Early planetesimal differentiation and late accretion shaped Earth's nitrogen budget.

The relative roles of protoplanetary differentiation versus late accretion in establishing Earth's life-essential volatile element inventory are being hotly debated. To address this issue, we employ first-principles calculations to investigate nitrogen (N) isotope fractionation during Earth's accretion and differentiation. We find that segregation of an iron core would enrich heavy N isotopes in the residual silicate, while evaporation within a H2-dominated nebular gas produces an enrichment of light N isotope in the planetesimals. The combined effect of early planetesimal evaporation followed by core formation enriches the bulk silicate Earth in light N isotopes. If Earth is comprised primarily of enstatite-chondrite-like material, as indicated by other isotope systems, then late accretion of carbonaceous-chondrite-like material must contribute ~ 30-100% of the N budget in present-day bulk silicate Earth. However, mass balance using N isotope constraints shows that the late veneer contributes only a limited amount of other volatile elements (e.g., H, S, and C) to Earth.

Study on the Superlubricity Behavior of Ions under External Electric Fields at Steel Interfaces.

Realizing macroscopic superlubricity in the presence of external electric fields (EEFs) at the steel interfaces is still challenging. In this work, macroscopic superlubricity with a coefficient of friction value of approximately 0.008 was realized under EEFs with the lubrication of LiPF6-based ionic liquids at steel interfaces. The roles of cations and anions in the superlubricity realization under EEFs were studied. Based on the experimental results, the macroscopic superlubricity behavior of Li(PEG)PF6 under EEFs at steel interfaces is attributed to the strong hydration effect of Li+ cations and the complete reactions of anions that contributed to the formation of a boundary film on the appropriate surface. Moreover, the reduction in the number of iron oxides in the boundary film on the disc was beneficial for friction reduction. We also provide a calculation model to describe the relationship between the hydration effect and the optimal voltage position, at which the lowest friction might occur. Ultimately, this work proves that macroscopic superlubricity can be realized under EEFs at steel interfaces and provides a foundation for engineering applications of superlubricity in an electrical environment.

Chalcogen isotopes reveal limited volatile contribution from late veneer to Earth.

The origin of Earth's volatile elements is highly debated. Comparing the chalcogen isotope ratios in the bulk silicate Earth (BSE) to those of its possible building blocks, chondritic meteorites, allows constraints on the origin of Earth's volatiles; however, these comparisons are complicated by potential isotopic fractionation during protoplanetary differentiation, which largely remains poorly understood. Using first-principles calculations, we find that core-mantle differentiation does not notably fractionate selenium and tellurium isotopes, while equilibrium evaporation from early planetesimals would enrich selenium and tellurium in heavy isotopes in the BSE. The sulfur, selenium, and tellurium isotopic signatures of the BSE reveal that protoplanetary differentiation plays a key role in establishing most of Earth's volatile elements, and a late veneer does not substantially contribute to the BSE's volatile inventory.

Carbon Dioxide Anion Radicals Assisted Highly Efficient Photocatalytic H2O2 Production over Bi(C2O4)OH.

Carbon dioxide anion radical (CO2•-) can act as a versatile single electron reductant, but its generation pathways are quite limited. Herein, we demonstrate that oxalic acid (OA) could be effectively and continuously utilized to produce CO2•- over Bi(C2O4)OH, a novel photocatalyst, under light irradiation. Bi(C2O4)OH would proceed with self-redox reactions under the light irradiation producing CO2•-, through the oxidation of C2O42-. OA in the solution could recoordinate with Bi3+, thus maintaining the structure of the photocatalysts and the stability of the reactions. Benefiting from the fast reaction between CO2•- and O2 in forming •O2-, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) would be efficiently produced (219.0 µmol/h). This study proposes a novel approach for harnessing OA containing wastewater and explores its potential application in the efficient production of H2O2.

Oxygen vacancy-promoted photocatalytic H2O2 production over bismuth oxybromide nanosheets.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an essential and versatile oxidant. The photocatalytic production of H2O2 is a promising alternative to the conventional anthraquinone oxidation process. In this work, BiOBr nanosheets with oxygen vacancies (OVs) were successfully synthesized by a solvothermal method in the presence of mannitol. The character of the nanosheets shortened the diffuse length of charge carriers, which is beneficial for the charge separation. The introduction of OVs enhanced the visible light absorption and also improved the carrier separation. Furthermore, OVs enhanced the activation of O2 molecules and facilitated the generation of ˙O2-. As a result, the products exhibited good performance in photocatalytic H2O2 production. After introducing HCOOH, the yield of H2O2 was further enhanced by a factor of 50, from 3 µmol h-1 to 150 µmol h-1. This work provides a reference to design high performance photocatalysts for H2O2 production through defect engineering.

Electron transport, ferroelectric, piezoelectric and optical properties of two-dimensional In2Te3: a first-principles study.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have garnered significant interest in the fields of optoelectronics and electronics due to their unique and diverse properties. In this work, the electron transport, ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and optical properties of 2D In2Te3 were systematically investigated using first-principles based on density functional theory. The analysis of the phonon spectrum and elastic modulus of the Born effective criterion indicates that the structure of the novel 2D In2Te3 is dynamically stable. The calculation results show that 2D In2Te3 exhibits a carrier mobility as high as 3680.99 cm2 V-1 s-1 (y direction), a high in-plane polarization of 2.428 × 10-10 C m-1, and an excellent ferroelectric phase transition barrier (52.847 meV) and piezoelectric properties (e11 = 1.52 × 10-10 C m-1). The higher carrier mobility is attributed to the band degeneracy and small carrier effective mass. In addition, biaxial strain is an effective way to modulate the band gap and optical properties of 2D In2Te3. These properties indicate that 2D In2Te3 is a promising candidate material for flexible electronic devices and ferroelectric photovoltaic devices.

Targeting CDH17 with Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Redirected T Cells in Small Cell Lung Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy stands as a precise and targeted approach in the treatment of malignancies. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of targeting Cadherin 17 (CDH17) with CDH17 CAR-T cells as a therapeutic modality for small cell lung cancer (SCLC). METHODS: CDH17 expression levels were assessed in human SCLC tumor tissues and cell lines using qPCR and Western blot. Subsequently, we established CDH17 CAR-T cells and assessed their cytotoxicity by co-culturing them with various SCLC cell lines at different effector-to-target (E:T) ratios, complemented by ELISA assays. To ascertain the specificity of CDH17 CAR-T cells, we conducted experiments on SCLC cells with and without CDH17 expression (shRNAs). Furthermore, we employed an SCLC xenograft model to evaluate the in vivo efficacy of CDH17 CAR-T cells. RESULTS: Our results revealed a significant upregulation of CDH17 in both SCLC tissues and cell lines. CDH17 CAR-T cells exhibited robust cytotoxic activity against SCLC cells in vitro, while demonstrating no cytotoxicity towards CDH17-deficient SCLC cells and HEK293 cells that lack CDH17 expression. Importantly, the production of IFN-γ and TNF-α by CDH17 CAR-T cells correlated with their cytotoxic potency. Additionally, treatment with CDH17 CAR-T cells significantly decelerated the growth rate of SCLC-derived xenograft tumors in vivo. Remarkably, no significant difference in body weight was observed between the control group and the group treated with CDH17 CAR-T cells. CONCLUSIONS: The preclinical data open further venues for the clinical use of CDH17 CAR-T cells as an immunotherapeutic strategy for SCLC treatment.

Small-scale layered structures at the inner core boundary.

The fine-scale seismic features near the inner core boundary (ICB) provide critical insights into the thermal, chemical, and geodynamical interactions between liquid and solid cores, and may shed light on the evolution mechanism of the Earth's core. Here, we utilize a dataset of pre-critical PKiKP waveforms to constrain the fine structure at the ICB, considering the influence of various factors such as source complexity, structural anomalies in the mantle, and properties at the ICB. Our modeling suggests a sharp ICB beneath Mongolia and most of Northeast Asia, but a locally laminated ICB structure beneath Central Asia, Siberia, and part of Northeast Asia. The complex ICB structure might be explained by either the existence of a kilometer-scale thickness of mushy zone, or the localized coexistence of bcc and hcp iron phase at the ICB. We infer that there may be considerable lateral variations in the dendrites growing process at ICB, probably due to the complicated thermochemical and geodynamical interaction between the outer and inner core.

A Review of Energy Supply for Biomachine Hybrid Robots.

Biomachine hybrid robots have been proposed for important scenarios, such as wilderness rescue, ecological monitoring, and hazardous area surveying. The energy supply unit used to power the control backpack carried by these robots determines their future development and practical application. Current energy supply devices for control backpacks are mainly chemical batteries. To achieve self-powered devices, researchers have developed solar energy, bioenergy, biothermal energy, and biovibration energy harvesters. This review provides an overview of research in the development of chemical batteries and self-powered devices for biomachine hybrid robots. Various batteries for different biocarriers and the entry points for the design of self-powered devices are outlined in detail. Finally, an overview of the future challenges and possible directions for the development of energy supply devices used to biomachine hybrid robots is provided.

Controllable adhesive mechanisms via the internal fibers in soft footpads of honeybees.

The dynamic adhesive systems in nature have served as inspirations for the development of intelligent adhesive surfaces. However, the mechanisms underlying the rapid controllable contact adhesion observed in biological systems have never been adequately explained. Here, the control principle for the unfolding adhesive footpads (alterable contact area) of honeybees is investigated. The footpads can passively unfold, even without neuro-muscular reflexes, in response to specific dragging activity (generating shear force) toward their bodies. This passive unfolding is attributed to the structural features of the soft footpads, which cooperate closely with shear force. Then, the hierarchical structures supported by numerous branching fibers were observed and analyzed. Experimental and theoretical findings demonstrated that shear force can decrease fibril angles with respect to the shear direction, which consequently induces the rotation of the interim contact area of the footpads and achieves their passive unfolding. Furthermore, the decrease in fibril angles can lead to an increase in the liquid pressure within the footpads, and subsequently enhance their unfolding. This study presents a novel approach for passively controlling the contact areas in adhesive systems, which can be applied to develop various bioinspired switchable adhesive surfaces.

Efficient One-Pot Synthesis of 2,5-Furandicarboxylic Acid from Sugars over Polyoxometalate/Metal-Organic Framework Catalysts.

Converting extensive sugars into value-added 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) has been considered to be a promising approach to developing sustainable substitutes for chemicals from fossil resources. The complicated conversion processes involved multiple cascade reactions and intermediates, which made the design of efficient multifunction catalysts challenging. Herein, we developed a catalyst by introducing phosphotungstic acid (PW) and Co sites into the UiO-66, which achieved a one-pot cascade conversion of fructose-to-FDCA with high conversion (>99 %) and yield (94.6 %) based on the controllable Lewis/Brønsted acid sites and redox sites. Controlled experiments and detailed characterizations show that the multifunctional PW/UiO(Zr, Co) catalysts successfully affords the direct synthesis of FDCA from fructose via dehydration and selective oxidation in the one-pot reaction. Additionally, the MOF catalysts could also efficiently convert various sugars into FDCA, which has broad application prospects. This study provides new strategies for designing multifunctional catalysts to achieve efficient production of FDCA from biomass in the one-pot reaction.

CO2 -Mediated Photocatalytic Chlorine Production Over Bismuth Oxychloride in Chloride Solution.

As one of the most commonly bulky chemicals, chlorine is conventionally manufactured by electrolysis of NaCl solution in the chlor-alkali process, which requires a huge supply of electrical energy. The photocatalytic route to produce chlorine by using solar energy and NaCl solution offers a promising strategy to reduce energy consumption and bring economic benefits. Herein, it was found that the introduction of CO2 would enhance the productivity of Cl2 from 8.24 µmol⋅h-1 to 39.6 µmol⋅h-1 in NaCl solution over BiOCl. Experimental studies reveal that the CO2 species (CO3 2- ) entered into the crystal texture of BiOCl and the interlayer space between [Bi2 O2 ]2+ slabs were increased and distorted, accelerating the cycle of Cl species. Besides, the cycle of carbonate species also existed and accelerated the reaction efficiency of Cl- oxidation to Cl2 . This work provides a new feasible method of using abundant CO2 resources to accelerate the process of chlorine production via photocatalysis.

Compositional and thermal state of the lower mantle from joint 3D inversion with seismic tomography and mineral elasticity.

The compositional and thermal state of Earth's mantle provides critical constraints on the origin, evolution, and dynamics of Earth. However, the chemical composition and thermal structure of the lower mantle are still poorly understood. Particularly, the nature and origin of the two large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVPs) in the lowermost mantle observed from seismological studies are still debated. In this study, we inverted for the 3D chemical composition and thermal state of the lower mantle based on seismic tomography and mineral elasticity data by employing a Markov chain Monte Carlo framework. The results show a silica-enriched lower mantle with a Mg/Si ratio less than ~1.16, lower than that of the pyrolitic upper mantle (Mg/Si = 1.3). The lateral temperature distributions can be described by a Gaussian distribution with a standard deviation (SD) of 120 to 140 K at 800 to 1,600 km and the SD increases to 250 K at 2,200 km depth. However, the lateral distribution in the lowermost mantle does not follow the Gaussian distribution. We found that the velocity heterogeneities in the upper lower mantle mainly result from thermal anomalies, while those in the lowermost mantle mainly result from compositional or phase variations. The LLSVPs have higher density at the base and lower density above the depth of ~2,700 km than the ambient mantle, respectively. The LLSVPs are found to have ~500 K higher temperature, higher Bridgmanite and iron content than the ambient mantle, supporting the hypothesis that the LLSVPs may originate from an ancient basal magma ocean formed in Earth's early history.

Synthesis of uniform Pickering microspheres doped with quantum dot by microfluidic technology and its application in tumor marker.

Tumor markers play a significant role in early cancer diagnosis, evaluation of the extent of the disease, and monitoring of therapy response. In this study, we described the Pickering emulsion polymerization method to synthesize uniform magnetic/fluorescent microspheres. A Pickering-structure composed of a lot silica nanoparticle closely covered onto the quantum dot-encoded magnetic microbeads is designed and synthesized. The uniform magnetic/fluorescent microspheres were prepared using a microfluidic device and the performance of the microspheres synthesized by the instruments was evaluated by flow cytometry. To avoid fluorescence quenching and intrinsic toxicity, CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dot and Fe3O4 nanoparticle were successfully encapsulated into MFM microspheres using the microfluidic technology. Using this structure enables the facile realization of a theoretical 4 × 4 barcoding matrix combining two colors and four fluorescence intensity levels. Then, different optical codes were prepared by simple changing the emission wavelength and the intensity of the quantum dots. The resulting microsphere are combined with flow cytometer using two lasers for decoding of multiplex tumor markers. Moreover, the stability testing of microspheres demonstrated good performance for further application in detection of tumor markers as well. When applied for the high-throughput ultrasensitive detection of three tumor markers (CEA, CA125 and CA199) in a single sample, the detection limits of 0.027 ng/mL for CEA, 1.48 KU/L for CA125 and 1.09 KU/L for CA199 are achieved, which exhibit superior detection performance. Thus, Pickering-structure magnetic/fluorescent microspheres are promising for application in tumor markers.

A calibrated SVM based on weighted smooth GL1/2 for Alzheimer's disease prediction.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is currently one of the mainstream senile diseases in the world. It is a key problem predicting the early stage of AD. Low accuracy recognition of AD and high redundancy brain lesions are the main obstacles. Traditionally, Group Lasso method can achieve good sparseness. But, redundancy inside group is ignored. This paper proposes an improved smooth classification framework which combines the weighted smooth GL1/2 (wSGL1/2) as feature selection method and a calibrated support vector machine (cSVM) as the classifier. wSGL1/2 can make intra-group and inner-group features sparse, in which the group weights can further improve the efficiency of the model. cSVM can enhance the speed and stability of model by adding calibrated hinge function. Before feature selecting, an anatomical boundary-based clustering, called as ac-SLIC-AAL, is designed to make adjacent similar voxels into one group for accommodating the overall differences of all data. The cSVM model is fast convergence speed, high accuracy and good interpretability on AD classification, AD early diagnosis and MCI transition prediction. In experiments, all steps are tested respectively, including classifiers' comparison, feature selection verification, generalization verification and comparing with state-of-the-art methods. The results are supportive and satisfactory. The superior of the proposed model are verified globally. At the same time, the algorithm can point out the important brain areas in the MRI, which has important reference value for the doctor's predictive work. The source code and data is available at http://github.com/Hu-s-h/c-SVMForMRI.

Excellent thermoelectric properties of the Tl2S3 monolayer for medium-temperature applications.

Exploring materials with high thermoelectric (TE) performance can alleviate energy pressure and protect the environment, and thus, TE materials have attracted extensive attention in the new energy field. In this paper, we systematically study the TE properties of Tl2S3 using first-principles combined with Boltzmann transport theory (BTE). The calculation results show an excellent power factor (1.12 × 10-2 W m-1 K-2) and ultra-low lattice thermal conductivity (kl = 0.88 W m-1 K-1) at room temperature. Through analysis, we attribute the ultra-low kl of Tl2S3 to the lower phonon group velocity (vg) and larger phonon anharmonicity. Meanwhile, discussion of chemical bonding showed that the filling of the anti-bonding state leads to the weakening of the Tl-S chemical bond, resulting in low vg. Furthermore, this research also investigates the scattering processes (the out-of-plane acoustic mode (ZA) + optical mode (O) → O (ZA + O → O), the in-plane transverse acoustic mode (TA) + O → O (TA + O → O), and the in-plane longitudinal acoustic mode (LA) + O → O (LA + O → O)), from which we find that 2D Tl2S3 possesses strong acoustic-optical scattering. Based on the analysis of electron transport properties under electron-phonon coupling, 2D Tl2S3, as a novel TE material, exhibits a ZT value as high as 2.8 at 400 K. Our calculations suggest that Tl2S3 is a potential TE material at medium temperature.

The distribution characteristics and geological control factors of shallow high-arsenic groundwater in the Hetao Plain, Inner Mongolia, from the perspective of Late Pleistocene-Holocene depositional environments.

The alluvial-lacustrine strata that were formed by the evolution of rivers and lakes in the Hetao Plain during the Late Quaternary have an important influence on the formation and distribution of shallow high-arsenic groundwater. This study analyzed the distribution characteristics and depositional environments of shallow high-arsenic groundwater in study area using 1179 groundwater samples and more than 1100 pieces of drilling data. The indicator kriging statistics and the study results of the Quaternary lithofacies paleogeography show that the study area can be divided into three high-arsenic probabilistic distribution areas, namely, the Houtao Plain (HTP), the Yellow River Channel Belt (YRCB), and the Eastern Hubao Plain (EHBP). The depositional environment of the HTP was shaped by the alluviation of the Yellow River during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene. The YRCB is still affected by the alluviation of the Yellow River presently, and the EHBP was almost unaffected by the Yellow River. The high-arsenic groundwater in the EHBP is mostly distributed in the relatively continuous alluvial-lacustrine strata and has a typical hydrochemical type of HCO3, with the highest Meq(HCO3-/SO42-) and the highest reduction degree of SO42-. By contrast, the high-arsenic groundwater in the alluvial-lacustrine environments of the HTP and the YRCB accounts for only 14.77% and 20.13%, respectively, and has only less than 40% of HCO3 dominant type water. The high-arsenic groundwater in these two areas is generally located in the alluvial or alternating fluvial-lacustrine strata. However, the two areas exist more than three alluvial-lacustrine layers with a thickness of over 2 m each, which play a critical role in the formation of high-arsenic groundwater. Moreover, affected by alluvial aquifers in the same system, the high-arsenic groundwater in both the HTP and the YRCB is not intensively distributed and does not represent a typical HCO3 dominant type. The S2- produced by the massive reduction of SO42- might co-precipitate with Fe and As, which may explain why the EHBP has lower arsenic concentration than the HTP and the YRCB, both of which have a lower reduction degree of SO42-.

A label-free electrochemical immunosensor based on PtCoCu PNPs/NB-rGO as a dual signal amplification platform for sensitive detection of ß-Amyloid1-42.

In this work, a label-free electrochemical immunosensor based on popcorn-shaped PtCoCu nanoparticles supported on N- and B-codoped reduced graphene oxide (PtCoCu PNPs/NB-rGO) was constructed to sensitively detect concentration level of ß-Amyloid1-42 oligomers (Aß). The PtCoCu PNPs exhibits excellent catalytic ability due to its popcorn structure which improves the specific surface area and porosity, resulting in more active sites being exposed and fast transport paths for ion/electron. NB-rGO with large surface area and unique pleated structure could disperse PtCoCu PNPs through electrostatic adsorption and formation of d-p dative bonds between the metal ion and pyridinic N of NB-rGO. In addition, the doping of B atoms enhances the catalytic ability of GO enormously and achieves further signal amplification. Besides, both PtCoCu PNPs and NB-rGO are able to fix abundant antibodies through M(Pt, Co, Cu)-N bonds and amide bonds respectively without any other complex processing procedures such as carboxylation, ect. The designed platform achieved the dual amplification of electrocatalytic signal and effectively immobilization of antibodies. Under the optimum conditions, the designed electrochemical immunosensor presented wide linear rang (50.0 fg/mL âˆ¼ 100 ng/mL) and low detection limits (3.5 fg/mL). The results demonstrated that the prepared immunosensor will be promising in sensitive detection of AD biomarkers.

[miR-141-3p enhances the proliferation, invasion and migration of CNE-2 human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells by promoting vimentin expression].

Objective To investigate whether miR-141-3p promote the migration of CNE-2 human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells by regulating vimentin. Methods Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression of miR-141-3p in NPC tissues and adjacent tissues and the expression level of vimentin was detected by immunohistochemical staining and Western blot analysis. Real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot were used to screen 5-8F, CNE-2, HNE1 human NPC cell lines with the highest relative expression of miR-141-3p. Real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot analysis were used together to verify the relationship between miR-141-3p and vimentin expression. Small interfering RNA (si-miR-141-3p) was used to down-regulate miR-141-3p of CNE-2 cells. MTT assay tested the proliferating inhibition rate of CNE-2 cells. TranswellTM chamber assay was performed to detect cell invasion and migration and Western blot analysis to detect the expression of vimentin. Results Compared with the paracancerous tissues, the expression of miR-141-3p and vimentin in NPC tissues increased significantly. Compared with NP69 cells, the expressions of miR-141-3p and vimentin increased significantly in CNE-2 cells. The down-regulation of miR-141-3p in CNE-2 cells has induced significant decrease of cell invasion and migration capabilities, cell proliferation capabilities, as well as vimentin protein expression. Conclusion miR-141-3p can enhance the proliferation and migration of CNE-2 cells by promoting vimentin expression.

Structural stabilization of honeybee wings based on heterogeneous stiffness.

Structural stabilization for a membrane structure under high-frequency vibration is still a recognized problem. In nature, honeybee wings with non-uniform material properties demonstrate excellent anti-interference ability. However, the correlation between the structural stabilization and mechanical properties of insect wings has not been completely verified. Here we demonstrate that the sclerotization diversity partially distinguishes the stiffness inhomogeneity of the wing structure. Furthermore, a wing cross-section model with diversity in elastic modulus is constructed to analyze the effect of stiffness distribution on stress optimization during flight. Our results demonstrate that the heterogeneous stiffness promotes the stress distribution and structural stabilization of the wing during flight, which may inspire more optimal designs for anisotropic high-strength membrane structures.