Surface atom knockout for the active site exposure of alloy catalyst.

The fine regulation of catalysts by the atomic-level removal of inactive atoms can promote the active site exposure for performance enhancement, whereas suffering from the difficulty in controllably removing atoms using current micro/nano-scale material fabrication technologies. Here, we developed a surface atom knockout method to promote the active site exposure in an alloy catalyst. Taking Cu3Pd alloy as an example, it refers to assemble a battery using Cu3Pd and Zn as cathode and anode, the charge process of which proceeds at about 1.1 V, equal to the theoretical potential difference between Cu2+/Cu and Zn2+/Zn, suggesting the electricity-driven dissolution of Cu atoms. The precise knockout of Cu atoms is confirmed by the linear relationship between the amount of the removed Cu atoms and the battery cumulative specific capacity, which is attributed to the inherent atom-electron-capacity correspondence. We observed the surface atom knockout process at different stages and studied the evolution of the chemical environment. The alloy catalyst achieves a higher current density for oxygen reduction reaction compared to the original alloy and Pt/C. This work provides an atomic fabrication method for material synthesis and regulation toward the wide applications in catalysis, energy, and others.

Folate supports IL-25-induced tuft cell expansion following enteroviral infections.

Intestinal tuft cells, a kind of epithelial immune cells, rapidly expand in response to pathogenic infections, which is associated with infection-induced interleukin 25 (IL-25) upregulation. However, the metabolic mechanism of IL-25-induced tuft cell expansion is largely unknown. Folate metabolism provides essential purine and methyl substrates for cell proliferation and differentiation. Thus, we aim to investigate the roles of folate metabolism playing in IL-25-induced tuft cell expansion by enteroviral infection and recombinant murine IL-25 (rmIL-25) protein-stimulated mouse models. At present, enteroviruses, such as EV71, CVA16, CVB3, and CVB4, upregulated IL-25 expression and induced tuft cell expansion in the intestinal tissues of mice. However, EV71 did not induce intestinal tuft cell expansion in IL-25-/- mice. Interestingly, compared to the mock group, folate was enriched in the intestinal tissues of both the EV71-infected group and the rmIL-25 protein-stimulated group. Moreover, folate metabolism supported IL-25-induced tuft cell expansion since both folate-depletion and anti-folate MTX-treated mice had a disrupted tuft cell expansion in response to rmIL-25 protein stimulation. In summary, our data suggested that folate metabolism supported intestinal tuft cell expansion in response to enterovirus-induced IL-25 expression, which provided a new insight into the mechanisms of tuft cell expansion from the perspective of folate metabolism.

Inhibition of STAT3 by S3I-201 suppress peritoneal fibroblast phenotype conversion and alleviate peritoneal fibrosis.

Peritoneal fibrosis is a common pathological response to long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD) and a major cause for PD discontinuation. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the induction and progression of peritoneal fibrosis is of great interest. In our study, in vitro study revealed that signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a key factor in fibroblast activation and extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis. Furthermore, STAT3 induced by IL-6 trans-signalling pathway mediate the fibroblasts of the peritoneal stroma contributed to peritoneal fibrosis. Inhibition of STAT3 exerts an antifibrotic effect by attenuating fibroblast activation and ECM production with an in vitro co-culture model. Moreover, STAT3 plays an important role in the peritoneal fibrosis in an animal model of peritoneal fibrosis developed in mice. Blocking STAT3 can reduce the peritoneal morphological changes induced by chlorhexidine gluconate. In conclusion, our findings suggested STAT3 signalling played an important role in peritoneal fibrosis. Therefore, blocking STAT3 might become a potential treatment strategy in peritoneal fibrosis.

Genome-wide identification and molecular evolution of Dof transcription factors in Cyperus esculentus.

Dof transcription factor family in Cyperus esculentus genome was identified and analyzed using bioinformatics. The analysis results revealed that C.esculentus genome contains 29 Dof genes (CesDof), all of which are located in the nucleus according to subcellular localization prediction. CesDof proteinrs have a range of 124 to 512 amino acids, with most being basic proteins. Their secondary structure was mainly irregular curl. The promoter sequence of CesDof genes contains cis-acting elements that respond to light, drought, hormones, low temperature, and circadian rhythm. Codon preference analysis showed that CesDof genes' codon preference ends in T/A. Collinearity analysis revealed that C.esculentus had three pairs of collinear CesDof genes. Additionally, there were 15 pairs of collinear genes between C.esculentus and Arabidopsis thaliana. The genetic relationship between C.esculentus and Rhynchospora pubera was found to be the closest. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that 29 CesDof genes of C.esculentus can be classified into 4 subgroups. Additionally, 144 miRNAs were predicted to target these CesDof genes. Furthermore, protein interaction analysis indicated that 15 Dof proteins in C.esculentus had interactions. The qRT-PCR verification results of drought stress and salt stress treatment experiments showed that most CesDof genes were involved in drought stress and salt stress responses, and the gene expression trends under drought stress and salt stress conditions were consistent. These results lay a theoretical foundation for further studying the molecular functions of Dof gene family in C.esculentus and its molecular mechanisms in regulating the life activities of C.esculentus.

Genome-wide identification and molecular evolution of Dof gene family in Camellia oleifera.

DNA binding with one finger(Dof) gene family is a class of transcription factors which play an important role on plant growth and development. Genome-wide identification results indicated that there were 45 Dof genes(ColDof) in C.oleifera genome. All 45 ColDof proteins were non-transmembrane and non-secretory proteins. Phosphorylation site analysis showed that biological function of ColDof proteins were mainly realized by phosphorylation at serine (Ser) site. The secondary structure of 44 ColDof proteins was dominated by random coil, and only one ColDof protein was dominated by α-helix. ColDof genes' promoter region contained a variety of cis-acting elements, including light responsive regulators, gibberellin responsive regulators, abscisic acid responsive regulators, auxin responsive regulators and drought induction responsive regulators. The SSR sites analysis showed that the proportion of single nucleotide repeats and the frequency of A/T in ColDof genes were the largest. Non-coding RNA analysis showed that 45 ColDof genes contained 232 miRNAs. Transcription factor binding sites of ColDof genes showed that ColDof genes had 5793 ERF binding sites, 4381 Dof binding sites, 2206 MYB binding sites, 3702 BCR-BPC binding sites. ColDof9, ColDof39 and ColDof44 were expected to have the most TFBSs. The collinearity analysis showed that there were 40 colinear locis between ColDof proteins and AtDof proteins. Phylogenetic analysis showed that ColDof gene family was most closely related to that of Camellia sinensis var. sinensis cv.Biyun and Camellia lanceoleosa. Protein-protein interaction analysis showed that ColDof34, ColDof20, ColDof28, ColDof35, ColDof42 and ColDof26 had the most protein interactions. The transcriptome analysis of C. oleifera seeds showed that 21 ColDof genes were involved in the growth and development process of C. oleifera seeds, and were expressed in 221 C. oleifera varieties. The results of qRT-PCR experiments treated with different concentrations NaCl and PEG6000 solutions indicated that ColDof1, ColDof2, ColDof14 and ColDof36 not only had significant molecular mechanisms for salt stress tolerance, but also significant molecular functions for drought stress tolerance in C. oleifera. The results of this study provide a reference for further understanding of the function of ColDof genes in C.oleifera.

Genome-wide identification, molecular evolution and gene expression of P450 gene family in Cyrtotrachelus buqueti.

BACKGROUND: Insect Cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (CYPs or P450s) plays an important role in detoxifying insecticides, causing insect populations to develop resistance. However, the molecular functions of P450 gene family in Cyrtotrachelus buqueti genome are still lacking. RESULTS: In this study, 71 CbuP450 genes have been identified. The amino acids length of CbuP450 proteins was between 183 aa ~ 1041 aa. They are proteins with transmembrane domains. The main component of their secondary structure is α-helix and random coils. Phylogenetic analysis showed that C. buqueti and Rhynchophorus ferrugineus were the most closely related. This gene family has 29 high-frequency codons, which tend to use A/T bases and A/T ending codons. Gene expression analysis showed that CbuP450_23 in the female adult may play an important role on high temperature resistance, and CbuP450_17 in the larval may play an important role on low temperature tolerance. CbuP450_10, CbuP450_17, CbuP450_23, CbuP450_10, CbuP450_16, CbuP450_20, CbuP450_23 and CbuP450_ 29 may be related to the regulation of bamboo fiber degradation genes in C. buqueti. Protein interaction analysis indicates that most CbuP450 proteins are mainly divided into three aspects: encoding the biosynthesis of ecdysteroids, participating in the decomposition of synthetic insecticides, metabolizing insect hormones, and participating in the detoxification of compounds. CONCLUSIONS: We systematically analyzed the gene and protein characteristics, gene expression, and protein interactions of CbuP450 gene family, revealing the key genes involved in the stress response of CbuP450 gene family in the resistance of C. buqueti to high or low temperature stress, and identified the key CbuP450 proteins involved in important life activity metabolism. These results provided a reference for further research on the function of P450 gene family in C. buqueti.

Genome-wide identification and molecular evolution of elongation family of very long chain fatty acids proteins in Cyrtotrachelus buqueti.

To reveal the molecular function of elongation family of very long chain fatty acids(ELO) protein in Cyrtotrachelus buqueti, we have identified 15 ELO proteins from C.buqueti genome. 15 CbuELO proteins were located on four chromosomes. Their isoelectric points ranged from 9.22 to 9.68, and they were alkaline. These CbuELO proteins were stable and hydrophobic. CbuELO proteins had transmembrane movement, and had multiple phosphorylation sites. The secondary structure of CbuELO proteins was mainly α-helix. A total of 10 conserved motifs were identified in CbuELO protein family. Phylogenetic analysis showed that molecular evolutionary relationships of ELO protein family between C. buqueti and Tribolium castaneum was the closest. Developmental transcriptome analysis indicated that CbuELO10, CbuELO13 and CbuELO02 genes were key enzyme genes that determine the synthesis of very long chain fatty acids in pupae and eggs, CbuELO6 and CbuELO7 were that in the male, and CbuELO8 and CbuELO11 were that in the larva. Transcriptome analysis under different temperature conditions indicated that CbuELO1, CbuELO5, CbuELO12 and CbuELO14 participated in regulating temperature stress responses. Transcriptome analysis at different feeding times showed CbuELO12 gene expression level in all feeding time periods was significant downregulation. The qRT-PCR experiment verified expression level changes of CbuELO gene family under different temperature and feeding time conditions. Protein-protein interaction analysis showed that 9 CbuELO proteins were related to each other, CbuELO1, CbuELO4 and CbuELO12 had more than one interaction relationship. These results lay a theoretical foundation for further studying its molecular function during growth and development of C. buqueti.

Quantitative, Regiospecific, and Stereoselective Radical Ring-Opening Polymerization of Monosaccharide Cyclic Ketene Acetals.

Cyclic ketene acetals (CKAs) are among the most well-studied monomers for radical ring-opening polymerization (rROP). However, ring-retaining side reactions and low reactivities in homopolymerization and copolymerization remain significant challenges for the existing CKAs. Here, we report that a class of monosaccharide CKAs can be facilely prepared from a short and scalable synthetic route and can undergo quantitative, regiospecific, and stereoselective rROP. NMR analyses and degradation experiments revealed a reaction mechanism involving a propagating radical at the C2 position of pyranose with different monosaccharides exhibiting distinct stereoselectivity in the radical addition of the monomer. Furthermore, the addition of maleimide was found to improve the incorporation efficiency of monosaccharide CKA in the copolymerization with vinyl monomers and produced unique degradable terpolymers with carbohydrate motifs in the polymer backbone.

Buffering Donor Shuttles in Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Kinetics for Electrochemical Hydrogenation of Hydroxyacetone to Propylene Glycol.

Electrochemical hydrogenation reactions demand rapid proton-coupled electron transfer at the electrode surface, the kinetics of which depend closely on pH. Buffer electrolytes are extensively employed to regulate pH over a wide range. However, the specific role of buffer species should be taken into account when interpreting the intrinsic pH dependence, which is easily overlooked in the current research. Herein, we report the electrochemical hydrogenation of hydroxyacetone, derived from glycerol feedstock, to propylene glycol with a faradaic efficiency of 56 ± 5% on a polycrystalline Cu electrode. The reaction activities are comparable in citrate, phosphate, and borate buffer electrolytes, encompassing different buffer identities and pH. The electrokinetic profile reveals that citrate is a site-blocking adsorbate on the Cu surface, thereby decreasing buffer concentration and increasing pH will enhance the reaction rate; phosphate is an explicit proton donor, which promotes the interfacial rate by increasing buffer concentration and decreasing pH, while borate is an innocent buffer, which can be used to investigate the intrinsic pH effect. Combined with in situ SEIRAS, we demonstrate that water is the primary proton source in citrate and borate electrolytes, reiterating the rationality of the proposed mechanism based on the microkinetic modeling. Our results emphasize the intrinsic complexity of the buffer system on the kinetic activity for electrocatalysis. It calls for special care when we diagnose the mechanistic pathway in buffer electrolytes convoluted by different buffer identities and pH.

Multi-MSIProcessor: Data Visualizing and Analysis Software for Spatial Metabolomics Research.

Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) has emerged as a revolutionary analytical strategy in biomedical research for molecular visualization. By linking the characterization of functional metabolites with tissue architecture, it is now possible to reveal unknown biological functions of tissues. However, due to the complexity and high dimensionality of MSI data, mining bioinformatics-related peaks from batch MSI data sets and achieving complete spatially resolved metabolomics analysis remain a great challenge. Here, we propose novel MSI data processing software, Multi-MSIProcessor (MMP), which integrates the data read-in, MSI visualization, processed data preservation, and biomarker discovery functions. The MMP focuses on the AFADESI-MSI data platform but also supports mzXML and imzmL data input formats for compatibility with data generated by other MSI platforms such as MALDI/SIMS-MSI. MMP enables deep mining of batch MSI data and has flexible adaptability with the source code opened that welcomes new functions and personalized analysis strategies. Using multiple clinical biosamples with complex heterogeneity, we demonstrated that MMP can rapidly establish complete MSI analysis workflows, assess batch sample data quality, screen and annotate differential MS peaks, and obtain abnormal metabolic pathways. MMP provides a novel platform for spatial metabolomics analysis of multiple samples that could meet the diverse analysis requirements of scholars.

Auxin synthesis promotes N metabolism and optimizes root structure enhancing N acquirement in maize (Zea mays L.).

MAIN CONCLUSION: Foliar NAA increases photosynthate supplied by enhancing photosynthesis, to strengthen root activity and provide a large sink for root carbohydrate accumulation, which is beneficial to acquire more nitrogen. The improvement of grain yield is an effective component in the food security. Auxin acts as a well-known plant hormone, plays an important role in maize growth and nutrient uptake. In this study, with maize variety Zhengdan 958 (ZD958) as material, the effects of auxin on nitrogen (N) uptake and assimilation of seedling maize were studied by hydroponic experiments. With water as the control, naphthalene acetic acid (NAA, 0.1 mmol/L) and aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG, 0.1 mmol/L, an auxin synthesis inhibitor) were used for foliar spraying. The results showed that NAA significantly improved photosynthetic rate and plant biomass by 58.6% and 91.7%, respectively, while the effect of AVG was opposite to that of NAA. At the same time, key enzymes activities related N assimilation in NAA leaves were significantly increased, and the activities of nitrate reductase (NR), glutamine synthetase (GS) and glutamate synthase (GOGAT) were increased by 32.3%, 22.9%, and 16.2% in new leaves. Furthermore, NAA treatment promoted underground growth. When compared with control, total root length, root surface area, root tip number, branch number and root activity were significantly increased by 37.8%, 22.2%, 35.1%, 28.8% and 21.2%. Root growth is beneficial to N capture in maize. Ultimately, the total N accumulation of NAA treatment was significantly increased by 74.5%, as compared to the control. In conclusion, NAA foliar spraying increased endogenous IAA content, and enhanced the activity of N assimilation-related enzymes and photosynthesis rate, in order to build a large sink for carbohydrate accumulation. In addition, NAA strengthened root activity and regulated root morphology and architecture, which facilitated further N uptake and plant growth.

The prevalence and genotype distribution of high-risk human papillomaviruses among women in Xianning, China.

BACKGROUND: The persistent infection of high-risk Human papillomavirus(HPV) is considered the main cause of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer. But various cervical lesions caused by HPV infection can be properly prevented by timely vaccination. However, the distribution of HPV genotypes varies geographically. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of high-risk HPV prevalence of 16,150 women from 2020 to 2022 in xianning of China. HPV genotyping was performed using a PCR-RDB Kit that can detect 18 high-risk HPV genotypes recommended by China's National Medical Products Administration. The prevalence of 18 high-risk HPV genotypes and their relationship with cervical lesions as well as vaccine efficacy were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 2431 women were confirmed to have different types of high-risk HPV infections. The overall positive rate reached 15.05%(2431/16,150). The most prevalent high-risk HPV genotypes were HPV52, 16, 58, 53, and 51. The prevalence of high-risk HPV reached peak at age ≤ 20(20.95%) and age ≥ 61(20.56%). The most prevalent high-risk HPV genotypes were HPV16, 58, 18, 33 and 52 in cervical cancer cases, HPV16, 52, 58, 33 and 18 in CIN2/3 cases, and HPV52, 58, 16, 53 and 18 in CIN1 cases, respectively. CONCLUSION: HPV16, 58 and 18 are the most dangerous and carcinogenic genotypes in xianning, China. Conducting epidemiological investigations on high-risk HPV has significant clinical value in guiding HPV vaccination work.

Organic ammonium salt assisted crystallization and defect passivation of a quasi-two-dimensional pure blue perovskite at the buried interface.

Quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) perovskites exhibit excellent performance in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). However, the quality of perovskite films prepared via the solution method is significantly impacted by the enormous number of defects that unavoidably form at the grain boundaries and interfaces during the precursor to the crystal formation process. Here, we propose a strategy to assist perovskite crystallization and defect passivation at the buried interface through interfacial modification. The organic ammonium salt, ethylamine chloride (EACl), is added to the hole transport material and modifies the buried interface of the perovskite film. EACl introduces the nucleation sites for perovskite precursors, and promotes the crystallization process of the perovskite grains, contributing to the formation of high-quality perovskite films. At the same time, the presence of Lewis base (-NH2) groups in EACl and their lone electron pairs effectively inactivate unlocated Pb2+ ions at the buried interface, thereby reducing non-radiative recombination. In addition, chloride ions help to mitigate defects and to improve the morphology of perovskite films. Devices with this modification show a higher performance than control devices on all metrics. This work proposes a facile but efficient way for improving quasi-2D pure blue perovskite crystallization and growth.

DsbA-L ameliorates renal aging and renal fibrosis by maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis.

Renal fibrosis is the final pathological change in renal disease, and aging is closely related to renal fibrosis. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been reported to play an important role in aging, but the exact mechanism remains unclear. Disulfide-bond A oxidoreductase-like protein (DsbA-L) is mainly located in mitochondria and plays an important role in regulating mitochondrial function and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. However, the role of DsbA-L in renal aging has not been reported. In this study, we showed a reduction in DsbA-L expression, the disruption of mitochondrial function and an increase in fibrosis in the kidneys of 12- and 24-month-old mice compared to young mice. Furthermore, the deterioration of mitochondrial dysfunction and fibrosis were observed in DsbA-L-/- mice with D-gal-induced accelerated aging. Transcriptome analysis revealed a decrease in Flt4 expression and inhibition of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway in DsbA-L-/- mice compared to control mice. Accelerated renal aging could be alleviated by an AKT agonist (SC79) or a mitochondrial protector (MitoQ) in mice with D-gal-induced aging. In vitro, overexpression of DsbA-L in HK-2 cells restored the expression of Flt4, AKT pathway factors, SP1 and PGC-1α and alleviated mitochondrial damage and cell senescence. These beneficial effects were partially blocked by inhibiting Flt4. Finally, activating the AKT pathway or improving mitochondrial function with chemical reagents could alleviate cell senescence. Our results indicate that the DsbA-L/AKT/PGC-1α signaling pathway could be a therapeutic target for age-related renal fibrosis and is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction.

Knockdown of circ-Gatad1 alleviates LPS induced HK2 cell injury via targeting miR-22-3p/TRPM7 axis in septic acute kidney.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is a life-threatening, systemic inflammatory disease that can lead to a variety of conditions, including septic acute kidney injury (AKI). Recently, multiple circular Rnas (circRNAs) have been implicated in the development of this disease. METHODS: In this study, we aimed to elucidate the role of circ-Gatad1 in sepsis induced AKI and its potential mechanism of action. High-throughput sequencing was used to investigate abnormal expression of circRNA in AKI and healthy volunteer. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporting analysis were used to clarify the interacted relationship among circRNA, miRNA and mRNA. HK2 cells were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to establish septic AKI cell model. HK2 cells were employ to analysis the ROS, inflammatory cytokines expression, proliferation and apoptosis under LPS condition. RESULTS: The result show that the expression of circ-Gatad1 was increased in septic acute kidney patients. Downregulation circ-Gatad1 suppressed LPS-treated induced HK2 cells injury including apoptosis, proliferation ability, ROS and inflammatory cytokines level. Bioinformatics and luciferase report analysis confirmed that both miR-22-3p and TRPM7 were downstream targets of circ-Gatad1. Overexpression of TRPM7 or downregulation of miR-22-3p reversed the protective effect of si-circ-Gatad1 to HK2 after exposure to LPS (5 µg/ml) microenvironment. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, knockdown of circ-Gatad1 alleviates LPS induced HK2 cell injury via targeting miR-22-3p/TRPM7 axis in septic acute kidney.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Generative Pretrained Transformer-Based Dietary Recommendation System in Managing Potassium Intake for Hemodialysis Patients.

OBJECTIVE: Despite adequate dialysis, the prevalence of hyperkalemia in Chinese hemodialysis (HD) patients remains elevated. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a dietary recommendation system driven by generative pretrained transformers (GPTs) in managing potassium levels in HD patients. METHODS: We implemented a bespoke dietary guidance tool utilizing GPT technology. Patients undergoing HD at our center were enrolled in the study from October 2023 to November 2023. The intervention comprised of two distinct phases. Initially, patients were provided with conventional dietary education focused on potassium management in HD. Subsequently, in the second phase, they were introduced to a novel GPT-based dietary guidance tool. This artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tool offered real-time insights into the potassium content of various foods and personalized dietary suggestions. The effectiveness of the AI tool was evaluated by assessing the precision of its dietary recommendations. Additionally, we compared predialysis serum potassium levels and the proportion of patients with hyperkalemia among patients before and after the implementation of the GPT-based dietary guidance system. RESULTS: In our analysis of 324 food photographs uploaded by 88 HD patients, the GPTs system evaluated potassium content with an overall accuracy of 65%. Notably, the accuracy was higher for high-potassium foods at 85%, while it stood at 48% for low-potassium foods. Furthermore, the study examined the effect of GPT-based dietary advice on patients' serum potassium levels, revealing a significant reduction in those adhering to GPTs recommendations compared to recipients of traditional dietary guidance (4.57 ± 0.76 mmol/L vs. 4.84 ± 0.94 mmol/L, P = .004). Importantly, compared to traditional dietary education, dietary education based on the GPTs tool reduced the proportion of hyperkalemia in HD patients from 39.8% to 25% (P = .036). CONCLUSION: These results underscore the promising role of AI in improving dietary management for HD patients. Nonetheless, the study also points out the need for enhanced accuracy in identifying low potassium foods. It paves the way for future research, suggesting the incorporation of extensive nutritional databases and the assessment of long-term outcomes. This could potentially lead to more refined and effective dietary management strategies in HD care.

Impact of Vitamin C on Inflammatory Response and Myocardial Injury in Sepsis Patients.

Background: Amidst the complexities of sepsis-induced inflammatory responses and myocardial injury, this study investigates the therapeutic potential of vitamin C in mitigating sepsis complications. The findings offer crucial insights into the prospective use of vitamin C, shaping future strategies for enhanced patient care. Objective: To investigate the impact of vitamin C on the inflammatory response and myocardial damage in individuals with sepsis. Methods: A total of 83 sepsis patients treated in our hospital from January 2021 to January 2023 were randomly divided into a control group (n=41, receiving basic treatment) and a study group (n=42, receiving vitamin C in addition to basic treatment). To evaluate the impact of treatment, we compared organ dysfunction, inflammatory response index, myocardial injury index, and morbidity/mortality rates before and after the intervention in both groups. It allowed for a comprehensive analysis of the treatment's effects on these key parameters. Results: After therapy, the study group exhibited lower SOFA ratings compared to the control group (P < .05). Levels of Hypersensitive C-reactive Protein (hs-CRP), Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF), High Mobility Group Protein B1 (HMGB1), Creatine Kinase Isoenzyme (CK-MB), Troponin I (cTnI), and B-type brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) were significantly lower in the study group than in the control group after treatment (P < .05). The study group also demonstrated a lower morbidity and mortality rate (9.52%) compared to the control group (29.27%) (P < .05). Conclusions: Vitamin C supplementation holds significant therapeutic value, contributing to reduced inflammatory response, myocardial injury, morbidity, and mortality rates in sepsis patients. This intervention enhances clinical efficacy, fostering disease regression.

Learning Temporal-Spatial Contextual Adaptation for Three-Dimensional Human Pose Estimation.

Three-dimensional human pose estimation focuses on generating 3D pose sequences from 2D videos. It has enormous potential in the fields of human-robot interaction, remote sensing, virtual reality, and computer vision. Existing excellent methods primarily focus on exploring spatial or temporal encoding to achieve 3D pose inference. However, various architectures exploit the independent effects of spatial and temporal cues on 3D pose estimation, while neglecting the spatial-temporal synergistic influence. To address this issue, this paper proposes a novel 3D pose estimation method with a dual-adaptive spatial-temporal former (DASTFormer) and additional supervised training. The DASTFormer contains attention-adaptive (AtA) and pure-adaptive (PuA) modes, which will enhance pose inference from 2D to 3D by adaptively learning spatial-temporal effects, considering both their cooperative and independent influences. In addition, an additional supervised training with batch variance loss is proposed in this work. Different from common training strategy, a two-round parameter update is conducted on the same batch data. Not only can it better explore the potential relationship between spatial-temporal encoding and 3D poses, but it can also alleviate the batch size limitations imposed by graphics cards on transformer-based frameworks. Extensive experimental results show that the proposed method significantly outperforms most state-of-the-art approaches on Human3.6 and HumanEVA datasets.

Electrokinetic Analyses Uncover the Rate-Determining Step of Biomass-Derived Monosaccharide Electroreduction on Copper.

Electrochemical biomass conversion holds promise to upcycle carbon sources and produce valuable products while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, deep insight into the interfacial mechanism is essential for the rational design of an efficient electrocatalytic route, which is still an area of active research and development. Herein, we report the reduction of dihydroxyacetone (DHA)-the simplest monosaccharide derived from glycerol feedstock-to acetol, the vital chemical intermediate in industries, with faradaic efficiency of 85±5 % on a polycrystalline Cu electrode. DHA reduction follows preceding dehydration by coordination with the carbonyl and hydroxyl groups and the subsequent hydrogenation. The electrokinetic profile indicates that the rate-determining step (RDS) includes a proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) to the dehydrated intermediate, revealed by coverage-dependent Tafel slope and isotopic labeling experiments. An approximate zero-order dependence of H+ suggests that water acts as the proton donor for the interfacial PCET process. Leveraging these insights, we formulate microkinetic models to illustrate its origin that Eley-Rideal (E-R) dominates over Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) in governing Cu-mediated DHA reduction, offering rational guidance that increasing the concentration of the adsorbed reactant alone would be sufficient to promote the activity in designing practical catalysts.

Surface Gradient Desodiation Chemistry in Layered Oxide Cathode Materials.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) as a promising technology for large-scale energy storage have received unprecedented attention. However, the cathodes in SIBs generally suffer from detrimental cathode-electrolyte interfacial side reactions and structural degradation during cycling, which leads to severe capacity fade and voltage decay. Here, we have developed an ultra-stable Na0.72Ni0.20Co0.21Mn0.55Mg0.036O2 (NCM-CS-GMg) cathode material in which a Mg-free core is encapsulated by a shell with gradient distribution of Mg using coprecipitation method with Mg-hysteretic cascade feedstock followed by calcination. From the interior to outer surface of the shell, as the content of electrochemically inactive Mg gradually increases, the Na+ deintercalation amount gradually decreases after charged. Benefiting from this surface gradient desodiation, the surface transition metal (TM) ion migration from TM layers to Na layers is effectively inhibited, thus suppressing the layered-to-rock-salt phase transition and the resultant microcracks. Besides, the less formation of high-valence TM ions on the surface contributes to a stable cathode-electrolyte interface. The as-prepared NCM-CS-GMg exhibits remarkable cycling life over 3000 cycles with a negligible voltage drop (0.127 mV per cycle). Our findings highlight an effective way to developing sustainable cathode materials without compromising on the initial specific capacity for SIBs.