Development of biodegradable starch-based lambda-cyhalothrin microcapsules for sustainable long-term pest control and enhanced utilization efficacy.

The inefficiency of traditional pesticides leads to significant resource waste, severe environmental pollution, and potential threats to human health. Pesticide microcapsules present a promising strategy for developing environmentally friendly, safe, and sustained-release formulations. In this study, we produced degradable starch nanocrystals (SNCs) via acid hydrolysis and employed octenyl succinic anhydride-modified SNCs (O-SNCs) to fabricate pesticide microcapsules.

Insight into the stabilization of Pickering emulsion by modified soybean dietary fiber: Enhancing interaction forces and functional properties.

This study investigated the effects of steam exploration on soybean insoluble dietary fiber (U-IDF and M-IDF), and characterized the resulting stabilized Pickering emulsion. The particle size, ΔE, and water/oil holding capacity of M-IDF decreased, while its absolute value of zeta potential and contact angle increased. Significant changes in the intensities of the functional groups (-OH and CO) were observed in the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of M-IDF.

A base editor facilitates simultaneous purine and pyrimidine substitutions for ex vivo and in vivo mutagenesis screens.

Genetic mutations are closely linked to human diseases, yet the relationship between many mutations and their corresponding phenotypes remains poorly understood. Furthermore, tools to study the connection between nucleotide variations and phenotypes are limited. To address this issue, we developed ACGBEmax by fusing the dual-functional deaminase, engineered N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase, and evolved SOS response associated peptidase domain with nCas9(D10A).

Celastrol modulates IRS1 expression to alleviate ovarian aging and to enhance follicular development.

Ovarian aging significantly contributes to the decline of the female reproductive system, adversely affecting fertility and endocrine homeostasis. To address the challenges posed by reproductive aging, natural products have shown promising preventive and therapeutic effects. Here, we investigated the beneficial effects of natural compound celastrol on ovarian development and aging, together with its underlying mechanisms.

An electroneutral fluorescent probe for visualization of lipid droplets polarity heterogeneity and NAFLD detection.

Lipid droplets (LDs), omnipresent organelles in nearly all eukaryotic cells, have garnered significant attention in cell biology. Alterations in LD polarity not only signify cellular carcinogenesis but also correlate closely with the severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Despite their importance, the lack of suitable detection tools has limited research and clinical applications in this area.

Preparation of a Nanomaterial-Polymer Dynamic Cross-Linked Gel Composite and Its Application in Drilling Fluids.

During the process of oil and gas drilling, due to the existence of pores or micro-cracks, drilling fluid is prone to invade the formation. Under the action of hydration expansion of clay in the formation and liquid pressure, wellbore instability occurs. In order to reduce the wellbore instability caused by drilling fluid intrusion into the formation, this study proposed a method of forming a dynamic hydrogen bond cross-linked network weak gel structure with modified nano-silica and P(AM-AAC).

Involvement of Pathogenesis-Related Proteins and Their Roles in Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants.

Plant pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins are a large and diverse family of proteins with antimicrobial activity, often induced by pathogen attack. Traditionally, PR proteins were thought to mainly participate in plant defense mechanisms against biotic stress. However, in recent years, increasing evidence has shown that these proteins also play important roles in the response to abiotic stress in plants.

Emergency veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cannulation through the femoral vein with a pre-positioned inferior vena cava filter: A case report.

Background: Acute pulmonary thromboembolism is a complication of venous thrombosis. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), an effective rescue measure for rapid hemodynamic recovery, can be used in patients for whom thrombolysis therapy has failed.

Case Summary: This case report describes an extreme rescue process for a patient with a preset inferior vena cava (IVC) filter in a relatively economically underdeveloped area with an insufficient supply of consumables.

Early 24-Hour Changes in Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index Predict Acute Kidney Injury and Mortality in ICU Patients.

To determine whether early dynamic changes in the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) improve prediction of acute kidney injury (AKI) and 1-year mortality in critically ill patients. In this retrospective cohort study of 17,491 ICU admissions from the MIMIC-IV database, we calculated three SII metrics within the first 24 h of ICU stay: the 24-h SII_slope and the extreme values (SII_min, SII_max). LASSO-selected multivariable logistic regression was used to predict AKI, and Cox proportional hazards models assessed associations with 1-year mortality.

Salt-Induced Gel Formation by Zwitterionic Polymer for Synergistic Methane Hydrate Inhibition.

In deepwater drilling operations, inhibiting methane hydrate (MH) formation is critical for wellbore flow assurance. This study synthesized a zwitterionic polymer NDAD and evaluated its hydrate inhibition performance through high-pressure reactor tests, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and molecular simulations. Results demonstrate that NDAD at concentrations of 1.

Functional epitope mapping of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus nsp7α and nsp7β using monoclonal antibodies and development of a feasible ELISA.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) poses a significant threat owing to its considerable economic impact on the global swine industry. Nonstructural protein 7 (nsp7) plays an essential role in inducing the humoral immune response, resulting in the production of high and persistent antibodies in PRRSV-infected pigs. Therefore, nsp7 is considered the most appropriate marker for diagnostic development.

Iron dysregulation and ferroptosis are associated with pulmonary fibrosis: Insight from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, systemic sclerosis, and COVID-19 patients.

Background: Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is the leading cause of death in many lung diseases due to inflammation, tissue damage, infection, or other contributing factors. Iron metabolism and ferroptosis have been reported to participate in some PF diseases, but the universality remains elusive.

Methods: Herein, comparative studies were conducted among idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), immune-associated systemic sclerosis (SSc), and infectious COVID-19.

Unraveling consistently altered brain activations of language deficits in schizophrenia: evidence from ALE meta-analysis.

Background: Language deficits are commonly observed in patients with schizophrenia, significantly impacting their quality of life. Current medicine has little curing effects on language deficits in patients with schizophrenia. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the underlying pathology of these deficits and unravel the potential intervention targets.

Sex-Dependent Effects of Body Fat on Cardiac Function and Outcomes in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Background: Among older adults, sex hormones may exert differential effects on body fat and cardiac health.

Objectives: The authors aimed to study the effects of sex on body fat composition and aging-related diastolic function, as well as their longitudinal changes.

Methods: Community-dwelling older adults without cardiovascular disease underwent prospective baseline same-day anthropometry for body fat mass (BFM), percentage body fat (PBF), and waist hip ratio (WHR) quantification by bioimpedance and transthoracic Doppler echocardiography, with measurements repeated at 5 years.

High-resolution 3-D characterization and detection of subsurface defects in metal additive manufacturing using laser ultrasonic.

With the advancement of metal additive manufacturing, components fabricated by this technique are being increasingly adopted across various industries. However, due to the influence of fabrication parameters, components tend to develop defects during the manufacturing process. Timely detection of defects in the heat-affected zone (the subsurface region) is crucial, as process parameters can be adjusted and reprocessing can be performed to eliminate such defects.

HerTACs Enable Tumor-Selective Lysosomal Degradation of Membrane and Extracellular Proteins via HER2 Trafficking.

Targeting extracellular and membrane proteins for degradation remains a frontier challenge in the field of targeted protein degradation (TPD), largely due to the intracellular confinement of existing proteolysis systems and reliance on bulky biologics. Here, we develop a novel TPD platform, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-targeted lysosome-tethering chimeras (HerTACs), which co-opts the tumor overexpressed, endocytic, and lysosomal trafficking capability of HER2. Starting from the HER2-binding peptide LTVSPWY, we engineered the first-generation HerTAC (LP), a conjugate of the HER2-binding peptide and a PD-L1 ligand, to degrade programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in HER2-positive cells.

Nonreciprocal surface plasmonic neural network for decoupled bidirectional analogue computing.

To address the burgeoning demand for computing capacity in artificial intelligence, researchers have explored optical neural networks that show advantages of ultrafast speed, low power consumption, ultra-high bandwidth, and high parallelism. However, most existing optical networks are reciprocal, where forward and backward propagation are intrinsically coupled. This results in the backward pathway remaining largely unexplored, hindering the realization of integrated perception-response systems.

Gaultheria leucocarpa inhibits Aβ fibrillization and enhances mitophagy-mediated degradation of pathogenic proteins.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology involves amyloid-beta (Aβ) accumulation and neuronal toxicity, highlighting the need for therapeutic strategies that can both inhibit Aβ aggregation and promote pathogenic protein clearance. In this study, we identified Gaultheria leucocarpa as a medicinal plant with promising neuroprotective potential. Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence screening revealed that extracts from G.

Effect of AF Surface Nanostructure on AFRP Interface Properties Under Temperature: A MD Simulation Study.

The insulating rod of aramid fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites (AFRP) is an important component of gas-insulated switchgear (GIS). Under complex working conditions, the high temperature caused by voltage, current, and external climate change becomes one of the important factors that aggravate the interface degradation between aramid fiber (AF) and epoxy resin (EP). In this paper, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation software is used to study the effect of temperature on the interfacial properties of AF/EP.

An improved u-net method for denoising ultrasonic echo signals in carbon fiber composites.

At present, in the echo signals generated by ultrasonic non-destructive testing of carbon fiber composite materials, there inevitably exist a large number of structural noises, which cause great interference to the identification of defect signals and the detection of defects. To solve this problem, an improved U-Net-based denoising method is proposed to achieve effective noise suppression in ultrasonic signals. When applied to the echo signals of carbon fiber composite materials, the proposed method demonstrates superior noise reduction performance compared to both the conventional U-Net and wavelet denoising algorithms.

Comparative Study of Catalytic Oxidation of Toluene over Porous Metal Oxide Catalysts Derived from (Mn, Ce, Co)-MOFs.

This study presents a systematic investigation into the catalytic oxidation of toluene using metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived porous metal oxide catalysts obtained through controlled pyrolysis. The MOF-derived catalysts (MnO-BTC, CeO-BTC, CoO-BTC) demonstrated remarkable improvements in catalytic activity and stability compared to their commercial counterparts (MnO-c, CeO-c, CoO-c), achieving 90% toluene conversion () at significantly lower temperatures of 240 °C, 241 °C, and 237 °C, respectively. Besides, a comprehensive suite of characterization techniques was employed to elucidate the structure-activity relationships.

Data correction of temperature and water vapor measurements using the combined lateral scanning Raman scattering lidar and backward Raman scattering lidar.

A combined lateral scanning Raman scattering lidar (LSRSL) and backward Raman scattering lidar (BWRSL) is built in Xi'an, which can achieve accurate measurements of atmospheric temperature and water vapor from the ground to the concerned height. In this paper, we report a method to correct the atmospheric transmittance in the return path, which is due to the wavelength difference between the high- and low-quantum-number transitions of PRRSS for temperature measurements and between the VRSS of N and HO for water vapor measurements. The correction function of atmospheric transmittance is optimized by considering the effect of aerosols from nearby industry and local urban traffic on atmospheric transmittance.

Activin A promotes bovine pituitary FSH synthesis and secretion through the cooperative action of the SMAD signaling pathway and FOXO3†.

The pituitary gland is an important endocrine organ in living organisms and is divided into two parts: the adenohypophysis and the neurohypophysis. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) secreted by the adenohypophysis can act on the granulosa cells of the ovary to promote follicle development and maturation. Activin A is a dimeric protein belonging to the transforming growth factor beta superfamily that promotes FSH secretion from the pituitary gland.

Ni-Au Janus Nanoparticles with NIR-Amplified Cascade Catalysis for Wound Healing.

Nanoscales that mimic natural cascade catalytic reactions through simple procedures, demonstrating high efficiency, have attracted extensive interest in the antibacterial field. However, the rational design of nanostructures and the improvement of their catalytic efficiency remain challenging. Herein, spindle-shaped Ni-Au Janus nanocomposites (JANs) are synthesized with asymmetric catalytic duality and NIR-responsive photothermal activation.