Preoperative electroacupuncture versus sham electroacupuncture for the treatment of postoperative ileus after laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer in China: a study protocol for a multicentre, randomised, sham-controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Postoperative ileus (POI) is a postoperative complication that can cause lingering recovery after colorectal resection and a heavy healthcare system burden. Acupuncture aims to prevent postoperative complications, reduce the duration of POI, help recovery and shorten hospital stays. We hypothesise that preoperative electroacupuncture (EA) can promote POI recovery under the enhanced recovery after surgery protocol after laparoscopic surgery in patients with POI. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a multicentre, randomised, sham-controlled trial. A total of 80 patients will be enrolled and randomly assigned to the EA or sham electroacupuncture (SA) group. The eligible patients will receive EA or SA for one session per day with treatment frequency starting on preoperative day 1 for four consecutive days. The primary outcome is the time to first defecation. The secondary outcomes include the time to first flatus, length of postoperative hospital stay, time to tolerability of semiliquid and solid food, postoperative nausea, vomiting, pain and extent of abdominal distention, time to first ambulation, preoperative anxiety, 30-day readmission rate, the usage of anaesthetics and analgesics during operation, length of postanaesthesia care unit stay. A mechanistic study by single-cell RNA sequencing in which postintervention normal intestinal tissue samples will be collected. The results of this study will provide evidence of the effects of acupuncture on POI and promote good clinical decision to millions of patients globally every year. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has been approved by the ethical application of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (2022BZYLL0401), Beijing Friendship Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University(2022-P2-368-02), Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Science (23/175-3917), Huanxing Cancer Hospital (2023-002-02). The results will be published in a medical journal. In addition, we plan to present them at scientific conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR2300077633.

Facile synthesis of AuIr alloy nanoparticles and their enhanced oxygen evolution reaction performance under acidic and alkaline conditions.

The development of electrocatalysts that can maintain high reactivity and stability over a wide pH range during electrolysis reactions is essential for the realization of a clean hydrogen energy society. Herein, we report the synthesis of AuIr alloy nanoparticles (NPs) with an excellent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance over a wide pH range. The NPs were synthesized via an antisolvent crystallization-based method and maintained their small sizes regardless of adjustments in the ratio of the Au/Ir precursor. AuIr/C exhibited low overpotential and good long-term stability under acidic and alkaline conditions compared with the Ir/C and commercial RuO2. The enhanced OER performance of AuIr/C was attributed to efficient charge transfer, resulting in an optimal synergistic effect of electrons.

Electroacupuncture versus exercise in patients with knee osteoarthritis: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a common disorder among middle and older individuals. Electroacupuncture and exercise are present as two popular physical therapies for the management of KOA, and both were demonstrated to produce considerable results. However, the clinical decision-making process between these therapeutic interventions remains challenging due to the limited evidence of distinctions in their respective effects. This study aims to evaluate the clinical effect and cost effectiveness of electroacupuncture versus exercise in patients with KOA. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: This is a randomized controlled trial in which 196 symptomatic KOA patients will be randomly assigned 1:1 either to the electroacupuncture group (n = 98) and the exercise group (n = 98). Patients in the electroacupuncture group will receive acupuncture with electric stimulation 3 times a week for 8 weeks, whereas patients in the exercise group will receive neuromuscular training twice a week for 8 weeks. Education concerning KOA management will be provided in both therapies. Co-primary outcomes include changes in numerical rating scale (NRS) and Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) Activities of Daily Living (ADL) subscale from baseline at week 8. Secondary outcomes include KOOS Pain subscale, KOOS knee-related Quality of Life (QOL) subscale, Short Form 6 Dimensions (SF-6D), five-level EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L), Credibility/ Expectancy Questionnaire, Patient's global assessment (PGA), 30-second Chair Stand Test (30s-CST), 40m (4*10m) Fast Paced Walk Test (40m FPWT), and Daily Physical Activity level (DPA). DISCUSSION: The results of this study will provide evidence regarding differences between these 2 physical therapies in multiple aspects and will provide specific guidance for the development of treatments based on the needs of individual patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR2300070376.

Exploring risk factors for autoimmune diseases complicated by non-hodgkin lymphoma through regulatory T cell immune-related traits: a Mendelian randomization study.

Background: The effect of immune cells on autoimmune diseases (ADs) complicated by non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has been widely recognized, but a causal relationship between regulatory T cell (Treg) immune traits and ADs complicated by NHL remains debated. Methods: Aggregate data for 84 Treg-related immune traits were downloaded from the Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) catalog, and GWAS data for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL; n=315243), follicular lymphoma (FL; n=325831), sjögren's syndrome (SS; n=402090), rheumatoid arthritis (RA; n=276465), dermatopolymyositis (DM; n=311640), psoriasis (n=407876), atopic dermatitis (AD; n=382254), ulcerative colitis (UC; n=411317), crohn's disease(CD; n=411973) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE; n=307587) were downloaded from the FinnGen database. The inverse variance weighting (IVW) method was mainly used to infer any causal association between Treg-related immune traits and DLBCL, FL, SS, DM, RA, Psoriasis, AD, UC, CD and SLE, supplemented by MR-Egger, weighted median, simple mode, and weighted mode. Moreover, we performed sensitivity analyses to assess the validity of the causal relationships. Results: There was a potential genetic predisposition association identified between CD39+ CD8br AC, CD39+ CD8br % T cell, and the risk of DLBCL (OR=1.51, p<0.001; OR=1.25, p=0.001) (adjusted FDR<0.1). Genetic prediction revealed potential associations between CD25++ CD8br AC, CD28- CD25++ CD8br % T cell, CD39+ CD8br % CD8br, and the risk of FL (OR=1.13, p=0.022; OR=1.28, p=0.042; OR=0.90, p=0.016) (adjusted FDR>0.1). Furthermore, SLE and CD exhibited a genetically predicted potential association with the CD39+ CD8+ Tregs subset. SS and DM were possibly associated with an increase in the quantity of the CD4+ Tregs subset; RA may have reduced the quantity of the CD39+ CD8+ Tregs subset, although no causal relationship was identified. Sensitivity analyses supported the robustness of our findings. Conclusions: There existed a genetically predicted potential association between the CD39+ CD8+ Tregs subset and the risk of DLBCL, while SLE and CD were genetically predicted to be potentially associated with the CD39+ CD8+ Tregs subset. The CD39+ CD8+ Tregs subset potentially aided in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of SLE or CD complicated by DLBCL.

Key issues in the STRICTA checklist. / 对STRICTAæ¸ å•å‡ ä¸ªå ³é”®é—®é¢˜çš„æ¢³ç†.

The STRICTA checklist is the guideline for reporting clinical trials undertaken using acupuncture intervention. As an extension of the CONSORT checklist, the STRICTA checklist facilitates the reporting quality of acupuncture clinical trials. The clinical research paradigm changes along with the development of science and technology. It is crucial to ensure whether or not the existing STRICTA checklist guides the reporting clinical trials of acupuncture now and in the future as well. This paper introduces the development and the updating procedure of the STRICTA checklist, analyzes the characteristics of utility and the limitation, and proposes several suggestions on the difficulties and challenges encountered in the implementation of the STRICTA checklist of current version so as to advance the further update and improvement.

Promotion and Mechanism of Acupotomy on Chondrocyte Autophagy in Knee Osteoarthritis Rabbits.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of acupotomy intervention on autophagy of chondrocytes in rabbits with knee osteoarthritis (KOA), and to determine the possible mechanisms of acupotomy to alleviate cartilage degeneration. METHODS: The modified Videman method was used to construct a KOA rabbit model. After modeling, 40 rabbits were randomly divided into 4 groups by a random number table: control; KOA (model); KOA + acupotomy (acupotomy), and KOA + sham acupotomy (sham), 10 in each group. After a 3-week treatment course, the knee joint activity was determined by the modified Lequesne MG index. Hematoxylin-eosin staining staining was used to examine the morphological changes of chondrocytes. Autophagy of chondrocytes was observed by transmission electron microscopy. The surface morphology of cartilage tissue was observed by scanning electron microscope. The mRNA and protein levels of AMP kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin/Unc-51 (AMPK/mTOR/ULK1) signal pathway key proteins, autophagy-related factor Beclin-1 and microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B light chain 3 (LC3) in rabbit knee cartilage were assessed by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS: The modified Lequesne MG score of acupotomy group was significantly lower than that of model group (P<0.05). Pathological results showed that chondrocyte autophagy decreased and cartilage surface was rough in the model group, which recovered after acupotomy treatment. The mRNA expressions of AMPK, ULK1, Beclin-1 and the protein levels of p-AMPK, p-ULK1, Beclin-1, and LC3 II/LC3 I were decreased in the model group, while the mRNA and protein expressions of mTOR were increased (P<0.01). However, acupotomy treatment reversed these abnormal changes (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Acupotomy could effectively up-regulate the expressions of AMPK, ULK1 and Beclin1, reduce the expression of mTOR, promote autophagy, and alleviate joint degeneration. Acupotomy is a promising complementary and alternative therapy for KOA.

Determining soil conservation strategies: Ecological risk thresholds of arsenic and the influence of soil properties.

The establishment of ecological risk thresholds for arsenic (As) plays a pivotal role in developing soil conservation strategies. However, despite many studies regarding the toxicological profile of As, such thresholds varying by diverse soil properties have rarely been established. This study aims to address this gap by compiling and critically examining an extensive dataset of As toxicity data sourced from existing literature. Furthermore, to augment the existing information, experimental studies on As toxicity focusing on barley-root elongation were carried out across various soil types. The As concentrations varied from 12.01 to 437.25 mg/kg for the effective concentrations that inhibited 10% of barley-root growth (EC10). The present study applied a machine-learning approach to investigate the complex associations between the toxicity thresholds of As and diverse soil properties. The results revealed that Mn-/Fe-ox and clay content emerged as the most influential factors in predicting the EC10 contribution. Additionally, by using a species sensitivity distribution model and toxicity data from 21 different species, the hazardous concentration for x% of species (HCx) was calculated for four representative soil scenarios. The HC5 values for acidic, neutral, alkaline, and alkaline calcareous soils were 80, 47, 40, and 28 mg/kg, respectively. This study establishes an evidence-based methodology for deriving soil-specific guidance concerning As toxicity thresholds.

Integrated influence of sulfide modification on the reactivity of nanoscale zero-valent iron towards decabromodiphenyl ether under an electromagnetic field.

Individual application of sulfide modification and electromagnetic field (EMF) can enhance the reactivity of nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI), yet the potential of both in combination is not clear. This work found that the reactivity of nZVI towards decabromodiphenyl ether was significantly enhanced by the combined effect of sulfidation and EMF. The specific reaction rate constant of nZVI increased by 7 to 10 times. A series of characterization results revealed that the sulfidation level not only affects the inherent reactivity but also the magnetic-induced heating (MIH) and corrosion (MIC) of nZVI. These collectively influence the degradation efficiency of nZVI under EMF. Sulfidation generally diminished the MIH effect. The low degree of sulfidation (S/Fe = 0.1) slightly reduced the MIC effect by 21.4%. However, the high degree of sulfidation (S/Fe = 0.4) led to significantly enhanced MIC effect by 107.1%. For S/Fe = 0.1 and 0.4, the overall enhancement in the reactivity resulting from EMF was alternately dominated by the contributions of MIH and MIC. This work provides valuable insights into the MIH and MIC effects about the sulfidation level of nZVI, which is needed for further exploration and optimization of this combined technology.

Heterogeneity of primary and metastatic CAFs: From differential treatment outcomes to treatment opportunities (Review).

Compared with primary tumor sites, metastatic sites appear more resistant to treatments and respond differently to the treatment regimen. It may be due to the heterogeneity in the microenvironment between metastatic sites and primary tumors. Cancer­associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are widely present in the tumor stroma as key components of the tumor microenvironment. Primary tumor CAFs (pCAFs) and metastatic CAFs (mCAFs) are heterogeneous in terms of source, activation mode, markers and functional phenotypes. They can shape the tumor microenvironment according to organ, showing heterogeneity between primary tumors and metastases, which may affect the sensitivity of these sites to treatment. It was hypothesized that understanding the heterogeneity between pCAFs and mCAFs can provide a glimpse into the difference in treatment outcomes, providing new ideas for improving the rate of metastasis control in various cancers.

Factors driving antimony accumulation in soil-pakchoi and wheat agroecosystems: Insights and predictive models.

The accumulation of antimony (Sb) in plants and its potential effects on human health are of increasing concern. Nevertheless, only a few countries or regions have established soil Sb thresholds for agricultural purposes, and soil properties have not been taken into account. This study investigated the accumulation of Sb in the edible parts of pakchoi and wheat grain by adding exogenous Sb to 21 soils with varying properties. The results revealed a positive correlation between bioavailable Sb (Sbava, extracted by 0.1 M K2HPO4) in soil and Sb in the edible parts of pakchoi (R2 = 0.77, p < 0.05) and wheat grain (R2 = 0.54, p < 0.05). Both machine learning and traditional multiple regression analysis indicated Sbava was the most critical feature and the main soil properties that contributed to Sb uptake by pakchoi and wheat were CaCO3 and clay, respectively. The advisory food limits for Sb in pakchoi and wheat were estimated based on health risk assessment, and used to derive soil thresholds for safe pakchoi and wheat production based on Sbtot and Sbava, respectively. These findings hold potential for predicting Sb uptake by crops with different soil properties and informing safe production management strategies.

Cognitive and Hippocampal Changes in Older Adults With Subjective Cognitive Decline After Acupuncture Intervention.

OBJECTIVE: Converging evidence indicates that subjective cognitive decline (SCD) could be an early indicator of dementia. The hippocampus is the earliest affected region during the progression of cognitive impairment. However, little is known about whether and how acupuncture change the hippocampal structure and function of SCD individuals. METHODS: Here, we used multi-modal MRI to reveal the mechanism of acupuncture in treating SCD. Seventy-two older participants were randomized into acupuncture or sham acupuncture group and treated for 12 weeks. RESULTS: At the end of the intervention, compared to sham acupuncture, participants with acupuncture treatment showed improvement in composite Z score from multi-domain neuropsychological tests, as well as increased hippocampal volume and functional connectivity. Moreover, the greater white matter integrity of the fornix, which is the major output tract of the hippocampus, was shown in the acupuncture group. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that acupuncture may improve the cognitive function of SCD individuals, and increase hippocampal volume on the regional level and enhance the structural and functional connectivity of hippocampus on the connective level.

Application status and optimization suggestions of tumor organoids and CAR-T cell co-culture models.

Tumor organoids, especially patient-derived organoids (PDOs) exhibit marked similarities in histopathological morphology, genomic alterations, and specific marker expression profiles to those of primary tumour tissues. They are applied in various fields including drug screening, gene editing, and identification of oncogenes. However, CAR-T therapy in the treatment of solid tumours is still at an exploratory stage. Tumour organoids offer unique advantages over other preclinical models commonly used for CAR-T therapy research, which the preservation of the biological characteristics of primary tumour tissue is critical for the study of early-stage solid tumour CAR-T therapies. Although some investigators have used this co-culture model to validate newly targeted CAR-T cells, optimise existing CAR-T cells and explore combination therapy strategies, there is still untapped potential in the co-culture models used today. This review introduces the current status of the application of tumour organoid and CAR-T cell co-culture models in recent years and commented on the limitations of the current co-cultivation model. Meanwhile, we compared the tumour organoid model with two pre-clinical models commonly used in CAR-T therapy research. Eventually, combined with the new progress of organoid technologies, optimization suggestions were proposed for the co-culture model from five perspectives: preserving or reconstructing the tumor microenvironment, systematization, vascularization, standardized culture procedures, and expanding the tumor organoids resource library, aimed at assisting related researchers to better utilize co-culture models.

Reprogramming of Lipid Metabolism Mediates Crosstalk, Remodeling, and Intervention of Microenvironment Components in Breast Cancer.

Due to the unique characteristics of breast cancer initiation sites and significant alterations in tumor metabolism, breast cancer cells rely on lipid metabolic reprogramming to effectively regulate metabolic programs during the disease progression cascade. This adaptation enables them to meet the energy demands required for proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and responses to signaling molecules in the breast cancer microenvironment. In this review, we comprehensively examined the distinctive features of lipid metabolic reprogramming in breast cancer and elucidated the underlying mechanisms driving aberrant behavior of tumor cells. Additionally, we emphasize the potential role and adaptive changes in lipid metabolism within the breast cancer microenvironment, while summarizing recent preclinical studies. Overall, precise control over lipid metabolism rewiring and understanding of plasticity within the breast cancer microenvironment hold promising implications for developing targeted treatment strategies against this disease. Therefore, interventions targeting the lipid metabolism in breast cancer may facilitate innovative advancements in clinical applications.

Association between serum homocysteine and postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Background: To explore the relationship between homocysteine (Hcy) and cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (AKI). Methods: A total of 944 patients who underwent cardiac surgery were enrolled. The association between Hcy levels and the risk of cardiac surgery-associated AKI was evaluated. Results: A total of 135 patients were diagnosed with AKI and the prevalence of AKI was 14.30%. The AKI group had significantly higher levels of Hcy compared with the non-AKI group (16.90 vs 13.56 umol/l; p < 0.001). The incidence rates of AKI increased from 7.2% to 26.72% across increasing Hcy quartiles (p < 0.001). Compared with the first Hcy quartile group, the odds ratio of cardiac surgery-associated AKI was 4.43 (95% CI: 2.27-8.66) in the highest Hcy group. Conclusion: Elevated Hcy level is an independent risk factor for cardiac surgery-associated AKI.

T cell senescence: a new perspective on immunotherapy in lung cancer.

T cell senescence is an indication of T cell dysfunction. The ability of senescent T cells to respond to cognate antigens is reduced and they are in the late stage of differentiation and proliferation; therefore, they cannot recognize and eliminate tumor cells in a timely and effective manner, leading to the formation of the suppressive tumor microenvironment. Establishing methods to reverse T cell senescence is particularly important for immunotherapy. Aging exacerbates profound changes in the immune system, leading to increased susceptibility to chronic, infectious, and autoimmune diseases. Patients with malignant lung tumors have impaired immune function with a high risk of recurrence, metastasis, and mortality. Immunotherapy based on PD-1, PD-L1, CTLA-4, and other immune checkpoints is promising for treating lung malignancies. However, T cell senescence can lead to low efficacy or unsuccessful treatment results in some immunotherapies. Efficiently blocking and reversing T cell senescence is a key goal of the enhancement of tumor immunotherapy. This study discusses the characteristics, mechanism, and expression of T cell senescence in malignant lung tumors and the treatment strategies.

A multicenter case-controlled study on laparoscopic hepatectomy versus microwave ablation as first-line therapy for 3-5 cm hepatocellular carcinoma in patients aged 60 and older.

BACKGROUND: There is currently a lack of convincing evidence for microwave ablation (MWA) and laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) for patients ≥60 years old with 3-5 cm hepatocellular carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients were divided into three cohorts based on restricted cubic spline analysis: 60-64, 65-72, and ≥73 years. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to balance the baseline variables in a 1:1 ratio. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were assessed, followed by a comparison of complications, hospitalization, and cost. RESULTS: Among 672 patients, the median age was 66 (IQR 62-71) years. After PSM, two groups of 210 patients each were selected. During the 36.0 (20.4-52.4) month follow-up period, the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year OS rates in the MWA group were 97.6, 80.9, and 65.3% and 95.5, 78.7, and 60.4% in the LLR group (HR 0.98, P =0.900). The corresponding DFS rates were 78.6, 49.6, and 37.5% and 82.8, 67.8, and 52.9% (HR 1.52, P =0.007). The 60-64 age cohort involved 176 patients, with no a significant difference in OS between the MWA and LLR groups (HR 1.25, P =0.370), MWA was associated with a higher recurrence rate (HR 1.94, P =0.004). A total of 146 patients were matched in the 65-72 age cohort, with no significant differences in OS and DFS between the two groups (OS (HR 1.04, P =0.900), DFS (HR 1.56, P =0.110)). In 76 patients aged ≥73 years after PSM, MWA provided better OS for patients (HR 0.27, P =0.015), and there were no significant differences in DFS between the two groups (HR 1.41, P =0.380). Taken together, for patients older than 65 years, the recurrence rate of MWA was comparable with LLR. Safety analysis indicated that LLR was associated with more postoperative bleeding ( P =0.032) and hypoproteinemia ( P =0.024). CONCLUSIONS: MWA was comparable to LLR in patients aged 65 years and older. MWA could be an alternative for the oldest old or the ill patients who cannot afford LLR, while LLR is still the first option of treatments for early-stage 3-5 cm hepatocellular carcinoma in capable elderly's.

Acupuncture for response and complete pain relief time of acute renal colic: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The integration of acupuncture with intramuscular injection of diclofenac sodium can expedite the onset of analgesia in treating acute renal colic caused by urolithiasis. However, it remains unclear whether acupuncture can accelerate pain relief constantly until complete remission. This study aimed to explore the extent to which acupuncture can expedite the onset time of response or complete pain relief in treating acute renal colic, and the predictive value of patient characteristics for treatment efficacy. Methods: This secondary analysis utilized data from a prior randomized controlled trial. Eighty patients with acute renal colic were randomly assigned 1:1 to the acupuncture group or the sham acupuncture group. After intramuscular injection of diclofenac sodium, acupuncture or sham acupuncture was delivered to patients. The outcomes included time to response (at least a 50 % reduction in pain) and complete pain relief. Between-group comparison under the 2 events was estimated by Kaplan-Meier methodology. Subgroup analysis was performed utilizing the Cox proportional hazards model. Results: The median response time and complete pain relief time in the acupuncture group were lower than those in the sham acupuncture group (5 vs 30 min, Log Rank P < 0.001; 20 min vs not observed, Log Rank P < 0.001, respectively). Hazard Ratios (HRs) for response across all subgroups favored the acupuncture group. All HRs for complete pain relief favored acupuncture, expect large stone and moderate pain at baseline. No interaction was found in either event. Conclusion: Acupuncture can accelerate the response time and complete pain relief time for patients with acute renal colic, with the efficacy universally. Trial registration: This study has been registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR1900025202.

Quantitative Analysis of the Impact of Different Delivery Modes on Cervical Elasticity Based on Real-time Shear Wave Imaging Technology and Artificial Intelligence.

BACKGROUND: Real-time shear wave elastography (SWE) has emerged as a useful imaging modality for detecting the lesion location of various diseases, including cervical diseases. OBJECTIVES: In this paper, the SWE was used to quantitatively determine the tissue hardness of the internal and external orifice of the cervix (IOC & EOC) and to relatively objectively analyze the impact of different production methods on the hardness of the cervical tissue. METHODS: A total of 48 patients were selected, and they were divided into three groups according to different production methods: control group (16 cases), cesarean section group (16 cases), and spontaneous delivery group (16 cases). Artificial intelligence has also been incorporated into this work. A deep flexible neural tree model and a new set of FNT models were proposed to assist in classifying cervical physical data in different states. The physical data was extracted as the features, and the different states were considered as category labels. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in the elasticity of the IOC and the EOC between the groups. However, the difference in the elasticity of the IOC and the EOC within each group was statistically significant. The classification results corresponded with the results of the statistical analysis. The hardness of the EOC is generally lower than that of the IOC, and there was no significant difference in hardness between the IOC and the EOC in the three groups. CONCLUSION: There is no significant difference in the cervical elasticity hardness between different delivery modes.

A hidden demethylation pathway removes mercury from rice plants and mitigates mercury flux to food chains.

Dietary exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) causes irreversible damage to human cognition and is mitigated by photolysis and microbial demethylation of MeHg. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) has been identified as a major dietary source of MeHg. However, it remains unknown what drives the process within plants for MeHg to make its way from soils to rice and the subsequent human dietary exposure to Hg. Here we report a hidden pathway of MeHg demethylation independent of light and microorganisms in rice plants. This natural pathway is driven by reactive oxygen species generated in vivo, rapidly transforming MeHg to inorganic Hg and then eliminating Hg from plants as gaseous Hg°. MeHg concentrations in rice grains would increase by 2.4- to 4.7-fold without this pathway, which equates to intelligence quotient losses of 0.01-0.51 points per newborn in major rice-consuming countries, corresponding to annual economic losses of US$30.7-84.2 billion globally. This discovered pathway effectively removes Hg from human food webs, playing an important role in exposure mitigation and global Hg cycling.

Matched Kinetics Process Over Fe2O3-Co/NiO Heterostructure Enables Highly Efficient Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia.

Tandem nitrate electroreduction reaction (NO3 -RR) is a promising method for green ammonia (NH3) synthesis. However, the mismatched kinetics processes between NO3 --to-NO2 - and NO2 --to-NH3 results in poor selectivity for NH3 and excess NO2 - evolution in electrolyte solution. Herein, a Ni2+ substitution strategy for developing oxide heterostructure in Co/Fe layered double oxides (LDOs) was designed and employed as tandem electrocataltysts for NO3 -RR. (Co0.83Ni0.16)2Fe exhibited a high NH3 yield rate of 50.4 mg ⋅ cm-2 ⋅ h-1 with a Faradaic efficiency of 97.8 % at -0.42 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in a pulsed electrolysis test. By combining with in situ/operando characterization technologies and theoretical calculations, we observed the strong selectivity of NH3 evolution over (Co0.83Ni0.16)2Fe, with Ni playing a dual role in NO3 -RR by i) modifying the electronic behavior of Co, and ii) serving as complementary site for active hydrogen (*H) supply. Therefore, the adsorption capacity of *NO2 and its subsequent hydrogenation on the Co sites became more thermodynamically feasible. This study shows that Ni substitution promotes the kinetics of the NO3 -RR and provides insights into the design of tandem electrocatalysts for NH3 evolution.