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Phosphogypsum (PG), a byproduct during the production of phosphoric acid and phosphate fertilizers, is predominantly stockpiled with a height greater than hundreds of meters. In this study, the leaching behavior of pollutants from PG stored at different depths was systematically investigated through batch tests, column tests, and geochemical modeling. PG samples were collected at different depths within a range of 48 m from a large-scale PG stack in China. The results showed that the pH, electrical conductivity, and elemental concentration of the leachate exhibited spatial variability in terms of the depth distribution, with evident bottom enrichment effects for metals and soluble salts. The pH-dependent leaching tests investigated the impact of pH variations on the solubility of various elements in PG, with a specific focus on elements precipitation occurring within the natural pH range. The geochemical modeling of leaching tests conducted by PHREEQC enabled the identification of the dominant phases controlling the solubilization of the elements, as well as the dynamic process of changes in element forms and concentrations with pH variation. Column leaching tests reveal the differences in pollutant properties between the unsaturated and saturated zones within the PG stack and categorize the leaching mechanisms of elements into three models including dissolution, diffusion, and wash-off. This study aims to reveal the leaching characteristics of PG at different depths, so as to provide a data foundation for the design of liner system, leachate management strategies, and remediation of heavy metal pollution of PG stack sites., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A diverse population of avian influenza A viruses (AIVs) are maintained in wild birds and ducks yet the zoonotic potential of AIVs in these environmental reservoirs and the host-virus interactions involved in mammalian infection are not well understood. In studies of a group of subtype H1N1 AIVs isolated from migratory wild birds during surveillance in North America, we previously identified eight amino acids in the polymerase genes PB2 and PB1 that were important for the transmissibility of these AIVs in a ferret model of human influenza virus transmission. In this current study we found that PB2 containing amino acids associated with transmissibility at 67, 152, 199, 508, and 649 and PB1 at 298, 642, and 667 were associated with more rapid viral replication kinetics, greater infectivity, more active polymerase complexes and greater kinetics of viral genome replication and transcription. Pathogenicity in the mouse model was also impacted, evident as greater weight loss and lung pathology associated with greater inflammatory lung cytokine expression. Further, these AIVs all contained the avian-type amino acids of PB2-E627, D701, G590, Q591 and T271. Therefore, our study provides novel insights into the role of the AIV polymerase complex in the zoonotic transmission of AIVs in mammals.

Background: Recent individual studies have indicated that ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption may be associated with the incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis based on those longitudinal studies evaluating the relationship between UPF consumption and the risk of incident CKD, and synthesizing the results., Method: PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched from inception through 22 March 2023. Any longitudinal studies evaluating the relationship between UPF consumption and the risk of incident CKD were included. Two researchers independently conducted the literature screening and data extraction. RR and its 95% CI were regarded as the effect size. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was applied to assess the quality of the studies included, and the effect of UPF consumption on the risk of incident CKD was analyzed with STATA version 15.1. This study's protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023411951)., Results: Four cohort studies with a total of 219,132 participants were included after screening. The results of the meta-analysis suggested that the highest UPF intake was associated with an increased risk of incident CKD (RR = 1.25; 95% CI: 1.18-1.33)., Conclusions: High-dose UPF intake was associated with an increased risk of incident CKD. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Thus, more standardized clinical studies and further exploration of the mechanisms are needed in the future.

Adulteration of meat is a global issue, necessitating rapid, inexpensive, and simple on-site testing methods. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop a one-minute toothpick-based DNA extraction method, a handheld microfluidic chip, and a smartphone-controlled portable analyzer for detecting multiple meat adulterations. A toothpick was inserted into the meat to promote DNA release and adsorption. Furthermore, a handheld microfluidic chip was designed for DNA elution on toothpicks and fluid distribution. Finally, a smartphone-actuated portable analyzer was developed to function as a heater, signal detector, and result reader. The portable device comprises a microcontroller, a fluorescence detection module, a step scanning unit, and a heating module. The proposed device is portable, and the app is user-friendly. This simple design, easy operation, and fast-response system could rapidly detect as little as 1% of simulated adulterated samples (following UK standards) within 40 min at a cost of less than USD 1 per test., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The protein-peptide interaction plays a pivotal role in fields such as drug development, yet remains underexplored experimentally and challenging to model computationally. Herein, we introduce PepCA, a sequence-based approach for predicting peptide-binding sites on proteins. A primary obstacle in predicting peptide-protein interactions is the difficulty in acquiring precise protein structures, coupled with the uncertainty of polypeptide configurations. To address this, we first encode protein sequences using the Evolutionary Scale Modeling 2 (ESM-2) pre-trained model to extract latent structural information. Additionally, we have developed a multi-input coattention mechanism to concurrently update the encoding of both peptide and protein residues. PepCA integrates this module within an encoder-decoder structure. This model's high precision in identifying binding sites significantly advances the field of computational biology, offering vital insights for peptide drug development and protein science., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Introduction: We investigated the risk of UTIs and complex UTIs associated with SGLT2 (sodium-glucose cotransporter-2) inhibitors in men, emphasizing older men at higher risk for voiding dysfunction., Methods: Utilizing a pharmacovigilance case-noncase design, we analyzed VigiBase reports from 1967 to 2022 among male patients. VigiBase is a comprehensive global database for drug safety. Disproportionality analysis, which compares the frequency of reported adverse events for specific drugs against other drugs, was conducted using reporting odds ratio (ROR) and empirical Bayes estimator (EBE). Age was stratified at 65 years as a threshold for increased susceptibility to male voiding dysfunctions. Sensitivity analyses were performed to compare SGLT2 inhibitor with other diabetes medications and years 2013 to 2022., Results: There were 484 UTIs (ROR 6.75 [95% CI: 6.17-7.39]; EBE 6.78) and 165 complex UTIs (ROR 8.09 [95% CI: 6.94-9.43]; EBE 8.60). In men under 65, there were 178 UTIs (ROR 6.82 [95% CI: 5.88-7.91]; EBE 6.99) and 65 complex UTIs (ROR 7.30 [95% CI: 5.71-9.32]; EBE 7.90). In men 65 and over, we found 153 UTIs (ROR 5.11 [95% CI: 4.35-5.99]; EBE 5.44) and 59 complex UTIs (ROR 8.79 [95% CI: 6.79-11.37]; EBE 9.60). Sensitivity analyses consistently showed significant signals., Conclusions: This study suggests an elevated risk for both UTIs and complex UTIs in men taking SGLT2 inhibitors, with a more pronounced risk for complex UTI in older men who may have benign prostatic hyperplasia-related voiding dysfunction. These findings highlight the need for a balanced approach in prescribing SGLT2 inhibitors, particularly in populations potentially more susceptible to UTIs.

Sampling liquids in small and confined spaces to retrieve chemicals and microbiomes could enable minimally invasive monitoring human physiological conditions for understanding disease development and allowing early screening. However, existing tools are either invasive or too large for sampling liquids in tortuous and narrow spaces. Here we report a fundamental liquid sampling mechanism that enables millimeter-scale soft capsules for sampling liquids in confined spaces. The miniature capsule is enabled by flexible magnetic valves and superabsorbent polymer, fully wirelessly controlled for on-demand fluid sampling. A group of miniature capsules could navigate in fluid-filled and confined spaces safely using a rolling locomotion. The integration of on-demand triggering, sampling, and sealing mechanism and the agile group locomotion allows us to demonstrate precise control of the soft capsules, navigating and sampling body fluids in a phantom and animal organ ex vivo, guided by ultrasound and x-ray medical imaging. The proposed mechanism and wirelessly controlled devices spur the next-generation technologies for minimally invasive disease diagnosis.

This study aimed to elucidate the expression patterns of miR-33 and ARC in both a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and human TLE patients, to explore the role of miR-33 in epilepsy onset through its regulation of ARC expression in the hippocampus. Our findings, supported by a Dual-Luciferase reporter assay, suggest that miR-33 can bind to the 3' UTR region of ARC. We observed that miR-33 levels were reduced at 1 hour and 60 days post-seizure, while ARC expression notably increased at these time points. In the hippocampal CA1 and CA3 regions of post-seizure rats, ARC expression significantly exceeded that of control groups. Following the transfection of HEK cells with a miR-33 mimic, there was a decrease in both ARC mRNA and protein levels, whereas the group treated with a miR-33 inhibitor displayed the opposite effect. RNA sequencing in TLE patients revealed a similar miR-33 and ARC interaction. The regulation of Arc expression by miR-33 suggests that Arc may be a target gene of miR-33 in the context of epilepsy. Our findings indicate that miR-33 downregulation could contribute to the dysregulation of Arc expression observed in TLE, potentially influencing the disease process. Further studies are required to establish the exact role of miR-33-mediated Arc regulation in the development of epilepsy., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The black-bone chicken, known for its high melanin content, holds significant economic value due to this unique trait. Particularly notable is the prominent melanin deposition observed in its breast muscle. However, the molecular mechanisms governing melanin synthesis and deposition in the breast muscle of black-bone chickens remain largely unknown. This study employed a single-nucleus transcriptome assay to identify genes associated with melanin deposition in the breast muscle of black-bone chickens, which are presumed to influence pigmentation levels. A comprehensive analysis of the nuclear transcriptome was conducted on the breast muscle of Xuefeng black-bone chickens, encompassing 18 distinct cell types, including melanocytes. Our findings revealed that STIMATE, LRRC7, ENSGALG00000049990, and GLDC play pivotal regulatory roles in melanin deposition within the breast muscle. Further exploration into the molecular mechanisms unveiled transcription factors and protein interactions suggesting that RARB, KLF15, and PRDM4 may be crucial regulators of melanin accumulation in the breast muscle. Additionally, HPGDS, GSTO1, and CYP1B1 may modulate melanin production and deposition in the breast muscle by influencing melanocyte metabolism. Our findings also suggest that melanocyte function in the breast muscle may be intertwined with intercellular signaling pathways such as PTPRK-WNT5A, NOTCH1-JAG1, IGF1R-IGF1, IDE-GCG, and ROR2-WNT5A. Leveraging advanced snRNA-seq technology, we generated a comprehensive single-cell nuclear transcriptome atlas of the breast muscle of Xuefeng black-bone chickens. This facilitated the identification of candidate genes, regulatory factors, and cellular signals potentially influencing melanin deposition and melanocyte function. Overall, our study provides crucial insights into the molecular basis of melanin deposition in chicken breast muscle, laying the groundwork for future breeding programs aimed at enhancing black-bone chicken cultivation., Competing Interests: DISCLOSURES The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process: During the preparation of this work, the author(s) only used these technologies to improve readability and language., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

mRNA vaccines have been revolutionizing disease prevention and treatment. However, their further application is hindered by inflammatory side effects, primarily caused by delivery systems such as lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). In response to this issue, we prepared cationic lipids (mLPs) derived from mildronate, a small-molecule drug, and subsequently developed the LNP (mLNP-69) comprising a low dose of mLP. Compared with the LNP (sLNP) based on SM-102, a commercially available ionizable lipid, mLNP-69 ensures effective mRNA delivery while significantly reducing local inflammation. In preclinical prophylactic and therapeutic B16-OVA melanoma models, mLNP-69 demonstrated successful mRNA cancer vaccine delivery in vivo, effectively preventing tumor occurrence or impeding tumor progression. The results suggest that the cationic lipids derived from mildronate, which exhibit efficient delivery capabilities and minimal inflammatory side effects, hold great promise for clinical application.

MXene usually exhibits weak pseudo-capacitance behavior in aqueous zinc-ion batteries, which cannot provide sufficient reversible capacity, resulting in the decline of overall capacity when used as the cathode materials. Taking inspiration from polymer electrolyte engineering, we have conceptualized an in situ induced growth strategy based on MXene materials. Herein, 5.25 % MXene was introduced into the nucleation and growth process of vanadium oxide (HVO), providing the heterogeneous nucleation site and serving as an initiator to regulate the morphology and structural of vanadium oxide (T-HVO). The resulted materials can significantly improve the capacity and rate performance of zinc-ion batteries. The growth mechanism of T-HVO was demonstrated by both characterizations and DFT simulations, and the improved performance was systematically investigated through a series of in situ experiments related to dynamic analysis steps. Finally, the evaluation and comparison of various defect introduction strategies revealed the efficient, safety, and high production output characteristics of the in situ induced growth strategy. This work proposes the concept of in situ induced growth strategy and discloses the induced chemical mechanism of MXene materials, which will aid the understanding, development, and application of cathode in aqueous zinc-ion batteries., (© 2024 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Directly electrochemical conversion of nitrate (NO 3 - ) is an efficient and environmentally friendly technology for ammonia (NH 3 ) production but is challenged by highly selective electrocatalysts. High-entropy alloys (HEAs) with unique properties are attractive materials in catalysis, particularly for multi-step reactions. Herein, we first reported the application of HEA (FeCoNiAlTi) for electrocatalytic NO 3 - reduction to NH 3 (NRA). The bulk HEA is active for NRA but limited by the unsatisfied NH 3 yield of 0.36 mg h -1  cm -2 and Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 82.66 %. Through an effective phase engineering strategy, uniform intermetallic nanoparticles are introduced on the bulk HEA to increase electrochemical active surface area and charge transfer efficiency. The resulting nanostructured HEA (n-HEA) delivers enhanced electrochemical NRA performance in terms of NH 3 yield (0.52 mg h -1  cm -2 ) and FE (95.23 %). Further experimental and theoretical investigations reveal that the multi-active sites (Fe, Co, and Ni) dominated electrocatalysis for NRA over the n-HEA. Notably, the typical Co sites exhibit the lowest energy barrier for NRA with *NH 2 to *NH 3 as the rate-determining step., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Despite extensive research on the prevalence and mental health implications of problematic smartphone use in adolescents, the cognitive mechanisms underpinning its development, such as self-regulation, remain underexplored. This study aims to fill this research gap by investigating the developmental trajectories of self-regulation and problematic smartphone use among Canadian adolescents. Participants (N = 1303; 614 girls; Mage = 14.60 years, SD = 1.16 years) attended one of five public high schools in Southern British Columbia. Adolescents self-reported their self-regulation skills, as well as problematic smartphone use annually for three years. In line with developmental expectations, results indicated that both self-regulation and problematic smartphone use increased across the three years. Parallel latent growth models revealed significant intercept and positive slope differences for self-regulation and problematic smartphone use, showing that higher initial self-regulation predicted lower initial problematic smartphone use, and vice versa. Girls exhibited higher initial levels of problematic smartphone use, but gender differences in developmental trajectories were not observed. These findings emphasize the importance of early self-regulation skills in preventing the escalation of problematic smartphone use in adolescents, providing evidence-based insights for developing targeted interventions., (© 2024. Crown.)

Exposure to light has been demonstrated to stimulate brain regions associated with cognition; however, investigations into its cognitive-enhancing effects have primarily focused on wild-type rodents. This study seeks to elucidate how bright light exposure mitigates cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia by examining its impact on hippocampal neurogenesis and its potential to alleviate sub-chronic MK-801-induced cognitive impairments in mice. Following three weeks of juvenile bright light exposure (5-8 weeks old), significant increases in proliferating neurons (BrdU+) and immature neurons (DCX+ cells) were observed in the dentate gyrus (DG) and lateral ventricle of MK-801-treated mice. Long-term bright light treatment further promoted the differentiation of BrdU+ cells into immature neurons (BrdU+ DCX+ cells), mature neurons (BrdU+ NeuN+ cells), or astrocytes (BrdU+ GFAP+ cells) in the hippocampal DG. This augmented neurogenesis correlated with the attenuation of sub-chronic MK- 801-induced cognitive deficits, as evidenced by enhancements in Y-maze, novel object recognition (NOR), novel location recognition (NLR), and Morris water maze (MWM) test performances. These findings suggest a promising noninvasive clinical approach for alleviating cognitive impairments associated with neuropsychiatric disorders., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: This study aimed to investigate the association between phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE-5i) and hearing impairment adverse events (HIAEs) while providing an overview of the characteristics of drug-related HIAEs., Research Design and Methods: We conducted a detailed pharmacovigilance analysis using data from the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database, covering 2004 to 2022. By calculating the reporting odds ratio (ROR) and the information component (IC), we identified signals that indicate the association between PDE-5i use and HIAEs., Results: Among the 191,398 reports related to PDE-5i, we identified 2,608 cases of HIAEs. Signals were observed for both PDE-5i monotherapy and polytherapy, indicating combinations of drugs. Avanafil exhibited the strongest signal (ROR: 4.35, 95% CI: 2.56-7.41, IC: 2.09, 95% CI: 0.10-3.51), while vardenafil showed the weakest signal (ROR: 2.69, 95% CI: 2.21-3.28, IC: 1.14, 95% CI: 0.74-2.04). Sildenafil had the highest reported cases (ROR: 3.03, 95% CI: 2.82-3.24, IC: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.34-1.80)., Conclusion: These findings highlight a significant correlation between PDE-5i use and HIAEs, emphasizing the need for careful evaluation in clinical practice and providing appropriate guidance to patients before initiating treatment.

Non-insulated microneedle radiofrequency (NIMNRF) is a method of promoting dermal collagen shrinking and remodeling with minor injury reducing wrinkles. We conducted a 3-years retrospective observation on wrinkles of facial photoaging subjects treated with NIMNRF in Chinese subjects to demonstrate the efficacy and side effects. Chinese subjects clinically diagnosed as facial photoaging treated with MNRF in the Laser Center of The First Hospital of China Medical University and Guangzhou Mylike Medical Cosmetic Hospital from Jan 1, 2018 to Dec 31, 2021 were enrolled in this study. Inclusion criteria included. Each subject was treated with NIMNRF for 1-3 sessions, with a 3-month interval. At baseline and 3 months after each treatment, a Wrinkle Assessment Scale (WAS) was used to score the wrinkles in 10 areas. The total WAS score and WAS improvement rate was assessed at each time point. A total of 96 subjects, aged 25-65 years old, received at least one session of NIMNRF were enrolled. 63, 24, 9 of them received 1, 2 or 3 sessions, respectively. The total WAS score decreased from 14.65 ± 9.20 to 11.51 ± 8.70 after Session 1, from 15.92 ± 9.48 to 12.17 ± 8.83 after Session 2 and from 17.56 ± 6.99 to 11.11 ± 7.13 after Session 3 (P < 0.01). The WAS improvement rate was 25.61%, 30.69% and 39.82% after 1, 2, 3 sessions, respectively. As for subjects in different age groups, the improvement rate decreased with age, from 39.13% in 25-30 years old group to 16.39% in over 60 years old group after Session 1 (P < 0.05). Better efficacy and less sessions of treatments were conducted in younger subjects. NIMNRF can be used in the treatment of facial wrinkles in photoaging subjects, especially in youngster as better efficacy., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

The effectiveness of the room-temperature strengthening strategy for aluminum (Al) is compromised at increased temperatures due to grain and precipitate phase coarsening. Overcoming the heightened activity of grain boundaries and dislocations poses a significant challenge in enhancing the high-temperature strength through traditional precipitation strengthening. This study presents novel strengthening strategies that integrate intergranular reinforcements, intragranular reinforcements, refined grain, and stacking faults within an (Al 2 O 3 +Al 3 Ti)/Al composite prepared using sol-gel and powder metallurgy technology. Excellent high-temperature tensile properties are achieved; also, a remarkable fatigue performance at increased temperatures that surpasses those of other existing Al alloys and composites is revealed. These superior characteristics can be attributed to its exceptionally stable microstructure and the synergistic strengthening mechanisms mentioned above. This work offers new insights into designing and fabricating thermally stable Al matrix composites for high-temperature applications.

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is a prevalent malignant tumor, and the RNA-binding protein polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 1 (PTBP1) has been identified as a crucial factor in various tumor types. Moreover, abnormal autophagy levels have been shown to significantly impact tumorigenesis and progression. Despite this, the precise regulatory mechanism of PTBP1 in autophagy regulation in GC remains poorly understood., Methods: To assess the expression of PTBP1 in GC, we employed a comprehensive approach utilizing western blot, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and bioinformatics analysis. To further identify the downstream target genes that bind to PTBP1 in GC cells, we utilized RNA immunoprecipitation coupled with sequencing (si-PTBP1 RNA-seq). To evaluate the impact of PTBP1 on gastric carcinogenesis, we conducted CCK-8 assays, colony formation assays, and GC xenograft mouse model assays. Additionally, we utilized a transmission electron microscope, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, western blot, RT-qPCR, and GC xenograft mouse model experiments to elucidate the specific mechanism underlying PTBP1's regulation of autophagy in GC., Results: Our findings indicated that PTBP1 was significantly overexpressed in GC tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. Silencing PTBP1 resulted in abnormal accumulation of autophagosomes, thereby inhibiting GC cell viability both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, interference with PTBP1 promoted the stability of thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) mRNA, leading to increased TXNIP-mediated oxidative stress. Consequently, this impaired lysosomal function, ultimately resulting in blockage of autophagic flux. Furthermore, our results suggested that interference with PTBP1 enhanced the antitumor effects of chloroquine, both in vitro and in vivo., Conclusion: PTBP1 knockdown impairs GC progression by directly binding to TXNIP mRNA and promoting its expression. Based on these results, PTBP1 emerges as a promising therapeutic target for GC., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Defective carbon nitride (DCN- x ) was synthesized through a dual-surface engineering process consisting of nitric acid treatment followed by high-temperature calcination. This process endowed DCN- x with a porous structure and a larger surface area than that of pure graphite carbon nitride (CN), enhancing its visible light absorption and reducing the electron-hole recombination rate. Consequently, DCN- x demonstrated a significantly more efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, with the optimum sample, DCN-600, achieving an activity 55.9 times greater than that of pure CN, while maintaining excellent photocatalytic stability. Furthermore, the presence of tri-s-triazine (heptazine) structures within the CN's in-plane structure was identified as a critical factor for band gap optimization, suggesting new avenues for the synthesis of carbon nitride variants with enhanced photocatalytic performance.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are poised to play a pivotal part in meeting the growing demands for energy storage and powering portable electronics for their superior security, affordability, and environmentally friendly characteristics. However, the detrimental side reactions occurring at the zinc anode and the dendrite caused by uneven zinc plating/stripping have greatly compromised the cycling life of AZIBs, thereby impeding their practical prospects. In this study, the interfacial comodulation strategy was employed by combining the "electrostatic shielding" effect of cations with the characteristic adsorption of anions. Two molar ZnSO 4 served as the matrix, and sodium hydroxyethyl sulfonate (SHES) was selected as a low-cost, nontoxic additive. Experimental results confirm that SHES and zinc anode exhibit robust interactions that lead to the formation of an electrostatic shield and a dynamic adsorption layer at the interface, thereby suppressing hydrogen evolution and corrosion. The combined "electrostatic shielding" effect of sodium ions and the robust characteristic adsorption of hydroxyethyl sulfonate anions serve to guide the directed three-dimensional (3D) diffusion of Zn 2+ , facilitating rapid, stable, and uniform deposition of zinc. Due to these effects, incorporating 0.2 M SHES as an additive extends the cycle life beyond 3600 h and enables a highly reversible process of deposition and stripping in symmetric cells. Additionally, the Zn-Cu half-cell exhibits reliable cycling for over 1400 cycles, achieving an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.6%. Moreover, the introduction of this additive substantially enhances the performance of Zn-MnO 2 and Zn-NH 4 V 4 O 10 full cells. This study demonstrates the practical feasibility of achieving anodes with high reversibility in AZIBs through the implementation of a strategy that involves anion adsorption at the interface, which holds paramount significance for the practical application of AZIBs.

Searching for high energy-density electrode materials for sodium ion batteries has revealed Na-deficient intercalation compounds with lattice oxygen redox as promising high-capacity cathodes. However, anionic redox reactions commonly encountered poor electrochemical reversibility and unfavorable structural transformations during dynamic (de)sodiation processes. To address this issue, we employed lithium orbital hybridization chemistry to create Na-O-Li configuration in a prototype P2-layered Na 43/60 Li 1/20 Mg 7/60 Cu 1/6 Mn 2/3 O 2 (P2-NaLMCM') cathode material. That Li + ions, having low electronegativity, reside in the transition metal slabs serves to stimulate unhybridized O 2p orbitals to facilitate the stable capacity contribution of oxygen redox at high state of charge. The prismatic-type structure evolving to an intergrowth structure of the Z phase at high charging state could be simultaneously alleviated by reducing the electrostatic repulsion of O-O layers. As a consequence, P2-NaLMCM' delivers a high specific capacity of 183.8 mAh g -1 at 0.05 C and good cycling stability with a capacity retention of 80.2% over 200 cycles within the voltage range of 2.0-4.5 V. Our findings provide new insights into both tailoring oxygen redox chemistry and stabilizing dynamic structural evolution for high-energy battery cathode materials.

Aim: To investigate motor, non-motor and cognitive progression in early Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)., Methods: PD patients were recruited within 1 year of diagnosis and were classified into PD-MCI group and PD with normal cognition (PD-NC) group. H&Y staging scale, MDS-UPDRS part III were used to assess disease severity and motor progression. Non-motor symptom scale (NMSS) was used to evaluate the NMS progression. Cognitive progression was assessed from 5 cognitive domains. Annual progression changes in the longitudinal outcomes were examined via linear mixed model with random intercept effect. False discovery rate (FDR) method was performed to control for multiple testing comparison and q-value was calculated. We set the threshold of q-values as 0.1., Result: A total of 205 PD patients, including 107 PD-MCI and 98 PD-NC patients were assessed prospectively over a 5-year period. PD-MCI patients, compared to PD-NC group, had a significantly higher progression rate in H&Y score (0.11 vs. 0.06, p=0.03, q=0.08), MDS-UPDRS motor score (3.11 vs. 1.90 p<0.001, q=0.06) and postural instability gait difficulty (PIGD) score (0.40 vs. 0.20, p=0.02, q=0.07). PD-MCI group also exhibited significantly faster deterioration in NMSS perceptual domain (PD-MCI vs. PD-NC: 0.38 vs. -0.04, p=0.01, q=0.06) and cognitive visuospatial domain (PD-MCI vs. PD-NC: 0.13 vs. -0.06, p=0.048, q=0.09) after adjustment for confounders and multiple comparisons., Conclusions: PD-MCI patients had faster decline in motor functions, visuo-perceptual and visuospatial performance. These findings provide a more comprehensive prognosis of PD-MCI, which could be helpful for clinician to manage PD-MCI patients.

We recently revealed that activated STING is secreted into RAB22A-induced extracellular vesicles (R-EVs) and promotes antitumor immunity in cancer cells. Whether mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived R-EVs containing activated STING can be used as a novel antitumor immunotherapy remains unclear, as MSC-derived EVs are promising cell-free therapeutics due to their superior biocompatibility and safety, as well as low immunogenicity. Here, we report that induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived MSCs can generate R-EVs with a size and mechanism of formation that are similar to those of R-EVs produced from cancer cells. Furthermore, these MSC-derived R-EVs containing activated STING induced IFNβ expression in recipient THP-1 monocytes and antitumor immunity in mice. Our findings reveal that the use of MSC-derived R-EVs containing activated STING is a promising cell-free strategy for antitumor immunity., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Enabling minimally invasive and precise control of liquid release in dental implants is crucial for therapeutic functions such as delivering antibiotics to prevent biofilm formation, infusing stem cells to promote osseointegration, and administering other biomedicines. However, achieving controllable liquid cargo release in dental implants remains challenging due to the lack of wireless and miniaturized fluidic control mechanisms. Here wireless miniature pumps and valves that allow remote activation of liquid cargo delivery in dental implants, actuated and controlled by external magnetic fields (<65 mT), are reported. A magnet-screw mechanism in a fluidic channel to function as a piston pump, alongside a flexible magnetic valve designed to open and close the fluidic channel, is proposed. The mechanisms are showcased by storing and releasing of liquid up to 52 µL in a dental implant. The liquid cargos are delivered directly to the implant-bone interface, a region traditionally difficult to access. On-demand liquid delivery is further showed by a metal implant inside both dental phantoms and porcine jawbones. The mechanisms are promising for controllable liquid release after implant placement with minimal invasion, paving the way for implantable devices that enable long-term and targeted delivery of therapeutic agents in various bioengineering applications., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Healthcare Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Low-cost sodium-ion batteries have demonstrated great prospects in energy storage, among which layered transition metal oxides hold great potential as a cathode material. However, the notorious phase transition in layered cathode materials has greatly hampered their cycle life due to large volume changes upon desodiation/sodiation. In this study, by adopting an O3-type NaNi 1/3 Fe 1/3 Mn 1/3 O 2 (NFM) with controlled synthesis temperatures, we have revealed that the grain size is closely related to its phase transition behaviors. The layered material with a smaller grain size and more distorted lattice tends to experience a shorter plateau of the O3-P3-O3 phase transitions during the charge/discharge process. Despite having a lower nominal discharge capacity without the phase transition plateau, its cycling stability increases from 77.4% to 96.2% after 100 cycles with greatly reduced intragranular cracks. The smaller grain size and lattice distortion act as a barrier that prevents the smooth layer from gliding upon sodium intercalation and deintercalation. This study focuses on the influence of grain size on battery cycle stability and provides a basis for future analysis of the structural instability of layered materials.

The advancement of rechargeable Mg-metal batteries (RMBs) is severely impeded by the lack of suitable cathode materials. Despite the good cyclic stability of intercalation-type compounds, their specific capacity is relatively low. Conversely, the conversion-type cathodes can deliver a higher capacity but often suffer from poor cycling reversibility and stability. Herein, a WSe 2 /Se intercalation-conversion hybrid material with elemental Se uniformly distributed into WSe 2 nanosheets is fabricated via a simple solvothermal method for high-performance RMBs. The uniformly introduced Se confined in WSe 2 nanosheets can not only efficiently improve the conductivity of the hybrid cathodes, facilitating the fast electron transport and ion diffusion, but also provide additional specific capacity. Besides, the WSe 2 can effectively inhibit the detrimental Se dissolution and polyselenide shuttle, thereby activating the activity of Se and improving its utilization. Consequently, the synergy of intercalation and conversion mechanisms endows WSe 2 /Se hybrids with superior reversible capacity of 252 mAh g -1  at 0.1 A g -1 and ultra-long cyclability of up to 5000 cycles at 2.0 A g -1 with capacity retention of 78.1%. This work demonstrates the feasibility of the strategy by integrating intercalation and conversion mechanisms for developing high-performance cathode materials for RMBs., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Glandular trichomes (GTs) play a crucial role in plant defenses and the synthesis of secondary metabolites. Understanding the developmental trajectory of GTs is essential for unraveling their functional significance and potential applications. Here we established a comprehensive single-cell atlas of Nicotiana tabacum leaves, a model plant for GT studies. The atlas included a total of 40,433 cells and successfully captured both long GTs (LGTs) and short GTs (SGTs) from Nicotiana leaves. The developmental trajectories of these trichomes were delineated, revealing potential disparities in epidermal development. Comparative analysis of Arabidopsis and Nicotiana trichome development indicated limited similarity between Arabidopsis epidermal non-glandular trichomes and Nicotiana LGTs and SGTs, implying the essentiality of studying the genes directly involved in the development of Nicotiana GTs for a proper and comprehensive understanding of GT biology. Overall, our results provide profound insights into the developmental intricacies of the specialized GTs., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Objective: This study aims to explore the impact of research pressure on depression tendency among Chinese doctoral students and analyze the mediating effect of familial financial support in this relationship., Methods: Based on the ecological systems theory, this study employs a mediating effect model and OLS regression model for empirical analysis. Through an online questionnaire, 2815 valid data from Chinese doctoral students were successfully collected., Conclusion: The study finds that research pressure has a significant positive impact on depression tendency among doctoral students (t = 18.347, p < 0.01). Married doctoral students show relatively lower depression tendency, indicating a negative impact of marital status on depression tendency (t = 12.579, p < 0.01). In terms of gender, female doctoral students are more prone to depression compared to their male counterparts (t = -2.921, p < 0.01). Additionally, as the doctoral year progresses, depression tendency also tends to increase (t = 3.690, p < 0.01). Importantly, familial financial support is proven to be a significant mediator between research pressure and depression tendency, explaining 32.116% of the relationship., Suggestion: This study not only provides a multi-dimensional perspective for understanding the mental health issues of doctoral students but also offers a scientific basis for universities and related educational departments to formulate more precise mental health intervention strategies.

Malignant melanoma (MM) is notorious for its high metastatic potential, with cardiac metastasis being particularly severe as it involves cardiac structures and can lead to significant cardiac functional issues. While there is no standardized treatment approach, early detection and intervention can improve prognosis., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Brown carbon (BrC) is one of the important light absorption substances that have high light absorption ability under short wavelength light. However, limit studies have focused on the BrC emission from ships. In this study, size-segregated particulate matters (PM) were collected from three different types of ships, light absorption characteristics and size distribution of methanol-soluble BrC and water-soluble BrC in PM from ship exhausts were investigated. Results showed that four-stroke low-power diesel fishing boat (4-LDF) had the highest mass concentrations of methanol-soluble organic carbon (MSOC) and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), followed by 2-stroke high-power heavy-fuel-oil vessel (2-HHV), and four-stroke high-power marine-diesel vessel (4-HMV). While 2-HHV had obviously higher light absorption coefficients of methanol-soluble BrC (Abs 365,M ) and water-soluble BrC (Abs 365,W ) in unit weight of PM than the other two types of ships. The tested ships presented comparable or higher absorption efficiency of BrC in water extracts (MAE 365,W ) compared with other BrC emission sources. Majority of BrC was concentrated in fine particles, and the particle size distributions of both Abs 365,M and Abs 365,W showed bimodal patterns, peaking at 0.43-0.65 µm and 4.7-5.8 µm, respectively. However, different particle size distributions were found for MAE 365,M between diesel and heavy fuel oil ships. Besides, different wavelength dependence in particles with different size were also detected. Ship exhaust could be confirmed as a non-ignorable BrC emission source, and complex influencing factor could affect the light absorption characteristics of ship emissions. Particle size should also be considered when light absorption ability of BrC was evaluated., 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 article., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

High humidity in extremely cold weather can undermine the insulation capability of the clothing, imposing serious life risks. Current clothing insulation technologies have inherent deficiencies in terms of insulation efficiency and humidity adaptability. Here, humidity-stimulated self-heating clothing using aluminum core-liquid metal shell microparticles (Al@LM-MPs) as the filler is reported. Al@LM-MPs exhibit a distinctive capability to react to water molecules in the air to generate heat, exhibiting remarkable sensitivity across a broad temperature range. This ability leads to the creation of intelligent clothing capable of autonomously responding to extreme cold and wet weather conditions, providing both enduring heat retention and insulation capabilities., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Entropy engineering is widely proven to be effective in achieving ultra-low thermal conductivity for well-performed thermoelectric and heat management applications. However, no strong correlation between entropy and lattice thermal conductivity is found until now, and the fine-tuning of thermal conductivity continuously via entropy-engineering in a wide entropy range is still lacking. Here, a series of high-entropy layered semiconductors, Ni 1- x (Fe 0.25 Co 0.25 Mn 0.25 Zn 0.25 ) x PS 3 , where 0 ≤ x < 1, with low mass/size disorder is designed. High-purity samples with mixing configuration entropy of metal atomic site in a wide range of 0-1.61R are achieved. Umklapp phonon-phonon scattering is found to be the dominating phonon scattering mechanism, as revealed by the linear T -1 dependence of thermal conductivity. Meanwhile, fine tuning of the lattice thermal conductivity via continuous entropy engineering at metal atomic sites is achieved, in an almost linear dependence in middle-/high- entropy range. Moreover, the slope of the κ - T -1 curve reduces with the increase in entropy, and a linear response of the reduced Grüneisen parameter is revealed. This work provides an entropy engineering strategy by choosing multiple metal elements with low mass/size disorder to achieve the fine tuning of the lattice thermal conductivity and the anharmonic effect., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

This paper initially examines the feasibility and effectiveness on interfacial adhesion of composites when grafting nanoparticle-structured polydopamine (PDA) and chitosan around carbon fiber periphery. The resulting interfacial shear strength was maximized as 92.3 MPa, delivering 50.1 % and 15.7-16.2 % gains over those of control fiber and only polydopamine nanospheres (PDA NPs ) or only chitosan modified fiber composites. Measuring surface morphology and thermal stability of fibers found that abundant PDA NPs well adhered with the help of chitosan, highlighting nanoscale size effects and intrinsic adhesiveness of PDA. Under good wettability, rich and dense interfacial interactions (covalent and hydrogen bond, electrostatic interaction, and π conjugation) caused by PDA NPs /chitosan coating provides impetus for effective stress transfer. Additionally, the stable "soft-rigid" combination of chitosan and PDA NPs adds the efficiency of crack passivation. As such, it is hoped that this work could fully explore the possibility of PDA geometry in interphase engineering of fiber composites., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The safe service and wide applications of lightweight high-strength aluminum alloys are seriously challenged by diverse environmental corrosion, since high strength and corrosion resistance are mutually exclusive for metals while surface protection cannot provide life-long corrosion resistance. Here, inspired by fish secreting slime from glands to resist external changes, a strategy of incorporating precipitants as the slime into bulk metals using the inner cavity of opened carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the glands is developed to enable high-strength aluminum alloys with life-long superior corrosion resistance. The resulting material has ultrahigh tensile strength (≈700 MPa) and extraordinary corrosion resistance in acidic, neutral and alkaline media. Notably, it has the highest resistance to intergranular corrosion, exfoliation corrosion and stress-corrosion cracking, compared with all previously reported aluminum alloys, and its corrosion rate is even much lower than that of corrosion-resistant pure aluminum, which results from the pronounced surface enrichment of precipitants released (secreted) from exposed CNTs forming a protective surface film. Such high corrosion resistance is life-long and self-healing due to the on-demand minimal self-supply of the precipitants dispersed throughout the bulk material. This strategy can be readily expanded to other aluminum alloys, and could pave the way for developing corrosion-resistant high-strength metallic materials., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

To reduce the amount of energy consumed in integrated circuits, high efficiency with the lowest energy is always expected. Self-drive device is one of the options in the pursuit of low power nanodevices. It is a typical strategy to form an internal electric field by constructing a heterojunction in self-drive semiconductor system. Here, a two-step method is proposed to prepare high quality centimeter-sized 2D tellurium (Te) thin film with hall mobility as high as 37.3 cm 2  V -1  s -1 , and the 2D Te film is further assembled with silicon to form a heterojunction for self-drive photodetector, which can realize effective detection from visible to near infrared bands. The photodetectivity of the heterojunctions can reach 1.58×10 11 Jones under the illumination of 400 nm@ 1.615 mW/cm 2 and 2.08×10 8 Jones under the illumination of 1550 nm@ 1.511 mW/cm 2 without bias. Our experiments demonstrate the potential of 2D tellurium thin films for wide band and near infrared integrated device applications., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Purpose: Rare genetic variants in the PURA gene cause the PURA-related neurodevelopmental disorder (PURA-NDD), characterized by neonatal abnormalities and developmental delay. Using genome-wide DNA methylation analysis on patients with PURA variants, we aim to establish a PURA-NDD-specific methylation profile and provide further insights on the molecular basis of the PURA-NDD., Methods: Twenty three individuals (including 12 unpublished) carrying PURA variants were enrolled. We conducted the Illumina Infinium EPIC microarray analysis in 17 PURA-NDD individuals. In vitro experiments were performed to examine how PURA variants affect Pur-a expression., Results: Additional phenotypes in 12 newly identified patients were described in this study. Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis unveiled distinctive methylation profiles to PURA-NDD, and the established classifier can reclassify PURA variants of uncertain significance. Patients bearing PURA hapoloinsufficient and missense variants have comparable DNA methylation profiles, and cells expressing these PURA variants showed consistent Pur-a downregulation, suggesting a haploinsufficiency mechanism., Conclusion: Patients with PURA-NDD exhibit a specific episignature, which has potential to aid identification and diagnosis of PURA-NDD patients and offer implications for further functional investigations., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this research, spent coffee grounds (SCG) are converted into a highly valuable porous adsorbent which removes chromium (VI) from wastewater with high efficiency. A set of nine Spent Coffee Ground Activated Carbon (SCG-AC) adsorbent samples were synthesized, by varying key parameters including pyrolysis temperature (400, 600 °C), pyrolysis duration (1 and 2 h), and the impregnation ratio of the activating agent, KOH (ranging from 0:1 to 2:1). Characterizations of these adsorbent samples were conducted by advanced analytical tools including SEM, EDX, XRD, FTIR, TGA, and BET. Furthermore, we carried out adsorption studies, exploring the effects of temperature and dosage variations. Additionally, point zero charge experiments and desorption studies were carried out to further understand the adsorption process. The outcomes of our investigation demonstrate the successful synthesis of these spent coffee ground-derived adsorbents, with a yield of up to 34%. Notably, these adsorbents exhibited high efficiency in extracting chromium (VI) from water, with removal efficiencies ranging from 75% to 100%. The adsorption isotherms revealed the Langmuir model to be the most fitting descriptor of the adsorption behavior. Moreover, a thermodynamics study revealed the process to be endothermic in nature which furthers our understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Importantly, our cost assessment shows the economic advantage of the synthesized adsorbent over commercial counterparts such as zeolite, making it a competitive choice for real-world applications. In summation, the study not only introduces an innovative and sustainable utilization of spent coffee grounds but also delivers an in-depth exploration of the synthesized adsorbent's ability in chromium (VI) removal. Our holistic approach, encompassing thorough experimentation, characterization, and economic evaluation, solidifies the significance of this research in tackling environmental concerns and propelling advancements in wastewater treatment methodologies., 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 © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background and Aim: False positives (FPs) pose a significant challenge in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) for polyp detection during colonoscopy. The study aimed to quantitatively evaluate the impact of computer-aided polyp detection (CADe) systems' FPs on endoscopists., Methods: The model's FPs were categorized into four gradients: 0-5, 5-10, 10-15, and 15-20 FPs per minute (FPPM). Fifty-six colonoscopy videos were collected for a crossover study involving 10 endoscopists. Polyp missed rate (PMR) was set as primary outcome. Subsequently, to further verify the impact of FPPM on the assistance capability of AI in clinical environments, a secondary analysis was conducted on a prospective randomized controlled trial (RCT) from Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University in China from July 1 to October 15, 2020, with the adenoma detection rate (ADR) as primary outcome., Results: Compared with routine group, CADe reduced PMR when FPPM was less than 5. However, with the continuous increase of FPPM, the beneficial effect of CADe gradually weakens. For secondary analysis of RCT, a total of 956 patients were enrolled. In AI-assisted group, ADR is higher when FPPM ≤ 5 compared with FPPM > 5 (CADe group: 27.78% vs 11.90%; P = 0.014; odds ratio [OR], 0.351; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.152-0.812; COMBO group: 38.40% vs 23.46%, P = 0.029; OR, 0.427; 95% CI, 0.199-0.916). After AI intervention, ADR increased when FPPM ≤ 5 (27.78% vs 14.76%; P = 0.001; OR, 0.399; 95% CI, 0.231-0.690), but no statistically significant difference was found when FPPM > 5 (11.90% vs 14.76%, P = 0.788; OR, 1.111; 95% CI, 0.514-2.403)., Conclusion: The level of FPs of CADe does affect its effectiveness as an aid to endoscopists, with its best effect when FPPM is less than 5., (© 2024 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Breast cancer (BC) is a common type of cancer and has a poor prognosis. In this study, we collected the mRNA and miRNA expression profiles of BC patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to explore a novel prognostic strategy for BC patients using bioinformatics tools. We found that six glycolysis-related miRNAs (GRmiRs, including hsa-mir-1247, hsa-mir148b, hsa-mir-133a-2, has-mir-1307, hsa-mir-195 and hsa-mir-1258) were correlated with prognosis of BC samples. The risk score model was established based on 6 prognosis-associated GRmiRs. The outcome of high risk group was significantly poorer. Cox regression analysis showed that risk score was an independent prognostic factor. Differentially expressed genes identified between high and low risk groups were mainly enriched in inflammation and immune-related signaling pathways. The proportion of infiltration of 12 kinds of immune cells in high and low risk groups were significantly different. Risk score was closely associated with many immune indexes. Multiple DEGRGs and miRNAs were associated with drugs. In conclusion, glycolysis-related miRNA signature effectively predicts BC prognosis., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

This study aims to investigate the hypothesis that Yes-associated protein (YAP) significantly regulates antioxidant potential and anti-apoptosis in UVB-induced cataract by exploring the underlying molecular mechanisms. To investigate the association between YAP and cataract, various experimental techniques were employed, including cell viability assessment, Annexin V FITC/PI assay, measurement of ROS production, RT-PCR, Western blot assay, and Immunoprecipitation. UVB exposure on human lens epithelium cells (HLECs) reduced total and nuclear YAP protein expression, increased cleaved/pro-caspase 3 ratios, decreased cell viability, and elevated ROS levels compared to controls. Similar Western blot results were observed in in vivo experiments involving UVB-treated mice. YAP knockdown in vitro demonstrated a decrease in the protein expression of FOXM1, Nrf2, and HO-1, which correlated with the mRNA expression, accompanied by an increase in cell apoptosis, caspase 3 activation, and the release of ROS. Conversely, YAP overexpression mitigated these effects induced by UVB irradiation. Immunoprecipitation revealed a FOXM1-YAP interaction. Notably, inhibiting FOXM1 decreased Nrf2 and HO-1, activating caspase 3. Additionally, administering the ROS inhibitor N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) effectively mitigated the apoptotic effects induced by oxidative stress from UVB irradiation, rescuing the protein expression levels of YAP, FOXM1, Nrf2, and HO-1. The initial findings of our study demonstrate the existence of a feedback loop involving YAP, FOXM1, Nrf2, and ROS that significantly influences the cell apoptosis in HLECs under UVB-induced oxidative stress., (© 2024 Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.)

Objective: Although the impact of the variants of COVID-19 on the general population is diminishing, there is still a certain mortality rate for severe and critically ill patients, especially for the elderly with comorbidities. The present study investigated whether the D-dimer to albumin ratio (DAR) can predict the severity of illness and mortality in COVID-19 patients., Methods: A total of 1,993 patients with COVID-19 were retrospectively reviewed and the association of DAR with severe or critical illness or death during hospitalization was analyzed. The area under the ROC curve was used to screen the best indicators, Chi-square test, rank sum test, and univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis were used to calculate the mean value of difference and adjusted odds ratio (aORs) with their 95% CI, and finally, survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier (KM) curves., Results: Among 1,993 patients with COVID-19, 13.4% were severely ill, and the mortality rate was 2.3%. The area under the curve (AUC) using DAR to predict severe and critically ill patients was higher than that using other parameters. The best cut-off value of DAR was 21 in the ROC with a sensitivity of 83.1% and a specificity of 68.7%. After adjusting age, gender, comorbidities, and treatment, the binary logistic regression analysis showed that elevated DAR was an independent risk factor for severely ill and mortality of COVID-19 patients. The KM curve suggested that patients with a higher DAR was associated with worse survival. The negative predictive value of DAR (21) for adverse prognosis and death was 95.98 and 99.84%, respectively, with a sensitivity of 80.9 and 95.65%, respectively., Conclusion: The DAR may be an important predictor for severe illness and mortality in COVID-19 patients., 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 Xiao, Yang, Liang, Han, Wu, Xiao and Bi.)

Preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication characterized by hypertension after 20 gestational weeks, is a major cause of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Mechanisms leading to preeclampsia are unclear; however, there is evidence of high heritability. We evaluated the association of polygenic scores (PGS) for blood pressure traits and preeclampsia to assess whether there is shared genetic architecture. Non-Hispanic Black and White reproductive age females with pregnancy indications and genotypes were obtained from Vanderbilt University's BioVU, Electronic Medical Records and Genomics network, and Penn Medicine Biobank. Preeclampsia was defined by ICD codes. Summary statistics for diastolic blood pressure (DBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and pulse pressure (PP) PGS were acquired from Giri et al. Associations between preeclampsia and each PGS were evaluated separately by race and data source before subsequent meta-analysis. Ten-fold cross validation was used for prediction modeling. In 3504 Black and 5009 White included individuals, the rate of preeclampsia was 15.49%. In cross-ancestry meta-analysis, all PGSs were associated with preeclampsia (OR DBP  = 1.10, 95% CI 1.02-1.17, p = 7.68 × 10 -3 ; OR SBP  = 1.16, 95% CI 1.09-1.23, p = 2.23 × 10 -6 ; OR PP  = 1.14, 95% CI 1.07-1.27, p = 9.86 × 10 -5 ). Addition of PGSs to clinical prediction models did not improve predictive performance. Genetic factors contributing to blood pressure regulation in the general population also predispose to preeclampsia., (© 2024. The Author(s).)