Ion-solvaing membranes(ISMs)have received extensive attention in recent years as a key component in electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices.This article provides an overview of structural composition,per...Ion-solvaing membranes(ISMs)have received extensive attention in recent years as a key component in electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices.This article provides an overview of structural composition,performance advan-tages,research progress,ion conduction mechanism and existing issues of ISMs,primarily classifying them according to the matrix structure.A detailed analysis of performance enhancement methods,key performance indicators of ISMs and performance influencing factors is also presented.The article contributes to further optimizing the design and application of ion-solvation membranes,providing theoretical support for the development of fields such as hydrogen production through electrolysis of water and electrochemical energy in the future.展开更多
Developing advanced ion-conductive networks is crucial for anion exchange membranes(AEMs).A flexible molecular structure facilitates the formation of ion clusters,resulting in enhanced ionic conductivity.Polyacrylates...Developing advanced ion-conductive networks is crucial for anion exchange membranes(AEMs).A flexible molecular structure facilitates the formation of ion clusters,resulting in enhanced ionic conductivity.Polyacrylates,known for their outstanding flexibility and chemical stability,hold significant potential as polymer electrolyte membranes.In this work,we innovatively constructed a series of polyacrylate-based AEMs decorated with pendant zwitterions(designated as PSBPA-X,BSBPA-X,where X=20,30,40).Specifically,the spacer length between the zwitterions is strategically optimized to enhance the ionic conductivity.Atomic force microscopy reveals that a longer spacer length between the zwitterions promotes the microphase separation and the formation of advanced water channels,which facilitates the OH^(-)transport in the BSBPA-40 membrane.Moreover,the stronger electrostatic potential and lower interaction energy between the BSBPA-40 and OH^(-)further contribute to efficient OH^(-)hopping transmission.Consequently,the BSBPA-40 membrane demonstrates the highest OH^(-)conductivity,achieving 102.1 mS cm^(-1)at 80℃ and 90% relative humidity,significantly surpassing that of the PSBPA-40 membrane(75.2 mS cm^(-1)).Additionally,the BSBPA-40 membrane exhibits remarkable flexibility with an improved breaking elongation of 480.5%due to the ionic cross-linking between the zwitterions.Notably,the BSBPA-40 membrane-based zinc-air battery achieves an outstanding power density of 156.7 mW cm^(-2)at room temperature,while its water electrolysis performance reaches 2.1 A cm^(-2)at 2.0 V.These results indicate that the developed membranes hold great promise for applications in sustainable and clean energy technologies.展开更多
Traditional hydrogels are inevitably damaged during practical applications,resulting in a gradual deterioration of their functional efficacy.A primary strategy to address this issue involves developing hydrogels with ...Traditional hydrogels are inevitably damaged during practical applications,resulting in a gradual deterioration of their functional efficacy.A primary strategy to address this issue involves developing hydrogels with inherent self-healing properties.In this study,we report the synthesis of self-healing polyacrylate hydrogels that integrate zwitterions,hydrophilic nano-silica and aluminum ions.Due to the synergistic effect of multiple hydrogen bonds,coordination bonds and electrostatic interactions,the tensile strength of the hydrogel is enhanced from 15.1 to 162.6 kPa.Moreover,the electrical resistance and tensile strength of the hydrogel can almost recover to its initial values after 20 min of healing at room temperature,exhibiting remarkable self-healing performance.Furthermore,the zwitterionic polyacrylate hydrogel serves as a wearable sensor with the capability of accurately response to the bending and stretching of human joints,exhibting a gauge factor of 1.87 under tensile strain ranging from 80% to 100%.Even after being freezed at-20℃ for 3 h,the zwitterionic polyacrylate hydrogel retains its exceptional writing performance.In conclusion,the hydrogels developed in this study demonstrate significant potential for wearable electronics applications.展开更多
A semiclassical particle moving near the horizon of a Schwarzschild black hole is chaotic,and its Lyapunov exponent saturates the chaos bound proposed by Maldacena,Shenker,and Stanford,with the temperature being the H...A semiclassical particle moving near the horizon of a Schwarzschild black hole is chaotic,and its Lyapunov exponent saturates the chaos bound proposed by Maldacena,Shenker,and Stanford,with the temperature being the Hawking temperature.Motivated by this,we consider the Lyapunov exponents of scalar and spinor fields in Schwarzschild spacetime by calculating their out-of-time-ordered commutators along the radial direction.Numerically,we find that the Lyapunov exponent of the scalar field is smaller than that of the spinor field.They are mainly contributed by the bound states near the horizon and lie below the chaos bound.展开更多
The development of economical,highly efficient,and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts for both the oxygen evolution reaction(OER)and the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)remains a critical focus in advancing rechargeab...The development of economical,highly efficient,and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts for both the oxygen evolution reaction(OER)and the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)remains a critical focus in advancing rechargeable metal-air battery systems.Significant progress has been made in the design of high-performance bifunctional electrocatalysts,the development of novel oxygen electrode architectures,and the in-depth understanding of electrocatalytic mechanisms through combined experimental and computational studies.This work provides a comprehensive review of recent advancements in design strategies for oxygen catalysts,including homogeneous electrodes,asymmetric electrodes,and biomimetic electrodes,are thoroughly discussed and summarized.Then,the advanced catalyst modification strategies for ORR/OER are summarized,focusing on critical factors such as enhancement effect of metal/nonmental and synergistic enhancement effect in multiple catalyst.Subsequently,a representative performance evaluation is presented,based on the reported oxygen electrodes used in rechargeable metal-air battery applications.By focusing on these key areas,the review outlines the current challenges and future prospects for the development of bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts,aiming to guide the design of high-performance bifunctional electrocatalysts and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms involved.展开更多
Objective:Natural extracts,including nobiletin,have been reported to enhance the efficacy and sensitivity of chemotherapeutic drugs.However,whether and how nobiletin affects tumor growth and progression in renal cell ...Objective:Natural extracts,including nobiletin,have been reported to enhance the efficacy and sensitivity of chemotherapeutic drugs.However,whether and how nobiletin affects tumor growth and progression in renal cell carcinoma(RCC)are still unclear.Methods:Cell proliferation,cell cycle and apoptosis analyses,colony-formation assays,immunoblotting analysis,and q RT-PCR analysis were performed to investigate how nobiletin affected RCC cell proliferation in vitro.The nude mouse model was used to test the efficacy of nobiletin alone or in combination with palbociclib.Results:Nobiletin inhibited cell proliferation by inducing G1 cell cycle arrest and cell apoptosis in RCC cells.Mechanistically,nobiletin decreased SKP2 protein expression by reducing its transcriptional level.The downregulated SKP2 caused accumulation of its substrates,p27 and p21,which further inhibited the activity of the G1 phase-related protein,CDK2,leading to inhibition of cell proliferation and tumor formation.A higher SKP2 protein level indicated less sensitivity to the CDK4/6 inhibitor,palbociclib.A combination of nobiletin and palbociclib showed a synergistic tumor inhibition in vitro and in an in vivo model.Conclusions:Nobiletin downregulated the SKP2-p21/p27-CDK2 axis to inhibit tumor progression and showed synergistic tumor inhibition effects with the CDK4/6 inhibitor,palbociclib,on RCC,which indicates a potential new therapeutic strategy.展开更多
AIM: To investigate whether autofluorescence imaging (AFI) endoscopy can distinguish non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) from functional heartburn (FH).METHODS: In this prospective observational trial, 127 patients pres...AIM: To investigate whether autofluorescence imaging (AFI) endoscopy can distinguish non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) from functional heartburn (FH).METHODS: In this prospective observational trial, 127 patients presenting with typical reflux symptoms for > 6 mo were screened. All the participants underwent endoscopy, during which white light imaging (WLI) was followed by AFI. Finally 84 patients with normal esophageal appearance on WLI were enrolled. It was defined as being suggestive of NERD if one or more longitudinal purple lines longer than one centimeter were visualized in the distal part of the esophagus during AFI endoscopy. Ambulatory 24-h multichannel intraluminal impedance and pH monitoring was also performed. After standard proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) tests, subjects were divided into an NERD group and an FH group and the diagnostic performance of AFI endoscopy to differentiate NERD from FH was evaluated.RESULTS: Of 84 endoscopy-negative patients, 36 (42.9%) had a normal pH/impedance test. Of these, 26 patients with favorable responses to PPI tests were classified as having NERD. Finally 10 patients were diagnosed with FH and the others with NERD. Altogether, 68 (81.0%) of the 84 patients were positive on AFI endoscopy. In the NERD group, there were 67 (90.5%) patients with abnormal esophageal findings on AFI endoscopy while only 1 (10%) patient was positive on AFI endoscopy in the FH group. The sensitivity and specificity of AFI in differentiating NERD from FH were 90.5% (95%CI: 81.5%-96.1%) and 90.0% (95%CI: 55.5%-99.7%), respectively. Meanwhile, the accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of AFI in differentiating between NERD and FH were 90.5% (95%CI: 84.2%-96.8%), 98.5% (95%CI: 92.1%-99.9%) and 56.3% (95%CI: 30.0%-80.2%), respectively.CONCLUSION: Autofluorescence imaging may serve as a complementary method in evaluating patients with NERD and FH.展开更多
Objective:Primary biliary cholangitis(PBC)is a chronic progressive cholestatic liver disease.In recent years,researchers have found that cysteine-rich angiogenic inducer 61(Cyr61,also known as CCN1)has a potential rol...Objective:Primary biliary cholangitis(PBC)is a chronic progressive cholestatic liver disease.In recent years,researchers have found that cysteine-rich angiogenic inducer 61(Cyr61,also known as CCN1)has a potential role in reducing portal inflammation in patients with PBC.This study aimed to explore the relationship between Cyr61 and PBC to provide new ideas and an experimental basis for the clinical treatment of PBC.Methods:After induction of the overexpression of Cyr61 in a mouse model of PBC using recombinant adenovirus,hematoxylin and eosin staining and pathological scores were used to indicate intrahepatic inflammation and bile duct damage.Real-time PCR was used to detect changes in inflammation-related cytokines in the liver.To further study the mechanism,we assessed whether Cyr61 protects bile duct epithelial cells from cytotoxic effects.Results:Serum and hepatic Cyr61 levels were increased in the murine model of PBC.Overexpression of Cyr61 alleviated hepatic inflammation and bile duct injury in vivo.Cyr61 inhibited the cytotoxic effects of CD8^(+)T cells by acting on biliary epithelial cells(BECs)in vitro.Conclusion:Our results provide novel insight into the pathogenesis of PBC and suggest that Cyr61 plays a dominant role in the cytotoxic effects on BECs in PBC.Consequently,therapeutic strategies targeting Cyr61 could be a potent therapy for PBC.展开更多
In the paper,a class of functions with bounded turnings involving cardioid domain,are studied in the region of the unit disc.The bounds of|a_(5)|,|a_(6)|,|a_(7)|and the fourth Hankel determinant are obtained,which are...In the paper,a class of functions with bounded turnings involving cardioid domain,are studied in the region of the unit disc.The bounds of|a_(5)|,|a_(6)|,|a_(7)|and the fourth Hankel determinant are obtained,which are more accurate than those obtained by Srivastava.展开更多
Regarding the rapid shrinkage of the Arctic cryosphere, sea ice plays a significant role in the temporal storage,transport, and release of microplastics(an emergent pollutant) among atmospheric, aquatic, and terrestri...Regarding the rapid shrinkage of the Arctic cryosphere, sea ice plays a significant role in the temporal storage,transport, and release of microplastics(an emergent pollutant) among atmospheric, aquatic, and terrestrial environments. However, there are sparse studies on microplastics in the landfast sea ice and lagoon lake ice in the Alaskan Arctic region. Therefore, this study investigated characteristics and potential sources of microplastics in the landfast sea ice and lagoon lake ice in the Alaskan Arctic(Point Barrow). The results found that the average abundance of microplastics in the landfast sea ice(220.6±140.1 items/L) was comparable to that in lagoon lake ice near Point Barrow(148.9±141.8 items/L). For different layers of sea ice cores, the maximum abundance of microplastics generally occurred in the bottom layer. The overall particle sizes for the detected microplastics revealed that the abundance of microplastics decreased with increasing size for both landfast sea ice and lagoon lake ice samples. Small-sized microplastics(≤50 μm) accounted for more than 80% of the detected microplastics,with the dominant shape being fragments. The predominant polymers in sea ice were polyamide(PA), polyethylene(PE), and polyethylene terephthalate(PET). Meanwhile, PE and rubber dominated the polymers detected in lagoon lake ice. These differences between microplastics in Arctic sea ice and lagoon lake ice further indicated the discrepancies in microplastic transport pathways and deposition. Microplastics in landfast sea ice were mainly affected by seawater transported from the Pacific Ocean into the Chukchi Sea. In contrast, microplastics in lagoon lake ice were mostly influenced by the seawater of the Beaufort Sea and local vehicle emissions(e.g., rubber). This study further highlighted that a large abundance of microplastics was widely distributed in the sea ice of the Alaska Arctic region and may pose potential risks to the local ecosystems.展开更多
The strawberry axillary meristem can develop into a branch crown(a flowering shoot)or a stolon(a horizontal stem that produces daughter plants),with gibberellin promoting stolon fate.Despite its importance for plant a...The strawberry axillary meristem can develop into a branch crown(a flowering shoot)or a stolon(a horizontal stem that produces daughter plants),with gibberellin promoting stolon fate.Despite its importance for plant architecture,asexual reproduction,and perennial growth,the regulatory mechanism governing this fate decision remains poorly understood.In this study,we found that the juvenile-to-adult transition of the axillary meristem is marked by induction of GA20ox4 expression and the onset of stolon formation.RNA sequencing of staged meristems identified the zinc-finger protein ZFP6,which is strongly coexpressed with GA20ox4.CRISPR-mediated knockout of ZFP6 abolished GA20ox4 expression and eliminated stolon formation,a phenotype rescued by exogenous gibberellin,demonstrating that ZFP6 acts to activate gibberellin biosynthesis and promote stolon formation.Genetic analysis of mutants in the redlight receptor PhyB,together with mutants in gibberellin biosynthesis and signaling,further revealed that red light and PhyB promote axillary meristem maturation,a previously unrecognized developmental stage that precedes fate determination.Taken together,these findings illuminate how developmental stage and environmental cues converge to regulate axillary meristem maturation and fate determination,and identify a stage-specific regulator controlling the switch to stolon formation.展开更多
BACKGROUND Liver failure has high mortality and poor prognosis,and establishing new reliable markers for predicting its prognosis is necessary.Mucosal-associated invariant T(MAIT)cells are a novel population of innate...BACKGROUND Liver failure has high mortality and poor prognosis,and establishing new reliable markers for predicting its prognosis is necessary.Mucosal-associated invariant T(MAIT)cells are a novel population of innate-like lymphocytes involved in inflammatory liver disease,and their potential role in liver failure remains unclear.AIM To investigate alteration of circulating MAIT cells and assess its prognostic value in patients with hepatitis B virus(HBV)-related liver failure.METHODS We recruited 55 patients with HBV-related liver failure,48 patients with chronic hepatitis B and 40 healthy controls(HCs)from Nantong Third People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nantong University.Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated,and the percentage and number of circulating MAIT cells were detected by flow cytometry.Plasma levels of interleukin(IL)-7,IL-12p70,IL-18 and interferon-αwere measured by Luminex assay.RESULTS Circulating MAIT cells were significantly decreased in HBV-related liver failure patients(percentage:2.00±1.22 vs 5.19±1.27%,P<0.0001;number:5.47±4.93 vs 84.43±19.59,P<0.0001)compared with HCs.More importantly,there was a significant reduction of MAIT cells in patients with middle/late-stage compared with early-stage liver failure.Circulating MAIT cells partially recovered after disease improvement,both in percentage(4.01±1.21 vs 2.04±0.95%,P<0.0001)and in cell count(17.24±8.56 vs 7.41±4.99,P<0.0001).The proportion(2.29±1.01 vs 1.58±1.38%,P<0.05)and number(7.30±5.70 vs 2.94±1.47,P<0.001)of circulating MAIT cells were significantly higher in the survival group than in the dead/liver transplantation group,and the Kaplan–Meier curve showed that lower expression of circulating MAIT cells(both percentage and cell count)predicted poor overall survival(P<0.01).Also,the levels of IL-12(20.26±5.42 pg/mL vs 17.76±2.79 pg/mL,P=0.01)and IL-18(1470.05±1525.38 pg/mL vs 362.99±109.64 pg/mL,P<0.0001)were dramatically increased in HBV-related liver failure patients compared with HCs.CONCLUSION Circulating MAIT cells may play an important role in the process of HBV-related liver failure and can be an important prognostic marker.展开更多
Age-related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease(AD)have become a critical public health issue due to the significantly extended human lifespan,leading to considerable economic and social burdens.T...Age-related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease(AD)have become a critical public health issue due to the significantly extended human lifespan,leading to considerable economic and social burdens.Traditional therapies for AD such as medicine and surgery remain ineffective,impractical,and expensive.Many studies have shown that a variety of bioactive substances released by physical exercise(called“exerkines”)help to maintain and improve the normal functions of the brain in terms of cognition,emotion,and psychomotor coordination.Increasing evidence suggests that exerkines may exert beneficial effects in AD as well.This review summarizes the neuroprotective effects of exerkines in AD,focusing on the underlying molecular mechanism and the dynamic expression of exerkines after physical exercise.The findings described in this review will help direct research into novel targets for the treatment of AD and develop customized exercise therapy for individuals of different ages,genders,and health conditions.展开更多
Accidents in chemical production usually result in fatal injury,economic loss and negative social impact.Chemical accident reports which record past accident information,contain a large amount of expert knowledge.Howe...Accidents in chemical production usually result in fatal injury,economic loss and negative social impact.Chemical accident reports which record past accident information,contain a large amount of expert knowledge.However,manually finding out the key factors causing accidents needs reading and analyzing of numerous accident reports,which is time-consuming and labor intensive.Herein,in this paper,a semiautomatic method based on natural language process(NLP)technology is developed to construct a knowledge graph of chemical accidents.Firstly,we build a named entity recognition(NER)model using SoftLexicon(simplify the usage of lexicon)+BERT-Transformer-CRF(conditional random field)to automatically extract the accident information and risk factors.The risk factors leading to accident in chemical accident reports are divided into five categories:human,machine,material,management,and environment.Through analysis of the extraction results of different chemical industries and different accident types,corresponding accident prevention suggestions are given.Secondly,based on the definition of classes and hierarchies of information in chemical accident reports,the seven-step method developed at Stanford University is used to construct the ontology-based chemical accident knowledge description model.Finally,the ontology knowledge description model is imported into the graph database Neo4j,and the knowledge graph is constructed to realize the structu red storage of chemical accident knowledge.In the case of information extraction from 290 Chinese chemical accident reports,SoftLexicon+BERT-Transformer-CRF shows the best extraction performance among nine experimental models.Demonstrating that the method developed in the current work can be a promising tool in obtaining the factors causing accidents,which contributes to intelligent accident analysis and auxiliary accident prevention.展开更多
Epilepsy frequently leads to cognitive dysfunction and approaches to treatment remain limited.Although regular exercise effectively improves learning and memory functions across multiple neurological diseases,its appl...Epilepsy frequently leads to cognitive dysfunction and approaches to treatment remain limited.Although regular exercise effectively improves learning and memory functions across multiple neurological diseases,its application in patients with epilepsy remains controversial.Here,we adopted a 14-day treadmill-exercise paradigm in a pilocarpine injection-induced mouse model of epilepsy.Cognitive assays confirmed the improvement of object and spatial memory after endurance training,and electrophysiological studies revealed the maintenance of hippocampal plasticity as a result of physical exercise.Investigations of the mechanisms underlying this effect revealed that exercise protected parvalbumin interneurons,probably via the suppression of neuroinflammation and improved integrity of blood-brain barrier.In summary,this work identified a previously unknown mechanism through which exercise improves cognitive rehabilitation in epilepsy.展开更多
The rapid development of the digital economy provides an unprecedented opportunity for China to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.While previous studies have explored the relationship between the digital economy,digit...The rapid development of the digital economy provides an unprecedented opportunity for China to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.While previous studies have explored the relationship between the digital economy,digital technologies,and energy,the impact of the digital economy on carbon emissions has not received sufficient attention in the literature.Meanwhile,although cities are the basic units for carbon emission reduction policies,few studies have explored carbon emissions at the city level in China.This study investigates the spatial correlation and spillover effects of the digital economy development on carbon emission reduction in 248 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2019.The proposed approach relies on Moran’s I test and the spatial Durbin model(SDM).First,the study’s results show that carbon emissions are more severe in industry-intensive cities in northeast and central China than in the eastern coast during the sample period.Second,the development of the digital economy is conducive to reducing carbon emissions.Third,Moran’s I and SDM tests find that the digital economy has a significant spatial effect on carbon emissions,with a close spatial connection between cities.Based on the above findings,this study offers relevant policy recommendations and suggestions for realizing China's carbon neutrality goal.展开更多
Contamination of soil and water by arsenic is a global problem. In Australia, the dipping of cattle in arsenic-containing solution to control cattle ticks in last centenary has left many sites heavily contaminated wit...Contamination of soil and water by arsenic is a global problem. In Australia, the dipping of cattle in arsenic-containing solution to control cattle ticks in last centenary has left many sites heavily contaminated with arsenic and other toxicants. We had previously isolated five soil bacterial strains （CDB 1-5） highly resistant to arsenic. To understand the resistance mechanism, molecular studies have been carried out. Two chromosome-encoded arsenic resistance （ars） gene clusters have been cloned from CDB3 （Bacillus sp.）. They both function in Escherichia coli and cluster i exerts a much higher resistance to the toxic metalloid. Cluster 2 is smaller possessing four open reading frames （ORFs） arsRorf2BC, similar to that identified in Bacillus subtilis Skin element. Among the eight ORFs in cluster 1 five are analogs of common ars genes found in other bacteria, however, organized in a unique order arsRBCDA instead of arsRDABC. Three other putative genes are located directly downstream and designated as arsTIP based on the homologies of their theoretical translation sequences respectively to thioredoxin reductases, iron-sulphur cluster proteins and protein phosphatases. The latter two are novel of any known ars operons. The arsD gene from Bacillus species was cloned for the first time and the predict protein differs from the well studied E. coli ArsD by lacking two pairs of C-terminal cysteine residues. Its functional involvement in arsenic resistance has been confirmed by a deletion experiment. There exists also an inverted repeat in the intergenic region between arsC and arsD implying some unknown transcription regulation.展开更多
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFE0138900)the “Scientific and Technical Innovation Action Plan” Basic Research Field of Shanghai Science and Technology Committee (19JC1410500)。
文摘Ion-solvaing membranes(ISMs)have received extensive attention in recent years as a key component in electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices.This article provides an overview of structural composition,performance advan-tages,research progress,ion conduction mechanism and existing issues of ISMs,primarily classifying them according to the matrix structure.A detailed analysis of performance enhancement methods,key performance indicators of ISMs and performance influencing factors is also presented.The article contributes to further optimizing the design and application of ion-solvation membranes,providing theoretical support for the development of fields such as hydrogen production through electrolysis of water and electrochemical energy in the future.
基金financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFE0138900)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21972017)the“Scientific and Technical Innovation Action Plan”Basic Research Field of Shanghai Science and Technology Committee(19JC1410500).
文摘Developing advanced ion-conductive networks is crucial for anion exchange membranes(AEMs).A flexible molecular structure facilitates the formation of ion clusters,resulting in enhanced ionic conductivity.Polyacrylates,known for their outstanding flexibility and chemical stability,hold significant potential as polymer electrolyte membranes.In this work,we innovatively constructed a series of polyacrylate-based AEMs decorated with pendant zwitterions(designated as PSBPA-X,BSBPA-X,where X=20,30,40).Specifically,the spacer length between the zwitterions is strategically optimized to enhance the ionic conductivity.Atomic force microscopy reveals that a longer spacer length between the zwitterions promotes the microphase separation and the formation of advanced water channels,which facilitates the OH^(-)transport in the BSBPA-40 membrane.Moreover,the stronger electrostatic potential and lower interaction energy between the BSBPA-40 and OH^(-)further contribute to efficient OH^(-)hopping transmission.Consequently,the BSBPA-40 membrane demonstrates the highest OH^(-)conductivity,achieving 102.1 mS cm^(-1)at 80℃ and 90% relative humidity,significantly surpassing that of the PSBPA-40 membrane(75.2 mS cm^(-1)).Additionally,the BSBPA-40 membrane exhibits remarkable flexibility with an improved breaking elongation of 480.5%due to the ionic cross-linking between the zwitterions.Notably,the BSBPA-40 membrane-based zinc-air battery achieves an outstanding power density of 156.7 mW cm^(-2)at room temperature,while its water electrolysis performance reaches 2.1 A cm^(-2)at 2.0 V.These results indicate that the developed membranes hold great promise for applications in sustainable and clean energy technologies.
基金financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFE0138900)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21972017)+1 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Ministry of Education of China(D5000240188)the"Scientific and Technical Innovation Action Plan"Basic Research Field of Shanghai Science and Technology Committee(19JC1410500)。
文摘Traditional hydrogels are inevitably damaged during practical applications,resulting in a gradual deterioration of their functional efficacy.A primary strategy to address this issue involves developing hydrogels with inherent self-healing properties.In this study,we report the synthesis of self-healing polyacrylate hydrogels that integrate zwitterions,hydrophilic nano-silica and aluminum ions.Due to the synergistic effect of multiple hydrogen bonds,coordination bonds and electrostatic interactions,the tensile strength of the hydrogel is enhanced from 15.1 to 162.6 kPa.Moreover,the electrical resistance and tensile strength of the hydrogel can almost recover to its initial values after 20 min of healing at room temperature,exhibiting remarkable self-healing performance.Furthermore,the zwitterionic polyacrylate hydrogel serves as a wearable sensor with the capability of accurately response to the bending and stretching of human joints,exhibting a gauge factor of 1.87 under tensile strain ranging from 80% to 100%.Even after being freezed at-20℃ for 3 h,the zwitterionic polyacrylate hydrogel retains its exceptional writing performance.In conclusion,the hydrogels developed in this study demonstrate significant potential for wearable electronics applications.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China with Grants No.12174067 and No.11804223。
文摘A semiclassical particle moving near the horizon of a Schwarzschild black hole is chaotic,and its Lyapunov exponent saturates the chaos bound proposed by Maldacena,Shenker,and Stanford,with the temperature being the Hawking temperature.Motivated by this,we consider the Lyapunov exponents of scalar and spinor fields in Schwarzschild spacetime by calculating their out-of-time-ordered commutators along the radial direction.Numerically,we find that the Lyapunov exponent of the scalar field is smaller than that of the spinor field.They are mainly contributed by the bound states near the horizon and lie below the chaos bound.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(52302084)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFE0138900)+1 种基金Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(2232025D-24)the Qin Shen Scholar Program of Jiaxing University。
文摘The development of economical,highly efficient,and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts for both the oxygen evolution reaction(OER)and the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)remains a critical focus in advancing rechargeable metal-air battery systems.Significant progress has been made in the design of high-performance bifunctional electrocatalysts,the development of novel oxygen electrode architectures,and the in-depth understanding of electrocatalytic mechanisms through combined experimental and computational studies.This work provides a comprehensive review of recent advancements in design strategies for oxygen catalysts,including homogeneous electrodes,asymmetric electrodes,and biomimetic electrodes,are thoroughly discussed and summarized.Then,the advanced catalyst modification strategies for ORR/OER are summarized,focusing on critical factors such as enhancement effect of metal/nonmental and synergistic enhancement effect in multiple catalyst.Subsequently,a representative performance evaluation is presented,based on the reported oxygen electrodes used in rechargeable metal-air battery applications.By focusing on these key areas,the review outlines the current challenges and future prospects for the development of bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts,aiming to guide the design of high-performance bifunctional electrocatalysts and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms involved.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.81772702 and 81502214)。
文摘Objective:Natural extracts,including nobiletin,have been reported to enhance the efficacy and sensitivity of chemotherapeutic drugs.However,whether and how nobiletin affects tumor growth and progression in renal cell carcinoma(RCC)are still unclear.Methods:Cell proliferation,cell cycle and apoptosis analyses,colony-formation assays,immunoblotting analysis,and q RT-PCR analysis were performed to investigate how nobiletin affected RCC cell proliferation in vitro.The nude mouse model was used to test the efficacy of nobiletin alone or in combination with palbociclib.Results:Nobiletin inhibited cell proliferation by inducing G1 cell cycle arrest and cell apoptosis in RCC cells.Mechanistically,nobiletin decreased SKP2 protein expression by reducing its transcriptional level.The downregulated SKP2 caused accumulation of its substrates,p27 and p21,which further inhibited the activity of the G1 phase-related protein,CDK2,leading to inhibition of cell proliferation and tumor formation.A higher SKP2 protein level indicated less sensitivity to the CDK4/6 inhibitor,palbociclib.A combination of nobiletin and palbociclib showed a synergistic tumor inhibition in vitro and in an in vivo model.Conclusions:Nobiletin downregulated the SKP2-p21/p27-CDK2 axis to inhibit tumor progression and showed synergistic tumor inhibition effects with the CDK4/6 inhibitor,palbociclib,on RCC,which indicates a potential new therapeutic strategy.
文摘AIM: To investigate whether autofluorescence imaging (AFI) endoscopy can distinguish non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) from functional heartburn (FH).METHODS: In this prospective observational trial, 127 patients presenting with typical reflux symptoms for > 6 mo were screened. All the participants underwent endoscopy, during which white light imaging (WLI) was followed by AFI. Finally 84 patients with normal esophageal appearance on WLI were enrolled. It was defined as being suggestive of NERD if one or more longitudinal purple lines longer than one centimeter were visualized in the distal part of the esophagus during AFI endoscopy. Ambulatory 24-h multichannel intraluminal impedance and pH monitoring was also performed. After standard proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) tests, subjects were divided into an NERD group and an FH group and the diagnostic performance of AFI endoscopy to differentiate NERD from FH was evaluated.RESULTS: Of 84 endoscopy-negative patients, 36 (42.9%) had a normal pH/impedance test. Of these, 26 patients with favorable responses to PPI tests were classified as having NERD. Finally 10 patients were diagnosed with FH and the others with NERD. Altogether, 68 (81.0%) of the 84 patients were positive on AFI endoscopy. In the NERD group, there were 67 (90.5%) patients with abnormal esophageal findings on AFI endoscopy while only 1 (10%) patient was positive on AFI endoscopy in the FH group. The sensitivity and specificity of AFI in differentiating NERD from FH were 90.5% (95%CI: 81.5%-96.1%) and 90.0% (95%CI: 55.5%-99.7%), respectively. Meanwhile, the accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of AFI in differentiating between NERD and FH were 90.5% (95%CI: 84.2%-96.8%), 98.5% (95%CI: 92.1%-99.9%) and 56.3% (95%CI: 30.0%-80.2%), respectively.CONCLUSION: Autofluorescence imaging may serve as a complementary method in evaluating patients with NERD and FH.
基金supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.81600449)the Nantong Science and Technology Bureau(No.MS22018007 and No.MSZ18130)+2 种基金Six Peak Talents in Jiangsu Province(No.YY-177)the Project of Jiangsu Province Youth Medical Talent Development(No.QNRC2016400)the Project of Nantong Youth Medical Talent Development(No.05).
文摘Objective:Primary biliary cholangitis(PBC)is a chronic progressive cholestatic liver disease.In recent years,researchers have found that cysteine-rich angiogenic inducer 61(Cyr61,also known as CCN1)has a potential role in reducing portal inflammation in patients with PBC.This study aimed to explore the relationship between Cyr61 and PBC to provide new ideas and an experimental basis for the clinical treatment of PBC.Methods:After induction of the overexpression of Cyr61 in a mouse model of PBC using recombinant adenovirus,hematoxylin and eosin staining and pathological scores were used to indicate intrahepatic inflammation and bile duct damage.Real-time PCR was used to detect changes in inflammation-related cytokines in the liver.To further study the mechanism,we assessed whether Cyr61 protects bile duct epithelial cells from cytotoxic effects.Results:Serum and hepatic Cyr61 levels were increased in the murine model of PBC.Overexpression of Cyr61 alleviated hepatic inflammation and bile duct injury in vivo.Cyr61 inhibited the cytotoxic effects of CD8^(+)T cells by acting on biliary epithelial cells(BECs)in vitro.Conclusion:Our results provide novel insight into the pathogenesis of PBC and suggest that Cyr61 plays a dominant role in the cytotoxic effects on BECs in PBC.Consequently,therapeutic strategies targeting Cyr61 could be a potent therapy for PBC.
基金Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Provincial Department of Education(Grant Nos.KJ2020A 0993KJ2020ZD74)+2 种基金the High-Level Talent Research Start-Up Project(Grant No.DC2300000286)the Foundation of Guangzhou Civil Aviation College(Grant Nos.22X041824X4412).
文摘In the paper,a class of functions with bounded turnings involving cardioid domain,are studied in the region of the unit disc.The bounds of|a_(5)|,|a_(6)|,|a_(7)|and the fourth Hankel determinant are obtained,which are more accurate than those obtained by Srivastava.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2020YFA0608503)the Science and Technology Program of Gansu Province(23ZDFA017).
文摘Regarding the rapid shrinkage of the Arctic cryosphere, sea ice plays a significant role in the temporal storage,transport, and release of microplastics(an emergent pollutant) among atmospheric, aquatic, and terrestrial environments. However, there are sparse studies on microplastics in the landfast sea ice and lagoon lake ice in the Alaskan Arctic region. Therefore, this study investigated characteristics and potential sources of microplastics in the landfast sea ice and lagoon lake ice in the Alaskan Arctic(Point Barrow). The results found that the average abundance of microplastics in the landfast sea ice(220.6±140.1 items/L) was comparable to that in lagoon lake ice near Point Barrow(148.9±141.8 items/L). For different layers of sea ice cores, the maximum abundance of microplastics generally occurred in the bottom layer. The overall particle sizes for the detected microplastics revealed that the abundance of microplastics decreased with increasing size for both landfast sea ice and lagoon lake ice samples. Small-sized microplastics(≤50 μm) accounted for more than 80% of the detected microplastics,with the dominant shape being fragments. The predominant polymers in sea ice were polyamide(PA), polyethylene(PE), and polyethylene terephthalate(PET). Meanwhile, PE and rubber dominated the polymers detected in lagoon lake ice. These differences between microplastics in Arctic sea ice and lagoon lake ice further indicated the discrepancies in microplastic transport pathways and deposition. Microplastics in landfast sea ice were mainly affected by seawater transported from the Pacific Ocean into the Chukchi Sea. In contrast, microplastics in lagoon lake ice were mostly influenced by the seawater of the Beaufort Sea and local vehicle emissions(e.g., rubber). This study further highlighted that a large abundance of microplastics was widely distributed in the sea ice of the Alaska Arctic region and may pose potential risks to the local ecosystems.
基金supported by the National Science Foundation Award(IOS1935169)to Z.L.
文摘The strawberry axillary meristem can develop into a branch crown(a flowering shoot)or a stolon(a horizontal stem that produces daughter plants),with gibberellin promoting stolon fate.Despite its importance for plant architecture,asexual reproduction,and perennial growth,the regulatory mechanism governing this fate decision remains poorly understood.In this study,we found that the juvenile-to-adult transition of the axillary meristem is marked by induction of GA20ox4 expression and the onset of stolon formation.RNA sequencing of staged meristems identified the zinc-finger protein ZFP6,which is strongly coexpressed with GA20ox4.CRISPR-mediated knockout of ZFP6 abolished GA20ox4 expression and eliminated stolon formation,a phenotype rescued by exogenous gibberellin,demonstrating that ZFP6 acts to activate gibberellin biosynthesis and promote stolon formation.Genetic analysis of mutants in the redlight receptor PhyB,together with mutants in gibberellin biosynthesis and signaling,further revealed that red light and PhyB promote axillary meristem maturation,a previously unrecognized developmental stage that precedes fate determination.Taken together,these findings illuminate how developmental stage and environmental cues converge to regulate axillary meristem maturation and fate determination,and identify a stage-specific regulator controlling the switch to stolon formation.
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.81600449Nantong Science and Technology Bureau,No.MS22018007,No.MSZ18130,and No.JCZ18036+2 种基金Six Peak Talents in Jiangsu Province,No.YY-177Project of Jiangsu Province Youth Medical Talent Development,No.QNRC2016400and Project of Nantong Youth Medical Talent Development,No.05.
文摘BACKGROUND Liver failure has high mortality and poor prognosis,and establishing new reliable markers for predicting its prognosis is necessary.Mucosal-associated invariant T(MAIT)cells are a novel population of innate-like lymphocytes involved in inflammatory liver disease,and their potential role in liver failure remains unclear.AIM To investigate alteration of circulating MAIT cells and assess its prognostic value in patients with hepatitis B virus(HBV)-related liver failure.METHODS We recruited 55 patients with HBV-related liver failure,48 patients with chronic hepatitis B and 40 healthy controls(HCs)from Nantong Third People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nantong University.Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated,and the percentage and number of circulating MAIT cells were detected by flow cytometry.Plasma levels of interleukin(IL)-7,IL-12p70,IL-18 and interferon-αwere measured by Luminex assay.RESULTS Circulating MAIT cells were significantly decreased in HBV-related liver failure patients(percentage:2.00±1.22 vs 5.19±1.27%,P<0.0001;number:5.47±4.93 vs 84.43±19.59,P<0.0001)compared with HCs.More importantly,there was a significant reduction of MAIT cells in patients with middle/late-stage compared with early-stage liver failure.Circulating MAIT cells partially recovered after disease improvement,both in percentage(4.01±1.21 vs 2.04±0.95%,P<0.0001)and in cell count(17.24±8.56 vs 7.41±4.99,P<0.0001).The proportion(2.29±1.01 vs 1.58±1.38%,P<0.05)and number(7.30±5.70 vs 2.94±1.47,P<0.001)of circulating MAIT cells were significantly higher in the survival group than in the dead/liver transplantation group,and the Kaplan–Meier curve showed that lower expression of circulating MAIT cells(both percentage and cell count)predicted poor overall survival(P<0.01).Also,the levels of IL-12(20.26±5.42 pg/mL vs 17.76±2.79 pg/mL,P=0.01)and IL-18(1470.05±1525.38 pg/mL vs 362.99±109.64 pg/mL,P<0.0001)were dramatically increased in HBV-related liver failure patients compared with HCs.CONCLUSION Circulating MAIT cells may play an important role in the process of HBV-related liver failure and can be an important prognostic marker.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.82071372(to AL)the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province of China,No.2021A1515011231(to AL)+1 种基金Outstanding Scholar Program of Bioland Laboratory(Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory)of China,No.2018GZR110102002(to KFS and AL)Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou of China,No.202007030012(to KFS and AL).
文摘Age-related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease(AD)have become a critical public health issue due to the significantly extended human lifespan,leading to considerable economic and social burdens.Traditional therapies for AD such as medicine and surgery remain ineffective,impractical,and expensive.Many studies have shown that a variety of bioactive substances released by physical exercise(called“exerkines”)help to maintain and improve the normal functions of the brain in terms of cognition,emotion,and psychomotor coordination.Increasing evidence suggests that exerkines may exert beneficial effects in AD as well.This review summarizes the neuroprotective effects of exerkines in AD,focusing on the underlying molecular mechanism and the dynamic expression of exerkines after physical exercise.The findings described in this review will help direct research into novel targets for the treatment of AD and develop customized exercise therapy for individuals of different ages,genders,and health conditions.
基金the support of the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2021YFB4000505)Sichuan Science and Technology Program(2021YFS0301)。
文摘Accidents in chemical production usually result in fatal injury,economic loss and negative social impact.Chemical accident reports which record past accident information,contain a large amount of expert knowledge.However,manually finding out the key factors causing accidents needs reading and analyzing of numerous accident reports,which is time-consuming and labor intensive.Herein,in this paper,a semiautomatic method based on natural language process(NLP)technology is developed to construct a knowledge graph of chemical accidents.Firstly,we build a named entity recognition(NER)model using SoftLexicon(simplify the usage of lexicon)+BERT-Transformer-CRF(conditional random field)to automatically extract the accident information and risk factors.The risk factors leading to accident in chemical accident reports are divided into five categories:human,machine,material,management,and environment.Through analysis of the extraction results of different chemical industries and different accident types,corresponding accident prevention suggestions are given.Secondly,based on the definition of classes and hierarchies of information in chemical accident reports,the seven-step method developed at Stanford University is used to construct the ontology-based chemical accident knowledge description model.Finally,the ontology knowledge description model is imported into the graph database Neo4j,and the knowledge graph is constructed to realize the structu red storage of chemical accident knowledge.In the case of information extraction from 290 Chinese chemical accident reports,SoftLexicon+BERT-Transformer-CRF shows the best extraction performance among nine experimental models.Demonstrating that the method developed in the current work can be a promising tool in obtaining the factors causing accidents,which contributes to intelligent accident analysis and auxiliary accident prevention.
基金supported by STI2030-Major Projects,No.2022ZD0207600 (to LZ)the National Natural Science Foundation of China,Nos.821 71446 (to JY),U22A20301 (to KFS),32070955 (to LZ)+1 种基金Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation,No.202381515040015 (to LZ)Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou of China,No.202007030012 (to KFS and LZ)
文摘Epilepsy frequently leads to cognitive dysfunction and approaches to treatment remain limited.Although regular exercise effectively improves learning and memory functions across multiple neurological diseases,its application in patients with epilepsy remains controversial.Here,we adopted a 14-day treadmill-exercise paradigm in a pilocarpine injection-induced mouse model of epilepsy.Cognitive assays confirmed the improvement of object and spatial memory after endurance training,and electrophysiological studies revealed the maintenance of hippocampal plasticity as a result of physical exercise.Investigations of the mechanisms underlying this effect revealed that exercise protected parvalbumin interneurons,probably via the suppression of neuroinflammation and improved integrity of blood-brain barrier.In summary,this work identified a previously unknown mechanism through which exercise improves cognitive rehabilitation in epilepsy.
基金supported by Major Project of National Social Science Fund[Grant No.22ZDA108].
文摘The rapid development of the digital economy provides an unprecedented opportunity for China to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.While previous studies have explored the relationship between the digital economy,digital technologies,and energy,the impact of the digital economy on carbon emissions has not received sufficient attention in the literature.Meanwhile,although cities are the basic units for carbon emission reduction policies,few studies have explored carbon emissions at the city level in China.This study investigates the spatial correlation and spillover effects of the digital economy development on carbon emission reduction in 248 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2019.The proposed approach relies on Moran’s I test and the spatial Durbin model(SDM).First,the study’s results show that carbon emissions are more severe in industry-intensive cities in northeast and central China than in the eastern coast during the sample period.Second,the development of the digital economy is conducive to reducing carbon emissions.Third,Moran’s I and SDM tests find that the digital economy has a significant spatial effect on carbon emissions,with a close spatial connection between cities.Based on the above findings,this study offers relevant policy recommendations and suggestions for realizing China's carbon neutrality goal.
基金supported by the University of Wollongong Internal Grant and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.30370047)
文摘Contamination of soil and water by arsenic is a global problem. In Australia, the dipping of cattle in arsenic-containing solution to control cattle ticks in last centenary has left many sites heavily contaminated with arsenic and other toxicants. We had previously isolated five soil bacterial strains （CDB 1-5） highly resistant to arsenic. To understand the resistance mechanism, molecular studies have been carried out. Two chromosome-encoded arsenic resistance （ars） gene clusters have been cloned from CDB3 （Bacillus sp.）. They both function in Escherichia coli and cluster i exerts a much higher resistance to the toxic metalloid. Cluster 2 is smaller possessing four open reading frames （ORFs） arsRorf2BC, similar to that identified in Bacillus subtilis Skin element. Among the eight ORFs in cluster 1 five are analogs of common ars genes found in other bacteria, however, organized in a unique order arsRBCDA instead of arsRDABC. Three other putative genes are located directly downstream and designated as arsTIP based on the homologies of their theoretical translation sequences respectively to thioredoxin reductases, iron-sulphur cluster proteins and protein phosphatases. The latter two are novel of any known ars operons. The arsD gene from Bacillus species was cloned for the first time and the predict protein differs from the well studied E. coli ArsD by lacking two pairs of C-terminal cysteine residues. Its functional involvement in arsenic resistance has been confirmed by a deletion experiment. There exists also an inverted repeat in the intergenic region between arsC and arsD implying some unknown transcription regulation.
