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For the measurement of electrical conductivity of metal materials, the traditional contact measurement method has a limited test range and requires periodic electronic calibration. In order to overcome the above shortcomings, this paper takes the inductive response of an RLC circuit driven by alternating sources as the research object and proposes a non-contact method for conductivity measurement of non-ferromagnetic metals engaged by a single-layer solenoid sensor. The effect of the circuit parameters on the inductive sensor characteristics has been described with different resonant modes, and the electric conductivities of different metals can be theoretically calculated based on eddy current. Moreover, the Comsol Multiphysics software is used to conduct finite element analysis to compare the experimental results and the simulation, which is consistent with the theoretical analysis. The measured accuracy of the inductive sensor is verified to be higher than 91% in parallel resonance, which exhibits higher stability and precision than that of series mode. The implementation of this project will provide the theoretical basis and data reference for the detection of electromagnetic properties of unknown metals and has a wide range of applications in non-destructive testing, engineering construction detection, and other fields.

Background Against the backdrop of accelerating global aging, China’s population aged 60 and above has exceeded 18% of the total population, making the quality of life of older adults a focal point of societal concern. As a core factor influencing the quality of home-based elderly care, the living environment encompasses natural, social, material, and spiritual dimensions, directly impacting older adults’ physical and mental health as well as subjective well-being. Existing research has acknowledged the influence of living environments on older adults’ subjective well-being but lacks in-depth analysis of environmental disparities across different regions and cultural contexts. Methods Drawing on environmental adaptation theory, socio-emotional selectivity theory, and social support theory, this study utilized 4,298 valid samples from the 2020 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). A linear regression model was constructed to analyze how differences in living environments—classified into physical, social, and spiritual dimensions—affect older adults’ subjective well-being. Heterogeneity tests were conducted through urban–rural subgroup analyses, and robustness was verified using a winsorization method. Results The results show that Indoor air purification, public facility adequacy, surrounding environmental quality, and security all significantly and positively influenced subjective well-being. Neighborhood relationships, community belonging, economic status, and trust in neighbors were positively correlated with subjective well-being. Social support mitigated loneliness, acting as a mediating factor, with a more pronounced effect on older adults living alone.Satisfaction with interpersonal relationships, life confidence, and future expectations positively predicted subjective well-being, while family book collections had no significant impact.Rural older adults were more sensitive to economic security, whereas urban counterparts prioritized quality-of-life factors. Age and educational background showed divergent effects between urban and rural groups. Conclusions Disparities in living environments are critical determinants of older adults’ subjective well-being. Enhancing physical infrastructure, strengthening community support, and enriching spiritual life can significantly boost their happiness.

Crystal symmetry, which governs the local atomic coordination and bonding environment, is one of the paramount constituents that intrinsically dictate materials’ functionalities. However, engineering crystal symmetry is not straightforward due to the isotropically strong covalent/ionic bonds in crystals. Layered two-dimensional materials offer an ideal platform for crystal engineering because of the ease of interlayer symmetry operations. However, controlling the crystal symmetry remains challenging due to the ease of gliding perpendicular to the Z direction. Herein, we proposed a substrate-guided growth mechanism to atomically fabricate AB′-stacked SnSe 2 superlattices, containing alternating SnSe 2 slabs with periodic interlayer mirror and gliding symmetry operations, by chemical vapor deposition. Some higher-order phases such as 6 R, 12 R, and 18 C can be accessed, exhibiting modulated nonlinear optical responses suggested by first-principle calculations. Charge transfer from mica substrates stabilizes the high-order SnSe 2 phases. Our approach shows a promising strategy for realizing topological phases via stackingtronics. van der Waals (vdW) materials offer unique opportunities to engineer their crystal symmetry, but usually require top-down fabrication approaches. Here, the authors report a mica substrate-guided bottom-up method to grow exotic phases of SnSe 2 and other vdW materials, showing tunable nonlinear optical properties.

L-theanine (N-ethyl-γ-glutamine) is the main amino acid in tea leaves. It not only contributes to tea flavor but also possesses several health benefits. Compared with its sedative and calming activities, the immunomodulatory effects of L-theanine have received less attention. Clinical and epidemiological studies have shown that L-theanine reduces immunosuppression caused by strenuous exercise and prevents colds and influenza by improving immunity. Numerous cell and animal studies have proven that theanine plays an immunoregulatory role in inflammation, nerve damage, the intestinal tract, and tumors by regulating γδT lymphocyte function, glutathione (GSH) synthesis, and the secretion of cytokines and neurotransmitters. In addition, theanine can be used as an immunomodulator in animal production. This article reviews the research progress of L-theanine on immunoregulation and related mechanisms, as well as its application in poultry and animal husbandry. It is hoped that this work will be beneficial to future related research.

In bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs), a cascade of inflammatory reactions induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been shown to result in cell injury and apoptosis. The present study aims to reveal the protective effect of ferulic acid (FA) on LPS-induced BMEC apoptosis and explore its potential molecular mechanisms. First, we showed that FA had low cytotoxicity to BMECs and significantly decreased cell apoptosis and the proinflammatory response induced by LPS. Next, FA blocked LPS-induced oxidative stress by restoring the balance of the redox state and inhibiting mitochondrial dysfunction, the main contributor to LPS-induced apoptosis and ROS generation. Furthermore, the relief of inflammation and redox disturbance in the FA preconditioning group were accompanied by weaker NF-κB activation, enhanced Nrf2 activation and maintained cell viability compared to the LPS group. When BMECs were treated with FA alone, we observed that Nrf2 activation was induced before the inhibition of NF-κB activation and that the Keap1–Nrf2 relationship was disturbed. We concluded that FA prevented LPS-induced BMEC apoptosis by reversing the dominant relationship between NF-κB and Nrf2.

Rhizoma Bolbostemmatis, the dry tuber of Bolbostemma paniculatum , has being used for the treatment of acute mastitis and tumors in traditional Chinese medicine. In this study, tubeimoside (TBM) I, II, and III from this drug were investigated for the adjuvant activities, structure-activity relationships (SAR), and mechanisms of action. Three TBMs significantly boosted the antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses and elicited both Th1/Th2 and Tc1/Tc2 responses towards ovalbumin (OVA) in mice. TBM I also remarkably facilitated mRNA and protein expression of various chemokines and cytokines in the local muscle tissues. Flow cytometry revealed that TBM I promoted the recruitment and antigen uptake of immune cells in the injected muscles, and augmented the migration and antigen transport of immune cells to the draining lymph nodes. Gene expression microarray analysis manifested that TBM I modulated immune, chemotaxis, and inflammation-related genes. The integrated analysis of network pharmacology, transcriptomics, and molecular docking predicted that TBM I exerted adjuvant activity by interaction with SYK and LYN. Further investigation verified that SYK-STAT3 signaling axis was involved in the TBM I-induced inflammatory response in the C2C12 cells. Our results for the first time demonstrated that TBMs might be promising vaccine adjuvant candidates and exert the adjuvant activity through mediating the local immune microenvironment. SAR information contributes to developing the semisynthetic saponin derivatives with adjuvant activities.

Nonreciprocal charge transport in junction-free devices has gained strong research interest recently, due to its capabilities to reveal new quantum physics and potential in outperforming traditional junction-based nonreciprocal devices. While nonreciprocal transport has been reported in a wide range of materials due to various exotic physics, the direction of nonreciprocity is mostly fixed. A key capability that has not been established is the active control of the direction of nonreciprocity. Here by taking advantage of the unique and intrinsic coexistence of switchable ferroelectricity and magnetochiral anisotropy in few-layer polar metal WTe 2 , we demonstrate nonvolatile electrical switching of nonreciprocal transport. The direction of nonreciprocal transport is reversed upon electrical switching of the ferroelectric polarization, and the switching is nonvolatile, i.e ., it can be maintained even without external voltages. The nonreciprocal transport in few-layer WTe 2 is also highly tunable with electrostatic doping. Theoretical calculations reveal a nontrivial Drude-like mechanism for the reciprocity, with significant band geometrical contribution due to interband coherence. The demonstration of nonvolatile electrically switchable nonreciprocal transport provides a novel route to switch topological quantum physics and paves the way to programmable junction-free diodes. The coexistence of ferroelectricity and nonreciprocal transport in metallic material has been a challenge. The authors demonstrate that the polarity-induced nonreciprocal transport can be nonvolatile and electrically reversed in ferroelectric polar metal WTe 2 .

Soil salinization poses a significant threat to global agricultural productivity. Salt-tolerant plant growth-promoting bacteria (ST-PGPB) have shown great potential in enhancing crop resilience under saline stress, yet the molecular basis of their intrinsic tolerance remains incompletely understood. To address this, we employed an integrated genomic, transcriptomic, and biochemical approach to investigate the salt tolerance strategies of Pantoea sp. EEL5, an endophytic ST-PGPB isolated from Elytrigia elongata. The results demonstrated that EEL5 exhibited remarkable salt tolerance and efficiently removed Na+ via extracellular adsorption and intracellular accumulation. Genomic analysis identified key genes responsible for Na+ efflux, betaine synthesis and transport, and typical plant growth-promoting traits. Under salt stress, transcriptomic profiling revealed a marked upregulation of genes involved in Na+ extrusion, antioxidant enzymes, betaine biosynthesis and transport, arginine and proline catabolism, TCA cycle, and electron transport chain, concomitant with a downregulation of genes governing energy-intensive flagellar assembly and chemotaxis. These coordinated responses facilitated Na+ exclusion, enhanced antioxidant capacity, accumulated compatible solutes (betaine, glutamate, and GABA), increased energy production, and conserved energy via motility reduction, collectively conferring salt tolerance in EEL5. Our findings elucidate the multi-level salt adaptation mechanisms of EEL5 and provide a genetic foundation for a comprehensive understanding of ST-PGPB.

Bilayer rhombohedral-stacked transition-metal dichalcogenides (3R-TMDCs) combining high carrier mobility, good electrostatic control, and exotic switchable polarization are emerging as promising semiconducting channels for beyond-silicon electronics. However, despite great efforts, the growth of wafer-scale bilayer 3R-TMDCs single crystals remains difficult due to challenges in the synergistic control of phase structure and grain orientation. Here we design a hole-doping-assisted strategy to synthesize a series of two-inch bilayer 3R-TMDCs single crystals on c-plane sapphire. The introduction of hole dopants (e.g. Hf, V, Nb, Ta) not only increases the interlayer coupling to break the formation energy degeneracy of bilayer 3R-stacked and hexagonal-stacked TMDCs, but also promotes the parallel steps formation on sapphire surfaces to induce the unidirectionally aligned bilayer grain nucleation. The fabricated ferroelectric semiconductor field-effect transistors based on bilayer Hf-MoS 2 demonstrate high endurance (more than 10 5 cycles) and long retention time (exceeding one year) due to the restriction of interlayer charge defect migration/aggregation caused by sliding ferroelectricity. This work proposes a promising strategy for synthesizing wafer-scale ferroelectric semiconductor single crystals, which could promote the further exploration of logic-in-memory chips. 2D rhombohedral-stacked transition metal dichalcogenides (3R-TMDs) combine high carrier mobility and ferroelectricity, but their large-scale synthesis remains challenging. Here, the authors report a hole-doping-assisted strategy to synthesize various wafer-scale bilayer 3R-TMD single crystals, showing the realization of high-performance ferroelectric transistors.

Platycodin D (PD) is a potent adjuvant with dual Th1 and Th2 potentiating activity, but its mechanisms of action remain unclear. Here, the C2C12 myoblast cell line and mice were used as in vitro and in vivo models to identify potential signaling pathways involved in the adjuvant activity of PD. PD induced a transient cytotoxicity and inflammatory response in the C2C12 cells and in mouse quadricep muscles. A comparative analysis of microarray data revealed that PD induced similar gene expression profiles in the C2C12 cells and in the quadricep muscles, and triggered rapid regulation of death, immune, and inflammation-related genes, both in vivo and in vitro. It was further demonstrated that caspase-1-dependent pyroptosis was involved in the PD-induced cytotoxicity and inflammatory response in the C2C12 cells via the Ca2+–c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)–NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome signaling pathway. Consistently, the in vivo analysis revealed that a local blockage of NLRP3 and caspase-1 inhibited PD-induced cytokine production and immune cell recruitment at the injection site, and impaired the adjuvant activity of PD on antigen-specific immune responses to model antigen ovalbumin (OVA) in mice. These findings identified the caspase-1-dependent adjuvanticity of PD and expanded the current knowledge on the mechanisms of action of saponin-based adjuvants.