Physiology and transcriptome analysis of Artemisia argyi adaptation and accumulation to soil cadmium.

The soil pollution caused by cadmium (Cd) poses a significant threat to the environment. Therefore, identifying plants that can effectively remediate Cd-contaminated soils is urgently needed. In this study, physiological, cytological, and transcriptome analyses were performed to comprehensively understand the changes in Artemisia argyi under Cd stress. Physiological and cytological analyses indicated that A. argyi maintained normal growth with intact cell structure under Cd stress levels up to 10 mg/kg. Cytological analysis showed that Cd precipitation in leaf cells occurred in the cytoplasm and intercellular spaces. As the levels of Cd stress increased, proline accumulation in leaves increased, whereas soluble protein and soluble sugar initially increased, followed by a subsequent decline. The translocation factor was above 1 under 0.6 mg/kg Cd stress but decreased when it exceeded this concentration. Transcriptome analyses revealed several crucial Cd-influenced pathways, including amino acid, terpenoid, flavonoid, and sugar metabolisms. This study not only proved that A. argyi could enrich Cd in soil but also revealed the response of A. argyi to Cd and its resistance mechanisms, which provided insight into the cleaner production of A. argyi and the remediation of Cd-contaminated soil.

Improvement of Photovoltaic Performance of Perovskite Solar Cells by Synergistic Modulation of SnO2 and Perovskite via Interfacial Modification.

In the past decade, perovskite solar cell (PSC) photoelectric conversion efficiency has advanced significantly, and tin dioxide (SnO2) has been extensively used as the electron transport layer (ETL). Due to its high electron mobility, strong chemical stability, energy level matching with perovskite, and easy low-temperature fabrication, SnO2 is one of the most effective ETL materials. However, the SnO2 material as an ETL has its limitations. For example, SnO2 films prepared by low-temperature spin-coating contain a large number of oxygen vacancies, resulting in energy loss and high open-circuit voltage (VOC) loss. In addition, the crystal quality of perovskites is closely related to the substrate, and the disordered crystal orientation will lead to ion migration, resulting in a large number of uncoordinated Pb2+ defects. Therefore, interface optimization is essential to improve the efficiency and stability of the PSC. In this work, 2-(5-chloro-2-benzotriazolyl)-6-tert-butyl-p-cresol (CBTBC) was introduced for ETL modification. On the one hand, the hydroxyl group of CBTBC forms a Lewis mixture with the Sn atom, which reduces the oxygen vacancy defect and prevents nonradiative recombination. On the other hand, the SnO2/CBTBC interface can effectively improve the crystal orientation of perovskite by influencing the crystallization kinetics of perovskite, and the nitrogen element in CBTBC can effectively passivate the uncoordinated Pb2+ defects at the SnO2/perovskite interface. Finally, the prevailing PCE of PSC (1.68 eV) modified by CBTBC was 20.34% (VOC = 1.214 V, JSC = 20.49 mA/cm2, FF = 82.49%).

The ameliorative mechanism of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum NJAU-01 against D-galactose induced oxidative stress: a hepatic proteomics and gut microbiota analysis.

Probiotic intervention is an effective strategy to alleviate oxidative stress-related diseases. Our previous studies found that Lactiplantibacillus plantarum NJAU-01 (NJAU-01) exhibited antioxidant effects in a D-galactose (D-gal)-induced aging mouse model. However, the underlying mechanism remains to be unveiled. This study was aimed to investigate the ameliorative effect and mechanism of NJAU-01 against oxidative stress induced by D-gal. The results showed that NJAU-01 could reverse the tendency of a slow body weight gain induced by D-gal. NJAU-01 relieved hepatic oxidative stress via increasing the hepatic total antioxidant capacity and antioxidant enzyme activities including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase (CAT). Moreover, the malondialdehyde (MDA) level was reversed after NJAU-01 supplementation. The proteomic results showed that there were 201 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) between NJAU-01 and D-gal groups. NJAU-01 regulated the expressions of glutathione S-transferase Mu 5 (Gstm5), glutathione S-transferase P2 (Gstp2) and NADH dehydrogenase 1α subcomplex subunit 7 (Ndufa7) related to oxidative stress, and autophagy protein 5 (Atg5) and plasma alpha-L-fucosidase (Fuca2) involved in autophagy, etc. 16S rDNA sequencing results showed that NJAU-01 supplementation could regulate the gut microbiota dysbiosis induced by D-gal via increasing the relative abundances of the phylum Firmicutes and the genus Lactobacillus and reducing the relative abundances of the phylum Bacteroidetes and the genera Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group as well as Prevotellaceae_UCG-001, etc.. Spearman correlation analysis results showed that the altered gut microbiota composition had a significant correlation with antioxidant enzyme activities and the DEPs related to oxidative stress. Overall, NJAU-01 alleviated hepatic oxidative stress induced by D-gal via manipulating the gut microbiota composition and hepatic protein expression profile.

Combined neurotoxicity of aged microplastics and thiamethoxam in the early developmental stages of zebrafish (Daniorerio).

Microplastics (MPs) pollution, together with its consequential effect on aquatic biota, represent a burgeoning environmental concern that has garnered significant scholarly attention. Thiamethoxam (TMX), a prevalently utilized neonicotinoid insecticide, is renowned for its neurotoxic impact and selective action against targeted pests. The aquatic environment serves as a receptacle for numerous pollutants, such as MPs and neonicotinoid insecticides. However, there is currently a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the toxic effects of co-exposure to aged MPs and neonicotinoid insecticides in aquatic organisms. Therefore, we endeavor to elucidate the deleterious impacts of aged polystyrene (PS) and TMX on zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae when present at environmentally relevant concentrations, and to reveal the underlying molecular mechanisms driving these effects. Our study showed that exposure to aged PS, TMX, or their combination notably inhibited the heart rate and locomotion of zebrafish larvae, with a pronounced effect observed under combined exposure. Aged PS and TMX were found to diminish the activity of antioxidative enzymes (SOD, CAT, and GST), elevate MDA levels, and disrupt neurotransmitter homeostasis (5-HT, GABA and ACh). Notably, the mixtures exhibited synergistic effects. Moreover, gene expression related to oxidative stress (e.g., gstr1, gpx1a, sod1, cat1, p38a, ho-1, and nrf2b) and neurotransmission (e.g., ache, ChAT, gat1, gabra1, 5ht1b, and 5ht1aa) was significantly altered upon co-exposure to aged PS and TMX in larval zebrafish. In summary, our findings support the harmful effects of aged MPs and the neonicotinoid insecticides they carry on aquatic organisms. Results from this study enhance our understanding of the biological risks of MPs and insecticides, as well as help fill existing knowledge gaps on neonicotinoid insecticides and MPs coexistence toxicity in aquatic environment.

In vitro fermentation characteristics of polysaccharides from coix seed and its effects on the gut microbiota.

Coix seed polysaccharides had received increasing attention due to their diverse biological activities. In this study, a homogeneous polysaccharide (CSPW) was extracted and purified from coix seed. Furthermore, the saliva-gastrointestinal digestion and fecal fermentation behavior of CSPW were simulated in vitro. The results showed that CSPW was mainly composed of glucose. It cannot be degraded by the simulated salivary and intestinal digestive system, but can be degraded by the simulated gastric digestive system. After fermentation for 24 h, CSPW promoted the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), with acetic acid, propionic acid and n-butyric acid being the main metabolites. In addition, CSPW could significantly regulate the composition and microbial diversity of gut microbiota by increasing the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as Limosilicactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Collinsella. Finally, further analysis of functional prediction revealed that amino acid metabolism, nucleotide metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism were the most important pathways for CSPW to promote health. In summary, our findings suggested that CSPW could potentially be used as a good source of prebiotics because it can be used by gut microbiota to produce SCFAs and regulate the gut microbiota.

Research progress on the immune microenvironment and immunotherapy in gastric cancer.

The tumor microenvironment, particularly the immune microenvironment, plays an indispensable role in the malignant progression and metastasis of gastric cancer (GC). As our understanding of the GC microenvironment continues to evolve, we are gaining deeper insights into the biological mechanisms at the single-cell level. This, in turn, has offered fresh perspectives on GC therapy. Encouragingly, there are various monotherapy and combination therapies in use, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive cell transfer therapy, chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy, antibody-drug conjugates, and cancer vaccines. In this paper, we review the current research progress regarding the GC microenvironment and summarize promising immunotherapy research and targeted therapies.

Crystal structure of an aspartate aminotransferase Lpg0070 from Legionella pneumophila.

Legionella pneumophila aspartate aminotransferase (Lpg0070) is a member of the transaminase and belongs to the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent superfamily. It is responsible for the transfer of α-amino between aspartate and α-ketoglutarate to form glutamate and oxaloacetate. Here, we report the crystal structure of Lpg0070 at the resolution of 2.14 Å and 1.7 Å, in apo-form and PLP-bound, respectively. Our structural analysis revealed the specific residues involved in the PLP binding and free form against PLP-bound supported conformational changes before substrate recognition. In vitro enzyme activity proves that the absence of the N-terminal arm reduces the enzyme activity of Lpg0070. These data provide further evidence to support the N-terminal arm plays a crucial role in catalytic activity.

Impaired thymic iNKT cell differentiation at early precursor stage in murine haploidentical bone marrow transplantation with GvHD.

Introduction: Early recovery of donor-derived invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are associated with reduced risk of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and overall survival. Patients with severe GvHD, however, had much slower iNKT cell reconstitution relative to conventional T cells. Methods: To characterize the delay of iNKT cell reconstitution and explore its possible causes, we used a haploidentical bone marrow transplantation (haplo-BMT) mouse model with GvHD. We found the delayed recovery of thymic and peripheral iNKT cell numbers with markedly decreased thymic NKT1 subset in GvHD mice. The defective generation of thymic iNKT precursors with egress capability contributed to the reduced peripheral iNKT cells in GvHD mice. We further identified intermediate NK1.1- NKT1 precursor subpopulations under steady-state conditions and found that the differentiation of these subpopulations was impaired in the thymi of GvHD mice. Detailed characterization of iNKT precursors and thymic microenvironment showed a close association of elevated TCR/co-stimulatory signaling provided by double positive thymocytes and macrophages with defective down-regulation of proliferation, metabolism, and NKT2 signature in iNKT precursor cells. Correspondingly, NKT2 but not NKT1 differentiation was favored in GvHD mice. Discussion: These data underline the important roles of TCR and co-stimulatory signaling in the differentiation of thymic iNKT subsets under transplantation conditions.

T cell receptor ß repertoires in patients with COVID-19 reveal disease severity signatures.

Background: The immune responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are crucial in maintaining a delicate balance between protective effects and harmful pathological reactions that drive the progression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). T cells play a significant role in adaptive antiviral immune responses, making it valuable to investigate the heterogeneity and diversity of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses in COVID-19 patients with varying disease severity. Methods: In this study, we employed high-throughput T cell receptor (TCR) ß repertoire sequencing to analyze TCR profiles in the peripheral blood of 192 patients with COVID-19, including those with moderate, severe, or critical symptoms, and compared them with 81 healthy controls. We specifically focused on SARS-CoV-2-associated TCR clonotypes. Results: We observed a decrease in the diversity of TCR clonotypes in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy controls. However, the overall abundance of dominant clones increased with disease severity. Additionally, we identified significant differences in the genomic rearrangement of variable (V), joining (J), and VJ pairings between the patient groups. Furthermore, the SARS-CoV-2-associated TCRs we identified enabled accurate differentiation between COVID-19 patients and healthy controls (AUC > 0.98) and distinguished those with moderate symptoms from those with more severe forms of the disease (AUC > 0.8). These findings suggest that TCR repertoires can serve as informative biomarkers for monitoring COVID-19 progression. Conclusions: Our study provides valuable insights into TCR repertoire signatures that can be utilized to assess host immunity to COVID-19. These findings have important implications for the use of TCR ß repertoires in monitoring disease development and indicating disease severity.

Glipizide Alleviates Periodontitis Pathogenicity via Inhibition of Angiogenesis, Osteoclastogenesis and M1/M2 Macrophage Ratio in Periodontal Tissue.

New consensus indicates type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and periodontitis as comorbidity and may share common pathways of disease progression. Sulfonylureas have been reported to improve the periodontal status in periodontitis patients. Glipizide, a sulfonylurea widely used in the treatment of T2DM, has also been reported to inhibit inflammation and angiogenesis. The effect of glipizide on the pathogenicity of periodontitis, however, has not been studied. We developed ligature-induced periodontitis in mice and treated them with different concentrations of glipizide and then analyzed the level of periodontal tissue inflammation, alveolar bone resorption, and osteoclast differentiation. Inflammatory cell infiltration and angiogenesis were analyzed using immunohistochemistry, RT-qPCR, and ELISA. Transwell assay and Western bolt analyzed macrophage migration and polarization. 16S rRNA sequencing analyzed the effect of glipizide on the oral microbial flora. mRNA sequencing of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) stimulated by P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (Pg-LPS) after treatment with glipizide was analyzed. Glipizide decreases alveolar bone resorption, periodontal tissue degradation, and the number of osteoclasts in periodontal tissue affected by periodontitis (PAPT). Glipizide-treated periodontitis mice showed reduced micro-vessel density and leukocyte/macrophage infiltration in PAPT. Glipizide significantly inhibited osteoclast differentiation in vitro experiments. Glipizide treatment did not affect the oral microbiome of periodontitis mice. mRNA sequencing and KEGG analysis showed that glipizide activated PI3K/AKT signaling in LPS-stimulated BMMs. Glipizide inhibited the LPS-induced migration of BMMs but promoted M2/M1 macrophage ratio in LPS-induced BMMs via activation of PI3K/AKT signaling. In conclusion, glipizide inhibits angiogenesis, macrophage inflammatory phenotype, and osteoclastogenesis to alleviate periodontitis pathogenicity suggesting its' possible application in the treatment of periodontitis and diabetes comorbidity.

CCDC134 facilitates T cell activation through the regulation of early T cell receptor signaling.

Modulation of surface T cell antigen receptor (TCR) expression is crucial for proper T cell development and maintenance of mature T cell function at steady state and upon stimulation. We previously determined that CCDC134 (coiled-coil domain containing 134), a cytokine-like molecule that served as a potential member of the γc cytokine family, contributes to antitumor responses by augmenting CD8+ T cell-mediated immunity. Here we show that T cell-specific deletion of Ccdc134 decreased peripheral mature CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, which resulted in impaired T cell homeostasis. Moreover, Ccdc134-deficient T cells exhibited an attenuated response to TCR stimulation in vitro, showing lower activation and proliferative capacity. This was further reflected in vivo, rendering mice refractory to T cell-mediated inflammatory and antitumor responses. More importantly, CCDC134 is associated with TCR signaling components, including CD3ϵ, and attenuated TCR signaling in Ccdc134-deficient T cells via altered CD3ϵ ubiquitination and degradation. Taken together, these findings suggest a role for CCDC134 as a positive regulator of TCR-proximal signaling and provide insight into the cell-intrinsic functional consequences of Ccdc134 deficiency in the attenuation of T cell-mediated inflammatory and antitumor responses.

Assessment of iris volume in glaucoma patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus by AS-OCT.

AIM: To examine the change of iris volume measured by CASIA2 anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) in glaucoma patients with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and explore if there is a correlation between hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level and iris volume. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 72 patients (115 eyes) were divided into two groups: primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) group (55 eyes) and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) group (60 eyes). Patients in each group were separately classified into patients with or without T2DM. Iris volume and glycosylated HbA1c level were measured and analyzed. RESULTS: In the PACG group, diabetic patients' iris volume was significantly lower than those of non-diabetics (P=0.02), and there was a significant correlation between iris volume and HbA1c level in the PACG group (r=-0.26, P=0.04). However, diabetic POAG patients' iris volume was noticeably higher than those of non-diabetics (P=0.01), and there was a significant correlation between HbA1c level and iris volume (r=0.32, P=0.02). CONCLUSION: Diabetes mellitus impact iris volume size, as seen by increased iris volume in the POAG group and decreased iris volume in the PACG group. In addition, iris volume is significantly correlated with HbA1c level in glaucoma patients. These findings imply that T2DM may compromise iris ultrastructure in glaucoma patients.

Serum antiretinal antibodies and cytokine profiling in autoimmune retinopathy and their association with clinical outcomes.

PURPOSE: Autoimmune retinopathy (AIR) is a group of autoimmune retinal diseases that can cause blindness. The purpose of this study is to investigate the profiles of serum antiretinal antibodies (ARAs) and cytokines and their association with disease diagnosis as well as clinical features in AIR. METHODS: The patients with presumed para (p) and non-paraneoplastic (np) AIR diagnosis, the patients with retinitis pigmentosa and bilateral uveitis as disease controls, and healthy subjects were prospectively enrolled. Western blotting and Luminex multiple cytokine assay/enzyme linked immunosorbent assay were used to determine the presence of serum ARAs and the concentration of cytokines, respectively. Kruskal-Wallis or chi square test was applied to compare the profiles of ARA and cytokines among various groups. The multilevel mixed-effect regression was used to investigate the association of ARA or cytokines with clinical features. RESULTS: No significant difference in the band number and subtypes of serum ARAs was found between AIR patients and their controls. AIR patients had higher concentration of serum IFN-ɤ, CXCL9, or CXCL10 than non-AIR controls. A positive correlation was found between increased number of ARAs and elevated TNF-α in np-AIR patients. Elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines or ARA subtypes (antibody against recoverin and α-enolase) were associated with worse retinal functions or anatomy, including visual acuity, visual field, ERG parameters, and central retinal thickness. CONCLUSIONS: The data of our study demonstrate that detection of serum ARAs has limited value in the diagnosis of AIR. Th1-type cytokines/chemokines or specific ARA subtypes are associated with pathogenesis and disease severity of the AIR.

Improved performance of InGaAs/AlGaAs quantum well lasers on silicon using InAlAs trapping layers.

InGaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well lasers grown on silicon (001) by molecular beam epitaxy have been demonstrated. By inserting InAlAs trapping layers into AlGaAs cladding layers, misfit dislocations easily located in the active region can be effectively transferred out of the active region. For comparison, the same laser structure without the InAlAs trapping layers was also grown. All these as-grown materials were fabricated into Fabry-Perot lasers with the same cavity size of 20 × 1000 µm2. The laser with trapping layers achieved a 2.7-fold reduction in threshold current density under pulsed operation (5 µs-pulsed width, 1%-duty cycle) compared to the counterpart, and further realized a room-temperature continuous-wave lasing with a threshold current of 537 mA which corresponds to a threshold current density of 2.7 kA/cm2. When the injection current reached 1000 mA, the single-facet maximum output power and slope efficiency were 45.3 mW and 0.143 W/A, respectively. This work demonstrates significantly improved performances of InGaAs/AlGaAs quantum well lasers monolithically grown on silicon, providing a feasible solution to optimize the InGaAs quantum well structure.

Deubiquitinase USP47 attenuates virus-induced type I interferon signaling.

The innate immune responses are tightly regulated to ensure effective clearance of invading pathogens and avoid excessive inflammation. Ubiquitination and deubiquitination are important post-translational modifications in antiviral immune responses. Here, we discovered deubiquitinase USP47 as a novel negative immune system regulator. Overexpression of USP47 repressed Sendai virus, poly(I:C) and poly(dA:dT)-induced ISRE and IFN-ß activation, along with reduced IFNB1 transcription and enhanced viral replication. Knockdown of USP47 expression had the opposite effects. Dual-luciferase and phosphorylation assays showed that USP47 targeted downstream of MAVS and upstream of TBK1. Additional co-immunoprecipitation assays suggested that USP47 interacted with TRAF3 and TRAF6. Importantly, USP47 removed K63-linked polyubiquitin chains from TRAF3 and TRAF6. Hence, we describe a novel modulator of the antiviral innate immune response, USP47, which removes K63-linked polyubiquitins from TRAF3 and TRAF6, leading to reduced type I IFN signaling.

Network meta-analysis of platelet-rich fibrin in periodontal intrabony defects.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of platelet-rich fibrin alone or in combination with different biomaterials for the treatment of periodontal intra-bony defect. METHODS: Up to April 2022, Cochrane library, Medline, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were searched for randomized clinical trials. The outcomes of interest were probing pocket depth reduction, clinical attachment level gain, bone gain, and bone defect depth reduction. Bayesian network meta-analysis with 95% credible intervals was calculated. RESULTS: Thirty-eight studies with 1157 participants were included. Platelet-rich fibrin alone or platelet-rich fibrin +biomaterials showed a statistically significant difference when compared with open flap debridement (p < 0.05, low to high certainty evidence). Neither biomaterials alone nor platelet-rich fibrin +biomaterials showed a statistically significant difference when compared to platelet-rich fibrin alone (p > 0.05, very low to high certainty evidence). Platelet-rich fibrin +biomaterials showed insignificant differences as compared to biomaterials alone (p > 0.05, very low to high certainty evidence). Allograft +collagen membrane ranked the best in probing pocket depth reduction while platelet-rich fibrin +hydroxyapatite ranked the best in bone gain. CONCLUSION: It seems that (1) platelet-rich fibrin with/without biomaterials were more effective than open flap debridement. (2) Platelet-rich fibrin alone provides a comparable effect to biomaterials alone and platelet-rich fibrin +biomaterials. (3) Platelet-rich fibrin +biomaterials provide a comparable effect to biomaterials alone. Although allograft +collagen membrane and platelet-rich fibrin +hydroxyapatite ranked the best in terms of probing pocket depth reduction and bone gain respectively, the difference between different regenerative therapies remains insignificant, and therefore, further studies are still needed to confirm these results.

Removal of methylene blue by porous biochar obtained by KOH activation from bamboo biochar.

A series of activated biochar (KBBC-700, KBBC-800 and KBBC-900) which were modified by KOH and pyrolysis at various temperatures from ball-milling bamboo powder were obtained. The physicochemical properties and pore structures of activated biochar were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectoscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and N2 adsorption/desorption. The adsorption performance for the removal of methylene blue (MB) was deeply studied. The results showed that KBBC-900 obtained at activation temperature of 900 °C exhibited a great surface area which reached 562 m2/g with 0.460 cm3/g of total pore volume. The enhancement of adsorption capacity could be ascribed to the increase of surface oxygen-containing functional groups, aromatization and mesoporous channels. The adsorption capacity was up to 67.46 mg/g under the optimum adsorption parameters with 2 g/L of adsorbent dose, 11 of initial solution pH and 298 K of the reactive temperature. The adsorption capacity was 70.63% of the first time after the material was recycled for three cycles. The kinetics indicated that the adsorption equilibrium time for MB on KBBC-900 was of about 20 min with the data fitted better to the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. The adsorption process was mainly dominated by chemical adsorption. Meanwhile, the adsorption isotherm showed that the Langmuir model fitted the best, and thermodynamic parameters revealed that the adsorption reaction was the endothermic nature and the spontaneous process. Adsorption of MB mainly attributed to electrostatic interactions, cation-π electron interaction and redox reaction. This study suggested that the activated biochar obtained by KOH activation from bamboo biochar has great potentials in the practical application to remove MB from wastewater.

Circulating Tumor DNA: Less Invasive, More Representative Method to Unveil the Genomic Landscape of Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma Than Bone Marrow Aspirates.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is highly heterogenous and dynamic in its genomic abnormalities. Capturing a representative image of these alterations is essential in understanding the molecular pathogenesis and progression of the disease but was limited by single-site invasive bone marrow (BM) biopsy-based genomics studies. We compared the mutational landscapes of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and BM in 82 patients with newly diagnosed MM. A 413-gene panel was used in the sequencing. Our results showed that more than 70% of MM patients showed one or more genes with somatic mutations and at least half of the mutated genes were shared between ctDNA and BM samples. Compared to the BM samples, ctDNA exhibited more types of driver mutations in the shared driver genes, higher numbers of uniquely mutated genes and subclonal clusters, more translocation-associated mutations, and higher frequencies of mutated genes enriched in the transcriptional regulation pathway. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that age, ctDNA mutations in the transcriptional regulation pathway and DNA repair pathway were independent predictors of progression-free survival (PFS). Our results demonstrated sequencing of ctDNA provides more thorough information on the genomic instability and is a potential representative biomarker for risk stratification and in newly diagnosed MM than bone marrow.

P-block atom modified Sn(200) surface as a promising electrocatalyst for two-electron CO2 reduction: a first-principles study.

Low activity and poor product selectivity of CO2 reduction have seriously hampered its further practical application. Introducing p-block atoms to the catalyst is regarded as a promising strategy due to the versatility of p orbitals and diversity of p-block elements. Here, we systematically studied the influence of p-block atom X (X = C, N, O, S, and Se) on CO2 catalytic properties on a Sn(200) surface by first-principles calculation. Our work shows that all the p-block atoms are relative stable with Ef in the range of -5.11 to -3.59 eV. Further calculation demonstrates that the diversity of the p-block atoms results in unique CO2 electrocatalytic activity and product selectivity. Interestingly, the p-block C atom shows bi-functional activity to form two-electron products HCOOH and CO, with the corresponding energy barriers remarkably low at about 0.19 eV and 0.28 eV. In particular, the p-block S(Se) atom appears to have striking HCOOH selectivity, with the energy barrier to form HCOOH only a quarter of that to form the CO product. This unusual behavior is mainly attributed to the adsorption strength and frontier orbital interaction between the p-block atom and intermediates. These findings can effectively provide a valuable insight into the design of highly efficient CO2 electrocatalyst.

The unique photoelectronic properties of the two-dimensional Janus MoSSe/WSSe superlattice: a first-principles study.

Designing photocatalysts with suitable band alignment and considerable carrier mobility is extremely important. Here, by means of first-principles calculation, we systematically investigated the structural, photoelectronic, and carrier mobility behavior of the two-dimensional Janus MoSSe/WSSe superlattice. The results show that both armchair-type (AN-SL) and zigzag-type (ZN-SL) superlattices are relatively stable with negative Ef values in the range of -2.35 to -1.16 eV. Band gap and band edge position calculations demonstrate that these superlattices are completely suitable for water splitting by visible light. Particularly, the interface contact of the superlattice can be spontaneously changed from type-I to type-II when N > 4, facilitating separation of photogenerated carriers. Furthermore, the hole carrier mobility (µh) in AN-SL can be effectively regulated from 1200 to 2200 cm2 V-1 s-1, much larger than that of the isolated components. Interestingly, the disparity of hole/electron carrier mobility is remarkably large with an approximately 20-fold difference, showing the potential in prohibiting the recombination of photogenerated carriers. This unique behavior is further illustrated by the relaxation times of carriers, where the lifetime of hole carriers is about 7 times larger than that of electron carriers. These findings suggest that forming a Janus superlattice is a promising approach for regulating the photoelectronic properties of semiconductors, providing a promising way to design high efficiency photocatalysts.