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Secondary organic aerosol contributes a significant fraction to aerosol mass and toxicity. Low-volatility organic vapours are critical intermediates connecting the oxidation of volatile organic compounds to secondary organic aerosol formation. However, the direct measurement of intermediate vapours poses a great challenge. Here we present coordinated measurements of oxygenated organic molecules in the three most urbanized regions of China and determine their likely precursors, enabling us to connect secondary organic aerosol formation to various volatile organic compounds. We show that the oxidation of anthropogenic volatile organic compounds dominates oxygenated organic molecule formation, with an approximately 40% contribution from aromatics and a 40% contribution from aliphatic hydrocarbons (predominantly alkanes), a previously under-accounted class of volatile organic compounds. The irreversible condensation of these anthropogenic oxygenated organic molecules increases significantly in highly polluted conditions, accounting for a major fraction of the production of secondary organic aerosol. We find that the distribution of oxygenated organic molecules and their formation pathways are largely the same across the urbanized regions. This suggests that uniform mitigation strategies could be effective in solving air pollution issues across these highly populated city clusters. The formation of secondary organic aerosol in Chinese megacities is dominated by the condensation of anthropogenic organic vapours, according to measurements across three urbanized regions.

Background Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is a burgeoning modality for cancer therapy owing to its high tissue-penetrating capability, controllability and safety. Whereas, the undesirable reactive oxygen species (ROS) yield of sonosensitizers and tumor hypoxia are two vulnerable spots of SDT. Therefore, it is an advisable strategy to augment ROS level and simultaneously relieve hypoxia for SDT to arrive its full potential in cancer treatment. Results In this work, the defected two-dimensional (2D) Pd/H-TiO 2 nanosheets (NSs) with triple antineoplastic properties were dexterously elaborated and engineered using a facile one-pot Pd-catalyzed hydrogenation tactic by loading a tiny amount of Pd and then inletting hydrogen flow at atmospheric pressure and temperature. The 2D black Pd/H-TiO 2 NSs with oxygen defects exerted eximious SDT effect based on the decreased bandgap that made it easier for the separation of electrons and holes when triggered by ultrasound as theoretically guided by density functional theory calculations. Additionally, Pd/H-TiO 2 NSs could serve as Fenton-like agents because of the presence of oxygen defects, facilitating the conversion of hydrogen peroxide into hydroxyl radicals for exerting the chemodynamic therapy (CDT). Simultaneously, the introduced tiny Pd component possessed catalase-like activity responsible for oxygen production to ameliorate hypoxic condition and thus contributed to improving SDT and CDT efficacies. Both in vitro and in vivo results provided compelling evidences of high ROS yield and aggrandized sono-chemodynamic effect of Pd/H-TiO 2 nanosonosensitizers with the detailed underlying mechanism investigation by RNA sequencing. Conclusion This work delves the profound potential of Pd-catalyzed hydrogenated TiO 2 on oncotherapy, and the effective antineoplastic performance and ignorable therapeutic toxicity make it a powerful competitor among a cornucopia of nanosonosensitizers. Graphical Abstract

Due to the specific advantages of ultrasound (US) in therapeutic disease treatments, the unique therapeutic US technology has emerged. In addition to featuring a low‐invasive targeted cancer‐cell killing effect, the therapeutic US technology has been demonstrated to modulate the tumor immune landscape, amplify the therapeutic effect of other antitumor therapies, and induce immunosensitization of tumors to immunotherapy, shedding new light on the cancer treatment. Tremendous advances in nanotechnology are also expected to bring unprecedented benefits to enhancing the antitumor efficiency and immunological effects of therapeutic US, as well as therapeutic US‐derived bimodal and multimodal synergistic therapies. This comprehensive review summarizes the immunological effects induced by different therapeutic US technologies, including ultrasound‐mediated micro‐/nanobubble destruction (UTMD/UTND), sonodynamic therapy (SDT), and focused ultrasound (FUS), as well as the main underlying mechanisms involved. It is also discussed that the recent research progress of engineering intelligent nanoplatform in improving the antitumor efficiency of therapeutic US technologies. Finally, focusing on clinical translation, the key issues and challenges currently faced are summarized, and the prospects for promoting the clinical translation of these emerging nanomaterials and ultrasonic immunotherapy in the future are proposed. This comprehensive review summarizes the immunological effects induced by different therapeutic ultrasound technologies, including ultrasound‐mediated microbubble destruction (UTMD), sonodynamic therapy (SDT), and focused ultrasound (FUS), as well as the main underlying mechanisms involved.

ABSTRACT Objectives Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) may affect the biomechanical properties and morphology of the plantar tissue. This study aimed to compare plantar stiffness and thickness in individuals with diabetes with and without DPN and develop a novel explanatory model for DPN risk assessment by integrating these measures with clinical parameters. Materials & Methods Thirty‐two healthy controls and 84 people with diabetes (41 with DPN and 43 without DPN) were included. Shear wave elastography evaluated plantar thickness and stiffness at the heel, hallux, and first and fifth metatarsal heads (1st MTH, 5th MTH). An integrated thickness or stiffness index was generated at multiple locations by principal component analysis (PCA). Results People with DPN showed a significant increase in plantar thickness (heel, 1st MTH) (p < 0.001) and stiffness (all tested locations) compared to healthy controls (p < 0.05). Moreover, plantar thickness at 1st MTH, plantar stiffness at 5th MTH, and integrated stiffness index generated by PCA were significantly higher in DPN than in the non‐DPN group (p < 0.05). A DPN explanatory model was developed using multivariate logistic regression, incorporating the integrated plantar stiffness index, diabetes duration, and gender. The model showed high discriminative ability (AUROC: 97.7%), with an optimal cutoff of 0.56 yielding 92.7% sensitivity and 95.3% specificity. Conclusion The integrated plantar stiffness index, combined with gender and diabetes duration, offers a novel approach for DPN, providing a noninvasive tool for DPN risk assessment. DPN‐induced gait and postural changes affect the biomechanical properties of plantar tissue, which can be assessed noninvasively by SWE.

Humic substances originating from various organic matters can ameliorate soil properties, stimulate plant growth, and improve nutrient uptake. Due to the low calorific heating value, leonardite is rather unsuitable as fuel. However, it may serve as a potential source of humic substances. This study was aimed at characterizing the leonardite-based soil amendments and examining the effect of their application on the soil microbial community, as well as on potato growth and tuber yield. A high yield (71.1%) of humic acid (LHA) from leonardite has been demonstrated. Parental leonardite (PL) and LHA were applied to soil prior to potato cultivation. The 16S rRNA sequencing of soil samples revealed distinct relationships between microbial community composition and the application of leonardite-based soil amendments. Potato tubers were planted in pots in greenhouse conditions. The tubers were harvested at the mature stage for the determination of growth and yield parameters. The results demonstrated that the LHA treatments had a significant effect on increasing potato growth (54.9%) and tuber yield (66.4%) when compared to the control. The findings highlight the importance of amending leonardite-based humic products for maintaining the biogeochemical stability of soils, for keeping their healthy microbial community structure, and for increasing the agronomic productivity of potato plants.

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is combined with sonodynamic therapy (SDT) to increase response rates and enhance anticancer efficacy. However, the “always on” property of most sonosensitizers in reducing tumor microenvironment (TME) compromises the therapeutic outcome of sonoimmunotherapy and exacerbates adverse side effects. Precisely controllable strategies combining sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas therapy with cancer immunotherapy can address these issues but remain lacking. Herein an “activatable SO2 nanosonosensitizer” for precise sono‐gaseous checkpoint trimodal therapy of orthotopic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is reported, whose full activity is initiated by ultrasound (US) irradiation in the reducing TME. This “activatable SO2 nanosonosensitizer,” Aza‐DNBS nanoparticles (NPs), are established by self‐assembling Aza‐boron‐dipyrromethene based sonosensitizer molecules and 2,4‐dinitrobenzenesulfonate (DNBS)‐caged SO2 prodrug. The activity of Aza‐DNBS NPs is initially silenced, and the sonodynamic, gaseous, and immunosuppressive TME reprogramming activities are precisely awakened under US irradiation. Due to the glutathione‐responsiveness of Aza‐DNBS NPs, Aza‐DNBS NPs can generate large amounts of SO2 for gas therapy‐enhanced SDT, which triggers robust immunogenic cell death activation and reprogramming of the immunosuppressive TME, thereby significantly suppressing orthotopic tumor growth and delaying lung metastasis. Thus, this study represents a strategy for designing a generic nanoplatform for precisely combined immunotherapy of orthotopic HCC. An activatable SO2 nanosonosensitizer is designed, denoted as Aza‐DNBS NPs for precise sono‐gaseous checkpoint trimodal therapy of orthotopic HCC. Under US irradiation, Aza‐DNBS NPs can efficiently generate ROS to induce SDT. Additionally, Aza‐DNBS NPs facilitated the rapid and controllable release of SO2 in the GSH‐overexpressing TME for gas therapy‐enhanced SDT, enabling robust ICD activation and reprogramming of the immunosuppressive TME.

Background: Emerging evidence suggests that autoantibodies targeting podocytes are potential contributors to idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS); however, the specific mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to explore the pathogenic role and underlying mechanisms of anti-vinculin autoantibodies in INS. Methods: Serum anti-vinculin autoantibody levels detected by protein microarray and clinical data were compared among INS patients (n = 147), healthy individuals (n = 84), and patients with other kidney or immune diseases (n = 100 of each disease). Immune-mediated mouse models were established to verify the pathogenicity of anti-vinculin autoantibodies. Mouse urine was monitored for urine protein levels, while immunofluorescence, pathological staining, and electron microscopy assessed kidney pathological and ultrastructural changes. Transcriptome sequencing of mouse kidney tissues was performed to investigate the key molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways involved in kidney injury post-immunization. Results: Anti-vinculin autoantibody levels were specifically elevated in INS patients, with a 54.42% positivity rate, correlating with urinary albumin, serum albumin, cholesterol, and CD19 levels. The average anti-vinculin autoantibody levels dropped markedly in pediatric INS patients during remission. Mouse experiments revealed that injecting anti-vinculin antibodies or recombinant vinculin protein induced proteinuria and podocyte injury in the immunized mice, and the renal phenotype closely resembled the pathological characteristics of minimal change disease. Transcriptome sequencing of renal tissues revealed up-regulation of inflammation, immune responses, cytokine activities, and B cell activation pathways in the immunized mice, while cytoskeleton-related functions were down-regulated. Conclusions: Autoantibodies targeting vinculin act as pathogenic autoantibodies in INS and hold potential value for diagnosing and monitoring INS progression.

Numerical models have become essential tools for simulating and forecasting hydro-meteorological variability, and to help better understand the Earth’s water cycle across temporal and spatial scales. Hydrologic outputs from these numerical models are widely available and represent valuable alternatives for supporting water management in regions where observations are scarce, including in transboundary river basins where data sharing is limited. Yet, the wide range of existing Land Surface Model (LSM) outputs makes the choice of dataset challenging in the absence of detailed analysis of the hydrological variability and quantification of associated physical processes. Here we focus on two of the world’s most populated transboundary river basins – the combined Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) in South Asia and the Mekong in Southeast Asia – where downstream countries are particularly vulnerable to water related disasters in the absence of upstream hydro-meteorological information. In this study, several freely-available global LSM outputs are obtained from NASA’s Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) and from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis-interim/Land (ERA-interim/Land) and used to compute river discharge across these transboundary basins using a river network routing model. Simulations are then compared to historical discharge to assess runoff data quality and identify best-performing models with implications for the terrestrial water balance. This analysis examines the effects of meteorological inputs, land surface models and their spatio-temporal resolution, as well as river network fineness and routing model parameters on hydrologic modeling performance. Our results indicate that the most recent runoff datasets yield the most accurate simulations in most cases, and suggest that meteorological inputs and the selection of the LSM are together the most influential factors affecting discharge simulations. Conversely, the spatial and temporal resolution of the LSM and river model have the least impact on the quality of simulated discharge, although the routing model parameters affect the timing of hydrographs.

The discrete fracture network model is a powerful tool for fractured rock mass fluid flow simulations and supports safety assessments of coal mine hazards such as water inrush. Intersection analysis, which identifies all pairs of intersected fractures (the basic components composing the connectivity of a network), is one of its crucial procedures. This paper attempts to improve intersection analysis through parallel computing. Considering a seamless interfacing with other procedures in modeling, two algorithms are designed and presented, of which one is a completely independent parallel procedure with some redundant computations and the other is an optimized version with reduced redundancy. A numerical study indicates that both of the algorithms are practical and can significantly improve the computational performance of intersection analysis for large-scale simulations. Moreover, the preferred application conditions for the two algorithms are also discussed.

In this study, low-rank lignite coal sample collected from Lenger coal deposit (Turkestan province) in Kazakhstan was subjected to desulfurization by using three bacterial strains isolated from soil with silt and coal itself. The molecular identification of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that the isolated bacteria were Atlantibacter sp., Pseudomonas sp., Bacillus sp. denoted as S1, S2, and T1, respectively. Pseudomonas sp. showed the best result in removing organic sulfur (93%) and total sulfur (52%), while Bacillus sp. was effective in removing pyritic sulfur (19%) compared to other strains. However, Atlantibacter sp. had no significant influence on sulfur content after treatment, thereby reducing its chances to be used in decreasing sulfur content in lignite in future investigations. Additionally, this research would be valuable to develop an innovative biotechnological method for producing an environmentally friendly briquetted smokeless fuel from lignite.