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ZnNiFe(CO)·6HO was synthesized by solid-state reaction at low heat using ZnSO·7HO, NiSO·6HO, FeSO·7HO, and NaCO as raw materials. The spinel ZnNiFeO was obtained via calcining ZnNiFe(CO)·6HO above 773 K in air. The ZnNiFe(CO)·6HO and its calcined products were characterized by thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (TG/DSC), Fourier transform FT-IR, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The result showed that ZnNiFeO obtained at 1073 K had a saturation magnetization of 86.7 emu g. The thermal process of ZnNiFe(CO)·6HO experienced three steps, which involved the dehydration of the six crystal water molecules at first, and then decomposition of ZnNiFe(CO) into ZnNiFeO in air, and at last crystallization of ZnNiFeO. Based on KAS equation, and OFW equation, the values of the activation energies associated with the thermal process of ZnNiFe(CO)·6HO were determined to be 126.02 ± 23.93, and 259.76 ± 18.67 kJ mol for the first, and second thermal process steps, respectively. Dehydration of the six waters of ZnNiFe(CO)·6HO is multi-step reaction mechanisms. Decomposition of ZnNiFe(CO) into ZnNiFeO could be simple reaction mechanism, probable mechanism function integral form of thermal decomposition of ZnNiFe(CO) is determined to be g(α) = [−ln(1 − α)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, In 2 O 3 nanospheres were synthesized using urea as a carbon template and modified with Co ions. The synthesized materials were characterized using various instruments to obtain information about the elemental composition and morphology of the materials. The results showed that Co ions replaced the lattice position of In ions and synthesized nanospheres aggregated from 20 nm particles. The results of gas sensitivity tests on all the samples showed that the response to 50 ppm n-butanol at 250 °C reached 540 when Co was doped up to 5 at%. In comparison, the sensor showed very low response to benzene gas with good selectivity. The high response of the sensor to n-butanol is due to the increase in vacancy oxygen content and redox reactions due to the multivalent nature of Co ions. The article concludes with a detailed analysis of the sensing mechanism. • Co ions modified In 2 O 3 nanospheres responded to 50 ppm of n-butanol as 540. • Selectivity coefficients for benzene gases over 67. • In 2 O 3 modified with Co ions possesses 51.99 % vacancy oxygen (O V). • Redox properties of Co ions enhance gas-sensitive properties of materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Fe 3 C@N-CNTs and Fe 3 C@N-CNSs electrocatalysts were successfully prepared. • The specific surface area of Fe 3 C@N-CNSs electrocatalyst reached 735.58 m2 g−1. • Carbon nanotubes surround Fe 3 C nanoparticles to increase the stability of Fe 3 C@N-CNTs. • The electrocatalytic activity of Fe 3 C@N-CNTs and Fe 3 C@N-CNSs were superior to commercial 20% Pt/C. The different morphologies of iron carbide encapsulated nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube and nanosheet (Fe 3 C@N-CNTs, Fe 3 C@N-CNSs) electrocatalysts were synthesized by a one-step calcination method. They were used as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. The electrochemical measurement results indicated that the half-wave potentials (E 1/2) on the Fe 3 C@N-CNTs- and Fe 3 C@N-CNSs-modified glassy carbon electrodes reached 0.845 V and 0.860 V, respectively. Compared with 20 wt% commercial Pt / C (0.856 V), the E 1/2 on the Fe 3 C@N-CNSs/GCE shifted positively. The onset potentials (E onset) on the Fe 3 C@N-CNSs was 1.056 V, which was higher than that on commercial Pt/C (0.998 V) and Fe 3 C@N-CNTs (0.996 V). The Fe 3 C@N-CNSs showed a better electrocatalytic property toward ORR than Fe 3 C@N-CNTs, which results from the Fe 3 C@N-CNSs (735.58 m2 g−1) with a larger specific surface area than that of Fe 3 C@N-CNTs (191.20 m2 g−1). The stability of the Fe 3 C@N-CNTs was better than that of the Fe 3 C@N-CNSs contribution to the Fe 3 C particles encapsulated by the carbon nanotubes. [Display omitted]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated understanding of pollution, environmental risks, and sources of potentially hazardous metals (PHMs) in coastal sediments is essential for protecting and managing the health of coastal ecosystems. Here, we examined the concentrations of 7 PHMs (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Hg, and Zn) in surface sediments from a typical bay under long-term human impacts in southern China, to holistically elaborate the pollution characteristics, environmental risks, and sources of PHMs. The results showed that the mean concentrations (mg/kg) were 7.00 (As), 0.164 (Cd), 79.1 (Cr), 29.3 (Cu), 25.4 (Pb), 0.042 (Hg), and 107.4 (Zn), respectively. PHMs in the surface sediments exhibited decreasing trends from the nearshore towards the offshore sea areas, showing high, moderate, and low concentrations in the inner, middle, and outer bay. Geo-accumulation index demonstrated that Cd was the primary polluted metal, followed by Cu, Hg, Zn, Cr, and Pb. Both modified contamination of degree (mCd) and nemerow integrated pollution index (NIPI) indicated that the inner bay was the most polluted area. Potential ecological risk index (PERI) and toxic risk index (TRI) illustrated that PHMs have posed adverse threats on the health of the bay, especially the inner bay. However, PERI suggested that Cd and Hg were the main contributors of the adverse effects, while TRI showed that Cu and Cr were. Principle component analysis suggested that As was from natural sources while other PHMs were derived from anthropogenic sources. Positive matrix factorization model further explained that human activities were the major sources, including industrial and marine transport activities (40.5%) and discharge of domestic sewages (29.3%), while natural sources contributed 30.2%. Based on these findings, useful implications are provided for the prevention and control of PHMs pollution and the implementation of relevant management and remediation strategies in coastal bays. [Display omitted] • PAM technique was applied in the initial assessment step. • A suite of indices was used for a holistic and effective assessment. • Cd and Hg were major contributors to PERI while Cr and Cu were to TRI. • Human activities were the prime sources of PHMs in sediments of Weitou bay. • Useful strategies were provided for environmental management and remediation of coastal bays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alloys were prepared by mechanical alloying and the hydrogen storage properties were investigated systematically. In and alloys, the main binary alloy phase is and , respectively. There are same binary alloy phase structures included , and NiTi in and alloys. For alloys, the hydrogen storage capacity is 2.88, 3.31, 3.12 and 2.24wt%, respectively. The hysteresis between hydrogen absorption and desorption decreases gradually with increasing the amount of substitution Ni for Fe. shows the highest hydrogen absorption and desorption rate among alloys. Fe and Ni coexistence is favorable to improve hydrogen storage properties. For alloy, the amorphous degree increase with the milling time, and the amorphous degree increase is unfavorable to improve hydrogen storage capacity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), a rare and highly aggressive form of breast cancer, accounts for 10% of breast cancer-related deaths. Previous omics studies of IBC have focused solely on one of genomics or transcriptomics and did not discover common differences that could distinguish IBC from non-IBC., Methods: Seventeen IBC patients and five non-IBC patients as well as additional thirty-three Asian breast cancer samples from TCGA-BRCA were included for the study. We performed whole-exon sequencing (WES) to investigate different somatic genomic alterations, copy number variants, and large structural variants between IBC and non-IBC. Bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed to examine the differentially expressed genes, pathway enrichment, and gene fusions. WES and RNA-seq data were further investigated in combination to discover genes that were dysregulated in both genomics and transcriptomics., Results: Copy number variation analysis identified 10 cytobands that showed higher frequency in IBC. Structural variation analysis showed more frequent deletions in IBC. Pathway enrichment and immune infiltration analysis indicated increased immune activation in IBC samples. Gene fusions including CTSC-RAB38 were found to be more common in IBC. We demonstrated more commonly dysregulated RAS pathway in IBC according to both WES and RNA-seq. Inhibitors targeting RAS signaling and its downstream pathways were predicted to possess promising effects in IBC treatment., Conclusion: We discovered differences unique in Asian women that could potentially explain IBC etiology and presented RAS signaling pathway as a potential therapeutic target in IBC treatment., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Limited knowledge is available on the differences in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) specific antibody breadth and T cell differentiation among different COVID-19 sequential vaccination strategies. In this study, we compared the immunogenicity of the third different dose of COVID-19 vaccines, such as mRNA (I-I-M), adenoviral vector (I-I-A), and recombinant protein (I-I-R) vaccines, in terms of the magnitude and breadth of antibody response and differentiation of SARS-CoV-2-specific T and B cells. These studies were performed in the same clinical trial, and the samples were assessed in the same laboratory. IGHV1-69, IGHV3-9, and IGHV4-34 were the dominant B cell receptor (BCR) usages of the I-I-M, I-I-A, and I-I-R groups, respectively; the RBD + B cell activation capacities were comparable. Additionally, the I-I-R group was characterized by higher numbers of regulatory T cells, circulating T follicular helper cells (cTFH) - cTFH1 (CXRC3 + CCR6 - ), cTFH1-17 (CXRC3 + CCR6 + ), cTFH17 (CXRC3 - CCR6 + ), and cTFH-CM (CD45RA - CCR7 + ), and lower SMNE + T cell proliferative capacity than the other two groups, whereas I-I-A showed a higher proportion and number of virus-specific CD4 + T cells than I-I-R, as determined in ex vivo experiments. Our data confirmed different SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody profiles among the three different vaccination strategies and also provided insights regarding BCR usage and T/B cell activation and differentiation, which will guide a better selection of vaccination strategies in the future., Importance: Using the same laboratory test to avoid unnecessary interference due to cohort ethnicity, and experimental and statistical errors, we have compared the T/B cell immune response in the same cohort sequential vaccinated by different types of COVID-19 vaccine. We found that different sequential vaccinations can induce different dominant BCR usage with no significant neutralizing titers and RBD + B-cell phenotype. Recombinant protein vaccine can induce higher numbers of regulatory T cells, circulating TFH (CTFH)1, CTFH17, and CTFH-CM, and lower SMNE + T-cell proliferative capacity than the other two groups, whereas I-I-A showed higher proportion and number of virus-specific CD4 + T cells than I-I-R. Overall, our study provides a deep insight about the source of differences in immune protection of different types of COVID-19 vaccines, which further improves our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the immune response to SARS-CoV-2., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

While YTH N 6 -methyladenosine RNA binding protein 1 (YTHDF1) was recognized as a crucial contributor in the development and immune-related regulation of various types of tumors, its function in the immune response of breast cancer has largely remained uninvestigated. Through analysis of public databases, we found YTHDF1 as a highly expressed gene in breast cancers and confirmed this finding in breast cancer cells and clinical specimens from our center. Subsequently, we examined the link between YTHDF1 expression and immune cells and molecules by utilizing immune-related public databases and algorithm. We further validated our findings through cellular and animal experiments, as well as RNA sequencing. YTHDF1 was found highly expressed in tumor tissues of breast cancer, which negatively correlated with patient survival. The downregulation of YTHDF1 promoted the expression of pro-inflammatory markers and improved the anti-cancer ability of immune cells in breast cancer. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that YTHDF1 knockdown resulted in enrichment of differential genes in signal transduction pathways. Additionally, in vitro experiments showed that immune cells had higher cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells with decreased YTHDF1 expression. Moreover, in vivo studies indicated that YTHDF1 promoted breast cancer growth while inhibiting CD8 + T cell infiltration and function. Our study demonstrates that YTHDF1 plays a crucial role in establishing a "cold" tumor microenvironment in breast cancer by inhibiting the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines from cancer cells. As a result, the infiltration and functional differentiation of anti-tumor CD8 + T cells are hindered, ultimately resulting in the immune evasion of breast cancer., 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.)

Ternary intermetallic compounds RMn 6 Ge 6 with complex magnetic phase transitions are expected to be developed and applied in spintronic storage and computing devices in the future. The relationship between the crystal structure and physical properties (electrical conductivity, thermal analysis, and complex magnetic transformation) of ErMn 6- x Co x Ge 6 ( x = 0-1.45) alloys was studied in the range of 80-600 K. The result shows that the polycrystalline alloys crystallize in the hexagonal HfFe 6 Ge 6 type ( P 6 / mmm ). Co doping causes orbital hybridization between Co 2p, Mn 2p, and Er 4d and leads to the presence of mixed valence states of Mn 3+ and Mn 4+ , leading to complex magnetic behaviors: the alloys display a Néel point at a high temperature T N (∼500 K), magnetization increases again at T C (∼250 K), and a second peak in the temperature dependence of magnetization at about T t (∼150 K), which is spin reorientation. We discuss these phenomena in terms of Mn-Mn, Er-Mn, and Mn 3+ /Mn 4+ and the prospect for potential applications of the studied alloy in magneto memory and new topological kagome magnet fields.

Given the great importance of Yundang lagoon (China), a detailed evaluation and source identification of multiple potentially toxic elements (PTEs) is required. Low concentrations of the PTEs were found in the Diversion canal, while high in the Main canal, Inner lagoon, and Outer lagoon. Evaluation results indicated that the pollution of PTEs was widespread, and that the extremely high eco-risks and evident toxicity were owing to the great contributions of Hg and Cd. Positive matrix factorization model demonstrated that the PTEs were from both natural and different types of anthropogenic sources. TOC played a critical role in the PTEs. It was also found that the limited environmental carrying capacity and the poor hydrological condition of the lagoon may still accumulate the pollution in a progressive fashion. These findings provide a detailed information on making effective strategies of new directions for long-term prevention of PTEs pollution in the landscape urban lagoon., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)