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The proliferation of information in the social media era, particularly the increased circulation of visual content, has emerged as a significant concern for contemporary society. The study focuses on analysing the communication characteristics and expressions of visual information in social media platforms, and on analysing its impact on consumers. This analysis posits that visual information exerts a multifaceted influence on consumers, encompassing aspects such as attention, information memory, emotional arousal and empathy, behavioural intention and decision-making drive, brand awareness, and attitude change. Nevertheless, such a high level of visual stimulation has been shown to engender a number of undesirable consequences, including, but not limited to, cognitive bias, consumption anxiety, aesthetic fatigue and impact on self-identity. The present paper proposes a framework for the ‘reconstruction of consumer sovereignty’, which is predicated on the following three tenets: the improvement of consumers’ media literacy, the strengthening of platforms’ responsibility, and the establishment of norms for the use of visual information. The purpose of this proposed framework is to assist consumers in their right to know and their right to choose, and to enable more autonomous consumption decisions in the visual information-driven social media environment.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0333734.].

Regime switching in a time series is an important and challenging issue in complex financial system analysis. Existing regime models have focused on the features of fluctuations at a single point in financial time series, often neglecting time series nonlinearity and uncertainties from a dynamic perspective. This study proposes a heteroskedastic network combined with a Hidden Markov Model, the ARMA-GARCH model, and a machine learning algorithm to characterize the dynamic process of a fluctuation in a time series which can uncover the hidden structure of a nonlinear time series with uncertainty. The network community structure can be used to detect regime switching and its early warning signals. We select the S&P 500 time series as our sample data. Our findings indicate that the critical switches between regimes can be detected across various typical periods, and we analyze them from the perspective of the fundamentals and trader expectations in financial markets. The evolution features of regime switching and its early warning signals are also analyzed over the entire sample period. In particular, the critical features of early warning signals can be extracted. This study not only expands regime switching research in time series analysis but also provides a strong theoretical basis for early warning of risk in financial markets for policy-makers and market investors.

Organic‐inorganic halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have drawn tremendous attention owing to their remarkable photovoltaic performance and simple preparation process. However, conventional wet‐chemical synthesis methods inevitably create defects both in the bulk and at the interfaces of perovskites, leading to recombination of charge carriers and reduced stability. Herein, a bilateral interface modification to perovskites by doping room‐temperature synthesized CsPbBr3 nanocrystals (CN) is reported. The ultrafast transient absorption measurement reveals that CN effectively suppresses the defect at the SnO2/perovskite interface and boosts the interfacial electron transport. Meanwhile, the in situ Kelvin probe force microscopy and contact potential difference characterizations verify that the CN within the upper part of the perovskites enhances the built‐in electric field, facilitating oriented migration of the carriers within the perovskite. Combining the superiorities of CN modifiers on both sides, the bilaterally modified CH3NH3PbI3‐based planar PSCs exhibit optimal power conversion efficiency exceeding 20% and improved device stability. Room‐temperature synthesized CsPbBr3 nanocrystal (CN) is exploited as the bilateral interface modifier in perovskite layer for efficient planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Owing to the CN induced bilateral interfacial passivation and boosted built‐in electric field, the charge separation and transfer are significantly ameliorated, which contribute to the superior power conversion efficiency exceeding 20% in CH3NH3PbI3‐based planar PSCs.

The continuous evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants poses persistent challenges to global public health. As a sublineage of the XDV.1 variant, NB.1.8.1 has rapidly emerged as a dominant strain worldwide, triggering a new wave of infections. Representing a product of viral adaptation, this variant has acquired several critical amino acid mutations—including A435S and T478I—which enhance its transmissibility and immune evasion capabilities compared to the ancestral XDV.1 lineage. This review systematically summarizes the genomic characteristics, epidemiological features, and immune escape potential of NB.1.8.1. It emphasizes that sustained genomic surveillance and serological assessments are crucial for informing public health response strategies, guiding vaccine development, and optimizing containment measures.

NRC publication: Yes

Photocatalysis is considered a promising technology to alleviate the pressure of environmental pollution and energy shortage. Among various photocatalysts, cadmium chalcogenide quantum dots (CdX QDs) stand out due to their excellent visible light absorption ability and efficient charge separation properties. This review presents the atomic and electronic structures of CdX QDs and their synthetic strategies. In addition, the reaction mechanism of CdX QDs in photocatalytic solar‐to‐fuel conversion is discussed. Another focus of this review is the optimization strategies for CdX QDs to improve their photocatalytic performance. Finally, the challenges and the perspectives on CdX QDs are briefly proposed. This review presents the atomic and electronic structures of cadmium chalcogenide quantum dots (CdX QDs) and their synthetic strategies. The reaction mechanism of CdX QDs in photocatalytic solar‐to‐fuel conversion is discussed. Another focus of this review is the optimization strategies for CdX QDs to improve their photocatalytic performance. Finally, the challenges and the perspectives on CdX QDs are briefly proposed.

Ancient wooden architecture serves as invaluable repositories of historical and cultural heritage. Among their critical components, the dougong -fork column plays a pivotal role, yet it is susceptible to inclination or collapse resulting from material degradation and external load actions. Consequently, there is a compelling need to investigate the seismic performance of the structure. Moreover, a reinforcement method which is based on the principle of minimal intervention is proposed, involving the addition of a vertical auxiliary column positioned posterior to the existing column. To evaluate this method, full-scale models of the inclined dougong -fork column with and without the reinforcement method were constructed and subjected to pseudo-static cyclic loading tests. The analysis encompassed the damage mechanism, deformation characteristics, reinforcement mechanism, and seismic performance of the current model (CM) and the reinforced model (FM). The results indicated that vertical cracks in the fork arms were induced by the restrictive effect of the Zhutou-Fang , while local embedded pressure deformations in the Shuatou-Fang occurred due to the embedment effect of the fork column. Furthermore, under equivalent horizontal displacement, the FM exhibited an energy-dissipating capacity 1.23–3.09 times greater and a stiffness 1.67–2.13 times higher than the CM. These findings provide significant theoretical insights and practical guidance for the conservation and reinforcement of ancient wooden architecture.

Passion fruit ( Passiflora edulis ) is a perennial evergreen vine that grows mainly in tropical and subtropical regions due to its nutritional, medicinal and ornamental values. However, the molecular biology study of passion fruit is extremely hindered by the lack of an easy and efficient method for transformation. The protoplast transformation system plays a vital role in plant regeneration, gene function analysis and genome editing. Here, we present a new method (‘Cotyledon Peeling Method’) for simple and efficient passion fruit protoplast isolation using cotyledon as the source tissue. A high yield (2.3 × 10 7 protoplasts per gram of fresh tissues) and viability (76%) of protoplasts were obtained upon incubation in the enzyme solution [1% (w/v) cellulase R10, 0.25% (w/v) macerozyme R10, 0.4 M mannitol, 10 mM CaCl 2 , 20 mM KCl, 20 mM MES and 0.1% (w/v) BSA, pH 5.7] for 2 hours. In addition, we achieved high transfection efficiency of 83% via the polyethylene glycol (PEG)-mediated transformation with a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged plasmid upon optimization. The crucial factors affecting transformation efficiency were optimized as follows: 3 μg of plasmid DNA, 5 min transfection time, PEG concentration at 40% and protoplast density of 100 × 10 4 cells/ml. Furthermore, the established protoplast system was successfully applied for subcellular localization analysis of multiple fluorescent organelle markers and protein-protein interaction study. Taken together, we report a simple and efficient passion fruit protoplast isolation and transformation system, and demonstrate its usage in transient gene expression for the first time in passion fruit. The protoplast system would provide essential support for various passion fruit biology studies, including genome editing, gene function analysis and whole plant regeneration.

Background Areca palm ( Areca catechu ) is a woody perennial plant of both economical and medicinal importance grown in tropical and subtropical climates. Yet, the molecular biology study of areca palm is extremely impeded by its unavailability of a transformation method. An efficient protoplast isolation and transformation system could be highly desirable to overcome this barrier. Results Here, we described a simple and efficient method for protoplast isolation and transformation from the perennial plant areca palm. A high yield of protoplasts (2.5 × 10 7 protoplasts per gram of fresh leaf tissues) was obtained from the fresh light green leaflet from the newly-emerged leaf digested overnight in the enzyme solution [2% (w/v) cellulase R10, 0.5% (w/v) macerozyme R10, 0.7 M mannitol, 10 mM CaCl 2 , 20 mM KCl, 20 mM MES and 0.1% (w/v) BSA, pH 5.7] by the direct leaf-peeling method. The isolated areca protoplasts maintain viability of 86.6% and have been successfully transformed with a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged plasmid (pGreen0029-GFP, 6.0 kb) via the polyethylene glycol (PEG)-mediated transformation. Moreover, the mannitol concentration (optimal: 0.7 M) was determined as a key factor affecting areca protoplast isolation. We also demonstrated that the optimal density of areca protoplast for efficient transformation was at 1.0–1.5 × 10 6 cells/ml. With the optimization of transformation parameters, we have achieved a relatively high transformation efficiency of nearly 50%. Conclusion We have established the first efficient protocol for the high-yield isolation and transformation of areca palm protoplasts. This method shall be applied in various biological studies of areca palm, such as gene function analysis, genome editing, protein trafficking and localization and protein–protein interaction. In addition, the protoplast system offers a great genetic transformation approach for the woody perennial plant-areca palm. Moreover, the established platform may be applied in protoplast isolation and transformation for other important species in the palm family, including oil palm and coconut.