Integrated mRNA and miRNA analysis reveals the regulatory network of oxidative stress and inflammation in Coilia nasus brains during air exposure and salinity mitigation.

BACKGROUND: Air exposure is an inevitable source of stress that leads to significant mortality in Coilia nasus. Our previous research demonstrated that adding 10‰ NaCl to aquatic water could enhance survival rates, albeit the molecular mechanisms involved in air exposure and salinity mitigation remained unclear. Conversely, salinity mitigation resulted in decreased plasma glucose levels and improved antioxidative activity. To shed light on this phenomenon, we characterized the transcriptomic changes in the C. nasus brain upon air exposure and salinity mitigation by integrated miRNA-mRNA analysis. RESULTS: The plasma glucose level was elevated during air exposure, whereas it decreased during salinity mitigation. Antioxidant activity was suppressed during air exposure, but was enhanced during salinity mitigation. A total of 629 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) and 791 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected during air exposure, while 429 DEMs and 1016 DEGs were identified during salinity mitigation. GO analysis revealed that the target genes of DEMs and DEGs were enriched in biological process and cellular component during air exposure and salinity mitigation. KEGG analysis revealed that the target genes of DEMs and DEGs were enriched in metabolism. Integrated analysis showed that 24 and 36 predicted miRNA-mRNA regulatory pairs participating in regulating glucose metabolism, Ca2+ transport, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Interestingly, most of these miRNAs were novel miRNAs. CONCLUSION: In this study, substantial miRNA-mRNA regulation pairs were predicted via integrated analysis of small RNA sequencing and RNA-Seq. Based on predicted miRNA-mRNA regulation and potential function of DEGs, miRNA-mRNA regulatory network involved in glucose metabolism and Ca2+ transport, inflammation, and oxidative stress in C. nasus brain during air exposure and salinity mitigation. They regulated the increased/decreased plasma glucose and inhibited/promoted antioxidant activity during air exposure and salinity mitigation. Our findings would propose novel insights to the mechanisms underlying fish responses to air exposure and salinity mitigation.

Metal-organic framework (MOF)/C-dots and covalent organic framework (COF)/C-dots hybrid nanocomposites: Fabrications and applications in sensing, medical, environmental, and energy sectors.

Developing new hybrid materials is critical for addressing the current needs of the world in various fields, such as energy, sensing, health, hygiene, and others. C-dots are a member of the carbon nanomaterial family with numerous applications. Aggregation is one of the barriers to the performance of C-dots, which causes luminescence quenching, surface area decreases, etc. To improve the performance of C-dots, numerous matrices including metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent-organic frameworks (COFs), and polymers have been composited with C-dots. The porous crystalline structures, which are constituents of metal nodes and organic linkers (MOFs) or covalently attached organic units (COFs) provide privileged features such as high specific surface area, tunable structures, and pore diameters, modifiable surface, high thermal, mechanical, and chemical stabilities. Also, the MOFs and COFs protect the C-dots from the environment. Therefore, MOF/C-dots and COF/C-dots composites combine their features while retaining topological properties and improving performances. In this review, we first compare MOFs with COFs as matrices for C-dots. Then, the recent progress in developing hybrid MOFs/C-dots and COFs/C-dots composites has been discussed and their applications in various fields have been explained briefly.

BeM(CO)3- (M = Co, Rh, Ir) and BeM(CO)3 (M = Ni, Pd, Pt): Triply bonded terminal beryllium in zero oxidation state.

We perform detailed potential energy surface explorations of BeM(CO)3- (M = Co, Rh, Ir) and BeM(CO)3 (M = Ni, Pd, Pt) using both single-reference and multireference-based methods. The present results at the CASPT2(12,12)/def2-QZVPD//M06-D3/def2-TZVPPD level reveal that the global minimum of BeM(CO)3- (M = Co, Rh, Ir) and BePt(CO)3 is a C3v symmetric structure with an 1A1 electronic state, where Be is located in a terminal position bonded to M along the center axis. For other cases, the C3v symmetric structure is a low-lying local minimum. Although the present complexes are isoelectronic with the recently reported BFe(CO)3- complex having a B-Fe quadruple bond, radial orbital-energy slope (ROS) analysis reveals that the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) in the title complexes is slightly antibonding in nature, which bars a quadruple bonding assignment. Similar weak antibonding nature of HOMO in the previously reported BeM(CO)4 (M = Ru, Os) complexes is also noted in ROS analysis. The bonding analysis through energy decomposition analysis in combination with the natural orbital for chemical valence shows that the bonding between Be and M(CO)3q (q = -1 for M = Co, Rh, Ir and q = 0 for M = Ni, Pd, Pt) can be best described as Be in the ground state (1S) interacting with M(CO)30/- via dative bonds. The Be(spσ) → M(CO)3q σ-donation and the complementary Be(spσ) ← M(CO)3q σ-back donation make the overall σ bond, which is accompanied by two weak Be(pπ) ← M(CO)3q π-bonds. These complexes represent triply bonded terminal beryllium in an unusual zero oxidation state.

TMBstable: a variant caller controls performance variation across heterogeneous sequencing samples.

In cancer genomics, variant calling has advanced, but traditional mean accuracy evaluations are inadequate for biomarkers like tumor mutation burden, which vary significantly across samples, affecting immunotherapy patient selection and threshold settings. In this study, we introduce TMBstable, an innovative method that dynamically selects optimal variant calling strategies for specific genomic regions using a meta-learning framework, distinguishing it from traditional callers with uniform sample-wide strategies. The process begins with segmenting the sample into windows and extracting meta-features for clustering, followed by using a pre-trained meta-model to select suitable algorithms for each cluster, thereby addressing strategy-sample mismatches, reducing performance fluctuations and ensuring consistent performance across various samples. We evaluated TMBstable using both simulated and real non-small cell lung cancer and nasopharyngeal carcinoma samples, comparing it with advanced callers. The assessment, focusing on stability measures, such as the variance and coefficient of variation in false positive rate, false negative rate, precision and recall, involved 300 simulated and 106 real tumor samples. Benchmark results showed TMBstable's superior stability with the lowest variance and coefficient of variation across performance metrics, highlighting its effectiveness in analyzing the counting-based biomarker. The TMBstable algorithm can be accessed at https://github.com/hello-json/TMBstable for academic usage only.

E3 Ubiquitin Ligase NEDD4L Negatively Regulates Skin Tumorigenesis by Inhibiting IL-6/GP130 Signaling Pathway.

IL-6 signaling plays a crucial role in the survival and metastasis of skin cancer. NEDD4L acts as a suppressor of IL-6 signaling by targeting GP130 degradation. However, the effects of the NEDD4L-regulated IL-6/GP130 signaling pathway on skin cancer remain unclear. In this study, protein expression levels of NEDD4L and GP130 were measured in tumor tissues from patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Skin tumors were induced in wild-type and Nedd4l-knockout mice, and activation of the IL-6/GP130/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 signaling pathway was detected. The results indicated a negative correlation between the protein expression levels of NEDD4L and GP130 in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma tissues from patients. Nedd4l deficiency significantly promoted 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene/12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced skin tumorigenesis and benign-to-malignant conversion by activating the IL-6/GP130/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 signaling pathway, which was abrogated by supplementation with the GP130 inhibitor SC144. Furthermore, our findings suggested that NEDD4L can interact with GP130 and promote its ubiquitination in skin tumors. In conclusion, our results indicate that NEDD4L could act as a tumor suppressor in skin cancer, and inhibition of GP130 could be a potential therapeutic method for treating this disease.

Multiple Bonding in AeN- (Ae = Ca, Sr, Ba).

Quantum chemical calculations using ab initio methods at the MRCI+Q(8,9)/def2-QZVPPD and CCSD(T)/def2-QZVPPD levels as well as density functional theory are reported for the diatomic molecules AeN- (Ae = Ca, Sr, Ba). The nature of the bonds is analyzed with a variety of methods. The anions CaN- and SrN- have electronic triplet (3Π) ground states with nearly identical bond dissociation energies De ~57 kcal/mol calculated at the MRCI+Q(8,9)/def2-QZVPPD level of theory. In contrast, the heavier homologue BaN- has a singlet (1Σ+) ground state, which is only 1.1 kcal/mol below the triplet (3Σ-) state. The computed bond dissociation energy of (1Σ+) BaN- is 68.4 kcal/mol. The calculations at the CCSD(T)-full/def2-QZVPPD and BP86-D3(BJ)/def2-QZVPPD levels of theory are in reasonable agreement with the MRCI+Q(8,9)/def2-QZVPPD data except for the singlet (1Σ+) state, which has a large multireference character. The calculated atomic partial charges given by the CM5, Voronoi and Hirshfeld methods suggest small to medium-sized charge donation toward Ae atom Ae←N- for most electronic states. In contrast, the NBO method predicts for all species medium to large electronic charge donation toward nitrogen Ae→N-, which is due to the neglect of the (n)p AOs of Ae atoms as genuine valence orbitals.

Preparation and functional properties of rice bran globulin-chitooligosaccharide-quercetin-resveratrol covalent complex.

BACKGROUND: As the major protein (approximately 36%) in rice bran, globulin exhibits excellent foaming and emulsifying properties, endowing its useful application as a foaming and emulsifying agent in the food industry. However, the low water solubility restricts its commercial potential in industrial applications. The present study aimed to improve this protein's processing and functional properties. RESULTS: A novel covalent complex was fabricated by a combination of the Maillard reaction and alkaline oxidation using rice bran globulin (RBG), chitooligosaccharide (C), quercetin (Que) and resveratrol (Res). The Maillard reaction improved the solubility, emulsifying and foaming properties of RBG. The resultant glycosylated protein was covalently bonded with quercetin and resveratrol to form a (RBG-C)-Que-Res complex. (RBG-C)-Que-Res exhibited higher thermal stability and antioxidant ability than the native protein, binary globulin-chitooligosaccharide or ternary globulin-chitooligosaccharide-polyphenol (only containing quercetin or resveratrol) conjugates. (RBG-C)-Que-Res exerted better cytoprotection against the generation of malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen species in HepG2 cells, which was associated with increased activities of antioxidative enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) through upregulated genes SOD1, CAT, GPX1 (i.e. gene for glutathione peroxidase-1), GCLM (i.e. gene for glutamate cysteine ligase modifier subunit), SLC1A11 (i.e. gene for solute carrier family 7, member 11) and SRXN1 (i.e. gene for sulfiredoxin-1). The anti-apoptotic effect of (RBG-C)-Que-Res was confirmed by the downregulation of caspase-3 and p53 and the upregulation of B-cell lymphoma-2 gene expression. CONCLUSION: The present study highlights the potential of (RBG-C)-Que-Res conjugates as functional ingredients in healthy foods. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Mitochondrial DNA Leakage and cGas/STING Pathway in Microglia: Crosstalk Between Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration.

Neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by abnormal deposition of misfolded proteins, often present with progressive loss of neurons. Chronic neuroinflammation is a striking hallmark of neurodegeneration. Microglia, as the primary immune cells in the brain, is the main type of cells that participate in the formation of inflammatory microenvironment. Cytoplasmic free mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), a common component of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), can activate the cGas/stimulator of interferon genes (STING) signalling, which subsequently produces type I interferon and proinflammatory cytokines. There are various sources of free mtDNA in microglial cytoplasm, but mitochondrial oxidative stress accumulation plays the vital role. The upregulation of cGas/STING pathway in microglia contributes to the abnormal and persistent microglial activation, accompanied by excessive secretion of neurotoxic inflammatory mediators such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), which exacerbates the damage of neurons and promotes the development of neurodegeneration. Currently, novel therapeutic approaches need to be found to delay the progression of neurodegenerative disorders, and regulation of the cGas/STING signaling in microglia may be a potential target.

MB16 - (M=Sc, Y, La): Perfect Bowl-Like Boron Clusters.

The introduction of transition-metal doping has engendered a remarkable array of unprecedented boron motifs characterized by distinctive geometries and bonding, particularly those heretofore unobserved in pure boron clusters. In this study, we present a perfect (no defects) boron framework manifesting an inherently high-symmetry, bowl-like architecture, denoted as MB16 - (M=Sc, Y, La). In MB16 -, the B16 is coordinated to M atoms along the C5v-symmetry axis. The bowl-shaped MB16 - structure is predicted to be the lowest-energy structure with superior stability, owing to its concentric (2 π+10 π) dual π aromaticity. Notably, the C5v-symmetry bowl-like B16 - is profoundly stabilized through the doping of an M atom, facilitated by strong d-pπ interactions between M and boron motifs, in conjunction with additional electrostatic stabilization by an electron transfer from M to the boron motifs. This concerted interplay of covalent and electrostatic interactions between M and bowl-like B16 renders MB16 - a species of exceptional thermodynamic stability, thus making it a viable candidate for gas-phase experimental detection.

Organic-inorganic hybrid ZIF-8/MXene/cellulose-based textiles with improved antibacterial and electromagnetic interference shielding performance.

Despite the tremendous efforts on developing antibacterial wearable textile materials containing Ti3C2Tx MXene, the singular antimicrobial mechanism, poor antibacterial durability, and oxidation susceptibility of MXene limits their applications. In this context, flexible multifunctional cellulosic textiles were prepared via layer-by-layer assembly of MXene and the in-situ synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8). Specifically, the introduction of highly conductive MXene enhanced the interface interactions between the ZIF-8 layer and cellulose fibers, endowing the green-based materials with outstanding synergistic photothermal/photodynamic therapy (PTT/PDT) activity and adjustable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance. In-situ polymerization formed a MXene/ZIF-8 bilayer structure, promoting the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) while protecting MXene from oxidation. The as-prepared smart textile exhibited excellent bactericidal efficacy of >99.99 % against both Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) after 5 min of NIR (300 mW cm-2) irradiation which is below the maximum permissible exposure (MPE) limit. The sustained released Zn2+ from the ZIF-8 layer achieved a bactericidal efficiency of over 99.99 % within 48 h without NIR light. Furthermore, this smart textile also demonstrated remarkable EMI shielding efficiency (47.7 dB). Clearly, this study provides an elaborate strategy for designing and constructing multifunctional cellulose-based materials for a variety of applications.

3-N-butylphthalide attenuates neuroinflammation in rotenone-induced Parkinson's disease models via the cGAS-STING pathway.

Neuroinflammation is crucial in the onset and progression of dopaminergic neuron loss in Parkinson's disease (PD). We aimed to determine whether 3-N-Butylphthalide (NBP) can protect against PD by inhibiting the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway and the inflammatory response of microglia. MitoSOX/MitoTracker/Hoechst staining was used to detect the levels of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) in BV2 cells. Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction was used to measure the levels of free cytoplasmic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in BV2 cells and mouse brain tissues. Behavioral impairments were assessed using rotarod, T-maze, and balance beam tests. Dopaminergic neurons and microglia were observed using immunohistochemical staining. Expression levels of cGAS, STING, nuclear factor kappa-B (NfκB), phospho- NfκB (p-NfκB), inhibitor of NfκBα (IκBα), and phospho-IκBα (p-IκBα) proteins in the substantia nigra and striatum were detected using Western Blot. NBP decreased mitochondrial ROS levels in rotenone-treated BV2 cells. NBP alleviated behavioral impairments and protected against rotenone-induced microgliosis and damage to dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and striatum of rotenone-induced PD mice. NBP decreased rotenone-induced mtDNA leakage and mitigated neuroinflammation by inhibiting cGAS-STING pathway activation. NBP exhibited a protective effect in rotenone-induced PD models by significantly inhibiting the cGAS-STING pathway. Moreover, NBP can alleviate neuroinflammation, and is a potential therapeutic drug for alleviating clinical symptoms and delaying the progression of PD. This study provided insights for the potential role of NBP in PD therapy, potentially mitigating neurodegeneration, and consequently improving the quality of life and lifespan of patients with PD. The limitations are that we have not confirmed the exact mechanism by which NBP decreases mtDNA leakage, and this study was unable to observe the actual clinical therapeutic effect, so further cohort studies are required for validation.

Analysis of the Unusual Chemical Bonds and Dipole Moments of AeF- (Ae=Be-Ba): A Lesson in Covalent Bonding.

Quantum chemical calculations of the anions AeF- (Ae=Be-Ba) have been carried out using ab initio methods at the CCSD(T)/def2-TZVPP level and density functional theory employing BP86 with various basis sets. The detailed bonding analyses using different charge- and energy partitioning methods show that the molecules possess three distinctively different dative bonds in the lighter species with Ae=Be, Mg and four dative bonds when Ae=Ca, Sr, Ba. The occupied 2p atomic orbitals (AOs) and to a lesser degree the occupied 2s AO of F- donate electronic charge into the vacant spx(σ) and p(π) orbitals of Be and Mg which leads to a triple bond Ae F-. The heavier Ae atoms Ca, Sr, Ba use their vacant (n-1)d AOs as acceptor orbitals which enables them to form a second σ donor bond with F- that leads to quadruply bonded Ae F- (Ae=Ca-Ba). The presentation of molecular orbitals or charge distribution using only one isodensity value may give misleading information about the overall nature of the orbital or charge distribution. Better insights are given by contour line diagrams. The ELF calculations provide monosynaptic and disynaptic basins of AeF- which nicely agree with the analysis of the occupied molecular orbitals and with the charge density difference maps. A particular feature of the covalent bonds in AeF- concerns the inductive interaction of F- with the soft valence electrons in the (n)s valence orbitals of Ae. The polarization of the (n)s2 electrons induces a (n)spx hybridized lone-pair orbital at atom Ae, which yields a large dipole moment with the negative end at Ae. The concomitant formation of a vacant (n)spx AO of atom Ae, which overlaps with the occupied 2p(σ) AO of F-, leads to a strong covalent σ bond.

Integration of metagenome and metabolome analysis reveals the correlation of gut microbiota, oxidative stress, and inflammation in Coilia nasus under air exposure stress and salinity mitigation.

Due to the strong response to air exposure, high mortality was occurred in Coilia nasus. Previous studies reported that 10 ‰ NaCl could significantly reduce mortality in C. nasus under air exposure. To investigate the mechanisms that 10 ‰ NaCl can alleviate stress, community structure and metabolism of the intestinal flora of C. nasus were detected via metagenome and metabolome. In this study, C. nasus were divided into control group (C), air exposure group without 10 ‰ NaCl (AE), and air exposure group with 10 ‰ NaCl (AES). After air exposure stress and salinity mitigation, the mortality, intestinal microorganisms, metabolites, and physiological biomarkers were analyzed. The results showed that the mortality rate of C. nasus was reduced after salinity reduction; the antioxidant capacity was elevated compared to the AE group; and anti-inflammatory capacity was increased in the AES group compared to the AE group. Metagenomic sequencing results showed that the levels of harmful bacteria (E. coli, Aeromonas) in the Candida nasus gut increased after air exposure; beneficial bacteria (Actinobacteria, Corynebacteria) in the C. nasus gut increased after salinity reduction. Metabolomics analyses showed that AE decreased the expression of beneficial metabolites and increased the expression of harmful metabolites; AES increased beneficial metabolites and decreased harmful metabolites. Correlation analysis showed that in the AE group, beneficial metabolites were negatively correlated with oxidative stress and inflammatory response, while harmful metabolites were positively correlated with oxidative stress and inflammatory response, and were associated with bacterial communities such as Gillisia, Alkalitalia, Avipoxvirus, etc.; the correlation of metabolites with oxidative stress and inflammatory response was opposite to that of AE in the case of AES, and was associated with Lentilactobacillus, Cyanobacterium, and other bacterial communities. Air exposure caused damage to Candida rhinoceros and 10 ‰ salinity was beneficial in alleviating C. nasus stress. These results will provide new insights into methods and mechanisms to mitigate stress in fish.

Facile preparation, optical mechanism elaboration, and bio-imaging application of fluorescent cellulose nanocrystals with tunable emission wavelength.

Interfacing cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) with fluorescent materials provides more possibilities for constructing of sensory/imaging platforms in biomedical applications. In this work, by harnessing the efficient extraction accompanied modification of CNCs and adjustable optical properties of carbon dots (CDs), we report the constructions and emission wavelength tuning of fluorescent CNCs (F-CNCs) composed of CNC nano-scaffolds and CDs. The as-prepared CNCs are densely decorated with citric acid (CA), which plays the role of carbon source for the in-situ synthesis of CDs on CNCs. For the F-CNCs carrying blue, green, and red emissive CDs, ethylenediamine (EDA), urea, and thiourea are the N or N/S sources. Fingerprints of chemical groups, morphological characters, and redox activities are resolved to elaborate the optical mechanisms of CDs with varying emission colors. The emission wavelength is adjusted by either changing the particle size or introducing new emission centers. Both are primarily achieved via precursor engineering. The F-CNCs reveal quantum yields (QYs) >22 % and negligible fluorescence quenching (< 6 %) upon continuous excitation as long as 24 h. Benefited from their cell membrane penetration capability, the F-CNCs with different emission wavelengths were challenged for multiplexed cytoplasm imaging.

Mulch from lignocellulose as agricultural plastic alternative for sustained-release of photosensitive pesticide.

Extensively used agricultural mulch fabricated from nonbiodegradable polyolefin plastic causes tremendous environmental pollution. In this work, a paper-based mulch, composed of the cellulose fiber networks incorporated with Emamectin benzoate (EB)@sodium lignosulfonate (SL), has been developed with facile papermaking/coating methods. The spherical microcapsule loaded with pesticide EB has a desirable core-shell structure for better protection and sustained release of photosensitive EB. The loading rate and encapsulation efficiency reached 78.5 % and 52.3 %, respectively. Furthermore, microcapsules exhibited excellent slow-release behavior and resistance to photolysis. Natural carnauba wax was coated on the surface of the paper-based mulch to form a hydrophobic layer and increase the physical intertwinement of fibers in the mulch, thereby exhibiting superior performance, such as enhanced tensile strength, excellent hydrophobicity, high air permeability, and high light transmittance at reasonable level. Moreover, unlike conventional polyethylene mulch film, the functionalized paper-based mulch almost completely biodegraded after 75 days in the soil. Thus, multifunctional, eco-friendly mulch from lignocellulose is an innovative approach to obtaining the sustained release of agrochemicals, and it provides an excellent alternative to conventional agricultural plastic mulch.

Transition Metal Behavior of Heavier Alkaline Earth Elements in Doped Monocyclic and Tubular Boron Clusters.

Quantum chemical calculations are carried out to design highly symmetric-doped boron clusters by employing the transition metal behavior of heavier alkaline earth (Ae = Ca, Sr, and Ba) metals. Following an electron counting rule, a set of monocyclic and tubular boron clusters capped by two heavier Ae metals were tested, which leads to the highly symmetric Ae2B8, Ae2B18, and Ae2B30 clusters as true minima on the potential energy surface having a monocyclic ring, two-ring tubular, and three-ring tubular boron motifs, respectively. Then, a thorough global minimum (GM) structural search reveals that a monocyclic B8 ring capped with two Ae atoms is indeed a GM for Ca2B8 and Ba2B8, while for Sr2B8 it is a low-lying isomer. Similarly, the present search also unambiguously shows the most stable isomers of Ae2B18 and Ae2B30 to be highly symmetric two- and three-ring tubular boron motifs, respectively, capped with two Ae atoms on each side of the tube. In these Ae-doped boron clusters, in addition to the electrostatic interactions, a substantial covalent interaction, specifically the bonding occurring between (n - 1)d orbitals of Ae and delocalized orbitals of boron motifs, provides the essential driving force behind their highly symmetrical structures and overall stability.

Rotational energy transfer in the collision of N2O with He atom.

The quantum state-to-state rotationally inelastic quenching of N2O by colliding with a He atom is studied on an ab initio potential energy surface with N2O lying on its vibrational ground state. The cross sections for collision energies from 10-6-100 cm-1 and rate constants from 10-5-10 K are calculated employing the fully converged quantum close-coupling method for the quenching of the j = 1-6 rotational states of N2O. Numerous van der Waals shapes or Feshbach resonances are observed; the cross sections of different channels are found to follow the Wigner scaling law in the cold threshold regime and may intersect with each other. In order to interpret the mechanism and estimate the cross sections of the rotational energy transfer, we propose a minimal classical model of collision between an asymmetric double-shell ellipsoid and a point particle. The classical model reproduces the quantum scattering results and points out the attractive interactions and the potential asymmetry can affect the collision process. The resulting insights are expected to expand our interpretations of inelastic scattering and energy transfer in molecular collisions.

Synthesis Strategies, Optical Mechanisms, and Applications of Dual-Emissive Carbon Dots.

Tuning the optical properties of carbon dots (CDs) and figuring out the mechanisms underneath the emissive phenomena have been one of the most cutting-edge topics in the development of carbon-based nanomaterials. Dual-emissive CDs possess the intrinsic dual-emission character upon single-wavelength excitation, which significantly benefits their multi-purpose applications. Explosive exploitations of dual-emissive CDs have been reported during the past five years. Nevertheless, there is a lack of a systematic summary of the rising star nanomaterial. In this review, we summarize the synthesis strategies and optical mechanisms of the dual-emissive CDs. The applications in the areas of biosensing, bioimaging, as well as photoelectronic devices are also outlined. The last section presents the main challenges and perspectives in further promoting the development of dual-emissive CDs. By covering the most vital publications, we anticipate that the review is of referential significance for researchers in the synthesis, characterization, and application of dual-emissive CDs.

China's new urban clusters strategy for coordinated economic growth: Evidence from the sports industry.

In 2014, the Chinese government unveiled the New Urbanization Plan and Document No. 46, which profoundly influenced the development trajectory of the regional economy and sports industry. Using the coupling coordination model, this study aimed to assess the development progress of the sports industry and urban clusters economy. This study sampled Greater Bay Area urban clusters (GBAUC) and Yangtze River Delta urban clusters (YRDUC). The statistics covered one year after the release of the policies to date. We developed a total of 15 macro indicators to evaluate the sports industry and urban cluster economy as two distinct, yet interdependent, economic systems. Using the entropy weight method, we determined the standardized values and weights for the two systems before calculating the coupling coordination degree (D). Between 2015 and 2021, the sampled sports industry and urban clusters economy exhibited coordinated high growth across all economic metrics, with multiple sports industry metrics exhibiting double-digit growth. In 2015, both showed extreme imbalance: D of GBAUC = 0.092, D of YRDUC = 0.091. In 2017, both improved to bare coordination: D of GBAUC = 0.600, D of YRDUC = 0.566. In 2019, both reached well coordination: D of GBAUC = 0.851, D of YRDUC = 0.814. By 2021, both achieved quality coordination: D of GBAUC = 0.990, D of YRDUC = 1. This study provides the first evidence from the sports industry that China's new urbanization model and Document No. 46 are highly effective for synergistic regional economic growth.

Recent Advances in Functional Cellulose-based Films with Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Properties for Food Packaging.

The packaging of food plays a crucial role in food preservation worldwide. However, traditional packaging systems are passive layers with weak efficiency in protecting the food quality. Therefore, packaged foods are gradually spoiled due to the oxidation and growth of microorganisms. Additionally, most of the commercial packaging films are made of petroleum-based materials which raise environmental concerns. Accordingly, the development of eco-friendly natural-derived active packaging systems has increased the attention of scientists. Cellulose as the most abundant polysaccharide on earth with high biocompatibility, no toxicity, and high biodegradability has extensively been applied for the fabrication of packaging films. However, neat cellulose-based films lack antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Therefore, neat cellulose-based films are passive films with weak food preservation performance. Active films have been developed by incorporating antioxidants and antimicrobial agents into the films. In this review, we have explored the latest research on the fabrication of antimicrobial/antioxidant cellulose-based active packaging films by incorporating natural extracts, natural polyphenols, nanoparticles, and microparticles into the cellulose-based film formulations. We categorized these types of packaging films into two main groups: (i) blend films which are obtained by mixing solutions of cellulose with other soluble antimicrobial/antioxidant agents such as natural extracts and polyphenols; and (ii) composite films which are fabricated by dispersing antimicrobial/antioxidant nano- or microfillers into the cellulose solution. The effect of these additives on the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of the films has been explained. Additionally, the changes in the other properties of the films such as hydrophilicity, water evaporation rate, and mechanical properties have also been briefly addressed.