Laser Additive Manufacturing of Three-Dimensional Ti/TiN Nanotube Arrays with Hierarchical Pore Structures and Promoted Supercapacitor Performances.

Titanium-based composites hold great promise in versatile functional application fields, including supercapacitors. However, conventional subtractive methods for preparing complex-shaped titanium-based composites generally suffer from several significant shortcomings, including low efficiency, strictly simple geometry, low specific surface area, and poor electrochemical performance of the products. Herein, three-dimensional composites of Ti/TiN nanotube arrays with hierarchically porous structures were prepared using the additive manufacturing method of selective laser melting combined with anodic oxidation and nitridation. The resultant Ti/TiN nanotube array composites exhibit good electrical conductivity, ultrahigh specific surface areas, and outstanding supercapacitor performances featuring the unique combination of a large specific capacitance of 134.4 mF/cm2 and a high power density of 4.1 mW/cm2, which was remarkably superior to that of their counterparts. This work is anticipated to provide new insights into the facile and efficient preparation of high-performance structural and functional devices with arbitrarily complex geometries and good overall performances.

Phosphorus deficiency-induced cell wall pectin demethylesterification enhances cadmium accumulation in roots of Salix caprea.

Regions affected by heavy metal contamination frequently encounter phosphorus (P) deficiency. Numerous studies highlight crucial role of P in facilitating cadmium (Cd) accumulation in woody plants. However, the regulatory mechanism by which P affects Cd accumulation in roots remains ambiguous. This study aims to investigate the effects of phosphorus (P) deficiency on Cd accumulation, Cd subcellular distribution, and cell wall components in the roots of Salix caprea under Cd stress. The results revealed that under P deficiency conditions, there was a 35.4% elevation in Cd content in roots, coupled with a 60.1% reduction in Cd content in shoots, compared to the P sufficiency conditions. Under deficient P conditions, the predominant response of roots to Cd exposure was the increased sequestration of Cd in root cell walls. The sequestration of Cd in root cell walls increased from 37.1% under sufficient P conditions to 66.7% under P deficiency, with pectin identified as the primary Cd binding site under both P conditions. Among cell wall components, P deficiency led to a significant 31.7% increase in Cd content within pectin compared to P sufficiency conditions, but did not change the pectin content. Notably, P deficiency significantly increased pectin methylesterase (PME) activity by regulating the expression of PME and PMEI genes, leading to a 10.4% reduction in the degree of pectin methylesterification. This may elucidate the absence of significant changes in pectin content under P deficiency conditions and the concurrent increase in Cd accumulation in pectin. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results indicated an increase in carboxyl groups in the root cell walls under P deficiency compared to sufficient P treatment. The results provide deep insights into the mechanisms of higher Cd accumulation in root mediated by P deficiency.

First-principles study of electrochemical H2O2 production on Pd-B40 single-atom catalyst.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a versatile green compound, is increasingly in demand. The electrochemical two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e- ORR) is a simple and environmentally friendly substitute method to the traditional anthraquinone oxidation method for H2O2 production. This study systematically investigates the 2e- ORR process on single transition metal atom-loaded boron fullerene (M - B40) using density functional theory calculations. In evaluating the stability of the catalysts, we found that Au, Pd, Pt, Rh, and Ir atoms adsorbed on hexagonal or heptagonal sites of B40 exhibit good stability. Among these, Pd-modified B40 heptagonal cavity (Pd-B40-heptagonal) demonstrates an ideal Gibbs free energy change for OOH* (4.49 eV) and efficiently catalyzes H2O2 production at a low overpotential (0.27 V). Electronic structure analysis reveals that electron transfer between Pd-B40-heptagonal and adsorbed O2 facilitates O2 activation. Additionally, the high 2e- ORR activity of Pd-B40-heptagonal is attributed to electron transfer from the Pd-d orbitals to the π* anti-bonding of p orbitals of OOH*, moderately activating the O-O bond. This study offers valuable understanding designing high-performance electrocatalysts for 2e- ORR.

Tau pathology mediated the plasma biomarkers and cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment.

Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neurofilament light (NfL) are putative non-amyloid biomarkers indicative of ongoing inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease processes. Hence, this study aimed to demonstrate the relationship between plasma biomarkers (GFAP and NfL) and 18F-AV-1451 tau PET images, and to explore their effects on cognitive function. Ninety-one participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database and 20 participants from the Shanghai Action of Prevention Dementia for the Elderly (SHAPE) cohort underwent plasma biomarker testing, 18F-AV-1451 tau PET scans and cognitive function assessments. Within the ADNI, there were 42 cognitively normal (CN) individuals and 49 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Similarly, in the SHAPE, we had 10 CN and 10 MCI participants. We calculated the standardized uptake value ratios (SUVRs) for the regions of interest (ROIs) in the 18F-AV-1451 PET scans. Using plasma biomarkers and regional SUVRs, we trained machine learning models to differentiate between MCI and CN subjects with ADNI database and validated in SHAPE. Results showed that eight selected variables (including left amygdala SUVR, right amygdala SUVR, left entorhinal cortex SUVR, age, education, plasma NfL, plasma GFAP, plasma GFAP/ NfL) identified by LASSO could differentiate between the MCI and CN individuals, with AUC ranging from 0.783 to 0.926. Additionally, cognitive function was negatively associated with the plasma biomarkers and tau deposition in amygdala and left entorhinal cortex. Increased tau deposition in amygdala and left entorhinal cortex were related to increased plasma biomarkers. Moreover, tau pathology mediated the effect of plasma biomarkers level on the cognitive decline. The present study provides valuable insights into the association among plasma markers (GFAP and NfL), regional tau deposition and cognitive function. This study reports the mediation effect of brain regions tau deposition on the plasma biomarkers level and cognitive function, indicating the significance of tau pathology in the MCI patients.

Dendritic copper oxide catalyst engineering weak-polarity Cu-O bond for high-efficiency nitrate electroreduction.

Nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) is deemed a promising pathway for both ammonia synthesis and water purification. Developing a high-efficiency catalyst with excellent NH3 selectivity and catalytic stability is desirable but remains challenging. In this work, a dendritic copper oxide catalyst (Cu-B2) has been developed to efficiently catalyze NO3RR for ammonia production, the Cu-B2 exhibits excellent catalytic performance, achieving an NH3 Faradaic efficiency as high as 94 % and an NH3 yield of 16.9 mg h-1 cm-2 with a current density of 192.3 mA cm-2 at - 0.6 V (vs. RHE, reversible hydrogen electrode). During NO3RR testing, the Cu-B2 catalysts are reduced in situ to form highly active Cu0/Cu+ sites, while retaining its dendritic morphology. Compared with other catalysts, the Cu-O bond in Cu-B2 catalyst has weaker polarity, resulting in Cu0/Cu+ sites in lower oxidation states. In situ attenuated total reflection surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) studies reveal the Cu-B2 catalyst exhibits a potential-independent capability for *NO3- adsorption and high conversion efficiency of NO2- intermediate into ammonia, DFT calculations reveal that Cu-B2 exhibts higher NO3- adsorption energy and lower NO3- adsorption energy barrier than Cu-B1, thus endowing it with a remarkably improved catalytic activity and durability.

Characterization of bZIP Transcription Factors in Transcriptome of Chrysanthemum mongolicum and Roles of CmbZIP9 in Drought Stress Resistance.

bZIP transcription factors play important roles in regulating plant development and stress responses. Although bZIPs have been identified in many plant species, there is little information on the bZIPs in Chrysanthemum. In this study, bZIP TFs were identified from the leaf transcriptome of C. mongolicum, a plant naturally tolerant to drought. A total of 28 full-length bZIP family members were identified from the leaf transcriptome of C. mongolicum and were divided into five subfamilies based on their phylogenetic relationships with the bZIPs from Arabidopsis. Ten conserved motifs were detected among the bZIP proteins of C. mongolicum. Subcellular localization assays revealed that most of the CmbZIPs were predicted to be localized in the nucleus. A novel bZIP gene, designated as CmbZIP9, was cloned based on a sequence of the data of the C. mongolicum transcriptome and was overexpressed in tobacco. The results indicated that the overexpression of CmbZIP9 reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) content and increased the peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities as well as the expression levels of stress-related genes under drought stress, thus enhancing the drought tolerance of transgenic tobacco lines. These results provide a theoretical basis for further exploring the functions of the bZIP family genes and lay a foundation for stress resistance improvement in chrysanthemums in the future.

Multifunctional Bagasse Foam with Improved Thermal Insulation and Flame Retardancy by a Borax-Induced Self-Assembly and Ambient Pressure Drying Technique.

Cellulose foams are considered an effective alternative to plastic foam, because of their advantages of low density, high porosity, low thermal conductivity, and renewable nature. However, they still suffer from complex processing, poor mechanical properties, and flammability. As an agricultural waste, bagasse is rich in cellulose, which has attracted much attention. Inspired by the fact that borate ions can effectively enhance the strength of plant tissue by their cross-linking with polysaccharides, the present work designs and fabricates a series of multifunctional bagasse foams with robust strength and improved thermal insulation and flame retardancy via a unique borax-induced self-assembly and atmospheric pressure drying route using bagasse as a raw material, borate as a cross-linking agent, and chitosan as an additive. As a result, the optimized foam exhibits a high porosity (93.5%), a high hydrophobic water contact angle (150.4°), a low thermal conductivity (63.4 mW/(m·K) at 25 °C), and an outstanding flame retardancy. The present study provides a novel and inspiring idea for large-scale production of cellulose foams through an environmentally friendly and cost-effective approach.

Disrupted topological organization of the default mode network in mild cognitive impairment with subsyndromal depression: A graph theoretical analysis.

AIMS: Subsyndromal depression (SSD) is common in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, the neural mechanisms underlying MCI with SSD (MCID) are unclear. The default mode network (DMN) is associated with cognitive processes and depressive symptoms. Therefore, we aimed to explore the topological organization of the DMN in patients with MCID. METHODS: Forty-two MCID patients, 34 MCI patients without SSD (MCIND), and 36 matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. The resting-state functional connectivity of the DMN of the participants was analyzed using a graph theoretical approach. Correlation analyses of network topological metrics, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function were conducted. Moreover, support vector machine (SVM) models were constructed based on topological metrics to distinguish MCID from MCIND. Finally, we used 10 repeats of 5-fold cross-validation for performance verification. RESULTS: We found that the global efficiency and nodal efficiency of the left anterior medial prefrontal cortex (aMPFC) of the MCID group were significantly lower than the MCIND group. Moreover, small-worldness and global efficiency were negatively correlated with depressive symptoms in MCID, and the nodal efficiency of the left lateral temporal cortex and left aMPFC was positively correlated with cognitive function in MCID. In cross-validation, the SVM model had an accuracy of 0.83 [95% CI 0.79-0.87], a sensitivity of 0.88 [95% CI 0.86-0.90], a specificity of 0.75 [95% CI 0.72-0.78] and an area under the curve of 0.88 [95% CI 0.85-0.91]. CONCLUSIONS: The coexistence of MCI and SSD was associated with the greatest disrupted topological organization of the DMN. The network topological metrics could identify MCID and serve as biomarkers of different clinical phenotypic presentations of MCI.

A Deep Learning Model for Automatically Quantifying the Anterior Segment in Ultrasound Biomicroscopy Images of Implantable Collamer Lens Candidates.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop and evaluate a deep learning-based model that could automatically measure anterior segment (AS) parameters on preoperative ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) images of implantable Collamer lens (ICL) surgery candidates. METHODS: A total of 1164 panoramic UBM images were preoperatively obtained from 321 patients who received ICL surgery in the Eye Center of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University (Wuhan, China) to develop an imaging database. First, the UNet++ network was utilized to segment AS tissues automatically, such as corneal lens and iris. In addition, image processing techniques and geometric localization algorithms were developed to automatically identify the anatomical landmarks (ALs) of pupil diameter (PD), anterior chamber depth (ACD), angle-to-angle distance (ATA), and sulcus-to-sulcus distance (STS). Based on the results of the latter two processes, PD, ACD, ATA, and STS can be measured. Meanwhile, an external dataset of 294 images from Huangshi Aier Eye Hospital was employed to further assess the model's performance in other center. Lastly, a subset of 100 random images from the external test set was chosen to compare the performance of the model with senior experts. RESULTS: Whether in the internal test dataset or external test dataset, using manual labeling as the reference standard, the models achieved a mean Dice coefficient exceeding 0.880. Additionally, the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) of ALs' coordinates were all greater than 0.947, and the percentage of Euclidean distance distribution of ALs within 250 µm was over 95.24%.While the ICCs for PD, ACD, ATA, and STS were greater than 0.957, furthermore, the average relative error (ARE) of PD, ACD, ATA, and STS were below 2.41%. In terms of human versus machine performance, the ICCs between the measurements performed by the model and those by senior experts were all greater than 0.931. CONCLUSION: A deep learning-based model could measure AS parameters using UBM images of ICL candidates, and exhibited a performance similar to that of a senior ophthalmologist.

The mediating effect of the amygdala-frontal circuit on the association between depressive symptoms and cognitive function in Alzheimer's disease.

Depressive symptoms occur commonly in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although abnormalities in the amygdala-frontal circuit have been linked to emotional dysregulation and cognitive impairment, the neurological basis underlying these associations in AD patients with depressive symptoms (ADD) is unclear. We aimed to investigate the relationship between the amygdala-frontal circuit and depressive symptoms and cognitive function in ADD. We recruited 60 ADD, 60 AD patients without depressive symptoms (ADND), and 60 healthy controls (HC). Functional connectivity (FC) maps of the bilateral amygdala were compared. Fractional anisotropy (FA) of the amygdala-frontal circuit connected by the uncinate fasciculus (UF) was calculated using automated fiber quantification (AFQ). In addition, mediation analysis was performed to explore the effects of the amygdala-frontal circuit on the relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive function. We found decreased bilateral amygdala FC with the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in the ADD group compared to the ADND and HC groups. Moreover, FA in the left frontal UF (nodes 64-97) was significantly lower in the ADD group than ADND group. Notably, amygdala-based FC with IFG and the left frontal UF FA mediated the relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive function in ADD, with mediating effects ranging between 15 and 18%. Our study is the first to demonstrate the mediating effect of functional and microstructural abnormalities in the amygdala-frontal circuit in ADD. The findings suggest that the amygdala-frontal circuit may underlie emotional dysregulation in ADD, providing potential targets for treatment strategies.

Photocobilins integrate B12 and bilin photochemistry for enzyme control.

Photoreceptor proteins utilise chromophores to sense light and trigger a biological response. The discovery that adenosylcobalamin (or coenzyme B12) can act as a light-sensing chromophore heralded a new field of B12-photobiology. Although microbial genome analysis indicates that photoactive B12-binding domains form part of more complex protein architectures, regulating a range of molecular-cellular functions in response to light, experimental evidence is lacking. Here we identify and characterise a sub-family of multi-centre photoreceptors, termed photocobilins, that use B12 and biliverdin (BV) to sense light across the visible spectrum. Crystal structures reveal close juxtaposition of the B12 and BV chromophores, an arrangement that facilitates optical coupling. Light-triggered conversion of the B12 affects quaternary structure, in turn leading to light-activation of associated enzyme domains. The apparent widespread nature of photocobilins implies involvement in light regulation of a wider array of biochemical processes, and thus expands the scope for B12 photobiology. Their characterisation provides inspiration for the design of broad-spectrum optogenetic tools and next generation bio-photocatalysts.

Application of 2D MoS2 Nanoflower for the Removal of Emerging Pollutants from Water.

Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterial-MoS2 (molybdenum disulfide) has gained interest among researchers, owing to its exceptional mechanical, biological, and physiochemical properties. This paper reports on the removal of organic dyes and an emerging contaminant, Ciprofloxacin, by a 2D MoS2 nanoflower as an adsorbent. The material was prepared by a green hydrothermal technique, and its high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller-specific area of 185.541m2/g contributed to the removal of 96% rhodamine-B dye and 85% Ciprofloxacin. Various characterizations, such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy linked with energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, revealed the nanoflower structure with good crystallinity. The feasibility and efficacy of 2D MoS2 nanoflower as a promising adsorbent candidate for the removal of emerging pollutants was confirmed in-depth in batch investigations, such as the effects of adsorption time, MoS2 dosages, solution pH, and temperature. The adsorption mechanism was further investigated based on thermodynamic calculations, adsorption kinetics, and isotherm modeling. The results confirmed the exothermic nature of the enthalpy-driven adsorption as well as the fast kinetics and physisorption-controlled adsorption process. The recyclability potential of 2D MoS2 exceeds four regeneration recycles. MoS2 nanoflower has been shown to be an effective organic pollutant removal adsorbent in water treatment.