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Bacteria-based tumor therapy has recently attracted wide attentions due to its unique capability in targeting tumors and preferentially colonizing the core area of the tumor. Various therapeutic genes are also harbored into these engineering bacteria to enhance their anti-tumor efficacy. However, it is difficult to spatiotemporally control the expression of these inserted genes in the tumor site. Here, we engineer an ultrasound-responsive bacterium (URB) which can induce the expression of exogenous genes in an ultrasound-controllable manner. Owing to the advantage of ultrasound in tissue penetration, an acoustic remote control of bacterial gene expression can be realized by designing a temperature-actuated genetic switch. Cytokine interferon-γ (IFN-γ), an important immune regulatory molecule that plays a significant role in tumor immunotherapy, is used to test the system. Our results show that brief hyperthermia induced by focused ultrasound promotes the expression of IFN-γ gene, improving anti-tumor efficacy of URB in vitro and in vivo. Our study provides an alternative strategy for bacteria-mediated tumor immunotherapy. Several approaches have been recently proposed to engineer bacteria for cancer immunotherapy. Here the authors design an ultrasound-responsive bacterium for the controlled release of IFNy at the tumor site, promoting anti-tumor immune responses in preclinical models.

The photoproduction of the J / ψ off the proton is believed to deepen our understanding of various physics issues. On the one hand, it is proposed to provide access to the origin of the proton mass, based on the QCD multipole expansion. On the other hand, it can be employed in a study of pentaquark states. The process is usually assumed to proceed through vector-meson dominance, that is the photon couples to a J / ψ which rescatters with the proton to give the J / ψ p final state. In this paper, we provide a compelling hint for and propose measurements necessary to confirm a novel production mechanism via the Λ c D ¯ ( ∗ ) intermediate states. In particular, there must be cusp structures at the Λ c D ¯ ( ∗ ) thresholds in the energy dependence of the J / ψ photoproduction cross section. The same mechanism also implies the J / ψ -nucleon scattering lengths of order 1 mfm. Given this, one expects only a minor contribution of charm quarks to the nucleon mass.

A bstract The nature of the three narrow hidden-charm pentaquark P c states, i.e., P c (4312), P c (4440) and P c (4457), is under intense discussion since their discovery from the updated analysis of the process Λ b 0 → J / ψ pK − by LHCb. In this work we extend our previous coupled-channel approach [Phys. Rev. Lett. 124 , 072001 (2020)], in which the P c states are treated as Σ c ∗ D ¯ ∗ molecules, by including the Λ c D ¯ ∗ and η c p as explicit inelastic channels in addition to the J/ψp , as required by unitarity and heavy quark spin symmetry (HQSS), respectively. Since inelastic parameters are very badly constrained by the current data, three calculation schemes are considered: (a) scheme I with pure contact interactions between the elastic, i.e., Σ c ∗ D ¯ ∗ , and inelastic channels and without the Λ c D ¯ ∗ interactions, (b) scheme II, where the one-pion exchange (OPE) is added to scheme I, and (c) scheme III, where the Λ c D ¯ ∗ interactions are included in addition. It is shown that to obtain cutoff independent results, OPE in the multichannel system is to be supplemented with S -wave-to- D -wave mixing contact terms. As a result, in line with our previous analysis, we demonstrate that the experimental data for the J/ψp invariant mass distribution are consistent with the interpretation of the P c (4312) and P c (4440)/ P c (4457) as Λ c D ¯ and Σ c D ¯ ∗ hadronic molecules, respectively, and that the data show clear evidence for a new narrow state, P c (4380), identified as a Σ c ∗ D ¯ molecule, which should exist as a consequence of HQSS. While two statistically equally good solutions are found in scheme I, only one of these solutions with the quantum numbers of the P c (4440) and P c (4457) being J P = 3/2 − and 1/2 − , respectively, survives the requirement of regulator independence once the OPE is included. Moreover, we predict the line shapes in the elastic and inelastic channels and demonstrate that those related to the P c (4440) and the P c (4457) in the Σ c ∗ D ¯ and η c p mass distributions from Λ b 0 → Σ c ∗ D ¯ K − and Λ b 0 → η c pK − will shed light on the quantum numbers of those states, once the data are available. We also investigate possible pentaquark signals in the Λ c D ¯ ∗ final states.

The regulation of heterogeneous material properties to enhance the peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to degrade emerging organic pollutants remains a challenge. To solve this problem, we synthesize S−scheme heterojunction PBA/MoS 2 @chitosan hydrogel to achieve photoexcitation synergistic PMS activation. The constructed heterojunction photoexcited carriers undergo redox conversion with PMS through S−scheme transfer pathway driven by the directional interface electric field. Multiple synergistic pathways greatly enhance the reactive oxygen species generation, leading to a significant increase in doxycycline degradation rate. Meanwhile, the 3D polymer chain spatial structure of chitosan hydrogel is conducive to rapid PMS capture and electron transport in advanced oxidation process, reducing the use of transition metal activator and limiting the leaching of metal ions. There is reason to believe that the synergistic activation of PMS by S−scheme heterojunction regulated by photoexcitation will provide a new perspective for future material design and research on enhancing heterologous catalysis oxidation process. The regulation of heterogeneous material properties to enhance the peroxymonosulfate activation remains a challenge. Here, authors synthesize S−scheme heterojunction PBA/MoS2@chitosan hydrogel to achieve photoexcitation synergistic peroxymonosulfate activation driven by interface electric field.

Ultrasound is one of the most important examinations for clinical diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. The speed of image movements driven by the frequency of the beating heart is faster than that of other organs. This particularity of echocardiography poses a challenge for sonographers to diagnose accurately. However, artificial intelligence for detection, functional evaluation, and disease diagnosis has gradually become an alternative for accurate diagnosis and treatment using echocardiography. This work discusses the current application of artificial intelligence in echocardiography technology, its limitations, and future development directions. Highlights 1. Application of artificial intelligence (AI) in echocardiography is now widely studied, and AI technique has the potential to optimize the diagnostic potential of echocardiography. 2. Application of artificial intelligence in echocardiography is important in the following aspects: recognizing the standard section, cardiac cavity automatic segmentation, functional left ventricle assessment, and cardiac disease diagnosis. 3. Standardized data collection and image annotation are essential for artificial intelligence in echocardiography.

The human gastrointestinal (GI) tract harbors diverse microbes, and the family Lachnospiraceae is one of the most abundant and widely occurring bacterial groups in the human GI tract. Beneficial and adverse effects of the Lachnospiraceae on host health were reported, but the diversities at species/strain levels as well as their metabolites of Lachnospiraceae have been, so far, not well documented. In the present study, we report on the collection of 77 human‐originated Lachnospiraceae species (please refer hLchsp, https://hgmb.nmdc.cn/subject/lachnospiraceae) and the in vitro metabolite profiles of 110 Lachnospiraceae strains (https://hgmb.nmdc.cn/subject/lachnospiraceae/metabolites). The Lachnospiraceae strains in hLchsp produced 242 metabolites of 17 categories. The larger categories were alcohols (89), ketones (35), pyrazines (29), short (C2–C5), and long (C > 5) chain acids (31), phenols (14), aldehydes (14), and other 30 compounds. Among them, 22 metabolites were aromatic compounds. The well‐known beneficial gut microbial metabolite, butyric acid, was generally produced by many Lachnospiraceae strains, and Agathobacter rectalis strain Lach‐101 and Coprococcus comes strain NSJ‐173 were the top 2 butyric acid producers, as 331.5 and 310.9 mg/L of butyric acids were produced in vitro, respectively. Further analysis of the publicly available cohort‐based volatile‐metabolomic data sets of human feces revealed that over 30% of the prevailing volatile metabolites were covered by Lachnospiraceae metabolites identified in this study. This study provides Lachnospiraceae strain resources together with their metabolic profiles for future studies on host–microbe interactions and developments of novel probiotics or biotherapies. The human‐originated Lachnospiraceae biobank included 77 species was constructed. In vitro metabolite profiling of 110 Lachnospiraceae strains yielded 242 metabolites of 17 categories. Many Lachnospiraceae strains produce short‐chain fatty acids, and Agathobacter rectalis strain Lach‐101 and Coprococcus comes strain NSJ‐173 are the top two butyric acid producers in vitro. Highlights The human‐originated Lachnospiraceae biobank included 77 species was constructed. In vitro metabolite profiling of 110 Lachnospiraceae strains yielded 242 metabolites of 17 categories. Many Lachnospiraceae strains produce SCFAs, and Agathobacter rectalis strain Lach‐101 and Coprococcus comes strain NSJ‐173 are the top two butyric acid producers in vitro.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyse the recently highly debated topics of the Tax avoidance–Corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance nexus and to further investigate the impacts of engaging in socially responsible activities on financial performance and bank debt financing constraints, at a disaggregate level (firm level).Design/methodology/approachThe sample for this study includes all publicly listed companies headquartered in BRICS countries from 2014 to 2020. The study employs detailed financial accounting information and the Environmental, Social and Governance scores released by Thomas Reuters EIKON database, which is regarded as the most authoritative indicator of CSR performance. Both pooled and panel data regression models are employed, and robustness tests that use a wide range of model specifications, measures and estimators are performed.FindingsThe study finds robust evidence that corporate tax avoidance is negatively associated with CSR performance. The authors also find that firms with better CSR performance have healthier financial performance and lower costs of bank debt. Overall, the research findings are supportive of the corporate culture theory, which suggests that firms behave ethically consistent in both CSR practices and tax payment.Originality/valueCSR performance and the engagement of tax avoidance activities have been documented in the literature to be vital elements investors care about. This study focuses specifically on the association between them and further elaborates their impacts in the financial markets. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study which investigates the nexus in a sample that includes the most powerful emerging markets in the world. The results of this study are generalisable in terms of the implications of CSR management to many other emerging markets.

The \\[ \\] interaction and the corresponding dynamically generated bound states are revisited. We demonstrate that an improved unitarization method is necessary to study the pole structures of amplitudes outside the near-threshold region. In this work, we extend the study of the covariant \\[ \\] scattering in a unitarized chiral theory to the S-wave interactions for the whole vector-meson nonet. We demonstrate that there are unphysical left-hand cuts in the on-shell factorization approach of the Bethe–Salpeter equation. This is in conflict with the correct analytic behavior and makes the so-obtained poles, corresponding to possible bound states or resonances, unreliable. To avoid this difficulty, we employ the first iterated solution of the N / D method and investigate the possible dynamically generated resonances from vector-vector interactions. A comparison with the results from the nonrelativistic calculation is provided as well.

AbstractCompetitive sports data visualization is an increasingly important research direction in the field of information visualization. It is also an important basis for studying human behavioral pattern and activity habits. In this paper, we provide a taxonomy of sports data visualization and summarize the state-of-the-art research from four aspects of data types, main tasks and visualization techniques and visual analysis. Specifically, we first put sports data into two categories: spatiotemporal information and statistical information. Then, we propose three main tasks for competitive sports data visualization: feature presentation, feature comparison and feature prediction. Furthermore, we classify competitive sports data visualization techniques based on data characteristics into five categories: high-dimensional data visualization, time-series visualization, graph (network) visualization, glyph visualization and other visualization, and we analyze the relationship between major tasks and visualization techniques. We also introduce visual analysis research work of competitive sports, propose the features and limitations of competitive sports data, summarize multimedia visualization in competitive sports and finally discuss visual analysis evaluation. In this survey, we attempt to help readers to find appropriate techniques for different data types and different tasks. Our paper also intends to provide guidelines and references for future researchers when they study human behavior and moving patterns.Graphic abstract

Motivated by the observation of the first hidden charm pentaquarks by the LHCb collaboration in 2015 and the updated analysis with an order-of-magnitude larger data set in 2019, we estimate their cross sections for the prompt production as well as their heavy quark spin partners, in the Σc(∗)D¯(∗) hadronic molecular picture, at the center-of-mass energy 7TeV in the pp collision. Their cross sections are several nb and we would expect several tens hidden charm pentaquark events in the LHC based on its current integrated luminosity. The cross sections show a sizable deviation of the cross sections for hidden charm pentaquarks with the third isospin component Iz=+12 (Pc+) from those with Iz=-12 (Pc0). The cross sections decrease dramatically with the increasing transverse momentum. Our study can also tell where to search for the missing hidden charm pentaquarks. The confirmation of the complete hidden charm pentaquarks in the heavy quark symmetry would further verify their Σc(∗)D¯(∗) molecular interpretation. In addition, the relative strength among these cross sections for pentaquarks can help us to identify the quantum numbers of the Pc(4440) and Pc(4457).