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Abstract Interactions between lone pairs and aromatic π systems are significant across biology and self‐assembled materials. Herein, employing an achiral confinement metal–organic framework (MOF) encapsulates guest molecules, it is successfully realized that lone pair (lp)‐π interaction induces fluorescence “turn‐on” and circularly polarized luminescence for the first time. The MOFs synthesized based on naphthalenediimide show nearly non‐emissive, which can be light‐up by introducing acetone or ester guests containing lone pairs‐π interaction. Furthermore, the introduction of a series of lp‐rich chiral esters induces supramolecular chirality as well as circularly polarized luminescence in achiral MOFs, while also observing chiral adaptability. This work first demonstrates the luminescence and chiral induction via lone pair electrons‐π interactions, presenting a fresh paradigm for the advancement of chiroptical materials.

In view of the low degree of mechanization and poor quality of harvesting of edible sunflower after drying, an in situ bionic harvesting device was designed, which can achieve low-loss harvesting of edible sunflower without removing the edible sunflower disc. According to the physical characteristics of sunflower stalks in the field, influencing factors of in situ low-loss feeding were obtained, and the structural parameters of the in situ feeding mechanism were determined. Based on bionic technology and static analysis, the influencing factors on the performance of the bionic threshing mechanism were obtained. By analyzing the mechanical characteristics of edible sunflower seed, the operation parameters of the seed collection mechanism were determined. Based on the structural analysis results of the harvesting device, a response surface optimization test was carried out. The test results show that when the average rotation speed of the bionic loosening roller was 113.57 rpm, the average rotation speed of the simulated artificial striking roller was 230.80 rpm, the average forward speed of the harvesting device was 0.58 m/s, the working quality of the harvesting device was the best, the seed loss rate was 2.12%, and the edible sunflower disc threshing rate was 98.96%. A field verification test further confirms that under the optimal working parameters, the relative deviation between test indexes and response surface optimization test results was less than 2%. During the operation process, the movement of key components of the harvesting device was coordinated and stable. The research results can provide new ideas for the mechanized harvesting of the edible sunflower disc after drying.

Abstract Background Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) is the most serious complication and the main reason for morbidity and mortality after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). Currently, there exists no flawless pancreaticojejunal anastomosis approach. We presents a new approach called Chen’s penetrating-suture technique for pancreaticojejunostomy (PPJ), which involves end-to-side pancreaticojejunostomy by suture penetrating the full-thickness of the pancreas and jejunum, and evaluates its safety and efficacy. Methods To assess this new approach, between May 2006 and July 2018, 193 consecutive patients who accepted the new Chen’s Penetrating-Suture technique after a PD were enrolled in this study. Postoperative morbidity and mortality were evaluated. Results All cases recovered well after PD. The median operative time was 256 (range 208–352) min, with a median time of 12 (range 8–25) min for performing pancreaticojejunostomy. Postoperative morbidity was 19.7% (38/193) and mortality was zero. The POPF rate was 4.7% (9/193) for Grade A, 1.0% (2/193) for Grade B, and no Grade C cases and one urinary tract infection. Conclusion PPJ is a simple, safe, and reliable technique with ideal postoperative clinical results.

Unravelling the mechanism of chirality transfer in supramolecular assemblies is important to understand the relationship between molecular chirality and supramolecular chirality. Here, the authors use nonlinear spectroscopy and molecular dynamic simulations to study the long-range chirality transfer in a self-assembled supramolecular system.

Research has been conducted on solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for their fuel flexibility, modularity, high efficiency, and power density. However, the high working temperature leads to the deterioration of materials and increased operating costs. Considering the high protonic conductivity and low activation energy, the proton conducting SOFC, i.e., the protonic ceramic fuel cell (PCFC), working at a low temperature, has been wildly investigated. The PCFC is a promising state-of-the-art electrochemical energy conversion system for ecological energy; it is characterized by near zero carbon emissions and high efficiency, and it is environment-friendly. The PCFC can be applied for the direct conversion of various renewable fuels into electricity at intermediate temperatures (400–650 °C). The construction of the PCFC directly affect its properties; therefore, manufacturing technology is the crucial factor that determines the performance. As a thinner electrolyte layer will lead to a lower polarization resistance, a uniformly constructed and crack-free layer which can perfectly bond to electrodes with a large effective area is challenging to achieve. In this work, different fabrication methods are investigated, and their effect on the overall performance of PCFCs is evaluated. This article reviews the recent preparation methods of PCFCs, including common methods, 3D printing methods, and other advanced methods, with summarized respective features, and their testing and characterization results.

It is unclear whether the positive effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning are maintained under multifaceted anthropogenic disturbance. In this experiment, the authors show that multiple simultaneous stressors can negate the positive effect of microbial diversity on soil functions.

Stress granules are non-membranous organelles connected to stress responses and age-related disease. Here, the authors identify a conserved yeast protein, Lsm7, that facilitates stress granule formation through dynamic liquid-liquid phase separation condensates upon 2-deoxy-D-glucose-induced stress.

AimsFew studies on early recurrence (ER) focused on patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). We aimed to investigate the characteristics and clinical significance of ER in patients with persistent AF after catheter ablation (CA).MethodsA total of 348 consecutive patients who underwent first-time CA for persistent and long-standing persistent AF between January 2019 and May 2022 were investigated.ResultsAbout 5/348 (1.44%) patients who failed to convert to sinus rhythm after CA were excluded. A total of 110/343 (32.1%) patients had ER, in which 98 (89.1%) were persistent and 50.9% occurred in the first 24 h after CA. Compared with the patients without ER, those with ER were more likely to have late recurrence (LR) (92.7% vs. 1.7%, P

Abstract Integrating adaptative logic computation directly into soft microrobots is imperative for the next generation of intelligent soft microrobots as well as for the smart materials to move beyond stimulus‐response relationships and toward the intelligent behaviors seen in biological systems. Acquiring adaptivity is coveted for soft microrobots that can adapt to implement different works and respond to different environments either passively or actively through human intervention like biological systems. Here, a novel and simple strategy for constructing untethered soft microrobots based on stimuli‐responsive hydrogels that can switch logic gates according to the surrounding stimuli of environment is introduced. Different basic logic gates and combinational logic gates are integrated into a microrobot via a straightforward method. Importantly, two kinds of soft microrobots with adaptive logic gates are designed and fabricated, which can smartly switch logic operation between AND gate and OR gate under different surrounding environmental stimuli. Furthermore, a same magnetic microrobot with adaptive logic gate is used to capture and release the specified objects through the change of the surrounding environmental stimuli based on AND or OR logic gate. This work contributes an innovative strategy to integrate computation into small‐scale untethered soft robots with adaptive logic gates.

The topology of polymers plays an essential role in their chemical, physical and biological properties. However, their effects on chirality-related functions remain unclear. Here, we reported the topology-controlled chirality expression in the chiral supramolecular system for the first time. Two topological supramolecular polymers, hyperbranched (HP) and linear (LP) supramolecular polymers produced by the host–guest interactions of branched and linear monomers, respectively, exhibited completely different chirality expressions despite the same molecular chirality of their monomers. Significantly, due to the branch points and strong steric hindrance existing in HP, cis-HP showed an enhanced and sign-inverted Cotton effect in the n–π* bands compared with cis-LP, as a result that the distinctive chirality induction and transfer were controlled by the topological skeletons. This topology-controlled chirality induction and transfer in the photoswitchable supramolecular polymers not only enables us to elucidate the in-depth effects of topology on the chiral expression in biopolymers but also inspires the design of chiroptical and bioinspired materials.

Background: The aim of this study is to interrogate the prophylactic effect of probiotic on the lead-induced spatial memory impairment, as well as the underlying mechanisms based on gut microbiota.Methods: Rats were exposed postnatally to 100 ppm of lead acetate during lactation (from postnatal day 1 to 21), to establish the memory deficits model. A probiotic bacterium, namely Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus, was administered by drinking into pregnant rats with a dosage of 109 CFU/rat/day till birth. At postnatal week 8 (PNW8), the rats were subjected to Morris water maze and Y-maze test, with fecal samples collected for 16S rRNA sequencing. Besides, the inhibitory effect of Lb. rhamnosus on Escherichia coli was carried out in bacterial co-culture.Results: Female rats prenatally exposed to probiotic improved their performances in the behavioral test, indicating that probiotic could protect rats from memory deficits caused by postnatal lead exposure. This bioremediation activity varies depending on the intervention paradigm used. As revealed by microbiome analysis, although administered in a distinct period from lead exposure, Lb. rhamnosus further changed the microbial structure disrupted by lead exposure, suggesting an effective transgenerational intervention. Of note, gut microbiota, represented by Bacteroidota, varied greatly depending on the intervention paradigm as well as the developmental stage. The concerted alterations were revealed between some keystone taxa and behavioral abnormality, including lactobacillus and E. coli. To this end, an in vitro co-culture was created to demonstrate that Lb. rhamnosus could inhibit the growth of E. coli with direct contact, which is dependent on the growth condition under study. In addition, in vivo infection of E. coli O157 aggravated memory dysfunction, which could also be rescued by probiotic colonization.Conclusions: Early probiotic intervention could prevent organisms from lead-induced memory decline in later life through reprogramming gut microbiota and inhibiting E. coli, providing a promising approach to ameliorate the cognitive damage with environmental origins.

ObjectivesTo compare patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) with catheter ablation (CA) and those without CA.BackgroundThe CA of AF may cause ridge edema, which may affect the safety of LAAC.MethodsPatients with AF (N = 98) who underwent LAAC (combined CA + LAAC procedure group; N = 51) or alone (LAAC group; N = 47) received pre-procedural, intra-procedural, and 6 week post-procedural transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). The depth and ostial diameter of LAA, device compression, residual leak, and ridge thickness were evaluated in the patients who had undergone combined and alone procedures, as well as images of LAA and primary clinical characteristics.ResultsA residual leak was identified in 27 patients at 6 weeks after implantation by TEE (19 in the combined procedures group and eight in the alone group; p = 0.04). The combined procedure group had a significantly higher rate of a new residual leak than the alone group (25.5 vs. 8.5%; p = 0.03). Meanwhile, compared with at the time of implant, a smaller amount of device compression ratio was significant after 6 weeks (22.44 ± 3.90 vs. 19.59 ± 5.39; p = 0.03). There was no significant difference between both groups in all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and TIA/stroke/system embolism.ConclusionThe combined procedures of CA and LAAC for AF are feasible and safe; however, during the follow-up period, we found that the resolution of ridge edema caused by CA might cause an increased residual leak and a smaller device compression ratio.

Catalytic membrane reactors have the advantages of allowing the selective removal of products, avoiding the separation procedure of powder catalysts from the reaction mixture, intensifying the diffusion of reactants in the catalytic region, and integrating different reactions in one unit. Catalytic membrane reactors have been widely applied in the fields related to carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, including the capture and utilization of carbon dioxide, hydrogen production, and hydrogenation reaction. This review summarizes the design and fabrication of catalytic membrane reactors, with the focus on the capture and efficient utilization of carbon dioxide, hydrogen production and efficient liquid-phase hydrogenation. The design of membrane materials, catalyst materials and catalytic membranes, and the operation of catalytic membrane reactors are discussed respectively. Finally, the perspectives and future challenges of catalytic membrane reactors for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality are forecasted.

High entropy perovskites bring more space for materials design in many fields. The stability of materials in thermodynamics can be improved by increasing the mixed entropy. In this work, a series of Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-δ (BSCF) based high entropy perovskite (HEBSCF) were designed to improve the stability of BSCF at intermediate temperatures. The influence of high entropy composition on the lattice parameter, microstructure and stability of HEBSCF were investigated. The results show that HEBSCF can accommodate cations with large size differences. Compared with BSCF, doping elements at A site (HEBSCF-A), B site (HEBSCF-B) or both sites (HEBSCF-AB) can improve the mixed entropy. Among the three doped BSCF, HEBSCF-AB has the highest mixed entropy and shows stable oxygen permeation flux at 750 and 800 °C up to 300 h. No phase transition was observed on HEBSCF-AB after the long-term tests at intermediate temperatures. This research indicates that the high entropy stabilization strategy is feasible to improve the permeation stability of perovskite membranes by inhibiting phase transition.

BackgroundEctopic pancreas is a congenital anomaly in which pancreatic tissue is anatomically separated from the main gland and without vascular or ductal continuity. A case of retroperitoneal ectopic pancreas with adrenal adenoma has never yet been reported.Case PresentationA 54-year-old man presented three masses in the left retroperitoneum, and two of them were resected. The pathologic findings were a retroperitoneal ectopic pancreas with adrenal adenoma.ConclusionWe report an extremely rare case of a retroperitoneal ectopic pancreas and its characterization with dynamic gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Straw biochar prepared by three methods (i.e., pyrochar, HNO3-modified pyrochar, and hydrochar) was added to the anaerobic digestion system with acetic acid and ethanol as substrates to explore the effects of biochar on methane production, substrate degradation, and microbial community structure. The biogas yields of the biochar-supplemented groups all increased, and the maximum methane yield was found in the hydrochar group, which was 45.4% higher than the control. In the ethanol-fed reactor, the maximum partial pressure of hydrogen in the headspace of the hydrochar reactor was reduced from 3.5% (blank reactor) to 1.9%. Overall, methane production is directly proportional to the electron exchange capacity (EEC) value of biochar. Furthermore, the bio-aging process increased the EEC of each kind of biochar to 5.5–8.1%, which was favorable for the sustainable promotion of methanogenesis. The increased methane yield from the bio-aged biochar could either be attributable to the changes in surface oxygen-containing functional groups or the selectively enriched microbial community on the biochar, such as Geobacter, which could participate in direct interspecies electron transfer.

BackgroundThe short-coupled variant of torsade de pointes (scTdP) is characterized by a particular electrocardiogram (ECG) pattern that shows a short-coupling interval of the initial Tdp beat and that can degenerate into ventricular fibrillation without the presence of structural heart disease. However, its etiology, epidemiology, clinical characteristics, underlying mechanism, treatment, and prognosis remain unclear. This study aimed to systematically review case reports and series of scTdP to synthesize existing data on the demography, clinical characteristics, ECG features, management, and outcomes.MethodsA literature search was conducted for eligible published articles using the Medline, Embase, and PubMed databases. All eligible case reports and case series were included without any language restrictions. SPSS 24 was used for statistical analysis.ResultsA total of 22 case reports and 103 case series of patients with scTdP were identified and included in the analysis. All selected cases had acceptable quality of evidence. Most young patients without sex differences had no trigger or a negative programmed simulation. The ECGs of all selected patients showed a short first-coupling interval (302 ± 62 ms) and a long QRS duration of ventricular extrasystole (VE) (135 ± 17 ms). The first coupling interval levels and QRS duration levels of VE were significantly longer and wider in patients with scTdP originating from the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) than in those with scTdP originating from the Purkinje fibers (380 ± 70 vs. 274 ± 28 ms, P < 0.001; 147 ± 8 vs. 131 ± 17 ms, P < 0.001), respectively. The receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the optimal cutoff values of the first coupling interval triggering TdP and QRS duration of VE were more than 319 ms and 141 ms (92% sensitivity, 95.7% specificity; 82.6% sensitivity, 77.8% specificity) for predicting the RVOT origin, respectively. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve revealed increased survival in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation than in patients without ICD implantation (log-rank =10.127, P = 0.001).ConclusionSome agreements were confirmed in selected case reports regarding the clinical features, diagnosis, and management of scTdPs. Further large-scale and long-term follow-up studies are required to clarify the existing arrhythmogenic entities.

Hydrogen separation through oxygen transport membranes (OTMs) has attracted much attention. Asymmetric membranes with thin dense layers provide low bulk diffusion resistances and high overall hydrogen separation performances. However, the resistance in the porous support layer (PSL) limits the overall separation performance significantly. Engineering the structure of the PSL is an appropriate way to enable fast gas transport and increase the separation performance. There is no relevant research on studying the influence of the PSL on hydrogen separation performance so far. Herein, we prepared Ce0.85Sm0.15O1.925 – Sm0.6Sr0.4Cr0.3Fe0.7O3-δ (SDC-SSCF) asymmetric membranes with straight grooves in PSL by tape-casting and laser grooving. A ~30% improvement in the hydrogen separation rate was achieved by grooving in the PSLs. It indicates that the grooves may reduce the concentration polarization resistance in PSL for the hydrogen separation process. This work provides a straight evidence on optimizing the structures of PSL for improving the hydrogen separation performance of the membrane reactors.

Purpose: Silicosis is a serious occupational disease that is characterized by pulmonary infiltrates and fibrosis and is often refractory to current treatments. New therapeutic strategies for silicosis are needed. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a latent anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic growth factor. Methods: We prepared a polyethyleneimine-polyethylene glycol/pHGF/hyaluronic acid (PEG-PEI/pHGF/HA) nanomaterials loaded with plasmid DNA encoding HGF gene to increase its transfection efficiency. The characterization, including DNA entrapment efficiency, morphology, particle size, and zeta-potential of PEG-PEI/pHGF/HA was studied. And a PEG-PEI/pHGF/HA (N/P=30:1) nanoparticle with low toxicity and high transfection efficiency was used in treatment for silicosis in mice. Results: The results showed that the human HGF expression in the lungs of the mice was increased, and the inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrous collagen deposition was significantly reduced. Conclusion: Therefore, PEG-PEI/pHGF/HA nanoparticle warrant further investigation and may be a potential therapeutic strategy for silicosis.

Aims. This study sought to describe left atrial macroreentry tachycardia (LAMRT) originating from the spontaneous scarring of left atrial anterior wall (LAAW) and its clinical and electrophysiological characteristics, mechanisms, and the formation of substrates. Methods and Results. 9 of 123 patients (89% female, age 79.78 ± 5.59 years) had LAMRT originating from the LAAW with no cardiac surgery or prior left atrial (LA) ablation. The mean tachycardia cycle length (TCL) was 241.67 ± 38.00 milliseconds. Spontaneous scars areas and low voltage areas (LVAs) in the LAAW were found in all patients. Successful ablation of the critical isthmus caused termination of the LAMRT and was not inducible in all patients. Arrhythmogenic substrates of LAMRT were the spontaneous scars of LAAW, which matched with the aorta or/and pulmonary artery contact area. The area under the curve (AUC) of age and combination of gender and age for predicting the LAMRT originating from the LAAW were 0.918 and 0.951, respectively, with a cutoff value of ≥73.5 years of age and gender (female) predicting LAMRT with 88.9% sensitivity and 89% specificity. Conclusion. Combination of gender and age provides a simple and useful criterion to distinguish LAMRT from cavotricuspid isthmus- (CTI-) dependent atrial tachycardia in macroreentry atrial tachycardia (MRAT) in patients without a history of surgery or ablation. Aorta or/and pulmonary artery contacting LA may be related to spontaneous scars. Ablation the isthmus eliminated LAMRT in all patients.

Alterations in epigenetic silencing have been associated with ageing and tumour formation. Although substantial efforts have been made towards understanding the mechanisms of gene silencing, novel regulators in this process remain to be identified. To systematically search for components governing epigenetic silencing, we developed a genome-wide silencing screen for yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) silent mating type locus HMR. Unexpectedly, the screen identified the mismatch repair (MMR) components Pms1, Mlh1, and Msh2 as being required for silencing at this locus. We further found that the identified genes were also required for proper silencing in telomeres. More intriguingly, the MMR mutants caused a redistribution of Sir2 deacetylase, from silent mating type loci and telomeres to rDNA regions. As a consequence, acetylation levels at histone positions H3K14, H3K56, and H4K16 were increased at silent mating type loci and telomeres but were decreased in rDNA regions. Moreover, knockdown of MMR components in human HEK293T cells increased subtelomeric DUX4 gene expression. Our work reveals that MMR components are required for stable inheritance of gene silencing patterns and establishes a link between the MMR machinery and the control of epigenetic silencing.

Here the authors present an experimental observation of topological states in soft elastic metamaterials. They show reversibility in topological phases by changing filling ratio, tension and/or compression, while also demonstrating tunability of topological interface states by mechanical deformation.

The formation of true holograms requires control of both amplitude and phase; however, acoustic metamaterials are generally limited to phase control only. Here, Zhu et al. tailor lossy metamaterials to independently control the amplitude and phase of acoustic wavefronts.

Abstract Background Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1 (NBS1), as a key protein in the DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) repair pathway, plays an important role in maintaining genomic stability. Although single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in NBS1 have frequently been studied in multiple cancers, the relationships of two functional NBS1 polymorphisms (rs2735383 and rs1805794) with laryngeal carcinoma are yet unclear. Therefore, in the present study, we performed a case-control study including 342 cases and 345 controls to analyze the associations between two polymorphisms of NBS1 and the risk of laryngeal carcinoma. Methods We used the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method to determine the genotypes of the functional SNPs in NBS1 gene. Results In comparison with the homozygous rs2735383GG genotype, the CC genotype was significantly associated with an increased risk of laryngeal carcinoma (adjusted OR = 1.884, 95%CI = 1.215–2.921). The rs2735383C variant genotypes (GC + CC) conferred a 1.410-fold increased risk of laryngeal carcinoma (adjusted OR = 1.410, 95%CI = 1.004–1.980). Furthermore, when compared to rs2735383GG genotype in laryngeal carcinoma tissues, the combined GC and CC genotypes exerted a significantly lower mRNA level of NBS1 (P = 0.003). In contrast, no significant association was found between rs1805794G > C polymorphism and cancer risk (adjusted OR = 1.074, 95%CI = 0.759–1.518 for GC; adjusted OR = 1.100, 95%CI = 0.678–1.787 for CC; adjusted OR = 1.079, 95%CI = 0.774–1.505 for GC + CC). Conclusions These findings indicate that rs2735383G > C polymorphism in NBS1 may play a crucial role in the development of laryngeal carcinoma.

Targeting the challenge of determining the degree of blockage in buried pipelines and the difficulty of effectively extracting blockage features, a blockage detection method integrating variational mode decomposition (VMD) and information gain is proposed. Acoustic impulse response signals were obtained by deconvolving the output signals of the system, which were then subjected to VMD to obtain 12 components in different frequency ranges. Next, information gain (IG) was introduced to characterize the 12 components quantitatively, through which the components containing rich information about the pipe conditions were selected out. Meanwhile, sound pressure level conversion was performed on the selected components to amplify any changes in the sound field. Finally, the root mean square entropy (RMSE) was calculated to constitute the feature eigenvectors, which were input into Random Forests (RF) classifier for defect identification of pipeline. As the experimental results demonstrate, the proposed method is capable of determining the degree of blockage effectively in the running state. Meanwhile, it can also eliminate the interference of functional parts such as lateral connections during the identification process, thereby improving the identification accuracy. The present study has shown both theoretical significance and application value in the field of defect detection and recognition.

Impedance mismatch between acoustic metamaterials and a surrounding medium hinders efficient applications, especially for zero-index materials. Here, Duboiset al. utilize the Dirac-like dispersion in a double-zero-index material to overcome this problem and to collimate sound.

There is great interest in slow wave propagation for a variety of applications. Here, Zhu et al. present a dispersion-free helical-structured metamaterial that implements acoustic wave deceleration at broad bandwidth and demonstrates specially designed phase modulation to incident sound through helicity tuning.

Siphons have been widely used in water supply systems and sewage networks. However, it is difficult to implement non-destructive testing due to structural complexity and limited accessibility. In this paper, a novel condition classification method for water-filled underground siphons is proposed, which uses the acoustic signals received from acoustic sensors installed in the siphon. The proposed method has the advantages of simpler operation, lower cost, and higher detection efficiency. The acoustic wave forms in the siphons reflect on the system characteristics. Seven typical conditions of a water-filled underground siphon were investigated, and a series of experiments were conducted. Acoustic signals were recorded and transformed into acoustic pressure responses for further analysis. The variational mode decomposition (VMD) and the acoustic energy flow density were used for signal processing and feature extraction. The acoustic energy flux density eigenvectors were input to three different classifiers to classify the siphon conditions. The results demonstrate that the proposed acoustic-based approach can effectively classify the blockage and damage conditions of siphons, and the recognition accuracy of the proposed method is higher than 94.4%. Therefore, this research has value for engineering applications.

Azo dyes are very resistant to light-induced fading and biodegradation. Existing advanced oxidative pre-treatment methods based on the generation of non-selective radicals cannot efficiently remove these dyes from wastewater streams, and post-treatment oxidative dye removal is problematic because it may leave many byproducts with unknown toxicity profiles in the outgoing water, or cause expensive complete mineralization. These problems could potentially be overcome by combining photocatalysis and biodegradation. A novel visible-light-responsive hybrid dye removal agent featuring both photocatalysts (g-C3N4-P25) and photosynthetic bacteria encapsulated in calcium alginate beads was prepared by self-assembly. This system achieved a removal efficiency of 94% for the dye reactive brilliant red X-3b and also reduced the COD of synthetic wastewater samples by 84.7%, successfully decolorized synthetic dye-contaminated wastewater and reduced its COD, demonstrating the advantages of combining photocatalysis and biocatalysis for wastewater purification. The composite apparently degrades X-3b by initially converting the dye into aniline and phenol derivatives whose aryl moieties are then attacked by free radicals to form alkyl derivatives, preventing the accumulation of aromatic hydrocarbons that might suppress microbial activity. These alkyl intermediates are finally degraded by the photosynthetic bacteria.

In this study, a Dirac cone is yielded at the corner of the Brillouin zone of a two-dimensional solid phononic crystal, which consists of a triangular array of hexagonal steel with a trilobal hole drilled in the center. With the rotation of the trilobal hole, the Dirac degeneracy switches between the deterministic form and accidental form. Every Dirac point is the critical state of a topological phase transition process, which occurs six times within an angular period of $120^\circ .$ This structure offers a flexible way to achieve topological transitions and provides multiple routes to construct an interface that supports valley-dependent edge states between two topologically distinct PCs. The associated backscattering suppressed wave propagation along the multiple curved interface channels is also demonstrated. In addition, our design shows the robust propagation of topological interface states against the perturbation of the structure. This study could potentially be significant in the design of acoustic devices for practical applications, such as acoustic signal lossless transport and tunable multi-channel sound transmission.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) encodes for proteins required for oxidative phosphorylation, and mutations affecting the genome have been linked to a number of diseases as well as the natural ageing process in mammals. Human mtDNA is replicated by a molecular machinery that is distinct from the nuclear replisome, but there is still no consensus on the exact mode of mtDNA replication. We here demonstrate that the mitochondrial single-stranded DNA binding protein (mtSSB) directs origin specific initiation of mtDNA replication. MtSSB covers the parental heavy strand, which is displaced during mtDNA replication. MtSSB blocks primer synthesis on the displaced strand and restricts initiation of light-strand mtDNA synthesis to the specific origin of light-strand DNA synthesis (OriL). The in vivo occupancy profile of mtSSB displays a distinct pattern, with the highest levels of mtSSB close to the mitochondrial control region and with a gradual decline towards OriL. The pattern correlates with the replication products expected for the strand displacement mode of mtDNA synthesis, lending strong in vivo support for this debated model for mitochondrial DNA replication.

Sir2 is a central regulator of yeast aging and its deficiency increases daughter cell inheritance of stress- and aging-induced misfolded proteins deposited in aggregates and inclusion bodies. Here, by quantifying traits predicted to affect aggregate inheritance in a passive manner, we found that a passive diffusion model cannot explain Sir2-dependent failures in mother-biased segregation of either the small aggregates formed by the misfolded Huntingtin, Htt103Q, disease protein or heat-induced Hsp104-associated aggregates. Instead, we found that the genetic interaction network of SIR2 comprises specific essential genes required for mother-biased segregation including those encoding components of the actin cytoskeleton, the actin-associated myosin V motor protein Myo2, and the actin organization protein calmodulin, Cmd1. Co-staining with Hsp104-GFP demonstrated that misfolded Htt103Q is sequestered into small aggregates, akin to stress foci formed upon heat stress, that fail to coalesce into inclusion bodies. Importantly, these Htt103Q foci, as well as the ATPase-defective Hsp104Y662A-associated structures previously shown to be stable stress foci, co-localized with Cmd1 and Myo2-enriched structures and super-resolution 3-D microscopy demonstrated that they are associated with actin cables. Moreover, we found that Hsp42 is required for formation of heat-induced Hsp104Y662A foci but not Htt103Q foci suggesting that the routes employed for foci formation are not identical. In addition to genes involved in actin-dependent processes, SIR2-interactors required for asymmetrical inheritance of Htt103Q and heat-induced aggregates encode essential sec genes involved in ER-to-Golgi trafficking/ER homeostasis.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, all ends of telomeric DNA contain telomeric repeats of (TG(1-3)), but the number and position of subtelomeric X and Y' repeat elements vary. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation and genome-wide analyses, we here demonstrate that the subtelomeric X and Y' elements have distinct structural and functional properties. Y' elements are transcriptionally active and highly enriched in nucleosomes, whereas X elements are repressed and devoid of nucleosomes. In contrast to X elements, the Y' elements also lack the classical hallmarks of heterochromatin, such as high Sir3 and Rap1 occupancy as well as low levels of histone H4 lysine 16 acetylation. Our analyses suggest that the presence of X and Y' elements govern chromatin structure and transcription activity at individual chromosome ends.

We introduce here the concept of acoustic parity-time (PT) symmetry and demonstrate the extraordinary scattering characteristics of the acoustic PT medium. On the basis of exact calculations, we show how an acoustic PT-symmetric medium can become unidirectionally transparent at given frequencies. Combining such a PT-symmetric medium with transformation acoustics, we design two-dimensional symmetric acoustic cloaks that are unidirectionally invisible in a prescribed direction. Our results open new possibilities for designing functional acoustic devices with directional responses.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest carbon pool in terrestrial ecosystems and plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change and enhancing soil productivity. Microbial-derived carbon (MDC) is the main component of the persistent SOC pool. However, current formulas used to estimate the proportional contribution of MDC are plagued by uncertainties due to limited sample sizes and the neglect of bacterial group composition effects. Here, we compiled the comprehensive global dataset and employed machine learning approaches to refine our quantitative understanding of MDC contributions to total carbon storage. Our efforts resulted in a reduction in the relative standard errors in prevailing estimations by an average of 71% and minimized the effect of global variations in bacterial group compositions on estimating MDC. Our estimation indicates that MDC contributes approximately 758 Pg, representing approximately 40% of the global soil carbon stock. Our study updated the formulas of MDC estimation with improving the accuracy and preserving simplicity and practicality. Given the unique biochemistry and functioning of the MDC pool, our study has direct implications for modeling efforts and predicting the land-atmosphere carbon balance under current and future climate scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elastography is a non-invasive medical imaging technique to map the spatial variation of elastic properties of soft tissues. The quality of reconstruction results in elastography is highly sensitive to the noise induced by imaging measurements and processing. To address this issue, we propose a deep learning (DL) model based on conditional Generative Adversarial Networks (cGANs) to improve the quality of nonhomogeneous shear modulus reconstruction. To train this model, we generated a synthetic displacement field with finite element simulation under known nonhomogeneous shear modulus distribution. Both the simulated and experimental displacement fields are used to validate the proposed method. The reconstructed results demonstrate that the DL model with synthetic training data is able to improve the quality of the reconstruction compared with the well-established optimization method. Moreover, we emphasize that our DL model is only trained on synthetic data. This might provide a way to alleviate the challenge of obtaining clinical or experimental data in elastography. Overall, this work addresses several fatal issues in applying the DL technique into elastography, and the proposed method has shown great potential in improving the accuracy of the disease diagnosis in clinical medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]