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Anthocyanins, as a kind of natural pigment, have a broad development prospect in the field of human production and life due to its safety, nontoxic, rich resources, and rich pharmacological effects. However, due to the structure instability of anthocyanins, anthocyanins are susceptible to physical and chemical factors during food processing, such as light, temperature, pH, metal ions, food additives, oxidation reductants, and cochromatic factors. This review summarized the experimental methods for these factors affecting anthocyanin content, structural transformation, and degradation dynamics, which lays the foundation for further studies of anthocyanins in plants. Meanwhile, we expounded the methods for obtaining accurate quantitative and qualitative data of anthocyanin by UV‐vis, HPLC, LC‐MS, and NMR, which can provide a basis for further development and utilization of anthocyanin resources.

Keratoconus is corneal disease in which the progression of conical dilation of cornea leads to reduced visual acuity and even corneal perforation. However, the etiology mechanism of keratoconus is still unclear. This study aims to identify the signature genes related to cell death in keratoconus and examine the function of these genes. A dataset of keratoconus from the GEO database was analysed to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). A total of 3558 DEGs were screened from GSE151631. The results of Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that they mainly involved in response to hypoxia, cell–cell adhesion, and IL-17 signaling pathway. Then, the cell death-related genes datasets were intersected with the above 3558 DEGs to obtain 70 ferroptosis-related DEGs (FDEGs), 32 autophagy-related DEGs (ADEGs), six pyroptosis-related DEGs (PDEGs), four disulfidptosis-related DEGs (DDEGs), and one cuproptosis-related DEGs (CDEGs). After using Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), Random Forest analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, one ferroptosis-related gene (TNFAIP3) and five autophagy-related genes (CDKN1A, HSPA5, MAPK8IP1, PPP1R15A, and VEGFA) were screened out. The expressions of the above six genes were significantly decreased in keratoconus and the area under the curve (AUC) values of these genes was 0.944, 0.893, 0.797, 0.726, 0.882 and 0.779 respectively. GSEA analysis showed that the above six genes mainly play an important role in allograft rejection, asthma, and circadian rhythm etc. In conclusion, the results of this study suggested that focusing on these genes and autoimmune diseases will be a beneficial perspective for the keratoconus etiology research.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are seen as an emerging force for future large-scale energy storage due to their cost-effective nature and high safety. Compared with lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the energy density of SIBs is insufficient at present. Thus, the development of high-energy SIBs for realizing large-scale energy storage is extremely vital. The key factor determining the energy density in SIBs is the selection of cathodic materials, and the mainstream cathodic materials nowadays include transition metal oxides, polyanionic compounds, and Prussian blue analogs (PBAs). The cathodic materials would greatly improve after targeted modulations that eliminate their shortcomings and step from the laboratory to practical applications. Before that, some remaining challenges in the application of cathode materials for large-scale energy storage SIBs need to be addressed, which are summarized at the end of this Outlook.

Background Cryopreservation is an efficient way to store spermatozoa and is closely associated with the quality of sperm after the freeze-thaw process. During freeze-thaw cycling, excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced, and the effects of ROS on boar sperm during cryopreservation have not been identified. Results In this study, we evaluated the quality of boar spermatozoa in different steps of cryopreservation (extension, cooling, and thawing for 30 min and 240 min) with or without boar-sperm antioxidant (N-acetylcysteine (NAC)). The ROS levels, sperm motility, plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity, sperm chromatin structure, ATP content, and sperm apoptosis were assayed. After thawing, the ROS level and sperm apoptosis were significantly increased, and the sperm motility, plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity, sperm chromatin structure, and ATP content were significantly impaired compared with those at the extension period and cooling period. Moreover, the addition of N-acetyl L-cysteine (NAC) reversed these changes. Conclusion The freeze-thawing of boar spermatozoa impaired their motility, plasma membrane, mitochondrial activity, sperm chromatin structure and apoptosis by producing excessive ROS. Thus, the downregulation of ROS level by antioxidants, especially the NAC, is important for manufacturing frozen pig sperm to increase reproductive cells and livestock propagation, as well as to improve the application of frozen semen in pigs worldwide.

Based on the designed inverted Y-shaped peptide and MXene nanocomposite (MXene-Au@ZIF-67), a ratiometric anti-pollution electrochemical biosensor was designed and applied to the detection of biomarkers in serum. Au@ZIF-67 inserted into the interior of MXene can not only prevent the accumulation of MXene but also provide a large amounts of binding sites for capturing biomolecules. A designed multifunctional Y-shaped peptide containing anchoring, antifouling, and recognition sequences was anchored onto MXene-Au@ZIF-67 through Au–S bonds. Electrochemical signal molecules, ferrocenecarboxylic acid (Fc) and methylene blue (MB), were modified to another end of multifunctional peptide and interior of MXene-Au@ZIF-67, respectively, to produce a ratiometric electrochemical signal. We selected prostate specific antigen (PSA) as the model compound. PSA specifically recognizes and cleaves the recognition segment in the Y-shaped peptide, and the signal of Fc is reduced, while the signal of MB remains unchanged. The ratiometric strategy endows the present biosensor high accuracy and sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.85 pg/mL. In addition, the sensing surface has good antifouling ability due to the antifouling sequence of the two branching parts of the Y-shaped peptide. More importantly, by replacing the recognition segment of peptides also other targets are accessible, indicating the potential application of the universal detection strategy to the detection of various biomarkers in clinical diagnosis. Graphical Abstract

Polyvinyl butyral (PVB) is commonly used as an adhesive for cultural relics. However, PVB suffers from poor stability, yellowing, and decreased adhesion performance after aging. Here, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) were used as stabiliser materials to modify PVB and obtain GQDs@PVB that was improved in anti-UV/thermal aging. The yellowness index, adhesive strength, chemical structure, and thermal properties of PVB and GQDs@PVB, before and after aging, are characterized using a benchtop spectrophotometer, universal testing machine, Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer, and simultaneous thermal analyzer. The results indicate that during the aging process, GQDs@PVB shows a lower yellowness index and higher adhesive strength than that of PVB consistently. Meanwhile, it exhibits a lower intensity of carbonyl peaks generated by thermal aging with a thermal decomposition temperature increased by 19 °C. The addition of GQDs improves the photothermal stability of PVB and holds promise for the stability research of materials in relics conservation.

Infrared temperature precursor anomalies are always accompanied by the propagation of cracks in rocks under external loads. Experiments were conducted to observe the infrared temperature change of granite surfaces to investigate the damage characteristics and failure mechanism of granite under ultrasonic vibration. Ultrasonic vibration load test of cylindrical granite samples with a 200 N force were carried out using a 30 kHz piezoelectric ceramic ultrasonic vibrator. During testing, an infrared thermal imager was used to observe and measure the infrared radiation temperature of the rock during the entire loading process. The experimental results show that sharp infrared temperature increase serving as a precursor to rock failure under ultrasonic vibration. The damage and failure process of the rock can be divided into the following three stages: Stage I, corresponding to elastic deformation (0–102.23 s, temperature range 26–150 °C), Stage II, which include micro-fracture and yield (102.3–118.5 s, temperature range 150–306.9 °C), and Stage III, in which macrocracks and failure are produced (118.5–191.833 s, temperature range 256.9–397.2 °C). The core of the rock may be divided into a fracture zone, plastic deformation zone, and elastic deformation zone according to the axial temperature variation of the sample. The effective fracture depth achieved in the rock is 10 mm. As a principal result we show that the fatigue damage caused by ultrasonic vibration and the thermal damage caused by rising temperature are the major factors for breaking granite. The research results in this paper will provide guidance for the application of ultrasonic technology in the drilling field.

The objective of this study was to analyze the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) characteristics produced by antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and gene cassettes in Escherichia coli isolated from the feces of captive black bears. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by using the disk diffusion method, and both MGEs and integron gene cassettes were detected by polymerase chain reaction. Our results showed that 43.7% (62/142) of the isolates were multidrug resistant strains and 97.9% (139/142) of the isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic. The highest AMR phenotype was observed for tetracycline (79.6%, 113/142), followed by ampicillin (50.0%, 71/142), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (43.7%, 62/142) and cefotaxime (35.9%, 51/142). However, all isolates were susceptible to tobramycin. tetA had the highest occurrence in 6 ARGs in 142 E. coli isolates (76.8%, 109/142). Ten mobile genetic elements were observed and IS26 was dominant (88.0%, 125/142). ISECP1 was positively associated with five β-lactam antibiotics. ISCR3/14 , IS1133 and intI3 were not detected. Seventy-five E. coli isolates (65 intI1 -positive isolates, 2 intI2 -positive isolates and 8 intI1  +  intI2- positive isolates) carried integrons. Five gene cassettes ( dfrA1 , aadA2 , dfrA17-aadA5 , aadA2-dfrA12 and dfrA1-aadA1 ) were identified in the intI1 -positive isolates and 2 gene cassettes ( dfrA1-catB2-sat2-aadA1 and dfrA1-catB2-sat1-aadA1 ) were observed in the intI2 -positive isolates. Monitoring of ARGs, MGEs and gene cassettes is important to understand the prevalence of AMR, which may help to introduce measures to prevent and control of AMR in E. coli for captive black bears.

This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial resistance (AMR), antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and integrons in 157 Escherichia coli ( E . coli ) strains isolated from feces of captive musk deer from 2 farms (Dujiang Yan and Barkam) in Sichuan province. Result showed that 91.72% (144/157) strains were resistant to at least one antimicrobial and 24.20% (38/157) strains were multi-drug resistant (MDR). The antibiotics that most E . coli strains were resistant to was sulfamethoxazole (85.99%), followed by ampicillin (26.11%) and tetracycline (24.84%). We further detected 13 ARGs in the 157 E . coli strains, of which bla TEM had the highest occurrence (91.72%), followed by aac(3’)-Iid (60.51%) and bla CTX-M (16.56%). Doxycycline, chloramphenicol, and ceftriaxone resistance were strongly correlated with the presence of tetB , floR and bla CTX-M , respectively. The strongest positive association among AMR phenotypes was ampicillin/cefuroxime sodium (OR, 828.000). The strongest positive association among 16 pairs of ARGs was sul1 / floR (OR, 21.667). Nine pairs positive associations were observed between AMR phenotypes and corresponding resistance genes and the strongest association was observed for CHL/ floR (OR, 301.167). Investigation of integrons revealed intl1 and intl2 genes were detected in 10.19% (16/157) and 1.27% (2/157) E . coli strains, respectively. Only one type of gene cassettes ( drA17-aadA5 ) was detected in class 1 integron positive strains. Our data implied musk deer is a reservoir of ARGs and positive associations were common observed among E . coli strains carrying AMRs and ARGs.

Flexible electrode design with robust structure and good performance is one of the priorities for flexible batteries to power emerging wearable electronics, and organic cathode materials have become contenders for flexible self‐supporting electrodes. However, issues such as easy electrolyte solubility and low intrinsic conductivity contribute to high polarization and rapid capacity decay. Herein, we have designed a flexible self‐supporting cathode based on perylene‐3,4,9,10‐tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA), interfacial engineering enhanced by polypyrrole (PPy), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), forming the interconnected and flexible PTCDA/PPy/CNTs using polymerization reaction and vacuum filtration methods, effectively curbing those challenges. When used as the cathode of sodium‐ion batteries, PTCDA/PPy/CNTs exhibit excellent rate capability (105.7 mAh g−1 at 20 C), outstanding cycling stability (79.4% capacity retention at 5 C after 500 cycles), and remarkable wide temperature application capability (86.5 mAh g−1 at −30°C and 115.4 mAh g−1 at 60°C). The sodium storage mechanism was verified to be a reversible oxidation reaction between two Na+ ions and carbonyl groups by density functional theory calculations, in situ infrared Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and in situ Raman spectroscopy. Surprisingly, the pouch cells based on PTCDA/PPy/CNTs exhibit good mechanical flexibility in various mechanical states. This work inspires more rational designs of flexible and self‐supporting organic cathodes, promoting the development of high‐performance and wide‐temperature adaptable wearable electronic devices. A flexible and self‐supporting cathode based on perylene‐3,4,9,10‐tetracarboxylic dianhydride was designed through interfacial engineering enhanced by polypyrrole and carbon nanotubes. It exhibited not only excellent electrochemical performance over a wide temperature range for half cells but also good mechanical flexibility with bending, twisting, and rolling features for full cells. The sodium storage mechanism was verified to be a reversible oxidation reaction between two Na+ ions and carbonyl groups by theoretical calculations and in situ technology.