Environmental protection measures mitigate Pb but not Cd accumulation in soils: Evidence from a 49-year soil chronosequence in an industrial and mining city in Southwest China.

To address severe soil Pb and Cd contamination from anthropogenic activities, governments have implemented various environmental management measures. However, the extent to which these measures have constrained Pb and Cd accumulation in industrial and mining city soils remains unclear. Here, we investigated Pb and Cd accumulation patterns in soils of Panzhihua City, Southwest China, and determined their dominant anthropogenic drivers using Pb and Cd isotopes. Pb accumulation initially slowed and then increased, while Cd showed a continuous acceleration. Traffic and coal-burning power generation were the dominant anthropogenic forcings for Pb and Cd accumulation in the soils, respectively. Environmental protection measures, particularly the ban on leaded gasoline, significantly reduced Pb accumulation by decreasing traffic-related Pb contributions to soils from 1980 to 2008. However, environmental management measures could not practically mitigate Cd accumulation in the soils owing to the high Cd content in consumed coal, poor efficiency of air pollutant control measures, and steep rise in coal-burning power generation. This study thus indicates the criticality of controlling Cd emissions from thermal power generation. Additionally, the challenges faced by small industrial and mining cities during economic transformation and environmental policy implementation warrant more attention.

Fungal community determines soil multifunctionality during vegetation restoration in metallic tailing reservoir.

Microorganisms are pivotal in sustaining soil functions, yet the specific contributions of bacterial and fungal succession on the functions during vegetation restoration in metallic tailing reservoirs remains elusive. Here, we explored bacterial and fungal succession and their impacts on soil multifunctionality along a ∼50-year vegetation restoration chronosequence in China's largest vanadium titano-magnetite tailing reservoir. We found a significant increase in soil multifunctionality, an index comprising factors pertinent to soil fertility and microbially mediated nutrient cycling, along the chronosequence. Despite increasing heavy metal levels, both bacterial and fungal communities exhibited significant increase in richness and network complexity over time. However, fungi demonstrated a slower succession rate and more consistent composition than bacteria, indicating their relatively higher resilience to environmental changes. Soil multifunctionality was intimately linked to bacterial and fungal richness or complexity. Nevertheless, when scrutinizing both richness and complexity concurrently, the correlations disappeared for bacteria but remained robust for fungi. This persistence reveals the critical role of the fungal community resilience in sustaining soil multifunctionality, particularly through their stable interactions with powerful core taxa. Our findings highlight the importance of fungal succession in enhancing soil multifunctionality during vegetation restoration in metallic tailing reservoirs, and manipulating fungal community may expedite ecological recovery of areas polluted with heavy metals.

Small airway dysfunction links asthma exacerbations with asthma control and health-related quality of life.

BACKGROUND: Small airway dysfunction not only affects asthma control, but also has adverse effects on the psychological and/or social activities of asthma patients. However, few long-term observational studies have explored the complex relationship between small airway dysfunction and asthma control and health-related quality of life in patients with asthma exacerbations. METHODS: The study recruited 223 patients with exacerbations of asthma (i.e. those with at least one asthma attack over the past year) and 228 patients without exacerbations of asthma (i.e. those without asthma attacks over the past year). We evaluated SAD in patients with asthma exacerbations using impulse oscillometry method. At each evaluation time point within one year of follow-up, the attending physician conducts a case investigation of the patients. We analyzed the correlation between SAD and general characteristics (age, obesity, smoking history), type 2 inflammation (blood eosinophils, exhaled nitric oxide), FEV1, as well as asthma control (ACT) and health-related quality of life (mini-AQLQ) in patients with asthma exacerbations, and constructed a structural equation model to evaluate the causality of these clinical variables. RESULTS: The SAD prevalence in patients with asthma exacerbation is as high as 75%. SAD is connected with poor asthma control and poor health-related quality of life. The structural equation model indicates that age, obesity, FeNO, and FEV1 are independent predictive factors of SAD. SAD is the main determinant factor of asthma control, which in turn affected health-related quality of life. FEV1 and age directly affect asthma control and affect health-related quality of life through asthma control. In addition, there is a bidirectional relationship between FEV1 and small airway dysfunction and between asthma control and health-related quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Small airways are involved from an early stage in asthma. Abnormal function of the small airways can significantly increase airway resistance in asthma patients, while worsening their clinical symptoms. In addition, aging is also a key risk factor for asthma control. Especially, small airway dysfunction links asthma control with health-related quality of life.

Effectiveness and safety of adjuvant treatment of tislelizumab with or without chemotherapy in patients with high-risk upper tract urothelial carcinoma: a retrospective, real-world study.

BACKGROUND: Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is a rare subset of urothelial cancers with poor prognosis. No consensus exists on the benefit of adjuvant immunotherapy for patients with UTUCs after nephroureterectomy with curative intent and the existing studies are limited. Herein, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of adjuvant treatment of tislelizumab with or without chemotherapy in patients with high-risk UTUC. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 63 patients with high-risk UTUC who received tislelizumab with or without gemcitabine-cisplatin (GC) chemotherapy regimen after surgery between January 2020 and December 2022. Data on demographic and clinical characteristics, surgical, outcomes, prognostic factors, and safety were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 63 patients with high-risk UTUC, the median age was 66 years (interquartile range 57-72), with 33 (52%) being male. The majority of patients with staged pT3 (44%) and pN0 (78%) disease. Fifty-one patients (81%) received tislelizumab plus GC chemotherapy, and 12 (19%) were treated with tislelizumab monotherapy. After the median follow-up of 26 months (range 1-47), 49 (78%) patients achieved stable disease. The 2-year disease-free survival (DFS) and 2-year overall survival were 78.68% (95% CI: 60.02-87.07%) and 81.40% (95% CI: 68.76-89.31%), respectively. The cycles of GC chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors for survival, with higher DFS (hazard ratio = 0.68, 95% CI, 0.50-0.93; p = 0.016) observed in the subgroup undergoing ≥ 3 cycles versus < 3 cycles of GC chemotherapy. Fifty-eight patients (92%) experienced at least one treatment-related adverse event (TRAE), with grade 3-4 TRAEs occurring in 13%. The most common grade 3-4 TRAEs were decreased white blood cells, thrombocytopenia, and ulcers. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates promising clinical benefits and a manageable safety profile of the tislelizumab-based adjuvant regimen for patients with high-risk UTUC. This suggests that adjuvant immunotherapy represents a potential therapeutic strategy for this population.

Atomic Structure Amorphization and Electronic Structure Reconstruction of FeCoNiCrMox High-Entropy Alloy Nanoparticles for Highly Efficient Water Oxidation.

The complexity of the multielement interaction in high-entropy alloys (HEAs) may provide more active sites to adapt different catalytic reaction steps in oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Investigating the correlation between structure and performance of HEAs electrocatalysts is both essential and challenging. In this work, FeCoNiCrMox HEA nanoparticles are successfully fabricated utilizing a unique nanofabrication method called inert gas condensation. With the increase of high-valence metal component Mo, the atomic structure amorphization and electronic structure reconstruction are unveiled. According to the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy valence spectra, the d-band center of FeCoNiCrMox is ascending, and thus enhancing the adsorption energy. Synchrotron pair distribution function analysis reflects the degree of structural disorder and reveals a robust correlation with the intrinsic OER activities of the electrocatalysts. FeCoNiCrMo1.0 high-entropy metallic glass nanoparticles exhibit an outstanding OER performance with an ultralow overpotential of 294.5 mV at a high current density of 100 mA cm-2. This work brings fundamental and practical insights into the modulation mechanism of metal components of HEAs catalysts for developing OER.

Paragonimiasis misdiagnosed as liver abscess: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Paragonimiasis is a typical food-borne zoonotic disease. Hosts acquire Paragonimus infection through the ingestion of raw or undercooked crayfish and crab. The clinical manifestations of the disease are varied, and it is often misdiagnosed or missed. The diagnosis of paragonimiasis should be considered comprehensively. Praziquantel is the first choice for treatment, and albendazole can be used in combination with repeated courses in severe cases. CASE SUMMARY: We report a case of liver paragonimiasis that was misdiagnosed as an abscess. The patient presented with fatigue and poor appetite for 2 months, and was diagnosed with liver abscess in the local hospital. After 6 months, the patient visited our hospital because of recurrent abdominal pain and was diagnosed with liver paragonimiasis based on epidemiological history, clinical presentations, and laboratory findings. He was treated with praziquantel (25 mg/kg) three times a day for 3 days; however, the symptoms still presented after treatment. He was treated with oral praziquantel and albendazole for one further course. Follow-up suggested that the treatment was effective and the symptoms improved. CONCLUSION: The combination of albendazole and praziquantel may improve the therapeutic efficacy of paragonimiasis.

Water-Induced Shape-Locking Magnetic Robots.

Untethered magnetic soft robots capable of performing adaptive locomotion and shape reconfiguration open up possibilities for various applications owing to their flexibility. However, magnetic soft robots are typically composed of soft materials with fixed modulus, making them unable to exert or withstand substantial forces, which limits the exploration of their new functionalities. Here, water-induced, shape-locking magnetic robots with magnetically controlled shape change and water-induced shape-locking are introduced. The water-induced phase separation enables these robots to undergo a modulus transition from 1.78 MPa in the dry state to 410 MPa after hydration. Moreover, the body material's inherent self-healing property enables the direct assembly of morphing structures and magnetic soft robots with complicated structures and magnetization profiles. These robots can be delivered through magnetic actuation and perform programmed tasks including supporting, blocking, and grasping by on-demand deformation and subsequent water-induced stiffening. Moreover, a water-stiffening magnetic stent is developed, and its precise delivery and water-induced shape-locking are demonstrated in a vascular phantom. The combination of untethered delivery, on-demand shape change, and water-induced stiffening properties makes the proposed magnetic robots promising for biomedical applications.

Fence-type Molecular Electrocatalysts for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Improving the slow redox kinetics of sulfur species and shuttling issues of soluble intermediates induced from the multiphase sulfur redox reactions are crucial factors for developing the next-generation high-energy-density lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. In this study, we successfully constructed a novel molecular electrocatalyst through in situ polymerization of bis(3,4-dibromobenzene)-18-crown-6 (BD18C6) with polysulfide anions on the cathode interface. The crown ether (CE)-based polymer acts as a spatial "fence" to precisely control the unique redox characteristics of sulfur species, which could confine sulfur substance within its interior and interact with lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) to optimize the reaction barrier of sulfur species. The "fence" structure and the double-sided Li+ penetrability of the CE molecule may also prevent the CE catalytic sites from being covered by sulfur during cycling. This new fence-type electrocatalyst mitigates the "shuttle effect", enhances the redox activity of sulfur species, and promotes the formation of three-dimensional stacked lithium sulfide (Li2S) simultaneously. It thus enables lithium-sulfur batteries to exhibit superior rate performance and cycle stability, which may also inspire development facing analogous multiphase electrochemical energy-efficient conversion process.

A robust ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for simultaneous determination of 10 components in glutathione cycle.

Glutathione (GSH) is an important antioxidant that is generated and degraded via the GSH cycle. Quantification of the main components in the GSH cycle is necessary to evaluate the process of GSH. In this study, a robust ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous quantification of 10 components (GSH; γ-glutamylcysteine; cysteinyl-glycine; n-acetylcysteine; homocysteine; cysteine; cystine; methionine; glutamate; pyroglutamic acid) in GSH cycle was developed. The approach was optimized in terms of derivative, chromatographic, and spectrometric conditions as well as sample preparation. The unstable thiol groups of GSH, γ-glutamylcysteine, cysteinyl-glycine, n-acetylcysteine, cysteine, and homocysteine were derivatized by n-ethylmaleimide. The derivatized and underivatized analytes were separated on an amino column with gradient elution. The method was further validated in terms of selectivity (no interference), linearity (R2 > 0.99), precision (% relative standard deviation [RSD%] range from 0.57 to 10.33), accuracy (% relative error [RE%] range from -3.42 to 10.92), stability (RSD% < 5.68, RE% range from -2.54 to 4.40), recovery (RSD% range from 1.87 to 7.87) and matrix effect (RSD% < 5.42). The validated method was applied to compare the components in the GSH cycle between normal and oxidative stress cells, which would be helpful in clarifying the effect of oxidative stress on the GSH cycle.

Lysine methylation modifications in tumor immunomodulation and immunotherapy: regulatory mechanisms and perspectives.

Lysine methylation is a crucial post-translational modification (PTM) that significantly impacts gene expression regulation. This modification not only influences cancer development directly but also has significant implications for the immune system. Lysine methylation modulates immune cell functions and shapes the anti-tumor immune response, highlighting its dual role in both tumor progression and immune regulation. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the intrinsic role of lysine methylation in the activation and function of immune cells, detailing how these modifications affect cellular processes and signaling pathways. We delve into the mechanisms by which lysine methylation contributes to tumor immune evasion, allowing cancer cells to escape immune surveillance and thrive. Furthermore, we discuss the therapeutic potential of targeting lysine methylation in cancer immunotherapy. Emerging strategies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, are being explored for their efficacy in modulating lysine methylation to enhance anti-tumor immune responses. By targeting these modifications, we can potentially improve the effectiveness of existing treatments and develop novel therapeutic approaches to combat cancer more effectively.

Epithelioid trophoblastic tumor with lung metastasis: A case report and literature review.

RATIONALE: Epithelioid trophoblastic tumor (ETT) is an extremely rare variant of gestational trophoblastic neoplasms (GTNs). The biological behavior and therapeutic schedule of ETT remains to be defined which frequently poses diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Although ETT is a relatively indolent malignancy tumor, the therapeutic efficacy and survival rate decrease significantly when presented with metastases. The lung is the most common site of ETT metastasis. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 39-year-old female patient presented with irregular vaginal bleeding and slight distention pain in lower abdomen. DIAGNOSES: The patient was diagnosed ETT with lung metastasis after surgery and immunohistochemical staining. INTERVENTIONS: A total abdominal hysterectomy plus bilateral salpingectomy and histopathology were performed. The patient received 3 cycles of etoposide, methotrexate, actinomycin-D/etoposide, cisplatin (EMA/EP) regimen chemotherapy after surgery. Due to the presence of lung metastasis, she received pulmonary lesion resection and another cycle of postoperative chemotherapy. OUTCOMES: The patients showed a good response to treatment initially. However, the patient did not complete the full initial treatment for family reasons and had signs of recurrence after 2.5 months. The serum ß-hCG level gradually elevated and the lung imaging showed that the lesion area gradually expanded. After 15 months of follow-up, the patient declined further treatment due to a lack of presenting symptoms. LESSONS: The diagnosis of ETT should be taken into consideration in patients with abnormal vaginal bleeding and low levels of ß-hCG. Patients with metastatic disease should be treated with complete surgical resection and intensive combination chemotherapy to maximize the opportunity for cure. Targeted biological agents might be potential therapeutic strategies for chemotherapy-resistant or recurrent patients.

Soil heavy metal pollution promotes extracellular enzyme production by mediating microbial community structure during vegetation restoration of metallic tailing reservoir.

Vegetation restoration in metallic tailing reservoirs is imperative to restore the post-mining degraded ecosystems. Extracellular enzymes determine microbial resource acquisition in soils, yet the mechanisms controlling the enzyme activity and stoichiometry during vegetation restoration in metallic tailing reservoirs remain elusive. Here, we investigated the variations and drivers of C-, N- and P-acquiring enzymes together with microbial community along a 50-year vegetation restoration chronosequence in the China's largest vanadium titano-magnetite tailing reservoir. We found a parabolic pattern in the enzyme activity and efficiency along the chronosequence, peaking at the middle restoration stage (∼30 years) with approximately six-fold increase relative to the initial 1-year site. The enzyme ratios of C:P and N:P decreased by 33 % and 68 % along the chronosequence, respectively, indicating a higher microbial demand of C and N at the early stage and a higher demand of P at the later stage. Soil nutrients directly determined the enzyme activities and stoichiometry, whereas microbial biomass and community structure regulated the temporal pattern of the enzyme efficiency. Surprisingly, increased heavy metal pollution imposed a positive effect on the enzyme efficiency indirectly by altering microbial community structure. This was evidenced by the increased microbial diversity and the conversion of copiotrophic to oligotrophic and stress-tolerant taxa along the chronosequence. Our findings provide new insights into microbial functioning in soil nutrient dynamics during vegetation restoration under increasing heavy metal pollution.

Metabolic and microbial mechanisms related to the effects of dietary wheat levels on intramuscular fat content in finishing pigs.

The current study aimed to investigate the metabolic and microbial mechanisms behind the effects of dietary wheat levels on intramuscular fat (IMF) content in the psoas major muscle (PM) of finishing pigs. Thirty-six barrows were arbitrarily assigned to two groups and fed with diets containing 25% or 55% wheat. Enhancing dietary wheat levels led to low energy states, resulting in reduced IMF content. This coincided with reduced serum glucose and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. The AMP-activated protein kinase α2/sirtuin 1/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator 1α pathway may be activated by high-wheat diets, causing downregulation of adipogenesis and lipogenesis genes, and upregulation of lipolysis and gluconeogenesis genes. High-wheat diets decreased relative abundance of Lactobacillus and Coprococcus, whereas increased SMB53 proportion, subsequently decreasing colonic propionate content. Microbial glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, d-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism, flagellar assembly, and caprolactam degradation were linked to IMF content. Metabolomic analysis indicated that enhancing dietary wheat levels promoted the protein digestion and absorption and affected amino acids and lipid metabolism. Enhancing dietary wheat levels reduced serum glucose and colonic propionate content, coupled with strengthened amino acid metabolism, contributing to the low energy states. Furthermore, alterations in microbial composition and propionate resulted from high-wheat diets were associated with primary bile acid biosynthesis, arachidonic acid metabolism, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, as well as IMF content. Colonic microbiota played a role in reducing IMF content through modulating the propionate-mediated peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor signaling pathway. In conclusion, body energy and gut microbiota balance collectively influenced lipid metabolism.

Novel antibody-antibiotic conjugate using KRM-1657 as payload eliminates intracellular MRSA in vitro and in vivo.

Staphylococcus aureus is considered to be an extracellular pathogen. However, survival of S.aureus within host cells may cause long-term colonization and clinical failure. Current treatments have poor efficacy in clearing intracellular bacteria. Antibody-antibiotic conjugates (AACs) is a novel strategy for eliminating intracellular bacteria. Herein, we use KRM-1657 as payload of AAC for the first time, and we conjugate it with anti S. aureus antibody via a dipeptide linker (Valine-Alanine) to obtain a novel AAC (ASAK-22). The ASAK-22 exhibits good in vitro pharmacokinetic properties and inhibitory activity against intracellular MRSA, with 100 µg/mL of ASAK-22 capable of eliminating intracellular MRSA to the detection limit. Furthermore, the in vivo results demonstrate that a single administration of ASAK-22 significantly reduces the bacterial burden in the bacteremia model, which is superior to the vancomycin treatment.

Multifunctional protocatechuic acid-polyacrylic acid hydrogel adhesives for wound dressings.

Multifunctional hydrogel adhesives are highly desirable in wound healing applications, yet their preparation often requires complex material system design to achieve. Herein, a straightforward one-pot two-step polymerization method is developed to prepare adhesive hydrogels for wound dressing based on protocatechuic acid (PCA), polyacrylic acid (PAA), and polyamidoamine-epichlorohydrin (PAE), where PCA provides the catechol groups for strong adhesion, PAA serves as the primary polymer matrix, and PAE acts as a bridge connecting PCA and PAA. This design results in a PAA-PAE-PCA hydrogel having a remarkable instant 90-degree peeling interfacial toughness of 431 J m-2 on porcine skin, which is further amplified to 615 J m-2 after 30 minutes. The hydrogel also possesses the desired features for wound dressing, such as self-healing, antioxidant, anti-UV and antibacterial properties, good cytocompatibility, strong adhesion in use and weak adhesion on removal, as well as reversible and wet adhesion. Finally, in vivo data reveal that the PAA-PAE-PCA hydrogels can significantly accelerate wound healing, as evidenced by a noticeable reduction in the wound area and a diminished inflammatory response. Collectively, these results endorse the obtained multifunctional hydrogel as a promising candidate for wound healing and related fields.

Quantitative Characterization of Protein N-Linked Core-Fucosylation by an Efficient Glycan Truncation Strategy.

Dysregulation of protein core-fucosylation plays a pivotal role in the onset, progression, and immunosuppression of cancer. However, analyzing core-fucosylation, especially the accurate determination of the core-fucosylation (CF) site occupancy ratio, remains challenging. To address these problems, we developed a truncation strategy that efficiently converts intact glycopeptides with hundreds of different glycans into two truncated forms, i.e., a monosaccharide HexNAc and a disaccharide HexNAc+core-fucose. Further combination with data-independent analysis to form an integrated platform allowed the measurement of site-specific core-fucosylation abundances and the determination of the CF occupancy ratio with high reproducibility. Notably, three times CF sites were identified using this strategy compared to conventional methods based on intact glycopeptides. Application of this platform to characterize protein core-fucosylation in two breast cancer cell lines, i.e., MDA-MB-231 and MCF7, yields a total of 1615 unique glycosites and about 900 CF sites from one single LC-MS/MS analysis. Differential analysis unraveled the distinct glycosylation pattern for over 201 cell surface drug targets between breast cancer subtypes and provides insights into developing new therapeutic strategies to aid precision medicine. Given the robust performance of this platform, it would have broad application in discovering novel biomarkers based on the CF glycosylation pattern, investigating cancer mechanisms, as well as detecting new intervention targets.

Temporal trends and correlates in multiple hospitalizations among older adults: findings from a nationally representative sample in China.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the trends and correlates in multiple hospitalizations among older adults in China. METHODS: The data were from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), and generalized ordered logit model (GOLM) was used to identify the correlates of multiple hospitalizations among older adults aged≥60 years old. RESULTS: Between 2011 and 2018, the proportion of older adults having multiple hospitalizations in the past year showed an increasing trend in the total sample (p value for trend = 0.014). Being older, male, illiterate, living in the middle/western region, having higher annual per capita household expenditure, health insurance, multimorbidity, and being depressed were associated with increased odds of multiple hospitalizations. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicated that older adults with multiple hospitalizations may expect an increasing burden on healthcare system. More efforts are needed to improve health insurance and primary healthcare to reduce avoidable hospitalizations.

Rapid in-situ calibration of computational micro-spectrometer with few-shot meta-learning.

Computational micro-spectrometers comprised of detector arrays and encoding structure arrays, such as on-chip Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity filters, have great potential in many in-situ applications owing to their compact size and snapshot imaging ability. Given manufacturing deviation and environmental influence are inevitable, easy and effective calibration for spectrometer is necessary, especially for in-situ applications. Currently calibration strategies based on iterative algorithms or neural networks require accurate measurements of pixel-level (spectral) encoding functions through monochromator or large amounts of standard samples. These procedures are time-consuming and expensive, thereby impeding in-situ applications. Meta-learning algorithms with few-shot learning ability can address this challenge by incorporating the prior knowledge in the simulated dataset. In this work, we propose a meta-learning algorithm free of measuring encoding function or large amounts of standard samples to calibrate a micro-spectrometer with manufacturing deviation effectively. Our micro-spectrometer comprises 16 types of FP filters covering a wavelength range of 550-720 nm. The center wavelength of each filter type deviates from the design up to 6 nm. After calibration with 15 different color data, the average reconstruction error on the test dataset decreased from 7.2 × 10-3 to 1.2 × 10-3, and further decreased to 9.4 × 10-4 when the calibration data increased to 24. The performance is comparable to algorithms trained with measured encoding function both in reconstruction error and generalization ability. We estimated that the cost of in-situ calibration through reflectance measurements of color chart decreased to one percent of the cost through monochromator measurements. By exploiting prior deviation information in simulation data with meta-learning, the efficiency and cost of calibration are significantly improved, thereby facilitating the large-scale production and in-situ application of micro-spectrometers.

Hydrovoltaics brings a new solution in alternative energy: an interview with Prof. Wanlin Guo.

The Water Hub Project at the Three Gorges, also known as the 'Sanxia Project', now provides more than 1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity daily to 10 provinces in eastern China. Facing rising energy demands and climate change, despite being the largest hydroelectric power station in the world, this project may still not live up to the vision of the inventor of hydroelectric power, Nikola Tesla, when he said: 'Electric power is everywhere present in unlimited quantities and can drive the world's machinery without the need of common fuels.' Hydrovoltaic technology, invented by Prof. Wanlin Guo of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA), aims to generate electricity through processes such as evaporation and the motion of water droplets on synthetic nanomaterials. National Science Review recently invited Prof. Guo for an in-depth interview to discuss this exciting new technology and how it may represent the next great opportunity to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

Analysis of post-market adverse events of tafamidis base on the FDA adverse event reporting system.

Tafamidis is the world's first and only oral drug approved to treat the rare disease transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). Medicines are known to have different adverse reactions during the course of treatment. However, the current limited clinical studies did not identify significant adverse drug reactions to tafamidis. Tafamidis has been on the market for 5 years now, a large number of adverse drug event (ADE) reports with tafamidis as the primary suspected drug have been reported in the United Food and Drug Administration's adverse event reporting system (FAERS). We retrieved 8170 adverse event reports in FAERS with tafamidis as the first suspected drug, and mined these reports for positive signals to perform risk warnings for potentially possible adverse events with tafamidis. We found that a large number of adverse events associated with the primary disease were reported due to insufficient awareness of ATTR among the reporters, leading to a large number of positive signals reported in the cardiac disorders system. We also found that tafamidis has the potential to cause an adverse event risks of ear and labyrinth disorders system and urinary tract infection bacterial, which deserve continued clinical attention.