Impact of Oligoether Side-Chain Length on the Thermoelectric Properties of a Polar Polythiophene.

Conjugated polymers with oligoether side chains make up a promising class of thermoelectric materials. In this work, the impact of the side-chain length on the thermoelectric and mechanical properties of polythiophenes is investigated. Polymers with tri-, tetra-, or hexaethylene glycol side chains are compared, and the shortest length is found to result in thin films with the highest degree of order upon doping with the p-dopant 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4TCNQ). As a result, a stiff material with an electrical conductivity of up to 830 ± 15 S cm-1 is obtained, resulting in a thermoelectric power factor of about 21 µW m-1 K-2 in the case of as-cast films. Aging at ambient conditions results in an initial decrease in thermoelectric properties but then yields a highly stable performance for at least 3 months, with values of about 200 S cm-1 and 5 µW m-1 K-2. Evidently, identification of the optimal side-chain length is an important criterion for the design of conjugated polymers for organic thermoelectrics.

Prevalence and influencing factors of patient delay in stroke patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Determine the prevalence and influencing factors of patient delay in stroke patients and explore variation in prevalence by country and delayed time. METHODS: PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), Weipu database, and Wanfang database were comprehensively searched for observational studies from inception to April, 2023. The pooled prevalence, odds ratio (OR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated with Stata 16.0 software. RESULTS: In total, 2721 articles were screened and data from 70 studies involving 85,468 subjects were used in meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of patient delay in stroke patients was 59% (95% CI, 0.54-0.64). The estimates of pooled prevalence calculated for African, Asian, and European patient delay in stroke patients were 55% (0.29-0.81), 61% (0.56-0.66), and 49% (0.34-0.64).According to the patient delay time, the prevalence of 6 h, 5 h, 4.5 h, 3.5 h, 3 h and 2 h were 54% (0.47-0.61), 73% (0.61-0.86), 60% (0.49-0.71), 81% (0.68-0.93), 52% (0.42-0.62), 63% (0.19-1.07). Distance from the place of onset to the hospital > 10 km [OR=2.49, 95%CI (1.92, 3.24)], having medical insurance [OR = 0.45, 95%CI (0.26,0.80)], lack of stroke-related knowledge [OR = 1.56, 95%CI (1.08,2.26)], education level below junior high school [OR = 1.69, 95%CI (1.22,2.36)], non-emergency medical services (Non-EMS) [OR = 2.10, 95%CI (1.49,2.97)], living in rural areas [OR = 1.54, 95%CI (1.15,2.07)], disturbance of consciousness [OR = 0.60, 95%CI (0.39,0.93)], history of atrial fibrillation [OR = 0.53, 95%CI (0.47,0.59)], age ≥ 65 years [OR = 1.18, 95%CI (1.02,1.37)], National institutes of health stroke scale (NIHSS) ≤ 4 points [OR= 2.26, 95%CI (1.06,4.79)]were factors for patient delay in stroke patients. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of patient delay in stroke patients is high, we should pay attention to the influencing factors of patient delay in stroke patients and provide a theoretical basis for shortening the treatment time of stroke patients.

The effect of body mass index on stroke prognosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 32 cohort studies with 330,353 patients.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have explored the impact of body mass index (BMI) on stroke prognosis, yet findings remain inconsistent. AIMS: The aims of this study were to conduct a systematic review and meta-analyses to summarize the existing evidence on BMI and stroke outcomes. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, CBM, Wanfang Database, and VIP Database were systematically searched from inception to 1 January 2023. Cohort studies were included if they reported on a population of patients with stroke, evaluated BMI on stroke outcomes (mortality/recurrence/score of modified Rankin scale (mRs)), and reported original data. Data extraction and quality assessment were independently undertaken by two reviewers. Stata 16.0 software was used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: Thirty-two studies involving 330,353 patients (5 Chinese language articles) were included in the analysis. The proportion of underweight, overweight, and obese patients was 1.85%, 18.2%, and 15.6%, respectively. Compared with normal weight, being underweight was associated with an increased risk of mortality (relative risk (RR) = 1.78, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.60-1.96), poor functional outcomes defined as modified Rankin scale ⩾ 3 (RR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.22-1.45), and stroke recurrence (RR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.04-1.37). Being overweight but not obese was associated with reduced mortality (RR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.74-0.89) and better functional outcomes (RR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.89-0.96), but did not alter the risk of stroke recurrence (RR = 1.03, 95% CI = 0.90-1.17). Obesity was associated with lower risk of mortality (RR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.72-0.81) and better functional outcomes (RR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.84-0.94). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that in patients with stroke, being underweight is associated with an increased risk of mortality, poor functional outcomes, and stroke recurrence. In contrast, being overweight but not obese, or being obese, was associated with a decreased risk of mortality and better functional outcomes. This is consistent with the obesity paradox in stroke, whereby obesity increases stroke risk in the general population but is associated with improved outcome in patients suffering stroke.

miR-29b-1-5p exacerbates myocardial injury induced by sepsis in a mouse model by targeting TERF2.

Myocardial damage is a critical complication and a significant contributor to mortality in sepsis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as key players in sepsis pathogenesis. In this study, we explore the effect and mechanisms of miR-29b-1-5p on sepsis-induced myocardial damage. Sepsis-associated Gene Expression Omnibus datasets (GSE72380 and GSE29914) are examined for differential miRNAs. The mouse sepsis-induced cardiac injury was established by Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). LPS-treated HL-1 mouse cardiomyocytes simulate myocardial injury in vitro. miR-29b-1-5p is co-upregulated in both datasets and in cardiac tissue from sepsis mouse and HL-1 cell models. miR-29b-1-5p expression downregulation was achieved by antagomir transduction and confirmed by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR. Survival analysis and echocardiography examination show that miR-29b-1-5p inhibition improves mice survival cardiac function in LPS- and CLP-induced sepsis mice. Hematoxylin and eosin and Masson's trichrome staining and Immunohistochemistry analysis of mouse myocardial α-smooth muscle actin show that miR-29b-1-5p inhibition reduces myocardial tissue injury and fibrosis. The inflammatory cytokines and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels in mouse serum and HL-1 cells are also decreased by miR-29b-1-5p inhibition, as revealed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expressions of autophagy-lysosomal pathway-related and apoptosis-related proteins in the mouse cardiac tissues and HL-1 cells are evaluated by western blot analysis. The sepsis-induced activation of the autophagy-lysosomal pathway and apoptosis are also reversed by miR-29b-1-5p antagomir. MTT and flow cytometry measurement further confirm the protective role of miR-29b-1-5p antagomir in HL-1 cells by increasing cell viability and suppressing cell apoptosis. Metascape functionally enriches TargetScan-predicted miR-29b-1-5p target genes. TargetScan prediction and dual luciferase assay validate the targeting relationship between miR-29b-1-5p and telomeric repeat-binding factor 2 (TERF2). The expression and function of TERF2 in HL-1 cells and mice are also evaluated. MiR-29b-1-5p negatively regulates the target gene TERF2. TERF2 knockdown partly restores miR-29b-1-5p antagomir function in LPS-stimulated HL-1 cells. In summary, miR-29b-1-5p targetedly inhibits TERF2, thereby enhancing sepsis-induced myocardial injury.

Borate-Functionalized Disiloxane as Effective Electrolyte Additive for 4.5 V LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2/Graphite Batteries.

Ni-rich LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811) is considered the most prominent cathode material to establish a practical high energy density of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for future electric vehicles. The energy density of LIBs is greatly determined by the capacity of electrode materials and the operating voltage of the cells. To further improve the cycle lifespan of NCM811 batteries to meet the requirement of driving range for the electric vehicle market, it is vital to design a novel electrolyte additive that can enhance the stability of the cathode/electrolyte interface at a wide range of voltage. Herein, a novel borate functionalized disiloxane compound, 1,1,1,3,3-pentamethyl-3-(3-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)propyl) disiloxane (PMBPDS), is synthesized as cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) film-forming additive to improve the cycling performance of NCM811 batteries. Systematic studies reveal that PMBPDS can construct a stable CEI film on the NCM811 surface and efficiently scavenge hydrofluoric acid (HF). The PMBPDS-derived CEI prevents the dissolution of transmission metals in the NCM811 cathode and enhances the capacity retention of NCM811/graphite cells from 68.3 to 70.6% after 200 cycles at 1 C in the voltage window of 3-4.5 V. This work provides more understanding on designing the molecular structure of additive compounds for improving the electrochemical performance of LIBs.

Validity and reliability of the Waterlow scale for assessing pressure injury risk in critical adult patients: A multi-centre cohort study.

AIM: To evaluate the predictive validity and reliability of the Waterlow scale in critically adult hospitalised patients. DESIGN: A multi-centre cohort study. METHODS: This study was conducted in 72 intensive care units (ICUs) in 38 tertiary hospitals in Gansu Province, China. All adults admitted to the ICU for greater than or equal to 24 h without pressure injury (PI) on admission were screened by the Waterlow scale on admission, during ICU stay and ICU discharge from April 2021 to February 2023. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine a potential cut-off value for critical adult hospitalised patients. Cut-off values were then determined using Youden's index, and sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were calculated based on these cut-off values. Test-retest reliability was used to evaluate inter-rater reliability. RESULTS: A total of 5874 critical patients on admission were included, and 5125 of them were assessed regularly. The area under curve (AUC) was 0.623 (95% CI, 0.574-0.690), with a cut-off score of 19 showing the best balance among sensitivity of 62.7%, specificity of 57.4%, positive predictive value of 2.07% and negative predictive value of 99.08%. The test-retest reliability between the first assessment and the regular assessment was 0.447. CONCLUSIONS: The Waterlow scale shows insufficient predictive validity and reliability in discriminating critical adults at risk of PI development. To further modify the items of the Waterlow scale, exploring specific risk factors for PI in the ICU and clarifying their impact degree was necessary. Risk predictive models or better tools are inevitable in the future. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Patients or family members supported nurses with PI risk assessment, skin examination and other activities during the inquiry.

Epidemiological characteristics of pressure injury and the predictive validity of Braden scale among the older hospitalized patients: A cross-sectional study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of pressure injury (PI) in older inpatients and predictive validity of the Braden scale. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Conducted in a 2600-bed tertiary hospital in Northwestern China from January to June 2022, the study included older patients (≥60 years). The Braden scale was used for the risk assessment of PI, and the epidemiological characteristics of PI were observed. The contributing factors of PI in older inpatients were examined using univariate and multiple or multivariable logistic regression analysis. The predictive validity and optimal cut-off value were assessed using receiver operating curve (ROC). RESULTS: The study included 13,064 older patients, with a PI incidence of 0.20%, with the highest incidence (0.95%) in those aged ≥80. Age, BMI, Braden score and length of hospital stay were related to PI occurrence. The Braden scale showed an AUC of 0.905 for predicting PI in older inpatients, with a sensitivity of 84.6% and specificity of 86.4%. The optimal cut-off value of 19 yielded the best predictive performance with a Yoden index of 0.710. CONCLUSION: PI is most likely to occur in older inpatients with older age, longer hospital stay, lower BMI and Braden score. The Braden scale demonstrated good suitability for predicting PI risk in this population, with an optimal cut-off value of 19 showing improved predictive accuracy. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Throughout the investigation, patients or family members cooperated to complete all data investigation and evaluation, and nurses assisted in PI risk assessment, skin evaluation and other work.

MDFI regulates fast-to-slow muscle fiber type transformation via the calcium signaling pathway.

Muscle fiber is the basic unit of skeletal muscle with strong self-adaptability, and its type is closely related to meat quality. Myod family inhibitor (Mdfi) has the function of regulating myogenic regulatory factors during cell differentiation, but how Mdfi regulates muscle fiber type transformation in myoblasts is still unclear. In the present study, we constructed overexpressing and interfering with Mdfi C2C12 cell models by lipofection. The immunofluorescence, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), and western blot results show that the elevated MDFI promoted mitochondrial biogenesis, aerobic metabolism and the calcium level by activating CaMKK2 and AMPK phosphorylation and then stimulated the conversion of C2C12 cells from fast glycolytic to slow oxidative type. In addition, after inhibiting IP3R and RYR channels, the higher MDFI reversed the blockage of calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum by calcium channel receptor inhibitors and increased intracellular calcium levels. Therefore, we propose that the higher MDFI promotes muscle fiber types conversion through the calcium signaling pathway. These findings further broaden our understanding of the regulatory mechanism of MDFI in muscle fiber type transformation. Furthermore, our results suggest potential therapeutic targets for skeletal muscle and metabolic-related diseases.

Biomass Chitosan-Based Tubular/Sheet Superhydrophobic Aerogels Enable Efficient Oil/Water Separation.

Water pollution, which is caused by leakage of oily substances, has been recognized as one of the most serious global environmental pollutions endangering the ecosystem. High-quality porous materials with superwettability, which are typically constructed in the form of aerogels, hold huge potential in the field of adsorption and removal of oily substances form water. Herein, we developed a facile strategy to fabricate a novel biomass absorbent with a layered tubular/sheet structure for efficient oil/water separation. The aerogels were fabricated by assembling hollow poplar catkin fiber into chitosan sheets using a directional freeze-drying method. The obtained aerogels were further wrapped with -CH3-ended siloxane structures using CH3SiCl3. This superhydrophobic aerogel (CA ≈ 154 ± 0.4°) could rapidly trap and remove oils from water with a large sorption range of 33.06-73.22 g/g. The aerogel facilitated stable oil recovery (90.07-92.34%) by squeezing after 10 sorption-desorption cycles because of its mechanical robustness (91.76% strain remaining after 50 compress-release cycles). The novel design, low cost, and sustainability of the aerogel provide an efficient and environmentally friendly solution for handling oil spills.

General Graph Neural Network-Based Model To Accurately Predict Cocrystal Density and Insight from Data Quality and Feature Representation.

Cocrystal engineering as an effective way to modify solid-state properties has inspired great interest from diverse material fields while cocrystal density is an important property closely correlated with the material function. In order to accurately predict the cocrystal density, we develop a graph neural network (GNN)-based deep learning framework by considering three key factors of machine learning (data quality, feature presentation, and model architecture). The result shows that different stoichiometric ratios of molecules in cocrystals can significantly influence the prediction performances, highlighting the importance of data quality. In addition, the feature complementary is not suitable for augmenting the molecular graph representation in the cocrystal density prediction, suggesting that the complementary strategy needs to consider whether extra features can sufficiently supplement the lacked information in the original representation. Based on these results, 4144 cocrystals with 1:1 stoichiometry ratio are selected as the dataset, supplemented by the data augmentation of exchanging a pair of coformers. The molecular graph is determined to learn feature representation to train the GNN-based model. Global attention is introduced to further optimize the feature space and identify important atoms to realize the interpretability of the model. Benefited from the advantages, our model significantly outperforms three competitive models and exhibits high prediction accuracy for unseen cocrystals, showcasing its robustness and generality. Overall, our work not only provides a general cocrystal density prediction tool for experimental investigations but also provides useful guidelines for the machine learning application. All source codes are freely available at https://github.com/Xiao-Gua00/CCPGraph.

Cognitive Frailty as a Predictor of Future Falls in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between cognitive frailty and the risk of future falls among older adults. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Older people aged ≥60 years with cognitive frailty from community, hospital, or both. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Wanfang Database, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database (CNKI), Weipu Database (VIP), and Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) were searched for relevant studies published from the inception of the database until June 14, 2022. Stata 16.0 software was used to perform the meta-analysis. A random effects model was used to pool the prevalence of falls in older adults over age 60 years with cognitive frailty and the strength of the association between cognitive frailty and falls [odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs]. Quality assessment, heterogeneity, and sensitivity analyses were also conducted. A study protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022331323). RESULTS: The review included 18 studies in qualitative synthesis, 14 of which were in meta-analysis. Eleven sets of cross-sectional data involving 23,025 participants and 5 sets of longitudinal data involving 11,924 participants were used in the meta-analysis. The results showed that the overall prevalence of falls in 1742 people with cognitive frailty was 36.3% (95% CI 27.9-44.8, I2 = 93.4%). Longitudinal study results showed that cognitively frail individuals had a higher risk of falls (OR 3.02, 95% CI 2.11-4.32, I2 = 0.0%, P = .406), compared to robust participants without cognitive impairment; physically frail people (alone) had a moderate risk of falls (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.42-3.30, I2 = 9.7%, P = .351); cognitively impaired people (alone) had a lower risk of falls (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.03-1.79, I2 = 0.0%, P = .440). Among cross-sectional studies, cognitive frailty was associated with the risk of falls (OR 2.74, 95% CI 2.20-3.40, I2 = 53.1%, P = .019). Although high heterogeneity was noted among 11 cross-sectional studies reporting ORs, the sensitivity analysis showed that no single study significantly affected the final pooled results. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This systematic review and meta-analysis confirms the findings that cognitive frailty was demonstrated to be a significant predictor of future falls in older adults. However, further prospective investigations are warranted.

The prevalence and risk factors of facial pressure injuries related to adult non-invasive ventilation equipment: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

To systematically assess the prevalence of facial pressure injuries related to adult non-invasive ventilation equipment, and risk factors of facial pressure injuries. PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, Wanfang Database, Chinese Biomedical Database and Weipu Database were comprehensively searched for observational studies investigating the prevalence and risk factors of facial pressure injuries related to adult non-invasive ventilation equipment from inception to May 16th, 2022. Filter articles based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The quality of the included studies was evaluated independently by two investigators. Meta-analysis was conducted using Stata 16.0 software package. In total, 2835 articles were screened and data from 12 studies were used in meta-analysis. The prevalence of facial pressure injuries related to adult non-invasive ventilation equipment was 25% (95% confidence interval, CI:15% to 37%, I2  = 97.34%, P < 0.0001). After controlling for confounding variables, the following risk factors of facial pressure injuries: use equipment form, with diabetes, fever, cumulative time of using equipment, facial skin oedema and Glasgow score. Understanding the risk factors of facial pressure injuries can provide the healthcare personnel with the theoretical basis for the management and treatment of the patients.

High-quality reconstruction of China's natural streamflow.

Reconstruction of natural streamflow is fundamental to the sustainable management of water resources. In China, previous reconstructions from sparse and poor-quality gauge measurements have led to large biases in simulation of the interannual and seasonal variability of natural flows. Here we use a well-trained and tested land surface model coupled to a routing model with flow direction correction to reconstruct the first high-quality gauge-based natural streamflow dataset for China, covering all its 330 catchments during the period from 1961 to 2018. A stronger positive linear relationship holds between upstream routing cells and drainage areas, after flow direction correction to 330 catchments. We also introduce a parameter-uncertainty analysis framework including sensitivity analysis, optimization, and regionalization, which further minimizes biases between modeled and inferred natural streamflow from natural or near-natural gauges. The resulting behavior of the natural hydrological system is represented properly by the model which achieves high skill metric values of the monthly streamflow, with about 83% of the 330 catchments having Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (NSE) > 0.7, and about 56% of the 330 catchments having Kling-Gupta efficiency coefficient (KGE) > 0.7. The proposed construction scheme has important implications for similar simulation studies in other regions, and the developed low bias long-term national datasets by statistical postprocessing should be useful in supporting river management activities in China.

The prevalence and characteristics of alexithymia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Alexithymia is common in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Although the estimated prevalence of alexithymia in patients with T2DM is widely reported, these results have not been synthesized. AIM: To systematically assess the prevalence and characteristics of alexithymia in patients with T2DM. METHODS: We searched for relevant publications in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, Wanfang Database, Chinese Biomedical Database, and Weipu Database. The prevalence of alexithymia, the mean scores, and standard deviations of the total scale of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) were pooled using random effects meta-analysis in Stata 13.0, with studies stratified by study location in this meta-analysis. RESULTS: This meta-analysis included thirteen articles. Pooled prevalence of alexithymia (TAS-20 total scores ≥61) were 43.0% (95%CI 35.0-51.0%), and the prevalence of alexithymia was higher in China (45.0%, 95%CI 36.0-54.0%) compared with non-China (41.0%, 95%CI 29.0-54.0%). The pooled mean score for the TAS-20 total scale was 57.70 (95% CI 55.25-60.15). Leave-one-out analysis showed that none of the studies significantly impacted the overall pooled results. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis indicated a high prevalence of alexithymia in patients with T2DM. Thus, clinicians need to be aware of and assess appropriately for alexithymia in patients with T2DM.

Study on Conditional Conservatism Within Fair Value Measurements Based on Anti-discount Expectations.

As a rapidly growing emerging capital market, China has attracted the attention of both investors and scholars. To alleviate the expectation of external users of listed companies' financial statements to "discount" items in levels 2 and 3 of the fair value measurement, listed companies will treat these items as conditional conservatism. It refers to the conservatism of companies when confirming bad news of unrealized gains and losses sooner than confirming good news. A sample was selected for empirical analysis to verify the existence of this relationship. The results are as follows: (1) the higher the proportion of levels 2 and 3 fair value measurements, the stronger the conditional conservatism of the company's profit and loss; (2) the higher the proportion of cash holding of operating activities in a company's operating profit and the higher the audit quality, the higher the proportion of levels 2 and 3 fair value hierarchy measurements, and the stronger the conditional conservatism of the company's profit and loss; and (3) the lesser the internal control defects in a company, the higher the proportion of levels 2 and 3 fair value hierarchy measurements, and the stronger the conditional conservatism of its profit and loss. The findings provide empirical evidence to identify listed companies adopting conditional conservatism to alleviate discounting expectations of fair value items of financial statements' external users and provide a reference for improving the standards and regulation of listed companies.

Coupling complementary strategy to flexible graph neural network for quick discovery of coformer in diverse co-crystal materials.

Cocrystal engineering have been widely applied in pharmaceutical, chemistry and material fields. However, how to effectively choose coformer has been a challenging task on experiments. Here we develop a graph neural network (GNN) based deep learning framework to quickly predict formation of the cocrystal. In order to capture main driving force to crystallization from 6819 positive and 1052 negative samples reported by experiments, a feasible GNN framework is explored to integrate important prior knowledge into end-to-end learning on the molecular graph. The model is strongly validated against seven competitive models and three challenging independent test sets involving pharmaceutical cocrystals, π-π cocrystals and energetic cocrystals, exhibiting superior performance with accuracy higher than 96%, confirming its robustness and generalization. Furthermore, one new energetic cocrystal predicted is successfully synthesized, showcasing high potential of the model in practice. All the data and source codes are available at https://github.com/Saoge123/ccgnet for aiding cocrystal community.

Microwave drying behavior, energy consumption, and mathematical modeling of sewage sludge in a novel pilot-scale microwave drying system.

Microwave drying is attracting increasing attention due to its energy efficiency. A self-developed pilot-scale microwave dryer was used in this study to dry two different common types of sewage sludge, namely mechanically dewatered sewage sludge and composting dewatered sewage sludge, by using two heating modes: constant temperature and constant power modes. The microwave drying behavior, specific energy consumption, average drying rate, energy efficiency, and drying effect were explored considering the influences of microwave output power, initial mass, and heating mode. Results showed that the output power had the largest influence on specific energy consumption, energy efficiency, and drying efficiency, followed by the constant temperature and initial mass. The specific energy consumption of mechanically dewatered sewage sludge decreased by roughly 14%. By contrast, the average drying rate increased by approximately 6%, and the energy efficiency increased by approximately 20% for each 1 kW increase in output power. Meanwhile, composting dewatered sewage sludge displayed drying effects at an output power of 3 kW, and the temperature exceeded 80 °C. The comparison of the two modes suggested that the constant temperature mode was better than the constant power mode considering product quality and operational safety. Compared with six thin-layer drying mathematical models, the Midilli-Kucuk model could provide a good fit for the constant temperature mode. The proposed microwave drying process exhibited effective performance in drying rate. This process also demonstrated considerable application potential for sewage sludge drying.

Phylogenetic supertree reveals detailed evolution of SARS-CoV-2.

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the emerged coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is spreading globally. The origin of SARS-Cov-2 and its evolutionary relationship is still ambiguous. Several reports attempted to figure out this critical issue by genome-based phylogenetic analysis, yet limited progress was obtained, principally owing to the disability of these methods to reasonably integrate phylogenetic information from all genes of SARS-CoV-2. Supertree method based on multiple trees can produce the overall reasonable phylogenetic tree. However, the supertree method has been barely used for phylogenetic analysis of viruses. Here we applied the matrix representation with parsimony (MRP) pseudo-sequence supertree analysis to study the origin and evolution of SARS-CoV-2. Compared with other phylogenetic analysis methods, the supertree method showed more resolution power for phylogenetic analysis of coronaviruses. In particular, the MRP pseudo-sequence supertree analysis firmly disputes bat coronavirus RaTG13 be the last common ancestor of SARS-CoV-2, which was implied by other phylogenetic tree analysis based on viral genome sequences. Furthermore, the discovery of evolution and mutation in SARS-CoV-2 was achieved by MRP pseudo-sequence supertree analysis. Taken together, the MRP pseudo-sequence supertree provided more information on the SARS-CoV-2 evolution inference relative to the normal phylogenetic tree based on full-length genomic sequences.

Site-Selective, Multistep Functionalizations of CO2-Based Hyperbranched Poly(alkynoate)s toward Functional Polymetric Materials.

Hyperbranched polymers constructed from CO2 possess unique architectures and properties; however, they are difficult to prepare. In this work, CO2-based, hyperbranched poly(alkynoate)s (hb-PAs) with high molecular weights and degrees of branching are facilely prepared under atmospheric pressure in only 3 h. Because hb-PAs possess two types of ethynyl groups with different reactivities, they can undergo site-selective, three-step functionalizations with nearly 100% conversion in each step. Taking advantage of this unique feature, functional hb-PAs with versatile properties are constructed that could be selectively tailored to contain hydrophilic oligo(ethylene glycol) chains in their branched chains, on their periphery, or both via tandem polymerizations. Hyperbranched polyprodrug amphiphiles with high drug loading content (44.3 wt%) are also generated, along with an artificial light-harvesting system with high energy transfer efficiency (up to 92%) and white-light-emitting polymers. This work not only provides an efficient pathway to convert CO2 into hyperbranched polymers, but also offers an effective platform for site-selective multistep functionalizations toward functional polymeric materials.