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Abstract Graphene has been extensively utilized as an electrode material for nonaqueous electrochemical capacitors. However, a comprehensive understanding of the charging mechanism and ion arrangement at the graphene/electrolyte interface remain elusive. Herein, a gap-enhanced Raman spectroscopic strategy is designed to characterize the dynamic interfacial process of graphene with an adjustable number of layers, which is based on synergistic enhancement of localized surface plasmons from shell-isolated nanoparticles and a metal substrate. By employing such a strategy combined with complementary characterization techniques, we study the potential-dependent configuration of adsorbed ions and capacitance curves for graphene based on the number of layers. As the number of layers increases, the properties of graphene transform from a metalloid nature to graphite-like behavior. The charging mechanism shifts from co-ion desorption in single-layer graphene to ion exchange domination in few-layer graphene. The increase in area specific capacitance from 64 to 145 µF cm –2 is attributed to the influence on ion packing, thereby impacting the electrochemical performance. Furthermore, the potential-dependent coordination structure of lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl) imide in tetraglyme ([Li(G4)][FSI]) at graphene/electrolyte interface is revealed. This work adds to the understanding of graphene interfaces with distinct properties, offering insights for optimization of electrochemical capacitors.

Highlights In situ Raman spectroscopy study of the cation regulation for interfacial water on Au@Pd core–shell nanoparticle surface during hydrogen evolution reaction process. Direct spectral evidence reveals new strategies to optimize the structure of interfacial water by the adjusting of radius and valence of the cation in the electrolyte. The optimized structure of interfacial water will improve the charge transfer efficiency between the water and electrode increasing the performance of the hydrogen evolution reaction.

Abstract Tandemly arrayed genes (TAGs) with functional redundancy and chromosomal linkage constitute 14 ~ 35% in sequenced plant genomes. The multiplex CRISPR system is the tool of choice for creating targeted TAG deletions. Here, we show that up to ~80% of CRISPR-mediated TAG knockout alleles in Arabidopsis and rice are deletion-inversion (delinver) bi-alleles, which are easily misidentified as homozygous deletion alleles by routine PCR-based genotyping. This can lead to misinterpretation of experimental data and production of progenies with genetic heterogeneity in an unnoticed manner. In ~2,650 transgenic events, delinver mutation frequencies are predominantly correlated with deletion frequencies but unrelated to chromosomal locations or deletion sizes. Delinver mutations also occur frequently at genomic non-TAG loci during multiplexed CRISPR editing. Our work raises the alarm about delinver mutations as common unwanted products of targeted TAG deletions in plants and helps prevent false interpretation of plant TAG functions due to this hidden genotype issue.

The interrupted-sampling repeater jamming (ISRJ) can cause false targets to the radio-frequency proximity sensors (RFPSs), resulting in a serious decline in the target detection capability of the RFPS. This article proposes a recognition method for RFPSs to identify the false targets caused by ISRJ. The proposed method is realized by assigning a unique identity (ID) to each RFPS, and each ID is a periodically and chaotically encrypted in every pulse period. The processing technique of the received signal is divided into ranging and ID decryption. In the ranging part, a high-resolution range profile (HRRP) can be obtained by performing pulse compression with the binary chaotic sequences. To suppress the noise, the singular value decomposition (SVD) is applied in the preprocessing. Regarding ID decryption, targets and ISRJ can be recognized through the encryption and decryption processes, which are controlled by random keys. An adaptability analysis conducted in terms of the peak-to-side lobe ratio (PSLR) and bit error rate (BER) indicates that the proposed method performs well within a 70-kHz Doppler shift. A simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method achieves extremely stable target and ISRJ recognition accuracies at different signal-to-noise ratios （SNRs） and jamming-to-signal ratios (JSRs).

In surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection research, the shape, structure, surface modification, and material selection of nanoparticles can significantly impact the SERS intensity. Petal-like gap-enhanced Raman tags (P-GERTs) possess numerous sharp tips and edges, which generate localized electric field enhancements, further amplifying the electric field enhancement effect on neighboring molecules and enhancing the SERS signal. Additionally, the surface of P-GERTs can be modified with functional molecules, enabling their application in the detection of disease biomarkers. Using COVID-19 as an example, the performance of P-GERTs in disease biomarker detection was validated, demonstrating that the signal intensity of this probe can reach 55 times that of regular gold nanoparticles and 36.7 times that of smooth shell gap-enhanced Raman tags (S-GERTs). Furthermore, in combination with magnetically retrievable magnetic bead substrates, the N-protein antigen was specifically detected in a one-step process. N-protein was detected within 15 min using a portable Raman spectrometer. The limit of detection (LOD) for the standard sample was 4.28 pg/mL, and the LOD for the actual throat swab sample system was 25.4 pg/mL. This workflow can be extended to the detection of other biomarkers, making it widely applicable.

Abstract Ruthenium exhibits comparable or even better alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction activity than platinum, however, the mechanistic aspects are yet to be settled, which are elucidated by combining in situ Raman spectroscopy and theoretical calculations herein. We simultaneously capture dynamic spectral evidence of Ru surfaces, interfacial water, *H and *OH intermediates. Ru surfaces exist in different valence states in the reaction potential range, dissociating interfacial water differently and generating two distinct *H, resulting in different activities. The local cation tuning effect of hydrated Na+ ion water and the large work function of high-valence Ru(n+) surfaces promote interfacial water dissociation. Moreover, compared to low-valence Ru(0) surfaces, high-valence Ru(n+) surfaces have more moderate adsorption energies for interfacial water, *H, and *OH. They, therefore, facilitate the activity. Our findings demonstrate the regulation of valence state on interfacial water, intermediates, and finally the catalytic activity, which provide guidelines for the rational design of high-efficiency catalysts.

Abstract Plants employ pattern- and effector-triggered immunity (PTI and ETI) to synergistically defend invading pathogens and insect herbivores. Both PTI and ETI can induce cytosolic Ca2+ spikes, despite in different spatiotemporal patterns, to activate downstream Ca2+-dependent immune signaling cascades. While multiple families of Ca2+-permeable channels at the plasma membrane have been uncovered, the counterparts responsible for Ca2+ release from intracellular stores remain poorly understood. In a groundbreaking paper published recently by Cell, the authors reported that WeiTsing, an Arabidopsis endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident protein that was specifically expressed in the pericycle upon Plasmodiophora brassicae (Pb) infection, could form resistosome-like Ca2+-conducting channel and protect the stele of Brassica crops from Pb colonization. As the channel activity of WeiTsing was indispensable for its immune function, the findings highlight a previously underappreciated role of Ca2+ release from intracellular repertoire in promoting plant disease resistance.

ObjectiveThis study investigated the role and mechanisms of 1.25(OH)2D3 in proliferative glomerulonephritis and its effect on the regulation of mesangial cells.MethodsSixty male SD rats were randomly divided into four groups: control (CG), nephritis (NG), nephritis + 1.25(OH)2D3(NVG), and nephritis + 1.25(OH)2D3+ rapamycin (NVRG) (n = 15 per group). Three rats from each group were sacrificed on days 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 after intervention. Urine samples were collected over 24 hours on day 0 to measure urinary protein excretion. Renal tissue samples were stained with HE and PAS to evaluate the extent of renal injury, while immunohistochemistry was employed to quantify PCNA and mTOR expression in the renal tissues.ResultsCompared to the NG, mesangial cell proliferation in the renal tissues was significantly reduced in the NVG and NVRG at all time points (all pConclusionOur findings demonstrate that 1.25(OH)2D3significantly inhibits the proliferation of glomerular mesangial cells in rats. Additionally, mTOR protein is involved in the regulation of glomerular mesangial cells by 1.25(OH)2D3. These results further elucidate the molecular mechanism by which 1.25(OH)2D3alleviates renal injury in glomerulonephritis.

Platinum-based intermetallic compounds (IMCs) are emerging as promising oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). However, large-scale synthesis of supported IMCs catalysts with small particle size and high loading remains a significant challenge, greatly hindering the applications of IMCs in PEMFCs. Herein, carbon-supported PtCo IMCs with a metal loading of ∼40% and a mean size of ∼5 nm were successfully prepared via a simple impregnation method and display excellent performances in membrane electrode assemblies (MEA). The ordering degree of the PtCo IMCs can be tuned by carefully manipulating the annealing conditions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterizations demonstrate that the electronic interactions between Pt and Co are strengthened due to highly ordered structure of PtCo IMCs, thus promoting the ORR performance. The optimized PtCo IMCs exhibit an excellent ORR performance with a specific activity of 2.02 mA cm−2 and mass activity of 0.92 A mgPt−1 at 0.9 V (vs. RHE), which are approximately 5 times and 6 times higher than those of the commercial Pt/C. More importantly, the PtCo IMCs also display enhanced performance in MEA, and the power density at 1.5 A cm−2 and 2.5 A cm−2 is 0.949 W cm−2 and 1.244 W cm−2, respectively, thus reducing the Pt usage by 40% compared to Pt/C. This work offers a facile route for the scale preparation of platinum-based intermetallic compounds and promotes their practical applications in PEMFCs.

Abstract The solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) plays crucial roles for the reversible operation of lithium metal batteries. However, fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of SEI formation and evolution is still limited. Herein, we develop a depth-sensitive plasmon-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (DS-PERS) method to enable in-situ and nondestructive characterization of the nanostructure and chemistry of SEI, based on synergistic enhancements of localized surface plasmons from nanostructured Cu, shell-isolated Au nanoparticles and Li deposits at different depths. We monitor the sequential formation of SEI in both ether-based and carbonate-based dual-salt electrolytes on a Cu current collector and then on freshly deposited Li, with dramatic chemical reconstruction. The molecular-level insights from the DS-PERS study unravel the profound influences of Li in modifying SEI formation and in turn the roles of SEI in regulating the Li-ion desolvation and the subsequent Li deposition at SEI-coupled interfaces. Last, we develop a cycling protocol that promotes a favorable direct SEI formation route, which significantly enhances the performance of anode-free Li metal batteries.

Parkinson’s disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, is linked to α-synuclein (α-Syn) aggregation. Despite no specific drug being available for its treatment, curcumin, from the spice turmeric, shows promise. However, its application in PD is limited by a lack of understanding of its anti-amyloidogenic mechanisms. In this study, we first reconstructed the liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) of α-Syn in vitro under different conditions, which may be an initial step in entraining the pathogenic aggregation. Subsequently, we evaluated the effects of curcumin on the formation of droplets, oligomers, and aggregated fibers during the LLPS of α-synuclein, as well as its impact on the toxicity of aggregated α-synuclein to cultured cells. Importantly, we found that curcumin can inhibit amyloid formation by inhibiting the occurrence of LLPS and the subsequent formation of oligomers of α-Syn in the early stages of aggregation. Finally, the molecular dynamic simulations of interactions between α-Syn decamer fibrils and curcumin showed that van der Waal’s interactions make the largest contribution to the anti-aggregation effect of curcumin. These results may help to clarify the mechanism by which curcumin inhibits the formation of α-Syn aggregates during the development of PD.

Abstract Background and Objective In general, there are not many studies exploring the clinical value of adjuvant chemotherapy or maintenance chemotherapy (AC/MC) after induction chemotherapy and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (IC+CCRT+AC/MC). The purpose of this study was to establish a clinical nomogram for the use of AC/MC in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LA‐NPC). Material and Methods Two centers (Guangzhou Medical University Cancer Center [N = 1226] and Zhongshan People's Hospital [N = 150]) recruited 1376 patients with LA‐NPC. All the patients underwent IC+CCRT; 560 patients received AC with cisplatin/nedaplatin plus docetaxel/paclitaxel (TP) or cisplatin/nedaplatin plus fluorouracil (PF), and 81 patients received MC with S‐1. Multivariate Cox regression was used to confirm optimal predictors of progression‐free survival (PFS), and a nomogram was established to identify patients into low‐risk and high‐risk cohorts. Additionally, bootstrap internal validation was performed to further verify our nomogram. Results After propensity score matching (PSM), the survival curves were not statistically different between IC+CCRT+AC/MC and IC+CCRT (all p > 0.05). Then, a nomogram was developed based on variables that were screened by univariate and multivariate Cox regression, including N stage, cumulative platinum dose during CCRT, body mass index (BMI), IC cycles, IC regimen and cervical lymph node (CLN) necrosis and infiltration of adjacent tissues. The results of the nomogram showed that the high‐risk cohort had greatly worse 5‐year DMFS, LRFS, PFS and OS compared to low‐risk cohort (all p

The Zhang-Rice singlet is known for the superconductivity of high-temperature superconductors cuprate but is rarely studied for an electrochemical catalyst. Here, the authors use operando spectroscopic tools and observe Cu active site evolves into high-valent CuO4 geometry with Cu3+ active species, so-called Zhang-Rice singlet state, during oxygen evolution reaction.

Nano-optomechanical systems plays an indispensable role in all-optical manipulation of light but high energy losses severely limit their development. Here the authors show ultrafast all-optical manipulation in a sub-5 nm tip-supported optomechanical metasurface.

The plasmon-exciton interaction between gap-mode nanocavities and A excitons of MoS2 is investigated, and the longitudinal distribution of the plasmon-exciton interactions is obtained at ~1 nm spatial resolution.

The challenging sluggish reaction kinetics of hydrogen energy‐related electrocatalysis can be overcome via exploring electrocatalysts with high‐efficient activity and long‐term durability. However, the deficiency of comprehensive and in‐depth understanding of the evolution of the electrocatalysts, nature of active centers, intermediate species absorbed in the electrocatalysts, and the reaction pathway during the electrocatalytic processes seriously limits the elucidation of the composition/structure–activity relationship of electrocatalysts. To this end, plenty of powerful in situ techniques that can provide atomic/molecular information are employed to bridge the understanding of fundamental mechanisms to the practical development of electrocatalysts. This review summarizes design strategies based on composition regulation and morphology design for tuning the electronic/geometric structures of electrocatalytic materials with improved activity and stability. Moreover, the recent application of in situ infrared, Raman, and X‐ray absorption spectroscopy is elaborated with emphases on tracking the dynamic evolution during electrocatalysis and building a link between the composition/structure and activity of electrocatalysts. Finally, the current challenges and future perspectives for in situ monitoring techniques to gain an understanding more deeply and comprehensively in the hydrogen energy‐related electrocatalysis are proposed. This review provides insights into the rational optimization of electrocatalysts and inspire the unraveling mechanism of the enhanced electrocatalytic performance in future research.

Solid–liquid interfaces are ubiquitous in natural and technological processes, but their imaging at the atomic scale has been challenging. The authors, using liquid-phase transmission electron microscopy, identify a quasi-liquid phase and the mass transport between the surface of In and Sn nanocrystals and an aqueous solution.

It remains a challenge to fabricate metal catalysts with interfacial active sites distributed on the whole two-dimensional (2D) surface of metal nanoparticles. Here the authors demonstrate that the overgrowth of atomic-thick porous Cu2O on Pd readily creates an unprecedented 2D catalytically active metal-support interface with significantly enhanced catalysis toward the semi-hydrogenation of alkynes.

The small and medium-sized river basins along southeast coast of China hold comparatively abundant water resources. However, the rapid resources urbanization in recent years has produced a series of water problems such as deterioration of river water quality, water shortage and exacerbated floods, which have constrained urban economic development. By applying the principle of triple supply-demand equilibrium, this paper focuses on the estimation of levels of water supply and demand in 2030 at different guarantee probabilities, with a case study of Xiamen city. The results show that water shortage and inefficient utilization are main problems in the city, as the future water supply looks daunting, and a water shortage may hit nearly 2 × 108 m3 in an extraordinarily dry year. Based on current water supply-demand gap and its trend, this paper proposes countermeasures and suggestions for developing and utilizing groundwater resources and improving the utilization rate of water resources, which can supply as a reference for other southeast middle-to-small-sized basin cities in terms of sustainable water resources and water environment protection.

Atrial septal defect (ASD) is common congenital heart disease. The detection rate of congenital heart disease has increased year by year, and ASD accounted for the largest proportion of it, reaching 37.31%. The ASD patient will suffer from shortness of breath, palpitation, weakness, etc., with symptoms worsening with advanced age. The ASD patient will not suffer from congenital heart disease if their condition is diagnosed early. Echocardiography is a powerful and cost-effective means of detecting ASD. However, the disadvantages of echocardiography, such as noise and poor imaging quality, cause misdiagnosis of ASD. Hence, research into echocardiography-based efficient and effective detection of ASD with a deep neural network is of great significance. For echocardiography is noisy and fuzzy, and the learning and feature expression ability of the traditional convolutional neural network architecture is limited, a feature view classification based atrial septal defect intelligent auxiliary diagnostic model architecture was proposed. The different views of echocardiography possess different features, demanding more precise model extraction and combined features from echocardiography. The proposed model architecture integrates the semantic characteristics of several views, significantly improving the accuracy of diagnosis. In addition, with the aim of denoising and preserving edges, a bilateral filtering algorithm was performed. Furthermore, an ASD intelligent auxiliary diagnostic system was built based on the proposed model. The results show that the accuracy of the ASD auxiliary diagnostic system reaches 97.8%, and the false-negative rate is greatly reduced compared with the traditional convolutional neural network architecture.

Abstract Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome with high morbidity and mortality mediated by infection‐caused oxidative stress. Early antioxidant intervention by removing excessively produced reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) is beneficial to the prevention and treatment of sepsis. However, traditional antioxidants have failed to improve patient outcomes due to insufficient activity and sustainability. Herein, by mimicking the electronic and structural characteristics of natural Cu‐only superoxide dismutase (SOD5), a single‐atom nanozyme (SAzyme) featuring coordinately unsaturated and atomically dispersed Cu‐N4 site was synthesized for effective sepsis treatment. The de novo‐designed Cu‐SAzyme exhibits a superior SOD‐like activity to efficiently eliminate O2•−, which is the source of multiple RONS, thus blocking the free radical chain reaction and subsequent inflammatory response in the early stage of sepsis. Moreover, the Cu‐SAzyme effectively harnessed systemic inflammation and multi‐organ injuries in sepsis animal models. These findings indicate that the developed Cu‐SAzyme possesses great potential as therapeutic nanomedicines for the treatment of sepsis.

In this paper, a stacked circular polarization (CP) patch antenna with broad impedance bandwidth, axial-ratio (AR) bandwidth, and flat gains is investigated. The antenna is composed of a square ring, double layers' stacked patches, and four vertical patches. The corner truncated loop served as a sequential phase feeding structure for four driven patches. To improve the impedance matching, four square patches are stacked on the bottom layer. Furthermore, four vertical patches are introduced on the ground plane to broaden the AR bandwidth. Simulated and measured studies are conducted on an antenna prototype to validate the proposed design. The proposed design shows that the measured impedance bandwidth is 4.65-7.21 GHz (43.2%), measured 3-dB AR bandwidth at broadside is 4.9-6.4 GHz (26.5%) and the 1-dB gain bandwidth is 4.75-6.6 GHz (32.6%). Compared with other similar CP stacked patch antennas, the antenna owns advantages of wide bandwidth, compact size, and flat gain.

Abstract Poor sleep quality is associated with negative health outcomes and high treatment burden. This study investigated the prevalence of poor sleep quality and its socio-demographic correlates among older adults in Hebei province, which is a predominantly agricultural region of China. A large-scale cross-sectional epidemiological survey was conducted from April to August 2016. The study used a multistage, stratified, cluster random sampling method. Sleep quality was assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). A total of 3,911 participants were included. The prevalence of poor sleep quality (defined as PSQI > 7) was 21.0% (95% CI 19.7–22.2%), with 22.3% (95% CI 20.9–23.8%) in rural areas and 15.9% (95% CI 13.4–18.4%) in urban areas. Multivariable logistic regression analyses found that female gender (P

Underpotential deposition (UPD) is important to modify the surface properties of nanocrystals. Here, the authors show the application of in situ electrochemical dark field spectroscopy in identifying the UPD processes of silver on different facets of gold nanocrystals at the single nanoparticle level.

A shared-radiator dual-band dual-sense circularly-polarized (CP) microstrip antenna with duplexing and filtering functions is presented. For each band, there is a coupling network, which consists of a hairpin resonator, a straight slot, and a U-slot, and thus two paths with an inherent 90° or -90° phase difference are available for the input signal to couple to the patch, left-handed CP (LHCP) characteristic and right-handed CP (RHCP) characteristic are respectively realized at different bands for the proposed antenna with a single patch. Such a dual-band dual-sense CP patch antenna is highly integrated and outperforms other traditional CP antennas state-of-the-art. Moreover, the duplexing and filtering functions are seamlessly integrated into the dual-band patch antenna with a low-profile 0.044λo), and application of such an integrated device in wireless systems can potentially reduce the volume, complexity, and cost of RF front-ends. Based on resonator-based topologies, the principles of achieving the dual-sense CP, duplexing, and filtering functions are illustrated. As a proof-of-concept, an antenna working at C-band is prototyped and tested. Good agreements between the measured and simulated results are achieved, showing an LHCP radiation characteristic for the low-band operation and a RHCP radiation characteristic for the high-band operation, respectively. The antenna also exhibits very good frequency selectivity and out-of-band rejection performance. At the low-band, the impedance and 3-dB axial-ratio (AR) bandwidths are 4.7% and 1.1%. At the high-band, the impedance and AR bandwidths are about 7.3% and 3.2%. The isolation between the two channels/bands is over 24 dB.

A compact single-radiator microstrip patch antenna with highly integrated duplexing and filtering functions is proposed for dual-band dual-polarized (DBDP) base-station applications, and the center frequency ratio of the upper and the lower operation band is just 1.14. The single radiation patch with four high isolation channels is oriented along the 45° diagonal of the ground plane to achieve the ±45° dual linearly polarizations (LP) at each of the two operation bands. For each polarization, the dual-band full-duplex characteristic is obtained by conceiving the strong mutual coupling between the combined resonator and the radiation path, and the mutual coupling then couples to two groups of resonator-based channels with different working frequencies. Therefore, high channel isolation is achieved, without resorting extra decoupling structures. Moreover, the mutual coupling of each resonator-based channel can help to improve its corresponding operation band and produce the third-order filtering feature, leading to enhancement of the full-duplex characteristic for the proposed antenna. Such a single-patch four-port DBDP antenna could significantly reduce the complexity and volume of the RF frontend of the base station. The removal of the bandpass filters and duplexers in the design could also reduce the potential cost of the RF frontend. The measured results agree well with the simulations, showing an excellent performance in terms of bandwidths, channel isolations, polarization isolations, radiation patterns, and gains.

A compact low-profile dual-band antenna with a single circular radiation patch is presented. The circular radiation patch is top-loaded by a metal strip, leading to a zeroth-order resonant (ZOR) mode with monopole-like radiation pattern at the lower operation band, and the ZOR mode is not affected by the position change of the probe feed. Thereby an off-center probe feed can be used to excite a TM01 mode with patch-like radiation pattern at the upper operation band, and its performance remains good stability when the size of the metal strip is varying. The equivalent circuit, electric field and current distributions of the proposed antenna are studied to investigate the principles of the ZOR and the TM01 modes, and all the results show that the two operation bands can be effectively and independently controlled. As a proof-of concept, a circular patch antenna prototype with low profile of about 0.023 λ0 at 2.35 GHz is fabricated and tested. Good agreements between the measured and simulated results are achieved, showing monopole-like and patch-like radiation patterns within 2.28 - 2.40 GHz and 3.30 - 3.60 GHz, respectively, and the average realized gains are about 2.5 dBi and 8.5 dBi for the two operation bands.

Therapies for Tourette syndrome (TS) are insufficient, and novel therapies are needed. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been a potential therapy for several neurological diseases. Here, we report a preliminary study to investigate the effects of FMT on patients with TS. Five patients with TS received a single administration of FMT via endoscopy. Tic symptoms were assessed by Yale Global Tic Severity Scale-Total Tic Score (YGTSS-TTS) and adverse effects were recorded at week 8 following FMT. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels and 14 cytokines levels were measured. The microbiota profile in feces were analyzed by shotgun metagenomics. Four patients (4/5) responded positively to FMT (YGTSS-TTS reduction rate >25%) at week 8 with high safety. The levels of LPS and cytokines varied after FMT. FMT shifted the composition of the gut microbiota in patients close to that of the donor and continuously changed the abundance of Bacteroides coprocola, Dialister succinatiphilus and Bacteroides vulgatus. The restoration of B.coprocola was correlated with the improvement in tic symptoms (Spearman R = −0.900, P = 0.037). In conclusion, FMT was indicated a potential effective and safe alternative for patients with TS. However, larger clinical trials are needed to confirm the influence of microbiota in TS.Trial Registration:chictr.org.cn Identifier: ChiCTR-IIR-17011871, URL: http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=19941.

Objective: Poor mental health is associated with impaired social functioning, lower quality of life, and increased risk of suicide and mortality. This study examined the prevalence of poor general mental health among older adults (aged 65 years and above) and its sociodemographic correlates in Hebei province, which is a predominantly agricultural area of China.Methods: This epidemiological survey was conducted from April to August 2016. General mental health status was assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12).Results: A total of 3,911 participants were included. The prevalence of poor mental health (defined as GHQ-12 total score ≥ 4) was 9.31% [95% confidence interval (CI): 8.4–10.2%]. Multivariable logistic regression analyses found that female gender [P < 0.001, odds ratio (OR) = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.29–2.07], lower education level (P = 0.048, OR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.00–1.75), lower annual household income (P = 0.005, OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.17–2.51), presence of major medical conditions (P < 0.001, OR = 2.95, 95% CI: 2.19–3.96) and family history of psychiatric disorders (P < 0.001, OR = 3.53, 95% CI: 2.02–6.17) were significantly associated with poor mental health.Conclusion: The prevalence of poor mental health among older adults in a predominantly agricultural area was lower than findings from many other countries and areas in China. However, continued surveillance of mental health status among older adults in China is still needed.

Summary: Light-excited energetic electrons, or so-called hot electrons (HEs), in plasmonic metal nanostructures have received much attention in the past few years. Plasmonic metal nanostructures, acting as light absorbers with higher efficiency and adjustability than dye molecules and inorganic semiconductors, can generate HEs under specific light conditions. However, the overall efficiency of the plasmonic systems remain unsatisfactory. Therefore, it is important to study the generation and transfer processes of plasmon-induced HEs, which are necessary for efficient plasmon-enhanced applications. In this review, we summarize the basic concepts and mechanisms of HE generation and transportation, then highlight the use of in situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as a probe for HE-induced chemical reactions. We also discuss the opportunities and remaining challenges in promoting fundamental understanding of, and practical applications for, HEs.

Summary: Plasmon-assisted chemical transformation holds great potential for solar energy conversion. However, simultaneous enhancement of reactivity and selectivity is still challenging and the mechanism remains mysterious. Herein, we elucidate the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-induced principles underlying the enhanced activity (∼70%) and selectivity of photoelectrocatalytic redox of nitrobenzene (NB) on Au nanoparticles. Hot carriers selectively accelerate the conversion rate from NB to phenylhydroxylamine (PHA) by ∼14% but suppress the transformation rate from PHA to nitrosobenzene (NSB) by ∼13%. By adding an electron accepter, the as-observed suppression ratio is substantially enlarged up to 43%. Our experiments, supported by in situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory simulations, reveal such particular hot-carrier-induced selectivity is conjointly contributed by the accelerated hot electron transfer and the corresponding residual hot holes. This work will help expand the applications of renewable sunlight in the directional production of value-added chemicals under mild conditions.

A triband patch antenna with monopole-like and patch-like radiation patterns for multifunctional wireless systems is proposed. The antenna consists of a single square radiation patch with an annular slot, a ground plane, and a top-loaded metal sheet. The top-loaded metal sheet is shorted to the ground plane for producing a zeroth-order resonant (ZOR) mode, which has an omnidirectional radiation pattern at the lowest operation band, and its performance is robust to the location of the probe feed. With the annular slot and the off-center probe feed, a dual-resonant TM01 mode is excited, yielding unidirectional radiation patterns for the two upper operation bands. The ZOR and the dual-resonant TM01 modes can be independently controlled, and a triband antenna prototype with a square patch of 24 mm is fabricated and tested. The first bandwidth is 2.5–2.7 GHz with omnidirectional radiation pattern, the second and the third bandwidths with unidirectional radiation are 3.3–3.9 GHz and 4.8–6.1 GHz, and the realized gains over the three bands are about 2.6, 6.5, and 7.5 dBi, respectively.

Machine harvesting increases the foreign matter content of seed cotton. Excessive cleaning causes fiber damage and economic loss. Most trading companies in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China have indicated reluctance to use machine-harvested cotton. The first objective was to determine how the fiber quality was affected by the ginning and lint cleaning and how the fiber damage during levels of lint cleaning changed. The second objective was to determine the optimum number of lint cleaners for machine-harvested cotton based on fiber damage. Cotton samples were collected from 13 fields and processed in seven ginneries between 2013 and 2015. The results indicated that ginning and lint cleaning didn't have significant effect on fiber strength and significantly affected both fiber length and short fiber index. Fiber length was reduced by more than 1.00 mm from six of 13 fields after lint cleaning, then the damage rate on short fiber index from 11 of 13 fields was more than 20%. The third lint cleaning caused great fiber damage, reducing fiber length by 0.35 mm and increasing short fiber index by 0.65%. So, the lint should be cleaned by one lint cleaner in the Xinjiang, however, the stage of lint cleaning was sometimes omitted when the foreign matter content of lint was little.

A ZBLAN photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with normal dispersion is theoretically designed and investigated. The designed PCF can provide a large normal dispersion coefficient and a low confinement loss in a broad wavelength range of 1.8-3.6 μm. Especially, the PCF exhibits an ultra large normal dispersion value of -351.3 ps/km/nm and a small confinement loss of 0.05 dB/m at 2.9 μ m. By using the designed PCF as a dispersion compensator in a mode-locked ZBLAN fiber laser, stretched pulse with compressed pulse duration of 1.56 ps is numerically achieved.

Abstract Background It is still unclear whether enhanced recovery after surgery is effective and safe in laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma. Methods Cochrane library databases, Medline, Embase, and Pubmed were searched from January 1, 1986, to December 31, 2016. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing fast-track recovery with conventional recovery strategies in laparoscopic radical gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma were included. The main outcomes measured were postoperative hospital stay, time to first flatus, hospital charge, and overall complication rate. Results Six RCTs with 400 patients were included in this study. Fast-track surgery has shorter postoperative hospital stays (weighted mean difference (WMD) − 2.65; 95% CI, − 4.01 to − 1.29, z = 3.82, P

Rational design of heterogeneous catalysts requires molecular understanding of catalytic processes. Here, the authors attach PtFe and Pd nanocatalysts to Raman signal-enhancing Au-silica nanoparticles, allowing them to spectroscopically observe the active species and bonds involved in CO oxidation in real time.

Retina layering was the basis of optic disc structure analysis and 3D feature extraction of glaucoma.In order to improve the layering effect of retinal OCT images,an intensity based multilayer segmentation algorithm for two-dimensional retinal OCT images was proposed.Through preprocessing and filtering operation,the segmentation algorithm calculated the intensity and intensity gradient of each A-scan in the retinal OCT image to obtain the upper bound RNFL,the dividing line IS and OS,and the lower bound RPE.Then macular distance strategy,calculated by the shortest distance,was used to further optimize the layering result of macular area,so as to achieve layering segmentation of the retinal OCT images.The experimental results show the algorithm has good optimization effect,low time complexity and fast running speed.

Genomic landscapes of 92 adult and 111 pediatric patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) were investigated using next-generation sequencing and copy number alteration analysis. Recurrent gene mutations and fusions were tested in an additional 87 adult and 93 pediatric patients. Among the 29 newly identified in-frame gene fusions, those involving MEF2D and ZNF384 were clinically relevant and were demonstrated to perturb B-cell differentiation, with EP300-ZNF384 inducing leukemia in mice. Eight gene expression subgroups associated with characteristic genetic abnormalities were identified, including leukemia with MEF2D and ZNF384 fusions in two distinct clusters. In subgroup G4 which was characterized by ERG deletion, DUX4-IGH fusion was detected in most cases. This comprehensive dataset allowed us to compare the features of molecular pathogenesis between adult and pediatric B-ALL and to identify signatures possibly related to the inferior outcome of adults to that of children. We found that, besides the known discrepancies in frequencies of prognostic markers, adult patients had more cooperative mutations and greater enrichment for alterations of epigenetic modifiers and genes linked to B-cell development, suggesting difference in the target cells of transformation between adult and pediatric patients and may explain in part the disparity in their responses to treatment.

In this paper, we study the dynamical mass generation in the Abelian Higgs model in 2 + 1 dimensions. Instead of adopting the approximations in [Jiang H et al., J. Phys. A 41 2008 255402.], we numerically solve the coupled Dyson–Schwinger Equations (DSEs) for the fermion and gauge boson propagators using a specific truncation for the fermion-photon vertex ansatz and compare our results with the corresponding ones in the above mentioned paper. It is found that the results quoted in the above paper remain qualitatively unaffected by refining the truncation scheme of the DSEs, although there exist large quantitative differences between the results presented in the above paper and ours. In addition, our numerical results show that the critical number of fermion flavor Nc decreases steeply with the the gauge boson mass ma (or the ratio of the Higgs mass mh to the gauge boson mass ma, r = mh/ma) increasing. It is thus easier to generate a finite fermion mass by the mechanism of DCSB for a small ratio r for a given ma.

The single molecular conductance of amino acids was measured by a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) break junction. Conductance measurement of alanine gives out two conductance values at 10−1.85 G0 (1095 nS) and 10−3.7 G0 (15.5 nS), while similar conductance values are also observed for aspartic acid and glutamic acid, which have one more carboxylic acid group compared with alanine. This may show that the backbone of NH2–C–COOH is the primary means of electron transport in the molecular junction of aspartic acid and glutamic acid. However, NH2–C–COOH is not the primary means of electron transport in the methionine junction, which may be caused by the strong interaction of the Au–SMe (methyl sulfide) bond for the methionine junction. The current work reveals the important role of the anchoring group in the electron transport in different amino acids junctions.

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) constitute the regulatory network that coordinates diverse cellular functions. There are growing needs in plant research for creating protein interaction maps behind complex cellular processes and at a systems biology level. However, only a few approaches have been successfully used for large-scale surveys of PPIs in plants, each having advantages and disadvantages. Here we present split firefly luciferase complementation (SFLC) as a highly sensitive and noninvasive technique for in planta PPI investigation. In this assay, the separate halves of a firefly luciferase can come into close proximity and transiently restore its catalytic activity only when their fusion partners, namely the two proteins of interest, interact with each other. This assay was conferred with quantitativeness and high throughput potential when the Arabidopsis mesophyll protoplast system and a microplate luminometer were employed for protein expression and luciferase measurement, respectively. Using the SFLC assay, we could monitor the dynamics of rapamycin-induced and ascomycin-disrupted interaction between Arabidopsis FRB and human FKBP proteins in a near real-time manner. As a proof of concept for large-scale PPI survey, we further applied the SFLC assay to testing 132 binary PPIs among 8 auxin response factors (ARFs) and 12 Aux/IAA proteins from Arabidopsis. Our results demonstrated that the SFLC assay is ideal for in vivo quantitative PPI analysis in plant cells and is particularly powerful for large-scale binary PPI screens.

Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) enhance plant phosphorus utilization through their ability to dissolve phosphorus. To address the low utilization of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and selenium by tea plants in acidic, selenium-rich soils, the study aimed to investigate the impact of exogenous PSB on soil nutrients and the absorption of zinc and selenium by tea plants. Following the inoculation of potted Longjing and Huangjinya varieties with exogenous phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria, we determined the concentrations of AN, AP, AK, Zn, and Se in their rhizosphere soil, in addition to the Zn and Se contents in their aboveground and belowground parts. The results show that after respective treatment with the three PSB, the concentration of available P in the tea plant rhizosphere soil significantly increased, with PMS08 having the most pronounced effect. After the same treatment, In the rhizosphere soil of Longjing tea plants, the AN content increased by 26.47%, 18.41%, and 7.51%, respectively, relative to the control, while the AK content decreased in the rhizosphere soil of Huangjinya tea plants. Inoculation with the three PSB resulted in a greater content of available Se in both the aboveground and belowground parts of the two tea plants. After inoculation with PMS20, the available Zn content of the belowground parts of Longjing and Huangjinya tea plants respectively decreased by 13.42% and 15.69% in comparison with the control. Additionally, after inoculating Longjing tea plants with PSt09 and Huangjinya tea plants with PMS08, the content of available Zn in their belowground parts significantly decreased by 9.22% and 35.74%, respectively. Evidently, the inoculation with the three phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria is beneficial for the uptake of available P by tea plants, promoting the utilization and accumulation of available Se. However, the content of AN or AK in rhizosphere soil varies between different tea plant varieties inoculated with the same kind of phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria. Moreover, the content of available Zn in tea plants also differs, highlighting the need to further investigate the differential effects of phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria on different plant varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]