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Static repellency and pressure resistance to liquids are essential for high‐performance super‐omniphobic surfaces. However, these two merits appear mutually exclusive in conventional designs because of their conflicting structural demands: Static liquid repellency necessitates minimal solid–liquid contact, which in turn inevitably undercuts the surface's ability to resist liquid invasion exerted by the elevated pressure. Here, inspired by the Springtail, these two merits can be simultaneously realized by structuring surfaces at two size scales, with a micrometric reentrant structure providing static liquid repellency and a nanometric reentrant structure providing pressure resistance, which dexterously avoids the dilemma of their structural conflicts. The nanometric reentrants are densely packed on the micrometric ones, serving as "armor" that prevents liquids invasion by generating multilevel energy barriers, thus naming the surface as the armored reentrants (AR) surface. The AR surface could repel liquids with very low surface tensions, such as silicone oil (21 mN m−1), and simultaneously resist great pressure from the liquids, exemplified by enduring the impact of low‐surface‐tension liquids under a high weber number (>400), the highest‐pressure resistance ever reported. With its scalable fabrication and enhanced performance, our design could extend the application scope of liquid‐repellent surfaces toward ultimate industrial settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Derivation of human hepatocytes from pluripotent stem cells in vitro has important applications including cell therapy and drug discovery. However, the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into hepatocytes in vitro was not well recapitulated the development of liver. Here, we developed a differentiation protocol by mimicking the two‐stage development of hepatoblasts, which permits the efficient generation of hepatic progenitor cells from chemically induced pluripotent stem cells (hCiPSCs). Single‐cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‐seq) indicates the similarity between hepatoblasts differentiated in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, hCiPSC‐derived hepatic progenitor cells can further differentiate into hepatocytes that are similar to primary human hepatocytes with respect to gene expression and key hepatic functions. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of generating hepatic progenitor cells and hepatocytes from hCiPSCs with high efficiency and set the foundation for broad translational applications of hCiPSC‐derived hepatocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the volcanic activity of Changbai Mountain has been accompanied by several earthquakes, and the frequent human engineering activities have led to a gradual increase in the number of collapses in the region, which severely impacts residents' lives and property safety. In northeastern China, the Changbai Mountain area in the southeastern Jilin Province is a typical mountain environment. This paper selects 12 evaluation indicators to build a hazard assessment system, including slope, aspect, elevation, curvature, lithology, NDVI, land use type, distance from the fault, the river from the road, volcanic earthquake, and annual average precipitation. Using emotional weight (G1 method) and objective weight (WOE-CV method), the hazard due to collapses in the study area is evaluated too. Among them, the transcendence probability of volcanic earthquakes greater than VI degree represents the relationship between Changbai Mountain volcanic earthquakes and the assessment of geological collapse hazard. The results show that high- and very high-hazard areas are mainly distributed in densely populated areas and national and provincial trunk lines, with apparent spatial agglomeration characteristics. The low-hazard area, medium-hazard area, high-hazard area and very high-hazard area accounted for 19.33%, 44.19%, 33.85% and 2.63% of the total area of the study area, respectively. By comparing the previous geological hazard survey reports in the area with the collapse hazard zoning map in this paper, 87.72% of the known collapse hazard areas are distributed within high and very high hazard zones, indicating that the conclusions of the article are more accurate and in line with the actual situation. Results from collapse-related hazards can provide relevant guidance for preventing and controlling geological risks posed by volcanic earthquakes affecting Changbai Mountain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC) is associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, and gut microbiota imbalance. Although most researchers have demonstrated the antioxidant bioactivity of the phenolic compounds in plants, their UC-curing ability and underlying mechanisms still need to be further and adequately explored. Herein, we studied the antioxidation–structure relationship of several common polyphenols in plants including gallic acid, proanthocyanidin, ellagic acid, and tannic acid. Furthermore, the in vivo effects of the plant polyphenols on C57BL/6 mice with dextran-sulfate-sodium-induced UC were evaluated and the action mechanisms were explored. Moreover, the interplay of several mechanisms was determined. The higher the number of phenolic hydroxyl groups, the stronger the antioxidant activity. All polyphenols markedly ameliorated the symptoms and pathological progression of UC in mice. Furthermore, inflammatory cytokine levels were decreased and the intestinal barrier was repaired. The process was regulated by the antioxidant-signaling pathway of nuclear-erythroid 2-related factor 2. Moreover, the diversity of the intestinal microbiota, Firmicutes-to-Bacteroides ratio, and relative abundance of beneficial bacteria were increased. An interplay was observed between microbiota regulation and oxidative stress, immunity, and inflammatory response. Furthermore, intestinal barrier repair was found to be correlated with inflammatory responses. Our study results can form a basis for comprehensively developing plant-polyphenol-related medicinal products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the stability and accuracy of glucose measurements determined using the metabolic heat conformation (MHC)-based non-invasive glucometer in a multicentre, self-controlled clinical trial. This device is the first to obtain a medical device registration certificate awarded by the National Medical Products Administration of China (NMPA). Methods: The multicentre clinical study was conducted at three sites and enrolled 200 subjects whose glucose was measured with a non-invasive glucometer (the Contour Plus blood glucose monitoring system) and by venous plasma glucose (VPG) measurements, in a fasted state and at 2 and 4 h after meals. Results: Based on both the non-invasive and VPG measurements, 93.9% (95% confidence interval 91.7–95.6%) of the blood glucose (BG) values fell within consensus error grid (CEG) zones A + B. The measurements obtained in a fasted state and at 2 h after meals were more accurate, with 99.0% and 97.0% of the BG values, respectively, falling within zones A + B. Compared to those subjects who received insulin, the proportion of values in zones A + B and the correlation coefficients were 3.1% and 0.0596 higher, respectively. The accuracy of the non-invasive glucometer was influenced by the level of insulin resistance calculated by the homeostatic model assessment method, which had a correlation coefficient with the mean absolute relative difference of − 0.1588 (P = 0.0001). Conclusion: The MHC-based non-invasive glucometer assessed in the present study demonstrates generally high stability and accuracy in the glucose monitoring of people with diabetes. The calculation model needs to be further explored and optimised for patients with different diabetes subtypes, levels of insulin resistance and insulin secretion capacity. Clinical trial registry number: ChiCTR1900020523. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy flow and environmental impacts are crucial factors in sustainable agriculture. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the energy consumption, economic benefits and carbon footprint (CF) of Japonica rice (JR) and indica rice (IR) cropping systems. The results showed that the JR system could provide favourable income combined with improved yields compared to those of the IR system, with growth rates of 47.0 % and 9.8 %, respectively. Fertilizer application, diesel fuel, and machinery were the major contributors to energy consumption regardless of the system. Compared to those of the IR system, the JR system attained a higher energy consumption, mainly resulting from seeds and fertilizers, reducing the average energy use efficiency by 5.6 %. There was no significant difference in the average eco-efficiency between the two cropping systems. Although the JR system exhibited a greater carbon input (941.2 kg CO 2 -eq ha−1) than that of the IR system (828.7 kg CO 2 -eq ha−1), it exhibited a comparable CF per unit of rice production due to its greater output. These results suggest that adopting the JR system could be a promising alternative for increasing grain production without increasing environmental costs in China. Applying innovative fertilization methods or products, efficient machinery will help achieve high productivity and environmental friendliness. • A combined evaluation of energy, environmental and economic factors between IR and JR was performed. • JR system raised crop productivity and profitability. • JR system decreased energy use efficiency with a carbon footprint comparable to that of IR system. • Fertilizer N consumed the most energy and was the largest contributor to the CF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • ZIF-90/PDMDES MMMs effectively separate alcohols from aqueous solution. • Three distinctive cross-sectional morphologies of the MMMs have been identified. • In the newly prepared MMMs, a maximum ZIF-90 loading of 10 wt% was achieved. • Separation performance of MMMs has been optimized at the ZIF-90 loading of 5 wt%. • ZIF-90/PDMDES MMM exhibits superior performance to most MMMs with various fillers. In the present research, micron-sized zeolitic imidazolate framework-90 (ZIF-90) particles were synthesized utilizing an adapted synthesis route and subsequently incorporated into the poly-dimethyldiethoxysilane (PDMDES) polymer to fabricate ZIF-90/PDMDES mixed matrix membrane (MMM) with an objective to achieve enhanced pervaporation performance for the efficient separation of alcohols from aqueous solutions. Comprehensive characterization techniques were employed to investigate the properties of the ZIF-90 particles and the newly fabricated ZIF-90/PDMDES MMMs. Encouraging findings revealed that the incorporation of microporous ZIF-90 particles led to notable enhancements in hydrophobicity, alcohol affinity, and thermal stability of the MMMs. Notably, a distinctive cross-sectional morphology of the ZIF-90/PDMDES MMMs were observed at lower ZIF-90 loadings, a phenomenon attributed to the disparity between the ZIF-90 particle size and the inherent thickness of the PDMDES layer. Systematic evaluations were conducted to ascertain the influence of ZIF-90 loadings, feed concentration, and operational temperature on the pervaporation performance of ZIF-90/PDMDES MMMs. Accordingly, the optimal separation performance was obtained at the ZIF-90 loading of 5 wt% when separating ethanol from 5 wt% ethanol aqueous solution at 40 °C, yielding an impressive total flux of 6.51 kg∙m−2 h−1, a separation factor of 7.29, a PSI of 40.95 kg∙m−2 h−1, and an ethanol permeability of 7.45 × 104 Barrer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is the second most common malignant skin tumor and significantly affects patients' quality of life and health. The Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (JAK/STAT3) pathway activation is involved in CSCC development. Radix Tetrastigma hemsleyani flavone (RTHF) is an active Radix Tetrastigma extract (RTE), which was recently reported to have promising inhibitory effects on CSCC. However, the underlying functional mechanisms of this inhibition remain unknown. In the present study, A431 cells or SCL-1 cells were incubated with 1, 5, and 10 mg/mL RTHF for 48 h, respectively. A significantly increased wound closure rate, decreased number of migrated and invaded cells, decreased colony number, and elevated apoptotic rate were observed after treatment with 1, 5, and 10 mg/mL RTHF. Furthermore, after incubation with RTHF, p-JAK1/JAK1, p-JAK2/JAK2, and p-STAT3/STAT3 levels were drastically reduced. An A431 xenograft model was constructed, followed by oral administration of 15, 30, or 60 mg/kg RTHF for 21 consecutive days. A significantly lower increase in tumor volume and reduced tumor weight were observed in all RTHF-treated groups. In addition, JAK/STAT3 signaling was drastically repressed in tumor tissues. Collectively, RTHF inhibited CSCC progression, which may be associated with JAK/STAT3 pathway inactivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Without considering rainfall events, GHG emissions from urban rivers will be underestimated by 31%. • The CO 2 –equivalent emissions of GHG from urban rivers during a typhoon are 13.55 times higher than during fair weather. • Pumping drainage, sediment disturbance, and high gas transfer velocity are the primary factors behind GHG release during typhoons. Urban rivers have been recognized as significant hotspots for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the impact of storms or typhoons on GHG emissions from urban rivers is not well understood. Suzhou Creek located in the highly developed urban area of Shanghai was selected to investigate of changes in CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O concentrations and diffusive fluxes during different rainfall events from May to October 2021. The findings showed that urban rivers were sources of GHG emissions during various events. The average diffusive fluxes of CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O during typhoon events were 1 to 2 orders of magnitude higher than those during non–typhoon period, revealing that typhoon greatly promote GHG evasion. GHG CO 2 –equivalents were ranked as follows: during typhoon (3.93 g m–2h−1) > post–typhoon (0.89 g m–2h−1) > high precipitation (0.33 g m–2h−1) > non–precipitation (0.29 g m–2h−1) > small precipitation (0.25 g m–2h−1). Rainfall dilution, pump station drainage, sediment disturbance, and a high gas transfer coefficient induced by typhoons were the main factors affecting GHG emissions. Nutrients, chlorophyll-a, and dissolved oxygen in river water were important control parameters for GHG production. Overall, typhoon would release large amounts of GHG from urban rivers. Given the projected increase in the frequency and complexity of extreme weather events, this study highlights the importance of better understanding the dynamic response of urban river GHG to rainfall and typhoons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of urban water environment renovation has shifted to high nitrate (NO 3 −) load. Nitrate input and nitrogen conversion are responsible for the continuous increase in nitrate levels in urban rivers. This study utilized nitrate stable isotopes (δ15N–NO 3 − and δ18O–NO 3 −) to investigate NO 3 − sources and transformation processes in Suzhou Creek, located in Shanghai. The results demonstrated that NO 3 − was the most common form of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), accounting for 66 ± 14% of total DIN with a mean value of 1.86 ± 0.85 mg L−1. The δ15N–NO 3 − and δ18O–NO 3 − values ranged from 5.72 to 12.42‰ (mean value: 8.38 ± 1.54‰) and −5.01 to 10.39‰ (mean value: 0.58 ± 1.76‰), respectively. Based on isotopic evidence, the river received a significant amount of nitrate through direct exogenous input and sewage ammonium nitrification, while nitrate removal (denitrification) was insignificant, resulting in nitrate accumulation. Analysis using the MixSIAR model revealed that treated wastewater (68.3 ± 9.7%), soil nitrogen (15.7 ± 4.8%) and nitrogen fertilizer (15.5 ± 4.9%) were the main sources of NO 3 − in rivers. Despite the fact that Shanghai's urban domestic sewage recovery rate has reached 92%, reducing nitrate concentrations in treated wastewater is crucial for addressing nitrogen pollution in urban rivers. Additional efforts are needed to upgrade urban sewage treatment during low flow periods and/or in the main stream, and to control non-point sources of nitrate, such as soil nitrogen and nitrogen fertilizer, during high flow periods and/or tributaries. This research provides insights into NO 3 − sources and transformations, and serves as a scientific basis for controlling NO 3 − in urban rivers. • Urban rivers have received significant amounts of nitrate through direct exogenous input and ammonium nitrification from sewage. • A weak permanent nitrate removal mechanism results in the accumulation of nitrate. • The main source of nitrate pollution in urban rivers is mainly due to the substantial input of treated wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • An additional binding region of NQO1 was identified by analyzing its cocrystal structure. • Nonquinone 24 bearing two nitrogen redox centers represents a new chemotype of NQO1substrates. • MD simulations revealed a reasonable binding pattern of 24 with NQO1. • Compound 24 exerted good NQO1 targeting antitumor activity with improved NQO1 selectivity. By analyzing the crystal structure of NQO1, an additional binding region for the ligand was discovered. In this study, a series of derivatives with a novel skeleton bearing two nitrogen redox centers were designed by introducing amines or hydrazines to fit with the novel binding region of NQO1. Compound 24 with a (4-fluorophenyl)hydrazine substituent was identified as the most efficient substrate for NQO1 with the reduction rate and catalytic efficiency of 1972 ± 82 μmol NADPH/min/μmol NQO1 and 6.4 ± 0.4 × 106 M−1s−1, respectively. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation revealed that the distances between the nitrogen atom of the redox centers and the key Tyr128 and Tyr126 residues were 3.5 Å (N 1 -Tyr128) and 3.4 Å (N 2 -Tyr126), respectively. Compound 24 (IC 50 /A549 = 0.69 ± 0.09 μM) showed potent antitumor activity against A549 cells both in vitro and in vivo through ROS generation via NQO1-mediated redox cycling, leading to a promising NQO1-targeting antitumor candidate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant litter input is an important driver of soil/sediment organic carbon (SOC) turnover. A large number of studies have targeted litter-derived C input tracing at a global level. However, little is known about how litter carbon (C) input via various plant tissues affects SOC accumulation and mineralization. Here, we conducted laboratory incubation to investigate the effects of leaf litter and stem litter input on SOC dynamics using the natural 13C isotope technique. A 122-day laboratory incubation period showed that litter input facilitated SOC accumulation. Leaf and stem litter inputs increased soil total organic carbon content by 37.6% and 15.5%, respectively. Leaf litter input had a higher contribution to SOC accumulation than stem litter input. Throughout the incubation period, the δ13C values of stem litter and leaf litter increased by 1.5‰ and 3.3‰, respectively, while δ13CO 2 derived from stem litter and δ13CO 2 derived from leaf litter decreased by 4.2‰ and 6.1‰, respectively, suggesting that the magnitude of δ13C in litter and δ13CO 2 shifts varied, depending on litter tissues. The cumulative CO 2 –C emissions of leaf litter input treatments were 27.56%–42.47% higher than those of the stem litter input treatments, and thus leaf litter input promoted SOC mineralization more than stem litter input. Moreover, the proportion of increased CO 2 –C emissions to cumulative CO 2 –C emissions (57.18%–92.12%) was greater than the proportion of litter C input to total C (18.7%–36.8%), indicating that litter input could stimulate native SOC mineralization, which offsets litter-derived C in the soil. Overall, litter input caused a net increase in SOC accumulation, but it also accelerated the loss of native SOC. These findings provide a reliable basis for assessing SOC stability and net C sink capacity in wetlands. [Display omitted] • The effects of litter input from various plant tissues on SOC dynamics were studied. • Leaf litter input had a higher contribution to SOC storage than stem litter input. • The magnitude of δ13C in litter and δ13CO 2 shifts varied depending on litter tissues. • Leaf litter input promoted SOC mineralization more than stem litter input. • Litter input caused net increases in SOC storage, but it accelerated native SOC loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Modulation of the oxygen vacancy promotes NN coupling to enhance CO-SCR activity. • Fe 2 O 3 /amorphous SiO 2 can achieve 100% CO conversion and over 80% NO conversion. • The CO-SCR reaction follows MvK mechanism over α-Fe 2 O 3 (110) facet. • The decomposition of N 2 O is the rate-determining step of CO-SCR. The industrial applications of de-NOx require the high activity window of the catalysts to be shifted from high to low temperatures for energy saving. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx by CO, as an alternative to NH 3 -SCR, is a promising de-NOx technology that facilitates the synergistic removal of pollutants. Herein, we report a new Fe 2 O 3 /amorphous SiO 2 catalyst with high low-temperature activity for CO-SCR. A combination of experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations obtains direct evidence that an optimal content of oxygen vacancy enhances the low-temperature NO conversion ratio and N 2 selectivity of Fe 2 O 3 -based catalyst to over 80% and maintain 100% CO conversion by promoting NN coupling via ONNO/N 2 O and NCO/NNCO 2 intermediates. Compared with conventional defect engineering, such as doping other metals or artificially generating oxygen defects, the α-Fe 2 O 3 (1 1 0) facet automatically enables an oxygen vacancy generation-filling cycle in the CO-SCR reaction, following Mars-van Krevelen (MvK) mechanism. This work advances a fundamental understanding of CO-SCR reaction mechanism over Fe 2 O 3 -based catalysts and provides insights for future studies to improve heterogeneous metal oxide catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A noninvasive blood glucose monitor with high accuracy is proposed. • A classification model is established to identify whether subjects had diabetes. • The subjects are classified in different categories for expanded its coverage. • The model of each category is established separately to improve its accuracy. • The accuracy of noninvasive blood glucose monitor is validated by clinical trial. Blood glucose monitoring is vital for controlling the complications of diabetes. We propose a noninvasive blood glucose monitor featuring multi-sensor fusion, which functions well for rapid yet accurate blood glucose monitoring and screening of diabetes. The characteristic parameters of diabetics were extracted by applying one-factor analysis of variance, and a classification model was established via principal components analysis and discriminant analysis to identify whether the subjects suffer from diabetes. In light of the challenges for noninvasive blood glucose monitoring modelling brought by different pathogeneses, disease processes and complicated complications of different diabetics, the subjects were classified into different categories via unsupervised K-means clustering algorithm and modelled for each category separately for expanded coverage and improved accuracy. The accuracy was clinically evaluated in 254 volunteers with type II diabetes. The results in the Parkes error grid were as follows: 58.33% in Zone A, 39.43% in Zone B and 2.24% in Zone C, with a correlation coefficient of 0.69 and a root mean squared error of 2.67 mmol/L. In 2019, the monitor was certified by the National Medical Products Administration of China as the first Class III Medical Device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypoxia-inducible factor-2 (HIF-2), a heterodimeric transcriptional protein consisting of HIF-2α and aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT) subunits, has a broad transcriptional profile that plays a vital role in human oxygen metabolism. M1001 , a HIF-2 agonist identified by high-throughput screening (HTS), is capable of altering the conformation of Tyr281 of the HIF-2α PAS-B domain and enhancing the affinity of HIF-2α and ARNT for transcriptional activation. M1002 , an analog of M1001 , shows improved efficacy than M1001. However, the cocrystal structure of M1001 and HIF-2 has some defects in revealing the agonist binding mode due to the relatively low resolution, while the binding mode of M1002 remained unexplored. To in-depth understand agonist binding profiles, herein, the molecular dynamic (MD) simulations was applied to construct a stable agonist-protein model, and a possible binding mode was proposed through the analysis of the binding free energy and hydrogen bonding of the simulation results. Nine compounds were then synthesized and evaluated to verify the proposed binding mode. Among them, compound 10 manifested improved agonistic activity and reduced toxicity compared to M1002. This study provides deep insight into the binding mode of such HIF-2 agonists, which would be useful for designing novel agonists for HIF-2. Image 1 • A reliable HIF-2 agonist binding mode is proposed by molecular dynamic simulations. • Nine HIF-2 agonist analogs are synthesized and evaluated to verify the binding mode. • Compound 10 with improved activity and reduced cytotoxicity is obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How we view the passage of past time determines how we face time itself as well as our futures, which has a strong impact particularly during the highly creative and malleable college years. Chinese culture cherishes time deeply, and for centuries there has been a tradition of "educating children and youth to inspect the passage of time." However, in today's age of information and intelligence, time has shown a trend toward fragmentation. How do contemporary Chinese college students view the passage of time, and what structures or content does it contain? The answer to this question remains uncertain, necessitating further exploration. Following Flavell's theory of metacognitive knowledge (MK), we adopted a semi-structured interview method and used the results to first outline the basic structure of Chinese college students' view of time passing, identifying four major aspects: priming aftereffect, life touching, positive promotion, and negative inhibition. Then, using the initial four-dimensional structure as a starting point, we developed the Metacognitive Knowledge of Time Passing Scale (MKTPS), and carried out exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to test its fit. The results showed that the four-factor scale and its 22 items had a good fit to the data. Third, the reliability and validity of the self-developed scale were tested. The results show that the internal consistency, split-half, and retest reliability of the MKTPS are good (all r s > 0.60). The construct validity of the MKTPS is also good ( r between subscales is 0.33-0.60, r between subscales and total scale is 0.64-0.87), the convergent validity with Zimbardo's negative past time perspective is high ( r = 0.37), and the discriminant validity with Zimbardo's future time perspective is significant ( r = 0.18). Regarding criterion correlation validity, the total scores of the MKTPS have a significantly higher positive correlation with those of the time management disposition (TMD) scale ( r = 0.45). Future points for studying the view of time passing in adults of all ages and across cultures field and shortcomings of the current study are also discussed., 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 Yu, Lu, Ma, Huang and Wu.)

Body heat, a clean and ubiquitous energy source, is promising as a renewable resource to supply wearable electronics. Emerging tough thermogalvanic device could be a sustainable platform to convert body heat energy into electricity for powering wearable electronics if its Carnot-relative efficiency (η r ) reaches ~5%. However, maximizing both the η r and mechanical strength of the device are mutually exclusive. Here, we develop a rational strategy to construct a flexible thermogalvanic armor (FTGA) with a η r over 8% near room temperature, yet preserving mechanical robustness. The key to our design lies in simultaneously realizing the thermosensitive-crystallization and salting-out effect in the elaborately designed ion-transport highway to boost η r and improve mechanical strength. The FTGA achieves an ultrahigh η r of 8.53%, coupling with impressive mechanical toughness of 70.65 MJ m -3 and substantial elongation (~900%) together. Our strategy holds sustainable potential for harvesting body heat and powering wearable electronics without recharging., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Liquid-solid contact electrification (CE) is essential to diverse applications. Exploiting its full implementation requires an in-depth understanding and fine-grained control of charge carriers (electrons and/or ions) during CE. Here, we decouple the electrons and ions during liquid-solid CE by designing binary superhydrophobic surfaces that eliminate liquid and ion residues on the surfaces and simultaneously enable us to regulate surface properties, namely work function, to control electron transfers. We find the existence of a linear relationship between the work function of superhydrophobic surfaces and the as-generated charges in liquids, implying that liquid-solid CE arises from electron transfer due to the work function difference between two contacting surfaces. We also rule out the possibility of ion transfer during CE occurring on superhydrophobic surfaces by proving the absence of ions on superhydrophobic surfaces after contact with ion-enriched acidic, alkaline, and salt liquids. Our findings stand in contrast to existing liquid-solid CE studies, and the new insights learned offer the potential to explore more applications., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Transition metal oxides are efficient bifunctional catalysts for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) using CO. Nonetheless, their poor activity at lower temperatures constrains broader industrial application. Herein, we propose an optimized Fe 2 O 3 -based catalyst through strategic metal doping with Cu, Co, or Ce, which engenders a harmonious balance for the synergistic removal of CO and NO x . Among the developed catalysts, Co-doped Fe 2 O 3 , supported by rice husk ash, demonstrates superior low-temperature CO-SCR activity, achieving CO and NO x conversion ratios and N 2 selectivity above 98.5% at 100-500 °C. The enhanced catalytic performance is attributed to the catalyst's improved redox properties and acidity, engendered by strong Fe-O x -Co interactions. Furthermore, the CO-SCR reaction adheres to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood and Eley-Rideal mechanisms. Our findings shed light on the future industrial application of low-temperature CO and NO x near-zero emission technology and provide a strategy for the design of low-cost SCR catalysts., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Bessel beam arrays are highly attractive due to non-diffraction properties, parallel processing, and large capacity capabilities. However, conventional approaches of generating Bessel beams, such as spatial light modulators, axicons, and diffraction optical elements, suffer from various limitations of system complexity and bulkiness, low uniformity, and limited numerical aperture (NA). The limited NA imposes constraints on achieving minimal full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the Bessel beam, ultimately compromising the resolution of the beam. In this study, we demonstrate a method for generating Bessel beam arrays with regular and random patterns via an ultra-compact metasurface. This approach integrates the phase profile of an optimized beam splitter with a meta-axicon. The Bessel beam arrays exhibit subwavelength dimensions of FWHM (590 nm, ∼0.9 λ ) and relatively high uniformity of 90% for N A =0.2 and 69% for N A =0.4. Furthermore, the method achieves effective suppression of background noise and zeroth-order intensity compared to methods based on Dammann grating (DG) based metasurfaces. The proposed method highlights potential applications of Bessel beam arrays in various fields, such as laser machining, optical communication, and biomedical imaging.

Olfactory receptors (ORs) form the most important chemosensory receptor family responsible for our sense of smell in the nasal olfactory epithelium. This receptor family belongs to the class A G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Recent research has indicated that ORs are involved in many nonolfactory physiological processes in extranasal tissue, such as the brain, pancreas, and testes, and implies the possible role of their dysregulation in various diseases. The recently released structures of OR51E2 and consensus OR52 have also unveiled the uniqueness of ORs from other class A GPCR members. In this review, we discuss these recent developments and computational modeling efforts toward understanding the structural properties of unresolved ORs, which could guide potential future OR-targeted drug discovery., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests S.Y. is the cofounder of AlphaMol Science Ltd. The remaining authors have no interests to declare., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Persistent oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress are the primary mechanisms of age-related cardiovascular diseases. Although exercise training is viewed as an effective anti-aging approach, further exploration is needed to identify the mechanisms and functional targets. In this study, the impact of resistance training (RT) on the expression of Smyd1, the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the expression of ER stress-related protein in the hearts of mice of different ages were assessed. In addition, the role of Smyd1 in the aging-induced oxidative stress and ER stress were evaluated in d-galactose (D-gal)-treated H9C2 cells. We demonstrated that RT in middle age increased the expression of Smyd1 and restricted heart aging-induced ER stress. Overexpression of Smyd1 restrained oxidative stress and ER stress in D-gal-treated H9C2 cells, while the inhibition of Nrf2 and Smyd1 escalated ER stress. These findings demonstrate that Smyd1 has significant impact in regulating age-related ER stress. RT in middle age can up-regulates Smyd1 expression and inhibits oxidative stress and ER stress in the heart., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Superhydrophobic and slippery lubricant-infused surfaces have garnered significant attention for their potential to passively transport low-viscosity liquids like water (1 mPa s). Despite exciting progress, these designs have proven ineffective for transporting high-viscosity liquids such as polydimethylsiloxane (5500 mPa s) due to their inherent limitations imposed by the homogenous surface design, resulting in high viscous drags and compromised capillary forces. Here, a heterogenous water-infused divergent surface (WIDS) is proposed that achieves spontaneous, rapid, and long-distance transport of viscous liquids. WIDS reduces viscous drag by spatially isolating the viscous liquids and surface roughness through its heterogenous, slippery topological design, and generates capillary forces through its heterogenous wetting distributions. The essential role of surface heterogeneity in viscous liquid transport is theoretically and experimentally verified. Remarkably, such a heterogenous paradigm enables transporting liquids with viscosities exceeding 12 500 mPa s, which is two orders of magnitude higher than state-of-the-art techniques. Furthermore, this heterogenous design is generic for various viscous liquids and can be made flexible, making it promising for various systems that require viscous liquid management, such as micropatterning., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The "live streaming + charity" model is a new model for China's philanthropy, accelerating the new development of China's philanthropy, but there is still a relative paucity of research in the academic community on how charity live streaming affects online charitable donations. In this sense, this study aims to identify the construction of a model of the factors influencing charity live streaming on online charitable donations. This study selected TikTok Live, based on the UTAUT model, combining perceived risk and perceived interactivity, recovered 607 valid questionnaires, and concluded and structural equation modeling to construct an influence factor model to analyze their correlation. The results show that users' performance expectancy, effort expectancy, perceived interactivity, facilitating conditions, and social influence are significantly positively correlated with online charitable donations, and perceived risk does not negatively affect users' intentions to make online charitable donations. Our findings can provide a basis for live-streaming platforms and relevant social organizations and government departments to develop charity communication strategies., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Shi, Wu. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Highly reflective surfaces are notorious in the field of depth sensing and three-dimensional (3D) imaging because they can cause severe errors in perception of the depth. Despite recent progress in addressing this challenge, there are still no robust and error-free solutions. Here, we devise a polarization structured light 3D sensor for solving these problems, in which high-contrast-grating (HCG) vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are used to exploit the polarization property. We demonstrate accurate depth measurements of the reflective surfaces and objects behind them in various imaging situations. In addition, the absolute error and effective measurement range are measured to prove the applicability for a wide range of 3D applications. Our work innovatively combines polarization and depth information, opening the way for fully understanding and applying polarization properties in the 3D domain., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Rapid detachment of impacting droplets from underlying substrate is highly preferred for mass, momentum, and energy exchange in many practical applications. Driven by this, the past several years have witnessed a surge in engineering macrotexture to reduce solid-liquid contact time. Despite these advances, these strategies in reducing contact time necessitate the elegant control of either the spatial location for droplet contact or the range of impacting velocity. Here, this work circumvents these limitations by designing a dual gradient surface consisting of a vertical spacing gradient made of tapered pillar arrays and a lateral curvature gradient characterized as macroscopic convex. This design enables the impacting droplets to self-adapt to asymmetric or pancake bouncing mode accordingly, which renders significant contact time reduction (up to ≈70%) for a broad range of impacting velocities (≈0.4-1.4 m s -1 ) irrespective of the spatial impacting location. This new design provides a new insight for designing liquid-repellent surfaces, and offers opportunities for applications including dropwise condensation, energy conversion, and anti-icing., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Swertia bimaculata (SB) is a medicinal herb in China having an array of therapeutic and biological properties. This study aimed to explore the attenuating effect of SB on carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) induced hepato-toxicity by regulation of gut microbiome in ICR mice. For this purpose, CCl 4 was injected intraperitoneally in different mice groups (B, C, D and E) every 4th day for a period of 47 days. Additionally, C, D, and E groups received a daily dose (50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, and 200 mg/kg respectively) of Ether extract of SB via gavage for the whole study period. The results of serum biochemistry analysis, ELISA, H&E staining, and sequencing of the gut microbiome, indicated that SB significantly alleviates the CCl 4 -induced liver damage and hepatocyte degeneration. The serum levels of alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase, malondialdehyde, interleukin 1 beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were significantly lower in SB treated groups compared to control while levels of glutathione peroxidase were raised. Also, the sequencing data indicate that supplementation with SB could restore the microbiome and its function in CCl 4 -induced variations in intestinal microbiome of mice by significantly downregulating the abundances of pathogenic intestinal bacteria species including Bacteroides, Enterococcus, Eubacterium, Bifidobacterium while upregulating the levels of beneficial bacteria like Christensenella in the gut. In conclusion, we revealed that SB depicts a beneficial effect against hepatotoxicity induced by CCl 4 in mice through the remission of hepatic inflammation and injury, through regulation of oxidative stress, and by restoring gut microbiota dysbiosis., 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 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Immunotherapy targeting tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) is a promising approach to treating cancer. However, the limited drug targets and ambiguous mechanisms impede the development of clinical immunotherapy strategies. To elucidate the underlying processes involved in mononuclear phagocyte (MNP) infiltration and phenotypic changes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we integrated single-cell RNA-sequencing data from 100,030 cells derived from patients with HCC and healthy individuals and compared the phenotypes and origins of the MNPs in the tumor core, tumor periphery, adjacent normal tissue, and healthy liver samples. Using machine learning and multi-omics analyses, we identified 445 infiltration-associated genes and potential drug targets affecting this process. Through in vitro experiments, we found that the expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is the upstream regulator of secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1) and promote migration in TAMs. Our findings also indicate that MIF promotes tumor metastasis and invasion and is a promising potential target for treating HCC., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Long-term antibiotic use induces drug resistance in bacteria. This has given rise to the challenge of refractory infections, which have become a global health threat. Berberine (BBR) and tannic acid (TA) from plants exhibit promising antibacterial activities and may overcome antibiotic resistance. However, poor solubility and/or low penetration capability have limited their application. Carrier-free co-assembled nanocomposites composed entirely of BBR and TA exhibit improved or new properties and produce improved efficacy. Herein, we demonstrated that an ordered nanostructure could be spontaneously co-assembled by the solvent evaporation method using the two natural products. These co-assembled berberine-tannic acid nanoparticles (BBR-TA NPs) exhibited the best antibacterial effect compared with the corresponding physical mixture, pristine BBR, and some first-line antibiotics (benzylpenicillin potassium-BP and ciprofloxacin-Cip) against Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) and multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ( MRSA ). Even if the concentration of BBR-TA NPs was as low as 15.63 μg/mL, the antibacterial rate against S. aureus and MRSA was more than 80%. In addition to the synergistic effect of the two compounds, the antibacterial mechanism underlying the nanostructures was that they strongly adhered to the surface of the bacterial cell wall, thereby inducing cell membrane damage and intracellular ATP leakage. Furthermore, the in vivo wound healing effect of BBR-TA NPs was verified using an MRSA wound infection mouse model. The BBR-TA NPs achieved the best efficacy compared with BP and Cip. Moreover, cytotoxic and histopathological evaluations of mice revealed that the nanodrug had good biological safety. This facile and green co-assembly strategy for preparing nanoparticles provides a feasible reference for the clinical treatment of bacterial infection.

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects about 7 million people globally, which is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract caused by gut microbiota alterations, immune dysregulation, genetic and environmental factors. Nanoparticles (NPs) deliver an active natural compound to a site harbored by disordered microbiota, they are used to interact, target and act intentionally on microbiota. Although there is accumulating evidence indicating that berberine and polysaccharide play an important role in IBD via regulating microbiota, there is limited research that presents a complete picture of exactly how their carrier-free co-assembled nanodrug affects IBD. Methods: The study establishes the carrier-free NPs formed by berberine and rhubarb polysaccharide based on the combination theory of Rheum palmatum L. and Coptis chinensis Franch. , and characterizes the NPs. The IBD treatment efficacy of NPs are evaluated via IBD efficacy index, and explore the mechanism of NPs via 16S rRNA test and immunohistochemistry including occludin and zonula occludens-1. Results: The results showed that DHP and BBR were co-assembled to nanoparticles, and the BD can effectively relieve the symptoms of UC mouse induced by DSS via regulating gut microbiota and repair the gut barrier integrity, because BD have a longer retention on the colon tissue and react with the microbiota and mucus thoroughly. Interestingly, BD can enrich more probiotic than free BBR and DHP. Discussion: This design provides a better strategy and encourages future studies on IBD treatment via regulating gut microbiota and the design of novel plant polysaccharide based carrier-free co-assembly therapies., 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 Feng, Wu, Chen, Zheng, Ye, Wang, Zhang, Gao, Li and Dong.)

Lead (Pb) contamination has been affecting public health for decades. As a plant-derived medicine, the safety and effectiveness of Emblica officinalis (E. officinalis) fruit extract has been emphasized. The current study focused on mitigating the adverse effects of lead (Pb) exposure in reducing its toxicity worldwide. According to our findings, E. officinalis significantly improved weight loss and colon length shortening (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). The data of colon histopathology and serum levels of inflammatory cytokines indicated a positive impact to the colonic tissue and inflammatory cell infiltration in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, we confirmed the expression level improvement of tight junction proteins (TJPs), including ZO-1, Claudin-1, and Occludin. Furthermore, we found that the abundance of some commensal species necessary for maintaining homeostasis and other beneficial function decreased in Pb exposure model, while a remarkable reversion impact was noticed on the intestinal microbiome composition in the treatment group. These findings were consistent with our speculations that E. officinalis could mitigate the adverse effects caused by Pb in alleviating intestinal tissue damage, intestinal barrier disruption, and inflammation. Meanwhile, the variations in gut microbiota might drive the fulfilling current impact. Hence, the present study could provide the theoretical basis for mitigating intestinal toxicity induced by Pb exposure with the help of E. officinalis., 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 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In recent years, there has been a scholarly debate regarding the decrease in automobile-related mobility indicators (car ownership, driving license holding, VMT, etc.). Broadly speaking, two theories have been put forward to explain this trend: (1) economic factors whose impacts are well-understood in principle, but whose occurrence among young adults as a demographic sub-group had been overlooked, and (2) less well-understood shifts in cultural mores, values and sentiment towards the automobile. This second theory is devilishly difficult to study, due primarily to limitations in standard data resources such as the National Household Travel Survey and international peer datasets. In this study we first compiled a database of lyrics to popular music songs from 1956 to 2015 (defined by inclusion in the annual "top 40"), and subsequently identified references to automobiles within this corpus. We then evaluated whether there is support for theory #2 above within popular music, by looking at changes from the 1950s to the 2010s. We demonstrate that the frequency of references to automobility tended for many years to increase over time, however there has more recently been a decline after the late 2000s (decade). In terms of the sentiment of popular music lyrics that reference automobiles, our results are mixed as to whether the references are becoming increasingly positive or negative (machine analysis suggests increasing negativity, while human analysis did not find a significant association), however a consistent observation is that sentiment of automobile references have over time become more positive relative to sentiment of song lyrics overall. We also show that sentiment towards automobile references differs systematically by genre, e.g. automobile references within 'Rock' lyrics are in general more negative than similar references to cars in other music genres). The data generated on this project have been archived and made available open access for use by future researchers; details are in the full paper., (© The Author(s) 2021.)

Here, we introduce two Au 23 nanoclusters to unveil the significance of metal-ligand binding-induced assembly. The Au 23 cluster protected by the thiolate ligand is packed in the shell-by-shell arrangement, while the Au 23 cluster capped by dual ligands of thiolate and PPh 3 is constructed from the assembly of Au 4 tetrahedra. Furthermore Au 23 from Au 4 tetrahedron-based assembly is capable of converting absorbed visible light into more excitons, compared to Au 23 from shell-by-shell assembly, thus exhibiting more efficient photocatalysis.

The spatio-temporal flexibility of free-floating carsharing (FFCS) fleets leads to vehicle stock imbalances across the network. One set of strategies for managing fleet distribution involves incentivising users to participate in relocating the vehicles. The objective of this study is to establish FFCS customers' preferences for each of four incentivisation mechanisms: 1) vehicle delivery, 2) paid relocation, and 3-4) incentivisation for alternate vehicle pick-up and drop-off locations. Survey data (n = 311; collected Sept. 2017) from FFCS users in Vancouver and Washington D.C. are employed to quantify willingness-to-pay/accept (WTP/WTA) for these mechanisms. We find that a majority of respondents report positive attitudes ("definitely" or "possibly" willing to use) toward each of the four incentivisation mechanisms, with alternate drop-off the highest (57%) and paid relocation the lowest (40%). Regression analysis finds that user experiences using FFCS are generally stronger predictors of WTP/WTA than socio-demographic features, with (intuitively) the frequency of FFCS unavailability the strongest predictor. Age is the strongest socio-demographic predictor, with the WTP for vehicle delivery increasing and the size of required incentives for alternate pick-up/drop-off locations decreasing with age. Finally, we performed k-means cluster analysis of respondents based on the times-of-week that they report experiencing difficulty finding an available FFCS vehicle, and identified four distinct segments of users. However, we found generally weak relationships between WTP/WTA and the specific time-of-week periods that unavailability is experienced., Competing Interests: 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., (© 2020 Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The crystal-facet effect of catalytic supports plays a crucial role in tailoring the physicochemical properties of active sites and the surface chemically bonded polymer can also regulate the local environment around active sites for optimizing catalytic performance. Herein, we report the effect of exposed facets of γ-Al 2 O 3 supports and further modification by surface bonded long-chain polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) on the properties of CrO x /γ-Al 2 O 3 catalysts for selective oxidation of propene. The {111} facets of γ-Al 2 O 3 stabilize "non-redox Cr 3 + " and promote the overall oxidation rates compared with catalysts on {110} facets of γ-Al 2 O 3 . The surface bonded PDMS, with grafting density being about 0.13 chains/nm 2 , endows a hydrophobic environment to facilitate the enrichment of the hydrophobic substrate and the desorption of hydrophilic products and occupies some acid sites on catalysts to limit acid-catalyzed side reactions. The inherent liquidlike nature of bonded PDMS also forms a setting that can regulate the redox ability of surface Cr species, that lead to modified activation of oxygen toward more surface adsorbed species. As a result, the modified catalysts enhance the whole oxidation process with favorable formation of epoxide product at low reaction temperatures (<225 °C). Our findings highlight the impact of surface chemically bound polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) upon tailoring the surroundings of the catalyst surface, and that combined with facet-effect of supports can tune the reaction process toward selective ones.

Background: Dual-specificity phosphatase 6 (DUSP6) is a negative feedback mechanism of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase superfamily (MAPK/ERK, SAPK/JNK, p38), that is associated with cellular proliferation and differentiation. It has been reported that the expression of DUSP6 in different types of breast cancer is diverse and therefore it has altered functions in various types of breast cancer. Our aim was to explore the exact function of DUSP6 in triple-negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231 cell) and to determine whether the suppression of DUSP6 by small interfering RNA (siRNA) and mircroRNA (miRNA) inhibits the growth of human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells., Methods: DUSP6-siRNA was used to inhibit the expression of DUSP6 directly and miR-145 to inhibit the expression of DUSP6 either in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells and successful transfection being confirmed by Real-time PCR and Western Blotting. Down regulation of DUSP6 in MDA-MB-231 cells suppressed the cell proliferation as investigated by MTT assay and colony form assay. Transwell test and Scratch assay were conducted to investigate the migration and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells. T-test (two-tailed) was used to compare differences between groups, and the significance level was set at P<0.05., Results: DUSP6 mRNA expression and protein expression were reduced after transfection with DUSP6-siRNA directly and similar trend with transfection with miR-145. The treated group with DUSP6-siRNA or miR-145 suppressed MDA-MB-231 cells proliferation, migration and invasion, and meanwhile the cells were arrested at G0/G1 phase., Conclusions: DUSP6 plays a role in triple-negative breast cancer cells that might promote growth in MDA-MB-231 triple-negative breast cancer cells.

In this study, we investigated whether there is a repetition benefit in mental rotation that is independent of stimulus repetition (i.e., due to increased efficiency in postencoding processing). Three experiments were conducted, in which different conditions of stimulus repetition (different letters on consecutive trials in Experiment 1, letters of different orientations on consecutive trials in Experiment 2, and priming of rotation direction in Experiment 3) were used, and the extent of repetition of rotation direction between two consecutive trials was manipulated. The results of all three experiments showed clear evidence of a repetition benefit without repeating the stimulus, suggesting that this effect is independent of stimulus repetition and lending support to the notion of increased efficiency in mental rotation as a result of repeated rotation direction per se.