3D-bioprinted alginate-based bioink scaffolds with ß-tricalcium phosphate for bone regeneration applications.

Background/purpose: 3D-printed bone tissue engineering is becoming recognized as a key approach in dentistry for creating customized bone regeneration treatments fitting patients bone defects requirements. 3D bioprinting offers an innovative method to fabricate detailed 3D structures, closely emulating the native bone micro-environment and better bone regeneration. This study aimed to develop an 3D-bioprintable scaffold using a combination of alginate and ß-tricalcium phosphate (ß-TCP) with the Cellink® BioX printer, aiming to advance the field of tissue engineering. Materials and methods: The physical and biological properties of the resulting 3D-printed scaffolds were evaluated at 10 %, 12 %, and 15 % alginate combined with 10 % ß-TCP. The scaffolds were characterized through printability, swelling behavior, degradability, and element analysis. The biological assessment included cell viability, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. Results: 10 % alginate/ß-TCP 3D printed at 25 °C scaffold demonstrated the optimal condition for printability, swelling capability, and degradability of cell growth and nutrient diffusion. Addition of ß-TCP particles significantly improved the 3D printed material viscosity over only alginate (P < 0.05). 10 % alginate/ß-TCP enhanced MG-63 cell's proliferation (P < 0.05) and alkaline phosphatase activity (P < 0.001). Conclusion: This study demonstrated in vitro that 10 % alginate/ß-TCP bioink characteristic for fabricating 3D acellular bioprinted scaffolds was the best approach. 10 % alginate/ß-TCP bioink 3D-printed scaffold exhibited superior physical properties and promoted enhanced cell viability and alkaline phosphatase activity, showing great potential for personalized bone regeneration treatments.

Association between oral health status and occlusal bite force in young adults.

Background/purpose: Oral health is related to general health and a person's overall well-being. The aim of the present study was to explore the association between oral health status and bite force among young adults. Materials and methods: Maximum bite force (MBF) was measured using Dental Prescale II in conjunction with a pressure-sensitive film and bite force analyzer in 40 young adults aged 20 to 40. Supragingival dental plaque was collected and cultured. Plaque weight, pH, and colony counts were assessed. The decayed, missing, and filled teeth index (DMFT) and body mass index (BMI) were recorded. Results: Bite force was negatively correlated with the number of missing teeth and the sum of missing and filled teeth. When the filled-to-remaining-teeth ratio (F/R ratio) was less than 8%, the bite force was significantly higher compared to an F/R ratio of 8-25%. Additionally, the amount of total bacteria was positively correlated with total bite force, and the quantity of Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) along with total bacteria was positively correlated with bite force in the molar region (∗P < 0.05). The molar region predominantly contributed to bite force. Conclusion: Elevated levels of cariogenic bacteria may increase the risk of tooth loss, subsequently leading to reduced bite force. This reduction in bite force can further impact the efficiency of chewing function and, consequently, the quality of life. An F/R ratio above 8% could be easily calculated clinically and could serve as a guide to identify patients, particularly young adults, at risk of reduced bite force.

Structure-guided identification and characterization of potent inhibitors targeting PhoP and MtrA to combat mycobacteria.

Mycobacteria are causative agents of tuberculosis (TB), which is a global health concern. Drug-resistant TB strains are rapidly emerging, thereby necessitating the urgent development of new drugs. Two-component signal transduction systems (TCSs) are signaling pathways involved in the regulation of various bacterial behaviors and responses to environmental stimuli. Applying specific inhibitors of TCSs can disrupt bacterial signaling, growth, and virulence, and can help combat drug-resistant TB. We conducted a comprehensive pharmacophore-based inhibitor screening and biochemical and biophysical examinations to identify, characterize, and validate potential inhibitors targeting the response regulators PhoP and MtrA of mycobacteria. The constructed pharmacophore model Phar-PR-n4 identified effective inhibitors of formation of the PhoP-DNA complex: ST132 (IC50 = 29 ± 1.6 µM) and ST166 (IC50 = 18 ± 1.3 µM). ST166 (KD = 18.4 ± 4.3 µM) and ST132 (KD = 14.5 ± 0.1 µM) strongly targeted PhoP in a slow-on, slow-off manner. The inhibitory potency and binding affinity of ST166 and ST132 for MtrAC were comparable to those of PhoP. Structural analyses and molecular dynamics simulations revealed that ST166 and ST132 mainly interact with the α8-helix and C-terminal ß-hairpin of PhoP, with functionally essential residue hotspots for structure-based inhibitor optimization. Moreover, ST166 has in vitro antibacterial activity against Macrobacterium marinum. Thus, ST166, with its characteristic 1,2,5,6-tetrathiocane and terminal sulphonic groups, has excellent potential as a candidate for the development of novel antimicrobial agents to combat pathogenic mycobacteria.

Co-culture of RhoA-overexpressed Microtia Chondrocytes and Adipose-Derived Stem Cells in the Construction of Tissue-engineered Ear-shaped Cartilage.

Microtia is a congenital auricle dysplasia with a high incidence and tissue engineering technology provides a promising strategy to reconstruct auricles. We previously described that the engineered cartilage constructed from microtia chondrocytes exhibited inferior levels of biochemical and biomechanical properties, which was proposed to be resulted from the decreased migration ability of microtia chondrocytes. In the current study, we found that Rho GTPase members were deficient in microtia chondrocytes. By overexpressing RhoA, Rac1 and CDC42, respectively, we further demonstrated that RhoA took great responsibility for the decreased migration ability of microtia chondrocytes. Moreover, we constructed PGA/PLA scaffold-based cartilages to verify the chondrogenic ability of RhoA overexpressed microtia chondrocytes, and the results showed that overexpressing RhoA was of limited help to improve the quality of microtia chondrocyte engineered cartilage. However, co-culture of ADSCs significantly improved the biochemical and biomechanical property of engineered cartilage. Especially, co-culture of RhoA overexpressed microtia chondrocytes and ADSCs produced an excellent effect on the wet weight, cartilage-specific extracellular matrix and biomechanical property of engineered cartilage. Furthermore, we presented that co-culture of RhoA overexpressed microtia chondrocytes and ADSCs combined with human ear-shaped PGA/PLA scaffold and titanium alloy stent fabricated by CAD/CAM and 3D printing technology effectively constructed and maintained auricle structure in vivo. Collectively, our results provide evidence for the essential role of RhoA in microtia chondrocytes and a developed strategy for the construction of patient-specific tissue-engineered auricular cartilage.

Efficacy and acceptability of noninvasive brain stimulation for treating posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms: A network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

INTRODUCTION: Despite its high lifetime prevalence rate and the elevated disability caused by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), treatments exhibit modest efficacy. In consideration of the abnormal connectivity between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and amygdala in PTSD, several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) addressing the efficacy of different noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) modalities for PTSD management have been undertaken. However, previous RCTs have reported inconsistent results. The current network meta-analysis (NMA) aimed to compare the efficacy and acceptability of various NIBS protocols in PTSD management. METHODS: We systematically searched ClinicalKey, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, ProQuest, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and ClinicalTrials.gov to identify relevant RCTs. The targeted RCTs was those comparing the efficacy of NIBS interventions, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and transcutaneous cervical vagal nerve stimulation, in patients with PTSD. The NMA was conducted using a frequentist model. The primary outcomes were changes in the overall severity of PTSD and acceptability (to be specific, rates of dropouts for any reason). RESULTS: We identified 14 RCTs that enrolled 686 participants. The NMA demonstrated that among the investigated NIBS types, high-frequency rTMS over bilateral DLPFCs was associated with the greatest reduction in overall PTSD severity. Further, in comparison with the sham controls, excitatory stimulation over the right DLPFC with/without excitatory stimulation over left DLPFC were associated with significant reductions in PTSD-related symptoms, including depression and anxiety symptoms, and overall PTSD severity. CONCLUSIONS: This NMA demonstrated that excitatory stimulation over the right DLPFC with or without excitatory stimulation over left DLPFC were associated with significant reductions in PTSD-related symptoms. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42023391562.

Protein disulfide isomerase cleaves allosteric disulfides in histidine-rich glycoprotein to regulate thrombosis.

The essence of difference between hemostasis and thrombosis is that the clotting reaction is a highly fine-tuned process. Vascular protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) represents a critical mechanism regulating the functions of hemostatic proteins. Herein we show that histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG) is a substrate of PDI. Reduction of HRG by PDI enhances the procoagulant and anticoagulant activities of HRG by neutralization of endothelial heparan sulfate (HS) and inhibition of factor XII (FXIIa) activity, respectively. Murine HRG deficiency (Hrg-/-) leads to delayed onset but enhanced formation of thrombus compared to WT. However, in the combined FXII deficiency (F12-/-) and HRG deficiency (by siRNA or Hrg-/-), there is further thrombosis reduction compared to F12-/- alone, confirming HRG's procoagulant activity independent of FXIIa. Mutation of target disulfides of PDI leads to a gain-of-function mutant of HRG that promotes its activities during coagulation. Thus, PDI-HRG pathway fine-tunes thrombosis by promoting its rapid initiation via neutralization of HS and preventing excessive propagation via inhibition of FXIIa.

Remote Monitoring and Data Collection for Decentralized Clinical Trials.

Importance: Less than 5% of patients with cancer enroll in a clinical trial, partly due to financial and logistic burdens, especially among underserved populations. The COVID-19 pandemic marked a substantial shift in the adoption of decentralized trial operations by pharmaceutical companies. Objective: To assess the current global state of adoption of decentralized trial technologies, understand factors that may be driving or preventing adoption, and highlight aspirations and direction for industry to enable more patient-centric trials. Design, Setting, and Participants: The Bloomberg New Economy International Cancer Coalition, composed of patient advocacy, industry, government regulator, and academic medical center representatives, developed a survey directed to global biopharmaceutical companies of the coalition from October 1 through December 31, 2022, with a focus on registrational clinical trials. The data for this survey study were analyzed between January 1 and 31, 2023. Exposure: Adoption of decentralized clinical trial technologies. Main Outcomes and Measures: The survey measured (1) outcomes of different remote monitoring and data collection technologies on patient centricity, (2) adoption of these technologies in oncology and all therapeutic areas, and (3) barriers and facilitators to adoption using descriptive statistics. Results: All 8 invited coalition companies completed the survey, representing 33% of the oncology market by revenues in 2021. Across nearly all technologies, adoption in oncology trials lags that of all trials. In the current state, electronic diaries and electronic clinical outcome assessments are the most used technology, with a mean (SD) of 56% (19%) and 51% (29%) adoption for all trials and oncology trials, respectively, whereas visits within local physician networks is the least adopted at a mean (SD) of 12% (18%) and 7% (9%), respectively. Looking forward, the difference between the current and aspired adoption rate in 5 years for oncology is large, with respondents expecting a 40% or greater absolute adoption increase in 8 of the 11 technologies surveyed. Furthermore, digitally enabled recruitment, local imaging capabilities, and local physician networks were identified as technologies that could be most effective for improving patient centricity in the long term. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings may help to galvanize momentum toward greater adoption of enabling technologies to support a new paradigm of trials that are more accessible, less burdensome, and more inclusive.

An Overview of the Effect of Aging on the Female Urethra.

Urethral function declines by roughly 15% per decade and profoundly contributes to the pathogenesis of urinary incontinence. Individuals with poor urethral function are more likely to fail surgical management for stress incontinence that focus on improving urethral support. The reduced number of intramuscular nerves and the morphologic changes in muscle and connective tissue collectively impact urethral function as women age. Imaging technologies like MRI and ultrasound have advanced our understanding of these changes. However, substantial knowledge gaps remain. Addressing these gaps can be crucial for developing better prevention and treatment strategies, ultimately enhancing the quality of life for aging women.

Infodemiology of Influenza-like Illness: Utilizing Google Trends' Big Data for Epidemic Surveillance.

Background: Influenza-like illness (ILI) encompasses symptoms similar to influenza, affecting population health. Surveillance, including Google Trends (GT), offers insights into epidemic patterns. Methods: This study used multiple regression models to analyze the correlation between ILI incidents, GT keyword searches, and climate variables during influenza outbreaks. It compared the predictive capabilities of time-series and deep learning models against ILI emergency incidents. Results: The GT searches for "fever" and "cough" were significantly associated with ILI cases (p < 0.05). Temperature had a more substantial impact on ILI incidence than humidity. Among the tested models, ARIMA provided the best predictive power. Conclusions: GT and climate data can forecast ILI trends, aiding governmental decision making. Temperature is a crucial predictor, and ARIMA models excel in forecasting ILI incidences.

Biomimetic Design of 3D Fe3O4/V-EVOH Fiber-Based Self-Floating Composite Aerogel to Enhance Solar Steam Generation Performance.

An interfacial solar steam generation evaporator for seawater desalination has attracted extensive interest in recent years. Nevertheless, challenges still remain in relatively low evaporation rate, unsatisfactory energy conversion efficiency, and salt accumulation. Herein, we have demonstrated a biomimetic bilayer composite aerogel consisting of bottom hydrophilic and vertically aligned EVOH channels and an upper hydrophobic conical Fe3O4 array. Thanks to the design merits, the 3D Fe3O4/V-EVOH evaporator exhibits a high evaporation rate of ∼2.446 kg m-2 h-1 and an impressive solar energy conversion efficiency of ∼165.5% under 1 sun illumination, which is superior to those of state-of-the-art evaporators reported so far. Moreover, the asymmetrical wettability not only allows the evaporator to self-float on the water but also facilitates the salt ion diffusion in the channels; thus, the evaporator shows no salt crystals on its surface and only a 6% decrease in evaporation performance even after the salt concentration increases from 0 to 10.0 wt %.

A fused multi-subfrequency bands and CBAM SSVEP-BCI classification method based on convolutional neural network.

For the brain-computer interface (BCI) system based on steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP), it is difficult to obtain satisfactory classification performance for short-time window SSVEP signals by traditional methods. In this paper, a fused multi-subfrequency bands and convolutional block attention module (CBAM) classification method based on convolutional neural network (CBAM-CNN) is proposed for discerning SSVEP-BCI tasks. This method extracts multi-subfrequency bands SSVEP signals as the initial input of the network model, and then carries out feature fusion on all feature inputs. In addition, CBAM is embedded in both parts of the initial input and feature fusion for adaptive feature refinement. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, this study uses the datasets of Inner Mongolia University of Technology (IMUT) and Tsinghua University (THU) to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The experimental results show that the highest accuracy of CBAM-CNN reaches 0.9813 percentage point (pp). Within 0.1-2 s time window, the accuracy of CBAM-CNN is 0.0201-0.5388 (pp) higher than that of CNN, CCA-CWT-SVM, CCA-SVM, CCA-GNB, FBCCA, and CCA. Especially in the short-time window range of 0.1-1 s, the performance advantage of CBAM-CNN is more significant. The maximum information transmission rate (ITR) of CBAM-CNN is 503.87 bit/min, which is 227.53 bit/min-503.41 bit/min higher than the above six EEG decoding methods. The study further results show that CBAM-CNN has potential application value in SSVEP decoding.

Predicting the cryotolerance of boar sperm through antioxidant stress.

High sperm cryotolerance is crucial to the successful cryopreservation of boar sperm. Evaluating the cryotolerance of boar sperm by using a rapid and convenient technique can enhance the commercial viability of these sperm. This study investigated the correlation between sperm parameters for three sample subsets-fresh sperm, sperm with H2O2-induced oxidative damage (hereinafter referred to as H2O2-induced sperm), and frozen-thawed sperm-to identify the potential of these correlations to predict cryotolerance. A total of 64 sperm samples were obtained from 64 Duroc boars. The sperm parameters of the three subsets, where the frozen-thawed sperm were analysed at 30 or 180 min after thawing, were determined, and the coefficients of correlation between these parameters were calculated. The results indicated that H2O2-induced oxidative stress resulted in decreases in various sperm parameters-including total motility (TM), viability (VIA), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and live sperm with MMP (LMP)-but increased their coefficients of variation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that the kinematic parameters of the H2O2-induced sperm effectively predicted those of the frozen-thawed boar sperm at 30 min after thawing; the corresponding area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.8667 for TM and 0.8733 for progressive motility in the H2O2-induced sperm. For measurement at 180 min after thawing, the sperm membrane and mitochondrial parameters of the H2O2-induced sperm effectively predicted the LMP of the frozen-thawed boar sperm; the corresponding AUC was 0.8489 for VIA, 0.8289 for MMP, and 0.8444 for LMP. To our knowledge, this is the first study to directly establish a strong correlation between post-thaw boar sperm quality and H2O2-induced oxidative stress before freezing. Our proposed technique can serve as a valuable reference for the development of practical applications aimed at enhancing techniques for cryopreserving boar sperm.

Quality of life and clinical correlates in cognitively-able autistic adults: A special focus on sensory characteristics and perceived parental support.

BACKGROUND: Quality of life (QoL) has been suggested as an indicator of outcomes in autistic adults. Factors associated with QoL in autistic individuals remain unclear. This study aims to examine the subjective QoL for autistic adults in Taiwan and investigate the determinants for different domains of QoL. METHODS: The study comprised 90 autistic adults (aged 26.9, SD 7.3; males, 80.9%). We used Taiwanese version of World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF to measure QoL. Four domains of QoL were compared with 61 non-autistic controls, including physical, psychological, social, and environment. To identify the correlates of QoL domains, we assessed IQ, personality trait, family support, anxiety/depressive symptoms, autistic severity, and sensory symptoms by various questionnaires, and assessed their association with QoL by correlation analyses and model selection. RESULTS: Our results showed that autistic adults reported lower QoL on the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF across all domains. QoL was significantly associated with autistic symptom severity, harm avoidance, family support, sensory symptoms, anxiety, and depression, but not intelligence. Model selections revealed male sex, poor paternal support, autism severity, depression, anxiety, and sensory symptoms were associated with specific QoL domains. CONCLUSION: Findings supported lower QoL in autistic adults. Modifying the QoL correlates may improve life quality in autistic adults. Furthermore, our findings revealed the importance of sensory symptoms and paternal support in QoL of autistic adults, which was a novel finding in this population.

Silicon Vacancies Diamond/Silk/PVA Hierarchical Physical Unclonable Functions for Multi-Level Encryption.

Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) have emerged as a promising encryption technology, utilizing intrinsic physical identifiers that offer enhanced security and tamper resistance. Multi-level PUFs boost system complexity, thereby improving system reliability and fault tolerance. However, crosstalk-free multi-level PUFs remain a persistent challenge. In this study, a hierarchical PUF system that harnesses the spontaneous phase separation of silk fibroin /PVA blend and the random distribution of silicon-vacancy diamonds within the blend is presented. The thermodynamic instability of phase separation and inherent unpredictability of diamond dispersion gives rise to intricate random patterns at two distinct scales, enabling time-efficient hierarchical authentication for cryptographic keys. These patterns are complementary yet independent, inherently resistant to replication and damage thus affording robust security and reliability to the proposed system. Furthermore, customized authentication algorithms are constructed: visual PUFs authentication utilizes neural network combined structural similarity index measure, while spectral PUFs authentication employs Hamming distance and cross-correlation bit operation. This hierarchical PUF system attains a high recognition rate without interscale crosstalk. Additionally, the coding capacity is exponentially enhanced using M-ary encoding to reinforce multi-level encryption. Hierarchical PUFs hold significant potential for immediate application, offering unprecedented data protection and cryptographic key authentication capabilities.

Biological Renewable Cellulose-Templated Zn1-XCuXO/Ag2O Nanocomposite Photocatalysts for the Degradation of Methylene Blue.

Herein, Cellulose-templated Zn1-XCuXO/Ag2O nanocomposites were prepared using biological renewable cellulose extracted from water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). Cellulose-templated Cu-doped ZnO catalysts with different amounts of Cu as the dopants (1, 2, 3, and 4%) were prepared and denoted CZ-1, CZ-2, CZ-3, and CZ-4, respectively, for simplicity. The prepared catalysts were tested for the degradation of methylene blue (MB), and 2% Cu-doped ZnO (CZ-2) showed the best catalytic performance (82%), while the pure ZnO, CZ-1, CZ-3, and CZ-4 catalysts exhibited MB dye degradation efficiencies of 54, 63, 65, and 60%, respectively. The best catalyst (CZ-2) was chosen to further improve the degradation efficiency. Different amounts of AgNO3 (10, 15, 30, and 45 mg) were used for the deposition of Ag2O on the surface of CZ-2 and denoted CZA-10, CZA-15, CZA-30, and CZA-45, respectively. Among the composite catalysts, CZA-15 showed remarkable degradation efficiency and degraded 94% of MB, while the CZA-10, CZA-30, and CZA-45 catalysts showed 90, 81, and 79% degradation efficiencies, respectively, under visible light within 100 min of irradiation. The enhanced catalytic performance could be due to the smaller particle size, the higher electron and hole separation and charge transfer efficiencies, and the lower agglomeration in the composite catalyst system. The results also demonstrated that the Cu-doped ZnO prepared with cellulose as a template, followed by the optimum amount of Ag2O deposition, could have promising applications in the degradation of organic pollutants.

Bioinformatics analysis and validation of genes related to paclitaxel's anti-breast cancer effect through immunogenic cell death.

Research indicated that Paclitaxel (PTX) can induce immunogenic cell death (ICD) through immunogenic modulation. However, the combination of PTX and ICD has not been extensively studied in breast cancer (BRCA). The TCGA-BRCA and GSE20685 datasets were enrolled in this study. Samples from the TCGA-BRCA dataset were consistently clustered based on selected immunogenic cell death-related genes (ICD-RGs). Next, candidate genes were obtained by overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between BRCA and normal groups, intersecting genes common to DEGs between cluster1 and cluster2 and hub module genes, and target genes of PTX from five databases. The univariate Cox algorithm and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) were performed to obtain biomarkers and build a risk model. Following observing the immune microenvironment in differential risk subgroups, single-gene gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was carried out in all biomarkers. Finally, the expression of biomarkers was analyzed. Enrichment analysis showed that 626 intersecting genes were linked with inflammatory response. Further five biomarkers (CHI3L1, IL18, PAPLN, SH2D2A, and UBE2L6) were identified and a risk model was built. The model's performance was validated using GSE20685 dataset. Furthermore, the biomarkers were enriched with adaptive immune response. Lastly, the experimental results indicated that the alterations in IL18, SH2D2A, and CHI3L1 expression after treatment matched those in the public database. In this study, Five PTX-ICD-related biomarkers (CHI3L1, IL18, PAPLN, SH2D2A, and UBE2L6) were identified to aid in predicting BRCA treatment outcomes.

Thermal hydrolysis alleviates polyethylene microplastic-induced stress in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge.

Microplastics are known to negatively affect anaerobic digestion (AD) of waste activated sludge. However, whether thermal hydrolysis (TH) pretreatment alters the impact of microplastics on sludge AD remains unknown. Herein, the effect of TH on the impact of polyethylene (PE) microplastics in sludge AD was investigated. The results showed that the inhibition of methane production by PE at 100 particles/g total solids (TS) was reduced by 31.4% from 12.1% to 8.3% after TH at 170 °C for 30 min. Mechanism analysis indicated TH reduced the potential for reactive oxygen species production induced by PE, resulting in a 29.1 ± 5.5% reduction in cell viability loss. In addition, additive leaching increased as a result of rapid aging of PE microplastics by TH. Acetyl tri-n-butyl citrate (ATBC) release from PE with 10 and 100 particles/g TS increased 11.5-fold and 8.6-fold after TH to 68.2 ± 5.5 µg/L and 124.0 ± 5.1 µg/L, respectively. ATBC at 124.0 µg/L increased methane production by 21.4%. The released ATBC enriched SBR1031 and Euryarchaeota, which facilitate the degradation of proteins and promote methane production. This study reveals the overestimated impact of PE microplastics in sludge AD and provides new insights into the PE microplastics-induced impact in practical sludge treatment and anaerobic biological processes.

Fine-grained image classification on bats using VGG16-CBAM: a practical example with 7 horseshoe bats taxa (CHIROPTERA: Rhinolophidae: Rhinolophus) from Southern China.

BACKGROUND: Rapid identification and classification of bats are critical for practical applications. However, species identification of bats is a typically detrimental and time-consuming manual task that depends on taxonomists and well-trained experts. Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs) provide a practical approach for the extraction of the visual features and classification of objects, with potential application for bat classification. RESULTS: In this study, we investigated the capability of deep learning models to classify 7 horseshoe bat taxa (CHIROPTERA: Rhinolophus) from Southern China. We constructed an image dataset of 879 front, oblique, and lateral targeted facial images of live individuals collected during surveys between 2012 and 2021. All images were taken using a standard photograph protocol and setting aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the DCNNs classification. The results demonstrated that our customized VGG16-CBAM model achieved up to 92.15% classification accuracy with better performance than other mainstream models. Furthermore, the Grad-CAM visualization reveals that the model pays more attention to the taxonomic key regions in the decision-making process, and these regions are often preferred by bat taxonomists for the classification of horseshoe bats, corroborating the validity of our methods. CONCLUSION: Our finding will inspire further research on image-based automatic classification of chiropteran species for early detection and potential application in taxonomy.

Concerted Effect of Ion- and Electron-Conductive Additives on the Electrochemical and Thermal Performances of the LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 Cathode Material Synthesized by a Taylor-Flow Reactor for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

To address the issue that a single coating agent cannot simultaneously enhance Li+-ion transport and electronic conductivity of Ni-rich cathode materials with surface modification, in the present study, we first successfully synthesized a LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811) cathode material by a Taylor-flow reactor followed by surface coating with Li-BTJ and dispersion of vapor-grown carbon fibers treated with polydopamine (PDA-VGCF) filler in the composite slurry. The Li-BTJ hybrid oligomer coating can suppress side reactions and enhance ionic conductivity, and the PDA-VGCFs filler can increase electronic conductivity. As a result of the synergistic effect of the dual conducting agents, the cells based on the modified NCM811 electrodes deliver superior cycling stability and rate capability, as compared to the bare NCM811 electrode. The CR2032 coin-type cells with the NCM811@Li-BTJ + PDA-VGCF electrode retain a discharge specific capacity of ∼92.2% at 1C after 200 cycles between 2.8 and 4.3 V (vs Li/Li+), while bare NCM811 retains only 84.0%. Moreover, the NCM811@Li-BTJ + PDA-VGCF electrode-based cells reduced the total heat (Qt) by ca. 7.0% at 35 °C over the bare electrode. Remarkably, the Li-BTJ hybrid oligomer coating on the surface of the NCM811 active particles acts as an artificial cathode electrolyte interphase (ACEI) layer, mitigating irreversible surface phase transformation of the layered NCM811 cathode and facilitating Li+ ion transport. Meanwhile, the fiber-shaped PDA-VGCF filler significantly reduced microcrack propagation during cycling and promoted the electronic conductance of the NCM811-based electrode. Generally, enlightened with the current experimental findings, the concerted ion and electron conductive agents significantly enhanced the Ni-rich cathode-based cell performance, which is a promising strategy to apply to other Ni-rich cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

Uncovering sympathetic nervous system dysfunction in disorders of consciousness via heart rate variability during head-up tilt test.

Few standardized tools are available for evaluation of disorders of consciousness (DOC). The potential of heart rate variability (HRV) during head-up tilt (HUT) test was investigated as a complementary evaluation tool. Twenty-one DOC patients and 21 healthy participants were enrolled in this study comparing clinical characteristics and HRV time- and frequency-domain outcomes and temporal changes during HUT test. During the 1st-5th min of the HUT, DOC group showed a significant increase and decrease in log low frequency (LF) (p = 0.045) and log normalized high frequency (nHF) (p = 0.02), respectively, compared to the supine position and had lower log normalized LF (nLF) (p = 0.004) and log ratio of low-to-high frequency (LF/HF) (p = 0.001) compared to healthy controls. As the HUT continued from the 6th to the 20th min, DOC group exhibited a significant increase in log LF/HF (16th-20th min) (p < 0.05), along with a decrease in log nHF (6th-10th and 16th-20th min) (p < 0.05) and maintained lower log LF, log nLF, and log LF/HF than controls (p < 0.05). 1st-10th min after returning to the supine position, DOC group demonstrated a significant decrease in log nHF (p < 0.01) and increases in log LF/HF (p < 0.01) and had lower log LF (p < 0.01) and log nLF (p < 0.05) compared to controls. In contrast, the control group exhibited a significant decrease in log nHF (p < 0.05) and increase in log LF/HF (p < 0.05) throughout the entire HUT test. Notably, no significant differences were observed when comparing time-domain outcomes reflecting parasympathetic nervous system between the two groups. HRV during HUT test indicated a delayed and attenuated autonomic response, particularly in the sympathetic nervous system, in DOC patients compared with healthy individuals.