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Introduction: The activation of STING (stimulator of interferon genes) pathway enhances antitumor immunity in small‐cell lung cancer (SCLC), while the DNA damage induced by non‐cGAMP‐based agonists is a potent inducer of STING activity. Here, we investigate the intrinsic expression of STING in cancer cells and evaluate the value of the combination of ATR and TOP1 inhibitors in enhancing antitumor immunity. Methods: STING expression was assessed at mRNA and protein levels in SCLC and normal lung tissues. Transcriptomic subsets of SCLC were identified based on STING‐related genes. Distinct mutation and immunogenomic profiles of these subsets were determined. The direct antitumor efficacy and the potential of enhancing antitumor immunity of the strategy using the ATR‐TOP1‐inhibitor combination were tested in SCLC cell lines. Results: The intrinsic expression of STING was significantly reduced in SCLC compared to normal lung tissues (p < 0.0001). Three STING‐related SCLC subtypes were identified in which the STING‐high subtype was associated with (1) high immune infiltration, (2) high expression of genes related to MHC and immune checkpoints, and (3) high EMT and ferroptosis score. On the contrary, the STING‐low subtype was enriched with pathways related to DNA damage response (DDR) and cell cycle progression. The association between the DDR pathway activity and the STING‐IFN innate immune response was verified by in vitro experiments in which the inhibition of ATR and TOP1 triggered the expression of genes encoding type I IFN signaling and pro‐inflammatory cytokines/chemokines in a STING‐low SCLC cell line. Conclusion: Our study verifies that activation of the STING‐IFN response by ATR and TOP1 inhibitors might be a therapeutic strategy to improve the response to immune checkpoint therapy in STING‐low SCLC. Furthermore, the combinations of ATR and TOP1 inhibitors can augment tumor inflammation in STING‐low SCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The germanium (Ge) core fiber with a core diameter of 29–32 μm and a cladding diameter of 158–162 μm was annealed by pulsed CO 2 laser, exploring the key factors determining the properties of annealed Ge core fiber. The experimental results shown that the single pulse energy and the laser scanning speed are key factors of pulsed CO 2 laser annealing of Ge core fibers. The reasons for experimental results were preliminarily analyzed from the perspectives of Ge atomic instantaneous kinetic energy and temperature field of Ge core during annealing. For different frequencies of laser annealing, optimal samples with similar properties can be obtained by adjusting the single pulse energy and laser scanning speed. For the samples annealed by 30 kHz, 50 kHz, 60 kHz, and 70 kHz lasers, the optimal Raman frequency average value is 301.191 cm−1, 301.107 cm−1, 301.153 cm−1, and 301.174 cm−1; the lowest propagation loss is 2.174 dB/cm, 2.596 dB/cm, 2.387 dB/cm, and 2.312 dB/cm respectively, which were measured using a quantum cascade laser with the wavelength range from 4.7 to 4.9 μm. • The single pulse energy and the laser scanning speed are key factors of pulsed CO 2 laser annealing of Ge core fibers. • The single pulse energy may affect the instantaneous kinetic energy of the Ge atoms. • The laser scanning speed may affect the temperature field of the Ge core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastics (MPs), emerging as significant pollutants, have been consistently detected in aquatic environments, with the Yangtze River experiencing a particularly severe level of microplastic pollution, exceeding all other watersheds in China. Polypropylene (PP), the plastic most abundantly found in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin, has less comprehensive research results into its toxic effects. Consequently, the present investigation employed zebrafish as a model organism to delve into the toxicological impacts of polypropylene microplastics (PP-MPs) with a diameter of 5 μm across varying concentrations (300 mg/L and 600 mg/L). Using histopathological, microbiota profiling, and transcriptomic approaches, we systematically evaluated the impact of PP-MPs exposure on the intestine and liver of zebrafish. Histopathological analysis revealed that exposure to PP-MPs resulted in thinner intestinal walls, damaged intestinal mucosa, and hepatic cellular damage. Intestinal microbiota profiling demonstrated that, the richness, uniformity, diversity, and homogeneity of gut microbes significantly increased after the PP-MPs exposure at high concentration. These alterations were accompanied by shifts in the relative abundance of microbiota associated with intestinal pathologies, suggesting a profound impact on the intestinal microbial community structure. Concurrently, hepatic transcriptome analysis and RT-qPCR indicated that the downregulation of pathways and genes associated with cell proliferation regulation and DNA damage repair mechanisms contributed to hepatic cellular damage, ultimately exerting adverse effects on the liver. Correlation analysis between the intestinal microbiota and liver transcriptome profiles further highlighted significant associations between intestinal microbiota and the downregulated hepatic pathways. Collectively, these results provide novel insights into the subacute toxicological mechanisms of PP-MPs in aquatic organisms and highlight the need for further research on the ecological and health risks associated with PP-MPs pollution. • Polypropylene microplastic induced significant damage on gut and liver of zebrafish. • Polypropylene exposure led to Cetobacterium decrease and Rhizobiales increase in intestine. • Hepatic transcriptome analysis clarified molecular mechanisms of liver injury. • Correlated linkage between gut microbes and hepatic altered pathways was established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reduction treatment of graphene oxide is crucial in determining the wave-absorbing capabilities of reduced graphene oxide aerogels (RGOAs). In this work, a series of RGOAs were elaborately prepared by sequential processes involving hydrothermal treatment, hydrazine hydrate steam, and thermal annealing procedures. The acquired samples were examined for their chemical composition, microstructure, surface wetting properties, and chemical bonding configuration. The findings demonstrated that compression performance, including resilience, enhanced as the reduction degree grew. The RGOA (4.60 mm) with the greatest reduction degree demonstrated outstanding microwave absorption characteristics in the frequency range of 2–18 GHz. The maximum reflection loss achieved was −55.95 dB, and the effective absorption bandwidth was 6.96 GHz. The elucidation of the correlation between reduction modes and the performance of RGOAs is advantageous for the advancement of graphene-based materials used in microwave-absorption applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive disease with poor survival. Although molecular and clinical characteristics have been established for SCLC in western patients, limited investigation has been performed for Chinese SCLC patients. Objective: In this study, we investigated the genomic features of Chinese SCLC patients. Methods: A total of 75 SCLC patients were enrolled. Genomic alterations in 618 selected genes were analyzed by targeted next-generation sequencing. Results: Here, we showed that TP53 (77.30%) and RB1 (30.70%) were the most prevalent genes alterations, followed by KMT2D, ALK, LRP1B, EGFR, NOTCH3, AR, CREBBP, ROS1, and BRCA2. And the most common genetic alterations were enriched in the cell cycle signaling pathway (84.00%) of Chinese SCLC patients. DNA damage repair (DDR) pathway analysis showed that the most frequently enriched DDR pathways were fanconi anaemia (FA, 29.41%) and homology recombination (HR, 21.57%). Notably, 9.33% SCLC patients in our cohort had pathogenic or likely pathogenic germline gene variants. Compared with the U Cologne cohort, a higher prevalence in EGFR, AR, BRCA2, TSC1, ATXN3, MET, MSH2, ERBB3 and FOXA1 were found in our cohort; while compared to the data from the Johns Hopkins cohort, a higher mutated frequency in TP53, KMT2D, ALK, and EGFR were found in our cohort. Moreover, a significant association was found between high tumor mutation burden (TMB) and mutations involved in TP53, CREBBP, EPHA3, KMT2D, ALK and RB1. Approximately 33.33% of patients with SCLC harbored at least one actionable alteration annotated by OncoKB, of which one patient had alterations of level 1; seventeen patients had level 3; fifteen patients possessed level 4. Conclusion: Our data might provide an insightful meaning in targeted therapy for Chinese SCLC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) accounts for almost 40% of lung cancers, leading to significant associated morbidity and mortality rates. However, the mechanism of LUAD tumorigenesis remains far from clear. Here, we scanned down‐regulated genes involved in LUAD sourced from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus data and focused on G protein‐coupled receptor 133 (GPR133). We offer compelling evidence that GPR133 was expressed at low levels in the setting of LUAD, and higher expression was positively related to a better prognosis among patients with LUAD. Functionally, GPR133 inhibited cell proliferation and tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Regarding the mechanism, flow cytometry assays and western blot assays showed that GPR133 enhanced p21 and decreased cyclin B1 expression, thus triggering LUAD cells at G2/M‐phase arrest. Consistent with this, we evaluated the expression levels of cell‐cycle biomarkers and found that bioinformatics analysis combined with N6‐methyladenosine (methylation at the N6 position in adenosine) RNA immunoprecipitation‐qPCR assay indicated that GPR133 expression was down‐regulated by this modification. Moreover, we observed that methyltransferase‐like 3 was impaired in LUAD, and that it is able to significantly increase levels of GPR133 by enhancing its RNA stability. In conclusion, we found that GPR133 expression was down‐regulated in LUAD via N6‐methyladenosine modification. Increasing GPR133 levels could suppress LUAD cell proliferation and tumor growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid advancement of wearable technologies has led to increasing demand for flexible and conformal sensors that can detect impact events and collect position information accurately. In this study, we developed a flexible barium titanate-resin composite film with enhanced piezoelectric properties. The developed film incorporates porous structure ceramic particles to improve the overall sensing effectiveness. Using this film, we evaluated the performance of impact and vibration sensors, and we explored a technique to detect impact events and localize their occurrences on a composite panel. The proposed technique utilized a sensor array comprising four sensors and employed the centroid localization algorithm to determine the impact position within a nine-cell grid. The results demonstrate the potential of the film to collect position information in wearable devices. The developed sensor array offers promising applications in the wearable technology fields. [Display omitted] • A highly elastic resin-based piezoelectric composite film was proposed. • The use of porous barium titanate particles has increased the piezoelectric properties. • The obtained film holds promising application prospects in vibration sensing. • Utilizing the centroid localization algorithm and a sensor array determines the impact position within the nine-cell grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intricate pollutant composition and pronounced water fluctuations of Chinese liquor brewing wastewater (CLBW) pose formidable challenges for effective treatment, thereby raising significant environmental concerns. This study for the first time delves into the exploration of algal–bacterial granular sludge (ABGS) development and its efficacy in the removal of organic matter and nitrogen and phosphorus over a 100–day investigation of real CLBW treatment. Mature ABGS emerged after approximately 40 days of treating wastewater with 20% real CLBW, exhibiting exceptional settling performance and significant removal of COD (86.2%), NH 4 +–N (98.0%), and TP (51.5%). As the real CLBW proportion increased to 40% or higher, a stable granular structure and excellent settleability persisted, primarily attributed to the consistent content of tightly bound extracellular polymeric substances, the sustained protein–to–polysaccharide ratio, and the proliferation of microalgae within the granules. Microbial community analysis revealed the dominance of microalgal species, including Sphaeropleales , Scenedesmaceae , and Chloromonas. Moreover, the observed decline in nitrification efficiency with increasing CLBW ratio was linked to reductions in Nitrosomonas and Nitrospira populations. Conversely, the recovered TN removal was primarily associated with the accumulation of denitrifiers, including Azoarcus and Thauera , especially when the real CLBW ratio reached 100%. The findings from this study are anticipated to offer a practical reference for optimizing and promoting the treatment of real CLBW. [Display omitted] • Mature ABGS was established within 40 days of treating 20% real CLBW. • Granular structure and settling ability maintained during the extended operation. • Declined COD and N but steady TP removal rates were observed with ≥40% CLBW. • TB-EPS content and PN/PS of ABGS were constant despite the increased CLBW ratio. • Accumulation of denitrifiers in granules contributed to the recovery of TN removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]