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Infections are regarded as the most severe complication associated with human health, which are urgent to be solved. Stimuli‐responsive materials are appealing therapeutic platforms for antibacterial treatments, which provide great potential for accurate theranostics. In this review, the advantages, the response mechanisms, and the key design principles of stimuli‐responsive antibacterial materials are highlighted. The biomedical applications, the current challenges, and future directions of stimuli‐responsive antibacterial materials are also discussed. First, the categories of stimuli‐responsive antibacterial materials are comprehensively itemized based on different sources of stimuli, including external physical environmental stimuli (e.g., temperature, light, electricity, salt, etc.) and bacterial metabolites stimuli (e.g., acid, enzyme, redox, etc.). Second, structural characteristics, design principles, and biomedical applications of the responsive materials are discussed, and the underlying interrelationships are revealed. The molecular structures and design principles are closely related to the sources of stimuli. Finally, the challenging issues of stimuli‐responsive materials are proposed. This review will provide scientific guidance to promote the clinical applications of stimuli‐responsive antibacterial materials. This review systematically summarizes the advantages, the response mechanisms, and the key design principles of stimuli‐responsive antibacterial materials. The biomedical applications, the current challenges, and development trends of stimuli‐responsive antibacterial materials are also discussed. Stimuli‐responsive antibacterial materials are appealing to achieve intelligent and personalized medicine, that can avoid the formation of biofilm and inhibit the emergence of drug‐resistant bacteria.

This study focuses on the fatigue performance of steel fiber reinforced high-strength concrete structures. The effect of steel fiber volume fraction (0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%) on the cracking resistance, deformation characteristics and fatigue life of high-strength concrete beams under fatigue loading were systematically investigated through equal-amplitude fatigue tests on four beam specimens. The results show that the incorporation of steel fibers can significantly improve the crack resistance of concrete, which is manifested in the reduction of crack width by 35-121%. Meanwhile, the steel fibers can effectively inhibit the development of deflection of beams during fatigue loading, slow down the rate of stiffness degradation. The incorporation of steel fibers reduced the mid-span deflection of the beams by 15-61% and increased the fatigue life by 66.9-149.9%. Based on the experimental data, this study confirms that the steel fiber reinforcement technology is a practical and economically significant fatigue performance enhancement solution for high-strength concrete structures. This paper provides an important theoretical basis and technical support for the engineering application of steel fiber reinforced high-strength concrete structures in complex loading environments.

Diabetes is a complex metabolic syndrome that is characterized by prolonged high blood glucose levels and frequently associated with life-threatening complications 1 , 2 . Epidemiological studies have suggested that diabetes is also linked to an increased risk of cancer 3 – 5 . High glucose levels may be a prevailing factor that contributes to the link between diabetes and cancer, but little is known about the molecular basis of this link and how the high glucose state may drive genetic and/or epigenetic alterations that result in a cancer phenotype. Here we show that hyperglycaemic conditions have an adverse effect on the DNA 5-hydroxymethylome. We identify the tumour suppressor TET2 as a substrate of the AMP-activated kinase (AMPK), which phosphorylates TET2 at serine 99, thereby stabilizing the tumour suppressor. Increased glucose levels impede AMPK-mediated phosphorylation at serine 99, which results in the destabilization of TET2 followed by dysregulation of both 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and the tumour suppressive function of TET2 in vitro and in vivo. Treatment with the anti-diabetic drug metformin protects AMPK-mediated phosphorylation of serine 99, thereby increasing TET2 stability and 5hmC levels. These findings define a novel ‘phospho-switch’ that regulates TET2 stability and a regulatory pathway that links glucose and AMPK to TET2 and 5hmC, which connects diabetes to cancer. Our data also unravel an epigenetic pathway by which metformin mediates tumour suppression. Thus, this study presents a new model for how a pernicious environment can directly reprogram the epigenome towards an oncogenic state, offering a potential strategy for cancer prevention and treatment. Modulation of DNA 5-hydroxymethylcytosine by glucose reveals an AMPK–TET2–5hmC axis that links diabetes to cancer.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder in women of childbearing age. The etiology of PCOS is multifactorial, and current treatments for PCOS are far from satisfactory. Recently, an imbalanced autonomic nervous system (ANS) with sympathetic hyperactivity and reduced parasympathetic nerve activity (vagal tone) has aroused increasing attention in the pathogenesis of PCOS. In this paper, we review an innovative therapy for the treatment of PCOS and related co-morbidities by targeting parasympathetic modulation based on non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation (ta-VNS). In this work, we present the role of the ANS in the development of PCOS and describe a large number of experimental and clinical reports that support the favorable effects of VNS/ta-VNS in treating a variety of symptoms, including obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, inflammation, microbiome dysregulation, cardiovascular disease, and depression, all of which are also commonly present in PCOS patients. We propose a model focusing on ta-VNS that may treat PCOS by (1) regulating energy metabolism via bidirectional vagal signaling; (2) reversing insulin resistance via its antidiabetic effect; (3) activating anti-inflammatory pathways; (4) restoring homeostasis of the microbiota-gut-brain axis; (5) restoring the sympatho-vagal balance to improve CVD outcomes; (6) and modulating mental disorders. ta-VNS is a safe clinical procedure and it might be a promising new treatment approach for PCOS, or at least a supplementary treatment for current therapeutics.

Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, Ukraine has experienced different types of abandoned cropland, such as unused and unattended cropland, as a result of war damage, agricultural infrastructure destruction, and refugee outflows. Common methods for detecting abandoned cropland have difficulty effectively identifying and distinguishing these different types. This study proposes a Dual-period Change Detection method to reveal the spatial distribution and changes of different types of abandoned cropland in Ukraine, which can aid in agricultural assessments and international assistance in conflict-affected areas. The method mainly utilizes time-series NDVI data to fit the crop curves corresponding to cropland on a pixel-by-pixel basis, and then establishes discrimination rules for different types of abandoned cropland based on the crop curves, so as to detect unused cropland in the pre-conflict period (2015–2021) as well as unused cropland and unattended cropland in the post-conflict period (2022–2023). Finally, the detection results are validated and accuracy assessed using medium and high resolution spatiotemporal remote sensing imagery interpretation. The results show that the overall accuracy of the abandoned cropland extraction in Ukraine ranges from 83 to 96% during the study period. Before the conflict, the national average unused rate was 1.6%, with the lowest in 2021 and the highest in 2018. In 2022, the unused cropland area was approximately twice the average unused area before the conflict, and it was widely distributed, with the area of unattended cropland reaching 462,000 hectares, mainly in the eastern part of Ukraine. In 2023, compared to 2022, the unused cropland area decreased by 67.8%, while unattended cropland increased by 116.7%. Both types of abandoned cropland exhibited spatial clustering, with major clusters identified in the Crimea region, Kherson Oblast, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and Donetsk Oblast.

Casuarina equisetifolia is drought tolerant, salt tolerant, and able to grow in barren environments. It is often used to reduce wind damage, to prevent sand erosion, and to help establish plant communities in tropical and subtropical coastal zones. To determine the basis for its drought tolerance, we conducted transcriptomic and metabolic analyses of young branchlets under a non-drought treatment (D_0h) and 2-, 12-, and 24-h-long drought treatments (D_2h, D_12h, and D_24h). A total of 5033 and 8159 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in D_2h/D_0h and D_24h/D_0h. These DEGs were involved in plant hormone signal transduction, jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. A total of 148 and 168 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) were identified in D_12h/D_0h and D_24h/D_0h, which were mainly amino acids, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. In conclusion, C. equisetifolia responds to drought by regulating plant hormone signal transduction and the biosynthesis of JA, flavonoid, and phenylpropanoid. These results increase the understanding of drought tolerance in C. equisetifolia at both transcriptional and metabolic levels and provide new insights into coastal vegetation reconstruction and management.

With global climate change, atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition and drought have been well documented to cause substantial challenges for tropical and subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests. Here, we conducted an experiment that measured the physiological responses of the seedlings of three dominant tree species ( Tabebuia chrysantha , Elaeocarpus sylvestris , and Bischofia javanica ) of the evergreen broad-leaved forests in South China under control (CT), drought stress (D), N addition (N), and drought stress plus N addition (N+D). We found that N addition significantly decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content, abscisic acid (ABA) content, total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), but significantly increased the content of proline (PRO), and the activities of ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco), nitrate reductase (NR), nitrite reductase (NiR), and glutamine synthetase (GS) in the three species under D. Meanwhile, we also found that under drought conditions, N addition promoted the leaf transpiration rate (E), stomatal conductance (g s ), and light-saturated net photosynthetic rate (A max ) of the three species. These results indicate that N addition can enhance the drought tolerance of the three species by osmotic adjustment and protecting the photosystem. However, the enhancement in A max and E will cause plants to face more severe drought conditions, especially B. javanica (large tree species). This study helps to explain why the evergreen broad-leaved forests in South China are gradually degrading to shrublands in recent decades.

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting has emerged as a promising scaffold fabrication strategy for tissue engineering with excellent control over scaffold geometry and microstructure. Nanobiomaterials as bioinks play a key role in manipulating the cellular microenvironment to alter its growth and development. This review first introduces the commonly used nanomaterials in tissue engineering scaffolds, including natural polymers, synthetic polymers, and polymer derivatives, and reveals the improvement of nanomaterials on scaffold performance. Second, the 3D bioprinting technologies of inkjet-based bioprinting, extrusion-based bioprinting, laser-assisted bioprinting, and stereolithography bioprinting are comprehensively itemized, and the advantages and underlying mechanisms are revealed. Then the convergence of 3D bioprinting and nanotechnology applications in tissue engineering scaffolds, such as bone, nerve, blood vessel, tendon, and internal organs, are discussed. Finally, the challenges and perspectives of convergence of 3D bioprinting and nanotechnology are proposed. This review will provide scientific guidance to develop 3D bioprinting tissue engineering scaffolds by nanotechnology.

Objective The connection between triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio and stroke risk is controversial. Our goal was to explore this relationship in individuals aged 45 and older enrolled in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Methods Our analysis encompassed 10,164 participants from the CHARLS cohorts. We applied the Cox proportional-hazards regression model to evaluate the potential correlation between the TG/HDL-C ratio and stroke incidence. Using a cubic spline function and smooth curve fitting within the Cox model allowed us to unearth a possible non-linear pattern in this relationship. We also conducted thorough sensitivity and subgroup analyses to deepen our understanding of the TG/HDL-C ratio’s impact on stroke risk. Results Adjusting for various risk factors, we observed a significant link between the TG/HDL-C ratio and increased stroke risk in individuals aged 45 and above (HR: 1.03, 95% CI 1.00–1.05, P = 0.0426). The relationship appeared non-linear, with an inflection at a TG/HDL-C ratio of 1.85. Ratios below this threshold indicated a heightened stroke risk (HR: 1.28, 95% CI 1.06–1.54, P = 0.0089), while ratios above it did not show a significant risk increase (HR: 1.01, 95% CI 0.98–1.04, P = 0.6738). Sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of these findings. Notably, non-smokers exhibited a stronger correlation between the TG/HDL-C ratio and stroke risk compared to past and current smokers. Conclusion Our investigation revealed a significant, yet non-linear, association between the TG/HDL-C ratio and the incidence of stroke among individuals aged 45 and above. Specifically, we found that stroke risk increased in correlation with TG/HDL-C ratio below the threshold of 1.85. These insights may guide healthcare providers in advising and developing more effective strategies for stroke prevention in this demographic.

The study of cross-border transport connectivity is significant for the development of regional integration and insight into global patterns. Comprehensive connectivity evaluations are lacking and insufficient attention has been paid to Latin American connectivity, so it is of great practical importance to comprehensively and rationally evaluate Latin American connectivity. In this article, based on the four modes of transport, namely, sea, road, air and railroad, and using the actual trade volume as a comparison, a connectivity evaluation index system with considerable reliability and generalization ability was constructed using the expert scoring method, QAP correlation analysis, QAP regression, and statistics, and the connectivity calculations of Latin America were obtained. Analyzing the connectivity structure of Latin America, it was found that cross-border passenger and cargo transport in the region was dominated by sea transport and supplemented by road and air transport, with railroads used the least. The overall connectivity of Latin America was low, and the overall development was unbalanced, with a strong law of spatial differentiation, which was mainly manifested in the strongest connectivity of the integrated coastal countries, followed by the island countries, and the lowest connectivity of the landlocked countries. Different countries assumed different roles in regional connectivity, which could be categorized into global hub type, local hub type and non-hub type based on the calculations. There was a spatial pattern of decreasing connectivity with distance in typical countries, but the rate of decline was closely related to their geographic location and the role they played in the connectivity network. This study can provide reference and inspiration for regional connectivity evaluation, improvement, and sustainable development.