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We aimed to study the effect of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on cancer risk.We searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases for relevant studies. The qualities of included studies were assessed using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Unadjusted and adjusted analyses were performed. We also conducted subgroup analyses stratified by gender, severity of OSA, study design, and cancer type.After literatures search, 18 studies were included in the present study. In the unadjusted analysis, we discovered an increased cancer risk in patients with OSA with a pooled relative risk (RR) in the OSA group of 1.49 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.32-1.69, IThis systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that obstructive sleep apnea may increase risk of cancer.

In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the relationship between the consumption of dairy products and the risk of prostate cancer. We searched PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases for relevant articles and identified a total of thirty-three cohort studies between 1989 and 2020. The qualities of included studies were assessed using Newcastle–Ottawa scale. Pooled adjusted relative risks (RR) with 95 % CI were calculated. We performed subgroup analyses stratified by dairy type, prostate cancer type, follow-up years, treatment era, collection times, adjustment for confounders and geographic location. In the subgroup analysis stratified by prostate cancer type, the pooled RR were 0·98 (95 % CI 0·94, 1·03) in the advanced group, 1·10 (95 % CI 0·98, 1·24) in the non-advanced group and 0·92 (95 % CI 0·84, 1·00) in the fatal group. In the dose–response analysis, a positive association for the risk of prostate cancer was observed for total dairy products 400 g/d (RR: 1·02; 95 % CI 1·00, 1·03), total milk 200 g/d (RR: 1·02; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·03), cheese 40 g/d (RR: 1·01; 95 % CI 1·00, 1·03) and butter 50 g/d (RR: 1·03; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·05). A decreased risk was observed for the intake of whole milk 100 g/d (RR: 0·97; 95 % CI 0·96, 0·99). Our meta-analysis suggests that high intakes of dairy products may be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer; however, since many of the studies were affected by prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening bias, additional studies with an adjustment of PSA screening are needed.

Mechanical properties are among the crucial parameters for multilayer hybrid perovskite-based devices. Here, the mechanical properties of the high-quality single-crystalline MAPbX3 (MA = CH3NH3, X = Cl, Br, I), including the hardness (H) and Young’s modulus (E), are systematically studied using the three-dimensional nanoindentation (3D nanoindentation) method. In the sequence of Cl, Br, and I, the hardness and Young’s modulus of MAPbX3 decrease gradually. The hardness of MAPbX3 ranges from 0.31 to 0.57 GPa, and Young’s modulus values are less than 30 GPa. The low hardness and Young’s modulus are attributed to the weak lattice framework composed of Pb-X and the weak hydrogen bond between CH3NH3+ and the octahedron. The relationship between the hardness and Young’s modulus of MAPbX3 is also described. Generally, this work provides the favorable parameters required to further support the design and modification of investigations regarding perovskite-based devices.

Objective The role of circadian clock in cementogenesis is unclear. This study examines the role of REV-ERBs, one of circadian clock proteins, in proliferation, migration and mineralization of cementoblasts to fill the gap in knowledge. Methods Expression pattern of REV-ERBα in cementoblasts was investigated in vivo and in vitro. CCK-8 assay, scratch wound healing assay, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alizarin red S (ARS) staining were performed to evaluate the effects of REV-ERBs activation by SR9009 on proliferation, migration and mineralization of OCCM-30, an immortalized cementoblast cell line. Furthermore, mineralization related markers including osterix (OSX), ALP, bone sialoprotein (BSP) and osteocalcin (OCN) were evaluated. Results Strong expression of REV-ERBα was found in cellular cementum around tooth apex. Rev-erbα mRNA oscillated periodically in OCCM-30 and declined after mineralization induction. REV-ERBs activation by SR9009 inhibited proliferation but promoted migration of OCCM-30 in vitro. Results of ALP and ARS staining suggested that REV-ERBs activation negatively regulated mineralization of OCCM-30. Mechanically, REV-ERBs activation attenuated the expression of OSX and its downstream targets including ALP, BSP and OCN. Conclusions REV-ERBs are involved in cementogenesis and negatively regulate mineralization of cementoblasts via inhibiting OSX expression. Our study provides a potential target regarding periodontal and cementum regeneration.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a large-scale global epidemic, impacting international politics and the economy. At present, there is no particularly effective medicine and treatment plan. Therefore, it is urgent and significant to find new technologies to diagnose early, isolate early, and treat early. Multimodal data drove artificial intelligence (AI) can potentially be the option. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, AI provided cutting-edge applications in disease, medicine, treatment, and target recognition. This paper reviewed the literature on the intersection of AI and medicine to analyze and compare different AI model applications in the COVID-19 Pandemic, evaluate their effectiveness, show their advantages and differences, and introduce the main models and their characteristics. METHODS: We searched PubMed, arXiv, medRxiv, and Google Scholar through February 2020 to identify studies on AI applications in the medical areas for the COVID-19 Pandemic. RESULTS: We summarize the main AI applications in six areas: (I) epidemiology, (II) diagnosis, (III) progression, (IV) treatment, (V) psychological health impact, and (VI) data security. The ongoing development in AI has significantly improved prediction, contact tracing, screening, diagnosis, treatment, medication, and vaccine development for the COVID-19 Pandemic and reducing human intervention in medical practice. DISCUSSION: This paper provides strong advice for using AI-based auxiliary tools for related applications of human diseases. We also discuss the clinicians’ role in the further development of AI. They and AI researchers can integrate AI technology with current clinical processes and information systems into applications. In the future, AI personnel and medical workers will further cooperate closely.

The association between blood lead (PbB) and uric acid (SUA) remains unclear in US adults without a high level of lead exposure. Additionally, the effects of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) modifying this association are still unclear. Therefore, this study aims to assess the effect of modification of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol on the association between PbB and SUA.This research analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2005 to 2016. Through several screenings, 18,578 participants over the age of 20 were eligible for the analysis. Multivariable linear regression was used to evaluate the association between PbB and SUA. By having stratified participants based on the HDL-C intake category (low HDL-C intake 50 mg/dl; high HDL-C intake ≥ 50 mg/dl), effect modification by HDL-C was assessed through a likelihood ratio test between PbB and SUA.Multivariable linear regression indicated that PbB positively affects SUA (β = 0.19, 95% CI 0.16-0.22). The relationship between PbB and SUA was different in the low and high HDL-C intake group (β 0.12 95% Cl 0.08-0.16 vs. β 0.26 95% Cl 0.22 ~ - 0.30). Furthermore, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol significantly modified the relationship between PbB and SUA in all models which indicates that the interaction of lead exposure and HDL-C is more dangerous than the sum of the individual effects.Our study shows that high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and blood lead have an interactive effect on increasing uric acid, which may have great importance for clinical medication.

Mineralized tissue regeneration is an important and challenging part of the field of tissue engineering and regeneration. At present, autograft harvest procedures may cause secondary trauma to patients, while bone scaffold materials lack osteogenic activity, resulting in a limited application. Loaded with osteogenic induction growth factor can improve the osteoinductive performance of bone graft, but the explosive release of growth factor may also cause side effects. In this study, we innovatively used platelet-rich fibrin (PRF)-modified bone scaffolds (Bio-Oss®) to replace autograft, and used cytokine (BMP-2) to enhance osteogenesis. Encouragingly, this mixture, which we named “Autograft Mimic (AGM)”, has multiple functions and advantages. (1) The fiber network provided by PRF binds the entire bone scaffold together, thereby shaping the bone grafts and maintaining the space of the defect area. (2) The sustained release of BMP-2 from bone graft promoted bone regeneration continuously. (3) AGM recruited bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and promote their proliferation, migration, and osteogenic differentiation. Thus, AGM developed in this study can improve osteogenesis, and provide new guidance for the development of clinical bone grafts.

Microbial symbiosis in legumes is achieved through nitrogen-fixing root nodules, and these are important for sustainable agriculture. The molecular mechanisms underlying development of root nodules in polyploid legume crops are largely understudied. Through map-based cloning and QTL-seq approaches, we identified a pair of homoeologous GRAS transcription factor genes, Nodulation Signaling Pathway 2 (AhNSP2-B07 or Nb) and AhNSP2-A08 (Na), controlling nodulation in cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), an allotetraploid legume crop, which exhibited non-Mendelian and Mendelian inheritance, respectively. The segregation of nodulation in the progeny of Nananbnb genotypes followed a 3:1 Mendelian ratio, in contrast to the 5:3~1:1 non-Mendelian ratio for nanaNbnb genotypes. Additionally, a much higher frequency of the nb allele (13%) than the na allele (4%) exists in the peanut germplasm collection, suggesting that Nb is less essential than Na in nodule organogenesis. Our findings reveal the genetic basis of naturally occurred non-nodulating peanut plants, which can be potentially used for nitrogen fixation improvement in peanut. Furthermore, the results have implications for and provide insights into the evolution of homoeologous genes in allopolyploid species.

Ytterbium aluminum garnet (Yb3Al5O12) is considered as a promising thermal barrier material. However, the main limitations of Yb3Al5O12 for thermal barrier applications are relative low thermal expansion coefficient and high thermal conductivity. In order to overcome these obstacles, herein, a new high entropy (Y0.2Yb0.2Lu0.2Eu0.2Er0.2)3Al5O12 ceramic was designed, and then powders and bulk were prepared through solid-state reaction method and spark plasma sintering (SPS), respectively. The thermal expansion coefficient of HE (Y0.2Yb0.2Lu0.2Eu0.2Er0.2)3Al5O12 is (8.54 ± 0.29) × 10−6 K-1 at 673 K–1273 K, which is about 9% higher than that of Yb3Al5O12. The thermal conductivity of HE (Y0.2Yb0.2Lu0.2Eu0.2Er0.2)3Al5O12 ceramic is 3.81 W·m-1 K-1 at 300 K, which is about 18 % lower than that of Yb3Al5O12. Moreover, there is no reaction between HE (Y0.2Yb0.2Lu0.2Eu0.2Er0.2)3Al5O12 and thermally grown (TG) Al2O3 even at 1600 °C. After annealing at 1590 °C for 18 h, the average grain size of HE (Y0.2Yb0.2Lu0.2Eu0.2Er0.2)3Al5O12 increases only from 1.56 μm to 2.27 μm. Close thermal expansion coefficient to TG Al2O3, low thermal conductivity, good phase stability, excellent chemical compatibility with TG Al2O3 and slow grain growth rate make HE (Y0.2Yb0.2Lu0.2Eu0.2Er0.2)3Al5O12 promising for thermal barrier applications.

Developing electromagnetic (EM) wave absorbing materials with low reflection coefficient and optimal operating frequency band is urgently needed on account of the increasingly serious EM pollution. However, the applications of common EM absorbing materials are encumbered by poor high-temperature stability, poor oxidation resistance, narrow absorption bandwidth or high density. Herein, the strong EM absorption capability and wide efficient absorption bandwidth of high entropy ceramics are reported for the first time, which are designed by a combination of the novel high entropy (HE) rare earth silicide carbides/rare earth oxides (RE3Si2C2/RE2O3). Three HE powders, i.e., HERSC-1 (HE (Tm0.2Y0.2Dy0.2Gd0.2Tb0.2)3Si2C2), HERSC-2 HE (Tm0.2Y0.2Pr0.2Gd0.2Dy0.2)3Si2C2/HE (Tm0.2Y0.2Pr0.2Gd0.2Dy0.2)2O3) and HERSC-3 (HE (Tm0.2Y0.2Pr0.2Gd0.2Tb0.2)3Si2C2/HE (Tm0.2Y0.2Pr0.2Gd0.2Tb0.2)2O3), are synthesized. Although HERSC-1 exhibits a limited absorption effect (the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) is -11.6 dB at 3.4 mm) and a relatively narrow effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 1.7 GHz, the optimal absorption RLmin value and EAB of HERSC-2 and HERSC-3 are -40.7 dB (at 2.9 mm), 3.4 GHz and-50.9 dB (at 2.0 mm), 4.5 GHz, respectively, demonstrating strong microwave absorption capability and wide absorption bandwidth. Considering the better stability, low density and strong EM absorption effect, HE ceramics are promising as a new type of EM absorbing materials.

Yttrium aluminum perovskite (YAlO3) is a promising candidate material for environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) to protect Al2O3f/Al2O3 ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) from the corrosion of high-temperature water vapor in combustion environments. Nevertheless, the relatively high thermal conductivity is a notable drawback of YAlO3 for environmental barrier coating application. Herein, in order to make REAlO3 more thermal insulating, a novel high-entropy rare-earth aluminate ceramic (Y0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2Er0.2)AlO3 was designed and synthesized. The as-prepared (Y0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2Er0.2)AlO3 ceramic possesses close thermal expansion coefficient (9.02 × 10―6 /oC measured from room temperature to 1200 °C) to that of Al2O3. The thermal conductivity of (Y0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2Er0.2) AlO3 at room temperature is 4.1 W·m−1 K−1, which is almost one third of the value of YAlO3. Furthermore, to effectively prevent the penetration of water vapor from possible pores/cracks of coating layer, which are often observed in T/EBCs, a tri-layer EBC system REAlO3/RE3Al5O12/(Al2O3f/Al2O3 CMCs) is designed. Close thermal expansion coefficient to Al2O3 and low thermal conductivity of (Y0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2Er0.2)AlO3, as well as the formation of dense garnet layer at (Y0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2Er0.2)AlO3/Al2O3 interface, indicate that this new type of high-entropy ceramic is suitable as a candidate environmental barrier coating material for Al2O3f/Al2O3 CMCs.

Sintering at high temperature is a serious problem for porous thermal insulating ceramics. To search for sintering-resistant ceramics, ZrP2O7 is selected as the backbone material and porous ZrP2O7 ceramics with 40−60 vol% porosities and strength of 3−14 MPa are fabricated. The volume shrinkage of the 60 vol% porosity ZrP2O7 is only 1.4 % when heated at 1773 K for 6 h and the thermal conductivity, which is as low as 0.18 W m-1 K-1, keeps almost unchanged. The dielectric constants are stable in the frequency range of 7−19 GHz when the temperature increases from 298 K to 1273 K. As the porosity increases from 44 % to 60 %, the dielectric constant at 19 GHz and 1273 K decreases from 3.4 to 2.5. Good sintering-resistance, ultra-low thermal conductivity and low dielectric constant at high temperatures make porous ZrP2O7 suitable for applications as thermal insulating and wave-transmitting materials at high temperatures.

The Asian clam Corbicula fluminea is a keystone zoobenthos in freshwater ecosystems. However, its associated microbiome is not well understood. We investigated the bacterial communities of this clam and its surrounding environment, including sediment and water simultaneously, in a large lake by means of 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Approximately two-thirds of the bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) associated with clams were observed in the surrounding environment and mostly from particle-associated samples. The associated bacterial communities were site specific and more similar to environmental bacteria from the same site than those at other sites, suggesting a local environmental influence on host bacteria. However, the significant differences in bacterial diversities and compositions between the clam and the environment also indicated strong host selection pressure on bacteria from the surrounding environment. Bacteria affiliated with Firmicutes, Spirochaetes, Tenericutes, Bacteroidetes, Epsilonbacteraeota, Patescibacteria, and Fusobacteria were found to be significantly enriched in the clams in comparison to their local environment. Oligotyping analyses of the core-associated bacterial OTUs also demonstrated that most of the core OTUs had lower relative abundances and occurrence frequencies in environmental samples. The core bacterial OTUs were found to play an important role in maintaining the stability of the bacterial community network. These core bacteria included the two most abundant taxa Romboutsia and Paraclostridium with the potential function of fermenting polysaccharides for assisting host clams in food digestion. Overall, we demonstrate that clam-associated bacteria were spatially dynamic and site specific, which were mainly structured both by local environments and host selection. IMPORTANCE The Asian clam Corbicula fluminea is an important benthic clam in freshwater ecosystems due to its high population densities and high filtering efficiency for particulate organic matter. While the associated microbiota is believed to be vital for host living, our knowledge about the compositions, sources, and potential functions is still lacking. We found that C. fluminea offers a unique ecological niche for specific lake bacteria. We also observed high intrahabitat variation in the associated bacterial communities. Such variations were driven mainly by local environments, followed by host selection pressure. While the local microbes served as a source of the clam-associated bacteria, host selection resulted in enrichments of bacterial taxa with the potential for assisting the host in organic matter digestion. These results significantly advance our current understanding of the origins and ecological roles of the microbiota associated with a keynote clam in freshwater ecosystems.

Carbon with a radiocarbon age above 200 years before present (bp) generally is referred to as ancient carbon. Ancient organic carbon (OC) stored in glaciers, permafrost and unperturbed soil has been released with increasing temperatures resulting from climate warming and anthropogenic activities. Evidence suggests that ancient terrestrial OC can be incorporated by heterotrophic bacteria and consumers in many aquatic systems. However, it remains unknown whether ancient terrestrial OC promotes growth and reproduction of consumers. Ancient dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was extracted from frozen soils in the catchments of Lakes Tsochuolong (−216.9‰, 1,960 years bp) and Zhangnaitso (−384.1‰, 3,895 years bp) on the Tibetan Plateau, and was further degraded by heterotrophic bacteria. Degraded ancient DOC (containing bacteria) and Auxenochlorella (−161.6‰) were used exclusively or in combination as food (total 6 mg C/L) for Daphnia magna (D. magna) to compare their body length, mortality rate and offspring production. The mixed diets consisted of ancient DOC converted by bacteria at 4 mg C/L and Auxenochlorella at 2 mg C/L. The radiocarbon isotope (∆14C) value of D. magna fed on mixed diets was −293.0‰ for Lake Tsochuolong (group CA) and −265.9‰ for Lake Zhangnaitso (group CB), which was depleted than those fed exclusively on Auxenochlorella (−187.3‰, group 6C). This result suggests that 14C-depleted DOC can be assimilated by zooplankton. Daphnia magna in group CB had the highest intrinsic rate of population increase (0.33/day) and number of neonates per individual (15.97/ind). The higher growth rate and offspring production in group CB than in CA (0.21/day and 7.68/ind) probably were because D. magna utilised more Auxenochlorella and phosphorus from diets in CB. However, there was no significant difference in the two indicators between CA and 6C (0.24/day and 12.30/ind) or between CB and 6C. Daphnia magna fed exclusively on degraded DOC plus bacteria had the lowest growth rate and offspring production. The results demonstrate that in the presence of algae with high nutritional value, degraded ancient DOC could support the growth and reproduction of zooplankton. Our findings extend the understanding of carbon sources and carbon cycling in food webs in lakes, particularly in high-altitude and polar lakes in the context of climatic and environmental changes.

The current COVID-19 global pandemic poses immense challenges to global health, largely due to the difficulty to detect infection in the early stages of the disease, as well as the current lack of effective antiviral therapy. Research and understanding of the human immune system can provide important theoretical and technical support for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19, the clinical implementations of which include immunoassays and immunotherapy, which play a crucial role in the fight against the pandemic. This review consolidates the current scientific evidence for immunoassay, which includes multiple methods of detecting antigen and antibody against SARS-CoV-2. We compared the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, and clinical applications of these three detection techniques. In addition to detecting viral infections, knowledge on the body’s immunity against the virus is desirable; thus, the immunotherapy-based neutralizing antibody (nAb) detection methods were discussed. We also gave a brief introduction to the new immunoassay technology such as biosensing. This was followed by an in-depth and extensive review on a variety of immunotherapy methods. It includes convalescent plasma therapy, neutralizing antibody–based treatments targeting different regions of SARS-CoV-2, immunotherapy targeted on the host cell including inhibiting the host cell receptor and cytokine storm, as well as cocktail antibodies, cross-neutralizing antibodies, and immunotherapy based on cross-reactivity between viral epitopes and autoepitopes and autoantibody. Despite the development of various immunological testing methods and antibody therapies, the current global situation of COVID-19 is still tense. We need more efficient detection methods and more reliable antibody therapies. The up-to-date knowledge on therapeutic strategies will likely help clinicians worldwide to protect patients from life-threatening viral infections.

Transpiration cooling technique is a reusable and high-efficiency thermal protection system (TPS), which is potential to improve the reusability and security of re-entry space vehicle. Relatively low density, high permeability and high porosity are general requirements for porous media of transpiration cooling systems. In this work, a new porous high entropy metal hexaboride (Y0.2Yb0.2Sm0.2Nd0.2Eu0.2)B-6 is designed and prepared by the in-situ reaction/partial sintering method. Two reaction routes are designed to synthesize (Y0.2Yb0.2Sm0.2Nd0.2Eu0.2)B-6, including boron thermal reduction and borocarbon thermal reduction. The as-prepared porous HE (Y0.2Yb0.2Sm0.2Nd0.2Eu0.2)B-6 ceramics possess homogeneous microstructure and exhibit low density, high porosity, high compressive strength and high permeability. The combination of these properties makes porous HE (Y0.2Yb0.2Sm0.2Nd0.2Eu0.2)B-6 promising as a candidate porous media for various transpiration cooling applications. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.

Damage tolerant and easily machinable ceramics play important roles in the field of thermal sealing and insulation. Herein, a soft and machinable β-Zr2O(PO4)2 ceramic with excellent thermal shock resistance is reported through detailed investigation on its mechanical properties. β-Zr2O(PO4)2 exhibits low hardness (5.9 GPa), low Pugh’s ratio (G/B = 0.36) and good thermal shock resistance. It also can be machined by WC tools and tolerant to damage. The damage tolerance is demonstrated by the residual strength versus indentation load curve as well as the load-displacement curve during compression strength test. From the crystal structure point of view, the mechanism that underpins the damage tolerance of β-Zr2O(PO4)2 is the anisotropic chemical bonding within the crystal structure, which results in low and anisotropic shear deformation resistance. The possible slip systems of β-Zr2O(PO4)2 are (010)[100] and (100)[010].

Although a variety of advanced sterilization materials and treatments have emerged, the complete elimination of bacterial infection, especially drug-resistant bacterial infection, remains an immense challenge. Here, we demonstrate the use of neutrophils loaded with photocatalytic nanoparticles to reduce bacterial infection. This method activates the immune system to achieve an anti-infection response. We prepared the photocatalytic nanoparticle-laden neutrophils in vivo through neutrophil phagocytosis. The resulting loaded cells retained the cell membrane functionality of the source cell, as well as the complete immune cell function of neutrophils, particularly the ability to recruit macrophages to the target area. Photocatalytic nanoparticle-laden neutrophils can target infection sites and release reactive oxygen species to induce the secretion of chemokines, leading to the targeted recruitment of macrophages and enhancing a powerful immune cascade. In a severe mouse infection model induced by pathogenic bacteria, small doses of photocatalytic nanoparticle-laden neutrophils showed a remarkable therapeutic effect by enhancing macrophage recruitment and the immune cascade.

Low thermal conductivity, matched thermal expansion coefficient and good compatibility are general requirements for the environmental/thermal barrier coatings (EBCs/TBCs) and interphases for Al2O3f/Al2O3 composites. In this work, a novel high-entropy (HE) rare-earth phosphate monazite ceramic (La0.2Ce0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2)PO4 is designed and successfully synthesized. This new type of HE rare-earth phosphate monazite exhibits good chemical compatibility with Al2O3, without reaction with Al2O3 as high as 1600 °C in air. Moreover, the thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of HE (La0.2Ce0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2)PO4 (8.9 × 10-6/°C at 300–1000 °C) is close to that of Al2O3. The thermal conductivity of HE (La0.2Ce0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2)PO4 at room temperature is as low as 2.08 W·m-1·K-1, which is about 42% lower than that of LaPO4. Good chemical compatibility, close TEC to that of Al2O3, and low thermal conductivity indicate that HE (La0.2Ce0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2)PO4 is suitable as a candidate EBC/TBC material and an interphase for Al2O3f/Al2O3 composites.

ZrP2O7 is a promising material for high temperature insulating applications. However, decomposition above 1400 °C is the bottleneck that limiting its application at high temperatures. To improve the thermal stability, a novel multicomponent equimolar solid solution (TiZrHf)P2O7 was designed and successfully synthesized in this work inspired by high-entropy ceramic (HEC) concept. The as-synthesized (TiZrHf)P2O7 exhibits good thermal stability, which is not decomposed after heating at 1550 °C for 3 h. It also shows lower thermal conductivity (0.78 W m−1 K−1) compared to the constituting metal pyrophosphates TiP2O7, ZrP2O7 and HfP2O7. The combination of high thermal stability and low thermal conductivity renders (TiZrHf)P2O7 promising for high temperature thermal insulating applications.

Immune response to implantation materials plays a critical role during early local inflammation and biomaterial-induced regeneration or restoration. A novel platelet concentrate termed i-PRF (injectable platelet-rich fibrin) has recently been developed without any additives by low centrifugation speeds. To date, scientists have investigated the capability of releasing growth factors to improve regeneration but have ignored whether i-PRF can inhibit the inflammatory effect around the wound. The present study investigated the anti-inflammation effects of i-PRF on immune response-related cells, especially macrophages and dendric cells. We found that i-PRF reduced pro-inflammatory M1 phenotype of macrophages and activated dendritic cells around muscle defect that was injected with bacterial suspension. Moreover, in vitro experiments showed similar results. i-PRF deleted inflammatory response caused by lipopolysaccharide to some extent. We determined that TLR4, an activator of inflammatory stimulation and p-p65, a key factor belongs to classical inflammatory related NF-κB signal pathway, can be inhibited by use of i-PRF. Results indicate the potential anti-inflammatory role of i-PRF during regeneration and restoration.

High oil and protein content make tetraploid peanut a leading oil and food legume. Here we report a high-quality peanut genome sequence, comprising 2.54 Gb with 20 pseudomolecules and 83,709 protein-coding gene models. We characterize gene functional groups implicated in seed size evolution, seed oil content, disease resistance and symbiotic nitrogen fixation. The peanut B subgenome has more genes and general expression dominance, temporally associated with long-terminal-repeat expansion in the A subgenome that also raises questions about the A-genome progenitor. The polyploid genome provided insights into the evolution of Arachis hypogaea and other legume chromosomes. Resequencing of 52 accessions suggests that independent domestications formed peanut ecotypes. Whereas 0.42–0.47 million years ago (Ma) polyploidy constrained genetic variation, the peanut genome sequence aids mapping and candidate-gene discovery for traits such as seed size and color, foliar disease resistance and others, also providing a cornerstone for functional genomics and peanut improvement., High-quality genome sequence of cultivated peanut comprising 2.54 Gb with 20 pseudomolecules and 83,709 protein-coding gene models provides insights into genome evolution and the genetic mechanisms underlying seed size and leaf resistance in peanut.

Cementum regeneration is an important and challenging stage in periodontal tissue engineering and regeneration. Pathosis of the periodontium, including cementum, is important in precision diagnosis and obstinate treatment of systemic diseases, such as diabetes, leukemia, and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Here, we found that during periodontium development, transcription factor 7-like 2 (Tcf7l2) was widely expressed in the periodontium and dental sac. In mouse cementoblast cell line (OCCM-30), the activation of NF-κB and cementoblast mineralization was significantly reduced when Tcf7l2 gene was silenced. Moreover, Tcf7l2 has a positive effect on NF-κB and cementoblast mineralization. Therefore, Tcf7l2 promotes cementum formation through the NF-κB pathway. In addition, we found a decreased expression of phosphorylated p65 and a thin layer of cementum in Tcf7l2fl/fl mice. These results suggest that Tcf7l2, which accelerates cementum formation by activating NF-κB, has great potential in the treatment of periodontitis and provide guidance for periodontal tissue regeneration.

Crop domestication occurred ~10,000–12,000 years ago when humans shifted from a hunter–gatherer to an agrarian society. Crops were domesticated by selecting the traits in wild plant species that were suitable for human use. Research is crucial to elucidate the mechanisms and processes involved in modern crop improvement and breeding. Recent advances in genomics have revolutionized our understanding of crop domestication. In this review, we summarized cutting-edge crop domestication research by presenting its (1) methodologies, (2) current status, (3) applications, and (4) perspectives. Advanced genomics approaches have clarified crop domestication processes and mechanisms, and supported crop improvement.