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Abstract Photocatalytic overall water splitting is a promising approach for a sustainable hydrogen provision using solar energy. For sufficient solar energy utilization, this reaction ought to be operated based on visible-light-active semiconductors, which is very challenging. In this work, an F-expedited nitridation strategy is applied to modify the wide-bandgap semiconductor Sr2TiO4 for visible-light-driven photocatalytic overall water splitting. Compared to the conventional nitridation approach, F-expedited nitridation introduces the desirable integration of a high concentration of N dopant for strong visible light absorption and a low concentration of defects (i.e. Ti3+ and oxygen vacancies) for effective separation of photocarriers. After being coated with Ti-oxyhydroxide protection layer and deposited with RhCrOy cocatalyst, the product from F-expedited nitridation can stably run photocatalytic overall water splitting with apparent quantum efficiency of 0.39% at 420 ± 20 nm and solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 0.028%. These findings justify the effectiveness of F-expedited nitridation strategy and serve as a guidance to upgrade the photocatalytic activity of many other wide-bandgap semiconductors.

Abstract Molecules in immune cells plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke (IS). The aim of this study is to profile the landscape of molecules on the basis of immune cells in IS peripheral blood and construct an immunoregulatory competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network. We collected and combined multiple public transcriptome datasets from the peripheral blood of IS patients and healthy controls. CIBERSORT deconvolution revealed that the proportions of CD8 and CD4 naive T cells, monocytes, and neutrophils changed significantly in the IS group. Intersecting the immune cell-related genes identified by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and differential expression analysis, 38 overlapping candidate biomarkers were selected. Three machine learning algorithms, including least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), support vector machine-recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE), and random forest were applied, and 11 distinct immune cell-related genes were identified. We obtained the mRNA-miRNA and miRNA-lncRNA interactions from StarBase v3.0, and constructed a ceRNA network based on the differentially expressed mRNAs, miRNAs, and lncRNAs. The aberrant expression of HECW2-centered ceRNAs in the peripheral blood of in-house patients was validated using quantitative PCR. We also revealed that the expression of HECW2 was positively correlated with lncRNAs LINC02593 through miRNAs miR-130a-3p, miR-130b-3p and miR-148b-3p in cells. These results show that there are distinct immune features between IS patients and healthy controls. The ceRNA network may help elucidate the mechanism of immune cell-related genes in IS and may serve as a therapeutic target.

Abstract Sarcopenia is a severe complication affecting patients receiving hemodialysis (HD) treatment over an extended period of time. This cross-sectional study assessed knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards sarcopenia among maintenance HD patients in Northeastern China between 13 December 2023 and 13 January 2024. A total of 752 questionnaires were collected. Multivariate logistic regression showed that completed high school or vocational secondary school, college or bachelor’s degree, and maintenance HD lasting ≥ 11 years were independently associated with proactive practice. The Structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that knowledge directly affected attitude and practice. Moreover, attitude directly affects practice. Maintenance HD patients showed inadequate knowledge, positive attitude, and proactive practice towards sarcopenia. Healthcare providers should focus on educational campaigns to increase patient awareness of sarcopenia, its risk factors, and preventive measures.

Abstract In this study, the effects of sea buckthorn oil (SBO), fish oil (FO) and an enzymatically synthesized structured lipid (SL) on serum, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and intestinal microbiota in Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were investigated. The results demonstrated that FO, SBO, and SL effectively reduced the levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the serum of SD rats. SBO increased serum triglyceride levels, while FO elevated total cholesterol levels. Furthermore, all three dietary lipids decreased short-chain fatty acid production and enhanced intestinal microbiota diversity. FO increased the abundance of intestinal microbiota including Romboutsia, Lactobacillus, Escherichia-Shigella, and Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group. Conversely, all three dietary lipids reduced the abundance of Klebsiella and Blautia. These findings provide a foundation for understanding the functionality of SBO and FO as well as their potential application in synthesizing novel SLs to regulate intestinal microbiota. Graphical Abstract

Abstract Background Inner Mongolia cashmere goat (IMCG), renowned for its superior cashmere quality, is a Chinese indigenous goat breed that has been developed through natural and artificial selection over a long period. However, recently, the genetic resources of IMCGs have been significantly threatened by the introduction of cosmopolitan goat breeds and the absence of adequate breed protection systems. Results In order to assess the conservation effectiveness of IMCGs and efficiently preserve and utilize the purebred germplasm resources, this study analyzed the genetic diversity, kinship, family structure, and inbreeding of IMCGs utilizing resequencing data from 225 randomly selected individuals analyzed using the Plink (v.1.90), GCTA (v.1.94.1), and R (v.4.2.1) software. A total of 12,700,178 high-quality SNPs were selected through quality control from 34,248,064 SNP sites obtained from 225 individuals. The average minor allele frequency (MAF), polymorphic information content (PIC), and Shannon information index (SHI) were 0.253, 0.284, and 0.530, respectively. The average observed heterozygosity (Ho) and the average expected heterozygosity (He) were 0.355 and 0.351, respectively. The analysis of the identity by state distance matrix and genomic relationship matrix has shown that most individuals’ genetic distance and genetic relationship are far away, and the inbreeding coefficient is low. The family structure analysis identified 10 families among the 23 rams. A total of 14,109 runs of homozygosity (ROH) were identified in the 225 individuals, with an average ROH length of 1014.547 kb. The average inbreeding coefficient, calculated from ROH, was 0.026 for the overall population and 0.027 specifically among the 23 rams, indicating a low level of inbreeding within the conserved population. Conclusions The IMCGs exhibited moderate polymorphism and a low level of kinship with inbreeding occurring among a limited number of individuals. Simultaneously, it is necessary to prevent the loss of bloodline to guarantee the perpetuation of the IMCGs’ germplasm resources.

Abstract The buried interface tens of nanometers beneath the solid-liquid junction is crucial for photocarrier extraction, influencing the overall efficiency of photoelectrochemical devices. Precise characterization of the interfacial properties is essential for device optimization but remains challenging. Here, we directly probe the in situ transformation of a Cu x O interlayer at the NiO/n-Si interface by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that Cu(I) in the Cu x O interlayer gradually transforms to Cu(II) with air exposure, forming an energetically more favorable interface and improving photoanode’s efficiency. Based on this finding, a reactive e-beam evaporation process is developed for the direct deposition of a CuO interlayer, achieving a half-cell solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 4.56% for the optimized NiO/CuO/n-Si heterojunction photoanode. Our results highlight the importance of precision characterization of interfacial properties with advanced hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in guiding the design of efficient solar water-splitting devices.

Abstract Background In the context of increasing exposure to silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) and ensuing respiratory health risks, emerging evidence has suggested that SiNPs can cause a series of pathological lung injuries, including fibrotic lesions. However, the underlying mediators in the lung fibrogenesis caused by SiNPs have not yet been elucidated. Results The in vivo investigation verified that long-term inhalation exposure to SiNPs induced fibroblast activation and collagen deposition in the rat lungs. In vitro, the uptake of exosomes derived from SiNPs-stimulated lung epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) by fibroblasts (MRC-5) enhanced its proliferation, adhesion, and activation. In particular, the mechanistic investigation revealed SiNPs stimulated an increase of epithelium-secreted exosomal miR-494-3p and thereby disrupted the TGF-β/BMPR2/Smad pathway in fibroblasts via targeting bone morphogenetic protein receptor 2 (BMPR2), ultimately resulting in fibroblast activation and collagen deposition. Conversely, the inhibitor of exosomes, GW4869, can abolish the induction of upregulated miR-494-3p and fibroblast activation in MRC-5 cells by the SiNPs-treated supernatants of BEAS-2B. Besides, inhibiting miR-494-3p or overexpression of BMPR2 could ameliorate fibroblast activation by interfering with the TGF-β/BMPR2/Smad pathway. Conclusions Our data suggested pulmonary epithelium-derived exosomes serve an essential role in fibroblast activation and collagen deposition in the lungs upon SiNPs stimuli, in particular, attributing to exosomal miR-494-3p targeting BMPR2 to modulate TGF-β/BMPR2/Smad pathway. Hence, strategies targeting exosomes could be a new avenue in developing therapeutics against lung injury elicited by SiNPs. Graphical Abstract

Abstract Background Amorphous silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) have been gradually proven to threaten cardiac health, but pathogenesis has not been fully elucidated. Ferroptosis is a newly defined form of programmed cell death that is implicated in myocardial diseases. Nevertheless, its role in the adverse cardiac effects of SiNPs has not been described. Results We first reported the induction of cardiomyocyte ferroptosis by SiNPs in both in vivo and in vitro. The sub-chronic exposure to SiNPs through intratracheal instillation aroused myocardial injury, characterized by significant inflammatory infiltration and collagen hyperplasia, accompanied by elevated CK-MB and cTnT activities in serum. Meanwhile, the activation of myocardial ferroptosis by SiNPs was certified by the extensive iron overload, declined FTH1 and FTL, and lipid peroxidation. The correlation analysis among detected indexes hinted ferroptosis was responsible for the SiNPs-aroused myocardial injury. Further, in vitro tests, SiNPs triggered iron overload and lipid peroxidation in cardiomyocytes. Concomitantly, altered expressions of TfR, DMT1, FTH1, and FTL indicated dysregulated iron metabolism of cardiomyocytes upon SiNP stimuli. Also, shrinking mitochondria with ridge fracture and ruptured outer membrane were noticed. To note, the ferroptosis inhibitor Ferrostatin-1 could effectively alleviate SiNPs-induced iron overload, lipid peroxidation, and myocardial cytotoxicity. More importantly, the mechanistic investigations revealed miR-125b-2-3p-targeted HO-1 as a key player in the induction of ferroptosis by SiNPs, probably through regulating the intracellular iron metabolism to mediate iron overload and ensuing lipid peroxidation. Conclusions Our findings firstly underscored the fact that ferroptosis mediated by miR-125b-2-3p/HO-1 signaling was a contributor to SiNPs-induced myocardial injury, which could be of importance to elucidate the toxicity and provide new insights into the future safety applications of SiNPs-related nano products. Graphical Abstract

Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is one of the key technologies for mobile robots to achieve autonomous driving, and the lidar SLAM algorithm is the mainstream research scheme. Firstly, this paper introduces the overall framework of lidar SLAM, elaborates on the functions of front-end scan matching, loop closure detection, back-end optimization, and map building module, and summarizes the algorithms used. Then, the classical representative SLAM algorithms are described and compared from three aspects: pure lidar SLAM algorithm, multi-sensor fusion SLAM algorithm, and deep learning lidar SLAM algorithm. Finally, the challenges faced by the lidar SLAM algorithm in practical use are discussed. The development trend of the lidar SLAM algorithm is prospected from five dimensions: lightweight, multi-sensor fusion, combination of new sensors, multi-robot collaboration, and deep learning. This paper can provide a brief guide for novices entering the field of SLAM and provide a comprehensive reference for experienced researchers and engineers to explore new research directions.

Background Endovascular treatment (EVT) has been demonstrated to be effective for patients with tandem occlusion. The efficacy and safety of intravenous thrombolysis before EVT in patients with tandem occlusion remain debatable. Methods and Results We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis with PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library from inception to September 2023. The primary outcome was functional independence, defined as a modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 2 at 90 days. The secondary outcomes included the successful recanalization rate, symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage, and mortality at 90 days. In total, 9 studies with 1838 enrolled participants were identified. Our results showed that, compared with treatment with EVT alone, intravenous thrombolysis before EVT was associated with a greater proportion of functional independence at 90 days (odds ratio [OR], 1.39 [95% CI, 1.14–1.69]; P=0.001), a greater rate of successful recanalization (OR, 1.45 [95% CI, 1.11–1.89]; P=0.007) and decreased mortality (OR, 0.68 [95% CI, 0.50–0.93]; P=0.02). Furthermore, there was no significant difference in symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage between the intravenous thrombolysis plus EVT group and the EVT alone group (OR, 1.16 [95% CI, 0.79–1.70]; P=0.45). Conclusions In patients with acute ischemic stroke and tandem occlusion, intravenous thrombolysis before EVT was associated with a greater rate of favorable functional outcomes and successful recanalization and a lower mortality rate without an increased risk of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage compared with patients receiving EVT alone.

Marginalization and abandonment of paddy terraces are widespread, but their effects on the sustainability of subsequent agricultural production are still unknown. Hani Paddy Terraces, included in Globally Important Agriculture Heritage Systems, are threatened by paddy fields drainage. Here, changes in terrace structure, the productivity of topsoil (0–20 cm), and soil water holding capacity at 0–70 cm depth were determined in a case study of Hani Paddy Terraces in Amengkong River Basin in Yuanyang County in Southwestern China, which had been converted into dryland terraces for 2–14 years. Our results showed that: (1) The degree of terrace structures degradation exhibited a U-shaped curve with increasing time since draining, with those drained for 5–9 years having the best structure; (2) Soil productivity index decreased first and then increased with time after conversion; (3) Maximum water holding capacity at 0–70 cm soil depth dramatically decreased after conversion and such trend became increasingly obvious with increasing time since conversion. Our study revealed that drainage of paddy terraces along with associated changes in crop and field management led to an increase in soil productivity, but degradation of terrace structures and a decrease in water holding capacity will inhibit restoration to paddy terraces. These findings enhance the understanding of the biophysical changes due to marginalization in paddy terraces.

As an important component of road traffic facilities, bridges play a crucial role in daily traffic operations, and changes in their status can have an impact on traffic operation. The existing research mainly focuses on monitoring the status of bridges themselves or analyzing the operation status of road traffic, and rarely considers the changes in traffic operation status caused by changes in bridge status. Therefore, in order to evaluate the impact relationship between the two, this article designs an algorithm that combines the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the Delphi method, and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) based on the traditional evaluation of bridges and road traffic operation status, and establishes a bridge traffic operation status impact assessment model. Then, simulation analysis and actual data verification will be conducted based on the specific situation of Ma’anshi Bridge on the Chongqing Wuhan Expressway. The experimental results show that the evaluation model established in this paper conforms to the characteristics of traffic operation, can reflect the impact of bridge state changes on traffic operation status well, effectively promote the automation level of bridge traffic impact management, and has high reliability and accuracy.

RationaleMonoclonal gammopathy of renal significance (MGRS) represents a group of disorders caused by monoclonal immunoglobulin (M protein) secreted by B cells or plasma cells. Proliferative glomerulonephritis with monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition (PGNMID) is a glomerular disease and a form of MGRS. Here, we presented a rare case of a patient with IgM kappa PGNMID complicated with nocardiosis dermatitis.Patient concerns and diagnosesA 56-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of cutaneous purpura and proteinuria. His initial pathological diagnosis indicated membranous proliferative glomerulonephritis, IgM(++), and subacute interstitial nephritis. Based on further examination, he was finally diagnosed to have IgM kappa PGNMID and subacute interstitial nephritis. After the initial diagnosis, the patient received hormonal therapy. During the treatment, nocardiosis dermatitis emerged as a complication, and the hormonal therapy was gradually reduced. The patient refused further treatment with rituximab, and his health is currently stable.OutcomesIgM kappa PGNMID complicated with nocardiosis dermatitis is an extremely rare occurrence. Laboratory examination and pathological analysis are required to confirm the diagnosis of this disorder. Timely and accurate diagnosis is essential for the appropriate treatment of PGNMID.

Chlorite is present extensively in many types of deposits. The mechanism underlying the chemical variations in chlorite remains unclear. The Naruo porphyry deposit is a giant copper porphyry deposit in the Duolong ore district of Tibet. Chlorite, which is abundant in this deposit, has yet to be studied systematically; hence, we used principal component analysis (PCA) to assess the correlation between chlorite elements and various types of mineral deposits. We then conducted a preliminary investigation into its mineralogy and geochemistry to better understand its formation process and identify potential prospecting indicators. The PCA method proved effective in discerning two distinctive element signatures within the chlorite and categorising them into four deposit types: orogenic Au deposits, granite-type U deposits, and skarn-type Sn deposits that exhibit high FeO and low MgO distinguishing them from porphyry copper deposits. The chlorite in the Naruo deposit is classified as either early metasomatic (M-type), consisting mainly of clinochlore, or late hydrothermal (H-type), primarily consisting of clinochlore and chamosite. This classification suggests that H-type chlorite formed in a reductive environment conducive to Cu precipitation at medium temperatures (255°C–342°C). Al-Si and Fe-Mg substitutions were found to be the primary processes involved in its generation. Additionally, from the mineralisation centre outwards, there was an observed decrease in Si content as well as the Fe/(Fe+Mg) ratio in H-type chlorite, along with decreases in temperature, sulphur, and oxygen fugacity of all chlorites; conversely, increases were observed for Al content along with Mg and Mn elements in H-type chlorite. Chlorite is useful for exploring porphyry copper systems as an indicator mineral.

Abstract RNA modifications are dynamic and reversible chemical modifications on substrate RNA that are regulated by specific modifying enzymes. They play important roles in the regulation of many biological processes in various diseases, such as the development of cancer and other diseases. With the help of advanced sequencing technologies, the role of RNA modifications has caught increasing attention in human diseases in scientific research. In this review, we briefly summarized the basic mechanisms of several common RNA modifications, including m6A, m5C, m1A, m7G, Ψ, A-to-I editing and ac4C. Importantly, we discussed their potential functions in human diseases, including cancer, neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic diseases, genetic and developmental diseases, as well as immune disorders. Through the “writing-erasing-reading” mechanisms, RNA modifications regulate the stability, translation, and localization of pivotal disease-related mRNAs to manipulate disease development. Moreover, we also highlighted in this review all currently available RNA-modifier-targeting small molecular inhibitors or activators, most of which are designed against m6A-related enzymes, such as METTL3, FTO and ALKBH5. This review provides clues for potential clinical therapy as well as future study directions in the RNA modification field. More in-depth studies on RNA modifications, their roles in human diseases and further development of their inhibitors or activators are needed for a thorough understanding of epitranscriptomics as well as diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of human diseases.

With the application of lithium batteries more and more widely, in order to accurately estimate the state of charge (SoC) of the battery, this paper uses the iterated extended Kalman filter (IEKF) algorithm to estimate the SoC. The Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) method is used to optimize the error covariance matrix of IKEF. Based on the hybrid pulse power characteristics experiment, a second-order Thevenin model with variable parameters is established on the MATLAB platform. The experimental results show that the proposed model is effective under the constant current discharge condition, the Federal Urban Driving Schedule (FUDS) condition, and the Beijing dynamic stress test (BJDST) condition. The results show that the simulation error of the improved LM-IEKF algorithm is less than 2% under different working conditions, which is lower than that of the IKEF algorithm. The improved algorithm has a fast convergence speed to the true value, and it has a good estimation accuracy in the case of large changes in external input current. Additionally, the fluctuation of error is relatively stable, which proves the reliability of the algorithm.

Aspect sentiment triplet analysis (ASTE) is a nuanced task that entails the extraction of all triplets from a user comment, where each triplet consist of an aspect term, an opinion term, and the associated sentiment polarity of the aspect term. Recent research has brought forth a boundary-driven table-filling approach that adeptly tackles the persistent issues of inconsistent relationships and boundary insensitivity found in prior methods, but the improvement in performance is somewhat limited because this method overlook the wealth of information encapsulated within each word present in the sentence. To overcome these limitations, this study proposes a novel Part-of-speech Based Label Update Network (PBLUN) for aspect sentiment triplet extraction. Specifically, a POS-based label update module integrated with aspect term extraction (ATE) and opinion term extraction (OTE) tasks is devised to discern the existence of aspect or opinion words within the set adjacent search domain and update their labels. In addition, the proposed model leverages biaffine attention network to extract probability distribution denoting various relationships between words and effectively combine them with relation-level representation. Experiments conducted on four benchmark datasets have conclusively demonstrated the advantages of our proposed method when compared to strong baseline models.

Abstract Due to the rise of 5G, IoT, AI, and high-performance computing applications, datacenter traffic has grown at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 30%. Furthermore, nearly three-fourths of the datacenter traffic resides within datacenters. The conventional pluggable optics increases at a much slower rate than that of datacenter traffic. The gap between application requirements and the capability of conventional pluggable optics keeps increasing, a trend that is unsustainable. Co-packaged optics (CPO) is a disruptive approach to increasing the interconnecting bandwidth density and energy efficiency by dramatically shortening the electrical link length through advanced packaging and co-optimization of electronics and photonics. CPO is widely regarded as a promising solution for future datacenter interconnections, and silicon platform is the most promising platform for large-scale integration. Leading international companies (e.g., Intel, Broadcom and IBM) have heavily investigated in CPO technology, an inter-disciplinary research field that involves photonic devices, integrated circuits design, packaging, photonic device modeling, electronic-photonic co-simulation, applications, and standardization. This review aims to provide the readers a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art progress of CPO in silicon platform, identify the key challenges, and point out the potential solutions, hoping to encourage collaboration between different research fields to accelerate the development of CPO technology. Graphical Abstract

We propose and demonstrate a cost-effective half-duplex transceiver for Fiber-to-the-Room (FTTR) network by using a homemade uncooled and isolator-free distributed feedback (DFB) laser as both receiver (Rx) and transmitter (Tx). AlGaInAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) and a partially corrugated grating are utilized for uncooled and isolator-free operation of the DFB lasers. Tx/Rx mode switching is implemented by a specially designed complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chip including biasing circuits, a trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) and a single pole double throw (SPDT) radio frequency (RF) switch. The transceiver can work up to 5 Gbps in both Tx and Rx modes with 17 ns Rx to Tx switching time and 94.4 ns Tx to Rx switching time, respectively. The Tx output optical power of the transceiver is 11 dBm, while the Rx sensitivity is −18 dBm at a bit error rate (BER) of 10−3. This integration method proves that the transceiver is a cost-effective high speed light source for the future FTTR network.

In target detection, tracking, and recognition tasks, high-quality images can achieve better results. However, in actual scenarios, the visual effects and data quality of images are greatly reduced due to the influence of environmental factors, which affect subsequent detection, recognition, and other tasks. Therefore, this paper proposes an image rain removal algorithm based on multi-scale features, which can effectively remove rain streaks. First of all, this paper proposes a deraining algorithm that combines spatial information to improve the network’s generalization ability on real images, aiming at the problem of synthetic datasets used by previous deraining algorithms. Then, by proposing a multi-scale rain removal algorithm, it improves the feature extraction capabilities of existing deraining algorithms. Before extracting deep rain features, a preliminary fusion of multi-scale shallow features can be performed, which can show better performance in images of different sizes. In addition, a spatial attention module and channel are introduced. The attention module increases the ability to extract rain information at each scale; the resulting multi-scale feature image rain removal algorithm is called MFD. Finally, the rain removal algorithm is validated on the rain removal dataset, and the proposed method can effectively remove rain patterns, provide strong performance improvement on several datasets in the image rain removal task, and provide high-quality images for subsequent detection and recognition tasks.

Neutralizing antibodies targeting the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2, elicited either by natural infection or vaccination, are crucial for protection against the virus. Nonetheless, the emergence of viral escape mutants presents ongoing challenges by contributing to breakthrough infections. To define the evolution trajectory of SARS-CoV-2 within the immune population, we co-incubated replication-competent rVSV/SARS-CoV-2/GFP chimeric viruses with sera from COVID-19 convalescents. Our findings revealed that the E484D mutation contributes to increased viral resistant against both convalescent and vaccinated sera, while the L1265R/H1271Y double mutation enhanced viral infectivity in 293T-hACE2 and Vero cells. These findings suggest that under the selective pressure of polyclonal antibodies, SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to accumulate mutations that facilitate either immune evasion or greater infectivity, facilitating its adaption to neutralizing antibody responses. Although the mutations identified in this study currently exhibit low prevalence in the circulating SARS-CoV-2 populations, the continuous and meticulous surveillance of viral mutations remains crucial. Moreover, there is an urgent necessity to develop next-generation antibody therapeutics and vaccines that target diverse, less mutation-prone antigenic sites to ensure more comprehensive and durable immune protection against SARS-CoV-2.

While photoelectrochemical water splitting offers a promising means to obtain renewable H2, it is challenging to balance light absorption and carrier transport in semiconductor thin films. Here, authors combine surface doping and bulk gradient doping to decouple these factors to boost performances.

Aspect Sentiment Triplet Extraction (ASTE) is a challenging task in natural language processing (NLP) that aims to extract triplets from comments. Each triplet comprises an aspect term, an opinion term, and the sentiment polarity of the aspect term. The neural network model developed for this task can enable robots to effectively identify and extract the most meaningful and relevant information from comment sentences, ultimately leading to better products and services for consumers. Most existing end-to-end models focus solely on learning the interactions between the three elements in a triplet and contextual words, ignoring the rich affective knowledge information contained in each word and paying insufficient attention to the relationships between multiple triplets in the same sentence. To address this gap, this study proposes a novel end-to-end model called the Dual Graph Convolutional Networks Integrating Affective Knowledge and Position Information (DGCNAP). This model jointly considers both the contextual features and the affective knowledge information by introducing the affective knowledge from SenticNet into the dependency graph construction of two parallel channels. In addition, a novel multi-target position-aware function is added to the graph convolutional network (GCN) to reduce the impact of noise information and capture the relationships between potential triplets in the same sentence by assigning greater positional weights to words that are in proximity to aspect or opinion terms. The experiment results on the ASTE-Data-V2 datasets demonstrate that our model outperforms other state-of-the-art models significantly, where the F1 scores on 14res, 14lap, 15res, and 16res are 70.72, 57.57, 61.19, and 69.58.

Abstract Background Autologous stem cell therapy is a promising strategy for cardiovascular diseases including diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), but conclusions from clinical trials were compromised. We assumed that diabetes might induce the dysfunction of stem cells and thus limit its therapeutic effect. This study aimed to compare the effect of diabetes and nondiabetes-derived bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) transplantation on DCM and explored the potential mechanism. Methods Rats with diabetes were induced using high-fat diets and streptozotocin (STZ) injection. BMSCs harvested from diabetic and nondiabetic rats were infused into DCM rats, and the effects on the heart were identified by echocardiography and histopathology. The inhibition or overexpression of SAHH in nondiabetic and diabetic BMSCs was used to confirm its key role in stem cell activity and cardiac therapy. Results Compared with normal BMSCs, the therapeutic effects of diabetic rat-derived stem cells on improving cardiac function and adverse remodeling were significantly attenuated. In vitro, diabetic BMSCs had lower cell viability and paracrine function than nondiabetic BMSCs. It was further found that diabetic BMSCs had obvious mitochondrial oxidative stress damage and S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) accumulation due to S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) deficiency. SAHH inhibition by adenosine dialdehyde (ADA) or shSAHH plasmid in normal BMSCs significantly reduced the favorable effects on endothelial cell proliferation and tube-forming capacity. In contrast, SAHH overexpression in diabetic BMSCs significantly improved cellular activity and paracrine function. Transplantation of BMSCs with SAHH overexpression improved cardiac adverse remodeling and angiogenesis. Activation of the Nrf2 signaling pathway may be one of the key mechanisms of SAHH-mediated improvement of stem cell viability and cardiac repair. Conclusions Diabetes leads to compromised bioactivity and repair capacity of BMSCs. Our study suggests that SAHH activation may improve the cardioprotective effect of autologous transplantation of diabetes-derived BMSCs on patients with DCM. Graphical abstract Diabetes induced the inhibition of S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) expression and aging phenotype in BMSCs and thus decreased the cell viability and paracrine function. Compared with normal BMSCs, the therapeutic effects of diabetic rat-derived BMSCs on improving cardiac function and adverse remodeling were significantly attenuated. SAHH overexpression in diabetic BMSCs significantly rescued cellular function partly via activating Nrf2/HO-1 signal. Transplantation of diabetic BMSCs with SAHH overexpression improved angiogenesis and cardiac adverse remodeling in rats.

Integrative development is an effective way to enhance urban potential and implement resource-optimal relocation, especially in urban agglomeration regions. Conventionally, the evaluation of urban integration is usually studied from one aspect of urban interaction intensity or urban functional similarity, but considering both together can better reflect the integrative condition of urban agglomeration. This paper introduces the symbiosis theory into the exploration of urban integration. The production–living–ecological function is taken to analyze urban function, and the improved radiation model is adopted to measure urban interaction. Under the framework of symbiosis theory, we integrate urban function and urban interaction to indicate the integrative condition of urban agglomeration from a production–living–ecological aspect. Urban agglomeration in the Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration is taken as the study area. The results show that (1) spatial variations occur in high-value areas with distinct functions. The east emphasizes production and living, while the west leans towards ecology. (2) Urban agglomeration is in its early developmental stages without stable symbiosis. Interactions among counties mostly show sporadic point symbiosis, lacking stability. It mainly radiates outward from the central area, with more stable interactions in high-value areas, often causing inter-city competition. (3) Urban agglomeration integration is generally low, with distinct high-value production and ecological areas. The central, eastern, and southern regions exhibit strong production and living interactions, while the west benefits from ecological interactions. These findings can offer some insights for informing relevant policies and fostering the integrated development of urban agglomerations.

Abstract Background COVID-19 and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) are two very important diseases. However, relevant researches about how COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on the epidemiological trend of STDs are limited in China. This study aimed to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on STDs in China and proposed relevant recommendations to be used in bettering health. Methods The incidence of HIV infection, syphilis and gonorrhea in China from 2008 to 2020 were collected. Grey Model (1,1) were established to predict the incidence of STDs with the incidence data of these three STDs from 2013 to 2018 considering the impact of policies in China, respectively. We then calculated the predictive incidence of each STD in 2019, 2020 and 2021 by the established Model. And we estimated the extent of the impact of COVID-19 on the epidemiological changes of STDs by analyzing the difference between the absolute percentage error (APE) of the predictive incidence and actual rate in 2019 and 2020. Results The incidence of HIV infection and syphilis showed a trend of increase from 2008 to 2019 in China, but that for gonorrhea was fluctuant. Of note, the incidence of these three STDs decreased significantly in 2020 compared with that in 2019. The APE of HIV infection, syphilis and gonorrhea in 2020 (20.54%, 15.45% and 60.88%) were about 7 times, 4 times and 2 times of that in 2019 (2.94%, 4.07% and 30.41%). The incidence of HIV infection, syphilis and gonorrhea would be 5.77/100,000, 39.64/100,000 and 13.19/100,000 in 2021 based on our model. Conclusions The epidemiological trend of STDs in China was significant influenced by COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to balance the control of COVID-19 and timely management of STDs during the COVID-19 epidemic to prevent or reduce the poor outcome among COVID-19 patients with STDs. New management strategies on STDs, such as leveraging social media, online medical care, rapid self-testing, timely diagnosis and treatment guarantee and balance of medical resources for STDs management should be adapted in the context of the long-term effects of COVID-19.

Abstract This study considers the problem of fault estimation for rigid satellite in the presence of external disturbances, parameter perturbations, and actuator time‐varying faults. Firstly, a Takagi‐Sugeno (T‐S) fuzzy model with interval matrix for satellite attitude system under large attitude angle scope is established, along with a detailed analysis of actuator faults in terms of additive and multiplicative descriptions. Then, a novel fuzzy adaptive observer with adjustable parameter is proposed to estimate both system states and actuator faults. The estimated errors are proved to be uniformly ultimately bounded, based on descriptor augmentation technique and Lyapunov stability theory. The proposed observer realizes a lower estimation performance index in terms of quantitative assessment compared to existing observer methods. Furthermore, an auxiliary optimization variable and the elimination method are applied to decrease the conservatism of the proposed design. And an intuitive quantitative performance index of fault estimation is introduced to obtain reliable evaluation and decision. Finally, numerical simulations and analyses of rigid satellite illustrate the effectiveness and benefit of the proposed strategy.

IntroductionSpontaneous vertebral artery dissection (sVAD) might tend to develop in vertebral artery hypoplasia (VAH) with hemodynamic dysfunction and it is crucial to assess hemodynamics in sVAD with VAH to investigate this hypothesis. This retrospective study aimed to quantify hemodynamic parameters in patients with sVAD with VAH.MethodsPatients who had suffered ischemic stroke due to an sVAD of VAH were enrolled in this retrospective study. The geometries of 14 patients (28 vessels) were reconstructed using Mimics and Geomagic Studio software from CT angiography (CTA). ANSYS ICEM and ANSYS FLUENT were utilized for mesh generation, set boundary conditions, solve governing equations, and perform numerical simulations. Slices were obtained at the upstream area, dissection or midstream area and downstream area of each VA. The blood flow patterns were visualized through instantaneous streamline and pressure at peak systole and late diastole. The hemodynamic parameters included pressure, velocity, time-averaged blood flow, time-averaged wall shear stress (TAWSS), oscillatory shear index (OSI), endothelial cell action potential (ECAP), relative residence time (RRT) and time-averaged nitric oxide production rate (TARNO).ResultsSignificant focal increased velocity was present in the dissection area of steno-occlusive sVAD with VAH compared to other nondissected areas (0.910 m/s vs. 0.449 vs. 0.566, p

Solar-to-fuel energy conversion requires well-designed materials properties to ensure favorable charge carrier movement. Here, authors employ interface engineering of Ta3N5 thin film to enhance bulk carrier separation and interface carrier injection to improve the water-splitting efficiency.

Abstract Background Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a significant complication of diabetes and has garnered considerable attention. Our previous retrospective study indicated that Shenzhuo formula (SZF) potentially reduces macroalbuminuria secondary to DKD. Methods This trial is a 24-week, randomized, multicentric, double-blinded, double-dummy clinical trial. A total of 120 patients with DKD will be equally and randomly divided into two groups: SZF+ irbesartan simulator or irbesartan + SZF simulator. The 24-h urinary protein change from baseline to week 24 is the primary outcome measure. The secondary outcome measures include serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate, urinary albumin excretion rate, improvement in traditional Chinese medicine symptoms, fasting blood glucose, 2-h postprandial plasma glucose, hemoglobin A1c, cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein, blood pressure, albumin to creatinine ratio, and the Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life 19. Our recruitment began in May 2015; currently, we have recruited 100 participants, with a designed maximum sample size of 120. The interim results were reviewed at N = 60, and continuing recruitment was recommended. This statistical analysis plan includes our approach to missing data imputation, primary and secondary outcomes analyses, and safety endpoints. Discussion This statistical analysis plan will standardize the clinical trial’s statistical analysis and avoid outcome selective reporting bias and data-driven analysis. This trial will provide further clinical evidence regarding the effectiveness of SZF in managing macroalbuminuria secondary to DKD. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR-ICR-15006311. Registered on 26 May 2013. http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=10862

In this work, a prototype of 10G Combo-PON OLT transceiver based on photonic integrated circuits (PIC) is proposed and demonstrated. Key optical components for Combo-PON OLT transceiver, including high-power DFB laser, micro-ring modulator and WDM, have been developed and validated. The Combo-PON OLT transceiver integrated four XGS-PON/GPON ports and all ports comply with I-TUT G.984.2 Class C+ standard. The advantages and disadvantages of PIC in PON application are analyzed. The analysis shows that PIC can also provide a cost and power-efficient way to implement the next generation PON transceiver for high density PON ports.

The metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a public health challenge, leading to a global increase in chronic liver disease. The respiratory exposure of silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) has revealed to induce hepatotoxicity. However, its role in the pathogenesis and progression of MAFLD was severely under-studied. In this context, the hepatic impacts of SiNPs were investigated in vivo and in vitro through using ApoE−/− mice and free fatty acid (FFA)-treated L02 hepatocytes. Histopathological examinations and biochemical analysis showed SiNPs exposure via intratracheal instillation aggravated hepatic steatosis, lipid vacuolation, inflammatory infiltration and even collagen deposition in ApoE−/− mice, companied with increased hepatic ALT, AST and LDH levels. The enhanced fatty acid synthesis and inhibited fatty acid β-oxidation and lipid efflux may account for the increased hepatic TC/TG by SiNPs. Consistently, SiNPs induced lipid deposition and elevated TC in FFA-treated L02 cells. Further, the activation of hepatic oxidative stress was detected in vivo and in vitro, as evidenced by ROS accumulation, elevated MDA, declined GSH/GSSG and down-regulated Nrf2 signaling. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress was also triggered in response to SiNPs-induced lipid accumulation, as reflecting by the remarkable ER expansion and increased BIP expression. More importantly, an UPLC-MS-based metabolomics analysis revealed that SiNPs disturbed the hepatic metabolic profile in ApoE−/− mice, prominently on amino acids and lipid metabolisms. In particular, the identified differential metabolites were strongly correlated to the activation of oxidative stress and ensuing hepatic TC/TG accumulation and liver injuries, contributing to the progression of liver diseases. Taken together, our study showed SiNPs promoted hepatic steatosis and liver damage, resulting in the aggravation of MAFLD progression. More importantly, the disturbed amino acids and lipid metabolisms-mediated oxidative stress was a key contributor to this phenomenon from a metabolic perspective.

Erosion caused by solid particles is one of the important reasons for the failure of shale gas gathering pipelines. However, the erosion laws of right-angle pipe and blind tee were rarely compared in previous studies, and the parameter settings almost did not meet the actual requirements of shale gas exploitation. The aim of this paper is to study the erosion laws of 90° elbow, right-angle pipe and blind tee based on the production parameters of a gas field. CFD-DPM approach integrates the Mixture model, the Discrete Phase Model, and an erosion model is employed to predict solid particle erosion in gas-liquid two-phase flow in the shale gas field. The results show that the maximum erosion rate of pipe wall increases exponentially with the fluid velocity. With the development of mining, the lower the free water content, the more serious the pipe wall erosion. In addition, under the same working conditions, the blind tee is relatively erosion-resistant compared with 90° elbow and right-angle pipe. The shale gas gathering and transmission system can use blind tees to connect pipes and limit fluid velocity, so as to prolong service life and ensure flow safety.

Inner Mongolia Arbas white cashmere goats is a dual-purpose breed for producing cashmere and meat. In recent years, its meat has become more and more popular among consumers because of rich nutrients and delicious flavor. Therefore, it is particularly important to study the genetic and non-genetic factors affecting the early growth traits and estimate variance components of pre-weaning growth traits of Inner Mongolia Albas white cashmere goats. A total of 37487 kidding records such as birth weight (BWT), weaning weight (WWT), average daily gain from birth to weaning (ADG) and Kleiber ratio (KR) from 343 sires and 7296 dams were used in this study. The most appropriate model was chosen on the basis of likelihood ratio test by fitting six models which excluding or including maternal genetic, maternal permanent environmental effects. The parameters were estimated under the most appropriate model using AIREML method by WOMBAT software. With the best model (Model 6), heritability estimates were 0.0435, 0.0911, 0.0932 and 0.2339 for BWT, WWT, ADG and KR traits, respectively. Maternal heritability estimates were 0.0143, 0.0246, 0.0220 and 0.0186 for BWT, WWT, ADG, and KR traits respectively. The correlation between different traits was estimated with the most suitable model by using bivariate analysis method. The direct additive genetic correlation among the traits ranged from −0.026 (BWT~KR) to 0.772 (ADG~KR). The maternal permanent environment correlation is between −0.289 (BWT-KR) ~0.900 (WWT-ADG). Results indicated that maternal effects and direct-maternal genetic covariance should be considered in any program aimed at improving pre-weaning growth traits to have an accurate genetic evaluation. In addition, positive and medium to high genetic correlations generally exist among WWT, ADG and KR due to the existence of genetic variation for early growth traits. The results showed that the genetic progress of these traits could be slowly through selection except for KR.

This study involved the extraction of polysaccharides from jujube for application in apricot storage. Although near-freezing temperature (NFT) storage is commonly employed for preserving fresh fruit, its effectiveness is somewhat limited. Incorporating jujube polysaccharides was proposed to augment the preservative effect on apricots. Our findings demonstrated that the combined use of NFT and jujube polysaccharides can maintain fruit color, and effectively inhibit decay. Additionally, Tandem Mass Tag (TMT) quantitative proteomic technology was utilized to analyze protein variations in ‘Diaogan’ apricots during storage. This dual approach not only markedly lowered the activity of polyphenol cell wall-degrading enzymes (p < 0.05) but also revealed 1054 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), which are related to sugar and energy metabolism, stress response and defense, lipid metabolism, and cell wall degradation. The changes in DEPs indicated that the combined use of NFT and jujube polysaccharides could accelerate the conversion of malic acid to oxaloacetic acid and regulate antioxidant ability, potentially extending the storage lifespan of apricot fruit.

While self-healing catalysts may survive the harsh environments used for oxygen evolution, understanding how to develop such electrocatalysts remains a challenge. Here, authors find cobalt to promote the self-healing of leached iron centers in borate-intercalated nickel-iron-cobalt oxyhydroxides.

Abstract Biothiols play important roles in various physiological and biological processes, which closely related to many diseases. Hydrazine is widely used in the chemical industry, but it is harmful to humans and animals. Therefore, it is very important to develop a fluorescent probe that can simultaneously detect biological thiols and hydrazine. In this work, a new fluorescent probe (2E,4Z)-2-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-5-chloro-5-(7-(diethylamino)-2-oxo-2H-chromen-3-yl)penta-2,4-dienenitrile (BCD) was synthesized by integrating coumarin and benzothiazole acetonitrile. Featured with four binding sites and different bonding mechanism between probe with biothiols and hydrazine, this probe exhibited fluorescent turn-on for distinguishing Cys, Hcy, GSH and hydrazine with 760-, 8-, 6- and 637-fold fluorescent intensity increase at 502, 479, 476 and 458 nm, respectively, through different excitation wavelengths. Research on the effect of pH on the fluorescent performance of BCD shows that the probe exhibits superior stability in a weakly alkaline to weakly acidic environment, which will facilitate the detection of biological thiols or hydrazine hydrate by BCD. Selectivity studies have shown that the probe has high specificity to biological thiols and hydrazine, which is of great significance to the application of BCD.

Digestive system diseases remain a formidable challenge to human health. NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is the most characteristic multimeric protein complex and is involved in a wide range of digestive diseases as intracellular innate immune sensors. It has emerged as a research hotspot in recent years. In this context, we provide a comprehensive review of NLRP3 inflammasome priming and activation in the pathogenesis of digestive diseases, including clinical and preclinical studies. Moreover, the scientific evidence of small‐molecule chemical drugs, biologics, and phytochemicals, which acts on different steps of the NLRP3 inflammasome, is reviewed. Above all, deep interrogation of the NLRP3 inflammasome is a better insight of the pathomechanism of digestive diseases. We believe that the NLRP3 inflammasome will hold promise as a novel valuable target and research direction for treating digestive disorders.

Background Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is the most common thyroid dysfunction, and its relationship with blood pressure (BP) has been controversial. The aim of the study was to analyze the association between SCH and newly-diagnosed hypertension. Methods Based on data from the Thyroid disease, Iodine nutrition and Diabetes Epidemiology (TIDE) study, 49,433 euthyroid individuals and 7,719 SCH patients aged ≥18 years were enrolled. Patients with a history of hypertension or thyroid disease were excluded. SCH was determined by manufacturer reference range. Overall hypertension and stage 1 and 2 hypertension were diagnosed according to the guidelines issued by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association in 2017. Results The prevalence of overall hypertension (48.7%), including stage 1 (28.9%) and 2 (19.8%) hypertension, increased significantly in SCH patients compared with euthyroid subjects. With elevated serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level, the hypertension prevalence also increased significantly from the euthyroid to different SCH subgroups, which was more profound in females or subjects aged

We propose herein a novel microfluidic approach for the simultaneous active pumping and mixing of analytes in a straight microchannel via the AC field-effect control of induced-charge electro-osmosis (ICEO) around metal–dielectric solid Janus cylinders of inherent inhomogeneous electrical polarizability immersed in an electrolyte solution. We coin the term “Janus AC flow field-effect transistor (Janus AC-FFET)” to describe this interesting physical phenomenon. The proposed technique utilizes a simple device geometry, in which one or a series of Janus microcylinders are arranged in parallel along the centerline of the channel’s bottom surface, embedding a pair of 3D sidewall driving electrodes. By combining symmetry breaking in both surface polarizability and the AC powering scheme, it is possible, on demand, to adjust the degree of asymmetry of the ICEO flow profile in two orthogonal directions, which includes the horizontal pump and transversal rotating motion. A comprehensive mathematical model was developed under the Debye–Hückel limit to elucidate the physical mechanism underlying the field-effect-reconfigurable diffuse-charge dynamics on both the dielectric and the metal-phase surfaces of the Janus micropillar. For innovation in applied science, an advanced microdevice design integrating an array of discrete Janus cylinders subjected to two oppositely polarized gate terminals is recommended for constructing an active microfluidic pump and mixer, even without external moving parts. Supported by a simulation analysis, our physical demonstration of Janus AC-FFET provides a brand-new approach to muti-directional electro-convective manipulation in modern microfluidic systems.

Abstract Background For acute ischaemic stroke patients, it is uncertain whether intravenous thrombolysis combined with statins might increase the therapeutic effect. Additionally, using high-intensity statins after thrombolysis may increase the risk of bleeding in patients. Asian stroke patients often take low-dose statins. It is speculated that reducing the dose of statins may improve the risk of bleeding. Methods Data from consecutive acute ischaemic stroke patients with intravenous thrombolysis were prospectively collected. Efficacy outcomes included NIHSS (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale) score improvement at 7 days after admission and mRS (Modified Rankin Scale) improvement at 90 days. Safety outcomes included haemorrhage events (intracerebral haemorrhage and gastrointestinal haemorrhage) in the hospital and death events within 2 years. Results The study finally included 215 patients. The statin group had a higher percentage of NIHSS improvement at 7 days (p

Abstract Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) bring about a range of psychological distress and symptom deterioration to headache patients especially to some migraineurs. Compared to migraineurs or normal control, medication overuse headache (MOH) patients are more likely to experience a worse psychological distress and poorer outcome in non-COVID-19 time. However, in COVID-19 pandemic, whether MOH patients would have greater physical and mental symptom deterioration or worse relief of headache symptoms and medications overuse remained unclear. We aim to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on MOH patients to guide for a better management in this study. Methods We enrolled MOH patients who were diagnosed and treated at headache clinic of West China Hospital. Information of the pre-pandemic 3 months period and COVID-19 pandemic period was collected. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to identify independent factors associated with changes in headache symptoms and drug withdrawal. Results Seventy-eight MOH patients were enrolled into the study ultimately. In comparison to pre-pandemic period, fewer MOH patients reported decreased headache days, intensity and days with acute medications per month during the pandemic. Available access to regular prophylactic medications was significantly associated with a reduction of at least 50% in headache days and decrease in headache intensity per month with respective odds ratios of 39.19 (95% CI 3.75–409.15, P = 0.002) and 10.13 (95% CI 2.33–44.12, P = 0.002). Following abrupt withdrawal and high educational level were both significant factors in decreasing headache intensity. Male sex was significantly associated with decrease in days with acute medication per month during the pandemic (odds ratios 4.78, 95%CI 1.44–15.87, P = 0.011). Conclusions Our findings reflect that MOH patients experienced a worse relief of headache symptoms and drug withdrawal during the pandemic. Available access to regular prophylactic medications was the significant independent factor for improvement of headache symptoms. Male sex was significantly associated with decreased days with acute medications per month.

Abstract Ozone is widely used in daily life, but studies have shown that O3 can damage human trachea and lungs, leading to diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop a simple and efficient detection method for monitoring O3 in living cells. In this study, 3-(but-3-en-1-yl)-2-(7-(but-3-en-1-yloxy)-2-oxo-2H-chromen-3-yl)benzo[d]thiazol-3-ium (BCT) as a new type of water-soluble fluorescent probe was synthesized by substitution reaction of 4-bromo-1-butene and hydroxycoumarin-benzothiazole derivatives, which can specifically detect ozone in aqueous solution. The interaction of ozone on the probe can be completed within 20 min, the fluorescence intensity is significantly enhanced, and it has the advantages of high sensitivity (detection limit LOD = 43 nM). The influence of pH on the fluorescent performance of BCT shows that the probe with super stability under weak alkali and acidic environment, which provides the necessary conditions for its detection of ozone in physiological system detection. Therefore, BCT is expected to become an effective tool for detecting ozone in cellular organisms.

Vitamins were closely associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) development, but no study had explored the association of serum multivitamin levels with NAFLD risk. We assessed the association between serum levels of both single-vitamin and multivitamins (VA, VB6, VB9, VB12, VC, VD, and VE) and the risk of NAFLD, using the database of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (cycles 2003–2004 and 2005–2006). We employed multivariable logistic regression and weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression models to explore the association of serum multivitamin levels with NAFLD. Among all 2,294 participants, 969 participants with NAFLD were more likely to be male, older, less educated, or have hypertension/high cholesterol/diabetes. After adjustment of covariates, serum VC/VD/VB6/VB9 levels were negatively correlated with NAFLD risk, while serum VA/VE levels were positively correlated with NAFLD risk. In the WQS model, elevated serum VA/VE levels and lowered serum VC/VD/VB6 levels were linearly associated with increased NAFLD risk. There was a non-linear relationship between serum VB9/VB12 levels and NAFLD risk. There were evident associations between serum multivitamin levels and reduced NAFLD risk, which was mainly driven by VD/VB9/VC. In conclusion, our findings suggested that serum multivitamin levels were significantly associated with the risk of NAFLD.

The hair follicle is a complex skin accessory organ, which determines hair growth. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been proven to play an important role in hair follicle development, but their specific mechanism is still unclear. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was used to obtain the expression profiles of lncRNA in the hair follicles of Inner Mongolian cashmere goats at different embryonic stages (45, 55, 65, and 75 days), and a total of 6,630 lncRNA were identified. According to the rules of hair follicle development, we combined miRNA and mRNA databases (published) and predicted lncRNA-miRNA, miRNA-mRNA, and lncRNA-mRNA interaction pairs in the 45 vs. 75 comparison group. We obtained 516 lncRNA-mRNA, 1,011 lncRNA-miRNA, and 7,411 miRNA-mRNA relationship pairs. Finally, target genes were analyzed by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and it was found that they were mainly enriched in the Wnt signaling pathway and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway related to hair follicle development, indicating that lncRNA may interact with miRNA/mRNA to directly or indirectly regulate the expression of genes related to hair follicle development. Dual-luciferase reporter gene analysis showed that lncRNA MSTRG.1705.1 could bind to Chi-miR-1, while lncRNA MSTRG.11809.1 had no binding site for Chi-miR-433. In conclusion, this study aims to further analyze the molecular regulation mechanism of hair follicle development and to lay a theoretical foundation for revealing the regulation mechanism of cashmere hair follicle growth.

Cashmere goat hair follicles are divided into primary hair follicles and secondary hair follicles. The primary hair follicles produce coarse hair, and the secondary hair follicles produce cashmere. The development of hair follicles is affected by a variety of signaling molecules and pathways. Studies have shown that non-coding RNAs are widely involved in the development of hair follicles of the goat, including small RNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA), and circular RNAs (circRNAs). In recent years, circRNAs, as a new type of circular closed non-coding RNAs, have attracted great attention due to their high stability. However, its regulatory effect on cashmere goat hair follicles mainly focuses on the periodic regulation of secondary hair follicles, and there is no report on the development of cashmere goat hair follicles during the fetal period. Therefore, this study was based on the circRNA, miRNA, and mRNA expression profiles obtained by whole-transcriptional sequencing of the skin tissue of the Inner Mongolia cashmere goats in the fetal period (days 45, 55, 65, and 75) and screening out the morphological changes of hair follicles at different periods. A total of 113 circRNAs related to the development of secondary hair follicles were present. According to the principle of the ceRNA regulatory network, a ceRNA regulatory network composed of 13 circRNAs, 21 miRNAs, and 110 mRNAs related to the development of secondary hair follicles was constructed. Then, qRT-PCR and Sanger sequencing identified circRNA2034, circRNA5712, circRNA888, and circRNA9127 were circRNAs. Next, the dual-luciferase reporter gene verified the targeting relationship of circRNA5712-miR-27b-3p-Dll4. In conclusion, this study constructed a ceRNA regulatory network for the development of cashmere goat secondary hair follicles, laying a foundation for the analysis of circRNAs regulating the morphogenesis and development of cashmere goat secondary hair follicles through the ceRNA mechanism.

We successfully demonstrate a monolithic integrated dual-polarization in-phase/quadrature (IQ) modulator based on thin-film lithium niobate platform with a silicon substrate, which consists of IQ modulators, spot-size converters, and a polarization rotator combiner. When coupled with polarization maintaining fibers, the measured insertion loss of the modulator is 12 dB. In addition, we experimentally achieve a single-carrier 1.6 Tb/s net bitrate transmission.

Abstract Background The biosafety concern of silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) is rapidly expanding alongside with its mass production and extensive applications. The cardiovascular effects of SiNPs exposure have been gradually confirmed, however, the interaction between SiNPs exposure and atherosclerosis, and the underlying mechanisms still remain unknown. Thereby, this study aimed to explore the effects of SiNPs on the progression of atherosclerosis, and to investigate related mechanisms. Results We firstly investigated the in vivo effects of SiNPs exposure on atherosclerosis via intratracheal instillation of ApoE−/− mice fed a Western diet. Ultrasound microscopy showed a significant increase of pulse wave velocity (PWV) compared to the control group, and the histopathological investigation reflected a greater plaque burden in the aortic root of SiNPs-exposed ApoE−/− mice. Compared to the control group, the serum levels of total triglycerides (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were elevated after SiNPs exposure. Moreover, intensified macrophage infiltration and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress was occurred in plaques after SiNPs exposure, as evidenced by the upregulated CD68 and CHOP expressions. Further in vitro, SiNPs was confirmed to activate ER stress and induce lipid accumulation in mouse macrophage, RAW264.7. Mechanistic analyses showed that 4-PBA (a classic ER stress inhibitor) pretreatment greatly alleviated SiNPs-induced macrophage lipid accumulation, and reversed the elevated CD36 expression induced by SiNPs. Conclusions Our results firstly revealed the acceleratory effect of SiNPs on the progression of atherosclerosis in ApoE−/− mice, which was related to lipid accumulation caused by ER stress-mediated upregulation of CD36 expression in macrophage. Graphical abstract

The modernization of Shanghai has experienced two boosting periods. The first appeared in the 1930s, when it formed the civil society of Shanghai and initially facilitated the trade port into an international metropolis. The second started after the nation's reform and opening-up, which attempted to promote the city into a global metropolis in the 2010s. In order to evaluate the socio-spatial transitions of communities in Shanghai during the process, Lilong historical neighborhoods in the 1930s and 2010s are successively chosen as research objects. Meanwhile, three specific neighborhoods in each period are selected for case study, so as to depict different symbiosis patterns of the socio-spatial structures under different spatiotemporal conditions by means of a cross-sectional analysis of the consumption level. By pointing out Shanghai in the 1930s was marked with social integration and local-based consumption, while it was inundated with administration tendency and global-oriented consumption in the 2010s, the article believes the dual integration of local-based and global-oriented consumptions is an alternative solution for Shanghai. Finally, the article proposes that Shanghai's current urban regeneration should rely on the multi-centered symbiotic structure to create a compound network, during which territorial socio-spatial structures and basic living needs of the plebeian can be simultaneously preserved.

Abstract Background and objectives The number of pediatric patients diagnosed with influenza types A and B is increasing annually, especially in temperate regions such as Shanghai (China). The onset of pandemic influenza viruses might be attributed to various ambient meteorological factors including temperature, relative humidity (Rh), and PM1 concentrations, etc. The study aims to explore the correlation between the seasonality of pandemic influenza and these factors. Methods We recruited pediatric patients aged from 0 to 18 years who were diagnosed with influenza A or B from July 1st, 2017 to June 30th, 2019 in Shanghai Children’s Medical Centre (SCMC). Ambient meteorological data were collected from the Shanghai Meteorological Service (SMS) over the same period. The correlation of influenza outbreak and meteorological factors were analyzed through preliminary Pearson’s r correlation test and subsequent time-series Poisson regression analysis using the distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM). Results Pearson’s r test showed a statistically significant correlation between the weekly number of influenza A outpatients and ambient meteorological factors including weekly mean, maximum, minimum temperature and barometric pressure (P