Observation of high-order imaginary Poynting momentum optomechanics in structured light.

The imaginary Poynting momentum (IPM) of light has been captivated as an unusual origin of optical forces. However, the IPM force is predicted only for dipolar magnetoelectric particles that are hardly used in optical manipulation experiments. Here, we report a whole family of high-order IPM forces for not only magnetoelectric but also generic Mie particles, assisted with their excited higher multipoles within. Such optomechanical manifestations derive from a nonlocal contribution of the IPM to the optical force, which can be remarkable even when the incident IPM is small. We observe the high-order optomechanics in a structured light beam, which, despite carrying no angular momentum, is able to set normal microparticles into continuous rotation. Our results provide unambiguous evidence of the ponderomotive nature of the IPM, expand the classification of optical forces, and open new possibilities for levitated optomechanics and micromanipulations.

Semiphysical Design Concept for Developing Miniaturized Microrobots In Vivo.

The miniaturization of biomedical microrobots is crucial for their in vivo applications. However, it is challenging to reduce their size while maintaining their biomedical functions. To resolve this contradiction, we propose a semiphysical design concept for developing miniaturized microrobots, in which invisible components such as light beams are utilized to replace most of the physical parts of a microrobot, thus minimizing its physical size without sacrificing its biomedical functions. According to this design, we have constructed a semiphysical microrobot (SPM) composed of main light beam, light-responsive microparticle, and auxiliary light beam, serving as the actuation system, recognition part, and surgical claws, respectively. Based on the functions of actuation, biosensing, and microsurgery, a SPM has been applied for a series of applications, including thrombus elimination at the branch vessel, stratified removal of multilayer thrombus, and biosensing-guided microsurgery. The proposed semiphysical design concept should bring new insight into the development of miniaturized biomedical microrobots.

Spontaneous Particle Ordering, Sorting, and Assembly on Soap Films.

Soap bubbles exhibit abundant fascinating phenomena throughout the entire life of evolution with different fundamental physics governing them. Nevertheless, the complicated dynamics of small objects in soap films are still unrevealed. Here, we report the first observation of spontaneous particle ordering in a complicated galaxy of soap films without any external energy. The balance of interfacial tension at two liquid-gas interfaces is theoretically predicted to govern belted wetted particles (BWPs) traveling along a specified path spontaneously. Such spontaneous particle path-finding is found to depend on the particle size and hydrophilic properties. Spontaneous particle sorting is directly realized via these discrete and distinctive paths for different particles. The deformation of the soap membrane facilitates 1D/2D particle organization along the path. This observation represents the discovery of a new spontaneous order phenomenon in soap film systems and provides a new energy-free approach for particle separation and soft colloidal crystal assembly.

Light-Emitting Microfibers from Lotus Root for Eco-Friendly Optical Waveguides and Biosensing.

Optical biosensors based on micro/nanofibers are highly valuable for probing and monitoring liquid environments and bioactivity. Most current optical biosensors, however, are still based on glass, semiconductors, or metallic materials, which might not be fully suitable for biologically relevant environments. Here, we introduce biocompatible and flexible microfibers from lotus silk as microenvironmental monitors that exhibit waveguiding of intrinsic fluorescence as well as of coupled light. These features make single-filament monitors excellent building blocks for a variety of sensing functions, including pH probing and detection of bacterial activity. These results pave the way for the development of new and entirely eco-friendly, potentially multiplexed biosensing platforms.

Precise Design and Modification Engineering of Single-Atom Catalytic Materials for Oxygen Reduction.

Due to their unique electronic and structural properties, single-atom catalytic materials (SACMs) hold great promise for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Coordinating environmental and engineering strategies is the key to improving the ORR performance of SACMs. This review summarizes the latest research progress and breakthroughs of SACMs in the field of ORR catalysis. First, the research progress on the catalytic mechanism of SACMs acting on ORR is reviewed, including the latest research results on the origin of SACMs activity and the analysis of pre-adsorption mechanism. The study of the pre-adsorption mechanism is an important breakthrough direction to explore the origin of the high activity of SACMs and the practical and theoretical understanding of the catalytic process. Precise coordination environment modification, including in-plane, axial, and adjacent site modifications, can enhance the intrinsic catalytic activity of SACMs and promote the ORR process. Additionally, several engineering strategies are discussed, including multiple SACMs, high loading, and atomic site confinement. Multiple SACMs synergistically enhance catalytic activity and selectivity, while high loading can provide more active sites for catalytic reactions. Overall, this review provides important insights into the design of advanced catalysts for ORR.

Using Texture Analysis of Neck Computed Tomography Images to Differentiate Primary Hyperparathyroidism From Normal Controls.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the utility of texture analysis in detecting osseous changes associated with hyperparathyroidism on neck CT examinations compared with control patients and to explore the best regions in the head and neck to evaluate changes in the trabecular architecture secondary to hyperparathyroidism. METHODS: Patients with hyperparathyroidism who underwent a 4D CT of the neck with contrast were included in this study. Age-matched control patients with no history of hyperparathyroidism who underwent a contrast-enhanced neck CT were also included. Mandibular condyles, bilateral mandibular bodies, the body of the C4 vertebra, the manubrium of the sternum, and bilateral clavicular heads were selected for analysis, and oval-shaped regions of interest were manually placed. These segmented areas were imported into an in-house developed texture analysis program, and 41 texture analysis features were extracted. A mixed linear regression model was used to compare differences in the texture analysis features contoured at each of the osseous structures between patients with hyperparathyroidism and age-matched control patients. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients with hyperparathyroidism and 30 age-matched control patients were included in this study. Statistically significant differences in texture features between patients with hyperparathyroidism and control patients in all 8 investigated osseous regions. The sternum showed the greatest number of texture features with statistically significant differences between these groups. CONCLUSIONS: Some CT texture features demonstrated statistically significant differences between patients with hyperparathyroidism and control patients. The results suggest that texture features may discriminate changes in the osseous architecture of the head and neck in patients with hyperparathyroidism.

Effectiveness of inactivated influenza vaccine against laboratory-confirmed influenza among Chinese elderly: a test-negative design.

BACKGROUND: Evidence on the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in the elderly is limited, and results are controversial. There are also few reports from China. METHODS: We conducted a test-negative case-control study design to estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) against laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated visits among elderly (aged ≥ 60 years) across four influenza seasons in Ningbo, China, from 2018 to 19 to 2021-22. Influenza-positive cases and negative controls were randomly matched in a 1:1 ratio according to age, sex, hospital, and date of influenza testing. We used logistic regression models to compare vaccination odds ratios (ORs) in cases to controls. We calculated the VE as [100% × (1-adjusted OR)] and calculated the 95% confidence interval (CI) around the estimate. RESULTS: A total of 30,630 elderly patients tested for influenza with virus nucleic acid or antigen during the study period. After exclusions, we included 1 825 influenza-positive cases and 1 825 influenza-negative controls. Overall, the adjusted VE for influenza-related visits was 63.5% (95% CI, 56.3-69.5%), but varied by season. Influenza VE was 59.8% (95% CI, 51.5-66.7%) for influenza A and 89.6% (95% CI, 77.1-95.3%) for influenza B. The VE for ages 60-69 and 70-79 was 65.2% (95% CI, 55.4-72.9%) and 69.8% (95% CI, 58.7-77.9%), respectively, but only 45.4% (95% CI, 6.2-68.2%) for ages 80 and over. CONCLUSIONS: Standard-dose inactivated influenza vaccine has shown good protection in the elderly in China. However, protection may not be satisfactory in people aged 80 years and older.

Why do Single-Atom Alloys Catalysts Outperform both Single-Atom Catalysts and Nanocatalysts on MXene?

Single-atom alloys (SAAs), combining the advantages of single-atom and nanoparticles (NPs), play an extremely significant role in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. Nevertheless, understanding the catalytic mechanism of SAAs in catalysis reactions remains a challenge compared with single atoms and NPs. Herein, ruthenium-nickel SAAs (RuNiSAAs ) synthesized by embedding atomically dispersed Ru in Ni NPs are anchored on two-dimensional Ti3 C2 Tx MXene. The RuNiSAA-3 -Ti3 C2 Tx catalysts exhibit unprecedented activity for hydrogen evolution from ammonia borane (AB, NH3 BH3 ) hydrolysis with a mass-specific activity (rmass ) value of 333 L min-1 gRu -1 . Theoretical calculations reveal that the anchoring of SAAs on Ti3 C2 Tx optimizes the dissociation of AB and H2 O as well as the binding ability of H* intermediates during AB hydrolysis due to the d-band structural modulation caused by the alloying effect and metal-supports interactions (MSI) compared with single atoms and NPs. This work provides useful design principles for developing and optimizing efficient hydrogen-related catalysts and demonstrates the advantages of SAAs over NPs and single atoms in energy catalysis.

Fe, N-Inducing Interfacial Electron Redistribution in NiCo Spinel on Biomass-Derived Carbon for Bi-functional Oxygen Conversion.

Herein, an interfacial electron redistribution is proposed to boost the activity of carbon-supported spinel NiCo2O4 catalyst toward oxygen conversion via Fe, N-doping strategy. Fe-doping into octahedron induces a redistribution of electrons between Co and Ni atoms on NiCo1.8Fe0.2O4@N-carbon. The increased electron density of Co promotes the coordination of water to Co sites and further dissociation. The generation of proton from water improves the overall activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The increased electron density of Ni facilitates the generation of oxygen vacancies. The Ni-VO-Fe structure accelerates the deprotonation of *OOH to improve the activity toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER). N-doping modulates the electron density of carbon to form active sites for the adsorption and protonation of oxygen species. Fir wood-derived carbon endows catalyst with an integral structure to enable outstanding electrocatalytic performance. The NiCo1.8Fe0.2O4@N-carbon express high half-wave potential up to 0.86 V in ORR and low overpotential of 270 mV at 10 mA cm-2 in OER. The zinc-air batteries (ZABs) assembled with the as-prepared catalyst achieve long-term cycle stability (over 2000 cycles) with peak power density (180 mWcm-2). Fe, N-doping strategy drives the catalysis of biomass-derived carbon-based catalysts to the highest level for the oxygen conversion in ZABs.

Efficient Hydrogen Generation from Ammonia Borane Hydrolysis on a Tandem Ruthenium-Platinum-Titanium Catalyst.

Hydrolysis of ammonia borane (NH3BH3, AB) involves multiple undefined steps and complex adsorption and activation, so single or dual sites are not enough to rapidly achieve the multi-step catalytic processes. Designing multi-site catalysts is necessary to enhance the catalytic performance of AB hydrolysis reactions but revealing the matching reaction mechanisms of AB hydrolysis is a great challenge. In this work, we propose to construct RuPt-Ti multi-site catalysts to clarify the multi-site tandem activation mechanism of AB hydrolysis. Experimental and theoretical studies reveal that the multi-site tandem mode can respectively promote the activation of NH3BH3 and H2O molecules on the Ru and Pt sites as well as facilitate the fast transfer of *H and the desorption of H2 on Ti sites at the same time. RuPt-Ti multi-site catalysts exhibit the highest turnover frequency (TOF) of 1293 min-1 for AB hydrolysis reaction, outperforming the single-site Ru, dual-site RuPt and Ru-Ti catalysts. This study proposes a multi-site tandem concept for accelerating the dehydrogenation of hydrogen storage material, aiming to contribute to the development of cleaner, low-carbon, and high-performance hydrogen production systems.

Bimetallic Nanoalloy Catalysts for Green Energy Production: Advances in Synthesis Routes and Characterization Techniques.

Bimetallic Nanoalloy catalysts have diverse uses in clean energy, sensing, catalysis, biomedicine, and energy storage, with some supported and unsupported catalysts. Conventional synthetic methods for producing bimetallic alloy nanoparticles often produce unalloyed and bulky particles that do not exhibit desired characteristics. Alloys, when prepared with advanced nanoscale methods, give higher surface area, activity, and selectivity than individual metals due to changes in their electronic properties and reduced size. This review demonstrates the synthesis methods and principles to produce and characterize highly dispersed, well-alloyed bimetallic nanoalloy particles in relatively simple, effective, and generalized approaches and the overall existence of conventional synthetic methods with modifications to prepare bimetallic alloy catalysts. The basic concepts and mechanistic understanding are represented with purposely selected examples. Herein, the enthralling properties with widespread applications of nanoalloy catalysts in heterogeneous catalysis are also presented, especially for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER), Oxidation Reduction Reaction (ORR), Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER), and alcohol oxidation with a particular focus on Pt and Pd-based bimetallic nanoalloys and their numerous fields of applications. The high entropy alloy is described as a complicated subject with an emphasis on laser-based green synthesis of nanoparticles and, in conclusion, the forecasts and contemporary challenges for the controlled synthesis of nanoalloys are addressed.

Heterogeneous Catalysis in Production and Utilization of Formic Acid for Renewable Energy.

As the cleanest energy source, hydrogen has been followed with interest by researchers around the world. However, due to the internal low density of hydrogen, it cannot be stored and used efficiently which limits the hydrogen application on a huge scale. Chemical hydrogen storage is considered as a useful method for efficient handling and storage. Due to its excellent safety, formic acid stands out. It is worth noting that the matter and energy conversion is established based on formic acid, which is not referred to in the previous documentation. In this review, the latest development of research on heterogeneous catalysis via production and application of formic acid for energy application is reported. The matter and energy conversion based on formic acid are both discussed systematically. More importantly, with formic acid as the node, biomass energy shows potential to be in a dominant position in the energy conversion process. In addition, the catalytic mechanism is also mentioned. This review can provide the current state in this field and the new inspirations for developing superior catalytic systems.

Co-Adjusting d-Band Center of Fe to Accelerate Proton Coupling for Efficient Oxygen Electrocatalysis.

The problem in d-band center modulation of transition metal-based catalysts for the rate-determining steps of oxygen conversion is an obstacle to boost the electrocatalytic activity by accelerating proton coupling. Herein, the Co doping to FeP is adopted to modify the d-band center of Fe. Optimized Fe sites accelerate the proton coupling of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on N-doped wood-derived carbon through promoting water dissociation. In situ generated Fe sites optimize the adsorption of oxygen-related intermediates of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on CoFeP NPs. Superior catalytic activity toward ORR (half-wave potential of 0.88 V) and OER (overpotential of 300 mV at 10 mA cm-2 ) express an unprecedented level in carbon-based transition metal-phosphide catalysts. The liquid zinc-air battery presents an outstanding cycling stability of 800 h (2400 cycles). This research offers a newfangled perception on designing highly efficient carbon-based bifunctional catalysts for ORR and OER.

Construction of Co1-x S Nanoparticles Embedding in N-Doped Amorphous Carbon@Graphene with Enhanced Li-Ion Storage.

Cobalt sulfide is deemed a promising anode material, owing to its high theoretical capacity (630 mAh g-1 ). Due to its low conductivity, fast energy decay, and the huge volume change during the lithiation process limits its practical application. In this work, a simple and large-scale method are developed to prepare Co1-x S nanoparticles embedding in N-doped carbon/graphene (CSCG). At a current density of 0.2 C, the reversible discharge capacity of CSCG maintains 937 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles. The discharge capacity of CSCG maintains at 596 mAh g-1 after 500 cycles at the high current density of 2.0 C. The excellent performance of CSCG is due to its unique structural features. The addition of rGO buffered volume changes while preventing Co1-x S from crushing/aggregating during the cycle, resulting in multiplier charge-discharge and long cycle life. The N-doped carbon provides a simple and easy way to achieve excellent performance in practical applications. Combined with density functional theory calculation, the presence of Co-vacancies(Co1-x ) increases more active site. Moreover, N-doping carbon is beneficial to the improve adsorption energy. This work presents a simple and effective structural engineering strategy and also provides a new idea to improve the performance of Li-ion batteries.

lncRNA HOXA11-AS maintains the stemness of oral squamous cell carcinoma stem cells and reduces the radiosensitivity by targeting miR-518a-3p/PDK1.

OBJECTIVE: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most prevailing oral malignancy. The lncRNA HOXA11-AS shows prominent roles in OSCC. This study explored the effects of lncRNA HOXA11-AS on regulating OSCC stem cell stemness and radiosensitivity by targeting miR-518a-3p/PDK1. METHODS: Human OSCC cell lines SCC9 and SCC15 were selected. CD133+ cancer stem cells (CSCs) were sorted by immunomagnetic beads. CD133 expression in cells and HOXA11-AS expression in SCC9, SCC15, and CD133+ SCC9, CD133+ SCC15 cells were assessed by flow cytometry and RT-qPCR. HOXA11-AS was silenced/overexpressed in SCC9, SCC15, CD133+ SCC9, and CD133+ SCC15 cells. Cell proliferation, radiosensitivity, invasion, and stem cell sphere formation ability were examined by CCK-8, colony formation, Transwell, and stem cell sphere formation. The levels of stemness-related genes (Oct4, Nanog, Sox2), miR-518a-3p, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins (E-cadherin, Vimentin, N-cadherin), and PDK1 were assessed by RT-qPCR and Western blot assay. RESULTS: HOXA11-AS was up-regulated in SCC9, SCC15, CD133+ SCC9, and CD133+ SCC15 cells. HOXA11-AS silencing inhibited OSCC proliferation and invasion and enhanced radiosensitivity. HOXA11-AS maintained CSC stemness in OSCC. HOXA11-AS silencing reduced CD133+ SCC9 and CD133+ SCC15 stem cell sphere formation ability, reduced stem cell stemness-related gene levels, and inhibited EMT. HOXA11-AS regulated OSCC stem cell stemness and radiosensitivity by targeting miR-518a-3p. PDK1 overexpression annulled the regulatory effects of HOXA11-AS silencing on OSCC cell stem cell stemness and radiosensitivity. CONCLUSION: In vitro lncRNA HOXA11-AS silencing inhibited OSCC stem cell stemness by targeting the miR-518a-3p/PDK1 axis, thus enhancing OSCC cell radiosensitivity.

In Situ Single-Cell Surgery and Intracellular Organelle Manipulation Via Thermoplasmonics Combined Optical Trapping.

Microsurgery and biopsies on individual cells in a cellular microenvironment are of great importance to better understand the fundamental cellular processes at subcellular and even single-molecular levels. However, it is still a big challenge for in situ surgery without interfering with neighboring living cells. Here, we report a thermoplasmonics combined optical trapping (TOT) technique for in situ single-cell surgery and intracellular organelle manipulation, without interfering with neighboring cells. A selective single-cell perforation was demonstrated via a localized thermoplasmonic effect, which facilitated further targeted gene delivery. Such a perforation was reversible, and the damaged membrane was capable of being repaired. Remarkably, a targeted extraction and precise manipulation of intracellular organelles were realized via the optical trapping. This TOT technique represents a new way for single-cell microsurgery, gene delivery, and intracellular organelle manipulation, and it provides a new insight for a deeper understanding of cellular processes as well as to reveal underlying causes of diseases associated with organelle malfunctions at a subcellular level.

Wood-Derived Monolithic Catalysts with the Ability of Activating Water Molecules for Oxygen Electrocatalysis.

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the key reaction on cathode of rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs). However, the lack of protons in alkaline conditions limits the rate of ORR. Herein, an activating water strategy is proposed to promote oxygen electrocatalytic activity by enhancing the proton production from water dissociation. FeP nanoparticles (NPs) are coupled on N-doped wood-derived catalytically active carbon (FeP-NWCC) to associate bifunctional active sites. In alkaline, FeP-NWCC possesses outstanding catalytic activities toward ORR (E1/2  = 0.86 V) and Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) (overpotential is 310 mV at 10 mA cm-2 ). The liquid ZABs assembled by FeP-NWCC deliver superior peak power density (144 mW cm-2 ) and cycle stability (over 450 h). The quasi-solid-state ZABs based on FeP-NWCC also display excellent performances. Theoretical calculation illustrates that the superb bifunctional performance of FeP-NWCC results from the elevated dissociation efficiency of water via FeP NPs to assist the oxygen catalytic process. The strategy of activating water provides a new perspective for the design of ORR/OER bifunctional catalysts. This work is a model for the application of forest biomass.

Engineering Bimodal Oxygen Vacancies and Pt to Boost the Activity Toward Water Dissociation.

Water dissociation is the rate-limiting step of several energy-related reactions due to the high energy barrier required for breaking the oxygen-hydrogen bond. In this work, a bimodal oxygen vacancy (VO ) catalysis strategy is adopted to boost the efficient water dissociation on Pt nanoparticles. The single facet-exposed TiO2 surface and NiOx nanocluster possess two modes of VO different from each other. In ammonia borane hydrolysis, the highest catalytic activity among Pt-based materials is achieved with the turnover frequency of 618 min-1 under alkaline-free conditions at 298 K. Theoretical simulation and characterization analyses reveal that the bimodal VO significantly promotes the water dissociation in two ways. First, an ensemble-inducing effect of Pt and VO in TiO2 drives the activation of water molecules. Second, an electron promoter effect induced by the electron transfer from VO in NiOx to Pt further enhances the ability of Pt to dissociate water and ammonia borane. This insight into bimodal VO catalysis establishes a new avenue to rationally design heterogeneous catalytic materials in the energy chemistry field.

Coupling Fe3 C Nanoparticles and N-Doping on Wood-Derived Carbon to Construct Reversible Cathode for Zn-Air Batteries.

Electrochemical reduction of oxygen plays a critical role in emerging electrochemical energy technologies. Multiple electron transfer processes, involving adsorption and activation of O2 and generation of protons from water molecules, cause the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein, a double-active-site catalyst of Fe3 C nanoparticles coupled to paulownia wood-derived N-doped carbon (Fe3 C@NPW) is fabricated via an active-site-uniting strategy. One site on Fe3 C nanoparticles contributes to activating water molecules, while another site on N-doped carbon is responsible for activating oxygen molecules. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of double active sites, Fe3 C@NPW delivers a remarkable catalytic activity for ORR with a half-wave potential of 0.87 V (vs. RHE) in alkaline electrolyte, outperforming commercial Pt/C catalyst. Moreover, zinc-air batteries (ZABs) assembled with Fe3 C@NPW as a catalyst on cathode achieve a large specific capacity of 804.4 mA h gZn-1 and a long-term stability of 780 cycles. The model solid-state ZABs also display satisfactory performances with an open-circuit voltage of 1.39 V and a high peak power density of 78 mW cm-2 . These outstanding performances reach the level of first-rank among the non-noble metal electrode materials. This work offers a promising approach to creating double-active-site catalysts by the active-site-uniting strategy for energy conversion fields.

Atomic Interface-Exciting Catalysis on Cobalt Nitride-Oxide for Accelerating Hydrogen Generation.

The rational design of the interface structure between nitride and oxide using the same metallic element and correlating the interfacial active center with a determined catalytic mechanism remain challenging. Herein, a Co4 N-Co3 O4 interface structure is designed to determine the effect of interfacial active centers on hydrogen generation from ammonia borane. An unparalleled catalytic activity toward H2 production with a turnover frequency up to 79 min-1 is achieved on Co4 N-Co3 O4 @C catalyst for ten recycles. Experimental analyses and theoretical simulation suggest that the atomic interface-exciting effect (AieE) is responsible for the high catalytic activity. The Co4 N-Co3 O4 interface facilitates the targeted adsorption and activation of NH3 BH3 and H2 O molecules to generate H* and H2 . The two active centers of Co(N)* and Co(O)* at the Co4 N-Co3 O4 interface activate NH3 BH3 and H2 O, respectively. This proof-of-concept research on AieE provides important insights regarding the design of heterogeneous catalysts and promotes the development of the nature and regulation of energy chemical conversion.