Exploring the causal relationship between interleukin-6 or C reactive protein and malignant melanoma using a two-sample Mendelian randomization approach.

The goal was to explore the effect of interleukin-6 (IL6) and C reactive protein (CRP) on malignant melanoma (MM) using two-sample Mendelian randomization. Methods: Data for this study were obtained from the IEU Open GWAS project website for genome-wide association study data (GWAS) on interleukin-6, C reactive protein levels and malignant melanoma. Inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was mainly used and supplemented with MR-Egger regression and weighted median. Finally, horizontal multivariate validity and heterogeneity tests were performed to assess the stability and reliability of the results. Results: The results of univariate two-sample MR analyses showed no significant effect of CRP on MM: inverse variance weighting method (OR=0.999, 95% CI: 0.998-1.001, P=0.343), MR-Egger regression (OR= 1.000, 95% CI: 0.998-1.001, P= 0.180), and weighted median method (OR= 0.999, 95% CI: 0.997 to 1.000, P= 0.583), and weighted model (OR= 0.999, 95% CI: 0.998 to 1.001, P= 0.328). Also,IL-6 had no significant effect on MM: inverse variance weighting method (OR= 1.001, 95% CI: 0.999 to 1.002, P=0.461), MR-Egger regression (OR= 1.000, 95% CI: 0.997 to 1.004, P= 0.910), weighted median method (OR= 1.000, 95% CI: 0.998 to 1.002, P= 0.749), and weighted mode (OR= 1.000, 95% CI: 0.998 to 1.002, P= 0.820). Conclusion: There was no causal relationship between C-reactive protein and IL-6 on the risk of malignant melanoma.

Increased and sex-differentiated medial prefrontal cortex activation during the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery in schizophrenia: A fNIRS study.

Executive impairment in schizophrenia is common, but the mechanism remains unclear. This is the first study to use simultaneously functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to monitor the hemodynamic response in schizophrenia during the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Here, we monitored relative changes in oxyhemoglobin concentration in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during Trail Making Test, Symbol Coding Test and Mazes Test of the MCCB in 63 patients (29 females) with schizophrenia and 32 healthy controls (15 females). Results showed that patients with schizophrenia scored lower than healthy controls on all three tests (P < 0.001), but mPFC activation was significantly higher during the test (P < 0.03). Higher activation of the mPFC may reflect abnormal information processing in schizophrenia. In addition, the results also showed sex differences in hemodynamic activation during the task in patients with schizophrenia, and fNIRS has the potential to be a clinical adjunct to screening for cognitive function in schizophrenia.

A real-world study of foreign body aspiration in children with 4227 cases in Western China.

The early diagnosis and treatment of foreign body aspiration (FBA) can significantly improve the overall prognosis of children. There are significant differences in the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of FBA in different regions. Therefore, we conducted a real-world study in the western region of China with over 4000 patients. The aim of this study was to improve the understanding of FBA in terms of its types, the specific months of its occurrence, and the distribution of primary caregiver characteristics in western China. We collected the clinical and epidemiological data of children who were diagnosed with FBA in our hospital over the past 20 years through a big data centre. We matched the data of healthy children who underwent routine physical examinations at the paediatric health clinic during the same period to analyse the differences in the data of actual guardians. A total of 4227 patients from five provinces were included in this study. Foreign bodies were removed by rigid bronchoscopy in 99.4% (4202/4227) of patients, with a median age of 19 months and a median surgical duration 16 min. January was the most common month of onset for 1725 patients, followed by February, with 1027 patients. The most common types of foreign objects were melon peanuts, seeds and walnuts, accounting for 47.2%, 15.3%, and 10.2%, respectively. In the FBA group, the proportion of grandparents who were primary caregivers was 70.33% (2973/4227), which was significantly greater than the 63.05% in the healthy group (2665/4227) (P < 0.01). FBA most commonly occurs in January and February. More than 60% of FBAs occur between the ages of 1 and 2 years, and the incidence of FBA may be greater in children who are cared for by grandparents. A rigid bronchoscope can be used to remove most aspirated foreign bodies in a median of 16 min.

Large Scale Synthesis of a Stable Prefunctionalized Silver Nanocluster.

Due to the stability issue, It is difficult to prepare a silver nanocluster bearing functional sites, especially at a large scale. We report the synthesis and structure of a stable silver nanocluster bearing multiple surface aldehyde groups [Ag21(Ph2PO2)10(p-CHOPhC≡C)6]SbF6, which allows for postsynthesis modification such as surface functionalization through aldimine condensation to give homochiral clusters. Remarkably, the preparation of this cluster can be done in ~90% high yield at gram scale, which facilitates further studies and potential applications. Through DFT calculations and geometric structure analysis, the high stability of this cluster is attributed to the geometric closure and electronic structure. This is the first time that an effective one-pot method has been developed to synthesize functional silver nanoclusters in high yield. The title cluster will be useful in the development of a variety of cluster-based materials.

Co-composting of dewatered sludge and wheat straw with newly isolated Xenophilus azovorans: Carbon dynamics, humification, and driving pathways.

Composting is a biological reaction caused by microorganisms. Composting efficiency can be adequately increased by adding biochar and/or by inoculating with exogenous microorganisms. In this study, we looked at four methods for dewatered sludge waste (DSW) and wheat straw (WS) aerobic co-composting: T1 (no additive), T2 (5% biochar), T3 (5% of a newly isolated strain, Xenophilus azovorans (XPA)), and T4 (5% of biochar-immobilized XPA (BCI-XPA)). Throughout the course of the 42-day composting period, we looked into the carbon dynamics, humification, microbial community succession, and modifications to the driving pathways. Compared to T1 and T2, the addition of XPA (T3) and BCI-XPA (T4) extended the thermophilic phase of composting without negatively affecting compost maturation. Notably, T4 exhibited a higher seed germination index (132.14%). Different from T1 and T2 treatments, T3 and T4 treatments increased CO2 and CH4 emissions in the composting process, in which the cumulative CO2 emissions increased by 18.61-47.16%, and T3 and T4 treatments also promoted the formation of humic acid. Moreover, T4 treatment with BCI-XPA addition showed relatively higher activities of urease, polyphenol oxidase, and laccase, as well as a higher diversity of microorganisms compared to other processes. The Functional Annotation of Prokaryotic Taxa (FAPROTAX) analysis showed that microorganisms involved in the carbon cycle dominated the entire composting process in all treatments, with chemoheterotrophy and aerobic chemoheterotrophy being the main pathways of organic materials degradation. Moreover, the presence of XPA accelerated the breakdown of organic materials by catabolism of aromatic compounds and intracellular parasite pathways. On the other hand, the xylanolysis pathway was aided in the conversion of organic materials to dissolved organics by the addition of BCI-XPA. These findings indicate that XPA and BCI-XPA have potential as additives to improve the efficiency of dewatered sludge and wheat straw co-composting.

Tracing the vertical migration of exogenous cadmium in soil by seasonal freeze-thaw event using rare earth elements.

Environmental behaviors of heavy metal in soil are strongly influenced by seasonal freeze-thaw events at the mid-high altitudes. However, the potential impact mechanisms of freeze-thaw cycles on the vertical migration of heavy metal are still poor understood. This study aimed to explore how exogenous cadmium (Cd) migrated and remained in soil during the in-situ seasonal freeze-thaw action using rare earth elements (REEs) as tracers. As a comparison, soil which was incubated in the controlled laboratory (25 °C) was employed. Although there was no statistically significant difference in the Cd levels of different soil depths under different treatments, the original aggregate sources of Cd in the 5-10 cm and 10-15 cm soil layers differed. From the distributions of REEs in soil profile, it can be known that Cd in the subsurface of field incubated soil was mainly from the breakdown of >0.50 mm aggregates, while it was mainly from the <0.106 mm aggregates for the laboratory incubated soil. Furthermore, the dissolved and colloidal Cd concentrations were 0.47 µg L-1 and 0.62 µg L-1 in the leachates from field incubated soil than those from control soil (0.21 µg L-1 and 0.43 µg L-1). Additionally, the colloid-associated Cd in the leachate under field condition was mainly from the breakdown of >0.25 mm aggregates and the direct migration of <0.106 mm aggregates, while it was the breakdown of >0.50 mm and the direct migration of <0.106 mm aggregates for the soil under laboratory condition. Our results for the first time provided insights into the fate of exogenous contaminants in seasonal frozen regions using the rare earth element tracing method.

Si, O-Codoped Carbonized Polymer Dots with High Chemiresistive Gas Sensing Performance at Room Temperature.

A new type of carbonized polymer dot was prepared by the one-step hydrothermal method of triethoxylsilane (TEOS) and citric acid (CA). The sensor made from carbonized polymer dots (CPDs) showed superior gas sensing performance toward ammonia at room temperature. The Si, O-codoped CPDs exhibited superior ammonia sensing performance at room temperature, including a low practical limit of detection (pLOD) of 1 ppm (Ra/Rg: 1.10, 1 ppm), short response/recovery time (30/36 s, 1 ppm), high humidity resistance (less than 5% undulation when changing relative humidity to 80 from 30%), high stability (less than 5% initial response undulation after 120 days), reliable repeatability, and high selectivity against other interferential gases. The gas sensing mechanism was investigated through control experiments and in situ FTIR, indicating that Si, O-codoping essentially improves the electron transfer capability of CPDs and synergistically dominates the superior ammonia sensing properties of the CPDs. This work presents a facile strategy for constructing novel high-performance, single-component carbonized polymer dots for gas sensing.

Temporally Local Weighting-Based Phase-Locked Time-Shift Data Augmentation Method for Fast-Calibration SSVEP-BCI.

Various training-based spatial filtering methods have been proposed to decode steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) efficiently. However, these methods require extensive calibration data to obtain valid spatial filters and temporal templates. The time-consuming data collection and calibration process would reduce the practicality of SSVEP-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Therefore, we propose a temporally local weighting-based phase-locked time-shift (TLW-PLTS) data augmentation method to augment training data for calculating valid spatial filters and temporal templates. In this method, the sliding window strategy using the SSVEP response period as a time-shift step is to generate the augmented data, and the time filter which maximises the temporally local covariance between the original template signal and the sine-cosine reference signal is used to suppress the temporal noise in the augmented data. For the performance evaluation, the TLW-PLTS method was incorporated with state-of-the-art training-based spatial filtering methods to calculate classification accuracies and information transfer rates (ITRs) using three SSVEP datasets. Compared with state-of-the-art training-based spatial filtering methods and other data augmentation methods, the proposed TLW-PLTS method demonstrates superior decoding performance with fewer calibration data, which is promising for the development of fast-calibration BCIs.

Clinical presentation and treatment of four children with pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma.

Primary lung cancer in childhood is extremely rare, with an incidence rate of less than 2/100,0000, and pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma (PMEC), is even rarer. Their symptoms are usually not specific, and there are no guidelines for their management, which makes their clinical management a challenge for pediatricians. The purpose of this report is to discuss the clinical presentation, positive signs, examinations, pathological characteristics, surgical modalities, chemotherapy regimens, and prognosis in children. The clinical data of four patients diagnosed with PMEC at the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from June 2021 to November 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, and their clinical features, treatment, and prognosis were summarized. Among them, two were male and two were female; their ages ranged from 3 years and 10 months to 10 years and 11 months, and all were staged according to tumor node metastasis classification (TNM). Immunohistochemical tests were performed in all children, among which four cases were positive for cytokeratin (CK), two cases were positive for CK7, four cases were positive for p63, about 5-10% of tumor cells were positive for Ki67. Among the four children, three had surgery alone and one had surgery + chemotherapy. All four children are presently living, with no evidence of tumor recurrence or metastasis. PMEC in children is very rare, and its age of onset and symptoms are not specific, and there is no obvious correlation with gender. Its diagnosis mainly relies on pathomorphological diagnosis, and immunohistochemical detection has no specific performance. The prognosis of children with PMEC is related to the clinical stage and whether surgery is performed. Whether further chemotherapy or radiotherapy is needed for patients who cannot undergo surgical resection and for those who have a combination of distant metastases requires further clinical studies.

Clinical presentation and treatment of 4 children with pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinomaLung cancer in childhood is extremely rare, occurring at a rate of less than 2/1000000, and a type of lung cancer called pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma (PMEC), is even rarer. The symptoms are usually not specific, and there are no guidelines for its management, which is a challenge for doctors. The purpose of this report is to discuss the signs and symptoms medical examinations, disease characteristics, surgical procedures, chemotherapy regimens and prognosis in children with pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma. The clinical data of four patients diagnosed with pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma at the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from June 2021 to November 2022 were analyzed, and their clinical features, treatment and prognosis were summarized. All four children are currently alive, and there is no recurrence or spread of the tumor after treatment. We have discussed various aspects of the disease, such as the rate of occurrence, causes, signs and symptoms, the way in which it might be diagnosed and treated, and the survival rate after operation, hoping to provide some insights for future work.

Nanomaterial-related hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers, with emphasis on liposome and nano-capsules, for biomedical applications: current status and future perspectives.

Oxygen is necessary for life and plays a key pivotal in maintaining normal physiological functions and treat of diseases. Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) have been studied and developed as a replacement for red blood cells (RBCs) in oxygen transport due to their similar oxygen-carrying capacities. However, applications of HBOCs are hindered by vasoactivity, oxidative toxicity, and a relatively short circulatory half-life. With advancements in nanotechnology, Hb encapsulation, absorption, bioconjugation, entrapment, and attachment to nanomaterials have been used to prepare nanomaterial-related HBOCs to address these challenges and pend their application in several biomedical and therapeutic contexts. This review focuses on the progress of this class of nanomaterial-related HBOCs in the fields of hemorrhagic shock, ischemic stroke, cancer, and wound healing, and speculates on future research directions. The advancements in nanomaterial-related HBOCs are expected to lead significant breakthroughs in blood substitutes, enabling their widespread use in the treatment of clinical diseases.

Application of immersive virtual reality (IVR) for the care of common diseases of older adults course: A mixed methods study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to enhance understanding, engagement, and learning efficiency in the course "The Care of Common Diseases of Older Adults" using a developed Immersive Virtual Reality(IVR) system. METHODS: A mixed-methods study with 32 students was conducted. The quantitative part involved a randomized controlled trial, and the qualitative part included thematic interviews with students and teachers. RESULTS: The intervention group using the IVR system showed significant improvements in positivity and performance evaluation scores (P < 0.05) compared to the control group. Negative affect scores also decreased significantly (P < 0.05). Qualitative data from interviews supported the quantitative findings, highlighting increased curiosity, learning enthusiasm, and academic performance. CONCLUSION: IVR significantly enhances learning by stimulating curiosity and active participation, making education more accessible and improving student performance. Future IVR enhancements should focus on user-friendliness and empathetic feedback in adult care.

Detection of Ascorbic Acid by Two-Dimensional Conductive Metal-Organic Framework-Based Electrochemical Sensors.

The realization of efficient and accurate detection of biomolecules has become a key scientific issue in the field of life sciences. With the rapid development of nanotechnology, electrochemical sensors constructed from the superior physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials show faster and more accurate detection. Among nanomaterials, two-dimensional conductive MOF (2D cMOF) is considered to be a star material in electrochemical sensors due to its remarkable conductivity, high porosity, and stability. In this paper, a Cu3(HHTP)2/SPE electrochemical sensor for the detection of ascorbic acid (AA) was constructed by modifying 2D cMOF (Cu3(HHTP)2) on the surface of the screen-printed electrode (SPE). The sensor exhibited excellent catalytic activity in the detection of AA, with a lower detection limit of 2.4 µmol/L (S/N = 3) and a wide linear range of 25-1645 µmol/L. This high catalytic activity can be attributed to the abundant catalytic sites in Cu3(HHTP)2 and the rapid electron transfer between Cu+ and Cu2+, which accelerates the oxidation of AA. This work lays a foundation for the subsequent development of MOFs with special electrochemical catalytic properties and the integration of 2D cMOF into intelligent electrical analysis devices.

Complete mitochondrial genome of Devario shanensis (Cypriniformes: Danionidae: Danioninae): genome characterization and phylogenetic consideration.

In this study, a comprehensive analysis is presented on the complete mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic relationships of Devario shanensis, an endemic species to the Irrawaddy drainage in southwestern China. The complete mitogenome sequence of D. shanensis was sequenced to be 16,860 bp long and encompassed 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes and a non-coding control region. The overall AT content (61.1%) was much higher than GC content (38.9%). Phylogenetic analyses employing maximum-likelihood and Bayesian inference methods on the complete mitogenomes, including D. shanensis and 13 other species, unveiled a close genomic relationship between D. shanensis and Devario interruptus. This work will contribute to the genetic resource enrichment and phylogenetic researches on genus Devario.

Features of attention network impairment in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy: Evidence from eye-tracking and electroencephalogram.

AIM: To explore multiple features of attention impairments in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). METHODS: A total of 93 patients diagnosed with TLE at Xiangya Hospital during May 2022 and December 2022 and 85 healthy controls were included in this study. Participants were asked to complete neuropsychological scales and attention network test (ANT) with recording of eye-tracking and electroencephalogram. RESULTS: All means of evaluation showed impaired attention functions in TLE patients. ANT results showed impaired orienting (p < 0.001) and executive control (p = 0.041) networks. Longer mean first saccade time (p = 0.046) and more total saccadic counts (p = 0.035) were found in eye-tracking results, indicating abnormal alerting and orienting networks. Both alerting, orienting and executive control networks were abnormal, manifesting as decreased amplitudes (N1 & P3, p < 0.001) and extended latency (P3, p = 0.002). The energy of theta, alpha and beta were all sensitive to the changes of alerting and executive control network with time, but only beta power was sensitive to the changes of orienting network. CONCLUSION: Our findings are helpful for early identification of patients with TLE combined with attention impairments, which have strong clinical guiding significance for long-term monitoring and intervention.

Simultaneously Strengthening and Toughening All-Natural Structural Materials via 3D Nanofiber Network Interfacial Design.

Constructing structural materials from sustainable raw materials is considered an efficient way to reduce the potential threat posed by plastics. Nevertheless, challenges remain regarding combining excellent mechanical and thermal properties, especially the balance of strength and toughness. Here, we report a 3D nanofiber network interfacial design strategy to strengthen and toughen all-natural structural materials simultaneously. The introduced protonated chitosan at the interface between the surface oxidized 3D nanonetwork of bacterial cellulose forms the interfacial interlocking structure of nanonetworks, achieving a robust physical connection and providing enough physical contact sites for chemical crosslinking. The obtained sustainable structural material successfully integrates excellent mechanical and thermal properties on the nanoscale of cellulose nanofibers, such as light weight, high strength, and superior thermal expansion coefficient. The relationship between structural design and comprehensive mechanical property improvement is analyzed in detail, providing a universal perspective to design sustainable high-performance structural materials from nanoscale building blocks.

Lysinuric protein intolerance with novel mutations in solute carrier family 7A member 7 in a Chinese family.

Introduction: Lysinuric protein intolerance (LPI) is a rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in the solute carrier family 7A member 7 (SLC7A7) gene. Case presentation: We presented two siblings with LPI, carrying novel mutations of c.776delT (p.L259Rfs*18) and c.155G>T (p.G52V) in SLC7A7. The younger sibling, preferring protein-rich foods, showed severe symptoms, including alveolar proteinosis, macrophage activation syndrome, severe diarrhea, and disturbance of consciousness with involuntary movements. In contrast, the elder sibling only had mild symptoms, likely due to aversion to protein-rich food since toddler age. Conclusion: LPI is a congenital genetic metabolic disease with multi-system involvement. Initiating appropriate protein-restricted diet therapy as soon as possible could help prevent the progression of LPI.

Enhancing Diagnosis and Treatment Adjustments for Travelers Infected with Burkholderia pseudomallei: A Case Report - Beijing Municipality, China, June 2023.

What is already known about this topic?: Burkholderia pseudomallei (BP) infection leads to melioidosis, a tropical disease endemic to coastal provinces of southern China. Physicians in non-endemic areas, do not commonly consider this disease as a primary differential diagnosis for febrile patients. What is added by this report?: This article discusses a case of melioidosis in Northern China. The patient, who had recently visited a Southeast Asian region with high melioidosis prevalence, fell ill after exposure to contaminated water. The disease progressed quickly and with severity. What are the implications for public health practice?: Healthcare workers need to remain vigilant regarding travel-related diseases for accurate differential diagnosis and to provide timely and effective treatment, especially for patients with recent travel history or symptoms during travel.

Noteworthy impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on cancer screening: A systematic review.

The sudden onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in January 2020 has affected essential global health services. Cancer-screening services that can reduce cancer mortality are strongly affected. However, the specific role of COVID-19 in cancer screening is not fully understood. This study aimed to assess the efficiency of global cancer screening programs before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and to promote potential cancer-screening strategies for the next pandemic. Electronic searches in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, and manual searches were performed between January 1, 2020 and March 1, 2023. Cohort studies that reported the number of participants who underwent cancer screening before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were included. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Differences in cancer-screening rates were estimated using the incidence rate ratio (IRR). Fifty-five cohort studies were included in this meta-analysis. The screening rates of colorectal cancer using invasive screening methods (Pooled IRR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.42 to 0.65, p < 0.01), cervical cancer (Pooled IRR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.47 to 0.67, p < 0.01), breast cancer (Pooled IRR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.49 to 0.66, p < 0.01) and prostate cancer (Pooled IRR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.56 to 0.90, p < 0.01) during the COVID-19 pandemic were significantly lower than those before the COVID-19 pandemic. The screening rates of lung cancer (Pooled IRR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.58 to 1.03, p = 0.08) and colorectal cancer using noninvasive screening methods (Pooled IRR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.50 to 1.09, p = 0.13) were reduced with no statistical differences. The subgroup analyses revealed that the reduction in cancer-screening rates varied across economies. Our results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a noteworthy impact on colorectal, cervical, breast, and prostate cancer screening. Developing innovative cancer-screening technologies is important to promote the efficiency of cancer-screening services in the post-COVID-19 era and prepare for the next pandemic.

Integrating leaf spectral and water status information to effectively track chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters during dehydration.

Monitoring changes in chlorophyll a (ChlFa) fluorescence during dehydration can provide insights into plant photosynthetic responses to climate change challenges, which are predicted to increase drought frequency. However, the limited knowledge of how ChlFa parameters respond to water deficit hinders the exploration of the photochemical mechanism of the photosynthetic process and the simulation of photosynthetic fluorescence models. Furthermore, how to track such responses of ChlFa parameters, especially at large scales, remains a challenge. In this study, we attempted to use spectral information reflected from leaves to follow the dynamic response patterns of ChlFa parameters of seven species under prolonged dehydration. The results showed that the investigated ChlFa parameters exhibited significant changes as dehydration progressed, with considerable variability among the different species as well as under different water conditions. This study also demonstrated that the integration of both spectral and water content information can provide an effective method for tracking ChlFa parameters during dehydration, explaining over 90% of the total variance in the measured ChlFa parameters. Collectively, these results should serve as a valuable reference for predicting the response of ChlFa parameters to dehydration and offer a potential method for estimating ChlFa parameters under drought conditions.

Enhancing biohydrogen production from xylose at low temperature (20 °C) using natural FeS2 Ore: Thermodynamic analysis and mechanistic insights.

This study investigates the efficacy of pyrite in enhancing biohydrogen production from xylose at low temperature (20 °C). Higher hydrogen yield rates (Rm) and reduced lag time (λ) were achieved across initial xylose concentrations ranging from 2-10 g/L. At an optimal xylose concentration of 5 g/L, pyrite reduced λ by 2.5 h and increased Rm from 1.3 to 2.7 mL h-1. These improvements are attributed to pyrite's ability to enhance the secretion of extracellular polymeric substance and flavins, facilitate NADH and NAD+ generation and transition, and favor biohydrogen production. Thermodynamic analyses and Gibbs free energy calculations further elucidated pyrite's role in the full reaction process and rate-limiting steps at low temperature. This study offers valuable insights into improving the efficiency of biohydrogen production at low temperature, with significant implications for energy conservation.