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A significant decrease in estrogen levels puts menopausal women at high risk for major depression, which remains difficult to cure despite its relatively clear etiology. With the discovery of abnormally elevated inflammation in menopausal depressed women, immune imbalance has become a novel focus in the study of menopausal depression. In this paper, we examined the characteristics and possible mechanisms of immune imbalance caused by decreased estrogen levels during menopause and found that estrogen deficiency disrupted immune homeostasis, especially the levels of inflammatory cytokines through the ERα/ERβ/GPER-associated NLRP3/NF-κB signaling pathways. We also analyzed the destruction of the blood-brain barrier, dysfunction of neurotransmitters, blockade of BDNF synthesis, and attenuation of neuroplasticity caused by inflammatory cytokine activity, and investigated estrogen-immuno-neuromodulation disorders in menopausal depression. Current research suggests that drugs targeting inflammatory cytokines and NLRP3/NF-κB signaling molecules are promising for restoring homeostasis of the estrogen-immuno-neuromodulation system and may play a positive role in the intervention and treatment of menopausal depression.

Perovskite/organic tandem solar cells (PO-TSCs) exploit the advantages of cost-effective fabrication, orthogonal solvent processing for perovskite and organic absorber layers, and compatibility with low-temperature, high-throughput deposition techniques. However, their performance remains hampered by energy losses of subcells and interconnecting layers (ICLs). Here, an energy loss management strategy for PO-TSCs is proposed, focusing on the simultaneous regulation of defect states in perovskite front subcells and the reduction of optical and electrical losses in the ICL. The synergistic effect of hydrogen bonding and coordination interactions between the pyridinium bromide perbromide and perovskite layer effectively mitigates ion migration, thereby minimizing energy losses. Meanwhile, the optimized V 2 O 5 -based ICL structure not only demonstrates excellent transmissivity for near-infrared photons but also allows for barrier-free extraction of charge carriers. Such structure can provide a low-loss interface, facilitating light management within the bulk heterojunction, which effectively balances the current between the front and rear subcells. Taken together, the resulting PO-TSCs deliver a power conversion efficiency of 25.1% with a high open-circuit voltage of 2.10 V. The performance of perovskite/organic tandem solar cells remains hampered by the energy losses of subcells and interconnecting layers (ICLs). Here, authors introduce pyridinium bromide perbromide into perovskites and employ a V 2 O 5 -based ICL, achieving a maximum efficiency of 25.1% in tandem devices.

Background Chlamydia pneumoniae is a significant pathogen in pediatric community-acquired pneumonia, with increasing incidence globally, particularly in East Asia. However, gender disparities and the role of bronchoscopy in disease management remain underexplored. This study aimed to analyze the clinical features, risk factors, and outcomes of C. pneumoniae pneumonia in children. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of 266 children with C. pneumoniae pneumonia admitted to a tertiary maternal and child health hospital from January 2024 to June 2025. Data included age, gender, fever at admission, cough duration, length of stay, bronchoscopy performance, hematological parameters (white blood cell count, neutrophil ratio, lymphocyte ratio), C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, pulmonary involvement, co-infection status, and medication use. Statistical analyses involved t-tests, chi-square tests, and logistic regression. Results A significant surge in cases was observed since January 2025. Gender-based analysis showed girls ( n  = 127) had longer hospitalization (mean difference:7.0, p  < 0.05) and cough duration at admission (median value: 7, p  < 0.05), with higher co-infection rates (48% vs. 30.9% in boys, n  = 139, p  < 0.05). Among 102 co-infected cases, rhinovirus was predominant (37.3%, n  = 38). Logistic regression identified younger age as an independent risk factor for co-infection (OR 0.91 per year, p  < 0.05). Children undergoing bronchoscopy ( n  = 86) had prolonged hospital stays, lower lymphocyte and monocyte ratios, and higher neutrophil ratios ( p  < 0.05). Bronchoscopic findings revealed viscous yellowish secretions, which were looser than Mycoplasma pneumoniae-induced plastic bronchitis and effectively managed with lavage. Younger age and lower neutrophil ratios predicted multi-lobar involvement ( p  < 0.05). Conclusion C. pneumoniae pneumonia in children exhibits gender-specific severity, with girls showed trends of prolonged hospitalization and cough duration. Younger age increases co-infection risk, and bronchoscopy indicates more severe disease but aids in targeted therapy. These findings underscore the need for early diagnosis and personalized interventions in high-risk groups.

Carbonate reservoir has strong heterogeneity, complex pore structure and poor correlation between porosity and permeability, so the traditional permeability model can not meet the needs of logging interpretation. Taking the carbonate reservoir of Longwangmiao Formation in Moxi block of central Sichuan as an example, this paper proposes to establish a permeability prediction model by using the XGBoost algorithm of simulated annealing genetic algrithm (SA-GA)hybrid optimization. Combined with core data, five permeability sensitive logging curves (CNL, DEN, DT, [Formula: see text] and GR) are optimized by calculating correlation coefficients, and the permeability prediction model is established based on XGBoost algorithm, and the XGBoost hyperparameters are optimized by using SA-GA. The method is applied to the evaluation of logging permeability in the study area. The results show that the prediction results of SA-GA-XGBoost algorithm are more consistent with the core data. The adjusted [Formula: see text] is 0.876, and the root mean square error (RMSE) is only 0.142. The prediction accuracy is better than the conventional permeability model and BP neural network model, which meets the industrial requirements of logging evaluation and provides a new idea for oil and gas exploration in carbonate reservoirs.

There is evidence that physical activity (PA) has a long-term positive impact on disease. Whether PA is a risk factor for knee osteoarthritis (OA) is still controversial. The purpose of this study was to explore whether there is a causal relationship between PA and knee OA. We extracted PA and knee OA data from genome-wide association study (GWAS) databases. We used single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as instrumental variables. We performed MR analysis by random-effects inverse-variance weighting (IVW), MR‒Egger, weighted median, simple mode, and weighted mode methods. We evaluated the stability and reliability of the results through sensitivity analysis. There was no significant association between PA and knee OA (p > 0.05). We did not detect any pleiotropy (MR‒Egger intercept test et al.: p > 0.05). The sensitivity analysis confirmed our results (p > 0.05). There is no causal relationship between PA and knee OA.

Summary In vivo haploid induction has been extended from maize to monocotyledonous plants like rice, wheat, millet and dicotyledonous plants such as tomato, rapeseed, tobacco and cabbage. Accurate identification of haploids is a crucial step of doubled haploid technology, where a useful identification marker is very pivotal. R1‐nj is an extensively used visual marker for haploid identification in maize. RFP and eGFP have been shown to be feasible in identifying haploid. However, these methods are either limited to specific species, or require specific equipment. It still lacks an efficient visual marker that is practical across different crop species. In this study, we introduced the RUBY reporter, a betalain biosynthesis system, into maize and tomato haploid inducers as a new marker for haploid identification. Results showed that expression of RUBY could result in deep betalain pigmentation in maize embryos as early as 10 days after pollination, and enabled 100% accuracy of immature haploid embryo identification. Further investigation in tomato revealed that the new marker led to deep red pigmentation in radicles and haploids can be identified easily and accurately. The results demonstrated that the RUBY reporter is a background‐independent and efficient marker for haploid identification and would be promising in doubled haploid breeding across different crop species.

This work investigates quantitative supervisory control of discrete event systems modeled with Petri nets under the fixed‐initial‐credit energy objective. A weight function referred to as an energy function is defined on a Petri net to characterize the energy level of a transition. The proposed fixed‐initial‐credit energy problem aims to design a supervisor such that the energy level of a transition sequence in a supervised system is higher than 0 under a given initial energy level. The problem is eventually transformed into a two‐player game between a system and a supervisor; supervisor synthesis is reduced to finding a winning strategy in the two‐player game. Instead of enumerating the complete state space of the underlying Petri net, two information structures are utilized, namely the conventional basis reachability graph and the newly proposed essential marking graph, to construct two‐player games based on each of them. It is shown that a winning strategy for a supervisor decoded from the game based on the basis reachability graph of the Petri net is a solution to the problem but is in general restrictive. Further, it is shown that the set of strategies for a supervisor in the game based on the essential marking graph is consistent with that from the game based on the reachability graph of a Petri net. The two developed approaches do not require an exhaustive exploration of the state space of a plant, thus achieving higher efficiency. This work investigates quantitative supervisory control of discrete event systems modeled with Petri nets under the fixed‐initial‐credit energy objective. We utilize two information structures to construct two‐player games based on each of them. The supervisor synthesis problem is reduced to finding a winning strategy in the two‐player game.

ABSTRACT Cyclic dimeric adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (c-di-AMP) is an emerging second messenger in bacteria and archaea that is synthesized from two molecules of ATP by diadenylate cyclases and degraded to pApA or two AMP molecules by c-di-AMP-specific phosphodiesterases. Through binding to specific protein- and riboswitch-type receptors, c-di-AMP regulates a wide variety of prokaryotic physiological functions, including maintaining the osmotic pressure, balancing central metabolism, monitoring DNA damage and controlling biofilm formation and sporulation. It mediates bacterial adaptation to a variety of environmental parameters and can also induce an immune response in host animal cells. In this review, we discuss the phylogenetic distribution of c-di-AMP-related enzymes and receptors and provide some insights into the various aspects of c-di-AMP signaling pathways based on more than a decade of research. We emphasize the key role of c-di-AMP in maintaining bacterial osmotic balance, especially in Gram-positive bacteria. In addition, we discuss the future direction and trends of c-di-AMP regulatory network, such as the likely existence of potential c-di-AMP transporter(s), the possibility of crosstalk between c-di-AMP signaling with other regulatory systems, and the effects of c-di-AMP compartmentalization. This review aims to cover the broad spectrum of research on the regulatory functions of c-di-AMP and c-di-AMP signaling pathways. This review describes the latest outlook on c-di-AMP signaling pathways that are involved in its homeostasis, reception, various physiological functions, and emphasizing on its role in regulating bacterial osmotic balance, as well as several issues to be explored in the near future.

High levels of nitrates in groundwater pose a risk to human health. In this study, we selected areas with typical agricultural nitrate pollution in northeast China as study sites. We then collected groundwater samples for nitrate nitrogen content analysis using the Four Step method developed by the United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in conjunction with the non-carcinogens health risk model (R = CDI/RfD) to determine the health risk associated with nitrate pollution of groundwater. The reference value of nitrates in drinking water was set at 10 mg/L (measured as nitrogen) and the intake reference dose of nitrate was set at 1.6 mg•kg −1 •d −1 based on the EPA’s IRIS(Integrated Risk Information System). The water intake reference values were set at 2.3 L/d and 1.5 L/d based on the EPA values and actual values observed in the study area. The average exposure time was the ED (exposure duration) × 365d/a. Weights refer to the 2002 national urban and rural average weight of residents of different genders and different ages. Health hazard index calculation was based on the above information, and the index less than 1 is acceptable (U.S. EPA’s Risk Assessment Guide). Health risk assessment maps were then drawn by Arcgis software. The results indicated that agricultural sewage irrigation areas in the study area showed strong health risks, but that those of the city were relatively small. Moreover, the results indicated that children’s health risks are greater than those of adults.

Background: Hemiplegic cerebral palsy (HCP) is a motor dysfunction disorder resulting from perinatal developmental brain injury, predominantly impairing upper limb function in children. Nonetheless, there has been insufficient research on the brain activation patterns and inter-brain coordination mechanisms of HCP children when performing motor control tasks, especially in contrast to children with typical development(CD). Objective: This cross-sectional study employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to systematically compare the cerebral blood flow dynamics and brain network characteristics of HCP children and CD children while performing upper-limb mirror training tasks. Methods: The study ultimately included 14 HCP children and 28 CD children. fNIRS technology was utilized to record changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) signals in the bilateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC/RPFC) and motor cortex (LMC/RMC) of the subjects while they performed mirror training tasks. Generalized linear model (GLM) analysis was used to compare differences in activation intensity between HCP children and CD children in the prefrontal cortex and motor cortex. Finally, conditional Granger causality (GC) analysis was applied to construct a directed brain network model, enabling directional analysis of causal interactions between different brain regions. Results: Brain activation: HCP children showed weaker LPFC activation than CD children in the NMR task (t = −2.032, p = 0.049); enhanced LMC activation in the NML task (t = 2.202, p = 0.033); and reduced RMC activation in the MR task (t = −2.234, p = 0.031). Intragroup comparisons revealed significant differences in LMC activation between the NMR and NML tasks (M = −1.128 ± 2.764, t = −1.527, p = 0.025) and increased separation in RMC activation between the MR and ML tasks (M = −1.674 ± 2.584, t = −2.425, p = 0.031). Cortical effective connectivity: HCP group RPFC → RMC connectivity was weaker than that in CD children in the NMR/NML tasks (NMR: t = −2.491, p = 0.018; NML: t = −2.386, p = 0.023); RMC → LMC connectivity was weakened in the NMR task (t = −2.395, p = 0.022). Conclusions: This study reveals that children with HCP exhibit distinct abnormal characteristics in both cortical activation patterns and effective brain network connectivity during upper limb mirror training tasks, compared to children with CD. These characteristic alterations may reflect the neural mechanisms underlying motor control deficits in HCP children, involving deficits in prefrontal regulatory function and compensatory reorganization of the motor cortex. The identified fNIRS indicators provide new insights into understanding brain dysfunction in HCP and may offer objective evidence for research into personalized, precision-based neurorehabilitation intervention strategies.