Fluids and Electrolytes under Confinement in Single-Digit Nanopores.

Confined fluids and electrolyte solutions in nanopores exhibit rich and surprising physics and chemistry that impact the mass transport and energy efficiency in many important natural systems and industrial applications. Existing theories often fail to predict the exotic effects observed in the narrowest of such pores, called single-digit nanopores (SDNs), which have diameters or conduit widths of less than 10 nm, and have only recently become accessible for experimental measurements. What SDNs reveal has been surprising, including a rapidly increasing number of examples such as extraordinarily fast water transport, distorted fluid-phase boundaries, strong ion-correlation and quantum effects, and dielectric anomalies that are not observed in larger pores. Exploiting these effects presents myriad opportunities in both basic and applied research that stand to impact a host of new technologies at the water-energy nexus, from new membranes for precise separations and water purification to new gas permeable materials for water electrolyzers and energy-storage devices. SDNs also present unique opportunities to achieve ultrasensitive and selective chemical sensing at the single-ion and single-molecule limit. In this review article, we summarize the progress on nanofluidics of SDNs, with a focus on the confinement effects that arise in these extremely narrow nanopores. The recent development of precision model systems, transformative experimental tools, and multiscale theories that have played enabling roles in advancing this frontier are reviewed. We also identify new knowledge gaps in our understanding of nanofluidic transport and provide an outlook for the future challenges and opportunities at this rapidly advancing frontier.

[2 + 2] Cycloaddition Produces Divalent Organic Color-Centers with Reduced Heterogeneity in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.

Organic color centers (OCCs), generated by the covalent functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes, have been exploited for chemical sensing, bioimaging, and quantum technologies. However, monovalent OCCs can assume at least 6 different bonding configurations on the sp2 carbon lattice of a chiral nanotube, resulting in heterogeneous OCC photoluminescence emissions. Herein, we show that a heat-activated [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction enables the synthesis of divalent OCCs with a reduced number of atomic bonding configurations. The chemistry occurs by simply mixing enophile molecules (e.g., methylmaleimide, maleic anhydride, and 4-cyclopentene-1,3-dione) with an ethylene glycol suspension of SWCNTs at elevated temperature (70-140 °C). Unlike monovalent OCC chemistries, we observe just three OCC emission peaks that can be assigned to the three possible bonding configurations of the divalent OCCs based on density functional theory calculations. Notably, these OCC photoluminescence peaks can be controlled by temperature to decrease the emission heterogeneity even further. This divalent chemistry provides a scalable way to synthesize OCCs with tightly controlled emissions for emerging applications.

The relationship between antidepressants and breast cancer: evidence from Mendelian randomization.

BACKGROUND: The use of antidepressants has increased over the years, but the relationship between antidepressant use and the risk of breast cancer is not uniform because of confounding factors. We aimed to assess the effect of antidepressants on breast cancer risk using a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.stet METHODS: Secondary data analysis was performed on pooled data from genome-wide association studies based on single-nucleotide polymorphisms that were highly correlated with antidepressants, SSRI drugs, and serotonin and prolactin levels were selected as instrumental variables to evaluate the association between antidepressants and SSRI drugs and prolactin levels with breast cancer and ER+/ER- breast cancer. We then performed a test of the hypothesis that SSRI drugs elevate prolactin concentrations. We performed two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses using inverse variance weighting, MR-Egger regression, and weighted median methods, respectively. RESULTS: There was no significant risk association between antidepressant and SSRI use and the development of breast cancer, ER-positive or ER-negative breast cancer (P > 0.05), and serotonin concentration was not associated with breast cancer risk (P > 0.05). There was a positive causal relationship between prolactin levels and breast cancer (IVW, P = 0.02, OR = 1.058) and ER-positive breast cancer (Weighted median, P = 0.043, OR = 1.141; IVW, P = 0.009, OR = 1.125). Results in SSRI medication and prolactin levels showed no association between SSRI analogs and prolactin levels (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Large MR analysis showed that antidepressants as well as SSRI drugs were not associated with breast cancer risk and the SSRI-prolactin-breast cancer hypothesis did not hold in our analysis.

ZmSMR10 Increases the Level of Endoreplication of Plants through Its Interactions with ZmPCNA2 and ZmCSN5B.

As a plant-specific endoreplication regulator, the SIAMESE-RELATED (SMR) family (a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor) plays an important role in plant growth and development and resistance to stress. Although the genes of the maize (Zea mays) SMR family have been studied extensively, the ZmSMR10 (Zm00001eb231280) gene has not been reported. In this study, the function of this gene was characterized by overexpression and silencing. Compared with the control, the transgenic plants exhibited the phenotypes of early maturation, dwarfing, and drought resistance. Expression of the protein in prokaryotes demonstrates that ZmSMR10 is a small protein, and the results of subcellular localization suggest that it travels functionally in the nucleus. Unlike ZmSMR4, yeast two-hybrid experiments demonstrated that ZmSMR10 does not interact strongly with with some cell cycle protein-dependent protein kinase (CDK) family members ZmCDKA;1/ZmCDKA;3/ZmCDKB1;1. Instead, it interacts strongly with ZmPCNA2 and ZmCSN5B. Based on these results, we concluded that ZmSMR10 is involved in the regulation of endoreplication through the interaction of ZmPCNA2 and ZmCSN5B. These findings provide a theoretical basis to understand the mechanism of the regulation of endoreplication and improve the yield of maize through the use of molecular techniques.

Quantum Defects: What Pairs with the Aryl Group When Bonding to the sp2 Carbon Lattice of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes?

Aryl diazonium reactions are widely used to covalently modify graphitic electrodes and low-dimensional carbon materials, including the recent creation of organic color centers (OCCs) on single-wall carbon nanotube semiconductors. However, due to the experimental difficulties in resolving small functional groups over extensive carbon lattices, a basic question until now remains unanswered: what group, if any, is pairing with the aryl sp3 defect when breaking a C═C bond on the sp2 carbon lattice? Here, we show that water plays an unexpected role in completing the diazonium reaction with carbon nanotubes involving chlorosulfonic acid, acting as a nucleophilic agent that contributes -OH as the pairing group. By simply replacing water with other nucleophilic solvents, we find it is possible to create OCCs that feature an entirely new series of pairing groups, including -OCH3, -OC2H5, -OC3H7, -i-OC3H7, and -NH2, which allows us to systematically tailor the defect pairs and the optical properties of the resulting color centers. Enabled by these pairing groups, we further achieved the synthesis of OCCs with sterically bulky pairs that exhibit high purity defect photoluminescence effectively covering both the second near-infrared window and the telecom wavelengths. Our studies further suggest that these diazonium reactions proceed through the formation of carbocations in chlorosulfonic acid, rather than a radical mechanism that typically occurs in aqueous solutions. These findings uncover the unknown half of the sp3 defect pairs and provide a synthetic approach to control these defect color centers for quantum information, imaging, and sensing.

The Role of Glycosylation in Infectious Diseases.

Glycosylation plays an important role in infectious diseases. Many important interactions between pathogens and hosts involve their carbohydrate structures (glycans). Glycan interactions can mediate adhesion, recognition, invasion, and immune evasion of pathogens. To date, changes in many protein N/O-linked glycosylation have been identified as biomarkers for the development of infectious diseases and cancers. In this review, we will discuss the principal findings and the roles of glycosylation of both pathogens and host cells in the context of human important infectious diseases. Understanding the role and mechanism of glycan-lectin interaction between pathogens and hosts may create a new paradigm for discovering novel glycan-based therapies that can lead to eradication or functional cure of pathogens infection.

Discrimination between streptavidin and avidin with fluorescent affinity-based probes.

Two biotinylated coumarin-based fluorescent probes SPS3 and RC3 were designed for differentiating between structurally similar proteins streptavidin (SA) and avidin (AV). A substituted phenyl group is introduced onto SPS3, which may quench the fluorescence through twist intramolecular charge transfer (TICT). The fluorescence of SPS3 is turned on, by restraining the TICT process, when the fluorophore is buried at the surface of SA. RC3 is constructed by incorporating a biotin molecule to a coumarin fluorophore through a 4-atom spacer. The fluorescence intensity of RC3 is enhanced significantly when its fluorophore enters into the less polar binding pocket of AV. SPS3 and RC3 could be applied in distinguishing between SA and AV as well as in fluorescence imaging of biotin receptor over-expressed Hela cells.

Overexpression of the potato VQ31 enhances salt tolerance in Arabidopsis.

Plant-specific VQ proteins have crucial functions in the regulation of plant growth and development, as well as in plant abiotic stress responses. Their roles have been well established in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana; however, the functions of the potato VQ proteins have not been adequately investigated. The VQ protein core region contains a short FxxhVQxhTG amino acid motif sequence. In this study, the VQ31 protein from potato was cloned and functionally characterized. The complete open reading frame (ORF) size of StVQ31 is 672 bp, encoding 223 amino acids. Subcellular localization analysis revealed that StVQ31 is located in the nucleus. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing StVQ31 exhibited enhanced salt tolerance compared to wild-type (WT) plants, as evidenced by increased root length, germination rate, and chlorophyll content under salinity stress. The increased tolerance of transgenic plants was associated with increased osmotic potential (proline and soluble sugars), decreased MDA accumulation, decreased total protein content, and improved membrane integrity. These results implied that StVQ31 overexpression enhanced the osmotic potential of the plants to maintain normal cell growth. Compared to the WT, the transgenic plants exhibited a notable increase in antioxidant enzyme activities, reducing cell membrane damage. Furthermore, the real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR analysis demonstrated that StVQ31 regulated the expression of genes associated with the response to salt stress, including ERD, LEA4-5, At2g38905, and AtNCED3. These findings suggest that StVQ31 significantly impacts osmotic and antioxidant cellular homeostasis, thereby enhancing salt tolerance.

The presence of a cribriform pattern is related to poor prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma after surgical resection: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies reported that the cribriform pattern (CP) was associated with poor prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) patients; therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to thoroughly evaluate the prognostic impact of cribriform pattern in postoperative ADC patients. METHODS: Eligible studies were retrieved from PubMed, Embase databases, and Web of Science until April 2023. Studies evaluating the effect of the cribriform pattern on the prognosis of postoperative ADC patients were included. Subsequently, subgroup analysis was conducted according to the proportion of the cribriform pattern, with disease-free survival (DFS) and/or overall survival (OS) as outcomes. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used as effect estimates in the meta-analyses, which were performed with a random-effects model despite the heterogeneity. RESULTS: Nine studies published between 2015 and 2022 were included, with 4,289 ADC patients in total. The pooled results revealed a significantly poorer DFS (HR1.56, 95%CI 1.18-2.06, P = 0.11, I2 = 45%) and OS (HR2.11, 95%CI 1.63-2.72, P = 0.01, I2 = 56%) in patients with the cribriform pattern. Furthermore, the subgroup analysis showed that patients with a cribriform pattern (DFS: HR1.32, 95% CI 1.04-1.68 OS:HR2.30, 95% CI 1.55-3.39) and patients with a predominantly cribriform pattern (DFS:HR2.04, 95% CI 1.32--3.15 OS: HR1.92, 95% CI 1.41-2.61) were associated with poor prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of a cribriform pattern is related to poor prognosis in postoperative ADC patients, despite not being a main tumor component. However, the results should be confirmed by large-scale and prospective studies owing to the small sample and potential heterogeneity.

A comparison of the physicochemical properties, digestibility, and expression patterns of starch-related genes of two supersweet corn hybrids (F1) and their parents.

The quality difference of corn largely depends on parental selection. Herein, the structure, digestive characteristics, and expression patterns of starch-related genes of two supersweet maize hybrids and their parents were studied. The structural analysis revealed that the starch of supersweet corn is round or oval, and the particles are smaller compared to those of normal corn. Hybridization changed the grain morphology, crystal, and helical structure of starch. Parents had a significantly different influence on supersweet corn. Notably, hybridization improved the setback value and digestibility of Shantian1500F1 and Shantian2000F1 compared to that of the parents. ZmBEI, ZmPHOH, and ZmAGPL2 genes had a consistent high expression throughout the whole grain formation phase. The results of this study expand our understanding of the breeding of supersweet corn hybrids and the effect of parents on the new strand. These results provide a useful reference for further breeding and studies of supersweet corn for starch production in corn.

Validity and test-retest reliability of a resistance training device for Smith machine back squat exercise.

This study evaluated the validity and test-retest reliability of a resistance training device Jueying (Beijing, China) for Smith machine back squat exercise. Twelve male participants completed two test sessions with an interval of one week. In each test session, participants completed 30%, 45%, 60%, and 75% of 1RM back squats on a Smith machine equipped with Jueying and a linear position transducer GymAware (Canberra, Australia), which measured the velocity and power during the movement simultaneously. Results showed that Jueying was both valid (Pearson correlation coefficient [r] = 0.896-0.999, effect size [ES] = 0.004-0.192) when compared with GymAware and consistent between two tests in terms of reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.79-0.95) to assess speed and power within all exercises. The device could be applied to provide athletes and coaches with effective and reliable data in actual application.

Spontaneous sieving of water from ethanol using angstrom-sized nanopores.

Ethanol is widely used as a precursor in products ranging from drugs to cosmetics. However, distillation of ethanol from aqueous solution is energy intensive and expensive. Here, we show that angstrom-sized nanopores with precisely controlled pore sizes can spontaneously remove water from ethanol-water mixtures through molecular sieving at room temperature and pressure. For small-diameter nanotubes, water-filling is observed, but ethanol is completely excluded, as evidenced by time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations and spectroscopy measurements. Potential of mean force calculations were performed to determine how the free energy barriers for water and ethanol-filling of the nanotubes change with increasing pore size. Water/ethanol selectivity ratio reaching as high as 6700 is observed with a (6,4) nanotube, which has a pore size of 0.204 nm. This selectivity vanishes as the pore size increases beyond 0.306 nm. These findings provide insights that may help realize energy efficient molecular sieving of ethanol and water.

Does cannabis elevate cancer risk? : Evidence from Mendelian randomization.

BACKGROUND: Cannabis use is increasing annually but the relationship between cannabis use and cancer incidence is not uniform because of confounding factors. We aimed to assess the effect of cannabis use on cancer risk using a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. METHODS: Secondary data analyses were performed on pooled data based on Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS), selecting data from the ICC and UK-Biobank and 23andMeInc lifetime cannabis use and cannabis use disorder related to the substance use disorders working group from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, then selecting highly correlated SNPs as instrumental variables. The substance use disorders working group, iPSYCH, and deCODE GWAS data, and then highly correlated SNPs were selected as instrumental variables for two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses using inverse variance weighting, MR-Egger regression, and weighted median, respectively, to evaluate the relationship between lifetime cannabis use and nine tumors, and subsequently analyzed these results in the same way using cannabis use disorders. RESULTS: The risk of all cancers except breast cancer was not associated with lifetime cannabis use. Our inverse variance weighting method found that lifetime marijuana use reduced the breast cancer risk (P = 0.016, odds ratio [OR] = 0.981), and we subsequently conducted analyses of cannabis use disorders and cancer risk, which showed that cannabis use disorders elevated the risk of breast cancer (P = 0.007, OR = 1.007) as well as the risk of lung cancer (P = 0.014, OR = 1.122). CONCLUSION: Large MR analyses suggest that lifetime cannabis use may reduce breast cancer risk, but cannabis use disorder exacerbates the risk of breast and lung cancer. The mechanisms responsible for this outcome remain to be investigated.

Effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine Injections for Anthracyclines-induced Cardiotoxicity: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

INTRODUCTION: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) injections, as a relatively safe and low-cost treatment, have been widely used in the prevention and treatment of anthracyclines-induced cardiotoxicity in China. However, the quality of the relevant systematic reviews and meta-analyses published in recent years is uneven, so that the effectiveness and safety of TCM injections in preventing and treating anthracyclines-induced cardiotoxicity remain to be discussed. A systematic overview is therefore needed to provide a more advanced evidentiary reference for clinical practice. METHODS: Eight Chinese and English databases were searched by computer to screen the meta-analyses/systematic reviews on the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine injections for the prevention and treatment of anthracyclines-induced cardiotoxicity from the database establishment to October 2022. The methodological quality and evidence quality of outcome indicators included in the study were evaluated by AMSTAR 2 tool, PRISMA statement and GRADE classification. RESULTS: A total of 7 articles were included in the study. The quality evaluation of AMSTAR 2 showed that 7 studies were extremely low-level; PRISMA stated that the evaluation results showed that the reports of 7 studies were of intermediate quality; The GRADE rating indicated that most of the evidence was of low quality. CONCLUSION: The methodological quality and evidence quality of meta-analysis/system evaluation concerning the prevention and treatment of anthracyclines-induced cardiotoxicity by Chinese medicine are currently low, and the effectiveness of Chinese medicine in the treatment of anthracyclines-induced cardiotoxicity needs more high-quality evidence-based evidence.

Adjunctive effect of compound Kushen injection for cancer: An overview of systematic reviews.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Compound Kushen (Sophora flavescens Aiton) Injection (CKI) is a Chinese herbal injection made from extracts of Kushen and Baituling (Heterosmilax japonica Kunth), containing matrine (MAT), oxymatrine (OMT) and other alkaloids with significant anti-tumor activity, and is widely used as an adjuvant treatment for cancer in China. AIM OF THE STUDY: The existing systematic reviews/meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) were re-evaluated to provide a reference for the clinical application of CKI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: SRs/MAs of CKI adjuvant therapy for cancer-related diseases were searched in four English language databases: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library, all from the time of database construction to October 2022. 5 researchers independently conducted literature search and identification according to the inclusion criteria, and the data of the final literature were independently extracted, and finally the AMSTAR 2 tool, PRISMA statement and GRADE classification were used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included SRs/MAs, the degree of completeness of reporting and the quality of evidence for outcome indicators. Database registration: PROSPERO ID：CRD42022361349. RESULTS: Eighteen SRs/MAs were finally included, with studies covering non-small cell lung cancer, primary liver cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, head and neck tumors, and cancer-related bone pain. The evaluation showed that the methodological quality of the included literature was extremely low, but most of the literature reported relatively complete entries; nine clinical effectiveness indicators for non-small cell lung cancer and digestive system tumors were rated as moderate in the GRADE quality of evidence, and the quality of other outcomes was low to very low. CONCLUSION: CKI is a potentially effective drug for the adjuvant treatment of neoplastic diseases and may be more convincing for the adjuvant treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and digestive system tumors; however, due to the low methodological and evidentiary quality of the current SRs, their effectiveness needs to be confirmed by more high-quality evidence-based medical evidence.

Reconfiguring Organic Color Centers on the sp2 Carbon Lattice of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.

Organic color centers (OCCs) are atomic defects that can be synthetically created in single-walled carbon nanotube hosts to enable the emission of shortwave infrared single photons at room temperature. However, all known chemistries developed thus far to generate these quantum defects produce a variety of bonding configurations, posing a formidable challenge to the synthesis of identical, uniformly emitting color centers. Herein, we show that laser irradiation of the nanotube host can locally reconfigure the chemical bonding of aryl OCCs on (6,5) nanotubes to significantly reduce their spectral inhomogeneity. After irradiation the defect emission narrows in distribution by ∼26% to yield a single photoluminescence peak. We use hyperspectral photoluminescence imaging to follow this structural transformation on the single nanotube level. Density functional theory calculations corroborate our experimental observations, suggesting that the OCCs convert from kinetic structures to the more thermodynamically stable configuration. This approach may enable localized tuning and creation of identical OCCs for emerging applications in bioimaging, molecular sensing, and quantum information sciences.

Selective filling of n-hexane in a tight nanopore.

Molecular sieving may occur when two molecules compete for a nanopore. In nearly all known examples, the nanopore is larger than the molecule that selectively enters the pore. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the ability of single-wall carbon nanotubes with a van der Waals pore size of 0.42 nm to separate n-hexane from cyclohexane-despite the fact that both molecules have kinetic diameters larger than the rigid nanopore. This unexpected finding challenges our current understanding of nanopore selectivity and how molecules may enter a tight channel. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations reveal that n-hexane molecules stretch by nearly 11.2% inside the nanotube pore. Although at a relatively low probability (28.5% overall), the stretched state of n-hexane does exist in the bulk solution, allowing the molecule to enter the tight pore even at room temperature. These insights open up opportunities to engineer nanopore selectivity based on the molecular degrees of freedom.

Innovative health risk assessments of heavy metals based on bioaccessibility due to the consumption of traditional animal medicines.

Few studies reported the extent of heavy metal accumulation in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). Currently, oral bioaccessibility of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), and copper (Cu) present in traditional animal medicines was investigated with physiologically based extraction test-extracted in vitro model. We are the first to develop a health risk assessment strategy by combinational analysis of bioaccessible heavy metal levels to calculate target hazard quotient (THQ), target hazard index (THI) and cancer risk (CR), which has capacity to evaluate the heavy metal associated heath risk of traditional animal medicines. To precisely acquire a realistic risk assessment, questionnaire data was adopted to measure the frequency and duration of the exposure to traditional animal medicines, and the safety factor was highlighted as well. Our data revealed that the bioaccessibility of Hg was the lowest among the five heavy metals. After the adjustment with the bioaccessibility of each heavy metal to target hazard index (THI) values, excitingly, the results manifested that the consumption of traditional animal medicines might not exert an unacceptable health risk in a broad community. In addition, the CR values of As and Pb indicated that the risk of developing cancers was quite lower than their acceptable levels in the clinic.

Photolithographic Patterning of Organic Color-Centers.

Organic color-centers (OCCs) have emerged as promising single-photon emitters for solid-state quantum technologies, chemically specific sensing, and near-infrared bioimaging. However, these quantum light sources are currently synthesized in bulk solution, lacking the spatial control required for on-chip integration. The ability to pattern OCCs on solid substrates with high spatial precision and molecularly defined structure is essential to interface electronics and advance their quantum applications. Herein, a lithographic generation of OCCs on solid-state semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube films at spatially defined locations is presented. By using light-driven diazoether chemistry, it is possible to directly pattern p-nitroaryl OCCs, which demonstrate chemically specific spectral signatures at programmed positions as confirmed by Raman mapping and hyperspectral photoluminescence imaging. This light-driven technique enables the fabrication of OCC arrays on solid films that fluoresce in the shortwave infrared and presents an important step toward the direct writing of quantum emitters and other functionalities at the molecular level.

Single-defect spectroscopy in the shortwave infrared.

Chemical defects that fluoresce in the shortwave infrared open exciting opportunities in deep-penetration bioimaging, chemically specific sensing, and quantum technologies. However, the atomic size of defects and the high noise of infrared detectors have posed significant challenges to the studies of these unique emitters. Here we demonstrate high throughput single-defect spectroscopy in the shortwave infrared capable of quantitatively and spectrally resolving chemical defects at the single defect level. By cooling an InGaAs detector array down to -190 °C and implementing a nondestructive readout scheme, we are able to capture low light fluorescent events in the shortwave infrared with a signal-to-noise ratio improved by more than three orders-of-magnitude. As a demonstration, we show it is possible to resolve individual chemical defects in carbon nanotube semiconductors, simultaneously collecting a full spectrum for each defect within the entire field of view at the single defect limit.