Phase Engineering of Nanomaterials: Transition Metal Dichalcogenides.

Crystal phase, a critical structural characteristic beyond the morphology, size, dimension, facet, etc., determines the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials. As a group of layered nanomaterials with polymorphs, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted intensive research attention due to their phase-dependent properties. Therefore, great efforts have been devoted to the phase engineering of TMDs to synthesize TMDs with controlled phases, especially unconventional/metastable phases, for various applications in electronics, optoelectronics, catalysis, biomedicine, energy storage and conversion, and ferroelectrics. Considering the significant progress in the synthesis and applications of TMDs, we believe that a comprehensive review on the phase engineering of TMDs is critical to promote their fundamental studies and practical applications. This Review aims to provide a comprehensive introduction and discussion on the crystal structures, synthetic strategies, and phase-dependent properties and applications of TMDs. Finally, our perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in phase engineering of TMDs will also be discussed.

1T'-transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers stabilized on 4H-Au nanowires for ultrasensitive SERS detection.

Unconventional 1T'-phase transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have aroused tremendous research interest due to their unique phase-dependent physicochemical properties and applications. However, due to the metastable nature of 1T'-TMDs, the controlled synthesis of 1T'-TMD monolayers (MLs) with high phase purity and stability still remains a challenge. Here we report that 4H-Au nanowires (NWs), when used as templates, can induce the quasi-epitaxial growth of high-phase-purity and stable 1T'-TMD MLs, including WS2, WSe2, MoS2 and MoSe2, via a facile and rapid wet-chemical method. The as-synthesized 4H-Au@1T'-TMD core-shell NWs can be used for ultrasensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection. For instance, the 4H-Au@1T'-WS2 NWs have achieved attomole-level SERS detections of Rhodamine 6G and a variety of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike proteins. This work provides insights into the preparation of high-phase-purity and stable 1T'-TMD MLs on metal substrates or templates, showing great potential in various promising applications.

Recent Progress on Phase Engineering of Nanomaterials.

As a key structural parameter, phase depicts the arrangement of atoms in materials. Normally, a nanomaterial exists in its thermodynamically stable crystal phase. With the development of nanotechnology, nanomaterials with unconventional crystal phases, which rarely exist in their bulk counterparts, or amorphous phase have been prepared using carefully controlled reaction conditions. Together these methods are beginning to enable phase engineering of nanomaterials (PEN), i.e., the synthesis of nanomaterials with unconventional phases and the transformation between different phases, to obtain desired properties and functions. This Review summarizes the research progress in the field of PEN. First, we present representative strategies for the direct synthesis of unconventional phases and modulation of phase transformation in diverse kinds of nanomaterials. We cover the synthesis of nanomaterials ranging from metal nanostructures such as Au, Ag, Cu, Pd, and Ru, and their alloys; metal oxides, borides, and carbides; to transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and 2D layered materials. We review synthesis and growth methods ranging from wet-chemical reduction and seed-mediated epitaxial growth to chemical vapor deposition (CVD), high pressure phase transformation, and electron and ion-beam irradiation. After that, we summarize the significant influence of phase on the various properties of unconventional-phase nanomaterials. We also discuss the potential applications of the developed unconventional-phase nanomaterials in different areas including catalysis, electrochemical energy storage (batteries and supercapacitors), solar cells, optoelectronics, and sensing. Finally, we discuss existing challenges and future research directions in PEN.

Superior Strength, Toughness, and Damage-Tolerance Observed in Microlattices of Aperiodic Unit Cells.

Characterized by periodic cellular unit cells, microlattices offer exceptional potential as lightweight and robust materials. However, their inherent periodicity poses the risk of catastrophic global failure. To address this limitation, a novel approach, that is to introduce microlattices composed of aperiodic unit cells inspired by Einstein's tile, where the orientation of cells never repeats in the same orientation is proposed. Experiments and simulations are conducted to validate the concept by comparing compressive responses of the aperiodic microlattices with those of common periodic microlattices. Indeed, the microlattices exhibit stable and progressive compressive deformation, contrasting with catastrophic fracture of periodic structures. At the same relative density, the microlattices outperform the periodic ones, exhibiting fracture strain, energy absorption, crushing stress efficiency, and smoothness coefficients at least 830%, 300%, 130%, and 160% higher, respectively. These improvements can be attributed to aperiodicity, where diverse failure thresholds exist locally due to varying strut angles and contact modes during compression. This effectively prevents both global fracture and abrupt stress drops. Furthermore, the aperiodic microlattice exhibits good damage tolerance with excellent deformation recoverability, retaining 76% ultimate stress post-recovery at 30% compressive strain. Overall, a novel concept of adopting aperiodic cell arrangements to achieve damage-tolerant microlattice metamaterials is presented.

Ultrasound Induces Local Disorder of FeOOH on CdIn2S4 Photoanode for High Efficiency Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation.

The regulation of the crystal structure of oxygen evolution cocatalyst (OEC) is a promising strategy for enhancing the photoelectrochemical efficiency of photoanodes. However, the prevailing regulating approach typically requires a multistep procedure, presenting a significant challenge for maintaining the structural integrity and performance of the photoanode. Herein, FeOOH with a local disordered structure is directly grown on a CdIn2S4 (CIS) photoanode via a simple and mild sonochemical approach. By modulating the localized supersaturation of Ni ions, ultrasonic cavitation induces Ni ions to participate in the nucleation and growth of FeOOH clusters to cause local disorder of FeOOH. Consequently, the local disordered FeOOH facilitates the exposure of additional active sites, boosting OER kinetics and extending charge carrier lifetimes. Finally, the optimal photoanode reaches 4.52 mA cm-2 at 1.23 VRHE, and the onset potential shifts negatively by 330 mV, exhibiting excellent performance compared with that of other metal sulfide-based photoelectrodes reported thus far. This work provides a mild and controllable sonochemical method for regulating the phase structure of OECs to construct high-performance photoanodes.

A Hierarchical Hydrogel Impregnation Strategy Enables Brittle-Failure-Free 3D-Printed Bioceramic Scaffolds.

3D-printed bioceramic scaffolds offer great potential for bone tissue engineering (BTE) but their inherent brittleness and reduced mechanical properties at high porosities can easily result in catastrophic fractures. Herein, this study presents a hierarchical hydrogel impregnation strategy, incorporating poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel into the macro- and micropores of bioceramic scaffolds and synergistically reinforcing it via freeze-casting assisted solution substitution (FASS) in a tannic acid (TA)-glycerol solution. By effectively mitigating catastrophic brittle failures, the hydrogel-impregnated scaffolds showcase three- and 100-fold enhancement in mechanical energy absorption under compression (5.05 MJ m-3) and three-point bending (3.82 MJ m-3), respectively. The reinforcement mechanisms are further investigated by experimental and simulation analyses, revealing a multi-scale synergy of fracture and fragmentation resistance through macro and micro-scale fiber bridging, and nano and molecular-scale hydrogel reinforcement. Also, the scaffolds acquire additional antibacterial and drug-loading capabilities from the hydrogel phase while maintaining favorable cell biocompatibility. Therefore, this study demonstrates a facile yet effective approach for preparing brittle-failure-free bioceramic scaffolds with enhanced biological functionalities, showcasing immense potential for BTE applications.

Event-based asynchronous HDR imaging by temporal incident light modulation.

Dynamic range (DR) is a pivotal characteristic of imaging systems. Current frame-based cameras struggle to achieve high dynamic range imaging due to the conflict between globally uniform exposure and spatially variant scene illumination. In this paper, we propose AsynHDR, a pixel-asynchronous HDR imaging system, based on key insights into the challenges in HDR imaging and the unique event-generating mechanism of dynamic vision sensors (DVS). Our proposed AsynHDR system integrates the DVS with a set of LCD panels. The LCD panels modulate the irradiance incident upon the DVS by altering their transparency, thereby triggering the pixel-independent event streams. The HDR image is subsequently decoded from the event streams through our temporal-weighted algorithm. Experiments under the standard test platform and several challenging scenes have verified the feasibility of the system in HDR imaging tasks.

ImmunoPET/CT imaging of clear cell renal cell carcinoma with [18F]RCCB6: a first-in-human study.

PURPOSE: The cluster of differentiation (CD70) is a potential biomarker of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). This study aims to develop CD70-targeted immuno-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (immunoPET/CT) imaging tracers and explore the diagnostic value in preclinical studies and the potential value in detecting metastases in ccRCC patients. METHODS: Four novel CD70-specific single-domain antibodies (sdAbs) were produced and labelled with 18F by the aluminium fluoride restrained complexing agent (AlF-RESCA) method to develop radiotracers. The visualisation properties of the tracers were evaluated in a subcutaneous ccRCC patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model. In a registered prospective clinical trial (NCT06148220), six patients with pathologically confirmed RCC were included and underwent immunoPET/CT examination exploiting one of the developed tracers (i.e., [18F]RCCB6). RESULTS: We engineered four sdAbs (His-tagged RCCB3 and RCCB6, His-tag-free RB3 and RB6) specifically targeting recombinant human CD70 without cross-reactivity to murine CD70. ImmunoPET/CT imaging with [18F]RCCB3 and [18F]RCCB6 demonstrated a high tumour-to-background ratio in a subcutaneous ccRCC PDX model, with the latter showing better diagnostic potential supported by higher tumour uptake and lower bone accumulation. In comparison, [18F]RB6, developed by sequence optimisation, has significantly lower kidney accumulation than that of [18F]RCCB6. In a pilot translational study, [18F]RCCB6 immunoPET/CT displayed ccRCC metastases in multiple patients and demonstrated improved imaging contrast and diagnostic value than 18F-FDG PET/CT in a patient with ccRCC. CONCLUSION: The work successfully developed a series of CD70-targeted immunoPET/CT imaging tracers. Of them, [18F]RCCB6 clearly and specifically identified inoculated ccRCCs in preclinical studies. Clinical translation of [18F]RCCB6 suggests potential for identifying recurrence and/or metastasis in ccRCC patients.

Nitrogen Removal Performance and Microbial Community Structure of IMTA Ponds (Apostistius japonicus-Penaeus japonicus-Ulva).

Denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) are key processes for nitrogen removal in aquaculture, reducing the accumulated nitrogen nutrients to nitrogen gas or nitrous oxide gas. Complete removal of nitrogen from aquaculture systems is an important measure to solve environmental pollution. In order to evaluate the nitrogen removal potential of marine aquaculture ponds, this study investigated the denitrification and anammox rates, the flux of nitrous oxide (N2O) at the water-air interface, the sediment microbial community structure, and the gene expression associated with the nitrogen removal process in integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) ponds (Apostistius japonicus-Penaeus japonicus-Ulva) with different culture periods. The results showed that the denitrification and anammox rates in sediments increased with the increase of cultivation periods and depth, and there was no significant difference in nitrous oxide gas flux at the water-air interface between different cultivation periods (p > 0.05). At the genus and phylum levels, the abundance of microorganisms related to nitrogen removal reactions in sediments changed significantly with the increase of cultivation period and depth, and was most significantly affected by the concentration of particulate organic nitrogen (PON) in sediments. The expression of denitrification gene (narG, nirS, nosZ) in surface sediments was significantly higher than that in deep sediments (p < 0.05), and was negatively correlated with denitrification rate. All samples had a certain anammox capacity, but no known anammox bacteria were found in the microbial diversity detection, and the expression of gene (hzsB) related to the anammox process was extremely low, which may indicate the existence of an unknown anammox bacterium. The data of this study showed that the IMTA culture pond had a certain potential for nitrogen removal, and whether it could make a contribution to reducing the pollution of culture wastewater still needed additional practice and evaluation, and also provided a theoretical basis for the nitrogen removal research of coastal mariculture ponds.

Multifunctional In-MOF and Its S-Scheme Heterojunction toward Pollutant Decontamination via Fluorescence Detection, Physical Adsorption, and Photocatalytic REDOX.

A novel doubly interpenetrated indium-organic framework of 1 has been assembled by In3+ ions and highly conjugated biquinoline carboxylate-based bitopic connectors (H2L). The isolated 1 exhibits an anionic framework possessing channel-type apertures repleted with exposed quinoline N atoms and carboxyl O atoms. Owing to the unique architecture, 1 displays a durable photoluminescence effect and fluorescence quenching sensing toward CrO42-, Cr2O72-, and Cu2+ ions with reliable selectivity and anti-interference properties, fairly high detection sensitivity, and rather low detection limits. Ligand-to-ligand charge transition (LLCT) was identified as the essential cause of luminescence by modeling the ground state and excited states of 1 using DFT and TD-DFT. In addition, the negatively charged framework has the ability to rapidly capture single cationic MB, BR14, or BY24 and their mixture, including the talent to trap MB from the (MB + MO) system with high selectivity. Moreover, intrinsic light absorption capacity and band structure feature endow 1 with effective photocatalytic decomposition ability toward reactive dyes RR2 and RB13 under ultraviolet light. Notably, after further polishing the band structure state of 1 by constructing the S-scheme heterojunction of In2S3/1, highly efficient photocatalytic detoxification of Cr(VI) and degradation of reactive dyes have been fully achieved under visible light. This finding may open a new avenue for designing novel multifunctional MOF-based platforms to address some intractable environmental issues, i.e., detection of heavy metal ions, physical capture of pony-sized dyes, and photochemical decontamination of ultrastubborn reactive dyes and highly toxic Cr(VI) ions from water.

Synergistic effect of Ag@CN with BiVO4 in a unique Z-type heterojunction for enhancing photoelectrochemical water splitting performance.

In the realm of photoelectrochemical technology, the enhancement of photogenerated charge carrier separation is pivotal for the advancement of energy conversion performance. Carbon nitride (CN) is established as a photocatalytic material with significant potential and exhibits unique advantages in addressing the issue of rapid recombination of photogenerated carriers. This study utilized an efficient in situ doping method that combined Mo,W-doped BiVO4 (Mo,W:BVO) with silver-loaded CN (Ag@CN), yielding an all-solid-state Mo,W:BVO/Ag@CN heterostructure that effectively augments the separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs. Through the annealing process, Ag@CN was uniformly coated within the Mo,W:BVO thin film, significantly enlarging the interface contact area to enhance visible light absorption and photogenerated carrier movement. The results of the photoelectrochemical tests showed that the Mo,W:BVO/Ag@CN heterostructure had the highest photocurrent and charge transfer efficiency, which were 6.4 times and 3.6 times higher respectively than those of the unmodified Mo,W:BVO. Our research elucidates the interactions within all-solid-state Z-scheme heterojunctions, outlining strategic approaches for crafting innovative and superior photocatalytic systems.

Detection of Electromagnetic Seismic Precursors from Swarm Data by Enhanced Martingale Analytics.

The detection of seismic activity precursors as part of an alarm system will provide opportunities for minimization of the social and economic impact caused by earthquakes. It has long been envisaged, and a growing body of empirical evidence suggests that the Earth's electromagnetic field could contain precursors to seismic events. The ability to capture and monitor electromagnetic field activity has increased in the past years as more sensors and methodologies emerge. Missions such as Swarm have enabled researchers to access near-continuous observations of electromagnetic activity at second intervals, allowing for more detailed studies on weather and earthquakes. In this paper, we present an approach designed to detect anomalies in electromagnetic field data from Swarm satellites. This works towards developing a continuous and effective monitoring system of seismic activities based on SWARM measurements. We develop an enhanced form of a probabilistic model based on the Martingale theories that allow for testing the null hypothesis to indicate abnormal changes in electromagnetic field activity. We evaluate this enhanced approach in two experiments. Firstly, we perform a quantitative comparison on well-understood and popular benchmark datasets alongside the conventional approach. We find that the enhanced version produces more accurate anomaly detection overall. Secondly, we use three case studies of seismic activity (namely, earthquakes in Mexico, Greece, and Croatia) to assess our approach and the results show that our method can detect anomalous phenomena in the electromagnetic data.

A Universal Chelation-Induced Selective Demetallization Strategy for Bioceramic Nanosheets (BCene).

The emergence of nanosheet materials like graphene and phosphorene, which are created by breaking the interlayer van der Waals force, has revolutionized multiple fields. Layered inorganic materials are ubiquitous in materials like bioceramics, semiconductors, superconductors, etc. However, the strong interlayer covalent or ionic bonding in these crystals makes it difficult to fabricate nanosheets from them. In this study, we present a simple technique to produce nanosheets from layered crystals by selectively exfoliating their interlayer metal atoms using the metal-chelation reaction. As a proof of concept, we successfully produced bioceramic nanosheets (BCene) by extracting Ca layers from Akermanite (AKT). The 3D-printed BCene scaffolds exhibited superior mechanical strength and in vitro bioactivity compared to the scaffolds made from AKT nanopowders. Our findings demonstrate the outstanding potential of BCene nanosheets in tissue engineering. Additionally, the selective demetallization technique for nanosheet production could be applied to other inorganic layered crystals to optimize their performance.

Reversible Semimetal-Semiconductor Transition of Unconventional-Phase WS2 Nanosheets.

Phase transition with band gap modulation of materials has gained intensive research attention due to its various applications, including memories, neuromorphic computing, and transistors. As a powerful strategy to tune the crystal phase of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), the phase transition of TMDs provides opportunities to prepare new phases of TMDs for exploring their phase-dependent property, function, and application. However, the previously reported phase transition of TMDs is mainly irreversible. Here, we report a reversible phase transition in the semimetallic 1T'-WS2 driven by proton intercalation and deintercalation, resulting in a newly discovered semiconducting WS2 with a novel unconventional phase, denoted as the 1T'd phase. Impressively, an on/off ratio of >106 has been achieved during the phase transition of WS2 from the semimetallic 1T' phase to the semiconducting 1T'd phase. Our work not only provides a unique insight into the phase transition of TMDs via proton intercalation but also opens up possibilities to tune their physicochemical properties for various applications.

Preparation, purification, and biochemical of fat-degrading bacterial enzymes from pig carcass compost and its application.

BACKGROUND: A lot of kitchen waste oil is produced every day worldwide, leading to serious environmental pollution. As one of the environmental protection methods, microorganisms are widely used treating of various wastes. Lipase, as one of the cleaning agents can effectively degrade kitchen waste oil. The composting process of pig carcasses produces many lipase producing microorganisms, rendering compost products an excellent source for isolating lipase producing microorganisms. To our knowledge, there are no reports isolating of lipase producing strains from the high temperature phase of pig carcass compost. METHODOLOGY: Lipase producing strains were isolated using a triglyceride medium and identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The optimal fermentation conditions for maximum lipase yield were gradually optimized by single-factor tests. The extracellular lipase was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and Sephadex G-75 gel isolation chromatography. Amino acid sequence analysis, structure prediction, and molecular docking of the purified protein were performed. The pure lipase's enzymatic properties and application potential were evaluated by characterizing its biochemical properties. RESULTS: In this study, a lipase producing strain of Bacillus sp. ZF2 was isolated from pig carcass compost products, the optimal fermentation conditions of lipase: sucrose 3 g/L, ammonium sulfate 7 g/L, Mn2+ 1.0 mmol/L, initial pH 6, inoculum 5%, temperature 25 ℃, and fermentation time 48 h. After purification, the specific activity of the purified lipase reached 317.59 U/mg, a 9.78-fold improvement. Lipase had the highest similarity to the GH family 46 chitosanase and molecular docking showed that lipase binds to fat via two hydrogen bonds at Gln146 (A) and Glu203 (A). Under different conditions (temperature, metal ions, organic solvents, and surfactants), lipase can maintain enzymatic activity. Under different types of kitchen oils, lipase has low activity only for 'chicken oil', in treating other substrates, the enzyme activity can exceed 50%. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals the potential of lipase for waste oil removal, and future research will be devoted to the application of lipase.

Improved Dual-Polarity Response via Pyro-phototronic Effect for Filterless Visible Light Communication.

Dual-polarity response photodetectors (PDs) take full advantage of the directivity of the photocurrent to identify optical information. The dual-polarity signal ratio, a key parameter that represents the equilibrium degree of responses to different lights, is proposed for the first time. The synchronous enhancement of dual-polarity photocurrents and the amelioration of the dual-polarity signal ratio are beneficial to the practical applications. Herein, based on the selective light absorption and energy band structure design, a self-powered CdS/PEDOT:PSS/Au heterojunction PD consisting of a p-n junction and a Schottky junction exhibits unique wavelength-dependent dual-polarity response, where the photocurrent is negative and positive in the short and long wavelength regions, respectively. More importantly, the pyro-phototronic effect inside the CdS layer significantly improves the dual-polarity photocurrents with the maximum enhancement factors of 120%, 343%, 1167%, 1577%, and 1896% at 405, 450, 532, 650, and 808 nm, respectively. Furthermore, the dual-polarity signal ratio tends to 1:1 due to different degrees of the enhancement. This work provides a novel design strategy for dual-polarity response PDs with a simple working principle and improved performance, which can supply a substitution for two traditional PDs in the filterless visible light communication (VLC) system.

Legacy Effects of Late Macroalgal Blooms on Dissolved Inorganic Carbon Pool through Alkalinity Enhancement in Coastal Ocean.

Taking the world's largest green tide caused by the macroalga Ulva prolifera in the South Yellow Sea as a natural case, it is studied here if macroalgae can perform inorganic carbon sequestration in the ocean. Massive macroalgae released large amounts of organic carbon, most of which were transformed by microorganisms into dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). Nearshore field investigations showed that, along with seawater deoxygenation and acidification, both DIC and total alkalinity (TAlk) increased significantly (both >50%) in the areas covered by dense U. prolifera at the late-bloom stage. Offshore mapping cruises revealed that DIC and TAlk were relatively higher at the late-bloom stage than at the before-bloom stage. Laboratory cultivation of U. prolifera at the late-bloom stage further manifested a significant enhancement effect on DIC and TAlk in seawater. Sulfate reduction and/or denitrification likely dominated the production of TAlk. Notably, half of the generated DIC and almost all the TAlk could persist in seawater under varying conditions, from hypoxia to normoxia and from air-water CO2 disequilibrium to re-equilibrium. The enhancement of TAlk allowed more DIC to remain in the seawater rather than escape into the atmosphere, thus having the long-term legacy effect of increasing DIC pool in the ocean.

CGB5, INHBA and TRAJ19 Hold Prognostic Potential as Immune Genes for Patients with Gastric Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer (GC) seriously threatens people's health and life quality worldwide. AIM: The current study sought to explore prognostic immune genes and their regulatory network in GC. METHODS: First, expression data in GC and normal samples were analyzed based on bioinformatics analysis. Immune-related genes were identified and confirmed with univariate/multivariate Cox analysis and receiver-operating characteristic curve. The upstream transcription factors of immune genes were subsequently predicted, and their regulatory network was constructed. GC and adjacent normal tissues were obtained from 76 patients with GC to determine the expression patterns of immune genes and their correlation with overall prognosis. CD8+ T-cell infiltration of patients with high or low risk was detected by means of immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Bioinformatics analysis highlighted 3689 differentially expressed genes in GC, including 87 immune genes, 8 of which were significantly associated with patient survival. CGB5 and INHBA were high-risk genes, while TRAJ19 was identified as a low-risk gene, all of which were found to be regulated by 11 different transcription factors. Furthermore, CGB5 and INHBA exhibited negative correlation with the prognosis of GC patients; however, TRAJ19 was positively correlated with GC patient prognosis. The incidence of lymph node metastasis was higher, the pathological stage was advanced and the infiltrated CD8+ T cells were fewer in the high-risk GC group. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our findings identified the key roles of CGB5, INHBA and TRAJ19 in prognosis GC patients, serving as an important gene set for prognostic prediction.

A 7-Day Decitabine-Included Conditioning Regimen Accelerated Donor Hematopoietic Engraftment while Reduced the Occurrence of Mucositis without Interfering with Prognosis.

INTRODUCTION: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is the standard and curative treatment strategy for patients with hematologic malignancies. Recently, decitabine-included regimens have been investigated by several studies including ours, which may prevent relapse of primary malignant diseases. METHODS: This study was to retrospectively evaluate a 7-day decitabine-included regimen with reduced dose of idarubicin for patients with hematologic malignancies who underwent allo-HSCT. RESULTS: A total of 84 patients were enrolled, including 24 cases in 7-day and 60 cases in 5-day decitabine groups, respectively. Patients conditioned with 7-day decitabine regimen showed accelerated neutrophil (12.05 ± 1.97 vs. 13.86 ± 3.15; u = 9.309, p < 0.001) and platelet (16.32 ± 6.27 vs. 21.37 ± 8.57; u = 8.887, p < 0.001) engraftment compared with those treated with 5-day decitabine regimen. Patients in the 7-day decitabine group showed a significantly lower incidence rate of total (50.00% [12/24] versus 78.33% [47/60]; χ2 = 6.583, p = 0.010) and grade III or above (4.17% [1/24] vs. 31.67% [19/60]; χ2 = 7.147, p = 0.008) oral mucositis compared to those in the 5-day decitabine group. However, the occurrence of other major complications post-allo-HSCT and outcomes of patients in these two groups were comparable. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that this 7-day decitabine-contained new conditioning regimen seems to be feasible and safe for patients with myeloid neoplasms who receive allo-HSCT, and a large-scale prospective study is needed to confirm the findings of this study.

Principles of progressive slow-sound and critical coupling condition in broadband sonic black hole absorber.

Recent advances in sonic black hole (SBH) provide new opportunities for controlling sound waves and designing wave manipulation devices. SBH is a device that consists of partitions with gradually decreasing inner radii inserted into an acoustic duct. Several studies have reported that SBH can achieve a broadband sound absorption coefficient close to 1, avoiding the issue of alternating high and low absorption coefficients observed in traditional sound absorbers. However, the fundamental mechanisms and principles behind this behavior are not yet fully understood. This study aims to investigate the detailed sound absorption mechanisms of SBH, including the progressive slow-sound effect and the critical coupling condition that leads to broadband sound absorption. To achieve this goal, an analytical model based on the effective medium approach is developed to investigate the layer-by-layer retardation in sound propagation. The sound absorption coefficient is then determined based on the surface impedance calculation. The effective medium analysis reveals that SBH enables a unique condition to progressively decelerate wave propagation across its layers. As a result, the critical coupling condition becomes more easily established with smoothly increasing SBH partitions and more discretised layers, as elucidated by the complex frequency analysis results. The physical insights gained from this study reveal the distinctive features of SBH compared to classical sound absorbers, paving the way for its engineering applications.