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As grandes obras promovem transformações espaciais e, em geral, encontram-se vinculadas aos interesses do capital e do rentismo fundiário. Esse processo, fomentado pelo Estado, traz também a intensificação das desigualdades espaciais, a exemplo da concentração fundiária e dos conflitos pela terra. É essa realidade que o artigo aborda, destacando sua relação com a construção da Ferrovia de Integração Oeste-Leste (FIOL). Para tanto, ancoramo-nos na coleta e análise de dados da estrutura fundiária fornecidos pelo IBGE/INCRA/Censos Agropecuários e dos conflitos no campo – por meio dos Cadernos Conflitos no Campo, da Comissão Pastoral da Terra. Esta análise, no movimento com a teoria, permitiu apontar tanto o aumento da concentração fundiária, quanto de conflitos no campo em municípios baianos cortados pela FIOL.

Livestock and poultry waste liquid contains a lot of nitrogen, phosphorus, and microorganisms, and direct discharge causes great harm to the environment. Chicken manure was selected as the research object, and nanoparticle nano-Fe2O3, nano-C60, antibiotics enrofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, and oxytetracycin were selected as additives to carry out medium-temperature sequential batch anaerobic digestion experiment. The experiment lasted for 55 days. The results showed that (1) gas production reached its peak in the first 1–2 days of a single stress experiment, and the cumulative gas production in the first 10 days was as follows: R5 > R4 > R3 > R2 > CK > R1; (2) the concentrations of total volatile fatty acids (TVFAs) in the groups increased rapidly from day 1 to 10, and the concentrations of TVFAs in the nano-Fe2O3 and nano-C60 groups were higher than those in the other four groups. The pH of the system decreased, and the soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) was consistent with the trend of TVFAs, while the pH of the nanoparticle group was lower; (3) changes in the horizontal structure of bacterial community of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were dominant bacteria in each group on the first day. On day 5, the relative abundance of actinomycetes and Bacteroidetes increased significantly. This experiment contributes to the study of the effects of adding nanoparticles and antibiotics to anaerobic digestion substrates on gas production characteristics, provides data support, and characterizes the microbial situation during digestion. This paper can help to realize carbon emission reduction in agriculture and rural areas. Based on the above background, a self-designed system for testing the anaerobic digestion potential of methane was used in this study using chicken manure. Based on the single pollutant stresses of nano-Fe2O3, nano-C60, enrofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, and hygromycin, the effects of different pollutants under independent stresses on methane production and the changes in the performance of the anaerobic digestion system for gas production were investigated. The chemical parameters and microbial diversity in the anaerobic digestion process were analyzed, and the effects of different nanoparticles and antibiotics on the anaerobic system of chicken manure were elucidated. The results of the study can provide data support for the stable operation of biogas projects, which is of great significance in promoting the sustainable development of ecological agriculture.

Abstract To reduce the uncertainty estimation of clouds and improve the forecast of surface shortwave radiation (SSR) over the Tibetan Plateau, a new cloud assimilation system is proposed which is the first attempt to directly apply the four-dimensional local ensemble transform Kalman filter method to assimilate the cloud optical thickness (COT). The high-resolution spatial and temporal data assimilated from the next-generation geostationary satellite Himawari-8, with the high-assimilation frequency, realized an accurate estimation of the clouds and radiation forecasting. The COT and SSR were significantly improved after the assimilation by independent verification. The correlation coefficient (CORR) of the SSR was increased by 11.3%, and the root-mean-square error (RMSE) and mean bias error (MBE) were decreased by 28.5% and 58.9%, respectively. The 2-h cycle assimilation forecast results show that the overestimation of SSR has been effectively reduced using the assimilation system. These findings demonstrate the high potential of this assimilation technique in forecasting of SSR in numerical weather prediction. The ultimate goal that to improve the model forecast through the assimilation of cloud properties requires further studies to achieve.

Abstract The dust direct radiative effect (DRE) depends strongly on the dust particle size distribution (PSD) and complex refractive index (CRI). Although recent studies constrained the dust PSD in the models, its CRI uncertainties are still large. As a result, whether dust warms or cools the climate system remains unclear. Here, we estimate the dust DRE by employing the regionally‐dependent dust CRI based on global measurements. We find that new dust CRI significantly enhances the scattering of dust in the shortwave while reduces its absorption in the longwave, which is opposite to that caused by increasing the coarse and giant dust fraction via constraining the PSD. Constraining both PSD and CRI ultimately leads to a net dust DRE of −0.68 W m−2, a cooling stronger than current model estimates.

Abstract Objectives Rupture of intracranial aneurysm is very dangerous, often leading to death and disability. In this study, deep learning and radiomics techniques were used to automatically detect and differentiate ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms. Materials and methods 363 ruptured aneurysms and 535 unruptured aneurysms from Hospital 1 were included in the training set. 63 ruptured aneurysms and 190 unruptured aneurysms from Hospital 2 were used for independent external testing. Aneurysm detection, segmentation and morphological features extraction were automatically performed with a 3-dimensional convolutional neural network (CNN). Radiomic features were additionally computed via pyradiomics package. After dimensionality reduction, three classification models including support vector machines (SVM), random forests (RF), and multi-layer perceptron (MLP) were established and evaluated via area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristics. Delong tests were used for the comparison of different models. Results The 3-dimensional CNN automatically detected, segmented aneurysms and calculated 21 morphological features for each aneurysm. The pyradiomics provided 14 radiomics features. After dimensionality reduction, 13 features were found associated with aneurysm rupture. The AUCs of SVM, RF and MLP on the training dataset and external testing dataset were 0.86, 0.85, 0.90 and 0.85, 0.88, 0.86, respectively, for the discrimination of ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms. Delong tests showed that there was no significant difference among the three models. Conclusions In this study, three classification models were established to distinguish ruptured and unruptured aneurysms accurately. The aneurysms segmentation and morphological measurements were performed automatically, which greatly improved the clinical efficiency. Clinical relevance statement Our fully automatic models could rapidly process the CTA data and evaluate the status of aneurysms in one minute. Graphical Abstract

Marine stainless steel is immersed in seawater for a long time, and its surface will inevitably adhere layer by layer to form biofilm, which will lead to microbial corrosion of the material. Therefore, it is necessary to master the microbial adhesion mechanism to better control the occurrence of fouling. However, at present, the observation method is to dye by fluorescence microscope or fix the fouling organisms and then observe them by scanning electron microscope (SEM). These methods all damage the cell activity of algae, and only the results of algae attachment can be observed, which is not conducive to further study of algae attachment mechanism. Based on the inverted microscope platform, the observation of algae attached to the metal surface found that the thinner the substrate of the sample liquid, the clearer the image of algae attached to the metal surface, and further found that the dominant algae in the liquid could complete the attachment and aggregation behavior on the metal surface within 1 hour to 2 hours. The conclusions obtained in this paper will guide the study on the attachment mechanism of fouling organisms on metal surfaces and provide a preliminary basis for the design of prevention and control strategies and time points of fouling organisms.

The skin microbiota has been recognized to play an integral role in the physiology and pathology of the skin. The crosstalk between skin and the resident microbes has been extensively investigated using two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures in vitro; however, skin colonization by multiple species and the effects of interspecific interactions on the structure and function of skin remains to be elucidated. This study reports the establishment of a mixed infection model, incorporating both commensal (Staphylococcus epidermidis) and pathogenic (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria, based on a 3D human epidermal model. We observed that co-infecting the 3D epidermal model with S. aureus and S. epidermidis restricted the growth of S. aureus. In addition, S. aureus induced epidermal cytotoxicity, and the release of proinflammatory cytokines was attenuated by the S. aureus-S. epidermidis mixed infection model. S. epidermidis also inhibited the invasion of the deeper epidermis by S. aureus, eliciting protective effects on the integrity of the epidermal barrier. This 3D culture-based mixed infection model would be an effective replacement for existing animal models and 2D cell culture approaches for the evaluation of diverse biotic and abiotic factors involved in maintaining skin health.

Recently, Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) has attracted increasing attention in civil engineering. Numerous steel–UHPC composite structures have been constructed around the world. The proper consideration of the shear-lag effect has a significant influence on the safety of structures. In view of the shear-lag effect of steel–UHPC ribbed slab composite structure (SU-RSCS) in the elastic stage, a theoretical calculation model based on the bar simulation method is first developed. Then, the feasibility and accuracy of that are verified using both experimental data and numerical simulation. Moreover, many factors (including width-to-span ratio, the ratio of rib height to UHPC layer thickness, the ratio of rib width to rib spacing, and the number of transverse ribs) are parametrically investigated to further investigate the structural shear-lag effect using the proposed method. In addition, the orthogonal analysis is applied to determine the sensitivity of each parameter to the shear-lag effect. The parametric interactions are also considered. At last, the comparison between calculation results of the proposed method and specifications are discussed. The results show that the proposed approach can accurately predict the shear-lag effect on SU-RSCSs in the elastic stage. It is also found that the width-to-span ratio has a great influence on the structural shear-lag effect, while the number of transverse ribs has no significant influence on that.

Although the Weather Research and Forecasting model with solar extensions (WRF-Solar) is tailed for solar energy applications, its official version lacks the consideration of the online aerosol-radiation process. To overcome this limitation, we have coupled the aerosol module online with the radiation module, then assimilated the high-resolution aerosol optical depth (AOD) from the Himawari-8 next-generation geostationary satellite using a three-dimensional variational (3DVAR) AOD data assimilation system to optimize the irradiance predictions with the better aerosol–radiation interaction. The results show that data assimilation can significantly eliminate the AOD underestimations and reasonably reproduce the AOD temporal distributions, improving 51.63% for biases and 61.29% for correlation coefficients. Compared with the original WRF-Solar version, coupled online with an advanced aerosol module minifies the bias value of global horizontal irradiance (GHI) up to 44.52%, and AOD data assimilation contributes to a further reduction of 17.43%.

ABSTRACT: Objectives: To propose a methodological path to investigate the coverage and information filling of maternal-infant deaths recorded in the Ministry of Health's Mortality Information System for regional spaces. Methods: Four steps were proposed: 1) Assessment of the completeness of the maternal and child variables, which was measured using the deterministic linkage technique between the Mortality Information System (Sistema de Informações sobre Mortalidade – SIM) and the Live Birth Information System (Sistema de Informações sobre Nascidos Vivos – SINASC); 2) Application of the multiple imputation technique to achieve the total filling of the missing information of the variables; 3) Estimation of death coverage; 4) The Unknown Variable Information Index (Índice de Informação Desconhecida da Variável – IIDV) was measured, which represents the combined effect of data completeness and coverage of deaths. The proposal of the methodological path was exemplified for neonatal deaths in the municipalities of Paraíba that are part of the new classification proposed by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística – IBGE), as adjacent rural areas, in three triennium periods from 2009 to 2017. Results: The percentage of matching records was 45%. Most of the variables had a percentage of non-completion below 10% and around 17% for the mother's education. Coverages ranged from 75 to 83%. The IIDV for all variables was between 21 and 36% after the linkage. Conclusion: The path of the methodological proposal proved to be effective, which can be replicated to other regions, and can be extended to other categories of deaths such as post-neonatal. The combination of the proposed procedures demands low operating costs and their uses are relatively simple to be applied by the managers and technicians of the vital statistics information systems.

In this study, we investigate the most severe East Asian dust storm in the past decade that occurred on 14–16 March 2021 based on the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem) and a variety of site measurements and satellite retrievals. The dust emissions from the Gobi Desert, especially over Mongolia on March 14, are the dominant sources of this intense dust event. The maximal hourly accumulated dust emissions over Mongolian and Chinese areas reached 1490.18 kt at 07:00 UTC on 14 March and 821.70 kt at 2:00 UTC on 15 March, respectively. During this dust event, the accumulated dust emissions in coarse modes (i.e., bin 4 and bin 5) account for 64.1% of the total dust emission mass, and the accumulated dust emissions in fine modes (i.e., bin 1) are the least, accounting for 7.6% of the total dust emission mass. Because the coarse mode bins of dust dominate the emissions, the downwind transported coarse mode particles can affect the North China Plain, while the fine particles can only affect the desert source and its surrounding regions such as the Gansu and Ningxia provinces. Due to the dust emissions and the dust transport path, the high AOD areas are located in the Gobi Desert and Northwest China and the vertical spatial distributions of aerosol extinction coefficients have the same characteristics. We also found the model drawback of overestimating simulated wind speeds, which leads to the overestimations of dust emissions and concentrations, indicating the urgency of improving the simulated wind field.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239737.].

Different densities have a great influence on the physiological process and growth of orchard plants. Exploring the molecular basis and revealing key candidate genes for different densities management of orchard has great significance for production capacity improvement. In this study, transcriptome sequencing of apple trees was carried out at three different sampling heights to determine gene expression patterns under high density(HD) and low density(LD) and the physiological indices were measured to determine the effect of density change on plants. As a result, physiological indexes showed that the content of Chlorophyll, ACC, RUBP and PEP in the LD was apparently higher than that in control group(high density, HD). While the content of PPO and AO in the LD was noticeably lower than that in the HD. There were 3808 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected between HD and LD, of which 1935, 2390 and 1108 DEGs were found in the three comparisons(middle-upper, lower-outer and lower-inner), respectively. 274 common differentially expressed genes (co-DEGs) were contained in all three comparisons. Functional enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis found these genes were involved in Carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms, Circadian rhythm, Photosynthesis - antenna proteins, Photosynthesis, chlorophyll metabolism, Porphyrin, sugar metabolism and so on. Among these genes, LHCB family participated in photosynthesis as parts of photosystem II. In addition, SPA1, rbcL, SNRK2, MYC2, BSK, SAUR and PP2C are involved in Circadian rhythm, the expression of genes related to glycometabolism and hormone signaling pathway is also changed. The results revealed that the decrease of plant density changed the photosynthetic efficiency of leaves and the expression of photosynthesis-related genes, which provide a theoretical basis for the actual production regulation of apples.

Dust aerosols have great effects on global and regional climate systems. The Global Change Observation Mission-Climate (GCOM-C), also known as SHIKISAI, which was launched on 23 December 2017 by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is a next-generation Earth observation satellite that is used for climate studies. The Second-Generation Global Imager (SGLI) aboard GCOM-C enables the retrieval of more precious global aerosols. Here, the first assimilation study of the aerosol optical thicknesses (AOTs) at 500 nm observed by this new satellite is performed to investigate a severe dust storm in spring over East Asia during 28–31 March 2018. The aerosol observation assimilation system is an integration of the four-dimensional local ensemble transform Kalman filter (4D-LETKF) and the Spectral Radiation Transport Model for Aerosol Species (SPRINTARS) coupled with the Non-Hydrostatic Icosahedral Atmospheric Model (NICAM). Through verification with the independent observations from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) and the Asian Dust and Aerosol Lidar Observation Network (AD-Net), the results demonstrate that the assimilation of the GCOM-C aerosol observations can significantly enhance Asian dust storm simulations. The dust characteristics over the regions without GCOM-C observations are better revealed from assimilating the adjacent observations within the localization length, suggesting the importance of the technical advances in observation and assimilation, which are helpful in clarifying the temporal–spatial structure of Asian dust and which could also improve the forecasting of dust storms, climate prediction models, and aerosol reanalysis.

A Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter assimilation system has been implemented into an aerosol-coupled global nonhydrostatic model to simulate the aerosol mass concentration and aerosol optical properties of 3 desert sites (Ansai, Fukang, Shapotou) in northwestern China. One-month experiment results of April 2006 reveal that the data assimilation can correct the much overestimated aerosol surface mass concentration, and has a strong positive effect on the aerosol optical depth (AOD) simulation, improving agreement with observations. Improvement is limited with the Ångström Exponent (AE) simulation, except for much improved correlation coefficient and model skill scores over the Ansai site. Better agreement of the AOD spatial distribution with the independent observations of Terra (Deep Blue) and Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) AODs is obtained by assimilating the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) AOD product, especially for regions with AODs lower than 0.30. This study confirms the usefulness of the remote sensing observations for the improvement of global aerosol modeling.

The effective radiative forcing (ERF) of anthropogenic aerosol can be more representative of the eventual climate response than other radiative forcing. We incorporate aerosol–cloud interaction into the Chinese Academy of Sciences Flexible Global Ocean–Atmosphere–Land System (CAS-FGOALS-f3-L) by coupling an existing aerosol module named the Spectral Radiation Transport Model for Aerosol Species (SPRINTARS) and quantified the ERF and its primary components (i.e., effective radiative forcing of aerosol-radiation interactions (ERFari) and aerosol-cloud interactions (ERFaci)) based on the protocol of current Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6). The spatial distribution of the shortwave ERFari and ERFaci in CAS-FGOALS-f3-L are comparable with that of most available CMIP6 models. The global mean 2014–1850 shortwave ERFari in CAS-FGOALS-f3-L (−0.27 W m−2) is close to the multi-model means in 4 available models (−0.29 W m−2), whereas the assessing shortwave ERFaci (−1.04 W m−2) and shortwave ERF (−1.36 W m−2) are slightly stronger than the multi-model means, illustrating that the CAS-FGOALS-f3-L can reproduce the aerosol radiation effect reasonably well. However, significant diversity exists in the ERF, especially in the dominated component ERFaci, implying that the uncertainty is still large.

We present the inversions (back-calculations or optimizations) of dust emissions for a severe winter dust event over East Asia in November 2016. The inversion system based on a fixed-lag ensemble Kalman smoother is newly implemented in the Weather Research and Forecasting model and is coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem). The assimilated observations are the hourly aerosol optical depths (AODs) from the next-generation geostationary satellite Himawari-8. The posterior total dust emissions (2.59 Tg) for this event are 3.8 times higher than the priori total dust emissions (0.68 Tg) during 25−27 November 2016. The net result is that the simulated aerosol horizontal and vertical distributions are both in better agreement with the assimilated Himawari-8 observations and independent observations from the ground-based AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET), the satellite-based Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO). The developed emission inversion approach, combined with the geostationary satellite observations, can be very helpful for properly estimating the Asian dust emissions.

Microplastics are prevalent in aquatic ecosystems, impacting various forms of aquatic life, including fish. In this study, Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were exposed to two concentrations of microplastics (0 and 500 μg/L) over a 14-day period, during which a comprehensive analysis was conducted to assess the liver accumulation of microplastics and their effects on oxidative stress, the liver response, and transcriptomics. Our findings indicated that microplastics significantly accumulated in the liver and activated the antioxidant system in fish by enhancing the activity of antioxidant enzymes. Histological lesions were also observed in the liver of the fish. Furthermore, microplastics induced alterations in the expression of hepatic N 6 -methyladenosine readers, specifically downregulating IGF2BP1 (encoding insulin like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein 1) and upregulating YTHDF2 (encoding YTH N 6 -methyladenosine RNA binding protein F2), which in turn decreased mRNA stability and reduced the expression of C-myc and other regulatory factors involved in the cell cycle and proliferation. This sequence of events resulted in slowed cell proliferation, the induction of cell cycle arrest, and the promotion of cellular senescence. This study offers valuable insights into the toxicological mechanisms of microplastics and enhances our understanding of the threats that plastic pollution poses to freshwater organisms., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This review aims at evaluating the role and potential applications of network analysis methods in the medicinal substances of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), theories of TCM compatibility, properties of herbs, and TCM syndromes., Methods: Literature was retrieved from databases, such as CNKI, PubMed, and Web of Science, using keywords, including "network analysis," "network biology," "network pharmacology," and "network medicine." The extracted literature included the biological network construction (including ingredient-target and target-disease relations), analysis of network topology characteristics (including node degree, clustering coefficient, and path length), network modularization analysis, functional annotation and so on. These studies were categorized and organized based on their research methods, application domains, and other relevant characteristics., Results: Network analysis algorithms, such as network distance, random walk, matrix factorization, graph embedding, and graph neural networks, are widely applied in fields related to the properties, compatibility, and mechanisms of TCM. They effectively reflect the interactive relations within the complex systems of TCM and elucidate and clarify theories, such as the effective substances, the principles of TCM compatibility, the TCM syndromes, and the properties of TCM., Conclusion: The network analysis method is a powerful mathematical and computational tool that reveals the structure, dynamics, and functions of complex systems by analyzing the elements and their relations. This approach has effectively promoted the modernization of TCM, providing essential theoretical and practical tools for personalized treatment and scientific research on TCM. It also offers a significant methodological framework for the modernization and internationalization of TCM., 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 GmbH.)

The emergence of solid-state battery technology presents a potential solution to the dissolution challenges of high-capacity small molecule quinone redox systems. Nonetheless, the successful integration of argyrodite-type Li 6 PS 5 Cl, the most promising solid-state electrolyte system, and quinone redox systems remains elusive due to their inherent reactivity. Here, a library of quinone derivatives is selected as model electrode materials to ascertain the critical descriptors governing the (electro)chemical compatibility and subsequently the performances of Li 6 PS 5 Cl-based solid-state organic lithium metal batteries (LMBs). Compatibility is attained if the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital level of the quinone derivative is sufficiently higher than the highest occupied molecular orbital level of Li 6 PS 5 Cl. The energy difference is demonstrated to be critical in ensuring chemical compatibility during composite electrode preparation and enable high-efficiency operation of solid-state organic LMBs. Considering these findings, a general principle is proposed for the selection of quinone derivatives to be integrated with Li 6 PS 5 Cl, and two solid-state organic LMBs, based on 2,5-diamino-1,4-benzoquinone and 2,3,5,6-tetraamino-1,4-benzoquinone, are successfully developed and tested for the first time. Validating critical factors for the design of organic battery electrode materials is expected to pave the way for advancing the development of high-efficiency and long cycle life solid-state organic batteries based on sulfides electrolytes., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) porous microspheres with very high specific surface area and drug loading capacity, as well as excellent biocompatibility, have been widely used in tumour therapy. Mg 2+ is considered to be a key factor in bone regeneration, acting as an active agent to stimulate bone and cartilage formation, and is effective in accelerating cell migration and promoting angiogenesis, which is essential for bone tissue repair, anti-cancer, and anti-infection. In this study, abalone shells from a variety of sources were used as raw materials, and Mg 2+ -doped abalone shell-derived mesoporous HAP microspheres (Mg-HAP) were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis as Mg 2+ / icariin smart dual delivery system (ICA-Mg-HAP, IMHA). With increasing of Mg 2+ doping, the surface morphology of HAP microspheres varied from collapsed macroporous to mesoporous to smooth and non-porous, which may be due to Mg 2+ substitution or coordination in the HAP lattice. At 30% Mg 2+ doping, the Mg-HAP microspheres showed a more homogeneous mesoporous morphology with a high specific surface area (186.06 m2/g). The IMHA microspheres showed high drug loading (7.69%) and encapsulation rate (83.29%), sustained Mg 2+ release for more than 27 days, sustained and stable release of icariin for 60 hours, and good responsiveness to pH (pH 6.4 > pH 5.6). In addition, the IMHA delivery system stimulated the rapid proliferation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and induced apoptosis in MG63 cells by blocking the G2 phase cycle of osteosarcoma cells and stimulating the high expression of apoptotic genes (Bcl-2, caspase-3, -8, -9). This suggests that the abalone shell-based IMHA may have potential applications in drug delivery and tumour therapy., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest statement: 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.

Two-dimensional electrically conducting metal-organic frameworks (2D-e-MOFs) have emerged as a class of highly promising functional materials for a wide range of applications. However, despite the significant recent advances in 2D-e-MOFs, developing systems that can be postsynthetically chemically functionalized, while also allowing fine-tuning of the transport properties, remains challenging. Herein, we report two isostructural 2D-e-MOFs: Ni 3 (HITAT) 2 and Ni 3 (HITBim) 2 based on two new 3-fold symmetric ligands: 2,3,7,8,12,13-hexaaminotriazatruxene (HATAT) and 2,3,8,9,14,15-hexaaminotribenzimidazole (HATBim), respectively, with reactive sites for postfunctionalization. Ni 3 (HITAT) 2 and Ni 3 (HITBim) 2 exhibit temperature-activated charge transport, with bulk conductivity values of 44 and 0.5 mS cm -1 , respectively. Density functional theory analysis attributes the difference to disparities in the electron density distribution within the parent ligands: nitrogen-rich HATBim exhibits localized electron density and a notably lower lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy relative to HATAT. Precise amounts of methanesulfonyl groups are covalently bonded to the N-H indole moiety within the Ni 3 (HITAT) 2 framework, modulating the electrical conductivity by a factor of ∼20. These results provide a blueprint for the design of porous functional materials with tunable chemical functionality and electrical response.

Electrowinning is regarded as a clean process to recover neodymium metal from secondary sources such as spent Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets, but the current methods are severely limited by a high energy consumption (molten salts), or by the high costs and environmental impact of the electrolyte components (ionic liquids). Therefore, there is a demand for more sustainable electrowinning methods for the recovery of neodymium metal. Inspired by our own previous work and the work of others, we developed new fluorine-free organic electrolytes that enable the electrodeposition of neodymium metal at room temperature. The electrolytes consist of solvated neodymium borohydride, Nd(BH 4 ) 3 , dissolved in the ether solvents tetrahydrofuran (THF), 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MeTHF), 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) and diethylene glycol dimethyl ether (diglyme, G2), and these complexes can be prepared entirely from non-fluorinated precursors such as neodymium(III) chloride (NdCl 3 ) and sodium borohydride (NaBH 4 ). In contrast to our previous bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide-containing electrolytes, electrodeposition of neodymium proceeds over time without significant loss of current density, indicating a higher stability against unwanted side-reactions that lead to passivation of the deposit on the electrode. Characterization of the deposits by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDX), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) unambiguously indicated the presence of neodymium metal.

Increasingly, tropical studies based on aboveground traits have suggested that lianas have a more acquisitive strategy than trees, thereby possibly explaining the increase in lianas relative to trees in many tropical forests under global change. However, few studies have tested whether this pattern can be extended to root traits and temperate forests. In this study, we sampled 61 temperate liana-host tree pairs and quantified 11 commonly studied functional traits representative of plant economics in roots, stems, and leaves; we aimed to determine whether root, stem and leaf traits are coordinated across lifeforms, and whether temperate lianas are also characterized by more fast and acquisitive traits than trees. Our results showed that leaf and stem traits were coordinated across lifeforms but not with root traits, suggesting that aboveground plant economics is not always correlated with belowground economics, and leaf and stem economic spectra cannot be expanded to the root directly. Compared with host trees, lianas had more acquisitive leaf and stem traits, such as higher specific leaf area and lower leaf dry matter content, leaf carbon content, leaf mass per area, and wood density, suggesting that lianas have a more acquisitive strategy than host trees in the temperate forest. The differences between lianas and trees in plant strategy may drive their contrasting responses to the changing temperate forest environment under global change.

The rapid and accurate identification of pathogenic agents is the key to guide clinicians on diagnosis and medication, especially for intractable diseases, such as neurosyphilis. It is extremely challenging for clinicians to diagnose neurosyphilis with no highly sensitive and specific test available. It is well known that the early transmission and immune evasion ability of Treponema pallidum have earned it the title of "stealth pathogen." Neurosyphilis has complex clinical manifestations, including ocular involvement, which is infrequent and often overlooked, but its neuroimaging results may be normal. Therefore, it is important to find a new test that can detect the presence or absence of Treponema pallidum immediately for the diagnosis of neurosyphilis. We reviewed all the patients admitted to the Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital between 2021 and 2022 who had ocular involvement and whose clinical samples were examined via metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS), and we found 10 candidates for further analysis. The results of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were normal for four patients, and three of them met the diagnostic criteria for neurosyphilis confirmed by mNGS. In addition, the results of mNGS from the three patients were further validated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Five of the 10 patients had diplopia manifestations; two (20%) experienced abducens nerve palsies, two (20%) had eyelid drooping, and one (10%) had decreased vision. One of the 10 patients (10%) who was HIV positive and five patients had abnormal MRI results. To our knowledge, Treponema pallidum was detected by mNGS in patients with ocular involvement and normal MRI results for the first time. Given this situation, we recommend mNGS as a potential and supplementary tool for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of neurosyphilis., 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 © 2022 Zhou, Peng, Song, Tie, Tao, Jiang and Zhang.)

Habitat selection behaviour is an effective strategy adopted by clonal plants in heterogeneous understorey light environments, and it is likely regulated by the parental environment's ultraviolet-B radiation levels (UV-B) due to the photomorphogenesis of UV-B and maternal effects. Here, parental ramets of Duchesnea indica were treated with two UV-B radiation levels [high (UV5 group) and low (UV10 group)], newborn offspring were grown under a heterogeneous light environment (ambient light vs shade habitat), and the growth and DNA methylation variations of parents and offspring were analysed. The results showed that parental UV-B affected not only the growth of the parent but also the offspring. The offspring of different UV-B-radiated parents showed different performances. Although these offspring all displayed a tendency to escape from light environments, such as entering shade habitats earlier, and allocating more biomass under shade (33.06% of control, 42.28% of UV5 and 72.73% of UV10), these were particularly obvious in offspring of the high UV-B parent. Improvements in epigenetic diversity (4.77 of control vs 4.83 of UV10) and total DNA methylation levels (25.94% of control vs 27.15% of UV10) and the inhibition of shade avoidance syndrome (denser growth with shorter stolons and internodes) were only observed in offspring of high UV-B parents. This difference was related to the eustress and stress effects of low and high UV-B, respectively. Overall, the behaviour of D. indica under heterogeneous light conditions was regulated by the parental UV-B exposure. Moreover, certain performance improvements helped offspring pre-regulate growth to cope with future environments and were probably associated with the effects of maternal DNA methylation variations in UV-B-radiated parents.

This study aimed to explore the mechanism of action of Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT) with its multiple components and targets in the synergistic regulation of hematopoiesis. Mouse models of hematopoiesis were established using antibiotics. Metabolomics was used to detect body metabolites and enriched pathways. The active ingredients, targets, and pathways of DBT were analyzed using system pharmacology. The results of metabolomics and system pharmacology were integrated to identify the key pathways and targets. A total of 515 metabolites were identified using metabolomics. After the action of antibiotics, 49 metabolites were markedly changed: 23 were increased, 26 were decreased, and 11 were significantly reversed after DBT administration. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that these 11 metabolites were related to bile secretion, cofactor biosynthesis, and fatty acid biosynthesis. The results of the pharmacological analysis showed that 616 targets were related to DBT-induced anemia, which were mainly enriched in biological processes, such as bile secretion, biosynthesis of cofactors, and cholesterol metabolism. Combined with the results of metabolomics and system pharmacology, we found that bile acid metabolism and biotin synthesis were the key pathways for DBT. Forty-two targets of DBT were related to these two metabolic pathways. PPI analysis revealed that the top 10 targets were CYP3A4, ABCG2, and UGT1A8. Twenty-one components interacted with these 10 targets. In one case, a target corresponds to multiple components, and a component corresponds to multiple targets. DBT acts on multiple targets of ABCG2, UGT1A8, and CYP3A4 through multiple components, affecting the biosynthesis of cofactors and bile secretion pathways to regulate hematopoiesis.

Type 2 immunity and inflammation underlie allergic skin disorders, such as atopic dermatitis (AD). In type 2 inflammation, IL-4, IL-13, and IL-5, which are signature type 2 cytokines, are mainly produced by type 2 helper T (Th2) cells and form the characteristic features of AD. Epithelial cell-derived cytokines such as IL-25, IL-33, and TSLP initiate type 2 inflammation by modulating various cells, including group 2 innate lymphoid cells. Moreover, IL-31, a newly identified type 2 cytokine produced mainly by Th2 cells, induces pruritus by acting on sensory neurons in the skin. Based on both basic and clinical findings, several biologics targeting Th2 cytokines have been developed and exhibited significant efficacy as therapeutic reagents for AD. We have summarized the roles of each cytokine (IL-4, 5, 13, 25, 31, and 33, and TSLP) in the development of type 2 inflammation, especially AD, from the view of basic studies in mice and clinical trials/observation in humans., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The responses of plants to recurrent stress may differ from their responses to a single stress event. In this study, we investigated whether clonal plants can remember past environments. Parental ramets of Glechoma longituba (Nakai) Kuprian were exposed to UV-B stress treatments either once or repeatedly (20 and 40 repetitions). Differences in DNA methylation levels and growth parameters among parents, offspring ramets and genets were analysed. Our results showed that UV-B stress reduced the DNA methylation level of parental ramets, and the reduction was enhanced by increasing the number of UV-B treatments. The epigenetic variation exhibited by recurrently stressed parents was maintained for a long time, but that of singly stressed parents was only short-term. Moreover, clonal plants responded to different UV-B stress treatments with different growth strategies. The one-time stress was a eustress that increased genet biomass by increasing offspring leaf allocation and defensive allocation in comparison to the older offspring. In contrast, recurring stress was a distress that reduced genet biomass, increased the biomass of storage stolons, and allocated more defensive substances to the younger ramets. This study demonstrated that the growth of offspring and genets was clearly affected by parental experience, and parental epigenetic memory and the transgenerational effect may play important roles in this effect.

To investigate the diversity and distribution of rhizobia associated with Sophora davidii in habitats with different light and soil conditions at the Loess Plateau, we isolated rhizobia from root nodules of this plant grown at 14 sites at forest edge or understory in Shaanxi Province. Based on PCR-RFLP and phylogenies of 16S rRNA gene, housekeeping genes (atpD, dnaK, recA), and symbiosis genes (nodC and nifH), a total of 271 isolates were identified as 16 Mesorhizobium genospecies, belonging to four nodC lineages, and three nifH lineages. The dominance of M. waimense in the forest edge and of M. amorphae/Mesorhizobium sp. X in the understory habitat evidenced the illumination as a possible factor to affect the diversity and biogeographic patterns of rhizobia. However, the results of Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) among the environmental factors and distribution of rhizobial genospecies illustrated that soil pH and contents of total phosphorus, total potassium and total organic carbon were the main determinants for the community structure of S. davidii rhizobia, while the illumination conditions and available P presented similar and minor effects. In addition, high similarity of nodC and nifH genes between Mesorhizobium robiniae and some S. davidii rhizobia under the forest of Robinia pseudoacacia might be evidence for symbiotic gene lateral transfer. These findings firstly brought an insight into the diversity and distribution of rhizobia associated with S. davidii, and revealed illumination conditions a possible factor with impacts less than the soil traits to drive the symbiosis association between rhizobia and their host legumes., 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 © 2021. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)