Effect of older adults willingness on telemedicine usage: an integrated approach based on technology acceptance and decomposed theory of planned behavior model.

BACKGROUND: Telemedicine, as a novel method of health management system, has demonstrated to have a significant impact on health levels. However, a challenge persists in the form of low usage rates and acceptance among older adults in China. There are accumulating evidence that willingness will affect the telemedicine usage among older adults. This study investigates factors influencing older users' trust in adopting telemedicine technology, thereby promoting actual use. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted with 400 urban seniors aged 60 and above. Drawing from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB), the author combines elements such as Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Subjective Norms, Service Environment, Self-Efficacy, Behavioral Intention to Use, and Usage Behavior. The aim is to explore the interrelationships between these factors. RESULTS: Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Service Environment (SE) significantly and positively impact Behavioral Intention (BI) to use telemedicine, with Trust (TR) identified as a crucial mediating variable. Enhancing trust can substantially increase older adults' intention to use telemedicine services. Furthermore, the study reveals a significant relationship between older adults' trust in telemedicine and factors such as Perceived Usefulness (PU), Service Environment (SE), Subjective Norms (SR), as well as Emotional Risk (ER) and Cost Risk (CR), the latter two tending to decrease Trust(TR). CONCLUSIONS: This paper constructs and validates a combined model based on TAM and DTPB, comprehensively exploring the potential factors influencing the older adults' intention to use telemedicine. The findings suggest that telemedicine services for older adults should prioritize improving user perception and enhancing trust throughout the service process to effectively increase their willingness to use these services.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in SEPALLATA 2 underlie fruit length variation in cucurbits.

Complete disruption of critical genes is generally accompanied by severe growth and developmental defects, which dramatically hinder its utilization in crop breeding. Identifying subtle changes, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), in critical genes that specifically modulate a favorable trait is a prerequisite to fulfill breeding potential. Here, we found two SNPs in the E-class floral organ identity gene cucumber (Cucumis sativus) SEPALLATA2 (CsSEP2) that specifically regulate fruit length. Haplotype (HAP) 1 (8G2667A) and HAP2 (8G2667T) exist in natural populations, whereas HAP3 (8A2667T) is induced by ethyl methanesulfonate mutagenesis. Phenotypic characterization of four near-isogenic lines and a mutant line showed that HAP2 fruits are significantly longer than those of HAP1, and those of HAP3 are 37.8% longer than HAP2 fruit. The increasing fruit length in HAP1-3 was caused by a decreasing inhibitory effect on CRABS CLAW (CsCRC) transcription (a reported positive regulator of fruit length), resultinged in enhanced cell expansion. Moreover, a 7638G/A-SNP in melon (Cucumis melo) CmSEP2 modulates fruit length in a natural melon population via the conserved SEP2-CRC module. Our findings provide a strategy for utilizing essential regulators with pleiotropic effects during crop breeding.

In Situ Polymerized Zwitterionic Copolymer Ionic Gel Electrolytes with High Performance for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Gel electrolytes are a promising research direction due to their high safety. However, its poor room temperature conductivity along with complex preparation process hinder its practical application. In this article, a type of zwitterionic gel electrolyte is prepared by in situ polymerization. The introduction of charged but nonmigrating zwitterionic copolymer in the polymer chain is beneficial to the dissociation of the lithium salt, improving the ion transport of the electrolyte on this account. At room temperature, the conductivity of lithium ion reaches 9.1 × 10-4 S cm-1, which contributes to achieve excellent electrochemical performance at high rates. The assembled Li|LiFePO4 cell also shows a capacity retention rate of 90.5% after 150 cycles at 0.5 C at room temperature as well as remarkable cycle stability at 1 C. These offer a novel tactic for the efficient and safe commercial application of lithium-ion batteries.

A Staggered Vane-Shaped Slot-Line Slow-Wave Structure for W-Band Dual-Sheet Electron-Beam-Traveling Wave Tubes.

A staggered vane-shaped slot-line slow-wave structure (SV-SL SWS) for application in W-band traveling wave tubes (TWTs) is proposed in this article. In contrast to the conventional slot-line SWSs with dielectric substrates, the proposed SWS consists only of a thin metal sheet inscribed with periodic grooves and two half-metal enclosures, which means it can be easily manufactured and assembled and has the potential for mass production. This SWS not only solves the problem of the dielectric loading effect but also improves the heat dissipation capability of such structures. Meanwhile, the SWS design presented here covers a -15 dB S11 frequency range from 87.5 to 95 GHz. The 3-D simulation for a TWT based on the suggested SWS is also investigated. Under dual-electron injection conditions with a total voltage of 17.2 kV and a total current of 0.3 A, the maximum output power at 90 GHz is 200 W, with a 3 dB bandwidth up to 4 GHz. With a good potential for fabrication using microfabrication techniques, this structure can be a good candidate for millimeter-wave TWT applications.

Weak Solvation Chemistry in Fluorinated Nonflammable Electrolytes Achieves Stable Cycling in High-Voltage Lithium Metal Batteries.

High-voltage (>4.35 V) lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese batteries are star candidates due to their higher energy density for next-generation power batteries. This poses higher demands for electrolyte design, including compatibility with lithium metals, stability on high-voltage cathodes, speedy interfacial ion transport kinetics, and appropriate concentration. However, electrolytes at the current level of research struggle to balance these demands. Here, we took advantage of the reduced affinity with Li+ and enhanced oxidative stability of three fluorinated linear carbonates to design a series of weakly solvating electrolytes (WSEs) at a low salt concentration of 1 M, which contain abundant ionic cluster structures, leading to the optimization of interfacial chemistry. As a result, WSEs can support the stable cycling of 4.6 V high-voltage Li||NCM811 cells for 300 cycles with a capacity retention of nearly 80%. Moreover, benefiting from the lower desolvation energy of Li+, WSEs achieve superior cycling stability and low polarization under -20 °C. Our work extends the application of WSEs for high-voltage LMBs, providing a promising solution in electrolytes for high-specific-energy lithium batteries.

A Room Temperature Trimethylamine Gas Sensor Based on Electrospinned Molybdenum Oxide Nanofibers/Ti3C2Tx MXene Heterojunction.

The combination of two-dimensional material MXene and one-dimensional metal oxide semiconductor can improve the carrier transmission rate, which can effectively improve sensing performance. We prepared a trimethylamine gas sensor based on MoO3 nanofibers and layered Ti3C2Tx MXene. Using electrospinning and chemical etching methods, one-dimensional MoO3 nanofibers and two-dimensional Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets were prepared, respectively, and the composites were characterized via XPS, SEM, and TEM. The Ti3C2Tx MXene-MoO3 composite material exhibits excellent room-temperature response characteristics to trimethylamine gas, showing high response (up to four for 2 ppm trimethylamine gas) and rapid response-recovery time (10 s/7 s). Further, we have studied the possible sensitivity mechanism of the sensor. The Ti3C2Tx MXene-MoO3 composite material has a larger specific surface area and more abundant active sites, combined with p-n heterojunction, which effectively improves the sensitivity of the sensor. Because of its low detection limit and high stability, it has the potential to be applied in the detection system of trimethylamine as a biomarker in exhaled air.

Improving Fast-Charging Capability of High-Voltage Spinel LiNi0.5 Mn1.5 O4 Cathode under Long-Term Cyclability through Co-Doping Strategy.

Co-free spinel LiNi0.5 Mn1.5 O4 (LNMO) is emerging as a promising contender for designing next generation high-energy-density and fast-charging Li-ion batteries, due to its high operating voltage and good Li+ diffusion rate. However, further improvement of the Li+ diffusion ability and simultaneous resolution of Mn dissolution still pose significant challenges for their practical application. To tackle these challenges, a simple co-doping strategy is proposed. Compared to Pure-LNMO, the extended lattice in resulting LNMO-SbF sample provides wider Li+ migration channels, ensuring both enhanced Li+ transport kinetics, and lower energy barrier. Moreover, Sb creating structural pillar and stronger TM─F bond together provides a stabilized spinel structure, which stems from the suppression of detrimental irreversible phase transformation during cycling related to Mn dissolution. Benefiting from the synergistic effect, the LNMO-SbF material exhibits a superior reversible capacity (111.4 mAh g-1 at 5C, and 70.2 mAh g-1 after 450 cycles at 10C) and excellent long-term cycling stability at high current density (69.4% capacity retention at 5C after 1000 cycles). Furthermore, the LNMO-SbF//graphite full cell delivers an exceptional retention rate of 96.9% after 300 cycles, and provides a high energy density at 3C even with a high loading. This work provides valuable insight into the design of fast-charging cathode materials for future high energy density lithium-ion batteries.

Sb4O5I2: Enhancing Birefringence through Optimization of Sb/I Ratio for Alignment of Stereochemically Active Lone Pairs.

Birefringent crystals are the key components of functional optics, contributing significantly to scientific and technological advancements. To enhance birefringence, the presence of stereochemically active lone pairs offers a unique opportunity. In fact, strengthening the stereochemical activity and aligning uniformly lone pairs face tough challenges. Herein, an anisotropic layered crystal, Sb4O5I2, is discovered to exhibit enhanced birefringence. The influence of crystal symmetry on the birefringence of Sb4O5X2 (X = Cl, Br, or I) is found to be minor. Instead, the asymmetric nature of ABUCBs (i.e., cis-X3[SbO3]6- and cis-X3[SbO4]8-) plays a crucial role in enhancing the optical anisotropy. And the orientation of these ABUCBs is equally important. We demonstrate that by adjusting the Sb/I ratio from 5:1 to 2:1, all of the intralayer Sb atoms in Sb5O7I-P63 are forced onto the surface position. This structural adjustment leads to strengthened ionic bonding interactions, enhanced activity of the lone pairs, and uniform alignments of the ABUCBs in Sb4O5I2. Consequently, this results in a 6-fold increase in birefringence.

Cancer stem cells and angiogenesis.

Cancer remains the primary cause of mortality in developed nations. Although localized tumors can be effectively addressed through surgery, radiotherapy, and other targeted methods, drug efficacy often wanes in the context of metastatic diseases. As a result, significant efforts are being made to develop drugs capable of not only inhibiting tumor growth but also impeding the metastasis of malignant tumors, with a focus on hindering their migration to adjacent organs. Cancer stem cells metastasize via blood and lymphatic vessels, exhibiting a high mutation rate, significant variability, and a predisposition to drug resistance. In contrast, endothelial cells, being less prone to mutation, are less likely to give rise to drug-resistant clones. Furthermore, the direct contact of circulating anti-angiogenic drugs with vascular endothelial cells expedites their therapeutic impact. Hence, anti-angiogenesis targeted therapy assumes a pivotal role in cancer treatment. This paper provides a succinct overview of the molecular mechanisms governing the interaction between cancer stem cells and angiogenesis.

Electrochemical Enhancement of Lithium-Ion Diffusion in Polypyrrole-Modified Sulfurized Polyacrylonitrile Nanotubes for Solid-to-Solid Free-Standing Lithium-Sulfur Cathodes.

The energy density of lithium-sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (Li-SPAN) batteries has chronically suffered from low sulfur content. Although a free-standing electrode can significantly reduce noncapacity mass contribution, the slow bulk reaction kinetics still constrain the electrochemical performance. In this regard, a novel electrochemically active additive, polypyrrole (PPy), is introduced to construct PAN nanotubes as a sulfur carrier. This hollow channel greatly facilitates charge transport within the electrode and increases the sulfur content. Both electrochemical tests and simulations show that the SPANPPy-1% cathode possesses a larger lithium-ion diffusion coefficient and a more homogeneous phase interface than the SPAN cathode. Consequently, significantly improved capabilities and rate properties are achieved, as well as decent exportations under high-sulfur-loading or lean-electrolyte conditions. In-situ and semi-situ characterizations are further performed to demonstrate the nucleation growth of lithium sulfide and the evolution of the electrode surface structure. This type of electrochemically active additive provides a well-supported implementation of high-energy-density Li-S batteries.

Performance analysis of two typical greenhouse lettuce production systems: commercial hydroponic production and traditional soil cultivation.

Introduction: Due to the shortage of land and water resource, optimization of systems for production in commercial greenhouses is essential for sustainable vegetable supply. The performance of lettuce productivity and the economic benefit in greenhouses using a soil-based system (SBS) and a hydroponic production system (HPS) were compared in this study. Methods: Experiments were conducted in two identical greenhouses over two growth cycles (G1 and G2). Three treatments of irrigation volumes (S1, S2, and S3) were evaluated for SBS while three treatments of nutrient solution concentration (H1, H2, and H3) were evaluated for HPS; the optimal levels from each system were then compared. Results and discussion: HPS was more sensitive to the effects of environmental temperature than SBS because of higher soil buffer capacity. Compared with SBS, higher yield (more than 134%) and higher water productivity (more than 50%) were observed in HPS. We detected significant increases in ascorbic acid by 28.31% and 16.67% and in soluble sugar by 57.84% and 32.23% during G1 and G2, respectively, compared with SBS. However, nitrate accumulated in HPS-grown lettuce. When the nutrient solution was replaced with fresh water 3 days before harvest, the excess nitrate content of harvested lettuce in HPS was removed. The initial investment and total operating cost in HPS were 21.76 times and 47.09% higher than those in SBS, respectively. Consideration of agronomic, quality, and economic indicators showed an overall optimal performance of the H2 treatment. These findings indicated that, in spite of its higher initial investment and requirement of advanced technology and management, HPS was more profitable than SBS for commercial lettuce production.

Genome-Wide Analysis of Exocyst Complex Subunit Exo70 Gene Family in Cucumber.

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an important vegetable worldwide, but its yield is affected by a wide range of pathogens and pests. As the major subunit of the exocyst complex, the roles of Exo70 members have been shown in Arabidopsis and rice, but their function are unknown in cucumber. Here, we identified 18 CsExo70 members in cucumber, which were divided into three groups (Exo70.1-Exo70.3) and nine subgroups (Exo70A-Exo70I) based on the phylogenetic tree. Subsequently, systematical analyses were performed, including collinearity, gene structure, cis-acting elements, conserved motifs, expression patterns, and subcellular localization. Our results showed that CsExo70 genes were generally expressed in all tissues, and CsExo70C1 and CsExo70C2 were highly expressed in the stamen. Moreover, the expression levels of most CsExo70 genes were induced by Pseudomonas syringae pv. lachrymans (Psl) and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum Owen (Foc), especially CsExo70E2 and CsExo70H3. In addition, these CsExo70s displayed similar location patterns with discrete and punctate signals in the cytoplasm. Together, our results indicate that CsExo70 members may be involved in plant development and resistance, and provide a reference for future in-depth studies of Exo70 genes in cucumber.

Birefringence Regulation by Clarifying the Relationship Between Stereochemically Active Lone Pairs and Optical Anisotropy in Tin-based Ternary Halides.

It is important to establish and clarify the relationship between stereochemically active lone pairs and birefringence, since it is one of the significantly effective routes to explore birefringent crystals by introducing Sn-centered polyhedra with stereochemically active lone pairs. Herein, four tin(II)-based ternary halides A3 SnCl5 and ASn2 Cl5 (A=NH4 and Rb) have been synthesized successfully. The experimental birefringence of Rb3 SnCl5 and RbSn2 Cl5 is larger than or equal to 0.046 and 0.123@546 nm, respectively. Through investigating the alkali or alkaline-earth metal tin(II)-based ternary halides, the structure-performance relationship has been concluded between stereochemically active lone pairs and optical anisotropy. It is beneficial to the analysis and prediction of birefringence in tin-based halides and provides a guide for exploring tin(II)-based optoelectronic functional materials.

A Metal-Organic Framework Based Quasi-Solid-State Electrolyte Enabling Continuous Ion Transport for High-Safety and High-Energy-Density Lithium Metal Batteries.

Solid-state lithium metal batteries are promising next-generation rechargeable energy storage systems. However, the poor compatibility of the electrode/electrolyte interface and the low lithium ion conductivity of solid-state electrolytes are key issues hindering the practicality of solid-state electrolytes. Herein, rational designed metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with the incorporation of two types of ionic liquids (ILs) are fabricated as quasi-solid electrolytes. The obtained MOF-IL electrolytes offer continuous ion transport channels with the functional sulfonic acid groups serving as lithium ion hopping sites, which accelerate the Li+ transport both in the bulk and at the interfaces. The quasi-solid MOF-IL electrolytes exhibit competitive ionic conductivities of over 3.0 × 10-4 S cm-1 at room temperature, wide electrochemical windows over 5.2 V, and good interfacial compatibility, together with greatly enhanced Li+ transference numbers compared to the bare IL electrolyte. Consequently, the assembled quasi-solid Li metal batteries show either superior stability at low C rates or improved rate performance, related to the species of ILs. Overall, the quasi-solid MOF-IL electrolytes possess great application potential in high-safety and high-energy-density lithium metal batteries.

An Angular Radial Extended Interaction Amplifier at the W Band.

In this paper, an angular radial extended interaction amplifier (AREIA) that consists of a pair of angular extended interaction cavities is proposed. Both the convergence angle cavity and the divergence angle cavity, which are designed for the converging beam and diverging beam, respectively, are investigated to present the potential of the proposed AREIA. They are proposed and explored to improve the beam-wave interaction capability of W-band extended interaction klystrons (EIKs). Compared to conventional radial cavities, the angular cavities have greatly decreased the ohmic loss area and increased the characteristic impedance. Compared to the sheet beam (0°) cavity, it has been found that the convergence angle cavity has a higher effective impedance and the diverging beam has a weaker space-charge effect under the same ideal electron beam area; the advantages become more obvious as the propagation distance increases. Particle-in-cell (PIC) results have shown that the diverging beam (8°) EIA performs better at an output power of 94 GHz under the condition of lossless, while the converging beam (-2°) EIA has a higher output power of 6.24 kW under the conditions of ohmic loss, an input power of 0.5 W, and an ideal electron beam of 20.5 kV and 1.5 A. When the loss increases and the beam current decreases, the output power of the -2° EIA can be improved by nearly 30% compared to the 0° EIA, and the -2° EIA has a greatly improved beam-wave interaction capacity than conventional EIAs under those conditions. In addition, an angular radial electron gun is designed.

CsTRM5 regulates fruit shape via mediating cell division direction and cell expansion in cucumber.

Fruit shape and size are important appearance and yield traits in cucumber, but the underlying genes and their regulatory mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we identified a mutant with spherical fruits from an Ethyl Methane Sulfonate (EMS)-mutagenized library, named the qiu mutant. Compared with the cylindrical fruit shape in 32X (wild type), the fruit shape in qiu was round due to reduced fruit length and increased fruit diameter. MutMap analysis narrowed the candidate gene in the 6.47 MB range on Chr2, harboring the FS2.1 locus reported previously. A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (11359603) causing a truncated protein of CsaV3_2G013800, the homolog of tomato fruit shape gene SlTRM5, may underlie the fruit shape variation in the qiu mutant. Knockout of CsTRM5 by the CRISPR-Cas9 system confirmed that CsaV3_2G013800/CsTRM5 was the causal gene responsible for qiu. Sectioning analysis showed that the spherical fruit in qiu resulted mainly from increased and reduced cell division along the transverse and longitudinal directions, respectively. Meanwhile, the repressed cell expansion contributed to the decreased fruit length in qiu. Transcriptome profiling showed that the expression levels of cell-wall-related genes and abscisic acid (ABA) pathway genes were significantly upregulated in qiu. Hormone measurements indicated that ABA content was greatly increased in the qiu mutant. Exogenous ABA application reduced fruit elongation by inhibiting cell expansion in cucumber. Taken together, these data suggest that CsTRM5 regulates fruit shape by affecting cell division direction and cell expansion, and that ABA participates in the CsTRM5-mediated cell expansion during fruit elongation in cucumber.

Integrated proteomic and phosphoproteomic analysis for characterization of colorectal cancer.

Proteins and translationally modified proteins like phosphoproteins have essential regulatory roles in tumorigenesis. This study attempts to elucidate the dysregulated proteins driving colorectal cancer (CRC). To explore the differential proteins, we performed iTRAQ labeling proteomics and TMT labeling phosphoproteomics analysis of CRC tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues. The functions of quantified proteins were analyzed using Gene Ontology (GO), the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Subcellular localization analysis. Depending on the results, we identified 330 differential proteins and 82 phosphoproteins in CRC. GO and KEGG analyses demonstrated that protein changes were primarily associated with regulating biological and metabolic processes through binding to other molecules. Co-expression relationships between proteomic and phosphoproteomic analysis revealed that TMC5, SMC4, SLBP, VSIG2, and NDRG2 were significantly dysregulated differential proteins. Additionally, based on the predicted co-expression proteins, we identified that the stem-loop binding protein (SLBP) was up-regulated in CRC cells and promoted the proliferation and migration of CRC. This study reports an integrated proteomic and phosphoproteomic analysis of CRC to discern the functional impact of protein alterations and provides a candidate diagnostic biomarker or therapeutic target for CRC. SIGNIFICANCE: Combining one or more high-throughput omics technologies with bioinformatics to analyze biological samples and explore the links between biomolecules and their functions can provide more comprehensive and multi-level insights for disease mechanism research. Proteomics, phosphoproteomics, metabolomics and their combined analysis play an important role in the auxiliary diagnosis, the discovery of biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets for colorectal cancer. In this integrated proteomic and phosphoproteomic analysis, we identified proteins and phosphoproteins in colorectal cancer tissue and analyzed potential mechanisms contributing to progression in colorectal cancer. The results of this study provide a foundation to focus future experiments on the contribution of altered protein and phosphorylation patterns to prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer.

Noncentrosymmetric versus Centrosymmetric: Halogen Induced Variable Coordination Modes of Sn2+ and Structural Transition in Sn3B3O7X (X = Cl and Br).

Two new borate halides, Sn3B3O7X (X = Cl and Br), were successfully synthesized via introducing Sn2+ with lone-pair and halogen into borate. Interestingly, halogen-induced variable coordination modes of Sn2+ and anion frameworks make them crystallize in different space groups, from noncentrosymmetric (Pna21) to centrosymmetric (Pbca). Sn3B3O7Cl possesses an SHG response of about 0.5 times that of KDP, while Sn3B3O7Br exhibits a large birefringence (0.123@1064 nm). The theoretical calculations were performed to elucidate the structure-property relationships.

Elucidating host cell response pathways and repurposing therapeutics for SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses.

COVID-19, first reported in late 2019, is an ongoing pandemic that has been causing devastation across the globe. Although there are multiple vaccines that can prevent severe symptoms, effective COVID-19 therapeutics are still of importance. Using our proprietary in silico engine, we screened more than 22,000 unique compounds represented by over half a million gene expression profiles to uncover compounds that can be repurposed for SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses in a timely and cost-efficient manner. We then tested 13 compounds in vitro and found three with potency against SARS-CoV-2 with reasonable cytotoxicity. Bortezomib and homoharringtonine are some of the most promising hits with IC50 of 1.39 µM and 0.16 µM, respectively for SARS-CoV-2. Tanespimycin and homoharringtonine were effective against the common cold coronaviruses. In-depth analysis highlighted proteasome, ribosome, and heat shock pathways as key targets in modulating host responses during viral infection. Further studies of these pathways and compounds have provided novel and impactful insights into SARS-CoV-2 biology and host responses that could be further leveraged for COVID-19 therapeutics development.