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Background and Aim: The association between proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) and rhabdomyolysis were unclear. The aim of this study was to explore and systematically analyze the potential link between five PPIs and the rhabdomyolysis events using the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database., Methods: Suspected rhabdomyolysis events associated with PPIs were identified by data mining with the reporting odds ratio (ROR), proportional reporting ratio (PRR), the information component (IC), and Empirical Bayes Geometric Mean (EBGM). Demographic information, drug administration, and outcomes of PPI-induced rhabdomyolysis events were also analyzed., Results: There were 3311 reports associated with PPI-induced rhabdomyolysis that were identified. After removing duplicates, 1899 cases were determined to contain complete patient demographic data. The average age was 65 ± 18 year and 57% were male. Omeprazole and pantoprazole had the same largest percentage of reports. Lansoprazole had the highest ROR index of 12.67, followed by esomeprazole (11.18), omeprazole (10.27), rabeprazole (10.06), and pantoprazole (9.24). PRR, IC, and EBGM showed similar patterns. This suggested that lansoprazole exhibited the strongest correlation with rhabdomyolysis. In rhabdomyolysis events, PPIs were mainly "concomitant" (>60%), and only a few cases were "primary suspects" (<15%). Rabeprazole showed the lowest death rate while lansoprazole showed the highest., Conclusions: The study suggested that significant rhabdomyolysis signals were associated with PPIs. Further research should be performed in drug safety evaluation for a more comprehensive association., (© 2023 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Latamoxef is a semi-synthetic, broad-spectrum oxacephem antibiotic used primarily to treat infectious diseases, but the adverse drug reactions, such as the risk of fatal bleeding, once caused physicians to use it less frequently. However, with the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, latamoxef is being used again to treat infectious diseases, especially in pediatrics. The pharmacokinetic parameters of latamoxef are highly variable, given the changes in body composition, organ maturation, and development that occurs in pediatrics. Therefore, an appropriate dosing regimen is essential. Latamoxef dosing optimization in pediatrics should adequately account for current body weight, postnatal age, postmenstrual age, and different minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values. In addition, attention should also be paid to some of the adverse reactions associated with latamoxef, such as coagulation disorders and bleeding risks, disulfiram-like reactions, as well as hypersensitivity and anaphylactic shock. This review summarizes the dosing regimens and some key points of pharmaceutical care for latamoxef in pediatrics in order to provide a better reference for its application in clinical practice., 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., (© 2024 Zhang, Zuo, Sun, Chen, Zhu and Liu.)

Precise control of the conductivity of layered ferroelectric semiconductors is required to make these materials suitable for advanced transistor, memory and logic circuits. Although proof-of-principle devices based on layered ferroelectrics have been demonstrated, it remains unclear how the polarization inversion induces conductivity changes. Therefore, function design and performance optimization remain cumbersome. Here we combine ab initio calculations with transport experiments to unveil the mechanism underlying the polarization-dependent conductivity in ferroelectric channel field-effect transistors. We find that the built-in electric field gives rise to an asymmetric conducting route formed by the hidden Stark effect and competes with the potential redistribution caused by the external field of the gate. Furthermore, leveraging our mechanistic findings, we control the conductivity threshold in α-In 2 Se 3 ferroelectric channel field-effect transistors. We demonstrate logic-in-memory functionality through the implementation of electrically self-switchable primary (AND, OR) and composite (XOR, NOR, NAND) logic gates. Our work provides mechanistic insights into conductivity modulation in a broad class of layered ferroelectrics, providing foundations for their application in logic and memory electronics., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

In this study, gallium- and gelatin-modified strontium-doped hydroxyapatite (SrHA-Gel-Ga) bilayer coatings were prepared on titanium substrates by electrodeposition and spin-coating techniques. The results showed that gallium and gelatin were uniformly doped into the SrHA coatings, which exhibited good hydrophilicity and bioactivity. Furthermore, SrHA-Gel-Ga demonstrated good antimicrobial properties against E. coli and S. aureus, especially S. aureus. The co-doping of Sr and gelatin in the coatings was effective in mitigating the cytotoxicity of Ga. SrHA-Gel-Ga was better able to promote the adhesion, proliferation and early differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells. This study provides a new strategy for the development of anti-infective bone repair coatings., 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 © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Karyotyping is of importance for detecting chromosomal aberrations in human disease. However, chromosomes easily appear curved in microscopic images, which prevents cytogeneticists from analyzing chromosome types. To address this issue, we propose a framework for chromosome straightening, which comprises a preliminary processing algorithm and a generative model called masked conditional variational autoencoders (MC-VAE). The processing method utilizes patch rearrangement to address the difficulty in erasing low degrees of curvature, providing reasonable preliminary results for the MC-VAE. The MC-VAE further straightens the results by leveraging chromosome patches conditioned on their curvatures to learn the mapping between banding patterns and conditions. During model training, we apply a masking strategy with a high masking ratio to train the MC-VAE with eliminated redundancy. This yields a non-trivial reconstruction task, allowing the model to effectively preserve chromosome banding patterns and structure details in the reconstructed results. Extensive experiments on three public datasets with two stain styles show that our framework surpasses the performance of state-of-the-art methods in retaining banding patterns and structure details. Compared to using real-world bent chromosomes, the use of high-quality straightened chromosomes generated by our proposed method can improve the performance of various deep learning models for chromosome classification by a large margin. Such a straightening approach has the potential to be combined with other karyotyping systems to assist cytogeneticists in chromosome analysis.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a family of engaging membrane materials for molecular separation, which remain challenging to fabricate in the form of thin-film composite membranes due to slow crystal growth and insoluble powder. Here, an additive approach is presented to construct COF-based thin-film composite membranes in 10 min via COF oligomer coating onto poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK）ultrafiltration membranes. By the virtue of ultra-thin liquid phase and liquid-solid interface-confined assembly, the COF oligomers are fast stacked up and grow along the interface with the solvent evaporation. Benefiting from the low out-plane resistance of COFs, COF@PEEK composite membranes exhibit high solvent permeances in a negative correlation with solvent viscosity. The well-defined pore structures enable high molecular sieving ability (Mw = 300 g mol -1 ). Besides, the COF@PEEK composite membranes possess excellent mechanical integrities and steadily operate for over 150 h in the condition of high-pressure cross flow. This work not only exemplifies the high-efficiency and scale-up preparation of COF-based thin-film composite membranes but also provides a new strategy for COF membrane processing., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCE) and magnetic soft materials are promising active materials in many emerging fields, such as soft robotics. Despite the high demand for developing active materials that combine the advantages of LCE and magnetic actuation, the lack of independent programming of the LCE nematic order and magnetization in a single material still hinders the desired multi-responsiveness. In this study, a ferromagnetic LCE (magLCE) ink with nematic order and magnetization is developed that can be independently programmed to be anisotropic, referred to as "dual anisotropy", via a customized 3D-printing platform. The magLCE ink is fabricated by dispersing ferromagnetic microparticles in the LCE matrix, and a 3D-printing platform is created by integrating a magnet with 3-DoF motion into an extrusion-based 3D printer. In addition to magnetic fields, magLCEs can also be actuated by heating sources (either environmental heating or photo-heating of the embedded ferromagnetic microparticles) with a high energy density and tunable actuation temperature. A programmed magLCE strip robot is demonstrated with enhanced adaptability to complex environments (different terrains, magnetic fields, and temperatures) using a multi-actuation strategy. The magLCE also has potential applications in mechanical memory, as demonstrated by the multistable mechanical metastructure array with remote writability and stable memory., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Neuronal Kv7 voltage-gated potassium channels generate the M-current and regulate neuronal excitability. Here, we report that dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) is an endogenous Kv7 channel modulator that attenuates Gq-coupled receptor-induced M-current suppression. DHEAS reduced muscarinic agonist-induced Kv7-current suppression of Kv7.1, Kv7.2, Kv7.4, or Kv7.5 homomeric currents and endogenous M-currents in rat sympathetic ganglion neurons. However, DHEAS per se did not alter the voltage dependence of these Kv7 homomeric channels or the m1 receptor-induced activation of phospholipase C or protein kinase C. DHEAS-treated Kv7.2 homomeric currents became resistant to depletion of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) induced by voltage-activated phosphatase, Ci-VSP or eVSP. Our computational models predicted a novel binding site for DHEAS in the cytoplasmic domain of Kv7 subunits. A single-point mutation of the predicted key histidine into cysteine in the rat Kv7.2 subunit, rKv7.2(H558C), resulted in a loss of effects of DHEAS on muscarinic Kv7 current suppression. Furthermore, in vivo administration of DHEAS in mice of both sexes reduced late phase pain responses in the formalin paw test. However, it did not have effects on early phase responses in the formalin paw test or responses in the hot plate test. Coadministration of a selective Kv7 inhibitor, XE991, and DHEAS eliminated analgesic effects of DHEAS in late phase responses in the formalin paw test. Collectively, these results suggest that DHEAS attenuates M-current suppression by stabilizing PIP2-Kv7 subunit interaction and can mitigate inflammatory pain. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT M-current suppression induced by stimulation of Gq-coupled receptors is a form of Kv7 current modulation that can reversibly increase neuronal excitability. This study demonstrates that DHEAS, an endogenous steroid hormone, is a novel Kv7 channel modulator that can attenuate M-current suppression without affecting basal Kv7 channel kinetics. Administration of DHEAS in vivo alleviated inflammatory pain in rodents. These results suggest that the degree of M-current suppression can be dynamically regulated by small molecules. Therefore, this novel form of Kv7 channel regulation holds promising potential as a therapeutic target for sensitized nervous activities, such as inflammatory pain., (Copyright © 2023 Alhassen et al.)

Cation-disordered Rocksalt oxides (DRXs) are a promising new class of cathode materials for Li-ion batteries due to their natural abundance, low cost and great electrochemical performance. High entropy strategy in Mn-based DRXs appears to be an effective strategy for improving the rate capability, but it suffers from challenges including capacity degradation. The present paper reports a new group of high entropy DRXs (HE DRX) based on Ni 2+ -Nb 5+ pair; the structural and chemical evolution upon cycling of DRXs with an increasing transition metal (TM) species are systematically investigated. An explanation is proposed for how the crystal field stability energy determines that HE DRX could exist in single Rocksalt solid solution structures. We further reveal that the charge compensation mechanism in HE DRX is the result of various TM synergistic effect. More importantly, through various in situ and ex situ techniques and theoretical calculation, the effective integration of more TM cation species within the HE DRX framework promotes better Li + diffusion and improves lattice oxygen stability, consequently increasing capacity upon cycling., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The traditional LDPC encoding and decoding system is characterized by low throughput and high resource consumption, making it unsuitable for use in cost-efficient, energy-saving sensor networks. Aiming to optimize coding complexity and throughput, this paper proposes a combined design of a novel LDPC code structure and the corresponding overlapping decoding strategies. With regard to structure of LDPC code, a CCSDS-like quasi-cyclic parity check matrix (PCM) with uniform distribution of submatrices is constructed to maximize overlap depth and adapt the parallel decoding. In terms of reception decoding strategies, we use a modified 2-bit Min-Sum algorithm (MSA) that achieves a coding gain of 5 dB at a bit error rate of 10-6 compared to an uncoded BPSK, further mitigating resource consumption, and which only incurs a slight loss compared to the standard MSA. Moreover, a shift-register-based memory scheduling strategy is presented to fully utilize the quasi-cyclic characteristic and shorten the read/write latency. With proper overlap scheduling, the time consumption can be reduced by one third per iteration compared to the non-overlap algorithm. Simulation and implementation results demonstrate that our decoder can achieve a throughput up to 7.76 Gbps at a frequency of 156.25 MHz operating eight iterations, with a two-thirds resource consumption saving.

The aim of the present meta-analysis was to evaluate the outcomes and effects of different systolic blood pressure (SBP) lowering in patients with hemorrhagic stroke using data from randomized controlled trials. A total of 2592 records were identified for this meta-analysis. We finally included 8 studies (6119 patients; mean age 62.8 ± 13.0, 62.7% men). No evidence of heterogeneity between estimates (I 2  = 0% < 50%, P = 0.26), or publication bias in the funnel plots (P = 0.065, Egger statistical test) was detected. Death or major disability rates were similar between patients with intensive BP-lowering treatment (SBP < 140 mmHg) and those receiving guideline BP-lowering treatment (SBP < 180 mmHg). Intensive BP-lowering treatment may have a better functional outcome, but the results were not significantly different (log RR = - 0.03, 95% CI: - 0.09 to 0.02; P = 0.55). Intensive BP-lowering treatment tended to be associated with lower early hematoma growth compared with guideline treatment (log RR = - 0.24, 95% CI - 0.38, - 0.11; P < 0.001). Intensive BP-lowering helps reduce hematoma enlargement in the early stage of acute hemorrhagic stroke. However, this observation did not translate into functional outcomes. Further research is needed to clarify the specific scope and time of blood pressure reduction., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)

We assessed the causal association of three COVID-19 phenotypes with insulin-like growth factor 1, estrogen, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), thyroid-stimulating hormone, thyrotropin-releasing hormone, luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone. We used bidirectional two-sample univariate and multivariable Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to evaluate the direction, specificity, and causality of the association between CNS-regulated hormones and COVID-19 phenotypes. Genetic instruments for CNS-regulated hormones were selected from the largest publicly available genome-wide association studies of the European population. Summary-level data on COVID-19 severity, hospitalization, and susceptibility were obtained from the COVID-19 host genetic initiative. DHEA was associated with increased risks of very severe respiratory syndrome (odds ratio [OR] = 4.21, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.41-12.59), consistent with multivariate MR results (OR = 3.72, 95% CI: 1.20-11.51), and hospitalization (OR = 2.31, 95% CI: 1.13-4.72) in univariate MR. LH was associated with very severe respiratory syndrome (OR = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.71-0.96) in univariate MR. Estrogen was negatively associated with very severe respiratory syndrome (OR = 0.09, 95% CI: 0.02-0.51), hospitalization (OR = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.08-0.78), and susceptibility (OR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.28-0.89) in multivariate MR. We found strong evidence for the causal relationship of DHEA, LH, and estrogen with COVID-19 phenotypes.

The super absorbent polymer (SAP) has been attracting extensive concerns due to its strong capacity in water absorption and retention. The amorphous hydrogels formed by the post-absorbent SAP have the potential of clogging the micro-cracks in asphalt materials and refraining the rainwater from infiltrating. This provides the possibility of applying SAP in asphalt pavements to seal or fill the cracks and relieve the distresses caused by rainwater infiltration in the underlying layers. Before exploring the cracking sealing mechanism of SAPs in asphalt pavements, a series of experiments were performed to evaluate the feasibility and influences of SAPs in asphalt mastics and asphalt mixtures on their mechanical performances and functionalities. Firstly, the basic properties of SAPs were analyzed, and then the rheological properties of the asphalt mastics using SAP replacing mineral powder (10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% by volume) were explored. The water stability and infiltration reduction effect of the asphalt mixtures incorporated with SAP were evaluated by the Marshall stability test, immersion Marshall stability test, freeze-thaw splitting strength test, Cantabro test, and permeability test. The test results indicated that SAPs could be used in the asphalt mixtures to partially substitute mineral powder with desirable mechanical performances. When less than 10% of the mineral powder was replaced by the SAP, the high-temperature performance and fatigue life of the asphalt mastics could be improved to some extent, but both declined after the content of the SAP was larger than 10%. Due to the hydrogels formed by SAPs after water absorption, the water stability of the asphalt mixtures deteriorated with the increased content of SAPs. Moreover, the results from the permeability tests implied that the SAP hydrogels could fill the seepage channels in the material, thus improving the migration and infiltration resistances of the asphalt mixtures. With the increased contents of SAPs, the permeability coefficients of the asphalt mixtures could be reduced up to 55%. Based on the research findings in this study, when an appropriate amount of SAP was added in the asphalt materials, desirable temperature stability, water stability, and fatigue resistance could be achieved regarding actual requirements from applications. At the same time, the addition of SAPs could effectively refrain the infiltration and migration of rainwater in asphalt pavements, thus potentially mitigating the effect of water erosion on the underlying layers.

Background: Observational studies report inconclusive effects of tea consumption on the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the mechanisms are unclear. This study aims to investigate the effects of genetically predicted tea intake (cups of tea consumed per day) on AD, brain volume, and cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) using the two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) method., Methods: Summary statistics of tea intake were obtained from UK Biobank ( N = 447,485), and AD was from the International Genomics of Alzheimer's Project ( N = 54,162). Genetic instruments were retrieved from UK Biobank using brain imaging-derived phenotypes for brain volume outcomes ( N > 33,224) and genome-wide association studies for CSVD ( N : 17,663-48,454)., Results: In the primary MR analysis, tea intake significantly increased the risk of AD using two different methods (OR IVW = 1.48, 95% CI: [1.14, 1.93]; OR WM = 2.00, 95% CI: [1.26, 3.18]) and reached a weak significant level using MR-Egger regression ( p < 0.1). The result passed all the sensitivity analyses, including heterogeneity, pleiotropy, and outlier tests. In the secondary MR analysis, per extra cup of tea significantly decreased gray matter (β WM = -1.63, 95% CI: [-2.41, -0.85]) and right hippocampus volume (β WM = -1.78, 95% CI: [-2.76, -0.79]). We found a nonlinear association between tea intake and AD in association analysis, which suggested that over-drinking with more than 13 cups per day might be a risk factor for AD. Association analysis results were consistent with MR results., Conclusion: This study revealed a potential causal association between per extra cup of tea and an increased risk of AD. Genetically predicted tea intake was associated with a decreased brain volume of gray matter and the right hippocampus, which indicates that over-drinking tea might lead to a decline in language and memory functions. Our results shed light on a novel possible mechanism of tea intake to increase the risk of AD by reducing brain volume., 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 Sun, Liang, Xia, Wang, Zhu, Pan and Sun.)

Thermosets such as silicone are ubiquitous. However, existing manufacturing of thermosets involves either a prolonged manufacturing cycle (e.g., reaction injection molding), low geometric complexity (e.g., casting), or limited processable materials (e.g., frontal polymerization). Here, we report an in situ dual heating (ISDH) strategy for the rapid 3D printing of thermosets with complex structures and diverse rheological properties by incorporating direct ink writing (DIW) technique and a heating-accelerated in situ gelation mechanism. Enabled by an integrated Joule heater at the printhead, extruded thermosetting inks can quickly cure in situ, allowing for DIW of various thermosets with viscosities spanning five orders of magnitude, printed height over 100 mm, and high resolution of 50 μm. We further demonstrate DIW of a set of heterogenous thermosets using multiple functional materials and present a hybrid printing of a multilayer soft electronic circuit. Our ISDH strategy paves the way for fast manufacturing of thermosets for various emerging fields., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

As online health communities (OHCs) continue to proliferate, narrative reviews on doctors have become a vital reference source for patients when choosing online health services. However, the potential value of subjective information reflecting patient experiences in OHCs has not been fully explored. The present study seeks to investigate the impact of narrative reviews on patients' selection of e-doctors and the extent to which such reviews are moderated by doctors' specialties. This paper collected data from 747 doctors and 105 032 reviews from WeDoctor, one of China's most popular OHCs, in 2019. We employed Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling to extract 3 topics and analyzed their effects on patient e-doctor choice using a multiple regression method. Our findings indicate that Topic 1, clinical skills and effects, had a positive impact on patient choice in OHCs ( β 1  = .243, P  < .001), as did Topic 2, service attitude and trust ( β 2  = .130, P  < .05). However, the impact of Topic 3, convenience, did not show a significant effect in this study. Moreover, our results suggest that the specialty of Internal Medicine can positively moderate the relationship between Topic 1 (clinical skills and effects) and patient e-doctor choice ( β 9  = .087, P  < .05). Based on the findings of this study, e-doctors are encouraged to enhance their technical competence to improve treatment effectiveness and adjust their communication methods to increase patient trust and sense of security. OHC platform managers should accurately understand the key factors that influence patient choice and take measures to improve their service quality accordingly.

What Is Known and Objective: Linezolid is an alternative first-line agent for MRSA pneumonia. This study assessed whether dose adjustments of linezolid against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections were needed based on renal function in populations with different body weight., Methods: Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to evaluate renal function in relation to the probability of target attainment (PTA) in three population groups with different body weight. Area under the concentration time curve (AUC)/ minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ratio and percentage of time above the MIC (%T > MIC) were regarded as pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic targets. The PTA and cumulative fractions of response (CFR) were calculated to assess the efficacy. Regarding safety, trough plasma concentration (C min ) > 8 mg/L was used as target for toxicity., Results and Discussion: Using AUC/MIC >100 as the target pharmacodynamic (PD) index, the CFR of linezolid at the standard dose (600 mg every 12 h [q12h]) were 57.01%, 93.22%, and 99.93% in patients with normal renal function, patients with renal dysfunction and low body weight patients with renal dysfunction, respectively. Using 100%T > MIC as the target PD index, all the CFR of three population groups were more than 90% at the standard dose. The percentages of C min  > 8 mg/L at the standard dose of linezolid were 24.16%, 53.24%, and 90.10% in three population groups on day 7., What Is New and Conclusion: The risk of thrombocytopenia of linezolid was extremely higher in low body weight patients with renal impairment when receiving standard linezolid dose compared with patients with normal renal function. 450 mg q12h and 300 mg q12h might be effective and safe against MRSA infection in patients with renal dysfunction and low body weight patients with renal dysfunction, respectively., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Chinese tongue sole ( Cynoglossus semilaevis ) has a ZZ/ZW sex determination system, but the genotypic female (ZW) can be sex-reversed into phenotypic males, namely, pseudomales. Pseudomale fish can produce only Z-type sperm but not W sperm. However, the molecular mechanism is unclear. To screen the key genes involved in pseudomale sperm abnormalities, we analysed the transcriptomic profiles of pseudomale and male sperm. In comparison to male sperm, 592 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in pseudomale sperm, including 499 upregulated and 93 downregulated genes. KEGG analysis indicated that the FoxO signalling pathway, especially the foxo3a and foxo6-like genes, may play an important role in spermatogenesis. The DEGs were mainly distributed on sex chromosomes, with 158 downregulated genes on the Z chromosome and 41 upregulated genes on the W chromosome. A specific area (14-15 M) on the Z chromosome was identified, which enriched eight DEGs inside the ~1 M region. In addition, there were five gene alleles on the sex chromosomes, which showed the opposite transcription pattern (upregulated for the W allele, downregulated for the Z allele). This study has provided valuable data for screening candidate genes involved in the pseudomale sperm abnormality.

This study described the knowledge, attitude, practice regarding antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among medical students between 2017 and 2022 in East China. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted with a total of 1,066 respondents. We highlighted that the undergraduates had a significant increase in the knowledge of antimicrobial resistance during the 5 years from 2017 to 2022 ( p < 0.001). The majority of the assertions about the AMR were correctly identified by respondents. However, gaps were still observed in the issues of antimicrobial targets and bacterial transmission. In addition, overconfident attitudes and inappropriate behaviors of antimicrobial overuse and misuse were observed in the respondents. A number of 30.2% to 45.2% of the respondents asserted that there is no risk of AMR as long as the antimicrobials are taken correctly, and a proportion of the students (25.3% in 2022; 69.3% in 2017, p < 0.001) declared to buy antimicrobials from friends or family members to treat the same illness. Finally, spearman correlation coefficient was enrolled to compare the correlation of the student's KAP. Results showed that the students' knowledge of antimicrobials had a correlation with attitude ( p = 0.0126) and practice ( p < 0.001), suggesting that public education on knowledge could influence the behaviors among the medical students. Taken all together, our findings show a need to strengthen the medical students' cogitation on antimicrobial attitude and practice of appropriate usage as an essential strategy to reduce intractable public health problems. Additional curriculum reforms will be needed to add more specific AMR-related lectures to raise awareness amongst medical students in China., 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 © 2022 Min, Zhou, Sun, Ye, Dong, Wang, Zhou, Zhou and Li.)

Germanium sulfide (GeS) is a layered monochalcogenide semiconductor with a band gap of about 1.6 eV. To verify the suitability of GeS for field-effect-based device applications, a detailed understanding of the electronic transport mechanisms of GeS-metal junctions is required. In this work, we have used conductive atomic force microscopy (c-AFM) to study charge carrier injection in metal-GeS nanocontacts. Using contact current-voltage spectroscopy, we identified three dominant charge carrier injection mechanisms: thermionic emission, direct tunneling, and Fowler-Nordheim tunneling. In the forward-bias regime, thermionic emission is the dominating current injection mechanism, whereas in the reverse-bias regime, the current injection mechanism is quantum mechanical tunneling. Using tips of different materials (platinum, n-type-doped silicon, and highly doped p-type diamond), we found that the Schottky barrier is almost independent of the work function of the metallic tip, which is indicative of a strong Fermi-level pinning. This strong Fermi-level pinning is caused by charged defects and impurities., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Three-dimensional porous polycaprolactone (PCL) bone scaffolds prepared by selective laser sintering (SLS) have demonstrated great potential in the repair of non-load-bearing bone defects. The microgeometry and surface roughness of PCL scaffolds during the SLS process may change the biocompatibility and bioactivity of the scaffolds. However, in addition to the widely concerned mechanical properties and structural accuracy of scaffolds, there is still a lack of systematic research on how SLS process parameters affect the surface roughness of PCL scaffolds and the relationship between roughness and biocompatibility of scaffolds. In this study, we use the energy density model (EDM) combined with the thermodynamic properties of PCL powder to calculate the energy density range (Ed 1 -Ed 3 ) suitable for PCL sintering. Five PCL scaffolds with different laser powers and scanning speeds were prepared; their dimensional accuracy, mechanical strength, and surface properties were comprehensively evaluated, and the bioactivities were compared through the attachment and proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells on the scaffolds. It was found that the high energy density (Ed 3 ) reduced the shape fidelity related to pore size and porosity, and the dense and smooth surface of the scaffolds showed poor cytocompatibility, while the low energy density (Ed 1 ) resulted in weak mechanical properties, but the rough surface caused by incomplete sintered PCL particles facilitated the cell adhesion and proliferation. Therefore, the surface roughness and related biocompatibility of PCL bone scaffolds should be considered in energy-density-guided SLS parameter optimization., 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 © 2022 Han, Li, Sun, Cheng, Zhu, Zhang, Zhang, Wu and Wang.)

The properties of separators significantly affect the efficiency, stability, and safety of the lithium-based batteries. Therefore, the improvement of the separator material is critical. Polyetherketone (PEK) has excellent general properties, such as mechanical strength, chemical stability, and thermal stability. Thus, it is expected to be an optimal separator material. However, its low solubility-induced poor processibility makes it difficult to be used for nanoscale product manufacturing. In this work, the soluble precursor polymer is prepared by introducing a "protecting" group into monomer, and fabricated into nanofiber membrane, which can be converted into polyetherketone nanofiber membrane by a simple acid treatment. The membrane prepared by this chemical-induced crystallization method exhibits superior chemical, thermal stability, and mechanical strength. Li-O 2 batteries with the fabricated membrane as separator have a high cycling stability (194 cycles at 200 mA g -1 and 500 mAh g -1 ). This work broadens the application field of PEK and provides a potential route for battery separators., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (pitp) plays an important role in phospholipid transfer in animals. A pitp variant ( pitpβ&#95;w ) in Chinese tongue sole was identified by transcriptomic analysis for its female-biased expression. The coding sequence of pitpβ&#95;w was 816 bp, encoding a 371-amino-acid protein. pitpβ&#95;w showed female-biased expression and was relatively high in brain, muscle, and ovary tissues. In different developmental stages of the ovary, pitpβ&#95;w could be detected from 40 days until 3 years post hatching, and the highest expression was observed at 90 days. In situ hybridization revealed that pitpβ&#95;w was predominantly localized in early-stage oocytes (I-III stages). After siRNA-mediated knockdown of pitpβ&#95;w in an ovarian cell line, the expression of sox9a was reduced, while that of figla&#95;tv1 and sox9b was significantly increased. Our findings suggest that pitpβ&#95;w might be involved in female differentiation and early oogenesis., Competing Interests: XX was employed by the company Vland Biotech Co., Ltd. The remaining 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 © 2022 Sun, Zhang, Cheng, Gong, Li, Wang, Wei, Xu and Xu.)

Epidemiological evidence has shown that smoking is associated with an increased risk of hearing loss. However, the underlying mechanisms regarding the impact of nicotine on the cochlea remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the cytotoxic effects of nicotine on cochlear cells using cultured cochlear basilar membranes. Cochlear basilar membranes were isolated from newborn rats, cultured, and treated with 1-100 ng/mL nicotine for 48 h. Cuticular plates and stereocilia bundle staining were used to evaluate hair cell (HC) loss. Spiral ganglion neuron and acoustic nerve fiber staining were assessed to evaluate cochlear neural injury. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy imaging were employed to examine cochlear ultrastructural changes. Our results showed that compared to spiral ganglia and nerve fibers, HCs are more susceptible to nicotine-induced toxicity. HC loss was more severe in the basal turn than in the middle and apical turns, while nerve fibers and spiral ganglion cells were morphologically maintained. Ultrastructural changes revealed disordered and damaged stereocilia, swelling and decreased mitochondrial density, swelling, and degranulation of the endoplasmic reticulum. Our results suggest that nicotine causes HCs' degeneration and loss and may have implications for smoking-related hearing loss., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: Authors state no conflict of interest., (© 2021 Yi Zhao et al., published by De Gruyter.)

In this study, a novel method was adopted to construct a CdS-TiO 2 heterostructure to degrade penicillin under sunlight. A potato extract was used during the synthesis process of CdS QDs as a stabilizer and a modifier. The CdS-TiO 2 composite with a heterostructure delivers high photocatalytic degradation efficiency. In detail, 0.6 mg/mL of CdS-TiO 2 can successfully decompose penicillin after 2 h, and 5‰ CdS-TiO 2 shows the optimal degradation efficiency with the degradation rate reaching 88%. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms of the penicillin decomposition reaction were investigated by the EPR test and trapping experiment. It was found that the high photocatalytic degradation efficiency was attributed to the heterojunction of CdS-TiO 2 , which successfully suppresses the recombination of the conduction band of CdS and the valence band of TiO 2 . Moreover, it was confirmed that the reaction is the O 2 -consuming process, and introducing O 2 can greatly accelerate the generation of a superoxide radical during the photocatalytic degradation process, which eventually improves the degradation of penicillin and shortens the degradation time. Finally, this work provides the possible penicillin degradation pathways, which will inspire the researchers to explore and design novel photocatalysts in the field of wastewater treatment in the future., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)