Enhancing Prediction of Myocardial Recovery After Coronary Revascularization: Integrating Radiomics from Myocardial Contrast Echocardiography with Machine Learning.

Introduction: Chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) management often relies on myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE), yet its effectiveness is limited by subjective interpretations and difficulty in distinguishing hibernating from necrotic myocardium. This study explores the integration of machine learning (ML) with radiomics to predict functional recovery in dyskinetic myocardial segments in CAD patients undergoing revascularization, aiming to overcome these limitations. Methods: This prospective study enrolled 55 chronic CAD patients, dividing into training (39 patients, 205 segments) and testing sets (16 patients, 68 segments). Dysfunctional myocardial segments were identified by initial wall motion scores (WMS) of ≥2 (hypokinesis or higher). Functional recovery was defined as a decrease of ≥1 grade in WMS during follow-up echocardiography. Radiomics features were extracted from dyssynergic segments in end-systolic phase MCE images across five cardiac cycles post- "flash" impulse and processed through a five-step feature selection. Four ML classifiers were trained and compared using these features and MCE parameters, to identify the optimal model for myocardial recovery prediction. Results: Functional improvement was noted in 139 out of 273 dyskinetic segments (50.9%) following revascularization. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis determined that myocardial blood flow (MBF) was the most precise clinical predictor of recovery, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.770. Approximately 1.34 million radiomics features were extracted, with nine features identified as key predictors of myocardial recovery. The random forest (RF) model, integrating MBF values and radiomics features, demonstrated superior predictive accuracy over other ML classifiers. Validation of the RF model on the testing dataset demonstrated its effectiveness, evidenced by an AUC of 0.821, along with consistent calibration and clinical utility. Conclusion: The integration of ML with radiomics from MCE effectively predicts myocardial recovery in CAD. The RF model, combining radiomics and MBF values, presents a non-invasive, precise approach, significantly enhancing CAD management.

DSC-Recon: Dual-Stage Complementary 4D Organ Reconstruction from X-ray Image Sequence for Intraoperative Fusion.

Accurately reconstructing 4D critical organs contributes to the visual guidance in X-ray image-guided interventional operation. Current methods estimate intraoperative dynamic meshes by refining a static initial organ mesh from the semantic information in the single-frame X-ray images. However, these methods fall short of reconstructing an accurate and smooth organ sequence due to the distinct respiratory patterns between the initial mesh and X-ray image. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel dual-stage complementary 4D organ reconstruction (DSC-Recon) model for recovering dynamic organ meshes by utilizing the preoperative and intraoperative data with different respiratory patterns. DSC-Recon is structured as a dual-stage framework: 1) The first stage focuses on addressing a flexible interpolation network applicable to multiple respiratory patterns, which could generate dynamic shape sequences between any pair of preoperative 3D meshes segmented from CT scans. 2) In the second stage, we present a deformation network to take the generated dynamic shape sequence as the initial prior and explore the discriminate feature (i.e., target organ areas and meaningful motion information) in the intraoperative X-ray images, predicting the deformed mesh by introducing a designed feature mapping pipeline integrated into the initialized shape refinement process. Experiments on simulated and clinical datasets demonstrate the superiority of our method over state-of-the-art methods in both quantitative and qualitative aspects.

Altered morphometric similarity networks in insomnia disorder.

Previous studies on structural covariance network (SCN) suggested that patients with insomnia disorder (ID) show abnormal structural connectivity, primarily affecting the somatomotor network (SMN) and default mode network (DMN). However, evaluating a single structural index in SCN can only reveal direct covariance relationship between two brain regions, failing to uncover synergistic changes in multiple structural features. To cover this research gap, the present study utilized novel morphometric similarity networks (MSN) to examine the morphometric similarity between cortical areas in terms of multiple sMRI parameters measured at each area. With seven T1-weighted imaging morphometric features from the Desikan-Killiany atlas, individual MSN was constructed for patients with ID (N = 87) and healthy control groups (HCs, N = 84). Two-sample t-test revealed differences in MSN between patients with ID and HCs. Correlation analyses examined associations between MSNs and sleep quality, insomnia symptom severity, and depressive symptoms severity in patients with ID. The right paracentral lobule (PCL) exhibited decreased morphometric similarity in patients with ID compared to HCs, mainly manifested by its de-differentiation (meaning loss of distinctiveness) with the SMN, DMN, and ventral attention network (VAN), as well as its decoupling with the visual network (VN). Greater PCL-based de-differentiation correlated with less severe insomnia and fewer depressive symptoms in the patients group. Additionally, patients with less depressive symptoms showed greater PCL de-differentiation from the SMN. As an important pilot step in revealing the underlying morphometric similarity alterations in insomnia disorder, the present study identified the right PCL as a hub region that is de-differentiated with other high-order networks. Our study also revealed that MSN has an important potential to capture clinical significance related to insomnia disorder.

The complete chloroplast genome and phylogenetic analysis of Cyperus brevifolius (Rottb.) Hassk. 1844 (Cyperaceae).

The medicinal plant Cyperus brevifolius (Rottb.) Hassk. 1844 has a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine. In this study, we determined and systematically analyzed the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of C. brevifolius. The genome is 183,717 bp in length with a GC content of 33.24%. It comprises four distinct regions: a large-single copy (LSC) region of 101,190 bp, a small-single copy (SSC) region of 10,366 bp, and two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 36,079 bp each. A total of 137 genes are present in the genome including 89 protein-coding genes, 40 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that C. brevifolius belongs to the Cyperus genus. This newly sequenced cp genome provides valuable insights for future genetic and genomic studies on Cyperus.

Brain abnormalities in survivors of COVID-19 after 2-year recovery: a functional MRI study.

Background: A variety of symptoms, particularly cognitive, psychiatric and neurological symptoms, may persist for a long time among individuals recovering from COVID-19. However, the underlying mechanism of these brain abnormalities remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the long-term neuroimaging effects of COVID-19 infection on brain functional activities using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Methods: Fifty-two survivors 27 months after infection (mild-moderate group: 25 participants, severe-critical: 27 participants), from our previous community participants, along with 35 healthy controls, were recruited to undergo fMRI scans and comprehensive cognitive function measurements. Participants were evaluated by subjective assessment of Cognitive Failures Questionnaire-14 (CFQ-14) and Fatigue Scale-14 (FS-14), and objective assessment of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), N-back, and Simple Reaction Time (SRT). Each had rs-fMRI at 3T. Measures such as the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), and regional homogeneity (ReHo) were calculated. Findings: Compared with healthy controls, survivors of mild-moderate acute symptoms group and severe-critical group had a significantly higher score of cognitive complains involving cognitive failure and mental fatigue. However, there was no difference of cognitive complaints between two groups of COVID-19 survivors. The performance of three groups was similar on the score of MoCA, N-back and SRT. The rs-fMRI results showed that COVID-19 survivors exhibited significantly increased ALFF values in the left putamen (PUT.L), right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG.R) and right pallidum (PAL.R), while decreased ALFF values were observed in the right superior parietal gyrus (SPG.R) and left superior temporal gyrus (STG.L). Additionally, decreased ReHo values in the right precentral gyrus (PreCG.R), left postcentral gyrus (PoCG.L), left calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex (CAL.L) and left superior temporal gyrus (STG.L). Furthermore, significant negative correlations between the ReHo values in the STG.L, and CFQ-14 and mental fatigue were found. Interpretation: This long-term study suggests that individuals recovering from COVID-19 continue to experience cognitive complaints, psychiatric and neurological symptoms, and brain functional alteration. The rs-fMRI results indicated that the changes in brain function in regions such as the putamen, temporal lobe, and superior parietal gyrus may contribute to cognitive complaints in individuals with long COVID even after 2-year infection. Funding: The National Programs for Brain Science and Brain-like Intelligence Technology of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality of China, and the National Key Research and Development Program of China.

D-mannose alleviates intervertebral disc degeneration through glutamine metabolism.

BACKGROUND: Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a multifaceted condition characterized by heterogeneity, wherein the balance between catabolism and anabolism in the extracellular matrix of nucleus pulposus (NP) cells plays a central role. Presently, the available treatments primarily focus on relieving symptoms associated with IVDD without offering an effective cure targeting its underlying pathophysiological processes. D-mannose (referred to as mannose) has demonstrated anti-catabolic properties in various diseases. Nevertheless, its therapeutic potential in IVDD has yet to be explored. METHODS: The study began with optimizing the mannose concentration for restoring NP cells. Transcriptomic analyses were employed to identify the mediators influenced by mannose, with the thioredoxin-interacting protein (Txnip) gene showing the most significant differences. Subsequently, small interfering RNA (siRNA) technology was used to demonstrate that Txnip is the key gene through which mannose exerts its effects. Techniques such as colocalization analysis, molecular docking, and overexpression assays further confirmed the direct regulatory relationship between mannose and TXNIP. To elucidate the mechanism of action of mannose, metabolomics techniques were employed to pinpoint glutamine as a core metabolite affected by mannose. Next, various methods, including integrated omics data and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, were used to validate the one-way pathway through which TXNIP regulates glutamine. Finally, the therapeutic effect of mannose on IVDD was validated, elucidating the mechanistic role of TXNIP in glutamine metabolism in both intradiscal and orally treated rats. RESULTS: In both in vivo and in vitro experiments, it was discovered that mannose has potent efficacy in alleviating IVDD by inhibiting catabolism. From a mechanistic standpoint, it was shown that mannose exerts its anti-catabolic effects by directly targeting the transcription factor max-like protein X-interacting protein (MondoA), resulting in the upregulation of TXNIP. This upregulation, in turn, inhibits glutamine metabolism, ultimately accomplishing its anti-catabolic effects by suppressing the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. More importantly, in vivo experiments have further demonstrated that compared with intradiscal injections, oral administration of mannose at safe concentrations can achieve effective therapeutic outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, through integrated multiomics analysis, including both in vivo and in vitro experiments, this study demonstrated that mannose primarily exerts its anti-catabolic effects on IVDD through the TXNIP-glutamine axis. These findings provide strong evidence supporting the potential of the use of mannose in clinical applications for alleviating IVDD. Compared to existing clinically invasive or pain-relieving therapies for IVDD, the oral administration of mannose has characteristics that are more advantageous for clinical IVDD treatment.

Task-Oriented Training by a Personalized Electromyography-Driven Soft Robotic Hand in Chronic Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Intensive task-oriented training has shown promise in enhancing distal motor function among patients with chronic stroke. A personalized electromyography (EMG)-driven soft robotic hand was developed to assist task-oriented object-manipulation training effectively. Objective. To compare the effectiveness of task-oriented training using the EMG-driven soft robotic hand. METHODS: A single-blinded, randomized controlled trial was conducted with 34 chronic stroke survivors. The subjects were randomly assigned to the Hand Task (HT) group (n = 17) or the control (CON) group (n = 17). The HT group received 45 minutes of task-oriented training by manipulating small objects with the robotic hand for 20 sessions, while the CON group received 45 minutes of hand-functional exercises without objects using the same robot. Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA-UE), Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), Modified Ashworth Score (MAS), Box and Block test (BBT), Maximum Grip Strength, and active range of motion (AROM) of fingers were assessed at baseline, after intervention, and 3 months follow-up. The muscle co-contraction index (CI) was analyzed to evaluate the session-by-session variation of upper limb EMG patterns. RESULTS: The HT group showed more significant improvement in FMA-UE (wrist/hand, shoulder/elbow) compared to the CON group (P < .05). At 3-month follow-up, the HT group demonstrated significant improvements in FMA-UE, ARAT, BBT, MAS (finger), and AROMs (P < .05). The HT group exhibited a more significant decrease in muscle co-contractions compared to the CON group (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: EMG-driven task-oriented training with the personalized soft robotic hand was a practical approach to improving motor function and muscle coordination. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRY NAME: Soft Robotic Hand System for Stroke Rehabilitation. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/. UNIQUE IDENTIFIER: NCT03286309.

Enhancing Endogenous Hyaluronic Acid in Osteoarthritic Joints with an Anti-Inflammatory Supramolecular Nanofiber Hydrogel Delivering HAS2 Lentivirus.

Osteoarthritis (OA) management remains challenging because of its intricate pathogenesis. Intra-articular injections of drugs, such as glucocorticoids and hyaluronic acid (HA), have certain limitations, including the risk of joint infection, pain, and swelling. Hydrogel-based therapeutic strategies have attracted considerable attention because of their enormous therapeutic potential. Herein, a supramolecular nanofiber hydrogel is developed using dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DexP) as a vector to deliver lentivirus-encoding hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2) (HAS2@DexP-Gel). During hydrogel degradation, HAS2 lentivirus and DexP molecules are slowly released. Intra-articular injection of HAS2@DexP-Gel promotes endogenous HA production and suppresses synovial inflammation. Additionally, HAS2@DexP-Gel reduces subchondral bone resorption in the anterior cruciate ligament transection-induced OA mice, attenuates cartilage degeneration, and delays OA progression. HAS2@DexP-Gel exhibited good biocompatibility both in vitro and in vivo. The therapeutic mechanisms of the HAS2@DexP-Gel are investigated using single-cell RNA sequencing. HAS2@DexP-Gel optimizes the microenvironment of the synovial tissue by modulating the proportion of synovial cell subpopulations and regulating the interactions between synovial fibroblasts and macrophages. The innovative nanofiber hydrogel, HAS2@DexP-Gel, effectively enhances endogenous HA production while reducing synovial inflammation. This comprehensive approach holds promise for improving joint function, alleviating pain, and slowing OA progression, thereby providing significant benefits to patients.

Blended Genome Exome (BGE) as a Cost Efficient Alternative to Deep Whole Genomes or Arrays.

Genomic scientists have long been promised cheaper DNA sequencing, but deep whole genomes are still costly, especially when considered for large cohorts in population-level studies. More affordable options include microarrays + imputation, whole exome sequencing (WES), or low-pass whole genome sequencing (WGS) + imputation. WES + array + imputation has recently been shown to yield 99% of association signals detected by WGS. However, a method free from ascertainment biases of arrays or the need for merging different data types that still benefits from deeper exome coverage to enhance novel coding variant detection does not exist. We developed a new, combined, "Blended Genome Exome" (BGE) in which a whole genome library is generated, an aliquot of that genome is amplified by PCR, the exome regions are selected and enriched, and the genome and exome libraries are combined back into a single tube for sequencing (33% exome, 67% genome). This creates a single CRAM with a low-coverage whole genome (2-3x) combined with a higher coverage exome (30-40x). This BGE can be used for imputing common variants throughout the genome as well as for calling rare coding variants. We tested this new method and observed >99% r 2 concordance between imputed BGE data and existing 30x WGS data for exome and genome variants. BGE can serve as a useful and cost-efficient alternative sequencing product for genomic researchers, requiring ten-fold less sequencing compared to 30x WGS without the need for complicated harmonization of array and sequencing data.

Effective dose of intranasal remimazolam for preoperative sedation in preschool children: a dose-finding study using Dixon's up-and-down method.

Background: Most preschool children are distressed during anesthesia induction. While current pharmacological methods are useful, there is a need for further optimization to an "ideal" standard. Remimazolam is an ultra-short-acting benzodiazepine, and intranasal remimazolam for pre-induction sedation may be promising. Methods: This study included 32 preschool children who underwent short and minor surgery between October 2022 and January 2023. After pretreatment with lidocaine, remimazolam was administered to both nostrils using a mucosal atomizer device. The University of Michigan Sedation Score (UMSS) was assessed for sedation 6, 9, 12, 15, and 20 min after intranasal atomization. We used Dixon's up-and-down method, and probit and isotonic regressions to determine the 50% effective dose (ED50) and 95% effective dose (ED95) of intranasal remimazolam for pre-induction sedation. Results: Twenty-nine pediatric patients were included in the final analysis. The ED50 and ED95 of intranasal remimazolam for successful pre-induction sedation, when processed via probit analysis, were 0.65 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59-0.71) and 0.78 mg/kg (95% CI, 0.72-1.07), respectively. In contrast, when processed by isotonic regression, they were 0.65 (95% CI: 0.58-0.72 mg/kg) and 0.78 mg/kg (95% CI: 0.69-1.08 mg/kg), respectively. At 6 min after intranasal remimazolam treatment, 81.2% (13/16) of "positive" participants were successfully sedated with a UMSS ≧ 1. All the "positive" participants were successfully sedated within 9 min. Conclusion: Intranasal remimazolam is feasible for preschool children with a short onset time. For successful pre-induction sedation, the ED50 and ED95 of intranasal remimazolam were 0.65 and 0.78 mg/kg, respectively.

Unlocking growth potential in Halomonas bluephagenesis for enhanced PHA production with sulfate ions.

The mutant strain Halomonas bluephagenesis (TDH4A1B5P) was found to produce PHA under low-salt, non-sterile conditions, but the yield was low. To improve the yield, different nitrogen sources were tested. It was discovered that urea was the most effective nitrogen source for promoting growth during the stable stage, while ammonium sulfate was used during the logarithmic stage. The growth time of H. bluephagenesis (TDH4A1B5P) and its PHA content were significantly prolonged by the presence of sulfate ions. After 64 hr in a 5-L bioreactor supplemented with sulfate ions, the dry cell weight (DCW) of H. bluephagenesis weighed 132 g/L and had a PHA content of 82%. To promote the growth and PHA accumulation of H. bluephagenesis (TDH4A1B5P), a feeding regimen supplemented with nitrogen sources and sulfate ions with ammonium sodium sulfate was established in this study. The DCW was 124 g/L, and the PHA content accounted for 82.3% (w/w) of the DCW, resulting in a PHA yield of 101 g/L in a 30-L bioreactor using the optimized culture strategy. In conclusion, stimulating H. bluephagenesis (TDH4A1B5P) to produce PHA is a feasible and suitable strategy for all H. bluephagenesis.

Tissue-specific O-GlcNAcylation profiling identifies substrates in translational machinery in Drosophila mushroom body contributing to olfactory learning.

O-GlcNAcylation is a dynamic post-translational modification that diversifies the proteome. Its dysregulation is associated with neurological disorders that impair cognitive function, and yet identification of phenotype-relevant candidate substrates in a brain-region specific manner remains unfeasible. By combining an O-GlcNAc binding activity derived from Clostridium perfringens OGA (CpOGA) with TurboID proximity labeling in Drosophila, we developed an O-GlcNAcylation profiling tool that translates O-GlcNAc modification into biotin conjugation for tissue-specific candidate substrates enrichment. We mapped the O-GlcNAc interactome in major brain regions of Drosophila and found that components of the translational machinery, particularly ribosomal subunits, were abundantly O-GlcNAcylated in the mushroom body of Drosophila brain. Hypo-O-GlcNAcylation induced by ectopic expression of active CpOGA in the mushroom body decreased local translational activity, leading to olfactory learning deficits that could be rescued by dMyc overexpression-induced increase of protein synthesis. Our study provides a useful tool for future dissection of tissue-specific functions of O-GlcNAcylation in Drosophila, and suggests a possibility that O-GlcNAcylation impacts cognitive function via regulating regional translational activity in the brain.

Newly synthesized proteins often receive further chemical modifications that change their structure and role in the cell. O-GlcNAcylation, for instance, consists in a certain type of sugar molecule being added onto dedicated protein segments. It is required for the central nervous system to develop and work properly; in fact, several neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or Huntington's disease are linked to disruptions in O-GlcNAcylation. However, scientists are currently lacking approaches that would allow them to reliably identify which proteins require O-GlcNAcylation in specific regions of the brain to ensure proper cognitive health. To address this gap, Yu et al. developed a profiling tool that allowed them to probe O-GlcNAcylation protein targets in different tissues of fruit flies. Their approach relies on genetically manipulating the animals so that a certain brain area overproduces two enzymes that work in tandem; the first binds specifically to O-GlcNAcylated proteins, which allows the second to add a small 'biotin' tag to them. Tagged proteins can then be captured and identified. Using this tool helped Yu et al. map out which proteins go through O-GlcNAcylation in various brain regions. This revealed, for example, that in the mushroom body ­ the 'learning center' of the fly brain ­ O-GlcNAcylation occurred predominantly in the protein-building machinery. To investigate the role of O-GlcNAcylation in protein synthesis and learning, Yu et al. used an approach that allowed them to decrease the levels of O-GlcNAcylation in the mushroom body. This resulted in reduced local protein production and the flies performing poorly in olfactory learning tasks. However, artificially increasing protein synthesis reversed these deficits. Overall, the work by Yu et al. provides a useful tool for studying the tissue-specific effects of O-GlcNAcylation in fruit flies, and its role in learning. Further studies should explore how this process may be linked to cognitive function by altering protein synthesis in the brain.

Hereditary and cortical morphological biomarker of sensitivity to reward in short-term withdrawal methamphetamine abusers.

Higher sensitivity to reward (SR) and weaker sensitivity to punishment (SP) construct the fundamental craving characteristics of methamphetamine abuse. However, few studies have appraised relationships between SR/SP (SR or SP) and cortical morphological alterations in methamphetamine abusers and whether hereditary factors take effects on SR/SP is unclear. Based on surface-based morphometric analysis, cortical discrepancy was investigated between 38 methamphetamine abusers and 37 healthy controls. Within methamphetamine abusers, correlation profiling was performed to discover associations among aberrant neuroimaging substrates, SR, SP, and craving. According to nine single nucleotide polymorphism sites of dopamine-related genes, we conducted univariate general linear model to find different effects of genotypes on cortical alterations and SR/SP/craving (SR, SP, or craving). Ultimately, mediation analyses were conducted among single nucleotide polymorphism sites, SR/SP/craving, and cortical morphological alterations to discover their association pathways. Compared to healthy controls, thinner cortices in inferior temporal gyrus, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, inferior parietal lobule, and lateral occipital cortex in the left hemisphere were found in methamphetamine abusers (P < 0.05, family-wise error corrected). Cortical thickness in the inferior temporal gyrus was negatively correlated with SR scores. We found that rs1800497 A-containing genotypes had lower cortical thickness in the left inferior parietal lobule than the GG genotype. The rs5751876 had effects on SR scores. This study would provide convincing biomarkers for SR in methamphetamine abusers and offer potential genetic targets for personalizing relapse prevention.

Facile synthesis of amorphous/crystalline Ni-Fe thiophenedicarboxylate coordination polymer nanobelts for efficient water oxidation.

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a complex four-electron transfer process that poses a significant challenge to the efficient production of hydrogen through water splitting. However, developing non-noble metal electrocatalyst with excellent OER performance is still a big challenge. Herein, we propose a new strategy for the in-situ growth of two-dimensional amorphous/crystalline thiophene-based Ni-Fe metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) using Ni-Fe foam (NFF) as metal source and current collector, and thiophene-2,5-dicarboxylic acid (TDC) as corrosion agent and ligand. TDC was ionized at high temperature to produce H+ ions that etch NFF to release Ni2+ and Fe2+ ions, which were coordinated with TDC to in situ synthesize two-dimensional Ni-Fe thiophenedicarboxylate coordination polymer (NiFe-TDC) nanobelts on NFF. The unique structure and synergistic effect of Ni and Fe ions of NiFe-TDC0.05 result in the excellent OER performance with an overpotential of 224 and 256 mV at current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm-2, respectively, and it can run stably for 100 h at a current density of 100 mA cm-2, indicating the outstanding stability. Furthermore, NiFe-TDC0.05 remains the excellent OER performance with an extremely low potential of 196 and 271 mV at current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm-2 in seawater with 1 mol L-1 (M) KOH, respectively. The assembled NiFe-TDC0.05 || Pt/C water electrolysis cell achieves a current density of 100 mA cm-2 at a low voltage of 1.78 V. The work provides a new method to prepare two dimensional MOFs for efficient water oxidation.

Synthesis of self-supported NiCoFe(OH)x via fenton-like effect corrosion for highly efficient water oxidation.

Efficientandinexpensiveoxygenevolutionreaction(OER)catalysts are essential for the electrochemical splitting of water into hydrogen fuel. Herein, we have successfully synthesized NiCoFe(OH)x nanosheets on Ni-Fe foam (NFF) by exploiting the Fenton-like effect of Co2+ and S2O82- to corrode the NFF foam. The as-prepared NiCoFe(OH)x/NFF exhibits the porous structure with the interconnected nanosheets that are firmly bonded to the conductive substrate of NFF, thereby enhancing ions and charge transfer kinetics. The unique structure and composition of NiCoFe(OH)x/NFF result in the low overpotentials of 200 and 262 mV at current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm-2, respectively, as well as a low Tafel slope of 53.25 mV dec-1. In addition, NiCoFe(OH)x/NFF displays low overpotentials of 267 and 294 mV at a high current density of 100 mA cm-2 in simulated and real seawater, respectively. Furthermore, the assembled NiCoFe(OH)x//Pt/C water electrolysis cell has achieved a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at a low voltage of 1.49 V, and displayed the good stability with slight attenuation for 110 h. The high OER performance of NiCoFe(OH)x is attributed to the co-catalytic effect of the three metal ions and the interconnected porous nanosheet structure.

NK-cell-elicited gasdermin-D-dependent hepatocyte pyroptosis induces neutrophil extracellular traps that facilitate HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: HBV infection is a major etiology of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). At present, the pattern and regulation of hepatocyte death during HBV-ACLF progression are still undefined. Evaluating the mode of cell death and its inducers will provide new insights for developing therapeutic strategies targeting cell death. In this study, we aimed to elucidate whether and how immune landscapes trigger hepatocyte death and lead to the progression of HBV-related ACLF. APPROACH AND RESULTS: We identified that pyroptosis represented the main cell death pattern in the liver of patients with HBV-related ACLF. Deficiency of MHC-I in HBV-reactivated hepatocytes activated cytotoxic NK cells, which in turn operated in a perforin/granzyme-dependent manner to trigger GSDMD/caspase-8-dependent pyroptosis of hepatocytes. Neutrophils selectively accumulated in the pyroptotic liver, and HMGB1 derived from the pyroptotic liver constituted an important factor triggering the generation of pathogenic extracellular traps in neutrophils (NETs). Clinically, elevated plasma levels of myeloperoxidase-DNA complexes were a promising prognostic biomarker for HBV-related ACLF. More importantly, targeting GSDMD pyroptosis-HMGB1 release in the liver abrogates NETs that intercept the development of HBV-related ACLF. CONCLUSIONS: Studying the mechanisms that selectively modulate GSDMD-dependent pyroptosis, as well as its immune landscapes, will provide a novel strategy for restoring the liver function of patients with HBV-related ACLF.

Reconstruct recent multi-population migration history by using identical-by-descent sharing.

Identical-by-descent (IBD) is a fundamental genomic characteristic in population genetics and has been widely used for population history reconstruction. However, limited by the nature of IBD, which could only capture the relationship between two individuals/haplotypes, existing IBD-based history inference is constrained to two populations. In this study, we propose a novel framework by leveraging IBD sharing in multi-population and develop a method, MatrixIBD, to reconstruct recent multi-population migration history. Specifically, we employ the structured coalescent theory to precisely model the genealogical process and then estimate the IBD sharing across multiple populations. Within our model, we establish a theoretical connection between migration history and IBD sharing. Our method is rigorously evaluated through simulations, revealing its remarkable accuracy and robustness. Furthermore, we apply MatrixIBD to Central and South Asia in the Human Genome Diversity Project and successfully reconstruct the recent migration history of three closely related populations in South Asia. By taking into account the IBD sharing across multiple populations simultaneously, MatrixIBD enables us to attain clearer and more comprehensive insights into the history of regions characterized by complex migration dynamics. This approach provides a holistic perspective on intricate patterns embedded within the recent population migration history.