ARAF protein kinase activates RAS by antagonizing its binding to RASGAP NF1.

RAF protein kinases are effectors of the GTP-bound form of small guanosine triphosphatase RAS and function by phosphorylating MEK. We showed here that the expression of ARAF activated RAS in a kinase-independent manner. Binding of ARAF to RAS displaced the GTPase-activating protein NF1 and antagonized NF1-mediated inhibition of RAS. This reduced ERK-dependent inhibition of RAS and increased RAS-GTP. By this mechanism, ARAF regulated the duration and consequences of RTK-induced RAS activation and supported the RAS output of RTK-dependent tumor cells. In human lung cancers with EGFR mutation, amplification of ARAF was associated with acquired resistance to EGFR inhibitors, which was overcome by combining EGFR inhibitors with an inhibitor of the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 to enhance inhibition of nucleotide exchange and RAS activation.

Phylogenetic inference of inter-population transmission rates for infectious diseases.

Estimating transmission rates is a challenging yet essential aspect of comprehending and controlling the spread of infectious diseases. Various methods exist for estimating transmission rates, each with distinct assumptions, data needs, and constraints. This study introduces a novel phylogenetic approach called transRate, which integrates genetic information with traditional epidemiological approaches to estimate inter-population transmission rates. The phylogenetic method is statistically consistent as the sample size (i.e. the number of pathogen genomes) approaches infinity under the multi-population susceptible-infected-recovered model. Simulation analyses indicate that transRate can accurately estimate the transmission rate with a sample size of 200 ~ 400 pathogen genomes. Using transRate, we analyzed 40,028 high-quality sequences of SARS-CoV-2 in human hosts during the early pandemic. Our analysis uncovered significant transmission between populations even before widespread travel restrictions were implemented. The development of transRate provides valuable insights for scientists and public health officials to enhance their understanding of the pandemic's progression and aiding in preparedness for future viral outbreaks. As public databases for genomic sequences continue to expand, transRate is increasingly vital for tracking and mitigating the spread of infectious diseases.

High-pressure strengthening in ultrafine-grained metals.

The Hall-Petch relationship, according to which the strength of a metal increases as the grain size decreases, has been reported to break down at a critical grain size of around 10 to 15 nanometres1,2. As the grain size decreases beyond this point, the dominant mechanism of deformation switches from a dislocation-mediated process to grain boundary sliding, leading to material softening. In one previous approach, stabilization of grain boundaries through relaxation and molybdenum segregation was used to prevent this softening effect in nickel-molybdenum alloys with grain sizes below 10 nanometres3. Here we track in situ the yield stress and deformation texturing of pure nickel samples of various average grain sizes using a diamond anvil cell coupled with radial X-ray diffraction. Our high-pressure experiments reveal continuous strengthening in samples with grain sizes from 200 nanometres down to 3 nanometres, with the strengthening enhanced (rather than reduced) at grain sizes smaller than 20 nanometres. We achieve a yield strength of approximately 4.2 gigapascals in our 3-nanometre-grain-size samples, ten times stronger than that of a commercial nickel material. A maximum flow stress of 10.2 gigapascals is obtained in nickel of grain size 3 nanometres for the pressure range studied here. We see similar patterns of compression strengthening in gold and palladium samples down to the smallest grain sizes. Simulations and transmission electron microscopy reveal that the high strength observed in nickel of grain size 3 nanometres is caused by the superposition of strengthening mechanisms: both partial and full dislocation hardening plus suppression of grain boundary plasticity. These insights contribute to the ongoing search for ultrastrong metals via materials engineering.

Utilization of Polycyclic Aromatic Solid Additives for Morphology and Thermal Stability Enhancement in Photoactive Layers of Organic Solar Cells.

Volatile solid additives have emerged as a promising strategy for enhancing film morphology and promoting the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, a series of novel polycyclic aromatic additives with analogous chemical structures, including fluorene (FL), dibenzothiophene (DBT), and dibenzofuran (DBF) derived from crude oils, are presented and incorporated into OSCs. All these additives exhibit strong interactions with the electron-deficient terminal groups of L8-BO within the bulk-heterojunction OSCs. Moreover, they demonstrate significant sublimation during thermal annealing, leading to increase free volumes for the rearrangement and recrystallization of L8-BO. This phenomenon leads to an improved film morphology and an elevated glass-transition temperature of the photoactive layers. Consequently, the PCE of the PM6:L8-BO blend has been boosted from 16.60% to 18.60% with 40 wt% DBF additives, with a champion PCE of 19.11% achieved for ternary PM6:L8-BO:BTP-eC9 OSCs. Furthermore, the prolonged shelf and thermal stability have been observed in OSCs with these additives. This study emphasizes the synergic effect of volatile solid additives on the performance and thermal stability of OSCs, highlighting their potential for advancing the field of photovoltaics.

A Multifunctional Coating with Active Corrosion Protection Through a Synergistic pH- and Thermal-Responsive Mechanism.

This article aims to develop CeO2 nanocontainer-constructed coating with a synergistic self-healing and protective nature through a simple mechanical blending technique to manage metal corrosion. The proposed coating exhibits excellent corrosion resistance, which is primarily attributed to the combination of thermal-driven healing and active corrosion inhibition. Paraffin wax and 2-polybenzothiazole-loaded CeO2 nanotubes (CeO2-MBT) are directly doped into epoxy coating to perform such a multifunctional role. CeO2 nanocontainers and encapsulated corrosion inhibitor MBT can be released by pH triggers to achieve instant corrosion inhibition upon the surface of metal substrate. In addition, any physical defects in the coating are responsively repaired by heating incorporated paraffin wax to regain structural integrity and consequent barrier function. Corrosion protection efficiency remains sufficient even after ten cycles of damage and healing. Such a multiple-functional coating strategy provides an alternative pathway toward efficient and sustainable performance to tackle corrosion-related challenges of metal components in both short-term and long-term services.

Climate and Environmental Variables Drive Stream Biofilm Bacterial and Fungal Diversity on Tropical Mountainsides.

High mountain freshwater systems are particularly sensitive to the impacts of global warming and relevant environmental changes. Microorganisms contribute substantially to biogeochemical processes, yet their distribution patterns and driving mechanism in alpine streams remain understudied. Here, we examined the bacterial and fungal community compositions in stream biofilm along the elevational gradient of 745-1874 m on Mt. Kilimanjaro and explored their alpha and beta diversity patterns and the underlying environmental drivers. We found that the species richness and evenness monotonically increased towards higher elevations for bacteria, while were non-significant for fungi. However, both bacterial and fungal communities showed consistent elevational distance-decay relationships, i.e., the dissimilarity of assemblage composition increased with greater elevational differences. Bacterial alpha diversity patterns were mainly affected by chemical variables such as total nitrogen and phosphorus, while fungi were affected by physical variables such as riparian shading and stream width. Notably, climatic variables such as mean annual temperature strongly affected the elevational succession of bacterial and fungal community compositions. Our study is the first exploration of microbial biodiversity and their underlying driving mechanisms for stream ecosystems in tropical alpine regions. Our findings provide insights on the response patterns of tropical aquatic microbial community composition and diversity under climate change.

Soil bacteria and fungi on tropical mountainsides: Joint effects of weathering, climate, and chemical factors.

Contemporary environmental factors such as temperature and pH are generally identified as primary influences on microbial diversity, while the role of geological processes remain understudied. Here, we investigated the diversity and community composition of bacteria and fungi along an elevational gradient from703 to 4514 m on Mt. Kilimanjaro, East Africa. We further examined the effects of contemporary environment and geological processes such as weathering on microbial communities and diversities. For community composition, bacteria and fungi showed clear differentiation along elevations and their community dissimilarities increased with elevational distance indicating elevational distance-decay relationships. Multiple variables such as weathering, climate and chemical factors were significantly associated with microbial communities and showed greater effects on bacterial than fungal communities. Specifically, soil pH mainly shaped bacterial communities, while mean annual temperature for fungi, followed by other variables such as weathering processes. For Shannon diversity, bacteria and fungi showed significant hump-shaped elevational patterns with the peak values at 1857 and 1436 m, respectively. Shannon diversity was mainly affected by soil weathering accounting for 8.9% of the total variance for bacteria, while jointly by weathering and climate accounted for 14.3% of fungi. For the community uniqueness, represented by local contribution to beta diversity (LCBD), there were U-shaped patterns for both taxonomic groups. LCBD was mainly explained by the joint effects of chemical and climate variables which accounted for 51.1% and 33.4% for bacteria and fungi, respectively. Our results highlight the effects of soil weathering processes on diversity and community composition for bacteria and fungi. Thus, the integration of weathering with contemporary environments could provide new insights into microbial elevational diversity patterns.

Biochar and zero-valent iron alleviated sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline co-stress on the long-term system performance of bioretention cells: Insights into microbial community, antibiotic resistance genes and functional genes.

Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), known as emerging contaminants, have raised widespread concern due to their potential environmental and human health risks. In this study, a conventional bioretention cell (C-BRC) and three modified bioretention cells with biochar (BC-BRC), microbial fuel cell coupled/biochar (EBC-BRC) and zero-valent iron/biochar (Fe/BC-BRC) were established and two antibiotics, namely sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and tetracycline (TC), were introduced into the systems in order to thoroughly investigate the co-stress associated with the long-term removal of pollutants, dynamics of microbial community, ARGs and functional genes in wastewater treatment. The results demonstrated that the SMX and TC co-stress significantly inhibited the removal of total nitrogen (TN) (C-BRC: 37.46%; BC-BRC: 41.64%; EBC-BRC: 55.60%) and total phosphorous (TP) (C-BRC: 53.11%; BC-BRC: 55.36%; EBC-BRC: 62.87%) in C-BRC, BC-BRC and EBC-BRC, respectively, while Fe/BC-BRC exhibited profoundly stable and high removal efficiencies (TN: 89.33%; TP: 98.36%). Remarkably, greater than 99% removals of SMX and TC were achieved in three modified BRCs compared with C-BRC (SMX: 30.86 %; TC: 59.29%). The decreasing absolute abundances of denitrifying bacteria and the low denitrification functional genes (nirK: 2.80 × 105-5.97 × 105 copies/g; nirS: 7.22 × 105-1.69 × 106 copies/g) were responsible for the lower TN removals in C-BRC, BC-BRC and EBC-BRC. The amendment of Fe/BC successfully detoxified SMX and TC to functional bacteria. Furthermore, the co-stress of antibiotics stimulated the propagation of ARGs (sulI, sulII, tetA and tetC) in substrates of all BRCs and only Fe/BC-BRC effectively reduced all the ARGs in effluent by an order of magnitude. The findings contribute to developing robust ecological wastewater treatment technologies to simultaneously remove nutrients and multiple antibiotics.

[Clinical characteristics and genetic analysis of a patient with Acephalic spermatozoa syndrome due to variant of PMFBP1 gene].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical characteristics and genetic basis of a male patient with primary infertility caused by Acephalic spermatozoa syndrome. METHODS: A patient who had presented at the Henan Provincial People's Hospital on October 1, 2022 was selected as the study subject. Clinical data and results of laboratory exams and sperm electron microscopy were collected. The patient was subjected to whole exome sequencing (WES), and candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing and pathogenicity analysis. RESULTS: WES revealed that the patient has harbored compound heterozygous variants of the PMFBP1 gene, namely c.853del (p.Ala285Leufs*24) and c.1276A>T (p.Lys426X), which were both unreported previously. Sanger sequencing suggested that the c.853del (p.Ala285Leufs*24) variant has derived from his deceased mother, whilst the c.1276A>T (p.Lys426X) variant has derived from his father. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), both variants were classified as pathogenic (PVS1+PM2_Supporting+PP4). CONCLUSION: The compound heterozygous variants of the PMFBP1 gene probably underlay the Acephalic spermatozoa syndrome in this patient. The discovery of the novel variants has also enriched the mutational spectrum of Acephalic spermatozoa syndrome.

Novel Aggregation-Induced Emission Fluorescent Molecule for Platinum(IV) Ion-Selective Recognition and Imaging of Controlled Release in Cells.

The loading, delivery, and release of Pt(IV) precursors in living organisms are important aspects of exploring the development of platinum drugs. In recent years, the biological application of the fluorescent sensors to platinum drugs has been insufficient to meet the study of Pt(IV) precursors. It is urgent to design and develop a biocompatible, multifunctional fluorescent sensor for the study of loading, transport, and release of Pt(IV) ions. Herein, we report a fluorescent molecule (E)-6-(diethylamino)-N'-(4-(diphenylamino) benzylidene)-2-oxo-2H-chromene-3 carbohydrazide (CHTPA). CHTPA has good sensitivity and selectivity to Pt(IV) when the water content is 5%, and significant increase of the fluorescence emission intensity of CHTPA is observed with Pt(IV) concentration. The sensing mechanism is attributed to photo-induced electron transfer, which is verified by X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy spectra, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, 1H NMR spectra, and Fourier transform infrared spectra. Furthermore, the CHTPA-Pt(IV) complex is able to release Pt(IV) in aqueous solution, and the green fluorescence of CHTPA based on the aggregation-induced emission effect can be observed. Inspired by these, the amphiphilic block copolymer poly(ethyloxide)-block-polystyrene (PEO-b-PS) is used to prepare the nonconjugated polymer dots (Pdots). The experimental results show that Pdots can effectively slow down the release speed of Pt(IV) in aqueous solution and it has a great monodispersity in aqueous solution. Meanwhile, Pdots show low cytotoxicity, and this is favorable for intracellular applications. The investigation of cellular imaging indicates that these Pdots can act as a carrier to deliver Pt(IV) into MCF-7 cells for visualized delivery and sustained release of platinum(IV) ions. Therefore, this study provides a new avenue to design and develop a biocompatible multifunctional fluorescent sensor for studying the loading, delivery, and release of Pt(IV) in cells.

The Mechanism Underlying the Regulation of Long Non-coding RNA MEG3 in Cerebral Ischemic Stroke.

Cerebral ischemic stroke is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and rapidly increasing annually with no more effective therapeutic measures. Thus, the novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers are urgent to be identified for prevention and therapy of ischemic stroke. Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), a major family of noncoding RNAs with more than 200 nucleotides, have been considered as new targets for modulating pathological process of ischemic stroke. In this review, we summarized that the lncRNA-maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) played a critical role in promotion of neuronal cell death and inhibition of angiogenesis in response to hypoxia or ischemia condition, and further described the challenge of overcrossing blood-brain barrier (BBB) and determination of optimal carrier for delivering lncRNA' drugs into the specific brain regions. In brief, MEG3 will be a potential diagnostic biomarker and drug target in treatment and therapy of ischemic stroke in the future.

Porous Molybdenum Compound Design for Strong Microwave Absorption.

Exploring highly efficient microwave absorption (MA) materials with a facile preparation method is of great significance for tackling electromagnetic pollution and remains a challenge. Herein, ternary MoO2/Mo2C/Mo2N composites with porous structures are fabricated by a simple precursor pyrolysis process. The unique structure and multiple components, which could generate sufficient heterogeneous interfaces, are conducive to improve impedance matching, trigger polarization loss, and strengthen conduction loss. Profiting from the synergistic effect of multiple dissipation mechanisms, the composites exhibit exceedingly good MA performance. The minimum reflection loss value reaches -38.0 dB at 10.4 GHz when the thickness is 2.0 mm, and the maximum effective absorbing bandwidth is 4.11 GHz ranged from 12.41 to 16.52 GHz when the thickness is 1.5 mm. These strategies pave opportunities for rational design of Mo-related composites for high-efficiency electromagnetic-wave absorption performance.

Endoscopic and clinicopathologic features of early gastric signet ring cell carcinoma ≤20 mm: a retrospective observational study.

OBJECTIVES: Limited literature exists on the characteristics of early gastric signet ring cell carcinoma (GSRCC) within 20 mm. This study aimed to explore this type of cancer from several aspects, to provide guidance for early detection and intervention of GSRCC. METHODS: We retrospectively collected data from 24 patients diagnosed with early GSRCC ≤20 mm in Beijing Friendship Hospital from 2016 to 2021. According to tumor size, those lesions were divided into three groups: diminutive group (1-5 mm, n = 4), small group (6-10 mm, n = 12) and intermediate group (11-20 mm, n = 8). The clinicopathologic and endoscopic characteristics of GSRCC were compared among the three groups. RESULTS: Treatment strategies for lesions differed according to the size (p<.05). There were no significant differences among the three groups with regard to age, sex, Helicobacter pylori infection, tumor location and macroscopic type. Lesions were often flat type and more likely to present with discoloration, uneven color, ulceration and submucosal invasion with the increase of diameter. Almost all cases showed abnormal intervening part (IP) under magnifying endoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: The location of early signet ring cell carcinoma is not specific, and the diminutive lesions are often flat. Abnormal IP may be the early endoscopic feature of early GSRCC.

Risk of Tendon Injury in Patients Treated With Fluoroquinolone (FQ) Versus Non-Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics for Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP).

BACKGROUND: Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are associated with increased risk of tendon injury but comparative risk versus other antibiotic options for the same indication has yet to be evaluated. OBJECTIVE: Describe the incidence (relative risk) of any tendon injury in patients receiving FQ compared with other (non-FQs) antibiotics for treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). METHODS: A retrospective propensity score weighted cohort study was performed to evaluate the association between FQ antibiotics and tendon injury risk at 2 time points (within 1 month and within 6 months of use) compared with non-FQ regimens for treatment of CAP. The evaluation was performed using the CCAE (MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters) and COB (Medicare Supplemental and Coordination of Benefits) databases from 2014 to 2020. Patients with ICD (International Classification of Diseases) 9/10 coding for outpatient pneumonia who were >18 years and without history of tendon injury were included. Patients with history of tendon injury, who received multiple antibiotic therapies for recurrent pneumonia, or who received both FQ and non-FQ regimens during the study period were excluded. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for selection bias due to contributing risk factors, including demographics (age, sex), comorbidities (diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease), and concurrent medications (corticosteroids). RESULTS: At 1 month, the odds of tendon injury were estimated to be significantly higher (41.9%) in patients receiving FQs compared with those receiving a non-FQ-based regimen (odds ratio [OR] = 1.419, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.188-1.698]). The odds of tendon injury were also estimated to be higher (OR = 1.067, 95% CI = [0.975-1.173]) in the FQ population within 180 days, but this effect was not statistically significant. The most frequent sites of tendon injuries were rotator cuff, shoulder, and patellar tendon. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Prescribers should recognize the risk of tendon injury within 1 month of FQ use when considering treatment regimens for CAP and use alternative options with lower risk whenever possible.

Tele-Instruction Tool for Multiple Lay Responders Providing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Telehealth Emergency Dispatch Services: Mixed Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: Telephone-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (T-CPR) has proven to be a crucial intervention in enhancing the ability of lay responders to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) during telehealth emergency services. While the majority of established T-CPR protocols primarily focus on guiding individual rescuers, there is a lack of emphasis on instructing and coordinating multiple lay responders to perform resuscitation collaboratively. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop an innovative team-based tele-instruction tool to efficiently organize and instruct multiple lay responders on the CPR process and to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of the tool. METHODS: We used a mixed methods design in this study. We conducted a randomized controlled simulation trial to conduct the quantitative analysis. The intervention groups used the team-based tele-instruction tool for team resuscitation, while the control groups did not have access to the tool. Baseline resuscitation was performed during the initial phase (phase I test). Subsequently, all teams watched a team-based CPR education training video and finished a 3-person practice session with teaching followed by a posttraining test (phase II test). In the qualitative analysis, we randomly selected an individual from each team and 4 experts in emergency medical services to conduct semistructured interviews. The purpose of these interviews was to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of this tool. RESULTS: The team-based tele-instruction tool significantly improved the quality of chest compression in both phase I and phase II tests. The average compression rates were more appropriate in the intervention groups compared to the control groups (median 104.5, IQR 98.8-111.8 min-1 vs median 112, IQR 106-120.8 min-1; P=.04 in phase I and median 117.5, IQR 112.3-125 min-1 vs median 111, IQR 105.3-119 min-1; P=.03 in phase II). In the intervention group, there was a delay in the emergency response time compared to that in the control group (time to first chest compression: median 20, IQR 15-24.8 seconds vs median 25, IQR 20.5-40.3 seconds; P=.03; time to open the airway: median 48, IQR 36.3-62 seconds vs median 73.5, IQR 54.5-227.8 seconds; P=.01). However, this delay was partially mitigated after the phase II test. The qualitative results confirmed the compatibility and generalizability of the team-based tele-instruction tool, demonstrating its ability to effectively guide multiple lay responders through teamwork and effective communication with telecommunicators. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the team-based tele-instruction tool offers an effective solution to enhance the quality of chest compression among multiple lay responders. This tool facilitated the organization of resuscitation teams by dispatchers and enabled efficient cooperation. Further assessment of the widespread adoption and practical application of the team-based tele-instruction tools in real-life rescue scenarios within the telehealth emergency services system is warranted.

Graphene oxide disruption of homeostasis and regeneration processes in freshwater planarian Dugesia japonica via intracellular redox deviation and apoptosis.

The aquatic system is a major sink for engineered nanomaterials released into the environment. Here, we assessed the toxicity of graphene oxide (GO) using the freshwater planarian Dugesia japonica, an invertebrate model that has been widely used for studying the effects of toxins on tissue regeneration and neuronal development. GO not only impaired the growth of normal (homeostatic) worms, but also inhibited the regeneration processes of regenerating (amputated) worms, with LC10 values of 9.86 mg/L and 9.32 mg/L for the 48-h acute toxicity test, respectively. High concentration (200 mg/L) of GO killed all the worms after 3 (regenerating) or 4 (homeostasis) days of exposure. Whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH) and immunofluorescence analyses suggest GO impaired stem cell proliferation and differentiation, and subsequently caused cell apoptosis and oxidative DNA damage during planarian regeneration. Mechanistic analysis suggests that GO disturbed the antioxidative system (enzymatic and non-enzymatic) and energy metabolism in the planarian at both molecular and genetic levels, thus causing reactive oxygen species (ROS) over accumulation and oxidative damage, including oxidative DNA damage, loss of mitochondrial membrane integrity, lack of energy supply for cell differentiation and proliferation leading to retardance of neuron regeneration. The intrinsic oxidative potential of GO contributes to the GO-induced toxicity in planarians. These data suggest that GO in aquatic systems can cause oxidative stress and neurotoxicity in planarians. Overall, regenerated tissues are more sensitive to GO toxicity than homeostatic ones, suggesting that careful handling and appropriate decisions are needed in the application of GO to achieve healing and tissue regeneration.

Comparative study on the clinical efficacy of small plate assisted anatomic plate and traditional double plate in the treatment of Rüedi and Allgöwer II - III pilon fracture.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical efficacy of small plate assisted anatomical plate and traditional double plate in the treatment of Rüedi and Allgöwer II - III pilon fracture. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The data of 68 patients with pilon fracture admitted to Hospital from June 2017 to June 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Study group and control group were divided according to different operation methods, with 34 cases in each group. There were 28 cases of Rüedi and Allgöwer II type and 40 cases of Rüedi and Allgöwer III type. Perioperative period data, Ankle joint function score, visual analog scale (VAS) scores and the incidence of incision complications were analyzed between these two groups. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in full load time, fracture healing time between these two groups (P > 0.05). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, length of hospital stay, Ankle joint function score and postoperative incision complication rate in observation group were lower than those in control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Small plate assisted anatomic plate is comparable to traditional double plate in the treatment of pilon fracture in terms of complete loading time, fracture healing time, but the former can shorten the operation time, reduce intraoperative blood loss and effectively reduce the incidence of postoperative complications.

Metal-Backboned Polymers with Well-Defined Lengths.

Constructing the backbones of polymers with metal atoms is an attractive strategy to develop new functional polymeric materials, but it has yet to be studied due to synthetic challenges. Here, metal atoms are interconnected as the backbones of polymers to yield metal-backboned polymers (MBPs). Rational design of multidentate ligands synthesized via an efficient iterative approach leads to the successful construction of a series of nickel-backboned polymers (NBPs) with well-defined lengths and up to 21 nickel atoms, whose structures are systematically confirmed. These NBPs exhibit strong and length-depended absorption with narrow band gaps, offering promising applications in optoelectronic devices and semiconductors. We also demonstrate the high thermal stability and solution processsability of such nickel-backboned polymers. Our results represent a new opportunity to design and synthesize a variety of new metal-backboned polymers for promising applications in the future.

Cd-MOF@PVDF Mixed-Matrix Membrane with Good Catalytic Activity and Recyclability for the Production of Benzimidazole and Amino Acid Derivatives.

Mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) incorporating metal-organic framework crystalline fillers as heterogeneous catalysts for organic transformation reactions have attracted more attention in catalysis science. Herein, a new 3D cadmium metal-organic framework (H3O)·[Cd(dppa)] (1) was first synthesized using the rigid 4-(3,5-dicarboxylphenyl)picolinic acid (H3dppa) as an organic ligand under solvothermal conditions, exhibiting a novel 6,6-connected network and good tolerance to various solvents. After activation, 1 showed good catalytic reactivity and selectivity for the synthesis of benzimidazole derivatives, affording solvent-dependent catalytic activity. Then, using the microcrystals of 1 and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) as raw materials, 1@PVDF MMMs were successfully prepared by polymer solution casting. Notably, the integration of MOF and PVDF endows the mixed-matrix membrane 1@PVDF with great advantages in terms of more dispersive Lewis acid catalytic sites and recyclability. As expected, 1@PVDF not only displays good catalytic activity comparable to that of activated 1 but also exhibits remarkable recyclability and continuous usability for the production of benzimidazole and α- or ß-amino acid derivatives. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a Cd-based MOF and MMMs have been applied as a catalyst for the production of a ß-amino acid. The combination of catalytic MOF and PVDF provides a way to simplify the design of a flow reactor and reduce the costs of manufacturing.

Exogenous application of melatonin to plants, algae, and harvested products to sustain agricultural productivity and enhance nutritional and nutraceutical value: A meta-analysis.

Melatonin is produced by plants, algae, and animals. Worldwide studies show diverse positive effects of exogenous melatonin on plants, edible plant products, and algae, but the potential of melatonin to enhance food and feed systems through these positive effects remains largely unexplored. Through a meta-analysis of about 25,000 observations, we show for the first time that exogenous application of melatonin significantly increases crop productivity and yields, and enhances the nutritional and nutraceutical value of edible plant products and algae by regulating diverse biological functions. We demonstrate that melatonin can improve plants, edible plant products, and algae under various current climate change scenarios, environmental pollution factors, and other stresses by about 7% to nearly 30%, on average, depending on the stressor. We also analyze various technical/methodological factors influencing the desired outcomes and identify conditions that offer optimal enhancement. We show that the positive effect of melatonin on plants and edible plant products varies among species, genera, and families, and strongly depends on the concentration of melatonin and treatment duration. The effect of melatonin is slightly lower on the monocot clade Commelinids than on the eudicot clades Asterids and Rosids. We also show that its stimulatory effect on plants depends on cultivation system, with a larger effect obtained in hydroponic systems. However, it does not depend on application stage (seed or vegetative), application route (foliage, roots, or seed), and whether the cultivation system is ex vivo or in vivo. This is the first meta-analysis examining the effects of melatonin on plants, edible plant products, and algae, and offers a scientific and technical roadmap facilitating sustainable food and feed production through the application of exogenous melatonin.