Plant receptor-like protein activation by a microbial glycoside hydrolase.

Plants rely on cell-surface-localized pattern recognition receptors to detect pathogen- or host-derived danger signals and trigger an immune response1-6. Receptor-like proteins (RLPs) with a leucine-rich repeat (LRR) ectodomain constitute a subgroup of pattern recognition receptors and play a critical role in plant immunity1-3. Mechanisms underlying ligand recognition and activation of LRR-RLPs remain elusive. Here we report a crystal structure of the LRR-RLP RXEG1 from Nicotiana benthamiana that recognizes XEG1 xyloglucanase from the pathogen Phytophthora sojae. The structure reveals that specific XEG1 recognition is predominantly mediated by an amino-terminal and a carboxy-terminal loop-out region (RXEG1(ID)) of RXEG1. The two loops bind to the active-site groove of XEG1, inhibiting its enzymatic activity and suppressing Phytophthora infection of N. benthamiana. Binding of XEG1 promotes association of RXEG1(LRR) with the LRR-type co-receptor BAK1 through RXEG1(ID) and the last four conserved LRRs to trigger RXEG1-mediated immune responses. Comparison of the structures of apo-RXEG1(LRR), XEG1-RXEG1(LRR) and XEG1-BAK1-RXEG1(LRR) shows that binding of XEG1 induces conformational changes in the N-terminal region of RXEG1(ID) and enhances structural flexibility of the BAK1-associating regions of RXEG1(LRR). These changes allow fold switching of RXEG1(ID) for recruitment of BAK1(LRR). Our data reveal a conserved mechanism of ligand-induced heterodimerization of an LRR-RLP with BAK1 and suggest a dual function for the LRR-RLP in plant immunity.

Convergent evolution of immune receptors underpins distinct elicitin recognition in closely related Solanaceous plants.

Elicitins are a large family of secreted proteins in Phytophthora. Clade 1 elicitins were identified decades ago as potent elicitors of immune responses in Nicotiana species, but the mechanisms underlying elicitin recognition are largely unknown. Here we identified an elicitin receptor in Nicotiana benthamiana that we named REL for Responsive to ELicitins. REL is a receptor-like protein (RLP) with an extracellular leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain that mediates Phytophthora resistance by binding elicitins. Silencing or knocking out REL in N. benthamiana abolished elicitin-triggered cell death and immune responses. Domain deletion and site-directed mutagenesis revealed that the island domain (ID) located within the LRR domain of REL is crucial for elicitin recognition. In addition, sequence polymorphism in the ID underpins the genetic diversity of REL homologs in various Nicotiana species in elicitin recognition and binding. Remarkably, REL is phylogenetically distant from the elicitin response (ELR) protein, an LRR-RLP that was previously identified in the wild potato species Solanum microdontum and REL and ELR differ in the way they bind and recognize elicitins. Our findings provide insights into the molecular basis of plant innate immunity and highlight a convergent evolution of immune receptors towards perceiving the same elicitor.

Synergizing Cobalt Ruthenium Alloy with Chromium Oxyhydroxide for Highly Efficient Electrocatalytic Water Splitting.

Constructing a coupling interface of multicomponents with different functions is of considerable importance for designing an advanced bifunctional water splitting electrode. Particularly, designing and developing alloy/oxyhydroxide-integrated electrodes have emerged as a tendency yet remain a considerable challenge. In this work, a novel 3D nanostructure electrocatalyst assembled from CoRu nanoalloy and CrOOH nanosheets (denoted as CoRu-CrOOH/NF) was directly grown on nickel foam via a successive hydrothermal method. The unique synergy in CoRu-CrOOH/NF heterostructures is not only conducive to strengthening charge transfer capability and accelerating the reaction kinetics but also favors the redistribution of charge within the interface, thus improving the electrocatalytic performance. In view of the above-mentioned points, the resultant CoRu-CrOOH/NF displays outstanding catalytic performance with overpotentials of 26 and 272 mV at 10 mA cm-2 for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 50 mA cm-2 for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Remarkably, the symmetrical two-electrode cell using CoRu-CrOOH/NF only acquires 1.47 V at 10 mA cm-2 in 1.0 M KOH, which is superior to many other state-of-the-art overall water-splitting electrocatalysts. This holistic work provides a new insight to designing alloy/oxyhydroxide-integrated electrodes for high-efficiency overall water splitting.

Microbe-derived non-necrotic glycoside hydrolase family 12 proteins act as immunogenic signatures triggering plant defenses.

Plant pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) are sentinels at the cell surface sensing microbial invasion and activating innate immune responses. During infection, certain microbial apoplastic effectors can be recognized by plant PRRs, culminating in immune responses accompanied by cell death. However, the intricated relationships between the activation of immune responses and cell death are unclear. Here, we studied the glycoside hydrolase family 12 (GH12) protein, Ps109281, secreted by Phytophthora sojae into the plant apoplast during infection. Ps109281 exhibits xyloglucanase activity, and promotes P. sojae infection in a manner dependent on the enzyme activity. Ps109281 is recognized by the membrane-localized receptor-like protein RXEG1 and triggers immune responses in various plant species. Unlike other characterized GH12 members, Ps109281 fails to trigger cell death in plants. The loss of cell death induction activity is closely linked to a sequence polymorphism at the N-terminus. This sequence polymorphism does not affect the in planta interaction of Ps109281 with the recognition receptor RXEG1, indicating that cell death and immune response activation are determined using different regions of the GH12 proteins. Such GH12 protein also exists in other Phytophthora and fungal pathogens. Taken together, these results unravel the evolution of effector sequences underpinning different immune outputs.

Novel Two-Dimensional AgInS2/SnS2/RGO Dual Heterojunctions: High Spatial Charge and Toxicity Evaluation.

A single semiconductor employed into photo(electro)catalysis is not sufficient for charge carrier separation. Designing a multiple heterojunction system is a practical method for photo(electro)catalysis. Herein, novel two-dimensional AgInS2/SnS2/RGO (AISR) photocatalysts with multiple junctions were prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. The synthesized AISR heterojunctions showed superior photoelectrochemical performance and photocatalytic degradation of norfloxacin, with a high degradation rate reaching 95%. More importantly, the toxicity of photocatalytic products decreased within the reaction process. High spatial separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs was evidenced by optical and photoelectrochemical characterizations. Furthermore, a laser flash photolysis technique was carried on investigating the lifetime of the charge carrier of the fabricated dual heterostructures. In addition, sulfur and oxygen vacancies existed in AISR heterojunctions could largely constrain the recombination of electron-hole pairs. Density functional theory calculations were carried out to analyze the mechanism of photoinduced interfacial redox reactions, showing that reduced graphene oxide and AgInS2 act as electron and hole trappers in the photocatalytic reaction, respectively. Due to the interfacial electric field formed from AISR dual heterojunctions, the effective spatial charge separation and transfer contributed to the boosting photo(electro)catalytic performance.

Systemic Inflammatory Mediator Levels in Non-Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy Patients with Diabetic Macular Edema.

PURPOSE: To study the systemic inflammatory mediator levels in non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) and explore the correlation between systemic inflammatory mediators and DME. METHODS: In this prospective study, we included 25 patients without diabetes (control group) and 75 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (diabetic group). According to fundus examination, the diabetic group patients were divided into: diabetic patients without diabetic retinopathy (DR) (Non-DR group), NPDR patients without DME (Non-DME group), and NPDR patients with DME (DME group). Serum levels of a broad panel of inflammatory mediators were analysed by multiplex protein quantitative detection technology based on a flow cytometry detection system. RESULTS: The interferon-γ (IFN-γ) levels were significantly higher in DME group and Non-DME group as compared to control group (p = 0.023 and p = 0.033) and Non-DR group (p = 0.009 and p = 0.015). Significantly higher values were obtained in DME group and Non-DME group as compared to control group for the interleukin-8 (IL-8) (p = 0.003 and p = 0.003). The IL-23 levels were significantly elevated in DME group and Non-DR group than in Non-DME group (p = 0.013 and p = 0.004). The diabetic group had significantly higher serum levels of IL-8 and IL-33 (p = 0.001 and p = 0.011), and lower serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (p = 0.027) in comparison with control group. CONCLUSIONS: The changed levels of serum inflammatory mediators suggest that the systemic inflammatory mediators are involved in the pathogenesis of NPDR patients with DME. Such effects can guide clinical monitoring, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for DME patients at an early stage.

Fate of sulfur and chlorine during co-incineration of municipal solid waste and industrial organic solid waste.

In China, the co-incineration of municipal solid waste (MSW) with industrial organic solid waste (IOSW) is increasingly adopted. Compared with MSW, IOSW contains higher levels of sulfur (S) and chlorine (Cl), presenting significant challenges for controlling S/Cl emissions in MSW incineration plants. In this study, the impact of co-incinerating IOSW was investigated in a 500 t/d incinerator grate, focusing on the emissions and transformation behaviors of S/Cl. IOSW, with a consistent sulfur content of about 0.22 wt% and a more variable chlorine content averaging 0.53 wt%, contains over 40 % organic sulfur and >90 % organic chlorine, higher than in MSW. The results of co-incineration experiments showed that the median SO2 concentration in the flue gas was stable at 50 mg/m3, while HCl concentration decreased initially and then increased as the co-incineration ratio of IOSW rose from 20 % to 40 %. Furthermore, the concentrations of SO2 and HCl were not significantly influenced by wind flow but were positively affected by the rising furnace temperatures. Besides, the co-incineration ratio had minimal impact on sulfur in fly ash before deacidification, primarily derived from the gas stream. However, the (Na + K)/Cl ratio in fly ash progressively increased from 1.5 to 1.9, and the Ca content decreased from 0.35 % to 0.15 % as the co-incineration ratio rose to 40 %, indicating more chlorine migration into the fly ash at higher co-incineration rates. This research offers essential guidance for effectively controlling pollutant emissions during the co-incineration of IOSW, specifically the S/Cl pollutants.

Nitrogen- and fluorine-doped bimetallic carbide as active and stable oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalyst.

Nitrogen- and fluorine-doped bimetallic carbide composites with graphite matrix (abbreviated as C19Cr7Mo24/NG and C19Cr7Mo24/FG) are synthesized through carbonization at 1300 °C. The C19Cr7Mo24/NG displays an initial half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.873 V and suffers merely 3 mV decrease in E1/2 within 60,000 CV cycles for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media. A H2/O2 fuel cell testing system using the C19Cr7Mo24/NG as cathode maintains 95.9% of the initial peak power density (1.08 W cm-2) within 60,000 cycles. The C19Cr7Mo24/FG shows higher ORR activity than the C19Cr7Mo24/NG. The positive and negative charge centers caused by the N or F dopants are the critical reasons to their high activities. While F and bimetallic carbide more favor electron transfer respectively than the N and monometallic carbide. Their excellent stabilities originate from interactions among atoms due to electron transfer and the intrinsic chemical inertness of graphite and bimetallic carbides.

GC/MS and LC/MS serum metabolomic analysis of Chinese LN patients.

China, being a densely populated nation, faces a substantial economic burden due to a high incidence of lupus nephritis (LN) cases. The concealed onset of LN has resulted in many individuals have missed the optimal timing for treatment. The aim of the research is to study the serum metabolomics of Chinese LN patients using gas chromatography (GC)/mass spectrometry (MS) and liquid chromatography (LC)/MS to identify potential diagnostic markers. Fifty LN patients and fifty normal controls, matched for Body Mass Index (BMI) and age, were selected. Serum analysis was conducted using GC/MS and LC/MS, followed by multivariate statistical analysis. Various multidimensional analyses, including principal component analysis, partial least squares discrimination analysis, and orthogonal partial least squares discrimination analysis, along with one-dimensional analyses such as t-tests, were performed. Metabolites with variable importance in projection value > 1 and a p-value < 0.05 were considered critical biomarkers for LN. Furthermore, identified biomarkers delineated relevant metabolic pathways, and a metabolic pathway map was obtained from the database. Forty-one metabolites were identified as potential LN biomarkers, primarily associated with immune regulation, energy metabolism, intestinal microbial metabolism, renal damage, and oxidative stress. The potential for diagnosing LN and other diseases through metabolomics is demonstrated. Future research should explore larger sample sizes, metabolomic comparisons across different diseases and health states, and integration of metabolomics with clinical diagnostics. Such studies will enhance the understanding of metabolomics in medical diagnosis and provide robust support for its practical application.

Strontium doped Fe-based porous carbon for highly efficient electrocatalytic ORR and MOR reactions.

The catalytic activity improvement of Fe-based active sites derived from metal organic frameworks toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) remains a major challenge. In this study, the growth of strontium decorated 2-methylimidazole zinc salt (Sr/ZIF-8) is prepared as a carrier to vapor deposited iron formation Sr doped Fe-based nitrogen-doped carbon framework (named as Sr/FeNC). After high-temperature pyrolysis and vapor deposition, strontium carbonate nanocrystals are evenly dispersed on the shrunk dodecahedron carbon frame and multitudinous Fe-based active catalytic sites are embedded in carbon skeleton. The optimal Sr/FeNC-2 catalyst demonstrates the outstanding ORR performance in terms of a half-wave potential of 0.851 V and an onset potential of 0.90 V, while Sr/FeNC-2 exhibits a high current density of 18.2 mA cm-2 and a lower Tafel slope of 21 mV dec-1 in MOR. The exceptional catalytic activity could be ascribed to the synergistic coupling effect of strontium compounds with Fe-based catalytic sites (Fe-Nx, Fe, and iron oxide). In particular, the formation of SrCO3 affects the bonding configuration of the iron species sites, leading to an optimization of the electronic structure within the multihole carbon matrix. The synthetic approach presents a prospective strategy for future endeavors in developing innovative and advanced bifunctional catalysts for ORR and MOR.

Effects of advanced treatment systems on the removal of antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater treatment plants from Hangzhou, China.

This study aimed at quantifying the concentration and removal of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in three municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) employing different advanced treatment systems [biological aerated filter, constructed wetland, and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection]. The concentrations of tetM, tetO, tetQ, tetW, sulI, sulII, intI1, and 16S rDNA genes were examined in wastewater and biosolid samples. In municipal WWTPs, ARG reductions of 1-3 orders of magnitude were observed, and no difference was found among the three municipal WWTPs with different treatment processes (p > 0.05). In advanced treatment systems, 1-3 orders of magnitude of reductions in ARGs were observed in constructed wetlands, 0.6-1.2 orders of magnitude of reductions in ARGs were observed in the biological aerated filter, but no apparent decrease by UV disinfection was observed. A significant difference was found between constructed wetlands and biological filter (p < 0.05) and between constructed wetlands and UV disinfection (p < 0.05). In the constructed wetlands, significant correlations were observed in the removal of ARGs and 16S rDNA genes (R(2) = 0.391-0.866; p < 0.05). Constructed wetlands not only have the comparable ARG removal values with WWTP (p > 0.05) but also have the advantage in ARG relative abundance removal, and it should be given priority to be an advanced treatment system for further ARG attenuation from WWTP.

A metabonomic study to explore potential markers of asymptomatic hyperuricemia and acute gouty arthritis.

BACKGROUND: Acute gouty arthritis (AGA) is a metabolic disease with acute arthritis as its main manifestation. However, the pathogenesis of asymptomatic hyperuricemia (HUA) to AGA is still unclear, and metabolic markers are needed to early predict and diagnose. In this study, gas chromatography (GC)/liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry (MS) was used to reveal the changes of serum metabolites from healthy people to HUA and then to AGA, and to find the pathophysiological mechanism and biological markers. METHODS: Fifty samples were included in AGA, HUA, and healthy control group, respectively. The metabolites in serum samples were detected by GC/LC-MS. According to the statistics of pairwise grouping, the statistically significant differential metabolites were obtained by the combination of multidimensional analysis and one-dimensional analysis. Search the selected metabolites in KEGG database, determine the involved metabolic pathways, and draw the metabolic pathway map in combination with relevant literature. RESULTS: Using metabonomics technology, 23 different serum metabolic markers related to AGA and HUA were found, mainly related to uric acid metabolism and inflammatory response caused by HUA/AGA. Three of them are completely different from the previous gout studies, nine metabolites with different trends from conventional inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, we analyzed 150 serum samples from AGA, HUA, and healthy control group by GC/LC-MS to explore the changes of these differential metabolites and metabolic pathways, suggesting that the disease progression may involve the changes of biomarkers, which may provide a basis for disease risk prediction and early diagnosis.

Analysis of cumulative outcomes and influencing factors of patients with discrepancies between age and AMH levels in the early follicular phase prolonged protocol.

Objective: To explore the cumulative outcomes and influencing factors of patients with discrepancies between age and Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels in the early follicular phase prolonged protocol. Methods: A total of 1282 cycles of in-vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) assisted pregnancy with the early follicular phase prolonged protocol in the Reproductive Medicine Center of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from September 2015 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. They were divided into the young low-AMH group (n=1076) and the older high-AMH group (n=206). The primary outcomes included cumulative clinical pregnancy rate (CCPR) and cumulative live birth rate (CLBR). Secondary outcomes included the number of oocytes retrieved, number of available embryos, clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), live birth rate (LBR), miscarriage rate (MR), pregnancy complications, and neonatal outcomes. Results: The CPR (68.7% vs. 59.4%) and the LBR (60.7% vs. 43.1%) in the young low-AMH group were higher than those in the older high-AMH group. In contrast, the number of oocytes retrieved (11 vs. 17), number of available embryos (5 vs. 8), and MR (10.6% vs. 18.3%) in the young low-AMH group were lower. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the CCPR, CLBR, pregnancy complications, and neonatal outcomes. Logistic regression analysis showed that infertility duration, basal follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and antral follicle count (AFC) correlated with CCPR, while maternal age, type of infertility, basal FSH, AFC, and infertility duration correlated with CLBR. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) curve for the combined model of infertility duration, AFC, and basal FSH to predict cumulative pregnancy was 0.629 (95%CI:0.592-0.666), while the combined model of maternal age, AFC, basal FSH, infertility duration, and type of infertility to predict cumulative live birth was 0.649 (95%CI:0.615-0.682). Conclusion: Although AMH levels are low by contrast, young patients have a favorable outcome after IVF/ICSI. In patients with discrepancies between age and AMH levels in the early follicular phase prolonged protocol, maternal age correlates better with cumulative live birth. The model that combines maternal age and other factors can help predict cumulative live birth, but its value is limited.

Cross-border Activities Associated With Pattern of Amphetamine-type Stimulants Usage Among Drug Users in Southwest of China.

Cross-border activities are possibly associated with the use of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), this study was to explore poly-substance of ATS use and influencing factors among ATS use populations in southwest China. A cross-sectional study was conducted by response driven and continuous samplings from January to July 2021. Descriptive, univariate and logistic regression were carried out. ATS users accounted for 95.6% of the target population, of whom one-third had cross-border experiences with 4.1% of the cross-border purchase of drugs. ATS users were mainly over 31 years old (53.9%), male (98.7%), minority (79.1%), and unmarried (72.7%). Cross-border users consumed more ketamine (8%) and methamphetamine (40%) (P < .05). After adjusting for socioeconomic-demographic factors, cross-border activity [OR: 0.336 (0.141, 0.799)], occupation [OR: 0.273 (0.080, 0.929)], injecting drug behavior [OR: 6.239 (1. 087, 35.811)], frequency [OR: 0.251 (0.073, 0.859)], and ATS use location [OR: 2.915 (1.040, 8.168)] were possible factors influencing ATS use patterns (P < .05). Cross-border activity may be associated with polydrug use, especially predominantly methamphetamine use, among ATS users along the Southwest border. It implied that the focus of drug prevention and control in border areas should be on cross-border populations.

Boosting activity on copper functionalized biomass graphene by coupling nanocrystalline Nb2O5 as impressive rate capability for supercapacitor and outstanding catalytic activity for oxygen reduction.

A novel and hierarchical porous but cross-linked copper-doped biomass graphene (Cu@HPBG) combined with Nb2O5 (denoted as Nb2O5/Cu@HPBG) is successfully fabricated on a large-scale using fig peels as biomass carbon and copper as the graphitization catalyst. During the synthesis process, basic copper carbonate serves dual functions of pore-forming agent, as well as homogeneous copper provider, and NH3 is employed as a defect-forming agent and N dopant. Owing to the porous hierarchical structure increased availability of contact interface and pseudo capacitance active sites provided by copper and Nb2O5, the assembled asymmetrical supercapacitor (ASC) employing Nb2O5/Cu@HPBG as positive electrode and HPBG as negative electrode can not only widen the stability window range of 0～1.9 V, but also deliver a maximum gravimetric energy density of 82.8 W h kg-1 at the power density of 950.0 W kg-1 and maintain a remarkable cycling stability of 97.1% after 15,000 cycles. Impressively, due to the synergistic enhancement of Cu@HPBG and Nb2O5, the resulting Nb2O5/Cu@HPBG hybrid displays more positive half wave potential (∼0.85 V) and a long-life stability than Pt/C electrode toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Our research provides a feasible strategy to fabricate renewable biomass graphene electroactive composites for large-scale supercapacitor electrodes and efficient ORR catalysts toward energy applications.

Effects of chromosomal translocation characteristics on fertilization and blastocyst development - a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of different translocation characteristics on fertilization rate and blastocyst development in chromosomal translocation patients. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study was conducted at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University From January 2017 to December 2022.All couples were diagnosed as reciprocal translocation or Robertsonian translocation by karyotype of peripheral blood lymphocytes test. After adjusting for confounding factors, the effect of chromosomal rearrangement characteristics, such as carrier sex, translocation type, chromosome length and break sites, on fertilization rate and embryo development were analysed separately using multiple linear regression. RESULTS: In cases of Robertsonian translocation (RobT), the carrier sex plays an independent role in fertilization rate, and the male carriers was lower than that of female carriers (76.16% vs.86.26%, P = 0.009). In reciprocal translocation (RecT), the carrier sex, chromosome types and break sites had no influence on fertilization rate, blastocyst formation rate (P > 0.05). However, patients with human longer chromosomal (chromosomes 1-5) translocation have a lower available blastocyst formation rate (Group AB vs. Group CD: 41.49%vs.46.01%, P = 0.027). For male carriers, the translocation types was an independent factor affecting the fertilization rate, and the RobT was the negative one (B = - 0.075, P = 0 0.009). In female carriers, we did not observe this difference (P = 0.227). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with chromosomal translocation, the fertilization rate may be influenced by carrier sex and translocation type, chromosomes 1-5 translocation may adversely affect the formation of available blastocysts. Break sites have no role in fertilization and blastocyst development.

Synergistic catalytic enhancement of metal-organic framework derived nanoarchitectures decorated on graphene as a high-efficiency bifunctional electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction.

Designing highly efficient, long-lasting, and cost-effective cathodic and anodic functional materials as a bifunctional electrocatalyst is essential for overcoming the bottleneck in fuel cell development. Herein, a novel two-step synthesis strategy is developed to synthesize metal-organic framework (MOF) derived nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) with improved spatial isolation and a higher loading amount of cobalt (Co) and nickel carbide (Ni3C) nanocrystal decorated on graphene (denoted as Co@NC-Ni3C/G). Benefiting from multiple active sites of high N-doping level, uniform dispersion of Co and Ni3C nanocrystals, and a large active area of graphene, the Co@NC-Ni3C/G hybrids exhibit excellent methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) efficiency in an alkaline environment. For MOR, the optimized Co@NC-Ni3C/G-350 catalyst achieved a current density of 44.8 mA cm-2 at an applied potential of 1.47 V (V vs. RHE), which is significantly higher than Co@NC-Ni3C (42.07 mA cm-2) and Co@NC (24.1 mA cm-2) in 0.5 M methanol + 1.0 M KOH solutions. In addition, during the CO retention test, the Co@NC-Ni3C/G-350 catalyst exhibits excellent CO tolerance capacity. Excitingly, the as-prepared Co@NC-Ni3C/G-350 hybrid exhibits significantly improved ORR catalytic efficiency in terms of positive onset and half-wave potential (Eonset = 0.90 V, E1/2 = 0.830 V vs. RHE), small Tafel slope (34 mV dec-1) and excellent durability (only reduced 0.016 V after 5000 s test). This work provides new insights into MOF-derived functional nanomaterials for anode and cathode co-catalysts for methanol fuel cells.

[The expression of semaphorins in synovial tissue of knee joint in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is increased and positively correlated with clinical inflammatory markers].

Objective To investigate the expression level of semaphorin 3C (SEMA3C) and semaphorin 3F (SEMA3F) in synovial tissue of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to analyze its correlation with clinical inflammatory markers and its clinical application value. Methods Knee joint synovial tissue specimens of 8 patients with RA and 8 patients with osteoarthritis (OA) were studied. The expression and distribution of SEMA3C, SEMA3F and tyrosine hydrogenase (TH) in synovial tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. The mRNA and protein expression levels of SEMA3C and SEMA3F in synovial tissue were detected by real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot respectively. The correlations of SEMA3C and SEMA3F expression levels with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA), platelet count (PLT), plateletcrit (PCT), mean platelet volume (MPV), and platelet distribution width (PDW) were analyzed by Pearson method. Results Compared with those in synovial tissue of patients with OA, the distribution of SEMA3C and SEMA3F in synovial tissue of patients with RA was more extensive, while the expression of TH decreased. SEMA3C and SEMA3F mRNA and protein expressions in synovial tissue of patients with RA increased. Protein expression level of SEMA3C was negatively correlated with MPV and positively correlated with RF; protein expression level of SEMA3F was positively correlated with ESR and negatively correlated with PDW. Conclusion SEMA3C and SEMA3F are highly expressed in synovial tissue of patients with RA and correlated with the clinical inflammatory markers, which is expected to provide reference for the clinical evaluation of disease progression.

Chrysanthemum-like FeS/Ni3S2 heterostructure nanoarray as a robust bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting.

The development of a scalable strategy to prepare highly efficient and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts is the key to industrial electrocatalytic water splitting cycles to produce clean hydrogen. Here, a simple and quick one-step hydrothermal method was used to successfully fabricate a three-dimensional core chrysanthemum-like FeS/Ni3S2 heterogeneous nanoarray (FeS/Ni3S2@NF) on a porous nickel foam skeleton. Compared with the monomer Ni3S2@NF, the chrysanthemum-like FeS/ Ni3S2@NF heterostructure nanomaterials have improved catalytic performance in alkaline media, showing low overpotentials of 192 mV (η10) and 130 mV (η-10) for OER and HER, respectively. This study attests that integrated interface engineering and precise morphology control are effective strategies for activating the Ni3+/Ni2+ coupling, promoting charge transfer and improving the intrinsic activity of the material to accelerate the OER reaction kinetics and promote the overall water splitting performance. The scheme can be reasonably applied to the design and development of transition metal sulfide-based electrocatalysts to put into industrial practice of electrochemical water oxidation.

Lexicon and attention-based named entity recognition for kiwifruit diseases and pests: A Deep learning approach.

Named Entity Recognition (NER) is a crucial step in mining information from massive agricultural texts, which is required in the construction of many knowledge-based agricultural support systems, such as agricultural technology question answering systems. The vital domain characteristics of Chinese agricultural text cause the Chinese NER (CNER) in kiwifruit diseases and pests to suffer from the insensitivity of common word segmentation tools to kiwifruit-related texts and the feature extraction capability of the sequence encoding layer being challenged. In order to alleviate the above problems, effectively mine information from kiwifruit-related texts to provide support for agricultural support systems such as agricultural question answering systems, this study constructed a novel Chinese agricultural NER (CANER) model KIWINER by statistics-based new word detection and two novel modules, AttSoftlexicon (Criss-cross attention-based Softlexicon) and PCAT (Parallel connection criss-cross attention), proposed in this paper. Specifically, new words were detected to improve the adaptability of word segmentation tools to kiwifruit-related texts, thereby constructing a kiwifruit lexicon. The AttSoftlexicon integrates word information into the model and makes full use of the word information with the help of Criss-cross attention network (CCNet). And the PCAT improves the feature extraction ability of sequence encoding layer through CCNet and parallel connection structure. The performance of KIWINER was evaluated on four datasets, namely KIWID (Self-annotated), Boson, ClueNER, and People's Daily, which achieved optimal F1-scores of 88.94%, 85.13%, 80.52%, and 92.82%, respectively. Experimental results in many aspects illustrated that methods proposed in this paper can effectively improve the recognition effect of kiwifruit diseases and pests named entities, especially for diseases and pests with strong domain characteristics.