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Objective This study aims to evaluate the incidence of open gingival embrasures (OGES) after orthodontic treatment and analyze its correlation with various clinical and radiographic parameters. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 330 orthodontic patients at West China Hospital of Stomatology from 2016 to 2023, categorizing them into Non-OGES (200) and OGES (130) groups based on post-treatment OGES presence in the central incisor area. Basic information of patients, pre- and post-treatment lateral cephalometric radiographs, and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) data were collected. Chi-square tests, two-sample t-tests, Welch’s t-tests, and Mann–Whitney U tests were used to compare differences in gender, initial age, treatment duration, and cephalometric and CBCT indicators between the two groups. Binary logistic regression analysis was further employed to explore the clinical characteristics and cephalometric indicators of the study population. Results Univariate analysis revealed that the occurrence of maxillary central incisor OGES was significantly correlated with gender, initial age, treatment duration, and related cephalometric and CBCT indicators ( P  < 0.05). Similarly, the occurrence of mandibular central incisor OGES was also significantly associated with gender, initial age, treatment duration, and specific cephalometric changes ( P  < 0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that the occurrence of maxillary central incisor OGES was significantly related to initial age, treatment duration, and the change in the U1-SN angle, while the occurrence of OGES in the mandibular central incisor area was mainly related to initial age and treatment duration. Conclusion Orthodontic treatment plans should consider a variety of influencing factors, including initial age, treatment duration, anterior tooth angle and position, root-bone relationship, and the distance from the anterior tooth contact point to the alveolar crest, to prevent or reduce the occurrence of OGES after orthodontic treatment, thereby improving patients’ aesthetic outcomes and periodontal health.

Objective The study aims to develop a diagnostic model using intraoral photographs to accurately detect and classify early detection of enamel demineralization on tooth surfaces. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted with 208 patients aged 14 to 44. A total of 624 high-quality digital images captured under standardized conditions were used to construct a deep learning model based on the Mask region-based convolutional neural network (Mask R-CNN). The model was trained to automate the detection of enamel demineralization. Its performance was compared to two junior dentists' diagnostic abilities. Results The model achieved an F1-score of 0.856 for detecting demineralized teeth on the validation set, a metric that reflects comprehensive diagnostic performance, demonstrating performance close to that of senior dentists. With the the model's assistance, the junior dentists' average F1-scores improved significantly-from 0.713 and 0.689 to 0.897 and 0.949, respectively (p < 0.05). The model accurately segmented tooth surfaces and detected demineralized areas, allowing for precise detection of demineralized areas and monitoring of lesion progression. Conclusion Deep learning can accurately segment tooth surfaces and lesion contours, enhancing the precision, accuracy, and efficiency of enamel demineralization diagnosis and area delineation.

Topologically nontrivial polar structures are not only attractive for high-density data storage, but also for ultralow power microelectronics thanks to their exotic negative capacitance. The vast majority of polar structures emerging naturally in ferroelectrics, however, are topologically trivial, and there are enormous interests in artificially engineered polar structures possessing nontrivial topology. Here we demonstrate reconstruction of topologically trivial strip-like domain architecture into arrays of polar vortex in (PbTiO 3 ) 10 /(SrTiO 3 ) 10 superlattice, accomplished by fabricating a cross-sectional lamella from the superlattice film. Using a combination of techniques for polarization mapping, atomic imaging, and three-dimensional structure visualization supported by phase field simulations, we reveal that the reconstruction relieves biaxial epitaxial strain in thin film into a uniaxial one in lamella, changing the subtle electrostatic and elastostatic energetics and providing the driving force for the polar vortex formation. The work establishes a realistic strategy for engineering polar topologies in otherwise ordinary ferroelectric superlattices. The majority of polar structures emerging naturally in ferroelectrics are topologically trivial. Here, the authors demonstrate reconstruction of topologically trivial strip-like domain architecture into arrays of polar vortex in (PbTiO 3 ) 10 /(SrTiO 3 ) 10 superlattice.

The rapid expansion of urbanization both in scale and population leads to a series of serious urban diseases, which become a huge obstacle to the healthy and sustainable development of cities. To alleviate these problems and challenges, China launched a smart city construction program in the past decade and has taken the lead in smart city construction in the world. However, there is still a lack of reflection and summary on the practice of smart cities in China. Based on the definition and concept of smart city, this paper points out the internal and external driving factors of China’s smart city development, then summarizes the four major characteristics of China’s smart city construction practice, and explores the main problems existing in the process of China’s smart city construction. Through the reflection and summary, we can facilitate development of smart cities in China, provide useful reference to urban planners and smart city practitioners in other countries and regions, and promote the healthy and sustainable development of cities.

The commonly-used superstrate configuration (depositing front subcell first and then depositing back subcell) in all-perovskite tandem solar cells is disadvantageous for long-term stability due to oxidizable narrow-bandgap perovskite assembled last and easily exposable to air. Here we reverse the processing order and demonstrate all-perovskite tandems in a substrate configuration (depositing back subcell first and then depositing front subcell) to bury oxidizable narrow-bandgap perovskite deep in the device stack. By using guanidinium tetrafluoroborate additive in wide-bandgap perovskite subcell, we achieve an efficiency of 25.3% for the substrate-configured all-perovskite tandem cells. The unencapsulated devices exhibit no performance degradation after storage in dry air for 1000 hours. The substrate configuration also widens the choice of flexible substrates: we achieve 24.1% and 20.3% efficient flexible all-perovskite tandem solar cells on copper-coated polyethylene naphthalene and copper metal foil, respectively. Substrate configuration offers a promising route to unleash the commercial potential of all-perovskite tandem solar cells. The superstate configuration in all-perovskite tandem solar cells is disadvantageous for long-term stability. Here, the authors reverse the processing order and demonstrate substrate configuration to bury oxidizable narrow-bandgap perovskites, and achieve efficiency of 25.3% with long stability.

Optical neural networks (ONNs) herald a new era in information and communication technologies and have implemented various intelligent applications. In an ONN, the activation function (AF) is a crucial component determining the network performances and on-chip AF devices are still in development. Here, we first demonstrate on-chip reconfigurable AF devices with phase activation fulfilled by dual-functional graphene/silicon (Gra/Si) heterojunctions. With optical modulation and detection in one device, time delays are shorter, energy consumption is lower, reconfigurability is higher and the device footprint is smaller than other on-chip AF strategies. The experimental modulation voltage (power) of our Gra/Si heterojunction achieves as low as 1 V (0.5 mW), superior to many pure silicon counterparts. In the photodetection aspect, a high responsivity of over 200 mA/W is realized. Special nonlinear functions generated are fed into a complex-valued ONN to challenge handwritten letters and image recognition tasks, showing improved accuracy and potential of high-efficient, all-component-integration on-chip ONN. Our results offer new insights for on-chip ONN devices and pave the way to high-performance integrated optoelectronic computing circuits. Designing an efficient activation function for optical neural networks remains a challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate a modulator-detector-in-one graphene/silicon heterojunction ring resonators enabling on-chip reconfigurable activation function devices with phase activation capability for optical neural networks.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials hold transformative potential for next-generation electronics. The integration of high dielectric constant ( k ) dielectrics onto 2D semiconductors, while maintaining their pristine properties by low-defect-density interfaces, has proven challenging and become one performance bottleneck of their practical implementation. Here, we report a wet-chemistry-based method to fabricate amorphous, transferable high- k (42.9) copper calcium titanate (CCTO) thin films as high-quality, dual-function dielectrics for 2D electronic devices. The chelation-based Pechini approach guarantees uniformity in this perovskite-type complex oxide, while the transferrable feature allows its harmless integration to 2D semiconductors interfacing with a nanogap. The CCTO-gated MoS 2 devices exhibit a subthreshold swing down to 67 mV dec −1 and an ultra-small hysteresis of ~ 1 mV/(MV cm −1 ). Moreover, leveraging its visible-light active characteristics, we implement an electrically-manipulated, optically-activated nonvolatile floating gate in CCTO, enabling the reconfigurable execution of 9 basic Boolean logic in-sensor operations within a single field-effect device architecture. This advancement paves the way for the development of multifunctional, low-power 2D electronic systems by incorporating multifunctional conventional complex oxides. The authors report a wet-chemistry-based method to fabricate amorphous, transferable high-k copper calcium titanate thin films as dielectrics for two-dimensional electronic devices.

The disposal of residues from traditional Chinese medicine results in resource waste and poses non-negligible environmental concerns. While the synthesis of carbon dots (CDs) from green raw materials has been widely studied, the use of Chinese medicine residues (CMR) which are rich in ligno-cellulosic components as a carbon source for CDs preparation remained largely unexplored. Notably, converting CMR into carbon dots (CMR-CDs) offered a dual benefit: it enhanced resource utilization and mitigated the environmental impact of these waste materials. In this study, CMR-CDs were synthesized via a simple, eco-friendly one-step hydrothermal method for metal ion detection. The CMR-CDs demonstrated highly selective fluorescence quenching toward Fe³⁺, with a strong linear correlation (R² = 0.999) between fluorescence intensity and Fe³⁺ concentration (0 to 516 μmol/L). The detection limit was determined to be 6.0 μmol/L. These findings suggest that CMR-CDs hold significant potential for rapid and sensitive Fe³⁺ detection in future applications, while also highlighting the value of ligno-cellulosic waste in sustainable nanomaterial synthesis.

CircRNAs recently have shown critical roles in tumor biology. However, their roles in prostate cancer (PCa) remains largely unclear. CircRNA microarrays were performed in immortal prostate cell line RWPE1 and PCa cell lines as DU145, PC3, LNCaP, C4-2, and 22RV1. Combined with upregulated circRNAs in PCa tissues, circNOLC1 expression was validated in PCa cells and tissues qRT-PCR and FISH. Sanger sequencing, actinomycin D, gDNA, and cDNA, RNase R assays were used to assess the circular characteristics of circNOLC1. CCK-8, colony formation, transwell migration assays, and mice xenograft models were conducted to evaluate the functions of PCa cells after circNOLC1 knockdown and overexpression. RNA pulldown, luciferase reporter assay, FISH (fluorescence hybridization), and CHIP were utilized to illustrate the further mechanisms of circNOLC1. Our research indicated that circNOLC1 was overexpressed in PCa cells and tissues, and circNOLC1 was more stable than linear NOLC1 mRNA. CircNOLC1 promoted PCa cells proliferation and migration and . Additionally, we found that circNOLC1 could upregulate PAQR4 expression by sponging miR-647, leading to the activation of PI3K/Akt pathway. Moreover, NF-kappaB was identified to bind to the NOLC1 promoter sites and upregulated both NOLC1 and circNOLC1 expression. CircNOLC1, elevated by transcription factor NF-kappaB, promotes PCa progression a miR-647/PAQR4 axis, and circNOLC1 is a potential biomarker and target for PCa treatment.