Biopolymer Hydrogel-Based Salt-Resistant Evaporator for Solar-Energy-Driven Desalination and Water Purification.

Interfacial solar steam generation (ISSG) has recently received much attention as a low-carbon-footprint and high-energy-efficient strategy for seawater desalination and wastewater treatment. However, achieving the goals of a high evaporation rate, ecofriendliness, and high tolerance to salt ions in brine remains a bottleneck. Herein, a novel hydrogel-based evaporator for effective solar desalination was synthesized on the basis of sodium alginate (SA) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) incorporating a carbon nanotube (CNT)-wrapped melamine sponge (MS) through a simple dipping-drying-cross-linking process. The hydrogel-based evaporator reaches a high evaporation rate of 2.18 kg m-2 h-1 in 3.5 wt % brine under 1 sun irradiation. Furthermore, it demonstrated excellent salt ion rejection in high-concentration salt water. Simultaneously, it exhibits excellent purification functionality toward heavy metals and organic dyes. This study provides a simple and efficient strategy for seawater desalination and wastewater treatment.

An Artificial LiSiOx Nociceptor with Neural Blockade and Self-Protection Abilities.

An artificial nociceptor, as a critical and special bionic receptor, plays a key role in a bioelectronic device that detects stimuli and provides warnings. However, fully exploiting bioelectronic applications remains a major challenge due to the lack of the methods of implementing basic nociceptor functions and nociceptive blockade in a single device. In this work, we developed a Pt/LiSiOx/TiN artificial nociceptor. It had excellent stability under the 104 endurance test with pulse stimuli and exhibited a significant threshold current of 1 mA with 1 V pulse stimuli. Other functions such as relaxation, inadaptation, and sensitization were all realized in a single device. Also, the pain blockade function was first achieved in this nociceptor with over a 25% blocking degree, suggesting a self-protection function. More importantly, an obvious depression was activated by a stimulus over 1.6 V due to the cooperative effects of both lithium ions and oxygen ions in LiSiOx and the dramatic accumulation of Joule heat. The conducting channel ruptured partially under sequential potentiation, thus achieving nociceptive blockade, besides basic functions in one single nociceptor, which was rarely reported. These results provided important guidelines for constructing high-performance memristor-based artificial nociceptors and opened up an alternative approach to the realization of bioelectronic systems for artificial intelligence.

Association between leisure sedentary behaviors and hypertension risk: A prospective cohort study and two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis in Europeans.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the potential causal relationship between domain-specific sedentary behaviors (including television watching, computer use, and driving) and hypertension risk in European populations. METHODS: Initially, we conducted a multivariable Cox regression analysis to evaluate the associations between domain-specific sedentary behaviors and the risk of developing hypertension using data from 261,829 hypertension-free participants in the UK Biobank. To validate the findings of observational analysis, we employed two-sample univariable mendelian randomization (UVMR) analysis utilizing summary statistics from genome-wide association study conducted on European populations. We then performed multivariable mendelian randomization (MVMR) analysis to account for the influence of the risk factors for hypertension. RESULTS: In this prospective observational analysis, individuals who spent >3 h per day watching television had significantly higher risk of developing hypertension (HR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.20-1.29, P < 0.001) compared to those who watched television for 0-1 h per day. The mendelian randomization analysis provided consistent evidence for a causal relationship between prolonged television watching time and hypertension risk (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.25-1.69, P < 0.001; all PMVMR < 0.05) in both UVMR and MVMR results. No significant associations were found between computer use, driving behaviors and the risk of hypertension in either the observational or UVMR/MVMR analyses. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide evidence for a causal effect specifically linking higher television watching time to an increased risk of hypertension and indicate the potential effectiveness of reducing television viewing time as a preventive measure to mitigate the risk of hypertension.

40 Hz light flickering promotes sleep through cortical adenosine signaling.

Flickering light stimulation has emerged as a promising non-invasive neuromodulation strategy to alleviate neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the lack of a neurochemical underpinning has hampered its therapeutic development. Here, we demonstrate that light flickering triggered an immediate and sustained increase (up to 3 h after flickering) in extracellular adenosine levels in the primary visual cortex (V1) and other brain regions, as a function of light frequency and intensity, with maximal effects observed at 40 Hz frequency and 4000 lux. We uncovered cortical (glutamatergic and GABAergic) neurons, rather than astrocytes, as the cellular source, the intracellular adenosine generation from AMPK-associated energy metabolism pathways (but not SAM-transmethylation or salvage purine pathways), and adenosine efflux mediated by equilibrative nucleoside transporter-2 (ENT2) as the molecular pathway responsible for extracellular adenosine generation. Importantly, 40 Hz (but not 20 and 80 Hz) light flickering for 30 min enhanced non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) and REM sleep for 2-3 h in mice. This somnogenic effect was abolished by ablation of V1 (but not superior colliculus) neurons and by genetic deletion of the gene encoding ENT2 (but not ENT1), but recaptured by chemogenetic inhibition of V1 neurons and by focal infusion of adenosine into V1 in a dose-dependent manner. Lastly, 40 Hz light flickering for 30 min also promoted sleep in children with insomnia by decreasing sleep onset latency, increasing total sleep time, and reducing waking after sleep onset. Collectively, our findings establish the ENT2-mediated adenosine signaling in V1 as the neurochemical basis for 40 Hz flickering-induced sleep and unravel a novel and non-invasive treatment for insomnia, a condition that affects 20% of the world population.

Thermal process of a silicon wafer under a CW laser and 100-10000 Hz pulsed laser irradiation.

The thermal process of a (001) silicon wafer subjected to a continuous-wave (CW) laser and 100-10000 Hz pulsed laser irradiation is investigated experimentally and numerically. The temperature evolution of the spot center is measured using an infrared radiation pyrometer. The waveforms of the temperature evolution curves provide valuable information about melting, solidification, vaporization, and fracture. To gain a better understanding of the thermal process, a three-dimensional finite element model is established, and numerical simulations are conducted to analyze the temperature, stress, and dislocation field. The results show that the 10 kHz laser exhibits the highest heating efficiency before vaporization, but the lowest ablation efficiency after vaporization due to the shielding effect of vapor. The diffusion time of vapor is found to be more than 50 µs. Fracture occurs during 1 kHz laser irradiation. The motion of liquid may play a significant role, but it cannot be evidenced by a simulation due to complex dependence of material parameters on dislocation. This issue should be addressed as a priority in future studies.

The methodological quality assessment of systematic reviews/meta-analyses of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome using AMSTAR2.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to assess the methodological quality of the systematic reviews/meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) using A Measurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews (AMSTAR2) and to explore the potential influencing factors. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases were searched for relevant studies. AMSTAR2 was used for evaluating the methodological quality of eligible SRs/MAs. Differences between methodological characteristics of SRs/MAs were compared using chi-square tests. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess reviewer agreement in the pre-experiment. Multivariate regression analysis was used to identify potential factors affecting methodological quality. RESULTS: A total of 45 SRs/MAs were included. After AMSTAR2 evaluation, only two (4.4%) of 45 SRs/MAs were moderate, three (6.7%) were rated as low quality, and the remainder 40 (88.9%) were rated as critically low quality. Among the 16 items of AMSTAR2, item 3 and item 10 had the poorest adherence. Item 4 received the most significant number of "Partial Yes" responses. Univariable analysis indicated that there were significant differences in methodological quality in SRs between different continents (P = 0.027) as well as between preregistered SRs and those that were not (P = 0.004). However, in multivariate analysis, there was no significant association between methodological quality and the following research characteristics: publication year, continent, whether reporting followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA), preregistration, funding support, randomized controlled trials (RCT) enrollment, whether SR was published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), and whether with meta-analysis. Additionally, subgroup analysis based on interventional SRs/MAs showed that continent was independently associated with the methodological quality of SRs/MAs of CP/CPPS via univariable and multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that the methodological quality of SRs/MAs of CP/CPPS was generally poor. SRs/MAs of CP/CPPS should adopt the AMSTAR2 to enhance their methodological quality.

Glial Cells of the Central Nervous System: A Potential Target in Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome.

Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is one of the most common diseases of the male urological system while the etiology and treatment of CP/CPPS remain a thorny issue. Cumulative research suggested a potentially important role of glial cells in CP/CPPS. This narrative review retrospected literature and grasped the research process about glial cells and CP/CPPS. Three types of glial cells showed a crucial connection with general pain and psychosocial symptoms. Microglia might also be involved in lower urinary tract symptoms. Only microglia and astrocytes have been studied in the animal model of CP/CPPS. Activated microglia and reactive astrocytes were found to be involved in both pain and psychosocial symptoms of CP/CPPS. The possible mechanism might be to mediate the production of some inflammatory mediators and their interaction with neurons. Glial cells provide a new insight to understand the cause of complex symptoms of CP/CPPS and might become a novel target to develop new treatment options. However, the activation and action mechanism of glial cells in CP/CPPS needs to be further explored.

Urinary peptidome analysis in CKD and IgA nephropathy.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has emerged as a significant challenge to human health and economic stability in aging societies worldwide. Current clinical practice strategies remain insufficient for the early identification of kidney dysfunction, and the differential diagnosis of immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) predominantly relies on invasive kidney biopsy procedures. Methods: First, we assessed a case-control cohort to obtain urine samples from healthy controls and biopsy-confirmed CKD patients. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) was applied to detect urinary peptide and then these urinary peptide profiles were used to construct diagnostic models to distinguish CKD patients from controls and identify IgAN patients from other nephropathy patients. Furthermore, we assessed the robustness of the diagnostic models and their reproducibility by applying different algorithms. Results: A rapid and accurate working platform for detecting CKD and its IgAN subtype based on urinary peptide pattern detected by MALDI-TOF MS was established. Naturally occurring urinary peptide profiles were used to construct a diagnostic model to distinguish CKD patients from controls and identify IgAN patients from other nephropathy patients. The performance of several algorithms was assessed and demonstrated that the robustness of the diagnostic models as well as their reproducibility were satisfactory. Conclusions: The present findings suggest that the CKD-related and IgAN-specific urinary peptides discovered facilitate precise identification of CKD and its IgAN subtype, offering a dependable framework for screening conditions linked to renal dysfunction. This will aid in comprehending the pathogenesis of nephropathy and identifying potential protein targets for the clinical management of nephropathy.

Diverse long-term potentiation and depression based on multilevel LiSiOxmemristor for neuromorphic computing.

Memristor-based neuromorphic computing is expected to overcome the bottleneck of von Neumann architecture. An artificial synaptic device with continuous conductance variation is essential for implementing bioinspired neuromorphic systems. In this work, a memristor based on Pt/LiSiOx/TiN structure is developed to emulate an artificial synapse, which shows non-volatile multilevel resistance state memory behavior. Moreover, the high nonlinearity caused by abrupt changes in the set process is optimized by adjusting the initial resistance. 100 levels of continuously modulated conductance states are achieved and the nonlinearity factors are reduced to 1.31. The significant improvement is attributed to the decrease in the Schottky barrier height and the evolution of the conductive filaments. Finally, due to the improved linearity of the long-term potentiation/long-term depression behaviors in LiSiOxmemristor, a robust recognition rate (∼94.58%) is achieved for pattern recognition with the modified National Institute of Standards and Technology handwriting database. The Pt/LiSiOx/TiN memristor shows significant potential in high-performance multilevel data storage and neuromorphic computing systems.

Lateral septum adenosine A2A receptors control stress-induced depressive-like behaviors via signaling to the hypothalamus and habenula.

Major depressive disorder ranks as a major burden of disease worldwide, yet the current antidepressant medications are limited by frequent non-responsiveness and significant side effects. The lateral septum (LS) is thought to control of depression, however, the cellular and circuit substrates are largely unknown. Here, we identified a subpopulation of LS GABAergic adenosine A2A receptors (A2AR)-positive neurons mediating depressive symptoms via direct projects to the lateral habenula (LHb) and the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH). Activation of A2AR in the LS augmented the spiking frequency of A2AR-positive neurons leading to a decreased activation of surrounding neurons and the bi-directional manipulation of LS-A2AR activity demonstrated that LS-A2ARs are necessary and sufficient to trigger depressive phenotypes. Thus, the optogenetic modulation (stimulation or inhibition) of LS-A2AR-positive neuronal activity or LS-A2AR-positive neurons projection terminals to the LHb or DMH, phenocopied depressive behaviors. Moreover, A2AR are upregulated in the LS in two male mouse models of repeated stress-induced depression. This identification that aberrantly increased A2AR signaling in the LS is a critical upstream regulator of repeated stress-induced depressive-like behaviors provides a neurophysiological and circuit-based justification of the antidepressant potential of A2AR antagonists, prompting their clinical translation.

Polyphenol-Rich Liupao Tea Extract Prevents High-Fat Diet-Induced MAFLD by Modulating the Gut Microbiota.

The modulation of gut microbiota dysbiosis might regulate the progression of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). Here, we found that polyphenol-rich Liupao tea extract (PLE) prevents high-fat diet (HFD)-induced MAFLD in ApoE-/- male mice accompanied by protection of the intestinal barrier and downregulation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-related Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88) signaling in the liver. Fecal microbiome transplantation (FMT) from PLE-and-HFD-treated mice delayed MAFLD development significantly compared with FMT from HFD-treated mice. In this case, 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that Rikenellaceae and Odoribacter were significantly enriched and that Helicobacter was significantly decreased in not only the HFD+PLE group but also the HFD+PLE-FMT group. Furthermore, the level of 3-sulfodeoxycholic acid was significantly decreased in the HFD+PLE-FMT group compared with the HFD-FMT group. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that PLE could modulate the MAFLD phenotype in mice and that this effect is partly mediated through modulation of the gut microbiota.

Genetic tagging of the adenosine A2A receptor reveals its heterogeneous expression in brain regions.

The adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR), a G protein-coupled receptor, is involved in numerous and varied physiological and pathological processes, including inflammation, immune responses, blood flow, and neurotransmission. Accordingly, it has become an important drug target for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the exact brain distribution of A2AR in regions outside the striatum that display relatively low levels of endogenous A2AR expression has hampered the exploration of A2AR functions under both physiological and pathological conditions. To further study the detailed distribution of the A2AR in low-expression regions, we have generated A2AR knock-in mice in which the 3xHA-2xMyc epitope tag sequence was fused to the C-terminus of A2AR (A2AR-tag mice) via CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Here, using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we have generated A2AR knock-in mice in which the 3xHA-2xMyc epitope tag sequence was fused to the C-terminus of A2AR (A2AR-tag mice). The A2AR-tag mice exhibited normal locomotor activity and emotional state. Consistent with previous studies, A2AR fluorescence was widely detected in the striatum, nucleus accumbens, and olfactory tubercles, with numerous labeled cells being evident in these regions in the A2AR-tag mouse. Importantly, we also identified the presence of a few but clearly labeled cells in heterogeneous brain regions where A2AR expression has not previously been unambiguously detected, including the lateral septum, hippocampus, amygdala, cerebral cortex, and gigantocellular reticular nucleus. The A2AR-tag mouse represents a novel useful genetic tool for monitoring the expression of A2AR and dissecting its functions in brain regions other than the striatum.

Dual-Layer Multichannel Hydrogel Evaporator with High Salt Resistance and a Hemispherical Structure toward Water Desalination and Purification.

Interfacial solar steam generation technology has been considered as one of the most promising methods for seawater desalination. However, in practical applications, salt precipitation on the evaporation surface reduces the evaporation rate and impairs long-term stability. Herein, a dual-layer hydrogel-based evaporator that contains a microchannel-structured water-supplying layer and a nanoporous light-absorbing layer was synthesized via sol-gel transition and "hot-ice" template methods. Contributed by the designed structure-induced accelerated salt ion exchange, the hemispherical dual-layer hydrogel evaporator showed excellent salt formation resistance property, as well as a high evaporation rate reaching 2.03 kg m-2 h-1 even under high brine concentration conditions. Furthermore, the hydrogel-based evaporator also demonstrated excellent ion rejection, high/low pH tolerance, and excellent purification properties toward heavy metals and organic dyes. It is believed that this type of dual-layer multichannel evaporator is promising to be used in seawater desalination, water pollution treatment, and other environmental remediation-related applications.

A Survey of Convolutional Neural Networks: Analysis, Applications, and Prospects.

A convolutional neural network (CNN) is one of the most significant networks in the deep learning field. Since CNN made impressive achievements in many areas, including but not limited to computer vision and natural language processing, it attracted much attention from both industry and academia in the past few years. The existing reviews mainly focus on CNN's applications in different scenarios without considering CNN from a general perspective, and some novel ideas proposed recently are not covered. In this review, we aim to provide some novel ideas and prospects in this fast-growing field. Besides, not only 2-D convolution but also 1-D and multidimensional ones are involved. First, this review introduces the history of CNN. Second, we provide an overview of various convolutions. Third, some classic and advanced CNN models are introduced; especially those key points making them reach state-of-the-art results. Fourth, through experimental analysis, we draw some conclusions and provide several rules of thumb for functions and hyperparameter selection. Fifth, the applications of 1-D, 2-D, and multidimensional convolution are covered. Finally, some open issues and promising directions for CNN are discussed as guidelines for future work.

The complete mitochondrial genome of two-belt cardinal and striped cardinalfish Apogonichthyoides taeniatus (Cuvier, 1828).

The complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of Apogonichthyoides taeniatus (Cuvier, 1828) is determined. The mitochondrial genome is 17,050 in length and has the same composition and gene order like most other vertebrates. The phylogenetic analysis based on 13 concatenated PCGs nucleotide sequences among 20 species showed that this species has high support with the sister branch Jaydia lineata. Our findings provide useful information for phylogenetic and evolutionary research of Kurtiformes species.

Intestinal Flora is a Key Factor in Insulin Resistance and Contributes to the Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

CONTEXT: The key gut microbial biomarkers for polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and how dysbiosis causes insulin resistance and PCOS remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: To assess the characteristics of intestinal flora in PCOS and explore whether abnormal intestinal flora can affect insulin resistance and promote PCOS and whether chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) can activate intestinal farnesoid X receptor (FXR), improving glucose metabolism in PCOS. SETTING AND DESIGN: The intestinal flora of treatment-naïve PCOS patients and hormonally healthy controls was analyzed. Phenotype analysis, intestinal flora analysis, and global metabolomic profiling of caecal contents were performed on a letrozole-induced PCOS mouse model; similar analyses were conducted after 35 days of antibiotic treatment on the PCOS mouse model, and glucose tolerance testing was performed on the PCOS mouse model after a 35-day CDCA treatment. Mice receiving fecal microbiota transplants from PCOS patients or healthy controls were evaluated after 10 weeks. RESULTS: Bacteroides was significantly enriched in treatment-naïve PCOS patients. The enrichment in Bacteroides was reproduced in the PCOS mouse model. Gut microbiota removal ameliorated the PCOS phenotype and insulin resistance and increased relative FXR mRNA levels in the ileum and serum fibroblast growth factor 15 levels. PCOS stool-transplanted mice exhibited insulin resistance at 10 weeks but not PCOS. Treating the PCOS mouse model with CDCA improved glucose metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: Bacteroides is a key microbial biomarker in PCOS and shows diagnostic value. Gut dysbiosis can cause insulin resistance. FXR activation might play a beneficial rather than detrimental role in glucose metabolism in PCOS.

Kaolin-Enhanced Superabsorbent Composites: Synthesis, Characterization and Swelling Behaviors.

One type of low-cost and eco-friendly organic‒inorganic superabsorbent composite (SAPC) was synthesized by free radical polymerization of acrylic acid (AA), starch (ST), sodium alginate (SA) and kaolin (KL) in aqueous solution. The structure and morphology of the SAPC were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The influence of different reaction conditions on water absorption of SAPC, i.e., SA and KL contents, AA neutralization degree (ND), potassium persulfate (KPS) and N, N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) loading were systematically studied. Under the optimal synthesis conditions, very high water absorption of 1200 g/g was achieved. The swelling kinetic mechanism of SAPC was studied by pseudo-second order swelling kinetics model and Ritger‒Peppas model. The performances of SAPC under different environments were tested and results revealed that this new SAPC had excellent swelling capacity, high water retention, good salt tolerance in monovalent salt solution (NaCl solution) and good pH tolerance between 4 and 10.

Comparison of long-term outcomes between Chinese peritoneal dialysis patients with and without diabetes: A 10-year cohort study.

AIMS: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term outcomes of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients with and without diabetes in southern China. METHODS: This retrospective and observational cohort study included all adult patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who received PD in our center from January 2009 to December 2017 and were followed until December 2019. Clinical outcomes were compared by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and cumulative incidence function, and risk factors were estimated using Cox regression analyses and competing risk models. RESULTS: Of 401 patients receiving PD, 120 (29.9%) had type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), and 281 (70.1%) did not have diabetes mellitus (NDM). Patients with DM were older and had more cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidities than patients without DM. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with DM had shorter survival (Log-rank 3.215, P < 0.0001) compared with patients without DM. Patients with DM had a lower death-censored technique survival (Log-rank 2.029, P = 0.0180), however, there was no significant difference in peritonitis-free period (Log rank 1.375, P = 0.1133). These results were reproduced after taking competing events into account. Both on multivariate Cox analysis and on multivariate competing risk regression, diabetes was an independent predictor for increased mortality and technique failure, but not for peritonitis-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing PD with DM had increased risk of mortality and technique failure, and closer monitoring and additional focus in patients with DM treated by PD are, therefore, warranted.