Explore the vast range of titles available.

Green synthesis of crystalline porous materials for energy-related applications is of great significance but very challenging. Here, we create a green strategy to fabricate a highly crystalline olefin-linked pyrazine-based covalent organic framework (COF) with high robustness and porosity under solvent-free conditions. The abundant nitrogen sites, high hydrophilicity, and well-defined one-dimensional nanochannels make the resulting COF an ideal platform to confine and stabilize the H 3 PO 4 network in the pores through hydrogen-bonding interactions. The resulting material exhibits low activation energy (E a ) of 0.06 eV, and ultrahigh proton conductivity across a wide relative humidity (10–90 %) and temperature range (25–80 °C). A realistic proton exchange membrane fuel cell using the olefin-linked COF as the solid electrolyte achieve a maximum power of 135 mW cm −2 and a current density of 676 mA cm −2 , which exceeds all reported COF materials. Developing eco-friendly synthetic routes for fabricating robust covalent organic frameworks (COFs) remains a challenge. Herein, the authors created a green strategy to fabricate a highly crystalline olefin-linked COF which exhibited great promise application in proton exchange membrane fuel cell.

The study explores the strategic pricing and quality improvement decisions under uncertain demand in a three-layer textile and garment supply chain. According to whether the fabric manufacturer (FM) invests in quality or not and whether the garment manufacturer (GM) or garment retailer (GR) is willing to share the costs or not, five game models are constructed to investigate the impact of different members’ cost sharing on the optimal decisions and profits. By conducting a theoretical and numerical analysis, we find that: (1) The GM’s or GR’s cost sharing plays a positive effect on the quality improvement, as for whose cost sharing performs better in improving the quality depending on the proportion of cost sharing, and the quality improvement is highest with both members share the costs simultaneously. (2) The FM receives the highest profit when both members share the costs simultaneously, however, whose cost sharing is more profitable for the FM is also related to the proportion of cost sharing; in short, the FM always benefits from the cost sharing, no matter one member does this or two members do this. (3) The GM (GR) gains the highest profit when only the GR (GM) shares the costs, and the results indicate that if one member has shared the costs, whether the other member engaging in cost sharing could benefit the former depending on their proportions. Specifically, when the GM (GR) chooses to share the costs and the proportion is relatively low, the GR(GM) joining in cost sharing is beneficial to the former; otherwise, is harmful.

Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) are a leading cause of acute viral gastroenteritis worldwide. Infectious outbreaks due to recombinant NoV genotype called GII.P16-GII.2 have been frequently reported since 2016. In this study, we expressed the major capsid protein VP1 from three GII.2 NoV strains using the recombinant baculovirus expression system. The assembly, histo-blood group antigen (HBGA)-binding patterns, and cross-blocking abilities of VP1 proteins were investigated. All the three NoV VP1 proteins successfully assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs). The HBGA-binding assay demonstrated a temporal binding pattern. The latest isolate bound to saliva samples of all blood types. Sequence alignment suggested that the observed gain in HBGA-binding ability was attributed to a limited number of amino acid mutations. Using chimeric VP1 proteins, we demonstrated that synergistic effects resulted in enhanced binding ability. Bile salts increased GII.2 VLP avidity for HBGAs except GII.2-2011/M1. In vitro blockade assay of salivary HBGA-VLP binding demonstrated the presence of cross-blocking effects among different strains. This study provides insight into the evolutionary binding characteristics and cross-blocking effects of GII.2 NoVs to facilitate the development of measures to control this type of viruses.

Pore fluid chemistry can obviously influence the deformation and strength of expansive soil. To investigate the change rules and the underlying mechanisms, free swelling rate and direct shear experiments are conducted on expansive soils immersed with different concentrations of NaCl and CaCl 2 solutions. The free swelling rate of the expansive soil, with increasing solution concentration, first rapidly decreases and then continues to gently decrease. Moreover, the NaCl solution has a greater effect on the free swelling rate of the expansive soil than the CaCl 2 solution. The soil shear strength and cohesion decrease with increasing solution concentration; nevertheless, the effect of solution concentration on the internal friction angle is less significant. The test result analysis indicate that the expansive soil surface carries a fixed negative charge, forming an electric double layer on the particle surfaces. With increasing salt solution concentration, the double layer thickness decreases, resulting in reduced particle repulsion and increased intergranular stress. Consequently, soil particle settlement occurs, which reduces the free swelling rate. Specifically, twice as much Cl − is dissociated from CaCl 2 as NaCl for salt solutions with the same molar concentration, resulting in greater intergranular stress and smaller free swelling rate. Theoretically, the shear strength should increase with the salt solution concentration, due to the increase of intergranular stress. However, the scanning electron microscope experiments and the mercury intrusion porosimetry experiments show that the expansive soil microstructure changes based on the salt solution concentration, contributing to the reduction of the shear strength. The above two factors have opposite effects on the shear strength. For the Ningming expansive soil considered herein, the shear strength decreases with increasing concentration, as the impact of structure surpasses that of intergranular stress.

Metal–organic cages (MOCs) are discrete, supramolecular entities that consist of metal nodes and organic linkers, which can offer solution processability and high porosity. Thereby, their predesigned structures can undergo post-synthetic modifications (PSMs) to introduce new functional groups and properties by modifying the linker, metal node, pore or surface environment. This Review explores current PSM strategies used for MOCs, including covalent, coordination and noncovalent methods. The effects of newly introduced functional groups or generated complexes upon the PSMs of MOCs are also detailed, such as improving structural stability or endowing desired functionalities. The development of the aforementioned design principles has enabled systematic approaches for the development and characterization of families of MOCs and, thereby, provides insight into structure–function relationships that will guide future developments. Metal–organic cages with good solubility, accessible cavities and abundant reactive sites can undergo various post-synthetic modifications to assemble into multidimensional functional materials. This Review explores current post-synthetic modification strategies used for metal–organic cages, including covalent, coordination and noncovalent methods.

In comparison with bioenzymes, nanozymes exhibit excellent robustness against extreme conditions, a low production cost, and easy-to-adjust properties, as well as potential versatility. These superiorities have attracted abundant interest in the last 15 years, to develop various nanozymes for applications including analytical sensing, environmental engineering, and biomedicine. In particular, for analytical sensing, a lot of nanozyme-involved principles and methods have been explored and applied to clinical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, food safety detection, and forensic analysis. Moreover, rational exploitation and use of nanozyme materials promote the performance of analytical methods. To highlight the latest progress in this attractive field, recent design concepts of nanozymes for advanced biochemical sensing are summarized. The development of single-atom nanozymes, self-cascade nanozymes, structurally biomimetic nanozymes, molecularly imprinted nanozymes, nanozymes breaking the pH limit, and multifunctional nanozymes is discussed in detail, to enhance detection sensitivity and selectivity, as well as expand application scenarios. Finally, some challenges and trends related to nanozyme-based sensors are reported, to satisfy the increasing needs of biochemical analysis with nanozymes.

Intercropping is widely practiced to improve crop yield and resources use efficiency. However, its effect on rice, especially the subspecies rice such as Indica and Japonica intercropping is elusive. A two-year field experiment (2021–2022) was conducted to assess the effects of Indica-Japonica intercropping on rice growth, yield, and quality. Results showed that intercropping increased the leaf area and efficient leaf area of Indica by 45% and 13.5%, and Japonica by 46% and 19% as compared to monocropping. At the system level, Indica-Japonica intercropping improved the yield indices including the number of effective panicles and panicles, spikelet fertility, and 1000-grain weight, leading to higher crop yield (18.5% and 39.5%) and biomass dry matter (51% and 20%) compared to Indica or Japonica under monocropping. The improved photosynthetic rate due to better light environments also contributed to higher intercropping crop yield. Though intercropping reduced the brown rice quality and chalkiness, but improved head mild rice rate. The higher LER (1.25), LEC (0.36), SPI (13.2), ATER (1.22), and LUC (186.86) values confirmed higher productivity and efficient land use under intercropping. The crowding index (K = 3.71) favoured intercropping, with Indica (aggressivity A IR = 3.55) dominant over Japonica (aggressivity A JR = -3.55). The competitive ratio (CR > 0) indicated minimal competition for resources. This indicates that Indica-Japonica intercropping could improve the growth, yield and quality of rice by efficiently utilizing resources, thus offer a more sustainable rice production system compared to monocropping.

Although most people living with HIV (PLWH) receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) achieve continuous viral suppression, some show detectable HIV RNA as low-level viremia (LLV) (50–999 copies/mL). Drug resistance mutations (DRMs) in PLWH with LLV is of particular concern as which may lead to treatment failure. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of LLV and LLV-associated DRMs in PLWH in Zhengzhou City, China. Of 3616 ART-experienced PLWH in a long-term follow-up cohort from Jan 2022 to Aug 2023, 120 were identified as having LLV. Of these PLWH with LLV, we obtained partial pol and integrase sequences from 104 (70 from HIV-1 RNA and 34 from proviral DNA) individuals. DRMs were identified in 44 individuals. Subtyping analysis indicated that the top three subtypes were B (48.08%, 50/104), CRF07_BC (31.73%, 33/104), and CRF01_AE (15.38%, 16/104). The proportions of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), protease inhibitors (PIs), and integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) associated DRMs were 23.83% (24/104), 35.58% (37/104), 5.77% (6/104), and 3.85% (4/104), respectively, which contributed to an overall prevalence of 42.31% (44/104). When analyzed by individual DRMs, the most common mutation(s) were V184 (18.27%, 19/104), followed by V179 (11.54%, 12/104), K103 (9.62%, 10/104), Y181 (9.62%, 10/104), M41 (7.69%, 8/104), and K65R (7.69%, 8/104). The prevalence of DRMs in ART-experienced PLWH with LLV is high in Zhengzhou City and continuous surveillance can facilitate early intervention and provision of effective treatment.

Abstract BACKGROUND Despite advances in the treatment of poor-grade aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), predicting the long-term outcome of aSAH remains challenging, although essential. OBJECTIVE To predict long-term outcomes after poor-grade aSAH using decision tree modeling. METHODS This was a retrospective analysis of a prospective multicenter observational registry of patients with poor-grade aSAH with a World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) grade IV or V. Outcome was assessed by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 12 mo, and an unfavorable outcome was defined as an mRS of 4 or 5 or death. Long-term prognostic models were developed using multivariate logistic regression and decision tree algorithms. An additional independent testing dataset was collected for external validation. Overall accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) were used to assess model performance. RESULTS Of the 266 patients, 139 (52.3%) had an unfavorable outcome. Older age, absence of pupillary reactivity, lower Glasgow coma score (GCS), and higher modified Fisher grade were independent predictors of unfavorable outcome. Modified Fisher grade, pupillary reactivity, GCS, and age were used in the decision tree model, which achieved an overall accuracy of 0.833, sensitivity of 0.821, specificity of 0.846, and AUC of 0.88 in the internal test. There was similar predictive performance between the logistic regression and decision tree models. Both models achieved a high overall accuracy of 0.895 in the external test. CONCLUSION Decision tree model is a simple tool for predicting long-term outcomes after poor-grade aSAH and may be considered for treatment decision-making. Graphical Abstract Graphical Abstract

Target identification is essential for developing novel therapeutic strategies in diseases. Thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP), also known as thioredoxin-binding protein-2, is a member of the α-arrestin protein family and is regulated by several cellular stress factors. TXNIP overexpression coupled with thioredoxin inhibits its antioxidant functions, thereby increasing oxidative stress. TXNIP is directly involved in inflammatory activation by interacting with Nod-like receptor protein 3 inflammasome. Bone metabolic disorders are associated with aging, oxidative stress, and inflammation. They are characterized by an imbalance between bone formation involving osteoblasts and bone resorption by osteoclasts, and by chondrocyte destruction. The role of TXNIP in bone metabolic diseases has been extensively investigated. Here, we discuss the roles of TXNIP in the regulatory mechanisms of transcription and protein levels and summarize its involvement in bone metabolic disorders such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. TXNIP is expressed in osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and chondrocytes and affects the differentiation and functioning of skeletal cells through both redox-dependent and -independent regulatory mechanisms. Therefore, TXNIP is a potential regulatory and functional factor in bone metabolism and a possible new target for the treatment of bone metabolism-related diseases.