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The formation of moiré superlattices in twisted van der Waals (vdW) homostructures provides a versatile platform for designing the electronic band structure of two-dimensional (2D) materials. In graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) moiré systems, twist angle has been shown to be a key parameter for regulating the moiré superlattice. However, the effect of the modulation of the twist angle on moiré potential and interlayer coupling has not been the subject of experimental investigation. Here, we report the observation of the modulation of moiré potential and intralayer excitons in the WS 2 /WS 2 homostructure. By accurately adjusting the torsion angle of the homobilayers, the depth of the moiré potential can be modulated. The confinement effect of the moiré potential on the intralayer excitons was further demonstrated by the changing of temperature and valley polarization. Furthermore, we show that a detection of atomic reconstructions by the low-frequency Raman mapping to map out inhomogeneities in moiré lattices on a large scale, which endows the uniformity of interlayer coupling. Our results provide insights for an in-depth understanding of the behaviors of moiré excitons in the twisted van der Waals homostructure, and promote the study of electrical engineering and topological photonics.

Recent advances in twisted van der Waals heterostructure superlattices have emerged as a powerful and attractive platform for exploring novel condensed matter physics due to the interplay between the moiré potential and Coulomb interactions. The moiré superlattices act as a periodic confinement potential in space to capture interlayer excitons (IXs), resulting in moiré exciton arrays, which provide opportunities for quantum emitters and many-body physics. The observation of moiré IXs in twisted transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) heterostructures has recently been widely reported. However, the capture and study of the moiré intralayer excitons based on TMD twisted homobilayer (T-HB) remain elusive. Here, we report the observation of moiré intralayer excitons in a WSe2/WSe2 T-HB with a small twist angle by measuring PL spectrum. The multiple split peaks with an energy range of 1.55–1.73 eV are different from that of the monolayer WSe2 exciton peaks. The split peaks were caused by the trapping of intralayer excitons via the moiré potential. The confinement effect of the moiré potential on the moiré intralayer excitons was further demonstrated by the changing of temperature, laser power, and valley polarization. Our findings provide a new avenue for exploring new correlated quantum phenomena and their applications.The moiré intralayer excitons in the twisted WSe2/WSe2 homobilayers superlattices were successfully observed and confirmed the existence of moiré intralayer excitons.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a degenerative disease accompanied by the loss of nucleus pulposus cells and the degradation of extracellular matrix (ECM), which tends to be associated with lower back pain. The ECM and various types of cell death in IVDD are regulated by multiple factors, such as inflammatory responses and oxidative stress. The glutathione (GSH) redox system is the most important antioxidant defense system in cells. GSH is one of the most abundant thiol antioxidants in mammalian cells, which functions directly and indirectly by scavenging peroxides through the GSH redox system. In these reactions, GSH is oxidized by electrophilic substances, such as reactive oxygen species and free radicals, to form glutathione disulfide to exert antioxidative effects. It has been reported that GSH can protect cells against the damage of oxidative stress and various pathophysiological stimulus that can lead to different types of cell death. In addition, it was reported that the level of GSH widely participates in apoptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis, and oxidative stress in many diseases including osteoarthritis and IVDD. Therefore, we summarized the effects of GSH on ECM metabolism and cells’ functions during IVDD. In addition, we summarized the regulatory effects of small molecule compounds on GSH to explore potential ways to regulate the level of GSH. Better understanding the underlying role of GSH in regulating IVDD will facilitate the goal of preventing and retarding the progress of IVDD in the future.

The stacking of twisted two-dimensional (2D) layered materials has led to the creation of moiré superlattices, which have become a new platform for the study of quantum optics. The strong coupling of moiré superlattices can result in flat minibands that boost electronic interactions and generate interesting strongly correlated states, including unconventional superconductivity, Mott insulating states, and moiré excitons. However, the impact of adjusting and localizing moiré excitons in Van der Waals heterostructures has yet to be explored experimentally. Here, we present experimental evidence of the localization-enhanced moiré excitons in the twisted WSe 2 /WS 2 /WSe 2 heterotrilayer with type-II band alignments. At low temperatures, we observed multiple excitons splitting in the twisted WSe 2 /WS 2 /WSe 2 heterotrilayer, which is manifested as multiple sharp emission lines, in stark contrast to the moiré excitonic behavior of the twisted WSe 2 /WS 2 heterobilayer (which has a linewidth 4 times wider). This is due to the enhancement of the two moiré potentials in the twisted heterotrilayer, enabling highly localized moiré excitons at the interface. The confinement effect of moiré potential on moiré excitons is further demonstrated by changes in temperature, laser power, and valley polarization. Our findings offer a new approach for localizing moiré excitons in twist-angle heterostructures, which has the potential for the development of coherent quantum light emitters. Localized moiré excitons were found in twisted heterotrilayer superlattices, with the moiré potential depth tunable through layer degrees of freedom. This discovery benefits quantum light emitter development.

The aqueous micro batteries (AMBs) are expected to be one of the most promising micro energy storage devices for its safe operation and cost‐effectiveness. However, the performance of the AMBs is not satisfactory, which is attributed to strong interaction between metal ions and the electrode materials. Here, the first AMBs are developed with NH 4 + as charge carrier. More importantly, to solve the low conductivity and the dissolution during the NH 4 + intercalation/extraction problem of perylene material represented by perylene‐3,4,9,10‐tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA), the Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene with high conductivity and polar surface terminals is introduced as a conductive skeleton (PTCDA/Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene). Benefitting from this, the PTCDA/Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene electrodes exhibit ultra‐high cycle life and rate capability (74.31% after 10 000 galvanostatic chargedischarge (GCD) cycles, and 91.67 mAh g −1 at 15.0 A g −1 , i.e., capacity retention of 45.2% for a 30‐fold increase in current density). More significantly, the AMBs with NH 4 + as charge carrier and PTCDA/Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene anode provide excellent energy density and power density, cycle life, and flexibility. This work will provide strategy for the development of NH 4 + storage materials and the design of AMBs.

Background There have been controversial voices on if hepatitis B virus infection decreases the risk of colorectal liver metastases or not. This study aims to the find the association between HBV infection and postoperative survival of colorectal cancer and the risk of liver metastases in colorectal cancer patients. Methods Patients who underwent curative surgical resection for colorectal cancer between January 2011 and December 2012 were included. Patients were grouped according to anti-HBc. Differences in overall survival, time to progress, and hepatic metastasis-free survival between groups and significant predictors were analyzed. Results Three hundred twenty-seven colorectal cancer patients were comprised of 202 anti-HBc negative cases and 125 anti-HBc positive cases, and anti-HBc positive cases were further divided into high-titer anti-HBc group (39) and low-titer anti-HBc group (86). The high-titer anti-HBc group had significantly worse overall survival (5-Yr, 65.45% vs. 80.06%; P < .001), time to progress (5-Yr, 44.26% vs. 84.73%; P < .001), and hepatic metastasis-free survival (5-Yr, 82.44% vs. 94.58%; P = .029) than the low-titer group. Multivariate model showed anti-HBc ≥ 8.8 S/CO was correlated with poor overall survival (HR, 3.510; 95% CI, 1.718–7.17; P < .001), time to progress (HR, 5.747; 95% CI, 2.789–11.842; P < .001), and hepatic metastasis-free survival (HR, 3.754; 95% CI, 1.054–13.369; P = .041) in the anti-HBc positive cases. Conclusions Higher titer anti-HBc predicts a potential higher risk of liver metastases and a worse survival in anti-HBc positive colorectal cancer patients.

Considering that the traditional Hoek–Brown model only accounts for strain hardening effects in rock materials, while many rock materials exhibit strain softening effects under large deformation, a modified Hoek–Brown model has been developed to simultaneously describe both material hardening and softening characteristics. This enhancement builds upon the traditional Hoek–Brown model by introducing plastic internal variables that characterize material damage or degradation. To address numerical singularities and convergence difficulties encountered during the implementation of the modified Hoek–Brown model, a function smoothing method is employed. The physical significance of model parameters in the modified model is clarified through theoretical analysis and single-factor variable analysis methods. Finally, the modified Hoek–Brown model is applied to practical engineering calculations. The study results demonstrate that the modified Hoek–Brown model can effectively account for both strain hardening and strain softening effects in materials. The function smoothing method proves to be effective in mitigating numerical singularities and convergence issues encountered in the implementation of the modified Hoek–Brown model. For soft rock tunnels, when significant displacements occur in the surrounding rock, both displacements and stresses around the tunnel calculated using the modified Hoek–Brown model are more consistent with engineering reality than those obtained using the traditional Hoek–Brown model. It is recommended to consider applying the modified Hoek–Brown model in practical engineering calculations.

Flood storage and detention areas are an important aspect of the river flood control system and an effective measure to ensure flood control safety and mitigate disasters in key areas. Using the flood storage and detention area of DaHuangPuWa as an example, the flood diversion evolution of different positions on the Jinbao highway was simulated numerically. The water level, velocity, and flow rate of each observation point during the 100-year flood were calculated. After comprehensive analysis, it is determined that the location of the diversion gate in the flood storage and detention area is better at the diversion gate of Liuwanzhuang. The results of this paper show that the numerical simulation method can provide more scientific and reasonable theoretical support for the design of flood diversion gates in flood storage and detention areas.

To optimize water–nitrogen management for mulched drip-irrigated peanuts in Xinjiang, a three-season field experiment was conducted to assess the impacts of drip irrigation rates and water–nitrogen coupling on peanut growth, yield, quality, and water–nitrogen use efficiency. Two irrigation accounts (30 and 37.5 mm, denoted as W1 and W2), three nitrogen application levels (half nitrogen application and conventional nitrogen application, denoted as N1 and N2), and a control treatment (CK) without nitrogen application, and two drip discharge rates (3.0 and 6.0 L h−1, denoted as Q1 and Q2) were utilized for a total of five treatments per year, and the experiment was repeated three times. The results demonstrated that the irrigation and fertilization parameters of the W2N1Q2 treatment could significantly improve peanut growth, yield, quality, and water–nitrogen use efficiency, achieving optimal values for all measured indicators. Compared with the control (W2N0Q1), the main stem height increased by 9.59% and 13.13%, the aboveground biomass increased by 6.32% and 34.67%, the yield increased by 26.69% and 20.97% (p < 0.01), the water use efficiency increased by 27.08% and 16.33%, the nitrogen partial factor productivity values were 47.39 and 77.00 kg kg−1, the protein content increased by 3.99% and 4.63%, and the oil content increased by 1.68% and 8.53%, respectively. A PCA was performed using five key performance indicators (yield, protein content, oil content, water use efficiency, and nitrogen partial factor productivity) to evaluate different treatment combinations. The W2N1Q2 treatment obtained the highest composite score, indicating its overall superior performance among all treatments. Therefore, under the conditions of this experiment, the irrigation and nitrogen application parameters for achieving both a high yield and quality of peanuts under mulched drip irrigation in Xinjiang were determined to be W2N1Q2 treatment (irrigation account of 37.5 mm, nitrogen application of 118 kg ha−1, and drip discharge of 6.0 L h−1). This optimized combination brings three key advantages to water-scarce regions: (1) maximizing yield water use efficiency through precise irrigation scheduling; (2) balanced nutrient management to prevent nitrogen wastage; and (3) providing a key technological reference for agricultural production in Xinjiang and other similar ecological zones.

Background: The gut microbiome is a large and complex organic assemblage with subtle and close relationships with the host. This symbiotic mechanism is important for the health and adaptability of the host to the environment. Compared with other ruminants, there are few studies on yak intestinal microbes. The study of the gut microbiota of the yak will help us better understand the correlation between the microbiota and the environmental adaptability of the host. In this study, we adapted 16S rDNA sequencing technology to investigate the diversity and composition of the intestinal microbial community in free-range yaks and captive yaks living on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP). Results: Sequencing results showed that the intestinal microbial community diversity was significantly different between free-range yaks and captive yaks. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the dominant bacteria in both free-range and captive yaks. However, there were differences between the microbes of the two analyzed feeding styles in different classification levels. Compared with the captive type, free-range yaks had a higher abundance of Ruminococcaceae, Eubacteriaceae, Desulfovibrionaceae, Elusimicrobium, and Oscillibacter, while the abundance of Succinivibrionaceae, Clostridiales, Lachnospiraceae, Prevotellaceae, Roseburia, and Barnesiella was relatively low. The feeding method may be the key factor for the formation of intestinal flora differences in yaks, while altitude did not significantly affect Qinghai yak. Conclusions: In this study, we used 16S rDNA sequencing technology to investigate the composition of intestinal flora in free-range and captive yaks living on the QTP. The exploration of dietary factors can provide a theoretical basis for scientifically and rationally breeding yaks and provides a new direction for the development of prebiotics and microecological agents.