The Effect of Technology-Based Home Cardiac Rehabilitation on Risk Factor Modifications in Coronary Heart Disease Patients. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: The delivery channels and approaches related to cardiac rehabilitation (CR), such as eHealth, mHealth, and telehealth, are evolving. Several studies have identified their effects on patients with coronary heart disease, although no studies have focused on all the approaches collectively. Methods: Randomized controlled trials have investigated lipid profiles, through systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and body mass index (BMI). Stata software was used for analysis, while Egger's linear regression test and Begg's funnel plot were also applied. Results: Technology-based home CR revealed significantly lower total cholesterol (TC) levels (standardized mean difference (SMD) = -0.19; 95% confidence interval [CI]: [-0.27, -0.11]); triglyceride (TG) levels (SMD = -0.26; 95% CI: [-0.35, 0.17]); low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels (SMD = -0.18; 95% CI: [ -0.25, -0.11]); SBP (SMD = -0.26; 95% CI: [-0.33, -0.19]); DBP (SMD = -0.24; 95% CI: [-0.32, -0.16]); BMI (SMD = -0.12; 95% CI: [-0.18, -0.05]), and improved high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels (SMD = 0.22; 95% CI: [0.14, 0.31]). Conclusions: Technology-based home CR can be used to lower TC, TG, and LDL levels, alongside the BMI, SBP, and DBP indexes, while also raising HDL levels; thus, its use should be widely promoted.

Stereo-Active Lone Pairs Induced Second Harmonic Generation Responses and Electrocatalytic Activity in Hybrid Material.

The lone pair electrons in the electronic structure of molecules have been a prominent research focus in chemistry for more than a century. Stable s2 lone pair electrons significantly influence material properties, including thermoelectric properties, nonlinear optical properties, ferroelectricity, and electro(photo)catalysis. While major advances have been achieved in understanding the influence of lone pair electrons on material characteristics, research on this effect in organic-inorganic hybrid materials is in its initial stage. In this work, we successfully obtained a novel organic-inorganic hybrid multifunctional material incorporating Ge with 4s2 lone pair electrons, (MeHDabco)2[GeBr3]4-H2O (MeHDabco=N-methyl-1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane) (1). Driven by the stereochemically active lone pair electrons on the Ge2+, 1 crystallizes in the noncentrosymmetric space group P21 at room temperature and exhibits good second harmonic generation (SHG) responses. Interestingly, 1 also shows electrocatalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) due to the existence of lone pair electrons on Ge2+ cations. The electrochemical experiment combined with the density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the lone pair electrons act as both an active site for proton adsorption and facilitate the ionization of water. This work not only emphasizes the important role of lone pair electrons in material properties and functions but also provides new insight for designing novel Ge-based multifunctional hybrid materials.

Bio-orthogonal click chemistry strategy for PD-L1-targeted imaging and pyroptosis-mediated chemo-immunotherapy of triple-negative breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: The combination of programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) and immunogenic cell death (ICD)-inducing chemotherapy has shown promise in cancer immunotherapy. However, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients undergoing this treatment often face obstacles such as systemic toxicity and low response rates, primarily attributed to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, PD-L1-targeted theranostic systems were developed utilizing anti-PD-L1 peptide (APP) conjugated with a bio-orthogonal click chemistry group. Initially, TNBC was treated with azide-modified sugar to introduce azide groups onto tumor cell surfaces through metabolic glycoengineering. A PD-L1-targeted probe was developed to evaluate the PD-L1 status of TNBC using magnetic resonance/near-infrared fluorescence imaging. Subsequently, an acidic pH-responsive prodrug was employed to enhance tumor accumulation via bio-orthogonal click chemistry, which enhances PD-L1-targeted ICB, the pH-responsive DOX release and induction of pyroptosis-mediated ICD of TNBC. Combined PD-L1-targeted chemo-immunotherapy effectively reversed the immune-tolerant TME and elicited robust tumor-specific immune responses, resulting in significant inhibition of tumor progression. CONCLUSIONS: Our study has successfully engineered a bio-orthogonal multifunctional theranostic system, which employs bio-orthogonal click chemistry in conjunction with a PD-L1 targeting strategy. This innovative approach has been demonstrated to exhibit significant promise for both the targeted imaging and therapeutic intervention of TNBC.

Prediction of proliferative diabetic retinopathy using machine learning in Latino and non-Hispanic black cohorts with routine blood and urine testing.

PURPOSE: The objective was to predict proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) in non-Hispanic Black (NHB) and Latino (LA) patients by applying machine learning algorithms to routinely collected blood and urine laboratory results. METHODS: Electronic medical records of 1124 type 2 diabetes patients treated at the Bronxcare Hospital eye clinic between January and December 2019 were analysed. Data collected included demographic information (ethnicity, age and sex), blood (fasting glucose, haemoglobin A1C [HbA1c] high-density lipoprotein [HDL], low-density lipoprotein [LDL], serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR]) and urine (albumin-to-creatinine ratio [ACR]) test results and the outcome measure of retinopathy status. The efficacy of different machine learning models was assessed and compared. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis was employed to evaluate the contribution of each feature to the model's predictions. RESULTS: The balanced random forest model surpassed other models in predicting PDR for both NHB and LA cohorts, achieving an AUC (area under the curve) of 83%. Regarding sex, the model exhibited remarkable performance for the female LA demographic, with an AUC of 87%. The SHAP analysis revealed that PDR-related factors influenced NHB and LA patients differently, with more pronounced disparity between sexes. Furthermore, the optimal cut-off values for these factors showed variations based on sex and ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the potential of machine learning in identifying individuals at higher risk for PDR by leveraging routine blood and urine test results. It allows clinicians to prioritise at-risk individuals for timely evaluations. Furthermore, the findings emphasise the importance of accounting for both ethnicity and sex when analysing risk factors for PDR in type 2 diabetes individuals.

The health benefits of dietary polyphenols on pediatric intestinal diseases: Mechanism of action, clinical evidence and future research progress.

Pediatric intestinal development is immature, vulnerable to external influences and produce a variety of intestinal diseases. At present, breakthroughs have been made in the treatment of pediatric intestinal diseases, but there are still many challenges, such as toxic side effects, drug resistance, and the lack of more effective treatments and specific drugs. In recent years, dietary polyphenols derived from plants have become a research hotspot in the treatment of pediatric intestinal diseases due to their outstanding pharmacological activities such, as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant and regulation of intestinal flora. This article reviewed the mechanism of action and clinical evidence of dietary polyphenols in the treatment of pediatric intestinal diseases, and discussed the influence of physiological characteristics of children on the efficacy of polyphenols, and finally prospected the new dosage forms of polyphenols in pediatrics.

Clinical Effect of Combined Fascia Sheath Suspension With Shortening Levator Muscle on Severe Blepharoptosis.

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical effect of conjoint fascial sheath (CFS) suspension and levator palpebrae superioris muscle shortening in the treatment of severe blepharoptosis. METHODS: Forty-five patients with severe blepharoptosis (75 eyes) from May 2020 to February 2022 in the authors' hospital were divided into 2 groups: group A (n = 33, 43 eyes) and group B (n = 24, 32 eyes). Group A was operated on by CFS + levator muscle shortening, and group B was operated on by frontal muscle flap suspension + levator muscle shortening. Both groups were followed up for 12 months (until February 2023). The clinical effect was counted in 6 months after operation, the early complications were counted in 1 month after operation, and the late complications were counted in 1 month to 12 months after operation. Margin to corneal reflex distance 1 (MRD1) and palpebral fissure height (PFH) were recorded before, 1 week, 3 months, and 12 months postoperatively, and the amount of eyelid retrogression was counted again. RESULTS: The good correction rate was 90.70% in group A, higher than in group B (71.88%), and the difference was statistically significant (P< 0.05); the early postoperative complication rate was 9.30%, lower than in group B (24.38%), and the difference was statistically significant (P< 0.05); the late postoperative complication rate was 2.33%, lower than group B (18.75%), and the difference was statistically significant (P< 0.05). The MRD1 and PFH of group A were higher than those of group B (P< 0.05) at 3 months postoperatively and 12 months postoperatively; the MRD1 and PFH of group A were lower than those of group B (P< 0.05) at 3 months postoperatively and 12 months postoperatively. Repeated measurement analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences in the main effects of MRD1, PFH, eyelid retrogression, and time in group A and group B (P< 0.05), and there was interaction between intervention and time (P< 0.05). CONCLUSION: Conjoint fascial sheath suspension combined with levator palpebrae superioris muscle shortening can effectively improve MRD1 and PFH, and the amount of upper eyelid retraction is controllable 1 year after operation.

ZYNQ-Based Visible Light Defogging System Design Realization.

Under a foggy environment, the air contains a large number of suspended particles, which lead to the loss of image information and decline of contrast collected by the vision system. This makes subsequent processing and analysis difficult. At the same time, the current stage of the defogging system has problems such as high hardware cost and poor real-time processing. In this article, an image defogging system is designed based on the ZYNQ platform. First of all, on the basis of the traditional dark-channel defogging algorithm, an algorithm for segmenting the sky is proposed, and in this way, the image distortion caused by the sky region is avoided, and the atmospheric light value and transmittance are estimated more accurately. Then color balancing is performed after image defogging to improve the quality of the final output image. The parallel computing advantage and logic resources of the PL (Programmable Logic) part (FPGA) of ZYNQ are fully utilized through instruction constraints and logic optimization. Finally, the visible light detector is used as the input to build a real-time video processing experiment platform. The experimental results show that the system has a good defogging effect and meet the real-time requirements.

Few-Shot Image Classification of Crop Diseases Based on Vision-Language Models.

Accurate crop disease classification is crucial for ensuring food security and enhancing agricultural productivity. However, the existing crop disease classification algorithms primarily focus on a single image modality and typically require a large number of samples. Our research counters these issues by using pre-trained Vision-Language Models (VLMs), which enhance the multimodal synergy for better crop disease classification than the traditional unimodal approaches. Firstly, we apply the multimodal model Qwen-VL to generate meticulous textual descriptions for representative disease images selected through clustering from the training set, which will serve as prompt text for generating classifier weights. Compared to solely using the language model for prompt text generation, this approach better captures and conveys fine-grained and image-specific information, thereby enhancing the prompt quality. Secondly, we integrate cross-attention and SE (Squeeze-and-Excitation) Attention into the training-free mode VLCD(Vision-Language model for Crop Disease classification) and the training-required mode VLCD-T (VLCD-Training), respectively, for prompt text processing, enhancing the classifier weights by emphasizing the key text features. The experimental outcomes conclusively prove our method's heightened classification effectiveness in few-shot crop disease scenarios, tackling the data limitations and intricate disease recognition issues. It offers a pragmatic tool for agricultural pathology and reinforces the smart farming surveillance infrastructure.

Identification and Analysis of PEPC Gene Family Reveals Functional Diversification in Orchidaceae and the Regulation of Bacterial-Type PEPC.

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) gene family plays a crucial role in both plant growth and response to abiotic stress. Approximately half of the Orchidaceae species are estimated to perform CAM pathway, and the availability of sequenced orchid genomes makes them ideal subjects for investigating the PEPC gene family in CAM plants. In this study, a total of 33 PEPC genes were identified across 15 orchids. Specifically, one PEPC gene was found in Cymbidium goeringii and Platanthera guangdongensis; two in Apostasia shenzhenica, Dendrobium chrysotoxum, D. huoshanense, Gastrodia elata, G. menghaiensis, Phalaenopsis aphrodite, Ph. equestris, and Pl. zijinensis; three in C. ensifolium, C. sinense, D. catenatum, D. nobile, and Vanilla planifolia. These PEPC genes were categorized into four subgroups, namely PEPC-i, PEPC-ii, and PEPC-iii (PTPC), and PEPC-iv (BTPC), supported by the comprehensive analyses of their physicochemical properties, motif, and gene structures. Remarkably, PEPC-iv contained a heretofore unreported orchid PEPC gene, identified as VpPEPC4. Differences in the number of PEPC homolog genes among these species were attributed to segmental duplication, whole-genome duplication (WGD), or gene loss events. Cis-elements identified in promoter regions were predominantly associated with light responsiveness, and circadian-related elements were observed in each PEPC-i and PEPC-ii gene. The expression levels of recruited BTPC, VpPEPC4, exhibited a lower expression level than other VpPEPCs in the tested tissues. The expression analyses and RT-qPCR results revealed diverse expression patterns in orchid PEPC genes. Duplicated genes exhibited distinct expression patterns, suggesting functional divergence. This study offered a comprehensive analysis to unveil the evolution and function of PEPC genes in Orchidaceae.

Synergistic Ag/g-C3N4 H2O2 System for Photocatalytic Degradation of Azo Dyes.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), known for being nontoxic, highly stable, and environmentally friendly, is extensively used in photocatalytic degradation technologies. Silver nanoparticles effectively capture the photogenerated electrons in g-C3N4, enhancing the photocatalytic efficiency. This study primarily focused on synthesizing graphitic carbon nitride via thermal polymerization and depositing noble metal silver onto g-C3N4 through photoreduction. Methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) were targeted as the pollutants in the photocatalytic experiments under visible light in conjunction with a H2O2 system. The characteristics peaks, structure, and morphology were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). g-C3N4 loaded with 6% Ag exhibited superior photocatalytic performance; the photocatalytic fraction of the degraded materials of the MO and MB solutions reached 100% within 70 and 80 min, respectively, upon adding 1 mL and 2 mL of H2O2. ·OH and ·O2- were the primary active free radicals in the dye degradation process within the synergistic system. Stability tests also demonstrated that the photocatalyst maintained good reusability under the synergistic system.

[Comparative analysis of efficacy of different forms of Galli Gigerii Endothelium Corneum on functional dyspepsia in rats based on composition-pharmacodynamics].

A systematic evaluation of the differences in the chemical composition and efficacy of the different forms of Galli Gigerii Endothelium Corneum(GGEC) was conducted based on modern analytical techniques and a functional dyspepsia(FD) rat model, which clarifies the material basis of the digestive efficacy of GGEC. Proteins, enzymes, polysaccharides, amino acids, and flavonoids in GGEC powder and decoction were determined respectively. The total protein of the powder and decoction was 0.06% and 0.65%, respectively, and the pepsin and amylase potency of the powder was 27.03 and 44.05 U·mg~(-1) respectively. The polysaccharide of the decoction was 0.03%, and there was no polysaccharide detected in the powder. The total L-type amino acids in the powder and decoction were 279.81 and 8.27 mg·g~(-1) respectively, and the total flavonoid content was 59.51 µg·g~(-1). Enzymes and flavonoids were not detected in the decoction. The powder significantly reduced nutrient paste viscosity, while the decoction and control group showed no significant reduction in nutrient paste viscosity. FD rat models were prepared by iodoacetamide gavage and irregular diet. The results showed that both powder and decoction significantly increased the gastric emptying effect, small intestinal propulsion rate, digestive enzymes activity, gastrin(GAS), motilin(MTL), ghrelin(GHRL) and reduced vasoactive intestinal peptide(VIP), 3-(2-ammo-nioethyl)-5-hydroxy-1H-indolium maleate(5-HT), and somatostatin(SST) content in rats(P<0.05, P<0.01). Comparison of GGEC decoction and powder administration between groups of the same dosage level showed that gastrointestinal propulsion and serum levels of GAS, GHRL, VIP, and SST in the powder group were significantly superior to those in the decoction and that the gastrointestinal propulsion, as well as serum levels of MTL, GAS, and GHRL were slightly higher than those of the decoction with two times its raw dose, and the serum levels of SST, 5-HT, and VIP in the powder group were slightly lower than those of the decoction with two times its raw dose. In conclusion, both decoction and powder have therapeutic effects on FD, but there is a significant difference between the two effects. Under the same dosage, the digestive efficacy of the powder is significantly better than that of the decoction, and the decoction needs to increase the dosage to compensate for the efficacy. It is hypothesized that the digestive efficacy of the GGEC has a duality, and the digestive active ingredients of the powder may include enzymes and L-type amino acids, while the decoction mainly relies on L-type amino acids to exert its efficacy. This study provides new evidence to investigate the digestive active substances of the GGEC and to improve the effectiveness of the drug in the clinic.

A High Capacity p-Type Organic Cathode Material for Aqueous Zinc Batteries.

P-type organic cathode materials typically exhibit high redox potentials and fast redox kinetics, presenting broad application prospects in aqueous zinc batteries (AZBs). However, most of the reported p-type organic cathode materials exhibit limited capacity (<100 mAh g-1), which is attributable to the low mass content ratio of oxidation-reduction active functional groups in these materials. Herein, we report a high-capacity p-type organic material, 5,12-dihydro-5,6,11,12-tetraazatetracene (DHTAT), for aqueous zinc batteries. Both experiments and calculation indicate the charge storage of DHTAT mainly involves the adsorption/desorption of ClO4 - on the -NH- group. Benefitting from the high mass content ratio of the -NH- group in DHATA molecule, the DHATA electrode demonstrates a remarkable capacity of 224 mAh g-1 at a current density of 50 mA g-1 with a stable voltage of 1.12 V. Notably, after 5000 cycles at a high current density of 5 A g-1, DHTAT retains 73 % of its initial capacity, showing a promising cycling stability. In addition, DHTAT also has good low-temperature performance and can stably cycle at -40 °C for 4000 cycles at 1 A g-1, making it a competitive candidates cathode material for low-temperature batteries.

Comparative and phylogenetic analysis of Chiloschista (Orchidaceae) species and DNA barcoding investigation based on plastid genomes.

BACKGROUND: Chiloschista (Orchidaceae, Aeridinae) is an epiphytic leafless orchid that is mainly distributed in tropical or subtropical forest canopies. This rare and threatened orchid lacks molecular resources for phylogenetic and barcoding analysis. Therefore, we sequenced and assembled seven complete plastomes of Chiloschista to analyse the plastome characteristics and phylogenetic relationships and conduct a barcoding investigation. RESULTS: We are the first to publish seven Chiloschista plastomes, which possessed the typical quadripartite structure and ranged from 143,233 bp to 145,463 bp in size. The plastomes all contained 120 genes, consisting of 74 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNA genes and eight rRNA genes. The ndh genes were pseudogenes or lost in the genus, and the genes petG and psbF were under positive selection. The seven Chiloschista plastomes displayed stable plastome structures with no large inversions or rearrangements. A total of 14 small inversions (SIs) were identified in the seven Chiloschista plastomes but were all similar within the genus. Six noncoding mutational hotspots (trnNGUU-rpl32 > rpoB-trnCGCA > psbK-psbI > psaC-rps15 > trnEUUC-trnTGGU > accD-psaI) and five coding sequences (ycf1 > rps15 > matK > psbK > ccsA) were selected as potential barcodes based on nucleotide diversity and species discrimination analysis, which suggested that the potential barcode ycf1 was most suitable for species discrimination. A total of 47-56 SSRs and 11-14 long repeats (> 20 bp) were identified in Chiloschista plastomes, and they were mostly located in the large single copy intergenic region. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that Chiloschista was monophyletic. It was clustered with Phalaenopsis and formed the basic clade of the subtribe Aeridinae with a moderate support value. The results also showed that seven Chiloschista species were divided into three major clades with full support. CONCLUSION: This study was the first to analyse the plastome characteristics of the genus Chiloschista in Orchidaceae, and the results showed that Chiloschista plastomes have conserved plastome structures. Based on the plastome hotspots of nucleotide diversity, several genes and noncoding regions are suitable for phylogenetic and population studies. Chiloschista may provide an ideal system to investigate the dynamics of plastome evolution and DNA barcoding investigation for orchid studies.

CDs Regulated Sulfur-Based Flexible Electrode with Range pH Values for Efficient and Durable Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

How to mildly structure a high intrinsic activity and stable catalytic electrode to realize long-term catalytic water splitting to produce hydrogen at a wide range of pH values at industrial high current is a challenge. Herein, this work creatively proposes to prepare industrial-grade catalytic electrodes with high efficiency and stability at high current density through carbon quantum dots (CDs) modification nickel sulfide on hydrophilic flexible filter paper via one-step mild chemical plating (denoted as CDs-Ni3 S2 @HFP). The intrinsic activity and surface area, electron transfer ability, and corrosion resistance of Ni3 S2 material are increased due to the regulation, homogenous, and high concentration doping of CDs. The overpotential of the flexible catalytic electrode is only 30, 35, and 87 mV in 1 m KOH, simulated seawater (1 m KOH + 0.5 m NaCl), and neutral electrolyte (0.5 m PBS) at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 . More attractively, the CDs-Ni3 S2 @HFP electrode achieves over 500 h of efficient and stable catalysis at industrial high current density (500 mA cm-2 ). Due to the advantages of mild, universal, and large-area preparation of catalytic materials, this work provides technical support for flexible catalytic electrodes in efficient catalysis toward water splitting, energy storage, and device preparation.

Experimental Realization of Geometry-Dependent Skin Effect in a Reciprocal Two-Dimensional Lattice.

Recent studies of non-Hermitian periodic lattices unveiled the non-Hermitian skin effect (NHSE), in which the bulk modes under the periodic boundary conditions (PBC) become skin modes under open boundary conditions. The NHSE is a topological effect owing to the nontrivial spectral winding, and such spectral behaviors appear naturally in nonreciprocal systems. Hence prevailing approaches rely on nonreciprocity to achieve the NHSE. Here, we report the experimental realization of the geometry-dependent skin effect in a two-dimensional reciprocal system, in which the skin effect occurs only at boundaries whose macroscopic symmetry mismatches with the lattice symmetry. The role of spectral reciprocity and symmetry is revealed by connecting reflective channels at given boundaries with the spectral topology of the PBC spectrum. Our work highlights the vital role of reciprocity, symmetry, and macroscopic geometry on the NHSE in dimensionality larger than one and opens new routes for wave structuring using non-Hermitian effects.

Exceptional Non-Abelian Topology in Multiband Non-Hermitian Systems.

Defective spectral degeneracy, known as exceptional point (EP), lies at the heart of various intriguing phenomena in optics, acoustics, and other nonconservative systems. Despite extensive studies in the past two decades, the collective behaviors (e.g., annihilation, coalescence, braiding, etc.) involving multiple exceptional points or lines and their interplay have been rarely understood. Here we put forward a universal non-Abelian conservation rule governing these collective behaviors in generic multiband non-Hermitian systems and uncover several counterintuitive phenomena. We demonstrate that two EPs with opposite charges (even the pairwise created) do not necessarily annihilate, depending on how they approach each other. Furthermore, we unveil that the conservation rule imposes strict constraints on the permissible exceptional-line configurations. It excludes structures like Hopf link yet permits novel staggered rings composed of noncommutative exceptional lines. These intriguing phenomena are illustrated by concrete models which could be readily implemented in platforms like coupled acoustic cavities, optical waveguides, and ring resonators. Our findings lay the cornerstone for a comprehensive understanding of the exceptional non-Abelian topology and shed light on the versatile manipulations and applications based on exceptional degeneracies in nonconservative systems.

Homochiral Chemistry Strategy to Trigger Second-Harmonic Generation and Dual Dielectric Switches.

Switchable materials have attracted enormous interest due to their promising applications in important fields such as sensing, electronic components, and information storage. Nevertheless, obtaining multifunctional switching materials is still a problem worth investigating. Herein, by incorporating (Rac-, L-, D-2-amino-1-propanol) as the templating cation, we have obtained (Rac-, L-, D-HTMPA)CdCl3 (HTMPA = 1-hydroxy-N, N, N-trimethyl-2-propanaminium). We have adopted a chiral chemistry strategy that causes (Rac-HTMPA)CdCl3 in the central symmetric space to crystallize in the chiral space group. Based on the modulation of the homochiral strategy, (L-, D-HTMPA)CdCl3 shows a dual phasic transition at 269 and 326 K and a switchable second-harmonic generation response. In addition, (L-, D-HTMPA)CdCl3 is chiral switchable material to exhibit stable dual dielectric and second-harmonic generation (SHG) switches. This work provides an approach to exploring multifunctional chiral switchable materials.

Continuous topological transition from metal to dielectric.

Metal and dielectric have long been thought as two different states of matter possessing highly contrasting electric and optical properties. A metal is a material highly reflective to electromagnetic waves for frequencies up to the optical region. In contrast, a dielectric is transparent to electromagnetic waves. These two different classical electrodynamic properties are distinguished by different signs of the real part of permittivity: The metal has a negative sign while the dielectric has a positive one. Here, we propose a different topological understanding of metal and dielectric. By considering metal and dielectric as just two limiting cases of a periodic metal-dielectric layered metamaterial, from which a metal can continuously transform into a dielectric by varying the metal filling ratio from 1 to 0, we further demonstrate the abrupt change of a topological invariant at a certain point during this transition, classifying the metamaterials into metallic state and dielectric state. The topological phase transition from the metallic state to the dielectric state occurs when the filling ratio is one-half. These two states generalize our previous understanding of metal and dielectric: The metamaterial with metal filling ratio larger/smaller than one-half is named as the "generalized metal/dielectric." Interestingly, the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) at a metal/dielectric interface can be understood as the limiting case of a topological edge state.

JWA inhibits nicotine-induced lung cancer stemness and progression through CHRNA5/AKT-mediated JWA/SP1/CD44 axis.

Cigarette smoking is an independent risk factor for lung cancer. Nicotine, as an addictive substance in tobacco and e-cigarettes, is known to promote tumor progression and metastasis despite being a non-carcinogen. As a tumor suppressor gene, JWA is widely involved in the inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis and the maintenance of cellular homeostasis, including in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the role of JWA in nicotine-induced tumor progression remains unclear. Here, we reported for the first time that JWA was significantly downregulated in smoking-related lung cancer and associated with overall survival. Nicotine exposure reduced JWA expression in a dose-dependent manner. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) analysis showed the tumor stemness pathway was enriched in smoking-related lung cancer, and JWA was negatively associated with stemness molecules CD44, SOX2, and CD133. JWA also inhibited nicotine-enhanced colony formation, spheroid formation, and EDU incorporation in lung cancer cells. Mechanically, nicotine downregulated JWA expression via the CHRNA5-mediated AKT pathway. Lower JWA expression enhanced CD44 expression through inhibition of ubiquitination-mediated degradation of Specificity Protein 1 (SP1). The in vivo data indicated that JAC4 through the JWA/SP1/CD44 axis inhibited nicotine-triggered lung cancer progression and stemness. In conclusion, JWA via down-regulating CD44 inhibited nicotine-triggered lung cancer cell stemness and progression. Our study may provide new insights to develop JAC4 for the therapy of nicotine-related cancers.

Online micro solid phase extraction coupled with ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for trace analysis of endogenous plant hormones in Ulva linza.

OBJECTIVE: Ulva linza (L.) is a species of green algae widely distributed in China. We aimed to establish a sensitive online analytical method for quantification of endogenous phytohormones in fresh minute seaweed samples. METHOD: The method for quantification of endogenous plant hormones in fresh minute samples was developed based on a homemade online micro solid phase extraction (m-SPE) system coupled with an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) platform. The online m-SPE instrument injected the eluent of m-SPE directly onto the LC separation column, improving the utilization of samples and saving time. The m-SPE column, of which the effective size was 9.6 × 2 mm i.d., was filled with 19 mg of C18 (10 µm). RESULTS: Under optimized conditions, the limits of detection were 0.002-0.060 ng ml-1 for five plant hormones. The actual sample recoveries of phytohormones were 76.4-103.4% and the coefficients of variance were below 14.1%. The temporal distribution of these endogenous plant hormones of U. linza during different growth periods is described. CONCLUSION: The proposed online m-SPE method was successfully applied to quantification of endogenous acidic and alkaline plant hormones in U. linza. It provides important information for the further study of the physiological and ecological effects of plant hormones in lower algal species.