Effects of different sizes of ambient particulate matter and household fuel use on physical function: National cohort study in China.

BACKGROUND: Impact of outdoor and household air pollution on physical function remains unelucidated. This study examined the influence of various ambient particulate sizes (PM1, PM2.5, and PM10) and household fuel usage on physical function. METHODS: Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) spanning 2011 and 2015 were utilized. The physical functional score was computed by summing scores from four tests: grip strength, gait speed, chair stand test, and balance. Multivariate linear and linear mixed-effects models were used to explore the separate and combined effects of PM1, PM2.5, PM10 and household fuel use on physical function in the cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, respectively, and to further observe the effects of fuel cleanup on physical function in the context of air pollution exposure. RESULTS: Both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses revealed negative correlations between PM1 (ß = -0.044; 95% CI: -0.084, -0.004), PM2.5 (ß = -0.024; 95% CI: -0.046, -0.001), PM10 (ß = -0.041; 95% CI: -0.054, -0.029), and physical function, with a more pronounced impact observed for fine particulate matter (PM1). Cleaner fuel use was associated with enhanced physical function compared to solid fuels (ß = 0.143; 95% CI: 0.070, 0.216). The presence of air pollutants and use of solid fuels had a negative impact on physical function, while cleaner fuel usage mitigated the adverse effects of air pollutants, particularly in areas with high exposure. CONCLUSION: This study underscores the singular and combined detrimental effects of air pollutants and solid fuel usage on physical function. Addressing fine particulate matter, specifically PM1, and prioritizing efforts to improve household fuel cleanliness in regions with elevated air pollution levels are crucial for preventing physical disability.

A Small-Molecule Organic Cathode with Extended Conjugation toward Enhancing Na+ Migration Kinetics for Advanced Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Organic cathode materials show excellent prospects for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) owing to their high theoretical capacity. However, the high solubility and low electrical conductivity of organic compounds result in inferior cycle stability and rate performance. Herein, an extended conjugated organic small molecule is reported that combines electroactive quinone with piperazine by the structural designability of organic materials, 2,3,7,8-tetraamino-5,10-dihydrophenazine-1,4,6,9-tetraone (TDT). Through intermolecular condensation reaction, many redox-active groups C═O and extended conjugated structures are introduced without sacrificing the specific capacity, which ensures the high capacity of the electrode and enhances rate performance. The abundant NH2 groups can form intermolecular hydrogen bonds with the C═O groups to enhance the intermolecular interactions, resulting in lower solubility and higher stability. The TDT cathode delivers a high initial capacity of 293 mAh g-1 at 500 mA g-1 and maintains 90 mAh g-1 at an extremely high current density of 70 A g-1. The TDT || Na-intercalated hard carbon (Na-HC) full cells provide an average capacity of 210 mAh g-1 during 100 cycles at 500 mA g-1 and deliver a capacity of 120 mAh g-1 at 8 A g-1.

Effects of apparent temperature on daily outpatient and inpatient visits for cause-specific respiratory diseases in Ganzhou, China: a time series study.

BACKGROUND: Non-optimum temperatures are associated with increased risk of respiratory diseases, but the effects of apparent temperature (AT) on respiratory diseases remain to be investigated. METHODS: Using daily data from 2016 to 2020 in Ganzhou, a large city in southern China, we analyzed the impact of AT on outpatient and inpatient visits for respiratory diseases. We considered total respiratory diseases and five subtypes (influenza and pneumonia, upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]). Our analysis employed a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) combined with a generalized additive model (GAM). RESULTS: We recorded 94,952 outpatients and 72,410 inpatients for respiratory diseases. We found AT significantly non-linearly associated with daily outpatient and inpatient visits for total respiratory diseases, influenza and pneumonia, and URTI, primarily during comfortable AT levels, while it was exclusively related with daily inpatient visits for LRTI and COPD. Moderate heat (32.1 °C, the 75.0th centile) was observed with a significant effect on both daily outpatient and inpatient visits for total respiratory diseases at a relative risk of 1.561 (1.161, 2.098) and 1.276 (1.027, 1.585), respectively (both P < 0.05), while the results of inpatients became insignificant with the adjustment for CO and O3. The attributable fractions in outpatients and inpatients were as follows: total respiratory diseases (24.43% and 18.69%), influenza and pneumonia (31.54% and 17.33%), URTI (23.03% and 32.91%), LRTI (37.49% and 30.00%), asthma (9.83% and 3.39%), and COPD (30.67% and 10.65%). Stratified analyses showed that children ≤5 years old were more susceptible to moderate heat than older participants. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our results indicated moderate heat increase the risk of daily outpatient and inpatient visits for respiratory diseases, especially among children under the age of 5.

Associations of polychlorinated biphenyls exposure, lifestyle, and genetic susceptibility with dyslipidemias: Evidence from a general Chinese population.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are endocrine-disrupting chemicals that have been associated with various adverse health conditions. Herein we explored the associations of PCBs with dyslipidemia and further assessed the modification effect of genetic susceptibility and lifestyle factors. Six serum PCBs (PCB-28, 101, 118, 138, 153, 180) were determined in 3845 participants from the Wuhan-Zhuhai cohort. Dyslipidemia, including hyper-total cholesterol (HyperTC), hyper-triglyceride (HyperTG), hyper-low density lipoprotein cholesterol (HyperLDL-C), and hypo-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HypoHDL-C) were determined, and lipid-specific polygenic risk scores (PRS) and healthy lifestyle score were constructed. We found that all six PCB congeners were positively associated with the prevalence of dyslipidemias, and ΣPCB level was associated with HyperTC, HyperTG, and HyperLDL-C in dose-response manners. Compared with the lowest tertiles of ΣPCB, the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) in the highest tertiles were 1.490 (1.258, 1.765) for HyperTC, 1.957 (1.623, 2.365) for HyperTG, and 1.569 (1.316, 1.873) for HyperLDL-C, respectively. Compared with those with low ΣPCB, healthy lifestyle, and low genetic risk, participants with high ΣPCB, unfavorable lifestyle, and high genetic risk had the highest odds of HyperTC, HyperTG, and HyperLDL-C. Our study provided evidence that high PCB exposure exacerbated the association of genetic risk and unhealthy lifestyle with dyslipidemia.

ASAPA: a bioinformatic pipeline based on Iso-Seq that identifies the links among alternative splicing, alternative transcription initiation and alternative polyadenylation.

BACKGROUND: Although the events associated with alternative splicing (AS), alternative polyadenylation (APA) and alternative transcription initiation (ATI) can be identified by many approaches based on isoform sequencing (Iso-Seq), these analyses are generally independent of each other and the links between these events are still rarely mentioned. However, an interdependency analysis can be achieved because the transcriptional start site, splice sites and polyA site could be simultaneously included in a long, full-length read from Iso-Seq. RESULTS: We create ASAPA pipeline that enables streamlined analysis for a robust detection of potential links among AS, ATI and APA using Iso-Seq data. We tested this pipeline using Arabidopsis data and found some interesting results: some adjacent introns tend to be simultaneously spliced or retained; coupling between AS and ATI or APA is limited to the initial or terminal intron; and ATI and APA are potentially linked in some special cases. CONCLUSION: Our pipeline enables streamlined analysis for a robust detection of potential links among AS, ATI and APA using Iso-Seq data, which is conducive to a better understanding of transcription landscape generation.

Neural-ABC: Neural Parametric Models for Articulated Body With Clothes.

In this paper, we introduce Neural-ABC, a novel parametric model based on neural implicit functions that can represent clothed human bodies with disentangled latent spaces for identity, clothing, shape, and pose. Traditional mesh-based representations struggle to represent articulated bodies with clothes due to the diversity of human body shapes and clothing styles, as well as the complexity of poses. Our proposed model provides a unified framework for parametric modeling, which can represent the identity, clothing, shape and pose of the clothed human body. Our proposed approach utilizes the power of neural implicit functions as the underlying representation and integrates well-designed structures to meet the necessary requirements. Specifically, we represent the underlying body as a signed distance function and clothing as an unsigned distance function, and they can be uniformly represented as unsigned distance fields. Different types of clothing do not require predefined topological structures or classifications, and can follow changes in the underlying body to fit the body. Additionally, we construct poses using a controllable articulated structure. The model is trained on both open and newly constructed datasets, and our decoupling strategy is carefully designed to ensure optimal performance. Our model excels at disentangling clothing and identity in different shape and poses while preserving the style of the clothing. We demonstrate that Neural-ABC fits new observations of different types of clothing. Compared to other state-of-the-art parametric models, Neural-ABC demonstrates powerful advantages in the reconstruction of clothed human bodies, as evidenced by fitting raw scans, depth maps and images. We show that the attributes of the fitted results can be further edited by adjusting their identities, clothing, shape and pose codes. The dataset and trained parametric model will be available at https://ustc3dv.github.io/NeuralABC/.

Iron-decorated covalent organic framework as efficient catalyst for activating peroxydisulfate to degrade 2,4-dichlorophenol: Performance and mechanism insight.

Herein, a novel two-dimensional double-pore covalent organic framework (JLNU-305) was synthesized using N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)-1,4-phenylenediamine (TAPD) and 2,2'-bipyridine-5,5'-dicarboxaldehyde (BPDA). The extended π-π conjugated structure and nitrogen-riched pyridine in JLNU-305 (JLNU = Jilin Normal University) provide abundant binding sites for Fe doping. The obtained JLNU-305-Fe exhibited high and recycled catalytic efficiency for peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation to completely degrade 10 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) within 8 min. The JLNU-305-Fe/PDS system showed excellent catalytic activity and cyclic stability. The capture experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance (ESR) analysis indicated that the catalytic behavior of JLNU-305-Fe/PDS is contributed to the synergistic effect between free radicals and non-free radicals. It is the first time to activate PDS for covalent organic frameworks (COFs) being used to degrade 2,4-DCP, which has a great potential for development and practical application in related water environment remediation.

LAIR1-mediated resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma cells to T cells through a GSK-3ß/ß-catenin/MYC/PD-L1 pathway.

BACKGROUND: An increasing number of studies have reported the involvement of oncogenes in the regulation of the immune system. LAIR1 is an immunosuppressive molecule and its role in immune-related diseases has been mainly reported. To date, it is unclear whether LAIR1 in tumor cells is involved in immune regulation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of LAIR1 in the immune microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to seek the novel therapeutic discoveries. METHODS: Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion database was used to predict the response of LAIR1 expression to immune checkpoint blockade. CD8+ T cells were co-cultured with HCC cells, and the killing efficiency of leukocytes on HCC cells was detected by flow cytometry. Flow cytometry was also used to detect the expression of inhibitory receptors. In addition, Western blot, immunofluorescence, and nucleus/cytoplasm fractionation experiments were performed to explore the molecular mechanisms by which LAIR1 created a suppressive tumor microenvironment. RESULTS: LAIR1 expression in HCC was associated with worse immune prognosis and T-cell dysfunction. HCC cells overexpressing LAIR1 co-cultured with CD8+ T cells induced exhaustion of latter. Mechanism studies indicated that LAIR1 in HCC cells up-regulated the phosphorylation of ß-catenin by inducing the phosphorylation of GSK-3ß, leading to the impairment of the expression and the nuclear localization signal of ß-catenin. Low ß-catenin expression and nuclear localization signal inhibited MYC-mediated PD-L1 expression. Therefore, PD-L1 up-regulated by LAIR1 caused the exhaustion of infiltrating CD8+ T cells in HCC, which aggravated the malignant progression of HCC. CONCLUSION: LAIR1 increased PD-L1 expression through the GSK-3ß/ß-catenin/MYC/PD-L1 pathway and promoted immune evasion of HCC cells. Targeted inhibition of LAIR1 helped to enhance the immune killing effect of CD8+ T cells in HCC.

Associations between long-term night shift work and incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a prospective cohort study of 277,059 UK Biobank participants.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the effects of night shifts and their interactions with genetic factors on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this study, we aim to investigate relationships between long-term night shift work exposure and COPD risk, and assess modification effects of genetic predisposition. METHODS: A total of 277,059 subjects who were in paid employment or self-employed were included in the UK Biobank. Information on current and lifetime employment was obtained, and a weighted COPD-specific genetic risk score (GRS) was constructed. We used Cox proportional hazard models to investigate associations between night shift work and COPD risk, and their interaction with COPD-specific GRS. RESULTS: The cohort study included 277,059 participants (133,063 men [48.03%]; mean [SD] age, 52.71 [7.08] years). During a median follow-up of 12.87 years, we documented 6558 incidents of COPD. From day work, irregular night shifts to regular night shifts, there was an increased trend in COPD incidence (P for trend < 0.001). Compared with day workers, the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of COPD was 1.28 (1.20, 1.37) for subjects with rarely/sometimes night shifts and 1.49 (1.35, 1.66) for those with permanent night shifts. Besides, the longer durations (especially in subjects with night shifts ≥ 10 years) and increasing monthly frequency of night shifts (in workers with > 8 nights/month) were associated with a higher COPD risk. Additionally, there was an additive interaction between night shifts and genetic susceptibility on the COPD risk. Subjects with permanent night shifts and high genetic risk had the highest risk of COPD (HR: 1.90 [95% CI: 1.63, 2.22]), with day workers with low genetic risk as a reference. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term night shift exposure is associated with a higher risk of COPD. Our findings suggest that decreasing the frequency and duration of night shifts may offer a promising approach to mitigating respiratory disease incidence in night shift workers, particularly in light of individual susceptibility.

A comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of prognostic value and potential clinical implications of FTH1 in cancer immunotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have highlighted the crucial value of the heavy chain of ferritin (FTH1) as a key regulator of iron metabolism and a suppressor of ferroptosis, intimately tied to the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). Nevertheless, the precise impact of FTH1 on cancer immunotherapy remains vague. Our study aims to systematically explore the prognostic significance and immune role of FTH1 in pan-cancers immunotherapy. METHODS: Our study delves into the potential of FTH1 as an immunotherapeutic target within the TIME of various solid cancers. The immune landscape and underlying mechanisms of FTH1 in the TIME were investigated by multiple algorithms and bioinformatics methods. Single-cell sequencing analysis and multiplex immunofluorescence staining techniques are applied to observe FTH1 co-expression on both tumor and immune cells. RESULTS: FTH1 exhibited aberrant expression patterns across multiple cancers, which is strongly correlated with immunotherapy resistance. Patients with high FTH1 expression levels tended to derive less benefit from immunotherapies. Moreover, FTH1 demonstrated a significant correlation with TIME infiltration, immune checkpoint molecules, and immune-related pathways. Notably, FTH1 showed a positive association with macrophage infiltrations, its expression was particularly noteworthy in malignant cells and macrophages. Inhibiting FTH1-related signaling pathways appeared to be a potential strategy to counteract tumor immunotherapy resistance. CONCLUSION: Our comprehensive analyses may offer valuable insights into the role of FTH1 in tumor immunotherapy. The observed correlations pave the way for further functional experiments, fostering an enhanced understanding that could shape future research endeavors.

Strain Regulation and Defect Passivation of FA-Based Perovskite Materials for Highly Efficient Solar Cells.

Formamidine lead triiodide (FAPbI3 ) perovskites have attracted increasing interest for photovoltaics attributed to the optimal bandgap, high thermal stability, and the record power conversion efficiency (PCE). However, the materials still face several key challenges, such as phase transition, lattice defects, and ion migration. Therefore, external ions (e.g., cesium ions (Cs+ )) are usually introduced to promote the crystallization and enhance the phase stability. Nevertheless, the doping of Cs+ into the A-site easily leads to lattice compressive strain and the formation of pinholes. Herein, trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) is introduced into the precursor to provide tensile strain outside the perovskite lattice through intermolecular forces. The special strain compensation strategy further improves the crystallization of perovskite and inhibits the ion migration. Moreover, the TOPO molecule significantly passivates grain boundaries and undercoordinated Pb2+ defects via the forming of P═O─Pb bond. As a result, the target solar cell devices with the synergistic effect of Cs+ and TOPO additives have achieved a significantly improved PCE of 22.71% and a high open-circuit voltage of 1.16 V (voltage deficit of 0.36 V), with superior stability under light exposure, heat, or humidity conditions.

Single-cell atlas reveals characteristic changes in intrahepatic HBV-specific leukocytes.

IMPORTANCE: Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific CD8+ T cells play a central role in the clearance of virus and HBV-related liver injury. Acute infection with HBV induces a vigorous, multifunctional CD8+ T cell response, whereas chronic one exhibits a weaker response. Our study elucidated HBV-specific T cell responses in terms of viral abundance rather than the timing of infection. We showed that in the premalignant stage, the degree of impaired T cell function was not synchronized with the viral surface antigen, which was attributed the liver's tolerance to the virus. However, after the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, T cell exhaustion was inevitable, and it was marked by the exhaustion of the signature transcription factor TOX.

Exploring the effect and mechanism of cucurbitacin B on cholestatic liver injury based on network pharmacology and experimental verification.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Cholestatic liver injury (CLI) is a pathologic process with the impairment of liver and bile secretion and excretion, resulting in an excessive accumulation of bile acids within the liver, which leads to damage to both bile ducts and hepatocytes. This process is often accompanied by inflammation. Cucumis melo L is a folk traditional herb for the treatment of cholestasis. Cucurbitacin B (CuB), an important active ingredient in Cucumis melo L, has significant anti-inflamamatory effects and plays an important role in diseases such as neuroinflammation, skin inflammation, and chronic hepatitis. Though numerous studies have confirmed the significant therapeutic effect of CuB on liver diseases, the impact of CuB on CLI remains uncertain. Consequently, the objective of this investigation is to elucidate the therapeutic properties and potential molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of CuB on CLI. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of this paper was to investigate the potential protective mechanism of CuB against CLI. METHODS: First, the corresponding targets of CuB were obtained through the SwissTargetPrediction and SuperPre online platforms. Second, the DisGeNET database, GeneCards database, and OMIM database were utilized to screen therapeutic targets for CLI. Then, protein-protein interaction (PPI) was determined using the STRING 11.5 data platform. Next, the OmicShare platform was employed for the purpose of visualizing the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses. The molecular docking technique was then utilized to evaluate the binding affinity existing between potential targets and CuB. Subsequently, the impacts of CuB on the LO2 cell injury model induced by Lithocholic acid (LCA) and the CLI model induced by 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydrocollidine (DDC) were determined by evaluating inflammation in both in vivo and in vitro settings. The potential molecular mechanism was explored by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot (WB) techniques. RESULTS: A total of 122 CuB targets were collected and high affinity targets were identified through the PPI network, namely TLR4, STAT3, HIF1A, and NFKB1. GO and KEGG analyses indicated that the treatment of CLI with CuB chiefly involved the inflammatory pathway. In vitro study results showed that CuB alleviated LCA-induced LO2 cell damage. Meanwhile, CuB reduced elevated AST and ALT levels and the release of inflammatory factors in LO2 cells induced by LCA. In vivo study results showed that CuB could alleviate DDC-induced pathological changes in mouse liver, inhibit the activity of serum transaminase, and suppress the liver and systemic inflammatory reaction of mice. Mechanically, CuB downregulated the IL-6, STAT3, and HIF-1α expression and inhibited STAT3 phosphorylation. CONCLUSION: By combining network pharmacology with in vivo and in vitro experiments, the results of this study suggested that CuB prevented the inflammatory response by inhibiting the IL-6/STAT3/HIF-1α signaling pathway, thereby demonstrating potential protective and therapeutic effects on CLI. These results establish a scientific foundation for the exploration and utilization of natural medicines for CLI.

SUMOylation inhibitors activate anti-tumor immunity by reshaping the immune microenvironment in a preclinical model of hepatocellular carcinoma.

PURPOSE: High levels of heterogeneity and immunosuppression characterize the HCC immune microenvironment (TME). Unfortunately, the majority of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients do not benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) therapy. New small molecule therapies for the treatment of HCC are the goal of our research. METHODS: SUMOylation inhibitors (TAK-981 and ML-792) were evaluated for the treatment of preclinical mouse HCC models (including subcutaneous and orthotopic HCC models). We profile immune cell subsets from tumor samples after SUMOylation inhibitors treatment using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), mass cytometry (CyTOF), flow cytometry, and multiple immunofluorescences (mIF). RESULTS: We discover that SUMOylation is higher in HCC patient samples compared to normal liver tissue. TAK-981 and ML-792 decrease SUMOylation at nanomolar levels in HCC cells and also successfully reduced the tumor burden. Analysis combining scRNA-seq and CyTOF demonstrate that treatment with SUMOylation inhibitors reduces the exhausted CD8+T (Tex) cells while enhancing the cytotoxic NK cells, M1 macrophages and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in preclinical mouse HCC model. Furthermore, SUMOylation inhibitors have the potential to activate innate immune signals from CD8+T, NK and macrophages while promoting TNFα and IL-17 secretion. Most notably, SUMOylation inhibitors can directly alter the TME by adjusting the abundance of intestinal microbiota, thereby restoring anti-tumor immunity in HCC models. CONCLUSIONS: This preclinical study suggests that SUMO signaling inhibitors may be beneficial for the treatment of HCC.

Effects of Vegetation Restoration on Soil Nitrogen Fractions and Enzyme Activities in Arable Land on Purple Soil Slopes.

Purple soils are greatly representative of ecologically fragile soils in southern China, yet the impact of vegetation restoration processes on the nitrogen (N) availability in purple soil ecosystems is still unclear. In this study, the soil nutrient content, available N fractions (including microbial biomass N (MBN), ammonium N (NH4+-N), nitrate N (NO3--N), and total dissolved N (TDN)), and enzyme activities (including urease (URE), nitrate reductase (NR), and nitrite reductase (NIR)) involved in N mineralization and immobilization were investigated across the three vegetation-restoration measures: Camellia oleifera monoculture, Camellia oleifera ryegrass intercropping, and Camellia oleifera intercropping with weeds. The results showed that the Camellia oleifera monoculture mode considerably enhanced the accumulation and availability of soil N and modified the proportion of available N fractions in arable land situated on purple soil slopes, compared to the intercropping mode, the physical, chemical, and microbiological properties of soil demonstrated more pronounced effects due to the Camellia oleifera monoculture vegetation-restoration measures. However, soil nutrient loss is faster on set-aside land and in crop monocultures, and intercropping restoration measures are more beneficial for soil and water conservation under timely fertilization conditions. The soil URE, NR, and NIR activities and MBN content in the Camellia oleifera monoculture model were significantly higher than in the control check sample. Soil N transformation occurs through the combined influence of chemical and biological processes. The relationships between the activities of the three soil enzymes studied and the contents of various components of soil nutrients and effective N displayed significant differences. Notably, URE had a highly significant positive correlation with TOC. There is a strong positive correlation between NR and TN, NIR and TDN, NO3--N, and NH4+-N. Our findings suggest that vegetation restoration improved the soil N availability and its enzyme activities in purple soils, making an essential contribution to the restoration and sustainability of purple soil ecosystem functions.

The impact of digital technologies on knowledge networks in two engineering organisations.

The management and exploitation of knowledge can contribute to the competitive advantage of an organisation and hence can be a driver of its value. This paper examines knowledge management practices within two engineering organisations with an emphasis on barriers to its effectiveness and the influence of current and anticipated deployment of digital technologies. Two methods were used to gather research data across both organisations by combining a series of semi-structured interviews with a quantitative social network analysis. Examination of the acquired data provided insights into the relationship between the knowledge management culture in both organisations and their adoption of digital tools. Hudson's evolutionary model of safety culture has been modified to describe the culture of knowledge management in an organisation and the acquired data used to locate the two organisations on their knowledge management journey. It is proposed that social networks could be used as an indicator of the stage of evolution of knowledge management in engineering organisations more generally with low network densities and dispersed networks representing higher stages of evolution.

[Ferroptosis:Mechanism and Role in Malignant Tumors].

Ferroptosis is a new type of programmed cell death different from other cell death pathways such as apoptosis,autophagy,necrosis,and pyroptosis in terms of initiation,mechanisms,and molecular characteristics.As the accumulation of phospholipid hydroperoxides is the hallmark of ferroptosis,the balance between oxidative damage and antioxidant defense is critical to the regulatory mechanism of ferroptosis.In cancer,the upregulation of antioxidant defense pathways can inhibit ferroptosis,thereby promoting cancer cells to survive the oxidative stress and develop drug resistance.This review systematically introduces the main features and regulatory mechanisms of ferroptosis.In addition,we summarize the role of ferroptosis in the progression and drug resistance of malignant tumors,providing novel implications for further research on the pathogenesis of malignant tumors and discovery of new targets for anti-cancer therapy.