Enhancement of vascular visualization in laser speckle contrast imaging based on image algorithms.

Significance: In practical biomedical applications, obtaining clear and focused speckle images through laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) presents significant challenges. These challenges are often compounded by motion artifacts and image noise, which can adversely affect the effectiveness of vascular visualization in LSCI.

Aim: We improved the visualization of blood flow in LSCI by focusing on three aspects: image registration, image denoising, and multi-focus image fusion.

Co-production of easily hydrolysable cellulosic substrates and UV-blocking lignin nanoparticles through "lignin-first" polyethylene glycol fractionation.

A novel polyethylene glycol (PEG 400)-assisted lignin-first strategy was developed to selectively fractionate sugarcane bagasse while co-producing hydrolyzable cellulosic substrates and structurally modified lignin nanoparticles (LNPs). Under mild conditions catalyzed by Lewis acid (120 °C and 1.5 % AlCl), the process achieved 92 % cellulose retention, 81 % delignification, and 76 % hemicellulose removal, significantly enhancing hydrolysis efficiency to 86 %.

High Damage Threshold Plasmonic Nanocavity Realized by Single Semiconductor Nanowires for Strong Coupling.

Strong coupling, as a unique paradigm of cavity quantum electrodynamics, provides an important foundation for exploring novel quantum phenomena. Under ambient conditions, exciton-plasmon strong coupling systems have developed rapidly with various exquisite nanocavity structures proposed and refined. Nanocavities based on metal nanoparticles, such as single-particle and nanoparticle-on-mirror (NPoM), offer excellent compatibility with exciton materials, making them significant platforms for studying plasmon-exciton strong coupling.

Cross-Modal Weakly Supervised RGB-D Salient Object Detection with a Focus on Filamentary Structures.

Current weakly supervised salient object detection (SOD) methods for RGB-D images mostly rely on image-level labels and sparse annotations, which makes it difficult to completely contour object boundaries in complex scenes, especially when detecting objects with filamentary structures. To address the aforementioned issues, we propose a novel cross-modal weakly supervised SOD framework. The framework can adequately exploit the advantages of cross-modal weak labels to generate high-quality pseudo-labels, and it can fully couple the multi-scale features of RGB and depth images for precise saliency prediction.

Constructing Layered/Tunnel Biphasic Structure via Trace W-Substitution in Tunnel-Type Cathode for Elevating Sodium Ion Storage.

Tunnel-type NaMnO is extensively regarded as an appealing cathode for sodium-ion batteries due to its cost-effectiveness and excellent cycling performance. However, low theoretical capacity, resulting from insufficient Na storage sites, hinders its practical application. Herein, the strategy of constructing a tunnel-phase-dominated layered/tunnel biphasic compound was proposed via trace W-substitution and the co-precipitation method.

pH-Responsive silk protein/ZIF-8@bacitracin composite coating on strontium-doped nanorod surface for combating implant-associated infections.

Titanium-based bone repair materials often face bacterial infections, resulting in inflammation and impaired osseointegration. To address this issue, we developed a multifunctional coating by encapsulating bacitracin within a metal-organic framework (ZIF-8@B) and incorporating it into a strontium-doped titanium dioxide nanorod (STN) structure using silk protein (SF). This coating, termed STN-SF/ZIF-8@B, was applied to titanium surfaces.

Subchronic and Chronic Toxicity Assessment of Sublancin in Sprague-Dawley Rats.

Sublancin, an S-linked antimicrobial (glycol) peptide produced by , has emerged as a novel and promising veterinary drug due to its unique antibacterial mechanism, low risk of resistance, and properties that modulate the immune system, reduce inflammation, and promote gut health. This study comprehensively assessed the subchronic (90-day) and chronic (180-day) toxicity of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, following the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Agriculture of China. Rats were orally administered sublancin at doses of 2000, 10,000, or 50,000 mg/kg feed, representing 1666-5000 times the efficacious dose (1.

Target screening and optimization of candidate compounds for breast cancer treatment using bioinformatics and computational chemistry approaches.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify critical therapeutic targets and design potent antitumor compounds for breast cancer treatment through an integrated bioinformatics and computational chemistry approach.

Methods: We conducted initial screening and target intersection analysis to identify potential protein targets, highlighting the adenosine A1 receptor as a key candidate. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to evaluate the binding stability between selected compounds and the human adenosine A1 receptor-Gi2 protein complex (PDB ID: 7LD3).

Semantic discrete decoder based on adaptive pixel clustering for monocular depth estimation.

Monocular depth estimation (MDE) has long been a popular and challenging task. Currently, mainstream methods mainly include regression methods based on geometric constraints and ordinal regression methods based on discretized depth intervals. However, they both overlook the fact that depth values within objects often exhibit some degree of continuity, while depth values between objects exhibit varying degrees of discontinuity.

N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)-solvated LiNO in carbonate electrolyte and the synergistic effects of LiNO, NMP and fluoroethylene carbonate on lithium electrodes.

The implementation of rechargeable high-energy lithium metal batteries is hindered by the instability of lithium electrodes. The electrolyte additive, LiNO, can significantly improve the stability of lithium electrodes. However, LiNO has very low solubility in carbonate electrolytes which are widely used in commercial lithium-ion batteries.

Recent advances, modification strategies and perspectives of BiWO in photocatalytic CO reduction reaction.

With the development of the global economy and the continuous consumption of fossil energy, a large amount of greenhouse gas CO has been emitted into the atmosphere. Therefore, how to reduce the concentration of CO in the atmosphere and convert it into high value-added products has gradually become a hot spot in scientific research. Photocatalytic CO reduction technology can combine semiconductor with solar energy to convert CO into high value-added organic carbon source through photocatalysis, which is of great significance for the effective utilization of solar energy and the emission reduction of CO.

Large effects of extreme rainfall event on dissolved carbon in a subtropical karst river in South China.

The dynamics of dissolved organic and inorganic carbon (DOC and DIC) in subtropical rivers within karstic catchment exhibit pronounced sensitivity to rainfall intensity, particularly under extreme hydrologic forcing. Because the South China Sea receives 6.2-10.

Graphene Oxide-Modulated CMC/PVA Films with on-Demand Shape Recovery and Self-Healing Performance.

With the advancement of artificial intelligence technologies, shape-memory polymers (SMPs) have attracted significant research interest due to their remarkable environmental responsiveness. However, conventional SMPs are limited to single-stimulus responsiveness and constrained performance, failing to meet practical application demands. This study develops a novel shape-memory carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite film modulated by graphene oxide (GO) with multi-stimuli responsive capabilities and water-assisted self-healing properties.

Dual-engineered strategy of Ni-CeO nanozyme with enhanced oxidase activity for sensitive colorimetric detection of total antioxidant capacity.

Antioxidants are crucial in the fight against reactive oxygen species and thus in maintaining organismal health, so it is particularly important to realize a rapid and quantitative assay for common antioxidants in life. Current nanozyme-based total antioxidant capacity (TAC) assays face limitations: hydrogen peroxide (HO) dependence, noble metal costs, and poor antioxidant discrimination. To address these challenges, we engineered a dual-regulated Ni-doped CeO (Ni-CeO) nanozyme through oxygen vacancy engineering and 3d-2p-4f orbital coupling.

scRDEN: single-cell dynamic gene rank differential expression network and robust trajectory inference.

The remarkable advancement of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology has empowered researchers to probe gene expression at the single-cell level with unprecedented precision. To gain a profound understanding of the heterogeneity inherent in cell fate determination, a central challenge lies in the comprehensive analysis of the dynamic regulatory alterations that underlie transcriptional differences and the accurate inference of the differentiation trajectory. Here, we propose the method scRDEN, a robust framework that infers important cell sub-populations and differential expression networks of multiple genes along the differentiation directions of each branch by converting the unstable gene expression values in cells into relatively stable gene-gene interactions (global features) and extracting the order of differential expression (network features), and further integrating the expression features of different dimension reduction methods.

Chitosan based fluorescent interpenetrating network polymeric probes for the sensitive detection and efficient removal of Hg ions.

Chitosan (CS) based interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) is formed by cross-linking of CS with another polymer. It exhibits the ability of detecting environmental pollutants. In this work, the cross-linked CS was used as the network skeleton, the RAFT agent could produce an interpenetrating network with CS during the polymerization process, thereby forming a fluorescent hydrogel-type IPN (CS-Cy-PMAm and CS-Cy-PHD).

Strength, Durability, and Microscopic Analysis of Silt Solidified with Two-Phase Phosphogypsum and Cement Fiber.

The accumulation of silty soils and industrial solid waste not only results in a significant waste of land resources but also causes environmental pollution. Phosphogypsum and cement are commonly utilized as binding agents for the solidification of silt in engineering applications. However, the use of PG and cement alone may lead to issues such as insufficient strength, crack formation, and poor durability.

Cinnamon Essential Oil-Loaded Halloysite Nanotubes Applied in Degradable Film: Characterization and Non-Contact Antimicrobial Activity.

To extend food shelf life and reduce plastic pollution, halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were employed as a carrier to load cinnamon essential oils (CEOs), and the nanotubes were blended with polybutylene adipate co-terephthalate (PBAT) resin to fabricate the film with non-contact antimicrobial activity. The results showed that the HNTs had a high loading efficiency (about 11%) for CEOs. The retention rate of CEOs in HNTs was still 33% after twenty days later, which indicated that the CEOs/HNTs nanoparticles had a long-acting controlled-released effect.

Probing Peptide Assembly and Interaction via High-Resolution Imaging Techniques: A Mini Review.

Peptide molecules, as fundamental structural units in biological systems, play pivotal roles in diverse biological processes and have garnered substantial attention in biomolecular self-assembly research. Their structural simplicity and high design flexibility make peptides key players in the development of novel biomaterials. High-resolution imaging techniques have provided profound insights into peptide assembly.

Prediction of pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic properties of aldosterone synthase inhibitors at drug discovery stage using an artificial intelligence-physiologically based pharmacokinetic model.

The objective of this study is to develop an artificial intelligence-physiologically based pharmacokinetic (AI-PBPK) model to predict the pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) properties of aldosterone synthase inhibitors (ASIs), enabling selection of the right candidate with high potency and good selectivity at the drug discovery stage. On a web-based platform, an AI-PBPK model, integrating machine learning and a classical PBPK model for the PK simulation of ASIs, was developed. Baxdrostat, with the most clinical data available, was selected as the model compound.

Bridging chemistry and biology for light-driven new-to-nature enantioselective photoenzymatic catalysis.

Merging enzymes with light-driven photocatalysis has given rise to the burgeoning field of photoenzymatic catalysis. This approach combines the high reactivity from photoexcitation with the exceptional selectivity of biocatalysis, providing exciting opportunities to tackle challenges in enantioselective radical reactions and to access new-to-nature enzyme reactivities. This tutorial review aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to this interdisciplinary topic, catering to the growing interest from communities in asymmetric catalysis, photocatalysis, radical chemistry, enzyme engineering, and synthetic biology.

Selective photoreduction of diluted CO to CH topotactic transformation of mixed metal oxides derived from NiAlTi-LDH.

A TiO/NiO/AlO hybrid with Ti sites and -OH groups was successfully synthesized by performing a facial topotactic transformation of NiAlTi-LDH. The optimized sample exhibited a high CH formation rate of 41.34 μmol g h with nearly 76.

NID-DETR: A novel model for accurate target detection in dark environments.

Target detection in low-light conditions poses significant challenges due to reduced contrast, increased noise, and color distortion, all of which adversely affect detection accuracy and robustness. Effective low-light target detection is crucial for reliable vision in critical applications such as surveillance, autonomous driving, and underwater exploration. Current mainstream algorithms face challenges in extracting meaningful features under low-light conditions, which significantly limits their effectiveness.

Aluminum Alloy Hot Stamping and Forming Technology: A Review.

Aluminum alloy hot stamping technology has quickly become a research hotspot for many scholars due to its ability to solve key challenges such as poor formability, large rebound, and low dimensional accuracy of aluminum alloy sheets at room temperature. This work systematically reviews the progress of Hot-Forming-Quenching (HFQ) technology and its optimization processes. The effects of key forming parameters are summarized, including temperature, forming rate, friction, and crimping force on the forming properties of aluminum alloys.

Accelerated inference for thyroid nodule recognition in ultrasound imaging using FPGA.

Thyroid cancer is the most prevalent malignant tumour in the endocrine system, with its incidence steadily rising in recent years. Current central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) face significant challenges in terms of processing speed, energy consumption, cost, and scalability in the identification of thyroid nodules, making them inadequate for the demands of future green, efficient, and accessible healthcare. To overcome these limitations, this study proposes an efficient quantized inference method using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).