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The gut microbiota have long been recognized to play a key role in human health and disease. Currently, several lines of evidence from preclinical to clinical research have gradually established that the gut microbiota can modulate antitumor immunity and affect the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Deciphering the underlying mechanisms reveals that the gut microbiota reprogram the immunity of the tumor microenvironment (TME) by engaging innate and/or adaptive immune cells. Notably, one of the primary modes by which the gut microbiota modulate antitumor immunity is by means of metabolites, which are small molecules that could spread from their initial location of the gut and impact local and systemic antitumor immune response to promote ICI efficiency. Mechanistic exploration provides novel insights for developing rational microbiota-based therapeutic strategies by manipulating gut microbiota, such as fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), probiotics, engineered microbiomes, and specific microbial metabolites, to augment the efficacy of ICI and advance the age utilization of microbiota precision medicine.

Polycarboxylic superplasticizers (PCEs) exhibit numerous advantages as concrete additives, effectively improving the stability and strength of concrete. However, competitive adsorption of PCEs occurs in the presence of clay, which may affect the cement dispersion and water-reducing performance. Extensive research has been conducted on the physical and mechanical properties of PCEs; however, the effect of the diverse structures of PCEs on the competitive adsorption on clay and cement hydration products has been rarely studied. This study employs Ca-montmorillonite (CaMMT) as a clay representative, by constructing adsorption models of PCEs on CaMMT and cement hydration products. A comparison of the adsorption energies considering different side-chain lengths of PCEs is included. Typically, the adsorption energy on CaMMT is lower than that on hydration products, leading PCEs to preferentially adsorb on the clay, thereby reducing its effective dosage in the cement particles. The challenge of PCE adsorption on CaMMT increases with the polymerization degree, and methylallyl polyoxyethylene ether (HPEG) exhibits lower adsorption energies on CaMMT. The density of states (DOS) analysis indicated the highest peak values of allyl polyethylene ether (APEG) as well as the peak area at n (polymerization degree) = 1. The total number of transferred electrons for APEG was 0.648, surpassing those of other PCEs. The interaction mechanism of PCEs with clay and hydration products is further elucidated through electronic gain/loss analysis, also providing a basis for the theoretical analysis on how to reduce the adsorption of PCEs on clay and the structural design of mud-resistant PCEs.

The discovery of ferromagnetism in van der Waals (vdW) materials has enriched the understanding of two-dimensional (2D) magnetic orders and opened new avenues for fundamental physics research and next generation spintronics. However, achieving ferromagnetic order at room temperature, along with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, remains a significant challenge. In this work, we report wafer-scale growth of vdW ferromagnet Fe 3 GaTe 2 using molecular beam epitaxy. The epitaxial Fe 3 GaTe 2 films exhibit robust ferromagnetism, exemplified by high Curie temperature ( T C  = 420 K) and large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) constant K U  = 6.7 × 10 5  J/m 3 at 300 K for nine-unit-cell film. Notably, the ferromagnetic order is preserved even in the one-unit-cell film with T C reaching 345 K, benefiting from the strong PMA ( K U  = 1.8×10 5  J/m 3 at 300 K). In comparison to exfoliated Fe 3 GaTe 2 flakes, our epitaxial films with the same thickness show the significant enhancement of T C , which could be ascribed to the tensile strain effect from the substrate. The successful realization of wafer-scale ferromagnetic Fe 3 GaTe 2 films with T C far above room temperature represents a substantial advancement (in some aspects or some fields, e.g. material science), paving the way for the development of 2D magnet-based spintronic devices. While the list of van der Waals magnetic materials has expanded considerably over the last few years, these are still typically limited to low temperatures. Here, Wu et al report wafer scale growth, and robust room temperature ferromagnetism in Fe3GaTe2.

As one of the most common post-translational modifications in eukaryotic cells, lipid modification is an important mechanism for the regulation of variety aspects of protein function. Over the last decades, three classes of lipid modifications have been increasingly studied. The co-regulation of these different lipid modifications is beginning to be noticed. However, due to the lack of integrated bioinformatics resources, the studies of co-regulatory mechanisms are still very limited. In this work, we developed a tool called GPS-Lipid for the prediction of four classes of lipid modifications by integrating the Particle Swarm Optimization with an aging leader and challengers (ALC-PSO) algorithm. GPS-Lipid was proven to be evidently superior to other similar tools. To facilitate the research of lipid modification, we hosted a publicly available web server at http://lipid.biocuckoo.org with not only the implementation of GPS-Lipid, but also an integrative database and visualization tool. We performed a systematic analysis of the co-regulatory mechanism between different lipid modifications with GPS-Lipid. The results demonstrated that the proximal dual-lipid modifications among palmitoylation, myristoylation and prenylation are key mechanism for regulating various protein functions. In conclusion, GPS-lipid is expected to serve as useful resource for the research on lipid modifications, especially on their co-regulation.

Flexible photodetectors with ultra‐broadband sensitivities, fast response, and high responsivity are crucial for wearable applications. Recently, van der Waals (vdW) Weyl semimetals have gained much attention due to their unique electronic band structure, making them an ideal material platform for developing broadband photodetectors from ultraviolet (UV) to the terahertz (THz) regime. However, large‐area synthesis of vdW semimetals on a flexible substrate is still a challenge, limiting their application in flexible devices. In this study, centimeter‐scale type‐II vdW Weyl semimetal, Td‐MoTe2 films, are grown on a flexible mica substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. A self‐powered and flexible photodetector without an antenna demonstrated an outstanding ability to detect electromagnetic radiation from UV to sub‐millimeter (SMM) wave at room temperature, with a fast response time of ≈20 µs, a responsivity of 0.53 mA W−1 (at 2.52 THz), and a noise‐equivalent power (NEP) of 2.65 nW Hz−0.5 (at 2.52 THz). The flexible photodetectors are also used to image shielded items with high resolution at 2.52 THz. These results can pave the way for developing flexible and wearable optoelectronic devices using direct‐grown large‐area vdW semimetals. Td‐MoTe2 is type‐II Weyl semimetal, which have great potential in THz detection via peculiar topology band structure and exotic transport. Td‐MoTe2/mica structure grown by MBE is first reported as a photodetector from THz to SMM regime. Td‐MoTe2/mica detectors show flexible and high‐resolution terahertz imaging, which is suitable for smart wearable devices, contributing to the application of terahertz technology in daily life.

Traditional Newmark models estimate earthquake-induced landslide hazards by calculating permanent displacements exceeding the critical acceleration, which is determined from static factors of safety and hillslope geometries. However, these studies typically predict the potential landslide mass only for the source area, rather than the entire landslide zone, which includes both the source and sliding/depositional areas. In this study, we present a modified Newmark Runout model that incorporates sliding and depositional areas to improve the estimation of landslide chain risks. This model defines the landslide runout as the direction from the source area to the nearest river channel within the same slope unit, simulating natural landslide behavior under gravitational effects, which enables the prediction of the entire landslide zone. We applied the model to a subset of the Minjiang Catchment affected by the 1933 MW 7.3 Diexi Earthquake in China to assess long-term landslide chain risks. The results indicate that the predicted total landslide zone closely matches that of the Xinmo Landslide that occurred on 24 June 2017, despite some uncertainties in the sliding direction caused by the old landslide along the sliding path. Distance-weighted kernel density analysis was used to reduce the prediction uncertainties. The hazard levels of the buildings and roads were determined by the distance to the nearest entire landslide zone, thereby assessing the landslide risk. The landslide dam risks were estimated using the kernel density module for channels blocked by the predicted landslides, modeling intersections of the total landslide zone and the channels. High-risk landslide dam zones spatially correspond to the locations of the knickpoints primarily induced by landslide dams, validating the model’s accuracy. These analyses demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented model for Newmark-based landslide risk estimations, with implications for geohazard chain risk assessments, risk mitigation, and land use planning and management.

The development height and settlement prediction of water-conducting fracture zones caused by coal seam mining play an important role in the stability of overburden aquifers and the safety of roadways. Based on the engineering geological data of the J60 borehole in the Daliuta Coal Mine and the mining conditions of the 2−2 coal seam, China, this study established a similar material test model of mining overburden. The deformation characteristics of overlying strata in the mining process of coal seam were studied by using distributed optical fiber sensing technology, and the development height of water flowing fractured zone was determined. According to the equidistant sampling characteristics of Brillouin optical time domain reflection technology and the principle of the grey theory model, the settlement prediction model of the water-conducting fracture zone was established. By analyzing and comparing the prediction accuracy of the GM (1, 1) model, grey progressive model, and metabolic model, the optimal method for settlement prediction of the water-conducting fracture zone was discussed. The results show that, for the metabolic model, with the increase in the number of test sets and the decrease in the number of prediction sets, the mean square error ratio c and the small error probability p of the prediction accuracy evaluation parameters display a downward trend. The accuracy is related to the sudden change in the settlement of the water-conducting fracture zone caused by the breaking of the key stratum of the overlying rock. The optimal time of test sets selected for the best settlement prediction model is 7~8, and that of prediction sets selected is 5~6. For the GM (1, 1) model and the grey progressive model, the prediction accuracy of mining overburden subsidence is grade 4, which is not suitable for settlement prediction of water-flowing fractured zones.

Water is necessary for the alkali aggregate reaction to occur and this study investigates the impact of waterproofing on alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR) in concrete by separating water from alkali reactive aggregates through surface, aggregate, and matrix treatments. Accelerated mortar bar tests (AMBT) are conducted to analyze the expansion caused by alkali aggregates. Furthermore, the suppressive mechanism of waterproofing on AAR is explored using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while the influence of waterproof concrete aggregate and matrix on pore characteristics and hydration products is assessed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results demonstrate that surface waterproofing with silane and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) effectively suppress AAR. Moreover, PVA-coated aggregates significantly enhance the compactness of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) in concrete. Based on these findings, an improved model considering waterproofness is proposed to quantify the degree of alkali aggregate reaction. These findings offer valuable guidance for controlling AAR.

Observation windows are core components of the submersible manned cabins. The strength and stiffness of the observation window during the loading and load-sustaining process are crucial to ensure the safety of the equipment and personnel inside the manned cabin. It is extremely important to accurately calculate the structural creep performance of the observation window under a long-period sustaining load in seawater. In the present study, finite element analyses based on a temperature-dependent time-hardening creep model are conducted to investigate the performance of the observation window. The mesh convergence is studied first and the parametric analysis is accordingly carried out, taking different combinations of temperatures from 2~30 °C, different loading rates of 2.3 MPa/min, 4.5 MPa/min, 6 MPa/min, and 8 MPa/min, and different friction coefficients of 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, and 0.3 into account. The results show that the displacement in the y-axis direction of the center point of the lower surface of the viewport window increases with the increasing temperature and loading rate. On the contrary, the axial displacement of the observation window gradually decreases with the increase of the friction coefficient, and the axial displacement is the largest when the lowest friction coefficient is applied. This study aims to offer a more unified analysis and design methodology for the creep deformation of PMMA structures in underwater facilities.

With the rapid development of FinTech, it is of great significance to gain comprehensive insights into its potential risks. This paper focuses on the financial risks brought by the FinTech monopoly. We take the listed FinTech companies in China as samples to build the FinTech monopoly index and the systematic risk indicator, and the effect of the monopoly of Fintech companies on systematic risk is next analyzed using the fixed effect model. The results indicate that the FinTech monopoly will aggravate the systemic risk. Subsequently, the heterogeneous factors for the above nexus are investigated based on the micro characteristics of FinTech companies and the macro environment. On this basis, the mechanism of the above effect is also analyzed, and it is shown that the FinTech monopoly impacts systemic risk mainly via inducing excessive consumption, increasing banks’ credit risk, and inhibiting the development of FinTech.