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Abstract Efficient neutrophil migration to infection sites plays a vital role in the body's defense against bacterial infections and natural immune responses. Neutrophils have a short lifespan and cannot be mass‐cultured in vitro. Therefore, developing more stable artificial neutrophils (AN) in a controllable manner has become a research focus. However, existing AN lack chemotaxis, which is the ability to migrate toward high‐signal‐concentration positions in a dynamic blood‐ flow environment. Supplying AN with chemotaxis is key to designing AN that are more similar to natural neutrophils in terms of morphology and function. In this study, micrometer‐sized, spherical, biocompatible AN are developed. These AN consist of zeolitic imidazolate framework‐8 nanoparticles encapsulating two enzymes, coacervate droplet frameworks, and outer phospholipid bilayers carrying enzymes. The AN exhibit responsiveness to elevated hydrogen peroxide levels at inflammation sites, actively chemotaxing toward these sites along concentration gradients. They also demonstrate effective combat against Staphylococcus aureus infections. The capabilities of the AN are further validated through in vitro experiments and in vivo evaluations using vascular graft infection models. This study replicates natural neutrophils in terms of chemical composition, functionality, and physiological impact. It introduces new ideas for advancing the development of advanced artificial cells.

Abstract Background The accumulation of heavy metals, including cadmium (Cd), in soil endangers the quality of agricultural products and can harm human health. At present, the application of passivators is a relatively efficient, quick, and economical way to address this problem. In the experimental site of the present study, the effects of different composite passivators (red mud + lime + phosphorite powder, red mud + lime + biochar, lime + humic acid + seafoam, seafoam + biochar + red mud, seafoam + biochar + phosphorite powder) on the physiology and biochemistry of Chinese cabbage were investigated. Results After passivator application, the soil’s effective state Cd content was reduced, and the Cd content, bioconcentration factor (BCF), transfer coefficient (TF), oxidative stress, and antioxidant enzyme activity levels of Chinese cabbage leaves and stalks were reduced to different degrees. The reduction of reactive oxygen species content was mainly owing to passivator application, which reduced the degree of oxidative stress and increased the content of osmotic substances, the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and the ability to scavenge hydroxyl radicals. The soluble protein content of Chinese cabbage was mainly increased by an increase in the content of osmotic substances and non-enzymatic antioxidant substances and a reduction in the inhibition of protein synthesis. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the reduction of reactive oxygen species was the main cause of the reduction of Cd accumulation, transport, and toxicity in leaves. The increase in soluble protein was the main cause of the reduction of Cd accumulation, transport, and toxicity in petioles. Graphical Abstract

Reduction of endogenous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is considered to have an important impact on the progress of Parkinson's disease (PD), thus exogenous H2S supplementation is expected to become one of the key means to treat PD. However, at present, it is difficult for H2S donors to effectively penetrate the blood brain barrier (BBB), selectively release H2S in brain, and effectively target the mitochondria of neuron cells. Herein, we report a kind of nanomotor-based H2S donor, which is obtained by free radical polymerization reaction between l-cysteine derivative modified-polyethylene glycol (PEG-Cys) and 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC). This kind of H2S donor can not only effectively break through BBB, but also be specifically catalyzed by cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) in neurons of PD site in brain and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3-MST) in mitochondria to produce H2S, endowing it with chemotaxis/motion ability. Moreover, the unique chemotaxis effect of nanomotor can realize the purpose of precisely targeting brain and the mitochondria of damaged neuron cytopathic diseases. This kind of nanomotor-based H2S donor is expected to enrich the current types of H2S donors and provide new ideas for the treatment of PD.

Objective: COPD is the most common chronic respiratory disease with complex environmental and genetic etiologies. It was reported that EPAS1 might participate in the occurrence and development of respiratory diseases. However, the association between EPAS1 and COPD was unclear. Methods: First, a case-control study enrolling 1130 COPD patients and 1115 healthy controls in Guangzhou was conducted to clarify the association between EPAS1 polymorphisms and COPD susceptibility. Secondly, a prevalence study recruited 882 participants in Gansu to verify the effect of positive polymorphisms on lung function. Finally, the 10-year absolute risk considering environmental factors and genetic variations was calculated by the method of Gail and Bruzzi. Results: EPAS1 rs13419896 AA genotype reduced COPD risk in southern Chinese (AA vs. GG: adjusted OR = 0.689, 95% CI = 0.498–0.955; AA vs. GG/GA: adjusted OR = 0.701, 95% CI = 0.511–0.962). Further, the rs13419896 A allele was significantly associated with higher pre-FEV1/pre-FVC in both the Guangzhou and Gansu populations (P A were finally retained to develop a relative risk model for males. Smoking status, biomass as fuels, and rs13419896 G > A were retained in the female model. The population-attributable risk of the male or female model was 0.457 (0.283–0.632) and 0.421 (0.227–0.616), respectively. Conclusions: This study first revealed that EPAS1 rs13419896 G > A decreased COPD susceptibility and could be a genetic marker to predict the 10-year absolute risk for COPD.

The blood-brain barrier represents a hurdle for the delivery of therapeutics in brain tumor tissues. Here the authors describe the design of a nitric oxide-driven nanomotor loaded with the glycolysis inhibitor lonidamine, breaking through the blood-brain barrier and eliciting anti-tumor immune responses in preclinical models of glioblastoma.

Attributed to the miniaturized body size and active mobility, micro- and nanomotors (MNMs) have demonstrated tremendous potential for medical applications. However, from bench to bedside, massive efforts are needed to address critical issues, such as cost-effective fabrication, on-demand integration of multiple functions, biocompatibility, biodegradability, controlled propulsion and in vivo navigation. Herein, we summarize the advances of biomedical MNMs reported in the past two decades, with particular emphasis on the design, fabrication, propulsion, navigation, and the abilities of biological barriers penetration, biosensing, diagnosis, minimally invasive surgery and targeted cargo delivery. Future perspectives and challenges are discussed as well. This review can lay the foundation for the future direction of medical MNMs, pushing one step forward on the road to achieving practical theranostics using MNMs.

ObjectivesIn the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical staff in China were more likely to suffer from psychological problems. By investigating the actual state of psychological stress response of medical staff during the COVID-19 outbreak, the study discussed and analyzed the influencing factors of different psychological states in order to prevent the occurrence of serious adverse emotional events in medical staff.MethodsIn the Xiangyang Central Hospital, 1,466 medical staff members have adopted the Psychological Questionnaire for Emergencies Events of Public Health (PQEEPH), which includes questions about depression, neurasthenia, fear, obsessive anxiety, and hypochondriac disorders. The questionnaire also asks about gender, age, education level, health, department, position, and whether personnel exposure history correlation analysis has been confirmed.ResultsThe survey revealed that 55% had depression, 26.7% had neurasthenia, 95% had fear, 47.9% had obsessive anxiety, and 69.3% had hypochondria. The effects of depression and hypochondriac emotional stress were significantly greater in female workers than in male workers (p

BackgroundChronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a common and harmful disease that requires an effective tool to early screen high-risk individuals. Gansu has unique environments and customs, leading to the different prevalence and etiology of COPD from other regions. The association between altitude and COPD once attracted epidemiologists' attention. However, the prevalence in Gansu and the role of altitude are still unclarified.MethodsIn Gansu, a multistage stratified cluster sampling procedure was utilized to select a representative sample aged 40 years or older. The questionnaire and spirometry examination were implemented to collect participants' information. The diagnosis and assessment of COPD were identified by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criterion, while post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC < LLN was for sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, the effect of high altitude on COPD was evaluated by the logistic regression model after propensity score matching (PSM). Finally, the participants were randomly divided into training and validation sets. The training set was used to screen the relative factors and construct a nomogram which was further assessed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA) in the two sets.ResultsThere were 2,486 eligible participants in the final analysis, of which 1,584 lived in low altitudes and 902 lived in high altitudes. Based on the GOLD criterion, the crude and standardized prevalences in Gansu were 20.4% (18.7–22.0) and 19.7% (17.9–21.6). After PSM, the logistic regression model indicated that high altitude increased COPD risk [PSM OR: 1.516 (1.162–1.978)]. Altitude, age, sex, history of tuberculosis, coal as fuel, and smoking status were reserved for developing a nomogram that demonstrated excellent discrimination, calibration, and clinical benefit in the two sets.ConclusionsCOPD has become a serious public health problem in Gansu. High altitude is a risk factor for COPD. The nomogram has satisfactory efficiency in screening high-risk individuals.

Background: The occurrence and development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are regulated by environmental and genetic factors. In hypoxia, Erythropoietin (EPO) satisfies the body’s need for oxygen by promoting the production of red blood cells. Hypoxia was proven to be a common physiological condition in COPD progression and associated with many complications. Some studies have found that EPO is involved in the development of COPD. But the mechanism has not been fully proven. Methods: We conducted a case-control study enrolled 1095 COPD patients and 1144 healthy controls in Guangdong Province to evaluate the association between EPO polymorphisms (rs1617640 A>C, rs507392 A>G, rs564449 G>T) and COPD susceptibility. 872 participants from southern Gansu Province were recruited to verify the effect of EPO polymorphisms on lung function. Results: EPO rs1617640 C allele reduced COPD susceptibility in southern Chinese significantly (AC vs. AA: adjusted Odds ratio (OR) = 0.805, 95% CI = 0.669–0.969; AC+CC vs. AA: adjusted OR = 0.822, 95% CI = 0.689–0.980). However, there was no association between rs507392 A>G and rs564449 G>T polymorphisms and COPD susceptibility (p > 0.05). We further observed that the rs1617640 C allele was associated with higher FEV1 and FVC in Guangdong and Gansu populations significantly (both p < 0.05). In brief, the level of FEV1 and FVC increased with the C allele number. We modeled the relative risk for men and women, in which the population-attributable risks chances were 0.449 (0.258–0.641) and 0.262 (0.128–0.396) respectively. In this model, smoking status, coal as fuels, education level, and rs1617640 A>C were finally retained for males, while smoking status, biomass as fuels, and1617640 A>C were retained for females. In the end, using the method developed by Gail and Bruzzi, we fitted a 10-year absolute risk model for southern Chinese with different individual relative risks, which was presented as a table. Conclusions: In conclusion, this study found that EPO rs1617640 A>C polymorphism is associated with COPD susceptibility in southern Chinese, and the C allele was associated with better lung function. In addition, it could also be considered a genetic marker associated with environmental factors to predict the absolute 10-year risk of COPD in southern Chinese.

【Objective】The study aimed to explore the changes of soil nutrients and enzyme activities under five afforestation models of Eucalyptus urophylla×E. grandis pure forest, Manglietia conifera pure forest, Michelia hedyosperma pure forest, Manglietia conifera×Eucalyptus urophylla×E. grandis and Michelia hedyosperma×Eucalyptus urophylla×E. grandis.【Method】Kjeldahl nitrogen analyzer was used to determine soil total N, NaCl extraction distillation method was used to determine soil available N, molybdenum antimony colorimetric method was used to determine soil total P, HCl-H2SO4 solution extraction method was used to determine soil available P, flame photometric method was used to determine soil total K and available K, potassium permanganate titration method was used to determine soil catalase activity, and dinitrosalicylic acid method, indophenol colorimetry and disodium phenylphosphate colorimetry were used to determine the activities of soil sucrase, urease and acid phosphatase, respectively.【Result】The contents of total N, total P, total K, available N, available P and available K in surface soil (0-20 cm) and the activities of sucrase, acid phosphatase, urease and catalase in surface soil were higher than those in deep soil (20-40 cm). In the surface soil (0-20 cm), the total N, available P, total K, catalase activity and urease activity of the soil were all the highest in mixed forest of Manglietia conifera×Eucalyptus urophylla×E. grandis, and the highest values were 0.50 g/kg, 4.99 mg/kg, 0.41 g/kg, 0.82 U/g·24h and 3.5 U/g·24h, respectively. The activities of available N, total P, available K, sucrase and acid phosphatase were all the highest in the mixed forest of Michelia hedyosperma×Eucalyptus urophylla×E. grandis, and the highest values were 62.97 mg/kg, 3.79 g/kg, 42.88 mg/kg, 60.14 U/g·24h and 1.50 U/g·24h, respectively. In deep soil (20-40 cm), the activities of available N, total P, total K and catalase were all the highest in the mixed forest of Manglietia conifera×Eucalyptus urophylla×E. grandis, and the highest values were 36.86 mg/kg, 1.94 g/kg, 0.29 g/kg and 0.74 U/g·24h, respectively, while the activities of total N, available P, available K, sucrase, urease and acid phosphatase were all the highest in the mixed forest of Michelia hedyosperma×Eucalyptus urophylla×E. grandis, and the highest values were 0.44 g/kg, 3.17 mg/kg, 23.35 mg/kg, 38.02 U/g·24h, 2.05 U/g·24h and 0.95U/g·24h, respectively.【Conclusion】The content of soil nutrient and activities of four enzymes of mixed Manglietia conifera×Eucalyptus urophylla×E. grandis were significantly higher than those of pure forest of Manglietia conifera and Eucalyptus urophylla×E. grandis, and the content of soil nutrient and activities of four enzymes of mixed Michelia hedyosperma×Eucalyptus urophylla×E. grandis were significantly higher than those of pure forest of Michelia hedyosperma and Eucalyptus urophylla×E. grandis, which indicated that the mixed forest of precious tree species and Eucalyptus urophylla×E. grandis was more conducive to enriching soil nutrients and improving soil enzyme activities.

TM9SF1 is a member of the TM9SF (Transmembrane 9 Superfamily Member) family, which usually has a long N-terminal extracellular region and nine transmembrane domains. TM9SF1’s biological function and mechanisms in inflammation are yet unknown. Tm9sf1 was shown to be upregulated in the lung tissues of mice suffering from LPS-induced acute lung injury (ALI). Tm9sf1 knockout mice were studied, and it was shown that Tm9sf1 knockout significantly alleviated LPS-induced ALI, as evidenced by higher survival rate, improved pulmonary vascular permeability, decreased inflammatory cell infiltration, and downregulated inflammatory cytokines. TM9SF1 was also demonstrated to be a negative regulator of autophagy in the LPS-induced ALI model in vitro and in vivo. The autophagy inhibitor 3-MA could counteract the beneficial effects of Tm9sf1 knockout on ALI. Therefore, we discover for the first time the role and mechanism of TM9SF1 in LPS-induced ALI and establish a relationship between TM9SF1 regulated autophagy and ALI progression, which may provide novel targets for the treatment of ALI.

Blood lead (Pb(II)) removal is very important but challenging. The main difficulty of blood Pb(II) removal currently lies in the fact that blood Pb(II) is mainly complexed with hemoglobin (Hb) inside the red blood cells (RBCs). Traditional blood Pb(II) removers are mostly passive particles that do not have the motion ability, thus the efficiency of the contact between the adsorbent and the Pb(II)-contaminated Hb is relatively low. Herein, a kind of magnetic nanomotor adsorbent with movement ability under alternating magnetic field based on Fe3O4 nanoparticle modified with meso-2, 3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) was prepared and a blood Pb(II) removal strategy was further proposed. During the removal process, the nanomotor adsorbent can enter the RBCs, then the contact probability between the nanomotor adsorbent and the Pb(II)-contaminated Hb can be increased by the active movement of nanomotor. Through the strong coordination of functional groups in DMSA, the nanomotor adsorbent can adsorb Pb(II), and finally be separated from blood by permanent magnetic field. The in vivo extracorporeal blood circulation experiment verifies the ability of the adsorbent to remove blood Pb(II) in pig models, which may provide innovative ideas for blood heavy metal removal in the future.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate an all-fiber Lyot filter with femtosecond laser-induced high birefringence single-mode fiber (SMF) for torsion, transverse load and temperature sensing. With the femtosecond-laser processing technique, the SMF with the birefringence of 2.81 × 10-4 is manufactured by directly writing a straight cladding stress track parallel with fiber core and employed to form an all-fiber Lyot filter for sensing application. The sensitivities of the all-fiber Lyot filter with respect to torsion, transverse load and temperature are found to be -4265.669 nm/(rad/mm), -321.004 nm/(N/mm), and 0.271 nm/°C, respectively. The experimental results are powerful proof of the excellent performance of the femtosecond laser-induced high birefringence SMF based all-fiber Lyot filter for sensing application, which not only adds significantly new and important results to the fields of optical sensing, but also develops the application fields of femtosecond-laser processing technique and all-fiber Lyot filter.

Depletion of propellant in chemical-fuel-driven nanomotors is a limiting factor in device design and application. Here, the authors create a nitric-oxide-generating nanoparticle and explore cellular uptake and application of the nanomotors in nitric oxide treatments.

Abstract Poor permeation of therapeutic agents and multidrug resistance (MDR) in solid tumors are the two major challenges that lead to the failure of the current chemotherapy methods. Herein, a zero‐waste doxorubicin‐loaded heparin/folic acid/l‐arginine (HFLA‐DOX) nanomotor with motion ability and sustained release of nitric oxide (NO) to achieve deep drug penetration and effective reversal of MDR in cancer chemotherapy is designed. The targeted recognition, penetration of blood vessels, intercellular penetration, special intracellular distribution (escaping from lysosomes and accumulating in Golgi and nucleus), 3D multicellular tumor spheroids (3D MTSs) penetration, degradation of tumor extracellular matrix (ECM), and reversal of MDR based on the synergistic effects of the motion ability and sustained NO release performance of the NO‐driven nanomotors are investigated in detail. Correspondingly, a new chemotherapy mode called recognition‐penetration‐reversal‐elimination is proposed, whose effectiveness is verified by in vitro cellular experiments and in vivo animal tumor model, which can not only provide effective solutions to these challenges encountered in cancer chemotherapy, but also apply to other therapy methods for the special deep‐tissue penetration ability of a therapeutic agent.

We announce here the first complete chloroplast genome sequence of Tetrastigma planicaule, one important Chinese folk medicinal plant. This complete chloroplast genome is 160,323 bp in length. In total, 131 genes were identified, including 86 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The results of phylogenetic analysis indicated that Tetrastigma is a separate genus and is closely related to Vitis.

This paper aims to investigate the recently proposed figure of merit, ΔVDIBLSS/(Ion/Ioff), in detail. Experimental results show that ΔVDIBLSS/(Ion/Ioff) represents the index of device immunity to short-channel effects in bulk FinFETs. The value of its numerator, ΔVDIBLSS, accounts for the drain-induced barrier lowering and subthreshold swing. The value of its denominator, Ion/Ioff, accounts for the transistor performance in transitioning between on and off states. Small ΔVDIBLSS and large Ion/Ioff are desirable, representing the improved gate control over the channel potential. We found that both ΔVDIBL and ΔVSS values are more correlated with the drain off-state current, Ioff, than they are with the drain on-state current, Ion. A high-performance FinFET device exhibits ΔVDIBLSS of about 100 mV and Ion/Ioff of about 1 × 106. Thus, ΔVDIBLSS/(Ion/Ioff) in a high-performance FinFET device is expected to be around 1×10-4 mV. Using this figure of merit, along with the verification using conventional parameters such as ΔVDIBLSS and Ion/Ioff, the proposed device shows better electrical characteristics than that in our previous work due to the optimized process conditions implemented.

This paper aims to investigate the device parameters, including drain-induced barrier lowering (DIBL), subthreshold swing (SS), and saturation drive current, Id,sat, of bulk-Si n-channel FinFET devices (bulk n-FinFETs). The impact of lightly doped drain (LDD) process on the performance of bulk n-FinFETs is also examined in this paper. According to our measured data, excluding LDD in bulk n-FinFETs not only reduces mask costs but it also enables slightly better short-channel control compared to the inclusion of LDD. A new figure of merit, ΔVDIBLSS/(Id,sat/Isd,leak), is introduced for monitoring short-channel performance of bulk n-FinFETs, where ΔVDIBLSS accounts for the DIBL and SS, and Isd,leak is the source/drain subthreshold off-state leakage current.

We propose a highly sensitive sensor based on a nematic liquid-crystal-filled side-hole fiber. The liquid crystal is precisely filled into an air hole of the optical fiber using a method of manually gluing in the fusion splicer. Due to the coupling between the liquid crystal waveguide and the fiber core, multiple response dips appear in the transmission spectrum of the device. When an external temperature or electric field variation is applied to the liquid crystal and its refractive index changes, the transmission spectrum of this device will shift accordingly. Temperature and electric field response tests were performed on the device in the experiment, and the obtained temperature and electric field sensitivities were as high as −1.5 nm/°C and 3.88 nm/Vpp, respectively. For the exhibited advantages of being easy to manufacture, low cost, and high sensitivity, the proposed sensor is very promising for actual application in temperature or weak electric field monitoring.

The original version of this Article contained an error in the first sentence of the second paragraph of the ‘Influence of HLA10 nanomotors on the cells (HUVECs and MCF-7)’ section of the Results, which incorrectly read ‘In order to verify the universality of the formation mechanism of HLAn nanomotors proposed in this case, that is, the positively charged amino-enriched organic substances and the negative carboxyl groups in L-arginine combined through weak electrostatic force to form nanoparticles, three amino-enriched organic compounds (chitosan, (Mw. 5–100 million), polylysine (Mw. 3000–4000), heparin/folic acid (FA) (Mw. 5000–10,000)) were chosen to react with L-arginine, and the morphology/movement behavior of the obtained nanoparticles (named as CLA10 nanomotors, PLA10 nanomotors, HFLA10 nanomotors) were investigated (Fig. 7 and Supplementary Movie 7).’ The correct version states ‘chitosan, (Mw. 3000–6000 Da)’ in place of ‘chitosan, (Mw. 5–100 million)’. This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

The acoustic characteristics under P&S wave velocity of 56 samples from Low Youshashan Formation in Wunan Oilfield were tested by SCMS-E high temperature and high pressure core multi parameter test instrument, the measured velocity ratio of P wave and S wave is 1.32-1.67 and the conversion between the P and S wave velocity of rock sample was established. The corresponding dynamic elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio were obtained on the base of the elastic wave propagation theory formula. So, according to the transformation relationship between static and dynamic mechanical parameters, rock brittleness index is calculated and average value is only equal to 38. Therefore, it is difficult to form a fully developed network model during the hydraulic fracturing. These achievements provide a guiding significance for fracturing development at Low Youshashan Formation in Wunan Oilfield.