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Complete wound healing without scar formation has attracted increasing attention, prompting the development of various strategies to address this challenge. In clinical settings, there is a growing preference for emerging biomedical technologies that effectively manage fibrosis following skin injury, as they provide high efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and minimal side effects compared to invasive and costly surgical techniques. This review gives an overview of the latest developments in advanced biomedical technologies for scarless wound management. We first introduce the wound healing process and key mechanisms involved in scar formation. Subsequently, we explore common strategies for wound treatment, including their fabrication methods, superior performance and the latest research developments in this field. We then shift our focus to emerging biomedical technologies for scarless wound healing, detailing the mechanism of action, unique properties, and advanced practical applications of various biomedical technology-based therapies, such as cell therapy, drug therapy, biomaterial therapy, and synergistic therapy. Finally, we critically assess the shortcomings and potential applications of these biomedical technologies and therapeutic methods in the realm of scar treatment.

Craft beer brewers need to learn process control strategies from traditional industrial production to ensure the consistent quality of the finished product. In this study, FT-IR combined with deep learning was used for the first time to model and analyze the Plato degree and total flavonoid content of Qingke beer during the mashing and boiling stages and to compare the effectiveness with traditional chemometrics methods. Two deep learning neural networks were designed, the effect of variable input methods on the effectiveness of the models was discussed. The experimental results showed that the CARS-LSTM model had the best predictive performance, not only as the best quantitative model for Plato in the mashing (R2p = 0.9368) and boiling (R2p = 0.9398) phases but also as the best model for TFC in the boiling phase (R2p = 0.9154). This study demonstrates the great potential of deep learning and provides a new approach to quality control analysis in beer brewing.

Foam cells play a pivotal role in the progression of atherosclerosis progression by triggering inflammation within arterial walls. They release inflammatory molecules that attract additional immune cells, leading to further macrophage recruitment and plaque development. In this study, we develop an osteopontin (OPN) antibody-conjugated niobium carbide (Nb2C-aOPN) MXenzyme designed to selectively target and mildly ablate foam cells while reducing inflammation in the plaque microenvironment. This approach utilizes photonic hyperthermia to decrease plaque size by enhancing cholesterol regulation through both passive cholesterol outflow and positive cholesterol efflux. Nb2C-aOPN MXenzyme exhibits multiple enzyme-mimicking properties, including catalase, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and glutathione peroxidase, and acts as a scavenger for reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. The inhibition of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species synergizes with photothermal ablation to promote positive cholesterol efflux, leading to reduced macrophage recruitment and a shift in macrophage phenotype from M1 to M2. This integrative strategy on cholesterol regulation and anti-inflammation highlights the potential of multifunctional 2D MXenzyme-based nanomedicine in advancing atherosclerotic regression.

Abstract Background It is challenging to identify residual or recurrent fistulas from the surgical region, while MR imaging is feasible. The aim was to use dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging (DCE-MRI) technology to distinguish between active anal fistula and postoperative healing (granulation) tissue. Methods Thirty-six patients following idiopathic anal fistula underwent DCE-MRI. Subjects were divided into Group I (active fistula) and Group IV (postoperative healing tissue), with the latter divided into Group II (≤ 75 days) and Group III (> 75 days) according to the 75-day interval from surgery to postoperative MRI reexamination. MRI classification and quantitative analysis were performed. Correlation between postoperative time intervals and parameters was analyzed. The difference of parameters between the four groups was analyzed, and diagnostic efficiency was tested by receiver operating characteristic curve. Results Wash-in rate (WI) and peak enhancement intensity (PEI) were significantly higher in Group I than in Group II (p = 0.003, p = 0.040), while wash-out rate (WO), time to peak (TTP), and normalized signal intensity (NSI) were opposite (p = 0.031, p = 0.007, p = 0.010). Area under curves for discriminating active fistula from healing tissue within 75 days were 0.810 in WI, 0.708 in PEI, 0.719 in WO, 0.783 in TTP, 0.779 in NSI. All MRI parameters were significantly different between Group I and Group IV, but not between Group II and Group III, and not related to time intervals. Conclusion In early postoperative period, DCE-MRI can be used to identify active anal fistula in the surgical area. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2000033072.

Background: Peony pollen (PP) has long been used as a functional food and herbal medicine. However, the potential protective effect and mechanisms of PP on benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) are still unclear. This study aims to explore the therapeutic effect and potential mechanisms of PP on BPH. Methods: The rat model of BPH was induced by subcutaneous injection of testosterone propionate (TP). Meanwhile, the model rats were treated with PP, and physiological and biochemical indexes, the steroid 5 alpha reductase 2 (SRD5A2), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and androgen receptor (AR) expressions, gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were measured. Results: The results showed that the wet weight of prostate tissue and the thickness of epithelium decreased treated with PP significantly. In addition, the PP also adjusted the androgen levels, down-regulated the SRD5A2, PCNA and AR expressions, inhibited the expression of inflammatory factors including interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and reduced oxidative damage in BPH rats. It is worth noting that PP can obviously regulate the gut microbiota disorder of BPH rats, increase the abundance of beneficial bacteria (e.g., Romboutsia), reduce the abundance of pathogenic bacteria (e.g., norank_f_Oscillospiraceae), and stimulate the increase of SCFAs content. Conclusions: These data showed that PP can resist abnormal proliferation of the prostate by down regulation of SRD5A2, PCNA and AR expressions, attenuating oxidation stress and inflammatory damages and directly regulate the gut microbiota, especially the Firmicutes, and increased the level of SCFAs to ameliorate BPH. Therefore, PP might be an excellent natural plant for the development of BPH-related drugs or dietary supplements.

Abstract Microfibers from natural products are endowed with remarkable biocompatibility, biodegradability, sustainable utilization as well as environmental protection characteristics etc. Benefitting from these advantages, microfibers have demonstrated their prominent values in biomedical applications. This review comprehensively summarizes the relevant research progress of sustainable microfibers from natural products and their biomedical applications. To begin, common natural elements are introduced for the microfiber fabrication. After that, the focus is on the specific fabrication technology and process. Subsequently, biomedical applications of sustainable microfibers are discussed in detail. Last but not least, the main challenges during the development process are summarized, followed by a vision for future development opportunities.

Natural polymers are complex organic molecules that occur in the natural environment and have not been subjected to artificial synthesis. They are frequently encountered in various creatures, including mammals, plants, and microbes. The aforementioned polymers are commonly derived from renewable sources, possess a notable level of compatibility with living organisms, and have a limited adverse effect on the environment. As a result, they hold considerable significance in the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly goods. In recent times, there has been notable advancement in the investigation of the potential uses of natural polymers in the field of biomedicine, specifically in relation to natural biomaterials that exhibit antibacterial and antioxidant characteristics. This review provides a comprehensive overview of prevalent natural polymers utilized in the biomedical domain throughout the preceding two decades. In this paper, we present a comprehensive examination of the components and typical methods for the preparation of biomaterials based on natural polymers. Furthermore, we summarize the application of natural polymer materials in each stage of skin wound repair. Finally, we present key findings and insights into the limitations of current natural polymers and elucidate the prospects for their future development in this field.

Considerable efforts have been devoted to treating gastric ulcers. Attempts in this field tend to develop drug delivery systems with prolonged gastric retention time. Herein, we develop novel Chinese herb pollen-derived micromotors as active oral drug delivery system for treating gastric ulcer. Such Chinese herb pollen-derived micromotors are simply produced by asymmetrically sputtering Mg layer onto one side of pollen grains. When exposed to gastric juice, the Mg layer can react with the hydrogen ions, resulting in intensive generation of hydrogen bubbles to propel the micromotors. Benefiting from the autonomous motion and unique spiny structure, our micromotors can move actively in the stomach and adhere to the surrounding tissues. Besides, their special architecture endows the micromotors with salient capacity of drug loading and releasing. Based on these features, we have demonstrated that our Chinese herb pollen-derived micromotors could effective deliver berberine hydrochloride and show desirable curative effect on the gastric ulcer model of mice. Therefore, these Chinese herb pollen-derived micromotors are anticipated to serve as promising oral drug delivery carriers for clinical applications.

The cooling of a macroscopic mechanical oscillator to its quantum ground state is an important step for achieving coherent control over mechanical quantum states. Here, we theoretically study the cooling of a rotating mirror in a Laguerre–Gaussian (L-G) cavity optorotational system with a nonlinear cross-Kerr (CK) interaction. We discuss the effects of the nonlinear CK coupling strength, the cavity detuning, the power of the input Gaussian beam, the topological charge (TC) of the L-G cavity mode, the mass of the rotating mirror, and the cavity length on the cooling of the rotating mirror. We find that it is only possible to realize the improvement in the cooling of the rotating mirror by the nonlinear CK interaction when the cavity detuning is less than the mechanical frequency. Compared to the case without the nonlinear CK interaction, we find that the cooling of the rotating mirror can be improved by the nonlinear CK interaction at lower laser powers, smaller TCs of the L-G cavity mode, larger masses of a rotating mirror, and longer optorotational cavities. We show that the cooling of the rotating mirror can be enhanced by the nonlinear CK interaction by a factor of about 23.3 compared to that without the nonlinear CK interaction.

Abstract Intratumor heterogeneity (ITH) of bladder cancer (BLCA) contributes to therapy resistance and immune evasion affecting clinical prognosis. The molecular and cellular mechanisms contributing to BLCA ITH generation remain elusive. It is found that a TM4SF1‐positive cancer subpopulation (TPCS) can generate ITH in BLCA, evidenced by integrative single cell atlas analysis. Extensive profiling of the epigenome and transcriptome of all stages of BLCA revealed their evolutionary trajectories. Distinct ancestor cells gave rise to low‐grade noninvasive and high‐grade invasive BLCA. Epigenome reprograming led to transcriptional heterogeneity in BLCA. During early oncogenesis, epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition generated TPCS. TPCS has stem‐cell‐like properties and exhibited transcriptional plasticity, priming the development of transcriptionally heterogeneous descendent cell lineages. Moreover, TPCS prevalence in tumor is associated with advanced stage cancer and poor prognosis. The results of this study suggested that bladder cancer interacts with its environment by acquiring a stem cell‐like epigenomic landscape, which might generate ITH without additional genetic diversification.

The damage of integrated epithelial epithelium is a key pathogenic factor and closely associated with the recurrence of ulcerative colitis (UC). Here, we reported that vanillic acid (VA) exerted potent therapeutic effects on DSS-induced colitis by restoring intestinal epithelium homeostasis via the inhibition of ferroptosis. By the CETSA assay and DARTS assay, we identified carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX, CA9) as the direct target of VA. The binding of VA to CA9 causes insulin-induced gene-2 (INSIG2) to interact with stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1), rather than SREBP cleavage-activating protein (SCAP), leading to the translocation of SCAP-SREBP1 from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus for cleavage into mature SREBP1. The activation of SREBP1 induced by VA then significantly facilitated the transcription of stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) to exert an inhibitory effect on ferroptosis. By inhibiting the excessive death of intestinal epithelial cells caused by ferroptosis, VA effectively preserved the integrity of intestinal barrier and prevented the progression of unresolved inflammation. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that VA could alleviate colitis by restoring intestinal epithelium homeostasis through CA9/STIM1-mediated inhibition of ferroptosis, providing a promising therapeutic candidate for UC.

Abstract Conductive hydrogels have attracted copious attention owing to their grateful performances, such as similarity to biological tissues, compliance, conductivity and biocompatibility. A diversity of conductive hydrogels have been developed and showed versatile potentials in biomedical applications. In this review, we highlight the recent advances in conductive hydrogels, involving the various types and functionalities of conductive hydrogels as well as their applications in biomedical fields. Furthermore, the current challenges and the reasonable outlook of conductive hydrogels are also given. It is expected that this review will provide potential guidance for the advancement of next‐generation conductive hydrogels.

Wettability, as a fundamental property of interface materials, is becoming increasingly prominent in frontier research areas, such as water harvesting, microfluidics, biomedicine, sensors, decontamination, wearables, and micro-electromechanical systems. Taking advantage of biological paradigm inspirations and manufacturing technology advancements, diverse wettability materials with precisely customized micro/nano-structures have been developed. As a result of these achievements, wettability materials have significant technical ramifications in sectors spanning from academics to industry, agriculture, and biomedical engineering. Practical applications of wettability-customized materials in medical device domains have drawn significant scientific interest in recent decades due to the increased emphasis on healthcare. In this review, recent advances of wettability-customized micro/nano-materials for biomedical devices are presented. After briefly introducing the natural wettable/non-wettable phenomena, the fabrication strategies and novel processing techniques are discussed. The study emphasizes the application progress of biomedical devices with customized wettability. The future challenges and opportunities of wettability-customized micro/nano-materials are also provided.

IntroductionDue to the existence of grass carp reovirus (GCRV), grass carp hemorrhagic disease occurs frequently, and its high pathogenicity and infectivity are great challenges to the aquaculture industry. As a highly pathogenic pathogen, the outbreak of hemorrhagic disease often causes tremendous economic losses. Therefore, it is important to rapidly and accurately detect GCRV on site to control timely.MethodsIn this study, recombinant enzyme amplification (RPA) combined with clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas13a system was employed to establish a method to detect the vp7 gene of grass carp reovirus type 1. This method can be adopted for judging the results by collecting fluorescence signal, ultraviolet excitation visual fluorescence and test strip.ResultsCombined with the RPA amplification experiment, the detection limit of the RPA-CRISPR method can reach 7.2 × 101 copies/μL of vp7 gene per reaction, and the detection process can be completed within 1 h. In addition, this method had no cross-reaction with the other 11 common aquatic pathogens. Then, the performance of the RPA-CRISPR/Cas13a detection method was evaluated by comparing it with the real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR detection method of clinical samples. The results of RPA-CRISPR/Cas13a detection were shown to be in consistence with the results obtained from the real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR detection. The coincidence rate of this method with 26 GCRV clinical samples was 92.31%.DiscussionIn summary, this method has high sensitivity, specificity and on-site practicability for detecting GCRV type 1, and has great application potential in on-site GCRV monitoring.

Natural biomaterials have been widely applied in wound treatment. Hotspots in this area are focused on reducing their immunogenicity and improving their therapeutic effect. In this work, we present a novel aquaculture derived hybrid skin patch based on acellular fish skin (AFS) and chitosan (CS) for wound healing. Such functional patch was simply constructed by infiltrating the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-loaded CS pregel into the porous scaffold of the AFS. As the natural molecules and structure of fish skin are well-retained during the synthesis processes, the final patch presented brilliant tensile property, water-absorption property, good biocompatibility and low immunogenicity. In addition, the integrated CS and VEGF endow the patch with antibacterial and angiogenesis capability respectively for promoting tissue growth and wound healing. Thus, in a full-thickness wound rat model, the hybrid patch has been demonstrated with dramatic therapeutic efficacy in inhibiting inflammatory, accelerating angiogenesis, collagen deposition, and tissue generation during the wound repair procedure. These features imply the practical value of this multifunctional aquaculture derived hybrid skin patch in clinical wound management.

Abstract Hydrogel patches have outstanding values in wound treatment; challenges in this field are concentrated on developing functional and intelligent hydrogel patches with new antibacterial strategies for improving healing process. Herein, a novel melanin‐integrated structural color hybrid hydrogel patches for wound healing is presented. Such hybrid hydrogel patches are fabricated by infusing asiatic acid (AA)‐loaded low melting‐point agarose (AG) pregel into the melanin nanoparticles (MNPs)‐integrated fish gelatin inverse opal film. In this system, MNPs not only impart the hybrid hydrogels with properties of photothermal antibacterial and antioxidant, but also improve the visibility of structural colors by providing an inherent dark background. Besides, the photothermal effect of MNPs under near‐infrared irradiation can also trigger liquid transformation of AG component in hybrid patch, resulting in the controllable release of its loaded proangiogenic AA. Attracting, this drug release induced refractive index variations in the patch can be detected as visible structural color shifting, which can be used to monitor their delivery processes. Benefiting from these features, the hybrid hydrogel patches are demonstrated to achieve excellent therapeutic effects for in vivo wound treatment. Thus, it is believed that the proposed melanin‐integrated structural color hybrid hydrogels are valuable as multifunctional patches for clinical applications.

Abstract Focal spot (light spot) at single-photon level have important applications in many fields. This report demonstrates a method for measuring focal spot size at the single-photon level indirectly. This method utilizes Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) as the single-photon sensitive detectors, combined with a nano-positioning stage. The approach involves one- or two-dimensional space scanning and a deconvolution operation, which enable evaluations of the size and spatial distribution of the focal spot formed by a single-photon-level pulsed laser. The results indicate that the average full width at half maximum of the focal spot is about 0.657 μm, which is close to the nominal resolution of the objective lens of the microscope (i.e. 0.42 μm). The proposed method has two key advantages: (1) it can measure focal spot at the single-photon level, and (2) the focal spot can easily be aligned with the detector because the array area of the Geiger mode avalanche photodiode (Gm-APD) cells in SiPM is usually on the order of square millimeter, and there is no need to put an optical slit, knife edge, or pinhole in front of the detector. The method described herein is applicable in weak focal spot detection related fields.

Abstract Background Wound healing has become a worldwide healthcare issue. Attempts in the area focus on developing patches with the capabilities of avoiding wound infection, promoting tissue remolding, and reporting treatment status that are of great value for wound treatment. Results In this paper, we present a novel inverse opal film (IOF) patch based on a photo-crosslinking fish gelatin hydrogel with the desired features for wound healing and dynamic monitoring. The film with vibrant structure colors was constructed by using the mixture of fish gelatin methacryloyl, chitosan, and polyacrylic acid (PAA) to replicate colloidal crystal templates. As the structures of these natural biomolecules are well-retained during the fabrication, the resultant IOF was with brilliant biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, antibacterial property, as well as with the functions of promoting tissue growth and wound healing. In addition, the IOF presented interconnected nanopores and high specific surface areas for vascular endothelial growth factor loading, which could further improve its angiogenesis capability. More attractively, as the pH-responsive PAA was incorporated, the IOF patch could report the wound healing status through its real-time structural colors or reflectance spectra. Conclusions These features implied the practical value of the multifunctional fish gelatin hydrogel IOFs in clinical wound management. Graphical Abstract

Abstract Stimuli‐responsive “smart” hydrogel biomaterials have attracted great attention in the biomedical field, especially in designing novel on‐demand drug delivery systems. As a handful natural biomaterial approved by US Food and Drug Administration, silk fibroin (SF) has unique high temperature resistance as well as tunable structural composition. These properties make it one of the most ideal candidates for on‐demand drug delivery. Meanwhile, recent advances in polymer modification and nanomaterials have fostered the development of various stimuli‐responsive delivery systems. Here, we first review the recent advance in designing responsive SF‐based delivery systems in different stimulus sources. These systems are able to release mediators in a desired manner in response to specific stimuli in active or passive manners. We then describe applications of these specially designed responsive delivery systems in wound healing, tumor therapy, as well as immunomodulation. We also discuss the future challenges and prospects of stimuli‐responsive SF‐based delivery systems.

【Objective】Hexose transporter (HXT) is a kind of monosaccharide transporter, which can transport mannose, fructose, glucose and other hexose substances across the membrane, and participate in the development of pollen and the growth of the whole plant, and then determine the internal quality of fruit. Bioinformatics and expression characteristics of HXT gene in pitaya were analyzed in order to provide a theoretical basis for regulating the fruit quality of pitaya.【Method】A hexose transporter gene was obtained by gene cloning. Bioinformatics analysis was conducted by using NCBI, BioEdit, DNAMAN and other software or databases. The soluble sugar contents were determined by HPLC at fruit maturity stage. The relative expression characteristics of HTX gene in different lines of pitaya and different parts of afruit were analyzed by fluorescence quantitative PCR.【Result】A HXT gene named HuHXTwas cloned from pitaya fruit by PCR amplification. The total length of the gene was 1 230 bp, encoding 410 amino acids. The protein instability coefficient was 35.59, with 32 Ser, 15 Thr and 15 Tyr. There were sucrose, glucose and fructose in pitaya, and glucose and fructose were the main components. The expression of HuHXT was the highest in No. 97 line, followed by Zhanhong No. 2 and No. 128, while No. 15 and No. 16 had the lowest expression level. The expression level of HuHXT was not significantly different in different parts of a fruit. The expression in parts near the pericarp was higher other parts of a fruit.【Conclusion】HuHXT is a member of the Sugar-tr gene family. HuHXT protein is a stable protein with strong hydrophobicity. As a membrane protein, its secondary structure is mainly α-helix and random curl. There is negative correlation between the relative expression of HuHXT and the content of glucose, that is, the higher the HuHXT expression level, the lower the glucose content.

Abstract With an ideal comfort level, sensitivity, reliability, and user‐friendliness, wearable sensors are making great contributions to daily health care, nursing care, early disease discovery, and body monitoring. Some wearable sensors are imparted with hierarchical and uneven microstructures, such as microneedle structures, which not only facilitate the access to multiple bio‐analysts in the human body but also improve the abilities to detect feeble body signals. In this paper, we present the promising applications and latest progress of functional microneedles in wearable sensors. We begin by discussing the roles of microneedles as sensing units, including how the signals are captured, converted, and transmitted. We also introduce the microneedle‐like structures as power units, which depend on triboelectric or piezoelectric effects, etc. Finally, we summarize the cutting‐edge applications of microneedle‐based wearable sensors in biophysical signal monitoring and biochemical analyte detection, and provide critical thinking on their future perspectives.

Abstract Bladder cancer (BLCA) is a most common urological tumours with high rate of recurrence, which needs long‐term of follow‐up. To date, diagnosis and surveillance of BLCA still rely on cystoscopy, an invasive and expensive method that increases the difficulty for routine follow‐up. Therefore, exploring new biomarkers or tests is an effective way to improve the current clinical management of BLCA. Recent years, liquid biopsy has received increasing attention, especially for its great potential for clinical application in the non‐invasive detection of tumours. In addition, liquid biopsy involves a wide range of biomarkers, including DNA, RNA, proteins, extracellular vesicles and metabolites in blood, urine or other body fluids. For BLCA, urine is a most ideal body fluid to achieve non‐invasive diagnosis and surveillance. Here, we address recent developments of urine‐based biomarkers or tests for clinical diagnostic challenges in BLCA, such as early detection, minimal residual, recurrence monitoring and therapeutic response. Meanwhile, the many challenges of urine biomarkers that need to be overcome are also discussed.

Abstract Both traumatic and non‐traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCIs) can be categorized as damages done to our central nervous system (CNS). The patients' physical and mental health may suffer greatly because of traumatic SCI. With the widespread use of motor vehicles and increasingly aged population, the occurrence of SCI is more frequent than before, creating a considerable burden to global public health. The regeneration process of the spinal cord is hampered by a series of events that occur following SCI like edema, hemorrhage, formation of cystic cavities, and ischemia. An effective strategy for the treatment of SCI and functional recovery still has not been discovered; however, recent advances have been made in bioengineering fields that therapies based on cells, biomaterials, and biomolecules have proved effective in the repair of the spinal cord. In the light of worldwide importance of treatments for SCI, this article aims to provide a review of recent advances by first introducing the physiology, etiology, epidemiology, and mechanisms of SCI. We then put emphasis on the widely used clinical treatments and bioengineering strategies (cell‐based, biomaterial‐based, and biomolecule‐based) for the functional regeneration of the spinal cord as well as challenges faced by scientists currently. This article provides scientists and clinicians with a comprehensive outlook on the recent advances of preclinical and clinical treatments of SCI, hoping to help them find keys to the functional regeneration of SCI.

Uncertainty is mushrooming throughout COVID-19, and intolerance of uncertainty (IoU) nudges people into mental health difficulties involving fear, depression, and anxiety. The objective of this study was to investigate the role of depression and fear of COVID-19 (FoC) in the association between IoU and future career anxiety (FCA) among Chinese university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study involved 1,919 Chinese undergraduate students from 11 universities in eight Chinese cities with an online self-administered survey that included demographic information, IoU, FoC, depression, and FCA completed by all participants. Our study demonstrated a positive relationship between IoU and FCA and the chain mediation effect of FoC and depression. Thus, understanding how FoC affects FCA not only informs university career professionals and assists students in preparing for employment, but also motivates schools to offer career opportunities workshops and, most importantly, provides mental health support to help students effectively cope with uncertainty and overcome COVID-19-related stress.

Emissions of agricultural machines during tillage processes played an important role in severe seasonal pollution events in agricultural areas in China and cannot be ignored. In this study, the CO, NOX, HC and PM2.5 emissions of agricultural machines during real-world tillage processes were tested using a portable emission measurement system (PEMS), and their fuel-based and tillage area-based emission factors were calculated. The CO, NOX, HC and PM2.5 emissions were influenced by emission standards, engine rated power, tillage processes and crops. Only the CO, HC and PM2.5 fuel-based emission factors were reduced from China 0 to China II. For China III agricultural machines, the fuel-based emission factors were higher during plowing and tilling than during harvesting. The tillage area-based CO, NOX, HC and PM2.5 emission factors of corn tillage process were 11.85 ± 8.30, 53.21 ± 48.80, 3.46 ± 3.14 and 1.64 ± 1.33 kg/km2, respectively. The tillage area-based CO, NOX, HC and PM2.5 emission factors of wheat tillage process were 19.69 ± 21.50, 79.98 ± 63.22, 3.90 ± 2.96 and 1.61 ± 2.43 kg/km2, respectively. The tillage area-based emission factors of China III agricultural machines during plowing and tilling were higher than those during harvesting. The fuel consumption per unit tillage area can be used to provide a reference for the interconversion of the two emission factors in future studies. By comparing the fuel-based emission factors in this study with those in the Guidelines and other studies, we observed that the CO, HC and PM2.5 emissions of agricultural machines with corresponding emission standards may be overestimated and the NOX emissions may be underestimated in areas where wheat and corn are mainly grown. Moreover, the pollutant emissions of agricultural machines were regionally different. These results could help elucidate the pollution contribution of agricultural machines in China.

Pomegranate fruit production and consumption are restricted by appropriate postharvest handling practices. 1–MCP (1–methylcyclopropene) is a natural preservative of fruits and vegetables; however, its effects on the storage of different pomegranate varieties have not been extensively investigated. Herein, the effects of 1.0 μL L−1 1–MCP on postharvest pomegranate fruit of three soft-seed ‘Mollar’, ‘Malisi’, and ‘Tunisan soft seed’ and two semi-soft-seed ‘Moyuruanzi’ and ‘Dongyan’ were investigated over 90 d (days) under low-temperature storage at 4 ± 0.5 °C with a relative humidity of 85–90%. Several indexes of exterior and interior quality were recorded, the sensory quality was evaluated, and the respiration and ethylene production were also determined. The results showed that peel browning was generally more severe in the soft-seed varieties than in the semi-soft-seed varieties. Significantly lighter peel browning presented in the three soft-seed fruits from 45 d after the 1–MCP treatment, with 35%, 19%, and 28% less than those controls at 90 d, correspondingly. However, 1–MCP only significantly decreased peel browning in the semi soft-seed fruits at 60 days. A prominent decrease in weight loss was recorded in all five varieties, with ‘Malisi’ showing the largest and ‘Dongyan’ the smallest difference between the 1–MCP and control treatments. Through the results of color, physiological, and chemical changes, as well as sensory properties, better color and total acceptance were found with higher titratable acids and vitamin C but with decreased anthocyanins in most fruits treated with 1–MCP. In contrast to the control, remarkable suppression of ethylene production peaks in all whole fruits and periodical increase in respiration rates in the soft-seed whole fruits were activated at 30–60 d after storage by the 1–MCP treatment, roughly when peel browning occurred and began increasing. Overall, our findings provided a crucial foundation for extending the application of 1–MCP in postharvest preservation of pomegranates.

In recent years, non-grain production of cultivated land (NGPCL) has become increasingly prominent in China, seriously affecting food production and threatening the country’s food security. However, there is a lack of large-scale and high-precision methods for remote sensing identification of NGPCL. From the perspective of effective management of cultivated land resources, the characteristics of the spatial patterns of NGPCL, both on a large scale and at a patch scale, need to be further studied. For solving this problem, this paper uses the Google Earth engine (GEE) cloud computing platform and multi-source remote sensing data with a machine learning algorithm to determine the occurrence of NGPCL in Anhui province in 2019, and then uses nine selected landscape pattern indexes to analyze the spatial patterns of NGPCL from two aspects, specifically, economic development level and topography. The results show that: (1) terrain features, radar features, and texture features are beneficial to the extraction of NGPCL; (2) the degree of separation obtained by using an importance evaluation approach shows that spectral features have the highest importance, followed by index features with red edges, texture features, index features without red edges, radar features, and terrain features; and (3) the cultivated land in Anhui province in 2019 is mainly planted with food crops, and the phenomenon of NGPCL is more likely to occur in areas with high economic development levels and flat terrain. Aided by the GEE cloud platform, multi-source remote sensing data, and machine learning algorithm, the remote sensing monitoring approach utilized in this study could accurately, quickly, and efficiently determine NGPCL on a regional scale.

Extreme weather events are happening more frequently as a result of global climate change. Dust storms broke out in the spring of 2017 in China and drastically impacted the local air quality. In this study, a variety of data, including aerosol vertical profiles, surface particle concentration, meteorological parameters, and MODIS–derived aerosol optical depth, as well as backward trajectory analysis, were employed to analyze two dust events from April to May in Beijing. The dust plumes were mainly concentrated below 0.8 km, with peak PM10 values of 1000 μg·m−3 and 300 μg·m−3 in the two cases. The aerosols showed different vertical distribution characteristics. The pure dust in case 1 from 4 to 5 May 2017 had a longer duration (2 days) and presented a larger aerosol extinction coefficient (2.27 km−1 at 355 nm and 1.25 km−1 at 532 nm) than that of the mixed dust in case 2 on 17 April 2017 (2.01 km−1 at 355 nm and 1.33 km−1 at 532 nm). The particle depolarization ratio (PDR) remained constant (0.24 ± 0.03 in case 1) from the surface to 0.8 km in height. In contrast, the PDR profile in the mixed dust (case 2) layer was split into two regions—large values exceeding 0.15 above 0.6 km and small values of 0.11 ± 0.03 below 0.6 km. The influence of meteorological information on aerosol distribution was also investigated, and wind was predominant through the observing period. The pure dust in case 1 was mainly from Mongolia, with strong northwest winds, while the near-surface mixed pollution was caused by the combination of long-transported sand and local emission. Furthermore, lidar-derived profiles of dust mass concentrations in the two cases were presented. This study reveals the vertical characteristics of dust aerosols in the production and dissipation of localized dust events and confirms the efficacy of thorough observations with multiple approaches from the ground to space to monitor dust events in real time.

In light of carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, China has attached great importance to energy savings and carbon reduction. Carbon reduction in the transport sector is critical to achieving the two-carbon target, as it accounts for 9.41% of total carbon emissions. As the sharing economy grows, car sharing is considered to present excellent carbon reduction potential in the transportation sector. However, the current research is focused on car sharing usage, with a lack of research on the carbon reduction capability of car sharing in China. Hence, this study aims to investigate the carbon reduction capacity of car sharing, including usage rates of car-share services and changes in travel behavior, through an online questionnaire combined with carbon emission data from the transportation sector. The study aims to analyze the contribution of car-share services to carbon reduction in the transportation sector under the current model. The well-to-wheel (WTW) approach is employed, including the energy consumption of vehicles and carbon emissions in the production process. The research results indicate that the introduction of car-sharing services increases driving energy consumption; however, this increase is offset by the decrease in carbon emissions as a result of the production process. Therefore, the overall effect is a reduction in carbon emissions of 1.058971 million tons in 2021, accounting for 1.95 percent of total transport carbon emissions. In addition, the impact on different modes on carbon emission reduction is also explored in this study. The results demonstrate that the private car disposal rate shows the most significant influence on traffic carbon emissions; a 10% reduction in the number of private cars can lead to a 2.48% carbon reduction. The relevant conclusions of this study can provide support for the future development of car sharing in China and the reduction of carbon emissions in the transportation sector.

Abstract Background It is believed that natural selection acts on the phenotypical changes caused by mutations. Phenotypically, from fishes to amphibians to reptiles, the emergence of limbs greatly facilitates the landing of ancient vertebrates, but the causal mutations and evolutionary trajectory of this process remain unclear. Results We serendipitously obtained a pig of limbless phenotype. Mutations specific to this handicapped pig were identified using genome re-sequencing and comparative genomic analysis. We narrowed down the causal mutations to particular chromosomes and even several candidate genes and sites, such like a mutation-containing codon in gene BMP7 (bone morphogenetic protein) which was conserved in mammals but variable in lower vertebrates. Conclusions We parsed the limbless-related mutations in the light of evolution. The limbless pig shows phenocopy of the clades before legs were evolved. Our findings might help deduce the emergence of limbs during vertebrate evolution and should be appealing to the broad community of human genetics and evolutionary biology.

Abstract Background State‐of‐art non‐invasive diagnosis processes for bladder cancer (BLCA) harbour shortcomings such as low sensitivity and specificity, unable to distinguish between high‐ (HG) and low‐grade (LG) tumours, as well as inability to differentiate muscle‐invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). This study investigates a comprehensive characterization of the entire DNA methylation (DNAm) landscape of BLCA to determine the relevant biomarkers for the non‐invasive diagnosis of BLCA. Methods A total of 304 samples from 224 donors were enrolled in this multi‐centre, prospective cohort study. BLCA‐specific DNAm signature discovery was carried out with genome‐wide bisulfite sequencing in 32 tumour tissues and 12 normal urine samples. A targeted sequencing assay for BLCA‐specific DNAm signatures was developed to categorize tumour tissue against normal urine, or MIBC against NMIBC. Independent validation was performed with targeted sequencing of 259 urine samples in a double‐blinded manner to determine the clinical diagnosis and prognosis value of DNAm‐based classification models. Functions of genomic region harbouring BLCA‐specific DNAm signature were validated with biological assays. Concordances of pathology to urine tumour DNA (circulating tumour DNA [ctDNA]) methylation, genomic mutations or other state‐of‐the‐art diagnosis methods were measured. Results Genome‐wide DNAm profile could accurately classify LG tumour from HG tumour (LG NMIBC vs. HG NMIBC: p = .038; LG NMIBC vs. HG MIBC, p = .00032; HG NMIBC vs. HG MIBC: p = .82; Student's t‐test). Overall, the DNAm profile distinguishes MIBC from NMIBC and normal urine. Targeted‐sequencing‐based DNAm signature classifiers accurately classify LG NMIBC tissues from HG MIBC and could detect tumours in urine at a limit of detection of less than .5%. In tumour tissues, DNAm accurately classifies pathology, thus outperforming genomic mutation or RNA expression profiles. In the independent validation cohort, pre‐surgery urine ctDNA methylation outperforms fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay to detect HG BLCA (n = 54) with 100% sensitivity (95% CI: 82.5%–100%) and LG BLCA (n = 26) with 62% sensitivity (95% CI: 51.3%–72.7%), both at 100% specificity (non‐BLCA: n = 72; 95% CI: 84.1%–100%). Pre‐surgery urine ctDNA methylation signature correlates with pathology and predicts recurrence and metastasis. Post‐surgery urine ctDNA methylation (n = 61) accurately predicts recurrence‐free survival within 180 days, with 100% accuracy. Conclusion With the discovery of BLCA‐specific DNAm signatures, targeted sequencing of ctDNA methylation outperforms FISH and DNA mutation to detect tumours, predict recurrence and make prognoses.

PurposeThe aim was to investigate the association between microvascular invasion (MVI) and the peritumoral imaging features of gadolinium ethoxybenzyl DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MethodsUp until Feb 24, 2022, the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were carefully searched for relevant material. The software packages utilized for this meta-analysis were Review Manager 5.4.1, Meta-DiSc 1.4, and Stata16.0. Summary results are presented as sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), diagnostic odds ratios (DORs), area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), and 95% confidence interval (CI). The sources of heterogeneity were investigated using subgroup analysis.ResultsAn aggregate of nineteen articles were remembered for this meta-analysis: peritumoral enhancement on the arterial phase (AP) was described in 13 of these studies and peritumoral hypointensity on the hepatobiliary phase (HBP) in all 19 studies. The SEN, SPE, DOR, and AUC of the 13 investigations on peritumoral enhancement on AP were 0.59 (95% CI, 0.41−0.58), 0.80 (95% CI, 0.75−0.85), 4 (95% CI, 3−6), and 0.73 (95% CI, 0.69−0.77), respectively. The SEN, SPE, DOR, and AUC of 19 studies on peritumoral hypointensity on HBP were 0.55 (95% CI, 0.45−0.64), 0.87 (95% CI, 0.81−0.91), 8 (95% CI, 5−12), and 0.80 (95% CI, 0.76−0.83), respectively. The subgroup analysis of two imaging features identified ten and seven potential factors for heterogeneity, respectively.ConclusionThe results of peritumoral enhancement on the AP and peritumoral hypointensity on HBP showed high SPE but low SEN. This indicates that the peritumoral imaging features on Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI can be used as a noninvasive, excluded diagnosis for predicting hepatic MVI in HCC preoperatively. Moreover, the results of this analysis should be updated when additional data become available. Additionally, in the future, how to improve its SEN will be a new research direction.

Mattic horizon, grassroots intertwined surface horizon for soils in alpine meadow, is of great importance for alpine ecosystems with its thickness serving as a critical indicator for the extent of alpine meadow degradation. However, the distribution patterns and key environmental factors controlling mattic horizon thickness (MHT) remain unknown. We evaluated the potential of a boosted regression trees (BRT) based variable selection approach to identify the determinants of MHT, to reveal the predictor-response relationship, and to map the spatial distributions of MHT. Results showed that the selected six key environmental variables can reliably reflect the pedogenic processes of mattic horizon in such alpine environment. Among which, the most important environmental variables controlling MHT were modified soil-adjusted vegetation index 2 (relative importance of 31.9%), elevation (22.7%), followed by slope (13.2%), topographic wetness index (11.4%), relative slope position (10.4%), and mean annual precipitation (10.4%). Additionally, the BRT model using those six key variables for mapping MHT performed an acceptable prediction with R2 value of 0.447 (standard deviation of 0.019). The variable selection procedure dramatically reduced the number of environmental variables by 77% (from 26 to 6), which could not only improve computational efficiency but also significantly improve model performance with a 30.3% increase in R2. Our results demonstrate that the proposed BRT algorithm-based variable selection approach can reliably identify the determinants of MHT both statistically and pedologically. It can be used as a promising approach for revealing the predictor-response relationship, mapping the distribution patterns of MHT, and may provide a solution to map soil depth over large areas.

The spray atomization of an injector significantly influences the performance and working life span of a bipropellant thruster of a spacecraft. Deep space exploration requires the thruster to be able to operate reliably at a low temperature range from −40 °C to 0 °C, so the effect of low temperature conditions on the atomization characteristics of injector spray is motivated to be comprehensively investigated. To study the swirl atomization characteristics of MMH (methylhydrazine), which is more difficult to atomize than NTO (nitrogen tetroxide), numerical simulations were conducted, employing the methods of VOF (volume of fluid) and LES (large eddy simulation) under low temperature conditions. The physical model with a nozzle size of 0.5 mm and boundary conditions with a velocity inlet of 3.89 m/s both follow the actual operation of thrusters. The development of spray atomization at low temperatures was observed through parametric comparisons, such as spray velocity, liquid total surface area, droplet particle size distribution, spray cone angle and breakup distance. When the temperature decreased from 20 °C to −40 °C at the same condition of flowrate inlet, those atomization characteristics of MMH propellant vary following these rules: the spray ejection velocity of MMH is significantly reduced by 7.7%, and gas-liquid disturbance sequentially decreases; the liquid film development is more stable, with a negative influence on atomization quality, causing difficulties for primary and secondary breakup, so the total surface area of droplets also decreases by 6.4%; the spatial distribution characteristics, spray cone angle and breakup distance vary less than 5%. Therefore, the low temperature condition can directly lower the combustion efficiency of thrusters with obvious performance degradation, but there are no significant changes in the propellant mixing and liquid film cooling. It is concluded that the bipropellant thruster can reliably work at low temperatures around −40 °C for deep space probe operation.

Digital soil maps of different scales have been widely used in the estimates of soil organic carbon (SOC). However, exactly how the scale of the soil map impacts SOC dynamics and the key factors influencing SOC estimations during the map generalization process have rarely been assessed. In this research, a newly available soil database of Zhejiang Province in southeastern China, which contains 2154 geo-referenced soil profiles and six digital soil maps at scales of 1:50,000, 1:250,000, 1:500,000, 1:1,000,000, 1:4,000,000, and 1:10,000,000, and three different linkage methods (i.e., the mean, median, and pedological professional knowledge-based (PKB) methods) were used to evaluate their influence on the estimates of SOC. The findings of our study were as follows: (1) The scale of the soil map was identified as being of crucial importance for regional SOC estimations. (2) The linkage method played an important role in the accurate estimates of SOC, and the PKB method could provide the most detailed information on the spatial variability of SOC estimations. (3) The key factors affecting the estimates of SOC during the map generalization process as the soil map scale decreased from 1:50,000 to 1:10,000,000 were determined, including the changes in the number of soil profiles, the conversions between different soil types, the conversions from non-soils to soils, and the linkage methods of aggregating the SOC density values of soil profiles to represent map units. The results suggest that the most detailed 1:50,000-scale soil map coupled with the PKB method would be the optimal choice for regional SOC estimations in China.