Interlayer Fermi Polarons of Excited Exciton States in Quantizing Magnetic Fields.

The study of exciton polarons has offered profound insights into the many-body interactions between bosonic excitations and their immersed Fermi sea within layered heterostructures. However, little is known about the properties of exciton polarons with interlayer interactions. Here, through magneto-optical reflectance contrast measurements, we experimentally investigate interlayer Fermi polarons for 2s excitons in WSe2/graphene heterostructures, where the excited exciton states (2s) in the WSe2 layer are dressed by free charge carriers of the adjacent graphene layer in the Landau quantization regime. First, such a system enables an optical detection of integer and fractional quantum Hall states (e.g., ν = ±1/3, ±2/3) of monolayer graphene. Furthermore, we observe that the 2s state evolves into two distinct branches, denoted as attractive and repulsive polarons, when graphene is doped out of the incompressible quantum Hall gaps. Our work paves the way for the understanding of the excited composite quasiparticles and Bose-Fermi mixtures.

Persistence of antibodies 5 years after hepatitis B vaccination in preterm birth children: A retrospective cohort study using real-world data.

Previous studies did not provide substantial evidence for long-term immune persistence after the hepatitis B vaccine (HepB) in preterm birth (PTB) children. Consequently, there is ongoing controversy surrounding the booster immunization strategy for these children. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective cohort study to evaluate the disparities in immune persistence between PTB children and full-term children. A total of 1027 participants were enrolled in this study, including 505 PTB children in the exposure group and 522 full-term children in the control group. The negative rate of hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) in the PTB group was significantly lower than that in the control group (47.9% vs. 41.4%, p = .035). The risk of HBsAb-negative in the exposure group was 1.5 times higher than that in the control group (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.5, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-2.0). The geometric mean concentration (GMC) of HBsAb was much lower for participants in the exposure group compared to participants in the control group (9.3 vs. 12.4 mIU/mL, p = .029). Subgroup analysis showed that the very preterm infants (gestational age <32 weeks) and the preterm low birth weight infants (birth weight <2000 g) had relatively low GMC levels of 3.2 mIU/mL (95% CI: 0.9-11.1) and 7.9 mIU/mL (95% CI: 4.2-14.8), respectively. Our findings demonstrated that PTB had a significant impact on the long-term persistence of HBsAb after HepB vaccination. The very preterm infants (gestational age <32 weeks) and the preterm low birth weight infants (birth weight <2000 g) may be special populations that should be given priority for HepB booster vaccination.

Hydrodeoxygenation of furfural to 2-methylfuran over Cu-Co confined by hollow carbon cage catalyst enhanced by optimized charge transfer and alloy structure.

Hydrodeoxygenation of furfural over non-noble metal catalyst is an effective route to synthesis 2-methylfuran, but the reaction is often hampered by the low activity and selectivity of the catalyst. Herein, a bimetallic catalyst with CuCo alloy encapsulated in a hollow nitrogen-doped carbon cages (CuCo/NC) are fabricated by using ZIF-67 as a sacrificial template, which exhibited superior catalytic performance and a full conversion of furfural with a 95.7 % selectivity towards 2-methylfuran was achieved at an under relatively mild reaction conditions (150 ℃, 1.5 MPa H2 and 4.0 h). The characterizations and density functional theory calculations clearly evidenced that the introduced Cu species acts as a switch to regulate the activity and selectivity of the catalyst via two aspects. On the one hand, the Cu species perturb the Co electronic structure leading to adsorption configuration of furfural change from flat to vertical on the catalyst surface, which successfully hindered the hydrogenation of furan ring, resulting high selectivity towards 2-methylfuran. On the other hand, the formed CuCo (111) sites promotes the dissociation of hydrogen, cleavage of the CO bond and reduces the diffusion barrier of hydrogen so as to advance the formation of 2-methylfuran. This work may provide a feasible strategy for the design of nanoalloy catalyst for the hydrodeoxygenation of biomass platforms to value-added chemicals.

WOx boosted hollow Ni nanoreactors for the hydrodeoxygenation of lignin derivatives.

Reasonable design of non-noble metal catalysts with hollow open structure for hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of lignin derivatives to value-added chemicals is of great significance but challenging. Herein, a novel MOF-derived multilayer hollow sphere coated nickel­tungsten bimetallic catalyst (Ni2-WOx@CN-700) was fabricated via by confined pyrolysis strategy using bimetallic MOFs as a self-sacrificial template, which exhibits robust activity for the typical model HDO of vanillin to 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (Yield of 100 % at 140 °C for no less than 10 cycles). The characterizations revealed that WOx facilitated the dispersion of Ni nanoparticles and adjusted the acidic capacity of the catalyst through the formed Ni-WOx heterojunction. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirms that WOx species enhanced the electron-rich nature of the active sites, while the adsorption energies of H2 and vanillin on Ni-WOx decreased from -0.572 eV and - 0.622 eV on Ni to -3.969 eV and - 4.922 eV, respectively. These results further indicated that the high activity of Ni2-WOx@CN-700 was attributed to the Ni-WOx heterojunction. Based on the characterizations and the thermodynamic calculations, the reaction mechanism was proposed. In addition, the catalyst shows good substrate universality, which enables its good commercial application prospect.

Three new species of Pestalotiopsis (Amphisphaeriales, Sporocadaceae) were identified by morphology and multigene phylogeny from Hainan and Yunnan, China.

Pestalotiopsis fungi are widely distributed all over the world, mainly as plant pathogens, endophytes or saprobes from multiple hosts. In this study, the sequence data analysis based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS), partial beta-tubulin (tub2) and partial regions of translation elongation factor 1 alpha (tef1α) combined with morphological characteristics was used to identify strains isolated from the diseased leaves of Aporosadioica and Rhaphiolepisindica, as well as some rotted leaves from Yunnan and Hainan Provinces in China as three new species, viz., Pestalotiopsisaporosae-dioicae sp. nov., P.nannuoensis sp. nov. and P.rhaphiolepidis sp. nov.

Histone H3 N-Terminal Lysine Acetylation Governs Fungal Growth, Conidiation, and Pathogenicity through Regulating Gene Expression in Fusarium pseudograminearum.

The acetylation of histone lysine residues regulates multiple life processes, including growth, conidiation, and pathogenicity in filamentous pathogenic fungi. However, the specific function of each lysine residue at the N-terminus of histone H3 in phytopathogenic fungi remains unclear. In this study, we mutated the N-terminal lysine residues of histone H3 in Fusarium pseudograminearum, the main causal agent of Fusarium crown rot of wheat in China, which also produces deoxynivalenol (DON) toxins harmful to humans and animals. Our findings reveal that all the FpH3K9R, FpH3K14R, FpH3K18R, and FpH3K23R mutants are vital for vegetative growth and conidiation. Additionally, FpH3K14 regulates the pathogen's sensitivity to various stresses and fungicides. Despite the slowed growth of the FpH3K9R and FpH3K23R mutants, their pathogenicity towards wheat stems and heads remains unchanged. However, the FpH3K9R mutant produces more DON. Furthermore, the FpH3K14R and FpH3K18R mutants exhibit significantly reduced virulence, with the FpH3K18R mutant producing minimal DON. In the FpH3K9R, FpH3K14R, FpH3K18R, and FpH3K23R mutants, there are 1863, 1400, 1688, and 1806 downregulated genes, respectively, compared to the wild type. These downregulated genes include many that are crucial for growth, conidiation, pathogenicity, and DON production, as well as some essential genes. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis indicates that genes downregulated in the FpH3K14R and FpH3K18R mutants are enriched for ribosome biogenesis, rRNA processing, and rRNA metabolic process. This suggests that the translation machinery is abnormal in the FpH3K14R and FpH3K18R mutants. Overall, our findings suggest that H3 N-terminal lysine residues are involved in regulating the expression of genes with important functions and are critical for fungal development and pathogenicity.

Morphological and Phylogenetic Analyses Reveal Three New Species of Didymella (Didymellaceae, Pleosporales) from Jiangxi, China.

Didymella contains numerous plant pathogenic and saprobic species associated with a wide range of hosts. Over the course of our mycological surveys of plant pathogens from terrestrial plants in Jiangxi Province, China, eight strains isolated from diseased leaves of four host genera represented three new species of Didymella, D. bischofiae sp. nov., D. clerodendri sp. nov., and D. pittospori sp. nov. Phylogenetic analyses of combined ITS, LSU, RPB2, and TUB2 sequence data, using maximum-likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI), revealed their taxonomic placement within Didymella. Both morphological examinations and molecular phylogenetic analyses supported D. bischofiae, D. clerodendri, and D. pittospori as three new taxa within Didymella. Illustrations and descriptions of these three taxa were provided, along with comparisons with closely related taxa in the genus.

Isolation, characterization, and pathogenicity of Fusarium species causing crown rot of wheat.

Fusarium crown rot (FCR) is one of the most important soilborne diseases affecting wheat production. To investigate the diversity of the pathogens causing this disease, 199 diseased wheat samples were collected from 13 cities in Shandong province. In total, 468 isolates were obtained, and from these isolates, 11 Fusarium species were identified based on phylogenetic analyses with the translation elongation factor-1α (TEF-1α), RNA polymerase II largest subunit (RPB1), and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) gene sequences. Of these Fusarium isolates, 283 were identified as Fusarium pseudograminearum and the remaining isolates were identified as Fusarium graminearum (n = 113), Fusarium sinensis (n = 28), Fusarium acuminatum (n = 18), Fusarium incarnatum (n = 13), Fusarium ipomoeae (n = 5), Fusarium flocciferum (n = 3), Fusarium proliferatum (n = 2), Fusarium asiaticum (n = 1), Fusarium culmorum (n = 1), and Fusarium oxysporum (n = 1), suggesting that F. pseudograminearum is the dominant pathogen of FCR of wheat in Shandong province. Pathogenicity tests demonstrated that all 11 Fusarium species could cause typical symptoms of FCR on wheat seedlings. The results of the study indicate that a greater diversity of Fusarium species can cause FCR of wheat in Shandong province than that has been previously reported. This is the first report in the world of Fusarium incarnatum, Fusarium ipomoeae, and Fusarium flocciferum as pathogens causing FCR in wheat.

Clinical value of conventional magnetic resonance imaging combined with diffusion-weighted imaging in predicting pelvic lymph node metastasis of cervical cancer.

Background: In cervical cancer (CC), the involvement of pelvis lymph nodes is a crucial factor for patients' outcome. We aimed to investigate the value of conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in predicting CC pelvic lymph node metastasis (PLNM). Methods: This retrospective study included CC patients who received surgical treatments. Surgical pathology results served as the gold standard for investigating the diagnostic performance of conventional MRI combined with DWI. We analyzed the association between tumor ADC and PLNM, as well as other pathological factors. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) for ADC in assessing PLNM and pathological factors were evaluated, and optimal cut-off points were obtained. Results: A total of 261 CC patients were analyzed. PLNM patients had significantly lower tumor ADC (0.829 ± 0.144×10-3mm2/s vs. 1.064 ± 0.345×10-3mm2/s, p<0.0001), than non-PLNM CC. The agreement between conventional MRI combined with DWI and pathological results on PLNM diagnosis was substantial (Kappa=0.7031, p<0.0001), with 76% sensitivity, 94.31% specificity, and 90.8% accuracy. The AUC of tumor ADC was 0.703, and the optimal cut-off was 0.95×10-3 mm2/s. In multivariate analysis model 1, tumor ADC<0.95×10-3mm2/s was significantly associated with PLNM (OR, 2.83; 95%CI, 1.08-7.43; p= 0.0346) after adjusting for age and pathological risk factors. In multivariate analysis model 2, tumor ADC<0.95×10-3mm2/s (OR, 4.00; 95%CI, 1.61-9.89; p=0.0027), age<35 years old (OR, 2.93; 95%CI, 1.04-8.30; p=0.0428), increased tumor diameter on MRI (OR, 2.17; 95%CI, 1.18-3.99; p=0.0128), vaginal vault involvement on MRI (OR, 2; 95%CI, 1.002-3.99; p=0.0494) were independent predictors for PLNM. Tumor ADC<0.95×10-3mm2/s was significantly associated with higher risk of tumor diameter ≥4cm (OR, 2.60; 95%CI, 1.43-4.73; p=0.0017), muscular layer infiltration >1/2 (OR, 5.46; 95%CI, 3.19-9.34; p<0.0001), vaginal vault involvement (OR, 2.25; 95%CI, 1.28-3.96; p=0.0051), and lymphovascular space involvement (OR, 3.81; 95%CI, 2.19-6.63; p<0.0001). Conclusion: Conventional MRI combined with DWI had a good diagnostic performance in detecting PLNM. The tumor ADC value in PLNM patients was significantly lower than that in non-PLNM patients. Tumor ADC <0.95×10-3mm2/s, age <35 years old, increased tumor diameter on MRI, vaginal vault involvement on MRI were independent predictors for PLNM.