions: Significant changes at transcriptional level were identified during the different development stages of S. litura. Importantly, we also identified detoxification associated genes and gut microbiota between S. litura and S. frugiperda at different developmental stages, which will be valuable in revealing possible mechanisms of detoxification and development in these two lepidopterans., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Rapid growth in the world's economy depends on a significant increase in energy consumption. As is known, most of the present energy supply comes from coal, oil, and natural gas. The overreliance on fossil energy brings serious environmental problems in addition to the scarcity of energy. One of the most concerning environmental problems is the large contribution to global warming because of the massive discharge of CO 2 in the burning of fossil fuels. Therefore, many efforts have been made to resolve such issues. Among them, the preparation of valuable fuels or chemicals from greenhouse gas (CO 2 ) has attracted great attention because it has made a promising step toward simultaneously resolving the environment and energy problems. This article reviews the current progress in CO 2 conversion via different strategies, including thermal catalysis, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and photoelectrocatalysis. Inspired by natural photosynthesis, light-capturing agents including macrocycles with conjugated structures similar to chlorophyll have attracted increasing attention. Using such macrocycles as photosensitizers, photocatalysis, photoelectrocatalysis, or coupling with enzymatic reactions were conducted to fulfill the conversion of CO 2 with high efficiency and specificity. Recent progress in enzyme coupled to photocatalysis and enzyme coupled to photoelectrocatalysis were specially reviewed in this review. Additionally, the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of different conversion methods were also presented. We wish to provide certain constructive ideas for new investigators and deep insights into the research of CO 2 conversion.