Precision miRNA profiling: Electrochemiluminescence powered by CRISPR-Cas13a and hybridization chain reaction.

The article details a groundbreaking platform for detecting microRNAs (miRNAs), crucial biomolecules involved in gene regulation and linked to various diseases. This innovative platform combines the CRISPR-Cas13a system's precise ability to specifically target and cleave RNA molecules with the amplification capabilities of the hybridization chain reaction (HCR). HCR aids in signal enhancement by creating branched DNA structures. Additionally, the platform employs electrochemiluminescence (ECL) for detection, noted for its high sensitivity and low background noise, making it particularly effective. A key application of this technology is in the detection of miR-17, a biomarker associated with multiple cancer types. It exhibits remarkable detection capabilities, characterized by low detection limits (14.38 aM) and high specificity. Furthermore, the platform's ability to distinguish between similar miRNA sequences and accurately quantify miR-17 in cell lysates underscores its significant potential in clinical and biomedical fields. This combination of precise targeting, signal amplification, and sensitive detection positions the platform as a powerful tool for miRNA analysis in medical diagnostics and research.

Long-Range Structural Order in a Hidden Phase of Ruddlesden-Popper Bilayer Nickelate La3Ni2O7.

The recent discovery of superconductivity in the Ruddlesden-Popper bilayer nickelate, specifically La3Ni2O7, has generated significant interest in the exploration of high-temperature superconductivity within this material family. In this study, we present the crystallographic and electrical resistivity properties of two distinct Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates: the bilayer La3Ni2O7 (referred to as 2222-phase) and a previously uncharacterized phase, La3Ni2O7 (1313-phase). The 2222-phase is characterized by a pseudo F-centered orthorhombic lattice, featuring bilayer perovskite [LaNiO3] layers interspaced by rock salt [LaO] layers, forming a repeated ...2222... sequence. Intriguingly, the 1313-phase, which displays semiconducting properties, crystallizes in the Cmmm space group and exhibits a pronounced predilection for a C-centered orthorhombic lattice. Within this structure, the perovskite [LaNiO3] layers exhibit a distinctive long-range ordered arrangement, alternating between single- and trilayer configurations, resulting in a ...1313... sequence. This report contributes to novel insights into the crystallography and the structure-property relationship of Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates, paving the way for further investigations into their unique physical properties.

RNA-seq revealed the anti-pyroptotic effect of suramin by suppressing NLRP3/caspase-1/GSDMD pathway in LPS-induced MH-S alveolar macrophages.

BACKGROUND: Acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), acting as one common sepsis-associated organ injury, induces uncontrolled and self-amplifies pulmonary inflammation. Given the lack of clinically effective approaches, the mortality rate of it still remains high. Suramin(SUR), as an antiparasitic drug initially, was found to ameliorate sepsis associated ALI in our previous work. However, the underlying mechanism of its protective effects has not been clarified. Pyroptosis, categorized as an inflammatory form of programmed cell death, could aggravate lung inflammatory responses via inducing alveolar macrophages (AM) pyroptosis. METHODS: MH-S AM cell line was stimulated with or without lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or suramin, and the differential expression genes (DEGs) were excavated using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). To identify the regulatory roles of these genes, pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs), GO/KEGG and GSEA analysis were conducted. We also performed WB, qRTPCR and ELISA to validate the RNA-seq results and further expound the protective effect of suramin. RESULTS: 624 DEGs were identified between control (CON) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) groups, and enrichment analysis of these genes revealed significantly enriched pathways that related to immune system and signal transduction. Meanwhile, 500 DEGs were identified in LPS/SUR+LPS group. In addition to the pathways mentioned above, IL-17 pathway and C-type lectin receptor signaling pathway were also enriched. All 6 pathways were connected with pyroptosis. Concurrently, the "DESeq2" R package was used to identify differentially expressed PRGs. Nod1, Nod2, interleukin (IL)-1b, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), NLRP3 were upregulated under LPS stimulation. Then, in SUR+LPS group, Nod2, IL-6, IL-1b, NLRP3 were downregulated. The validation results of WB, qRT-PCR, and ELISA showed: the protein and mRNA expression levels of NLRP3, caspase-1, GSDMD and the concentrations of IL-1b, IL-18 were decreased when treated with suramin and LPS. CONCLUSION: Suramin could inhibit NLRP3/caspase-1/GSDMD canonical pyroptosis pathway in LPS-induced MH-S alveolar macrophages.

Pan-cancer analysis of the oncogenic role of the core osteosarcoma gene VCAN in human tumors.

OBJECTIVE: Versican (VCAN), a member of the multifunctional glycoprotein family, is involved in various aspects of cancer progression. However, the role of VCAN in diverse cancers remains poorly defined. This research aimed to investigate the correlation between VCAN expression and the oncogenic role, as well as visualize its prognostic landscape in pan-cancer. METHODS: Raw data in regard to VCAN expression in cancer patients were acquired from GEO GeneChip public database in NCBI. Besides, we selected microarray data GSE16088 for analysis. We retrieved the genes associated with osteosarcoma (OS) from the OMIM database and identified their intersection with the core module. VCAN was suggested to be a potential marker gene for OS. Subsequently, we conducted Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) to explore gene functional enrichment. Moreover, we performed pan-cancer analysis on VCAN to gain a comprehensive understanding of its implications across various cancer types. RESULTS: The VCAN expression in the tumor tissue was higher than that in normal tissue. Elevated expression of VCAN was associated with high the tumor stage and poor long-term survival. There was a significant positive correlation between VCAN and cancer fibroblasts in all pan cancers. Moreover, FBN1 was the intersection gene of VCAN-related genes and linker genes. ANTXR1, COL5A2, CSGALNACT2, and SPARC were the target genes of VCAN genes. GSEA analysis showed that VCAN was mainly enriched in the extracellular matrix (ECM) signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: VCAN can be used as a marker molecule for the early diagnosis of OS and holds significance as a molecule in cases of OS with distant metastasis. The ECM signaling pathway may be a core pathway in OS development and distant metastasis. These findings shed new light on therapeutics of cancers.

Continuous Spin Excitations in the Three-Dimensional Frustrated Magnet K_{2}Ni_{2}(SO_{4})_{3}.

Continuous spin excitations are widely recognized as one of the hallmarks of novel spin states in quantum magnets, such as quantum spin liquids (QSLs). Here, we report the observation of such kind of excitations in K_{2}Ni_{2}(SO_{4})_{3}, which consists of two sets of intersected spin-1 (Ni^{2+}) trillium lattices. Our inelastic neutron scattering measurement on single crystals clearly shows a dominant excitation continuum, which exhibits a distinct temperature-dependent behavior from that of spin waves, and is rooted in strong quantum spin fluctuations. Further using the self-consistent-Gaussian-approximation method, we determine that the fourth- and fifth-nearest-neighbor exchange interactions are dominant. These two bonds together form a unique three-dimensional network of corner-sharing tetrahedra, which we name as a "hypertrillium" lattice. Our results provide direct evidence for the existence of QSL features in K_{2}Ni_{2}(SO_{4})_{3} and highlight the potential for the hypertrillium lattice to host frustrated quantum magnetism.

Disorder-Enriched Magnetic Excitations in a Heisenberg-Kitaev Quantum Magnet Na_{2}Co_{2}TeO_{6}.

Using optical magnetospectroscopy, we investigate the magnetic excitations of Na_{2}Co_{2}TeO_{6} in a broad magnetic field range (0 T≤B≤17.5 T) at low temperature. Our measurements reveal rich spectra of in-plane magnetic excitations with a surprisingly large number of modes, even in the high-field spin-polarized state. Theoretical calculations find that the Na-occupation disorder in Na_{2}Co_{2}TeO_{6} plays a crucial role in generating these modes. Our Letter demonstrates the necessity to consider disorder in the spin environment in the search for Kitaev quantum spin liquid states in practicable materials.

Effect of barbed versus standard sutures on wound complications in total knee arthroplasty: A meta-analysis.

A barbed suture has been demonstrated to be effective in shortening the stitching time and improving the aesthetic appearance of the stitches during the entire knee replacement. However, no meta-analyses have been conducted specifically to evaluate the effect of the barbed thread on wound complications relative to the conventional suture. A comprehensive search of the PubMed database, the Embase database, the Cochrane Library and the Web of Science was performed to obtain search data up to June 2023, and only randomised controlled trials were included in this meta-analysis. We used Review Manager 5.3 for data synthesis and analysis. This meta-analysis included eight studies. It was found that the use of barbed sutures did not improve the incidence of the disease, the infection of the wound, the closure of the abscess and the injury. However, because of the limited sample size of the randomised controlled trials for this meta-analysis, the data should be handled with caution. More high-quality, large-sample studies will be required to confirm the results.

Degradation of sulfamethoxazole and antibiotic resistance genes from surface water in the photocatalyst-loading bionic ecosystems.

The behavior and removal of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and 3 typical corresponding antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) including sul1, sul2, sul3, and 16S rDNA in surface water were investigated in the photocatalyst-loading bionic ecosystems (PCBEs). Synthesized composite photocatalyst g-C3N4/TiO2 showing higher catalytic activity than Fe/g-C3N4/TiO2 was selected in the PCBEs. Five PCBEs, i.e., A-the control (without bionic grass or photocatalyst), B-bionic grass loaded with 4.12 g/m2 g-C3N4/TiO2, C-bionic grass loaded with 8.25 g/m2 g-C3N4/TiO2, D-bionic grass loaded with 12.37 g/m2 g-C3N4/TiO2, and E-bionic grass loaded with 16.5 g/m2 g-C3N4/TiO2 were constructed and operated in a medium-scale running cyclical flume. SMX could be photolyzed efficiently by g-C3N4/TiO2 with an optimal unit load on the bionic grass of 12.37 g/m2. 3-amino-5-methylisooxazole and p-aminobenzene sulfonamide were selected as main intermediates through the analyses of SMX degradation mechanisms and pathways, and detected in the aqueous phase and bionic grass. The intermediates were higher in the underwater part of the bionic grass than the above-water part. The overall removal of SMX ranged from 31.7 % to 82.3 % in 5 PCBEs, and the removal of sul1and sul2 were 0.2 %- 62.9 % in the aqueous phase and 8.4 %-63.2 % in the sediment. PCBE D might be the best construction when SMX and ARGs' removal was considered comprehensively. Moreover, the microbial structures showed Proteobacteria as the most dominant bacterial species had a relative abundance of 22.2 %-26.6 % and 33.4 %-68.2 % in the aquatic phase and sediment respectively, illustrating that the removal of the antibiotic and ARGs was bound up with the variations of dominant bacteria in the ecosystems. The findings illustrated that ecosystems with bionic grass and photocatalysts could be a promising technology for the removal of typical antibiotics and ARGs from surface water.

Remediation of Cd-contaminated soil by electrokinetics coupled with the permeable reactive barrier from immobilized yeast.

Yeast was used to prepare permeable reactive barrier (PRB) with immobilized microbial technology, and the electrokinetics coupled with the immobilized yeast PRB (IMEK-PRB) was established to remediate Cd-contaminated soil. The effect of the different PRBs prepared by immobilized microbial technology on Cd removal was explored. The voltage gradient had influence on the removal of Cd, and the removal reached as high as 53.70 % at a voltage gradient of 2.5 V/cm. The lowest removal about 34.12 % was obtained with yeast pellets prepared by the embedding method used as PRB. The yeast in PRB was partially broken and adhered, and the intensity of the absorption peak of the group analyzed with infrared spectra and the crystal diffraction peak from X-ray diffraction changed, leading to a decrease in its activity. The average removal of Cd increased by >10 % when fly ash-based yeast pellets prepared with the adsorption-embedding method, and fly ash-adsorbed yeast prepared by the adsorption method were used as PRB. IMEK-PRB remediation would greatly reduce the toxicity of Cd-contaminated soil, weaken harmful effects on the soil environment and reduce environmental risks. The fly ash-based yeast pellets used in IMEK-PRB have great application prospects for the remediation of Cd-contaminated soil.

Membrane separation of antibiotics predicted with the back propagation neural network.

Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been frequently detected in the aquatic environment and are regarded as emerging pollutants. The prediction models for the removal effect of four target antibiotics by membrane separation technology were constructed based on back propagation neural network (BPNN) through training the input and output. The membrane separation tests of antibiotics showed that the removal effect of microfiltration on azithromycin and ciprofloxacin was better, basically above 80%. For sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) and tetracycline (TC), ultrafiltration and nanofiltration had better removal effects. There was a strong correlation between the concentrations of SMZ and TC in the permeate, and the R2 of the training and validation processes exceeded 0.9. The stronger the correlation between the input layer variables and the prediction target was, the better the prediction performances of the BPNN model than the nonlinear model and the unscented Kalman filter model were. These results showed that the established BPNN prediction model could better simulate the removal of target antibiotics by membrane separation technology. The model could be used to predict and explore the influence of external conditions on membrane separation technology and provide a certain basis for the application of the BPNN model in environmental protection.

Anomalous magnetoresistance by breaking ice rule in Bi2Ir2O7/Dy2Ti2O7 heterostructure.

While geometrically frustrated quantum magnets host rich exotic spin states with potentials for revolutionary quantum technologies, most of them are necessarily good insulators which are difficult to be integrated with modern electrical circuit. The grand challenge is to electrically detect the emergent fluctuations and excitations by introducing charge carriers that interact with the localized spins without destroying their collective spin states. Here, we show that, by designing a Bi2Ir2O7/Dy2Ti2O7 heterostructure, the breaking of the spin-ice rule in insulating Dy2Ti2O7 leads to a charge response in the conducting Bi2Ir2O7 measured as anomalous magnetoresistance during the field-induced Kagome ice-to-saturated ice transition. The magnetoresistive anomaly also captures the characteristic angular and temperature dependence of this ice-rule-breaking transition, which has been understood as magnetic monopole condensation. These results demonstrate a novel heteroepitaxial approach for electronically probing the transition between exotic insulating spin states, laying out a blueprint for the metallization of frustrated quantum magnets.

Enzymatic integrated in-situ advanced anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge for the removal of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes.

Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in sewage sludge can cause high ecotoxicological risks in the environment and public health concerns. The aims of this study were to establish enzymatic integrated in-situ advanced anaerobic digestion (AAD) by adding cellulase and papain as well as the two enzymes combined with zero valent iron (ZVI) directly into the anaerobic digesters to explore the removal of antibiotics and ARGs under the mesophilic condition (35 °C). The methane production potential during in-situ AAD was effectively improved. Papain and cellulase at 30 mg/gTSS were most effective in improving antibiotic removal. The removal of sulfamerazine (SMZ) and sulfadiazine (SMR) could reach 89.10 % and 71.75 %. Combined enzymes with ZVI also enhanced the removal of all target antibiotics, especially roxithromycin (ROX), SMZ and SMR most significantly. Except for sul1, tetA and tetB, the removal of ARGs by papain reached 6.33 %-82.15 %. The addition of cellulase effectively improved tetA removal. The combination of biological enzymes further enhanced the removal of qnrS and ermX. The tetG, tetB, sul3, ermX, ermT, qnrS, and aac(6')-IB-CR by combined enzymes with ZVI could even not be detected after digestion. Addition of papain, cellulase, and ZVI caused variations in the dominant bacteria. All target antibiotics presented significant positive correlations with the genera norank_f__Bacteroidetes_vadinHA17, norank_f__norank_o__SJA-15, norank_f__norank_o__Aminicenantales. Redundancy analysis showed archaea Methanosaeta and Candidatus_ Methanoacidiosum genera greatly contributed to antibiotics removal with the combination of enzymes and ZVI. Co-occurrence network analysis indicated the removal of ARGs was mainly based on the changes of existence of host bacteria.

Investigation of the monopole magneto-chemical potential in spin ices using capacitive torque magnetometry.

The single-ion anisotropy and magnetic interactions in spin-ice systems give rise to unusual non-collinear spin textures, such as Pauling states and magnetic monopoles. The effective spin correlation strength (Jeff) determines the relative energies of the different spin-ice states. With this work, we display the capability of capacitive torque magnetometry in characterizing the magneto-chemical potential associated with monopole formation. We build a magnetic phase diagram of Ho2Ti2O7, and show that the magneto-chemical potential depends on the spin sublattice (α or ß), i.e., the Pauling state, involved in the transition. Monte Carlo simulations using the dipolar-spin-ice Hamiltonian support our findings of a sublattice-dependent magneto-chemical potential, but the model underestimates the Jeff for the ß-sublattice. Additional simulations, including next-nearest neighbor interactions (J2), show that long-range exchange terms in the Hamiltonian are needed to describe the measurements. This demonstrates that torque magnetometry provides a sensitive test for Jeff and the spin-spin interactions that contribute to it.

Controllable Emergent Spatial Spin Modulation in Sr_{2}IrO_{4} by In Situ Shear Strain.

Symmetric anisotropic interaction can be ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic at the same time but for different crystallographic axes. We show that the competition of anisotropic interactions of orthogonal irreducible representations can be a general route to obtain new exotic magnetic states. We demonstrate it here by observing the emergence of a continuously tunable 12-layer spatial spin modulation when distorting the square-lattice planes in the quasi-two-dimensional antiferromagnetic Sr_{2}IrO_{4} under in situ shear strain. This translation-symmetry-breaking phase is a result of an unusual strain-activated anisotropic interaction which is at the fourth order and competing with the inherent quadratic anisotropic interaction. Such a mechanism of competing anisotropy is distinct from that among the ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, and/or the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, and it could be widely applicable and highly controllable in low-dimensional magnets.

Apelin Alleviates Meniscus Endothelial Cell Apoptosis in Osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease characterized by articular cartilage and/or chondrocyte destruction, and although it has long been considered as a primary disease, the importance of meniscus endothelial cell modulation in the subchondral microenvironment has recently drawn attention. Previous studies have shown that apelin could potentially inhibit cellular apoptosis; however, it remains unclear whether apelin could play a protective role in protecting the endothelium in the OA meniscus. In this study, with the advantages of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data, in combination with flow cytometry, we identified two endothelial subclusters in the meniscus, featured by high expression of Homeobox A13 (HOXA13) and Ras Protein-Specific Guanine Nucleotide Releasing Factor 2 (RASGRF2), respectively. Compared with control patients, both subclusters decreased in absolute cell numbers and exhibited downregulated APJ endogenous ligand (APLN, coding for apelin) and upregulated apelin receptor (APLNR, coding apelin receptor). Furthermore, we confirmed that in OA, decreased endothelial cell numbers, including both subclusters, were related to intrinsic apoptosis factors: one more relevant to caspase 3 (CASP3) and the other to BH3-Interacting Domain Death agonist (BID). In vitro culturing of meniscal endothelial cells purified from patients proved that apelin could significantly inhibit apoptosis by downregulating these two factors in endothelial cell subclusters, suggesting that apelin could potentially serve as a therapeutic target for patients with OA.

rmc-discord: reverse Monte Carlo refinement of diffuse scattering and correlated disorder from single crystals.

A user-friendly program has been developed to analyze diffuse scattering from single crystals with the reverse Monte Carlo method. The approach allows for refinement of correlated disorder from atomistic supercells with magnetic or structural (occupational and/or displacive) disorder. The program is written in Python and optimized for performance and efficiency. Refinements of two user cases obtained with legacy neutron-scattering data demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach and the developed program. It is shown with bixbyite, a naturally occurring magnetic mineral, that the calculated three-dimensional spin-pair correlations are resolved with finer real-space resolution compared with the pair distribution function calculated directly from the reciprocal-space pattern. With the triangular lattice Ba3Co2O6(CO3)0.7, refinements of occupational and displacive disorder are combined to extract the one-dimensional intra-chain correlations of carbonate molecules that move toward neighboring vacant sites to accommodate strain induced by electrostatic interactions. The program is packaged with a graphical user interface and extensible to serve the needs of single-crystal diffractometer instruments that collect diffuse-scattering data.

Antibiotic fate in an artificial-constructed urban river planted with the algae Microcystis aeruginosa and emergent hydrophyte.

The behavior and removal of six antibiotics, that is, azithromycin, clarithromycin, sulfathiazole, sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline, in an artificial-controllable urban river (ACUR) were investigated. The ACUR was constructed to form five artificial eco-systems by planting three emergent hydrophytes and Microcystis aeruginosa: (1) Control; (2) MA: M. aeruginosa only; (3) MA-J-C: M. aeruginosa combined with Juncus effusus and Cyperus alternifolius; (4) MA-C-A: M. aeruginosa combined with C. alternifolius and Acorus calamus L.; (5) MA-A-J: M. aeruginosa combined with A. calamus L. and J. effusus. The MA-C-A system achieved the best removal of azithromycin and clarithromycin after 15-day test with the final concentrations 0.92 and 0.83 µg/L. The contents of ciprofloxacin and tetracycline in sediment were highest, up to 1453 and 1745 ng/g. The antibiotic plant bioaccumulation was higher in roots rather than the shoots (stem and leaves). No target antibiotics were detected in algae cells. The combination of hybrid hydrophytes had a certain effect on the removal of antibiotics, and thus selecting appropriate hydrophytes in urban rivers could greatly improve water quality. The overall removal of six antibiotics was greatly improved by the ACUR containing the hybrid hydrophytes and the algae, indicating a synergistic effect on antibiotic removal. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Controllable-mobile artificial eco-systems were developed with emergent hydrophytes and M. aeruginosa. The M. aeruginosa + Cyperus alternifolius + Acorus calamus L. system removed azithromycin and clarithromycin most at the end of tests. Emergent hydrophytes and M. aeruginosa have a synergistic effect on the removal of antibiotics. The combination of emergent hydrophytes did play an important role in the removal of antibiotics. The artificial eco-systems containing the hybrid hydrophytes and the algae could greatly improve the overall removal of antibiotics.

Magneto-transport evidence for strong topological insulator phase in ZrTe5.

The identification of a non-trivial band topology usually relies on directly probing the protected surface/edge states. But, it is difficult to achieve electronically in narrow-gap topological materials due to the small (meV) energy scales. Here, we demonstrate that band inversion, a crucial ingredient of the non-trivial band topology, can serve as an alternative, experimentally accessible indicator. We show that an inverted band can lead to a four-fold splitting of the non-zero Landau levels, contrasting the two-fold splitting (spin splitting only) in the normal band. We confirm our predictions in magneto-transport experiments on a narrow-gap strong topological insulator, zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe5), with the observation of additional splittings in the quantum oscillations and also an anomalous peak in the extreme quantum limit. Our work establishes an effective strategy for identifying the band inversion as well as the associated topological phases for future topological materials research.

Domain Wall Patterning and Giant Response Functions in Ferrimagnetic Spinels.

The manipulation of mesoscale domain wall phenomena has emerged as a powerful strategy for designing ferroelectric responses in functional devices, but its full potential is not yet realized in the field of magnetism. This work shows a direct connection between magnetic response functions in mechanically strained samples of Mn3 O4 and MnV2 O4 and stripe-like patternings of the bulk magnetization which appear below known magnetostructural transitions. Building off previous magnetic force microscopy data, a small-angle neutron scattering is used to show that these patterns represent distinctive magnetic phenomena which extend throughout the bulk of two separate materials, and further are controllable via applied magnetic field and mechanical stress. These results are unambiguously connected to the anomalously large magnetoelastic and magnetodielectric response functions reported for these materials, by performing susceptibility measurements on the same crystals and directly correlating local and macroscopic data.