Awareness of radiation risks by medical students & referrers requesting radiological examinations in the North of Scotland: an audit.

INTRODUCTION: Radiological imaging has played an important role in diagnostic medicine for over a century, though it is known to contribute to dermatological conditions, cataracts, and cancer. The associated risk of harm has led to the introduction of protective regulations around the world. Present-day NHS clinicians are increasingly requesting and relying on diagnostic imaging. Knowledge surrounding the radiation doses of common radiological investigations and the associated risks is imperative, and on a global level has been found to be inadequate. Consequently, there is a need for the formal inclusion of teaching within training programmes. AIMS/OBJECTIVES: This prospective audit aims to establish the knowledge of radiation doses and risks of common radiological investigations of both medical students and referrers within four NHS Health Boards based in the North of Scotland. It also seeks to establish prior teaching and the preference for further educational interventions. AUDIT STANDARD: Referrers should have adequate knowledge of radiation doses and the risks associated with common radiological investigations. AUDIT TARGET: The standard should be achieved by 90% of referrers. METHODS: A 19-question online survey was devised to include subjective and objective questions on ionising radiation awareness, education preference, and respondent demographics, based on RCR (Royal College of Radiologists) audit criteria and previous studies. Data collection was conducted between the 22/02/23 to the 22/03/2023 and the questionnaire was distributed to senior medical students and radiological referrers of different grades within NHS Grampian, NHS Highland, NHS Shetland, and NHS Orkney. A descriptive analysis of the data was undertaken using Microsoft Excel Version 16.71. RESULTS: Two hundred eight questionnaires were completed. 22.11% (n = 46) of the sample population had received no prior teaching on the topic of ionising radiation. Over half of the respondents (51.92%, n = 108) rated the importance of radiation risks as either important or extremely important, with 69.71% (n = 145) of participants rating their perceived knowledge as limited or average. Most correctly identified that a CT scan (n = 203), PET-CT scan (n = 199) and a chest x-ray (n = 196) exposed patients to ionising radiation. A small proportion of the participants incorrectly thought that an MRI scan (n = 21) and an ultrasound scan (n = 2) involved ionising radiation. The results obtained failed to meet the RCR audit target, which states that 90% of doctors should be aware of common radiological doses. It was observed that only 17.79% (n = 37) of survey respondents scored over 50% in the knowledge assessment, with the median knowledge score of the whole cohort being 2.5 out of 9 (27.78%). Respondents who had prior teaching on the topic performed better those who had no prior teaching, with average scores of 3.19 (35.44%) and 2.04 (22.67%) respectively. Senior clinicians performed better when compared to junior clinicians and medical students. CONCLUSION & FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS: This audit found that the knowledge of radiation risks within the North of Scotland in the selected sample population was insufficient across all levels of the clinical team. Further, continuous education around the topic and future audit opportunities may help to optimise knowledge and training.

Prognostic Value of Coronary Angiography-Derived Index of Microcirculatory Resistance in Non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients.

BACKGROUND: The index of microcirculatory resistance is a reliable measure for evaluating coronary microvasculature, but its prognostic value in patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic impact of post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) angiography-derived index of microcirculatory resistance (angio-IMR) in patients with NSTEMI. METHODS: The culprit vessel's angio-IMR was measured after PCI in 2,212 NSTEMI patients at 3 sites. The primary endpoint was 2-year major adverse cardiac events (MACEs), defined as a composite of cardiac death, readmission for heart failure, myocardial reinfarction, and target vessel revascularization. RESULTS: The mean post-PCI angio-IMR was 20.63 ± 4.17 in NSTEMI patients. Two hundred six patients were categorized as the high post-PCI angio-IMR group according to maximally selected log-rank statistics. Patients with angio-IMR >25 showed a higher rate of MACEs than those with angio-IMR ≤25 (32.52% vs 9.37%; P < 0.001). Post-PCI angio-IMR >25 was an independent predictor of MACEs (HR: 4.230; 95% CI: 3.151-5.679; P < 0.001) and showed incremental prognostic value compared with conventional risk factors (AUC: 0.774 vs 0.716; P < 0.001; net reclassification index: 0.317; P < 0.001; integrated discrimination improvement: 0.075; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing PCI for NSTEMI, an increased post-PCI angio-IMR is associated with a higher risk of MACEs. The addition of post-PCI angio-IMR into conventional risk factors significantly improves the ability to reclassify patients and estimate the risk of MACEs. (Angiograph-Derived Index of Microcirculatory Resistance in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction; NCT05696379).

A High-Entropy Oxyhydroxide with a Graded Metal Network Structure for Efficient and Robust Alkaline Overall Water Splitting.

Designing high-entropy oxyhydroxides (HEOs) electrocatalysts with controlled nanostructures is vital for efficient and stable water-splitting electrocatalysts. Herein, a novel HEOs material (FeCoNiWCuOOH@Cu) containing five non-noble metal elements derived by electrodeposition on a 3D double-continuous porous Cu support is created. This support, prepared via the liquid metal dealloying method, offers a high specific surface area and rapid mass/charge transfer channels. The resulting high-entropy FeCoNiWCuOOH nanosheets provide a dense distribution of active sites. The heterostructure between Cu skeletons and FeCoNiWCuOOH nanosheets enhances mass transfer, electronic structure coupling, and overall structural stability, leading to excellent activities in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and water splitting reaction. At 10 mA cm-2, the overpotentials for OER, HER, and water splitting in 1.0 m KOH solution are 200, 18, and 1.40 V, respectively, outperforming most current electrocatalysts. The catalytic performance remains stable even after operating at 300 mA cm-2 for 100, 100, and over 1000 h, correspondingly. This material has potential applications in integrated hydrogen energy systems. More importantly, density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate the synergy of the five elements in enhancing water-splitting activity. This work offers valuable insights for designing industrial water electrolysis systems.

Global Optimization of Cation Ordering in Perovskites by Recommendation-Based Basin-Hopping.

Cation ordering in multication perovskites is related to many important material properties and performances, but computational determination of the cation ordering remains a major challenge. Here, we propose a new computational approach by introducing a machine learning recommender system into the basin-hopping framework (RBH) for optimizing cation ordering. Taking the electrocatalyst Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3 (BSCF5582) as a showcase example, we found that the efficiency of RBH in identifying low-energy configurations outperforms the methods of cluster expansion and conventional basin-hopping. The RBH results revealed that the BSCF5582 catalyst tended to have a layered ordering of A-site cations and disordered B-site cations both in bulk and on the surfaces. Further, on the A-site-terminated surface, we found the segregation of large Ba atoms. Similarly, on the A-site- terminated surface of the recently developed Cs0.2Sr0.8Co0.4Fe0.6O3 (CSCF2846) catalyst, layered ordering at the A-site and surface enrichment of large Cs atoms were also found. The layered ordering was robust against thermal effects, as found from molecular dynamics simulations at 800 K. This work provides a new approach for thermodynamic global optimization of chemical ordering in multicomponent materials.

Data-Driven Knowledge Fusion for Deep Multi-Instance Learning.

Multi-instance learning (MIL) is a widely applied technique in practical applications that involve complex data structures. MIL can be broadly categorized into two types: traditional methods and those based on deep learning. These approaches have yielded significant results, especially regarding their problem-solving strategies and experiment validation, providing valuable insights for researchers in the MIL field. However, considerable knowledge is often trapped within the algorithm, leading to subsequent MIL algorithms that rely solely on the model's data fitting to predict unlabeled samples. This results in a significant loss of knowledge and impedes the development of more powerful models. In this article, we propose a novel data-driven knowledge fusion for deep MIL (DKMIL) algorithm. DKMIL adopts a completely different idea from existing deep MIL methods by analyzing the decision-making of key samples in the dataset (referred to as the data-driven) and using the knowledge fusion module designed to extract valuable information from these samples to assist the model's learning. In other words, this module serves as a new interface between data and the model, providing strong scalability and enabling prior knowledge from existing algorithms to enhance the model's learning ability. Furthermore, to adapt the downstream modules of the model to more knowledge-enriched features extracted from the data-driven knowledge fusion (DDKF) module, we propose a two-level attention (TLA) module that gradually learns shallow-and deep-level features of the samples to achieve more effective classification. We will prove the scalability of the knowledge fusion module and verify the efficiency of the proposed architecture by conducting experiments on 62 datasets across five categories.

Compressive Failure Characteristics of 3D Four-Directional Braided Composites with Prefabricated Holes.

The low delamination tendency and high damage tolerance of three-dimensional (3D) braided composites highlight their significant potential in handling defects. To enhance the engineering potential of three-dimensional four-directional (3D4d) braided composites and assess the failure mode of hole defects, this study introduces a series of 3D4d braided composites with prefabricated holes, studying their compressive properties and failure mechanisms through experimental and finite element methods. Digital image correlation (DIC) was used to monitor the compressive strain on the surface of materials. Scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the longitudinal compression failure mode inside the material. A macroscopic model is established, and the porous materials are predicted by using the general braided composite material prediction theory. While reducing the forecast cost, the error is also controlled within 21%. The analysis of failure mechanisms elucidates the damage extension mode, and the porous damage tolerance ability aligns closely with the bearing mode of braided material structure. Different braiding angles will lead to different bearing modes of materials. Under longitudinal compression, the average strength loss of 15° specimens is 38.21%, and that of 30° specimens is 8.1%. The larger the braided angle, the stronger the porous damage tolerance. Different types of prefabricated holes will also affect their mechanical properties and damage tolerance.

Density Measurements of Molten LiF-BeF2 and LiF-BeF2-LaF3 Salt Mixtures by Neutron Radiography.

The densities of eutectic (LiF)2-BeF2 and mixtures of this salt (FLiBe) with LaF3 were measured by dilatometry and by neutron attenuation from 673 K to 1,073 K. Because LaF3 has a limited solubility in FLiBe, it was necessary to determine the amount of LaF3 in solution before the density could be determined. The FLiBe density determination was favorably benchmarked against the literature data. A simple comparison was not available for the LaF3-FLiBe mixtures, so extrapolation of published data was necessary based on analysis using the Molten Salt Thermal Properties Database-Thermochemistry, or MSTDB-TC, developed by the US Department of Energy. Solubilities for LaF3 in FLiBe ranged from 1 to 4 mol % over 673 to 1,073 K. The salt system was heated and cooled over 24 h to evaluate potential changes in composition and hysteresis during the measurement. Changes in the meniscus were observed, and these were included in the correction for density determinations. Salt surface tension may have led to supersaturation of LaF3 in the salt because the solubility curve was nonlinear with respect to the inverse temperature, as would be expected for an ideal system. Surface tension measurements are currently underway to test this hypothesis.

Effects of calorie-restricted diet on health state and intestinal flora in Hashimoto's thyroiditis patients: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is an autoimmune disease, characterized by abnormal elevation in thyroid peroxidase antibody and/or thyroglobulin antibody. In recent decades, HT disease has become more and more widespread. Patients always report multiple symptoms, even though their thyroid hormone levels are kept in normal ranges. However, no treatment exists to effectively reduce the levels of thyroid antibodies. Our study aims to determine whether calorie-restricted diet is helpful in improving health of HT patients. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: This is a 3-month randomized controlled trial. HT patients will be randomized into a calorie-restricted (CR) group or a calorie-unrestricted control group. All the participants will be instructed to consume a diet that includes a combination of 45-55% calories from carbohydrates, 20-30% from fats, and 15-25% from proteins, according to current Chinese Dietary Guidelines. Participants in CR group need to limit their calories intake equal to their basal energy expenditure, which means that their daily caloric intake will be limited by about 20-30%. RESULTS: The study population is planned to be 66 HT patients aged 18 to 65 years. The primary outcome is change of thyroid antibody levels from baseline. Secondary outcomes include the changes of non-hypothyroid symptoms scores, thyroid function indexes, morphology of thyroid, T lymphocyte subpopulations, inflammatory biomarkers and lipids from baseline to 12 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: This trial will have implications for nutrition treatment policy in regard to thyroid antibodies control, immune dysfunction and related non-hypothyroid symptoms improvement among HT patients.

The methyltransferase METTL3 regulates endothelial cell proliferation and inflammation via m6A RNA methylation-mediated TRAF1 expression.

The imbalance of vascular endothelial cell homeostasis is the key mechanism for the progression of many vascular diseases. RNA modification, particularly N6-Methyladenosine (m6A), plays important function in numerous biological processes. Nevertheless, the regulatory function of m6A RNA methylation in endothelial dysfunction remains insufficiently characterized. In this study, we established that the m6A methyltransferase METTL3 is critical for regulating endothelial function. Functionally, depletion of METTL3 results in decreased endothelial cells proliferation, survival and inflammatory response. Conversely, overexpression of METTL3 elicited the opposite effects. Mechanistically, MeRIP-seq identified that METTL3 catalyzed m6A modification of TRAF1 mRNA and enhanced TRAF1 translation, thereby up-regulation of TRAF1 protein. Over-expression of TRAF1 successfully rescued the inhibition of proliferation and adhesion of endothelial cells due to METTL3 knockdown. Additionally, m6A methylation-mediated TRAF1 expression can be reversed by the demethylase ALKBH5. Knockdown of ALKBH5 upregulated the level of m6A and protein level of TRAF1, and also increased endothelial cells adhesion and inflammatory response. Collectively, our findings suggest that METTL3 regulates vascular endothelium homeostasis through TRAF1 m6A modification, suggesting that targeting the METTL3-m6A-TRAF1 axis may hold therapeutic potential for patients with vascular diseases.

Synergistic Effect Enables the Dual-Metal Doped Cobalt Telluride Particles as Potential Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution in Alkaline Electrolyte.

Cobalt (Co)-based materials have been widely investigated as hopeful noble-metal-free alternatives for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline electrolytes, which is crucial for generating hydrogen by water electrolysis. Herein, cobalt-based telluride particles with good electronic conductivity as anodic electrocatalysts were prepared under vacuum by the solid-state strategy, which display remarkable activities toward the OER. Nickel (Ni) and iron (Fe) codoped cobalt telluride (NiFe-CoTe) exhibits an overpotential of 321 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 51.8 mV dec-1, outperforming the performances of CoTe, CoTe2, and IrO2. According to the DFT calculation, the adsorbed hydroxyl-assisted adsorbate evolution mechanism was proposed for the OER process of NiFe-CoTe, which reveals the synergetic effect toward OER induced by codoping of the Ni and Fe atoms. This work proposes a rational strategy to prepare cobalt-based tellurides as efficient OER catalysts in alkaline electrolytes, providing a new strategy to prepare and regulate metal-based tellurides for catalysis and beyond.

Experimental Analysis of the Low-Velocity Impact and CAI Properties of 3D Four-Directional Braided Composites after Hygrothermal Aging.

Three-dimensional braided composites (3D-BCs) have better specific strength and stiffness than two-dimensional planar composites (2D-PCs), so they are widely used in modern industrial fields. In this paper, two kinds of 3D four-directional braided composites (3D4d-BCs) with different braided angles (15°, denoted as H15, and 30°, denoted as H30) were subjected to hydrothermal aging treatments, low-velocity impact (LVI) tests, and compression after impact (CAI) tests under different conditions. This study systematically studied the hygroscopic behavior and the effect of hygrothermal aging on the mechanical properties of 3D4d-BC. The results show that higher temperatures and smaller weaving angles can significantly improve the moisture absorption equilibrium content. When the moisture absorption content is balanced, the energy absorption effect of 3D4d-BC is better, but the integrity and residual compression rate will be reduced. Due to the intervention of oxygen molecules, the interface properties between the matrix and the composite material will be reduced, so the compressive strength will be further reduced. In the LVI test, the peak impact load of H15 is low. In CAI tests, the failure of H15 mainly occurs on the side, and the failure form is buckling failure. The main failure direction of H30 is 45° shear failure.

Tailoring Alkalized and Oxidized V2CTx as Anode Materials for High-Performance Lithium Ion Batteries.

V2CTx MXenes have gained considerable attention in lithium ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their special two-dimensional (2D) construction with large lithium storage capability. However, engineering high-capacity V2CTx MXenes is still a great challenge due to the limited interlayer space and poor surface terminations. In view of this, alkalized and oxidized V2CTx MXenes (OA-V2C) are envisaged. SEM characterization confirms the accordion-like layered morphology of OA-V2C. The XPS technique illustrates that undergoing alkalized and oxidized treatment, V2CTX MXene replaces -F and -OH with -O groups, which are more conducive to pseudocapacitive properties as well as Na ion diffusion, providing more active sites for ion storage in OA-V2C. Accordingly, the electrochemical performance of OA-V2C as anode materials for LIBs is evaluated in this work, showing excellent performance with high reversible capacity (601 mAh g-1 at 0.2 A g-1 over 500 cycles), competitive rate performance (222.2 mAh g-1 and 152.8 mAh g-1 at 2 A g-1 and 5 A g-1), as well as durable long-term cycling property (252 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1 undergoing 5000 cycles). It is noted that the intercalation of Na+ ions and oxidation co-modification greatly reduces F surface termination and concurrently increases interlayer spacing in OA-V2C, significantly expediting ion/electron transportation and providing an efficient way to maximize the performance of MXenes in LIBs. This innovative refinement methodology paves the way for building high-performance V2CTx MXenes anode materials in LIBs.

Puerarin ameliorates non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by inhibiting lipid metabolism through FMO5.

Introduction: Pueraria lobata is traditionally used in China for treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Puerarin, a functional drug extracted from Pueraria lobata, features a pharmacological activity. The present study aims to investigate the effect of puerarin intervention on NAFLD. Methods: We established an NAFLD mouse model using a high-fat diet with 60% fat and evaluated the impact of puerarin intervention. Results and discussion: Our results demonstrate that puerarin intervention significantly ameliorates lipid accumulation and protects the liver from high-fat-induced damage while reducing oxidative stress levels in the liver. Furthermore, puerarin intervention significantly downregulates the transcription levels of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC1) in the liver. It also upregulates the transcription levels of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα), and peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor γ coactivator alpha (PGC1α), which are related to oxidation. Furthermore, we demonstrated that flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO5) was involved in the protective effect of puerarin against NFALD. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated the beneficial effect of puerarin on NAFLD and showed that puerarin could prevent liver injury and lipid accumulation caused by NAFLD via activating FMO5. These findings provide a new theoretical basis for applying puerarin as a therapeutic agent for NAFLD.

Dose-response relationship between physical activity and frailty: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Frailty is a significant public health issue facing aging societies and can be reduced by physical activity (PA), but the dose-response relationship between PA and frailty is not clear. This systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis aimed to assess the effect of PA on frailty in adults by aggregating data from observational studies. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, SAGE Reference Online, SinoMed, CINAHL and CNKI were retrieved for articles published before May 2024. After quality evaluation, data on PA and the risk of frailty were extracted. Stata/MP 17.0 was used for dose-response meta-analysis. Results: A total of 15 articles were included, involving 34,754 participants, including 4250 subjects with frailty or pre-frailty. The consequence of the dose-response meta-analysis revealed that compared with those who were not active at all, a 22 % (95 % CI, 16 %-28 %) reduction in the risk of frailty in individuals with 11.25 MET h/week of cumulative activity and a 55 % (95 % CI, 44 %-63 %) reduction in the risk of frailty in those with 22.5 MET h/week of cumulative activity; for higher activity levels (36.75 MET h/week), the risk of frailty was reduced by 68 % (95 % CI, 58 %-76 %) and continued to be reduced as PA volum increased. Conclusions: There is a non-linear dose-response relationship between PA and frailty risk. Even small amounts of PA could reduce the risk of frailty. Meeting the minimum recommended PA target could reduce some risks, and doubling the recommended PA volumes could reduce most risks, which continue to increase as the volum of PA accumulates.

Antibody-Decorated Nanoplatform to Reprogram Macrophage and Block Immune Checkpoint LSECtin for Effective Cancer Immunotherapy.

Repolarizing tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) into tumor-inhibiting M1 macrophages has been considered a promising strategy for enhanced cancer immunotherapy. However, several immunosuppressive ligands (e.g., LSECtin) can still be highly expressed on M1 macrophages, inducing unsatisfactory therapeutic outcomes. We herein developed an antibody-decorated nanoplatform composed of PEGylated iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) and LSECtin antibody conjugated onto the surface of IONPs via the hydrazone bond for enhanced cancer immunotherapy. After intravenous administration, the tumor microenvironment (TME) pH could trigger the hydrazone bond breakage and induce the disassociation of the nanoplatform into free LSECtin antibodies and IONPs. Consequently, the IONPs could repolarize TAMs into M1 macrophages to remodel immunosuppressive TME and provide an additional anticancer effect via secreting tumoricidal factors (e.g., interlukin-12). Meanwhile, the LSECtin antibody could further block the activity of LSECtin expressed on M1 macrophages and relieve its immunosuppressive effect on CD8+ T cells, ultimately leading to significant inhibition of tumor growth.

Tiny-Machine-Learning-Based Supply Canal Surface Condition Monitoring.

The South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China is an extensive inter-basin water transfer project, for which ensuring the safe operation and maintenance of infrastructure poses a fundamental challenge. In this context, structural health monitoring is crucial for the safe and efficient operation of hydraulic infrastructure. Currently, most health monitoring systems for hydraulic infrastructure rely on commercial software or algorithms that only run on desktop computers. This study developed for the first time a lightweight convolutional neural network (CNN) model specifically for early detection of structural damage in water supply canals and deployed it as a tiny machine learning (TinyML) application on a low-power microcontroller unit (MCU). The model uses damage images of the supply canals that we collected as input and the damage types as output. With data augmentation techniques to enhance the training dataset, the deployed model is only 7.57 KB in size and demonstrates an accuracy of 94.17 ± 1.67% and a precision of 94.47 ± 1.46%, outperforming other commonly used CNN models in terms of performance and energy efficiency. Moreover, each inference consumes only 5610.18 µJ of energy, allowing a standard 225 mAh button cell to run continuously for nearly 11 years and perform approximately 4,945,055 inferences. This research not only confirms the feasibility of deploying real-time supply canal surface condition monitoring on low-power, resource-constrained devices but also provides practical technical solutions for improving infrastructure security.

Increased Tryptophan Catabolism Provides Predictive Value to Chronic Heart Failure Patients with Low-Grade Inflammation.

Kynurenine to tryptophan ratio (KTR), which serves as an indicator for evaluating indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase activity and inflammation, has been reported to be linked with cardiovascular incidences. However, its correlation with cardiovascular outcomes in patients suffering from heart failure (HF) remains to be explored. The objective of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of KTR in HF. The concentration of tryptophan and kynurenine were quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and the KTR value was calculated in a population of 3150 HF patients. The correlation between plasma KTR levels and the occurrence of adverse cardiovascular events was evaluated for its prognostic value. We also assessed the role of KTR in addition to the classic inflammatory biomarker hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in different subtypes of HF. We found that increased KTR levels were associated with an elevated risk and severity of the primary endpoints in different subtypes of HF. The simultaneous evaluation of KTR and hs-CRP levels enhanced risk categorization among HF patients. Furthermore, the KTR index presented complementary prognostic value for those HF patients with low-grade inflammation (hs-CRP ≤ 6 mg/L). Our results indicated plasma KTR is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events. Plasma KTR levels in patients with HF can provide both concurrent and complementary prognostic value to hs-CRP.

Parity-Frequency-Space Elastic Spin Control of Wave Routing in Topological Phononic Circuits.

Topological phononic cavities, such as ring resonators with topological whispering gallery modes (TWGMs), offer a flexible platform for the realization of robust phononic circuits. However, the chiral mechanism governing TWGMs and their selective routing in integrated phononic circuits remain unclear. This work reveals, both experimentally and theoretically, that at a phononic topological interface, the elastic spin texture is intricately linked to, and can be explained through a knowledge of, the phonon eigenmodes inside each unit cell. Furthermore, for paired, counterpropagating TWGMs based on such interfaces in a waveguide resonator, this study demonstrates that the elastic spin exhibits locking at discrete frequencies. Backed up by theory, experiments on kHz TWGMs in thin honeycomb-lattice aluminum plates bored with clover-leaf shaped holes show that together with this spin-texture related angular-momentum locking mechanism at a single topological interface, there are triplicate parity-frequency-space selective wave routing mechanisms. In the future, these mechanisms can be harnessed for the versatile manipulation of elastic-spin based routing in phononic topological insulators.

Corrigendum: Network pharmacology-based exploration identified the antiviral efficacy of Quercetin isolated from mulberry leaves against enterovirus 71 via the NF-κB signaling pathway.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1260288.].

Coherent Erbium Spin Defects in Colloidal Nanocrystal Hosts.

We demonstrate nearly a microsecond of spin coherence in Er3+ ions doped in cerium dioxide nanocrystal hosts, despite a large gyromagnetic ratio and nanometric proximity of the spin defect to the nanocrystal surface. The long spin coherence is enabled by reducing the dopant density below the instantaneous diffusion limit in a nuclear spin-free host material, reaching the limit of a single erbium spin defect per nanocrystal. We observe a large Orbach energy in a highly symmetric cubic site, further protecting the coherence in a qubit that would otherwise rapidly decohere. Spatially correlated electron spectroscopy measurements reveal the presence of Ce3+ at the nanocrystal surface, which likely acts as extraneous paramagnetic spin noise. Even with these factors, defect-embedded nanocrystal hosts show tremendous promise for quantum sensing and quantum communication applications, with multiple avenues, including core-shell fabrication, redox tuning of oxygen vacancies, and organic surfactant modification, available to further enhance their spin coherence and functionality in the future.